Happy New Year!  I wish for all of us a very prosperous and happy 2023. May it be filled with lots of the people and things that we love, and here in the English Kitchen that means delicious recipes and good food to eat!  (Focus being on DELICIOUS!)

I hope the coming months will be filled with lots of tasty traditional recipes intermingled with some new, some old, some healthy, and everything in between.

More and more I want my focus to be on smaller sized recipes, geared towards the smaller family, singletons, and empty nesters.  But you larger families never fear, there will be plenty stirred into the mix for you as well, and as always, I am happy to give you the measurements for a larger sized recipe if you ask!

Everybody is doing this so I thought I would just jump on the bandwagon and share what were the most popular recipes on the blog over these past twelve months!  I am sure you will be acquainted with many of them, but there may be a few that you have missed out on.

In any case, I can promise you this.  All are delicious! 

Coming in at #20:   GINGERBREAD MUFFINS.  

No surprise here. Moist and gingery with a bit of crunch from the demerara sugar sprinkle on top. A great basic gingerbread muffin that you can adapt by making a few additions if you like such as dried or candied fruit, etc.

Number 19: OLD TIME BREAD PUDDING 

This is also not a surprise. This is an old traditional recipe for a solid bread pudding that cuts like a cake and is stuffed with plenty of spice and loads of fruit. Delicious warm, but equally as delicious cold. You will see this sold by a single serving slab in many of the bake shops in the UK.  Perfect to enjoy with a mid morning or afternoon cuppa.

Number 18:  PAN FRIED COD  

I was really happy to see this one and not at all surprised. This is one of my favorite ways to prepare one of my favorite types of fish.  This simple recipe boasts wonderful flavors and a really simple cooking method. Using very few ingredients, you can be enjoying perfectly cooked and delicious fish in less than fifteen minutes.

Number 17:  GRATIN OF CHICKEN  

Who doesn't struggle with using up all of the cooked chicken leftover from a roast chicken or a rotisserie bird. Struggle no more as I have the perfect solution and it is perfectly delicious! This creamy chicken gratin recipe is also perfect for those nights when you are starving, and you want to feed your family something warm and comforting. There is nothing like a creamy chicken gratin to tick all the boxes when it comes to creating a delicious and yet simple supper dish.

Number 16:  TRADITIONAL SEED CAKE  

I am really excited about this one as it is one of my absolute all-time favorite cakes to enjoy with a hot cuppa.  It was also said to be the favorite cake of William Wordsworth's sister Dorothy Wordsworth! A good seed cake recipe would have been included in any Victorian era cookbook!  They are very traditional.

Number 15:  MARY BERRY'S MINCEMEAT BUNS  

And there is no more perfect time of the year to bake them than now, with some of us having leftover mincemeat in the larder that we be wanting to use up!  These may be baked in a muffin tin, but they are as far away from muffins as they can be. Instead they are dense fruited cakes, meant to be enjoyed with hot drinks.  Not a dessert, but an indulgent teatime treat! 

Number 14: NIGEL'S POTATOES 

I absolutely adore this simple potato dish which comes from Nigel Slater. this one is such a simple dish. It's basically just layered raw potato, fried onions and chicken stock. You don't even need to peel the potatoes. And you can adapt it up or down to serve as many or as few people as you like. I can't think of anything that this tasty side dish wouldn't sit well next to!

Number 13:  BLUEBERRY BUTTER SWIM BISCUITS 

 If you are a fan of North American style Biscuits you are going to just love this version of Butter Swim Biscuits. Butter swim biscuits are soft and fluffy biscuits that bake in a pan loaded with butter. There is no butter in the biscuits themselves, but with plenty of butter in the baking tin, you don't need it. These bake up light and fluffy with a lovely buttery crust, and crispy outside edge.   This version is particularly nice as it is stuffed with sweet blueberries and glazed with a sweet glaze.

Number 12:  BANBURY CAKES  

A close cousin to Eccles cakes these delicious pastries are not cakes at all but a round shaped flaky and buttery puff pastry turnover filled with a filling of dried fruits, butter, spices and brown sugar.  They are melt in the mouth delicious. Another very traditional recipe from the UK.

Number 11:  MARY'S PERFECT SHORTBREAD  

Another recipe adapted from Mary Berry. You just know it is the perfect shortbread biscuit/cookie. Crisp and buttery. Not too sweet.  Perfect with a hot cup of tea or a bowl of ice cream. If you are looking for a great shortbread cookie, look no further. You just struck gold! 

Number 10:  CARAMEL POPCORN TWISTS  

If you love caramel corn but are not fond of the husks on the popcorn getting stuck in your teeth, this delicious and easy recipe is the perfect solution. It uses a bag of hull-less popcorn, or popcorn twists as they are also called here in Canada, the popular brand being put out by Old Dutch. I know there is also a brand of these in America, but am not sure what it is called.  In any case I call this easy to make snack DELICIOUS with a capital 'D!"

