Baked Apples one of the comfort foods we like to enjoy in the Winter months.  Apples are plentiful and at their best. We don't mind having the oven on, and they are delicious and very easy to do.

 

I had recently gotten some fabulous Organic Dried Cranberries and Ceylon Cinnamon Sticks from Buy Wholefoods Online and I felt they would be perfect for using in this simple and easy dessert. If you are not familiar with Buy Whole Foods Online you really need to look them up. I buy all of my dried fruit from them every year for my Christmas Cakes, and other bits and bobs throughout the year. Buy Whole Foods Online is an international health food supplier, based in Minster, Ramsgate, North East Kent. They deliver top quality natural and organic wholefoods, and related healthy living products, directly to homes and businesses across the UK and Europe. I have always been very happy with both their products and their service.

 

Baked apples make for a lovely breakfast treat or a dessert for after your dinner. I think they are very homey and comforting. You can bake just about any apple, but today I chose to use Pink Ladies as that is what I had in the refrigerator.  You will need to core them.

 

I have an apple corer, but today I also wanted to keep the bottoms intact, so I just used it to punch a whole down into the apple almost through to the bottom and then I used a metal 1/4 tsp measure to scoop out the core and enough surrounding apple to give me a one inch cavity down most of the length of the apple.

 

You need plenty of room to hold a cinnamon stick and that buttery cranberry, oat and maple filling! There's a bit of freshly grated nutmeg in there as well. I like to buy my nutmegs whole.  They last forever and freshly grated nutmeg is far superior to the already grated stuff you can buy.  At Buy Wholefoods you can buy anywhere from 125g up to 1 kg.   (It would take you a long time to use the larger amount.)

 

I always cut a really shallow line into the apple all the way around it horizontally.  This helps to prevent the apple from bursting when it is baking.  You will see it when you first take the apple out of the oven, but once the apple settles it disappears pretty much.

  

 You could of  use ground cinnamon but I really like the way that a whole cinnamon stick uses in these.  You don't eat it of course, but it does impart a nice cinnamon flavour to the whole apple and when you are done you can use add it to a saucepan along with some orange peel, whole cloves, star anise and water to make a natural air freshener.  When we had the wood stove I always had a container filled with this simmering on the back of the stove all winter through.  It made the house smell gorgeous and put some moisture into the air at the same time.  Wood fires can be so drying.

 

Isn't that pretty!  You stuff around the cinnamon stick with the oat, maple and cranberry stuffing. It helps to hold the cinnamon stick in place and adds even more lovely flavours to the apples.

 

They bake in a small baking dish along with some boiling water and a bit of Maple Syrup.  This forms a bit of a sauce when all is said and done, which is lovely spooned over the finished apples.

  

Depending on the apples you use it will take anywhere from between 40 minutes to an hour for them to bake to a nice softness  . . . I like them to be just soft enough to easily push the tip of a sharp knife into them.

 

These were done just right in about 45 minutes.  Take them out after about 40 and check them. If you think they are still hard, cover them up and pop them back in for a little bit longer.  Nobody enjoys a hard baked apple.

 

I have given quantities today for only two, but you can of course double or triple the amounts if you want more.

  

These were just perfect with some double cream poured into the bowl with them, but custard or vanilla ice cream would also be nice. In all truth they are also very tasty just on their own.

  

I bet I probably bake apples at least once a week in the Winter months. Todd just loves them and as far as dessert goes, they are not all that unhealthy.  Low in sugar and fat, and high in fibre too! 

 

I got a few other things from Buy Whole Foods.  Organic Barley Flour, (which I am going to make some bread with),Pickling Spice (I am thinking pickled carrots here or red onions.  It is also great with red cabbage), Turmeric Powder (Fabulous to give you brilliant colour in a curry and  also has a great many other health benefits) and Brewers Yeast, which is another great nutritional supplement.  Try it mixed into your hot drinks or smoothies.  It is a great source of chromium which can help control your blood sugar levels. You can also add it to baked goods. 

I really would like to recommend you checking out Buy Wholefoods Online!  They are a wonderful and affordable source for nuts, seeds, fruits, health supplements, herbs, spices, personal care and alternative therapies, speciality foods, Japanese foods, dried vegetables, coconut and a whole lot more!  Their prices are very reasonable and their delivery service impeccable. They have been my go-to for a lot of things over these last few years because I can trust them, and I think you will too! 