Number 9: GREEN BEAN & POTATO CASSEROLE 

Cooked cubed potatoes and green beans in a delicious cheese sauce, topped with a buttery crumb and baked until golden brown and bubbling. This is an excellent side dish for any occasion or weeknight supper! Quite simply delicious!

Number 8: HOW TO COOK CHICKEN IN THE MICROWAVE

This is my tried-and-true way of preparing perfectly cooked chicken breasts in the microwave oven. I often buy whole packs of chicken breasts when they are on offer at the shops and poach or cook them, packing the meat into two cup containers, and freezing them. That way I always have a quantity of cooked chicken ready to use in a tasty dish at any given time. One of the easiest ways to cook this chicken is in the microwave. If you know how to cook chicken in the microwave you will never be short of cooked shredded chicken. It is very simple to do and very quick. The chicken always comes out moist and delicious. Perfect for shredding or dicing.

These are THE perfect cheese scone. I have made cheese scones before in the past and they were good, but these are excellent. Then again, what would you expect from Mary Berry! She is an expert in all things baked and otherwise when it comes to cooking. I trust her judgement explicitly!

Living in Chester as we do, we are right on the gateway to Wales. Indeed . . . a short five minute walk from the house, and we are in Wales!

Our Housing estate is actually surrounded by fields of leeks, which fill the air at certain times of the year with their pungent oniony smell. I think it's quite delightful, myself!



In fact, as we travelled to church this morning we passed by a field of frozen leeks . . . kind a pretty actually, all frosty green and icy tipped . . . but I wonder how the farmer feels. Are frozen leeks any good to him? Somehow I think not . . .

The Leek is the Welsh national symbol. ( I can think of worse things to represent you!)



This supper dish is a savoury bread and butter pudding, filled with the lovely flavours of slivered leeks and Caerphilly cheese, which is a Welsh variety of cheese, hailing from the Welsh village of Caerphilly!



Caerphilly sits in the shadows of one of Europe's largest castles. (Caer means Castle in the Welsh language) You can tell their cheese means a big deal to the people of Caerphilly as they hold a big festival there every year, called . . . "The Big Cheese" . . . what else!!



Caerphilly is a cow's milk cheese, light in colour and quite crumbly. It matures a lot quicker than cheddar giving it a dry crumbly centre and creamy edge . . . with a somewhat tangy, sour, but not at all unpleasant flavour.



We love this hearty supper dish as we love leeks and cheese, but you can also make it with cheddar and onion, which is also quite delicious!



I like it with a bit of Branston's Beetroot Pickle on the side. Yummo!



*Welsh Cheese Pudding*
Serves 4 - 6
Printable Recipe

Kind of like a savoury bread and butter pudding made with cheese and leek sandwiches. You can use sliced onions if you don't have any leeks. It's quite delicious!

3 medium slices of white bread, crusts removed
3 medium slices of whole wheat bread, crusts removed
2 ounces (1/4 cup) butter, softened
1 medium leek, washed, trimmed and very thinly sliced
8 ounces caerphilly cheese, crumbled (can use strong cheddar)
2 large free range eggs
1/4 tsp dry mustard powder
1 pint of milk (2 cups)
salt and pepper to taste
a small handful of walnuts, toasted and chopped
finely chopped spring onion to garnish (optional)

Spread each slice of the bread thickly with butter. Using one white slice and one whole wheat slice for each, make 3 sandwiches using the leek and 3/4 of the cheese. Press firmly together and then cut each sandwich into 4 triangles. Arrange them with the points up, in a 2 litre shallow ovenproof dish.

Beat the eggs together with the mustard powder and milk. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour over top of the sandwiches. Allow to stand for half an hour before cooking.

Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Scatter the remaining cheese and walnuts over top of the pudding and then cook it in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes. Scatter the top with the spring onions, if using and serve to some lucky people.

One thing that is done extremely well over here in the UK are steamed puddings, and each area seems to have their own individual specialities. Added to that wonder, is the fact that there are not only sweet ones, but savoury ones as well.

They are all very traditional, and whilst most are made using a suet batter, occasionally you will find one which uses the extravagance of butter!



You can find a very good video here which perfectly illustrates the method of covering and steaming a pudding HERE. It's just brilliant and I couldn't explain it any better if I tried, although I do have a tendancy to use a rubber band to hold the lid on, and then I use the steamer pan that fits on top of one of my saucepans.



Savoury or sweet, there is nothing like a deliciously stodgy steamed pudding to help chase away the February blues! Here is one of our favourites.



A delicious buttery pudding filled with lots of chopped preserved ginger in syrup. We do so love ginger in this house and this tasty pudding is chock full of it's deliciously sweet heat. The sauce is also very scrummily gingery, but if you are feeling lazy you can just serve the pudding with some pouring cream.



Either way it's fabulously scrummy!!!



*Steamed Ginger Pudding with Ginger Sauce*
Serves 4

I think there has to be a ginger pudding or cake or bread recipe for just about every area in the UK. This one comes from Cornwall. It's buttery and moist and has a delicious ginger sauce to serve with it. Or, you can just be lazy and have it with cream.

For the Pudding:
4 ounces butter (1/2 cup)
4 ounces caster sugar (a generous half cup)
2 large free range eggs
6 ounces self raising flour (scant 1 1/2 cups)
3 knobs (2 ounces) preserved stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped
3 heaped dessertspoons of golden syrup

For the sauce:
300ml of whole milk (1 1/8 cup milk)
1 TBS finely grated fresh ginger
1 ounce butter (1/8 cup)
1 ounce plain flour (1/8 cup)
2 ounces caster sugar (1/4 cup)

Butter a 3 cup pudding basin. Cream together the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, adding a TBS of the flour after each addition. Fold in the remaining flour and the chopped ginger. Spoon the golden syrup into the pudding basin. Spoon in the cake batter over top. Smooth the top and then cover with a layer of pleated greaseproof paper and another layer of pleated foil wrap. Secure with a rubber band and trim off any excess leaving about an inch belong the rubber band. Place into the top of a steamer pot over steaming water and cover. Steam for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until done. (Should be well risen and look dry on top.)

While the pudding is steaming you can make the sauce. Place the ginger in the milk and then bring to the boil. Allow to sit and infuse for about half an hour then strain off the milk, discarding the ginger. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook for about a few minutes over low heat. Slowly whisk in the heated and strained milk, whisking constantly until the sauce boils and thickens. Add the sugar, stirring until it is dissolved. Keep warm.

Turn the steamed pudding out onto a pretty plate and pass the sauce seperately. Serve both warm.

 

 

BUTTERMILK FRENCH TOAST -Crisp on the outside and rich on the inside with a soufflé-like buttermilk custard that is oh so delicious! Thick slices of bread are soaked in a lemon and vanilla buttermilk custard and then left to sit on a wire rack over a baking sheet so that the custard has time to settle before frying in butter. Once fried to a crisp golden brown, the toast is baked for a few minutes longer in a moderate oven,

FRENCH TOAST FINGERS - you can use any kind of crisp breakfast cereal to coat them. Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Captain Crunch, Cookie Crisp, etc. If it is crisp and be crushed it is perfect for this use. Using cereal like this to coat the French Toast Sticks also has the added appeal of being a tad bit naughty. Children love dipping these.

SMALL BATCH OVEN FRENCH TOAST - Perfect for serving with crisp bacon or breakfast sausage, or (dare I say it?) both! Not too sweet and perfectly spiced, this delicious recipe is sized for the smaller family. Small families deserve to eat delicious things without any waste!

LEMON FRENCH TOAST WITH STRAWBERRIES & MAPLE SYRUP - Lemon is a wonderful fruit enhancer.  I adore the flavour of lemons and I try to incorporate them in a lot of my cooking.French toast, nicely flavoured with lemon and topped with delicious summer berries. This is quite simply fabulous!

PEACHES & CREAM FRENCH TOAST - Nothing could be simpler or more delicious. You can also use sliced apple if you don't want to use peaches, or if you want a Peach Melba kind of finish, sprinkle it with a few fresh raspberries to serve. 

HOT CROSS BUN FRENCH TOAST - Oh my goodness. Rich and fruity, with a touch of orange liqueur. This is fabulously fluffy and delicious served with sausage, bacon and of course lashings of maple syrup.

 

BERRIES & CREAM CROISSANT FRENCH TOAST FOR TWO - Croissants, jam, cream cheese, eggs, fruit  . . .  what's not to love about that! You get flaky butter bits of croissant . . .  along with souflee-like bread pudding bits  . . .  interspersed with pockets of wild blueberry jam and nuggets of rich cream cheese  . . .  oh my goodness! Add a dollop or two of x-tra thick cream and some maple syrup to serve and you have died and gone to heaven.

RASPBERRY BAKEWELL FRENCH TOAST - A delicious breakfast take on the always popular Bakewell Tart.  Almond flavoured French Toast made with buttery croissants, topped with sugar crusted flaked almonds and served with a raspberry syrup.  Delicious!

PAIN PERDU WITH CREAM CHEESE & BLUEBERRY SYRUPS - A delicious Pain Perdu with Cream Cheese and Blueberry Syrups . . . the Pain Perdu, all crisp and golden on the outside . . . but creamy and custardy inside . . . served up hot and gilded with not one . . . but two fabulicious syrups. YES!! not just one . . . but TWO tasty syrups 

LEMON RASBERRY FRENCH TOAST - Quite simply delicious with a lemon cream cheese and fresh fruit filling. This fabulous version of French Toast is perfectly sized for just two people but can easily be multiplied to serve more.

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