 

I recently created a delicious recipe for the people at Chef Knive's Expert.  This time it was a deliciously different and yet healthy recipe for Chicken Satay Skewers served with a fabulous Rainbow Salad.

 

Tender pieces of chicken breast meat are marinated in a lush peanut dressing and then loaded onto bamboo skewers along with cubes of pineapple, then popped under the grill until they are a tasty golden brown. 

 

These are served with a fabulously tasty and crunchy Rainbow salad with red cabbage, two type of sweet bell peppers, sugar snap peas and carrots, all in a tangy & tasty vinaigrette dressing that goes so very well with the chicken skewers!!

 

Deliciously healthy, colourful.  A veritable rainbow of textures, colours and flavours that the whole family will love! You can find the recipe here! 

 

I had a huge piece of leftover roast pork loin after my husband's Birthday lunch with friends the other day and I wasn't sure what to do with it.  

You know the whole time I grew up we never had hot roast pork.  My father didn't like hot roast pork, so my mother always cooked it the day before we had it for dinner and then we would have it sliced in thin slices with mustard for our supper.

 

This might sound awful, but I quite liked the texture and taste of the cold white fat on it . . .  ever the glutton.  

I do have to admit however as an adult I prefer my roast pork hot, and I don't eat the fat. Its much healthier that way!

 

I could have made a casserole with it, but I also had a quantity of leftover cooked vegetables as well. Carrots, swede, Brussels sprouts.  

I used them in this recipe, along with a chopped onion and some frozen veg.

 

Normally I would use chopped raw vegetables, but where I had these and they needed using I just used them. I did chop up the carrots and Knive-shred the sprouts.  

The swede (rutabaga) was mashed but coarsely, so a handful of that worked well also.

  

Fried rice is a very forgiving dish to make. It will work with just about whatever you have to throw into the pan.  Pork, chicken, beef, ham . . .  shrimps  . . .  

I have even made it with Spam and it was really good, let me tell you!  Spam Fried Rice is the best!  Don't knock it 'til you try it!

 

I save the frozen vegetables and add them at the end.  

Today I used peas and corn, but most times I only use peas.

 

Its flavoured with garlic, ginger, five spice powder and dark soy sauce . . .

 

I also like to use some of my homemade Ketjap Manis and Hoisin Sauce.  

I like the salty sweetness of the Ketjap Manis and the spiciness of the Hoisin sauce.

 

Ketjap Manis is an Indonesian thick and sweet soy sauce. If you have never tried it or made your own, you really should do. 

It's very easy to make and so delicious. You can find my recipe for it here.  I would not be without it.

 

A bit of toasted sesame oil also adds an authentic flavour which we love . . . along with garlic of course.

 

We enjoyed it along with some oven baked chicken tenders.  Crisp and delicious.  

I created a simple Oriental flavoured BBQ sauce to dip them in.

  

This sauce is as easy as whisking a few tasty ingredients together and is really yummy!

  

The rice along with the chicken tenders and sauce made for a very delicious supper indeed!

 

It always makes me really happy when I can use up my leftovers in a tasty and unique way.  Nothing boring here.  I've never had any complaints anyways! 

Up Tomorrow: Roussillon Baked Potatoes

 

Sausage wasn't something I enjoyed very much when I was growing up. I am not sure why.  I never really began to enjoy them at all until I was a grown woman and cooking my own.  I liked them almost burnt on the outside with catsup for dipping. My father enjoyed them dipped in mayonnaise.  As a child growing up in Canada, in my experience at least, there was only one kind of sausage.  Ordinary breakfast sausage, long thin cylinders of meat, stuffed into skins, fatty and flavoured with nutmeg and poultry seasoning. That was it. Growing up in the 50's /60's and early 70's in small communities meant that we were not exposed to outside flavours or choices.  We had what we had, and that was that.

It was not until I was an adult that I experienced another kind of sausage. My sister-in-law who lived in Toronto had studied at the Cordon Bleu and was considered to be an expert in cooking.  We spent the weekend at hers once, and she cooked sausages for us for breakfast.  These were not the sausages of my childhood, they were plump and fat and had a fabulous flavour.  She simmered them slowly in lemon water first and then browned them off in a skillet.  That is when I learnt to love sausage, and in the intervening years have come to enjoy all sorts and varieties.  What she served us that weekend were British Butchers Sausages and they were quite simply gorgeous in my opinion.

One of the most exciting foods I was introduced to moving over here to the UK was the great British Sausage, or Bangers as they are also lovingly called, and let me tell you, they have about as many different kinds as they do areas and counties here, a whole cornucopia of wonderful flavours, some of them quite spectacular. I have my favourites. 

 

The word "sausage" comes from the Latin, "salsicius", prepared by salting, which in turn comes from Salsus, meaning "salted."Sausages have been produced, eaten and enjoyed in Great Britain since Roman times. The Anglo-Saxons developed their own varieties and the Normans brought French ideas into the mix, including pure pork sausages, black puddings (made with blood) and the andouille, an entrail sausage known in England as chitterlings. 

You will find sausages in just about every country in the world, each with their own spin on this meat, fresh, dried and everything in between. What is it that makes British sausage stand out from the rest?  What is it about British sausage that makes it so great?  

For one we have such a wide variety to choose from . . .  Yorkshire, Oxford  . . . Cambridge, Cumberland . . .  Country Pork, and those are just the basics.  We stuff them with leeks and cheeses, spring onions, caramelised onions, mustard, honey, etc.  We enjoy them for breakfast and we enjoy them for lunch.  We love them for teatime, or high tea, and dinner.  We eat them in baguettes and rolled up in puff pastry.  Here in the UK, we just love our sausages, full stop!

In days of old they would have been dried and salted, perhaps even smoked, for preservation. These days for the most part however,  with the modern wonders of refrigeration, we tend to enjoy them fresh.  You can find them in other countries, but I have heard again and again how much people miss British Sausages where they live and how they can't find them, so first up I am going to give you a recipe which you can use to make your own homemade Basic British Pork Sausages 

Note - you can replace the shoulder and cheeks with 2 1/2 pounds of pork belly, reducing the amount of pork fat by about 1/3 of a pound.  

My absolute favourite of all the sausages has to be Cumberland sausage.  It is said to be the meatiest of all the sausages and has a very distinctive peppery flavour that I really enjoy. At one time they used to be made from a special breed of pig, which unfortunately died out back in the late 50's/early 60's. 

One of the most recognisable features of Cumberland sausage is that it is not twisted into links, but rather long length are shaped and rolled into a "Catherine Wheel" shape.  Some of them can be quite long and in Cumbria you actually buy the by the length rather than the weight.  We have had some really delicious ones when we have been staying up in Cumbria, that I have never been able to find anywhere else.  Traditionally they are flavoured with a mix of cayenne pepper, white pepper, ground nutmeg and salt, a combination which I find extremely delicious. Its nice and peppery.  If you want to have a try at making your own (and I hope that you do), it is best for you to just pipe the meat into two or three long sausages and then coil them into Cumberlands when done. You can then pan fry, grill or roast them as desired.  

TOAD IN THE HOLE - a British Comfort-food Favourite

A delightful and tasty comfort-food-recipe I discovered shortly after I arrived here was a lovely dish called Toad in the Hole. I had often heard about this British delicacy but had never had any idea of what it was let alone ever had the chance to try it. I soon learnt that it had nothing to do with holes, dirt, or even toads for that matter!

 

Sausage with Autumn Mash. 

 

Orchard Pan Roast with Sausages. 

 

Sage Roasted Bangers with Mash and Onion Gravy.  

 

Sticky Bangers with Chive & Buttermilk Mash. 

 

Sticky Sausage Tray Bake.

 

Dublin Coddle. 

 

Herby Sausages with Parsnip Mash and Stir Fried Cabbage. 

 

Cider and Honey Braised Sausages.  

 

Sticky Maple Bangers with Irish Champ.  

And there you have it, all I know about sausages.  How to make your own British Sausages, and a few ideas on how to cook them once you have them made!

Up Tomorrow:  Crispy Herbed Potato Rosettes.