I am truly a salad nut. I could eat salad seven nights a week and never tire of it . . . ever.

One of my favourite salad leaves to use, are the baby gems. I love them sliced into quarters and dressed with a simple vinaigrette, or a tasty blue cheese dressing . . . fabulous along with a scattering of sliced spring onion.



The little inner leaves make perfect little cups to hold a multitude of fillings, creating wonderful little hors oeuvres. I especially like a chicken caesar salad filling in them. With teeny weeny toasted croutons on top they can be a bit messy to eat, but oh so very fun to eat and quite popular with the guests where I work.



I think it's because baby gems have a lot of flavour. No salad wimps these. They have an assertive, almost bitter quality that lends itself perfectly to the salad.



I prepared a delicious green basil dressing to serve these lovely ones I picked up at the shops today. Slightly larger, they made the perfect salad, simply sliced in half, with some of the dressing drizzled over each half. Knive and fork salads . . . my favourite kind of all!



*Little Gems with a Creamy Basil Dressing*
Serves 6
printable recipe

I love this dressing. It has a beautiful colour and flavour. You can also use it on blanched vegetables such as broccoli and asparagus. It's very tasty!

1 cup good quality mayonnaise (I use Hellman's or French)
8 finely chopped spring onions, both the white and the green parts
1 cup of chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup of fresh flat leaf parsley leaves
the juice of two lemons
1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup creme fraiche
3 large heads of little gem lettuce, halved
a large hand full of cherry tomatoes, halved

Place the mayonnaise, spring onions, basil,parsley leaves, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper into your blender or the cup of a stick blender. Process and blend until smooth. Add the creme fraiche and pulse once or twice to combine. Cover and chill until you are ready to use it.

Cut each head of lettuce in half and arrange one half on each of six chilled salad plates. Scatter the tomatoe halves around and drizzle with some of the dressing. Serve. Pass any extra dressing at the table. This dressing will keep for several days, stored covered and in the refrigerator.

It sure has been hot here this past week . . . I think this is what they call the dog days of August. You know what I mean . . . hot and sticky . . . sapping your energy and making you feel lethargic and lazy.

Or at least that is the way it affects me. Thankfully though, it also cools down quite nicely in the evenings, so sleeping is not so bad or uncomfortable. If you've at least had a good night's sleep the muggy days are not so hard to take . . .



But you don't really want to put the oven on, or cook anything heavy . . .

Something light and refreshing is the rule of the day . . . something quick . . . easy . . . but always tasty.



I am a real lover of salads. Todd is not so much, but I always throw in a baked potato for him that I cook in the convection oven, so as not to heat up the kitchen. He's a meat and potatoes man and it's not a main meal for him unless there is a potato involved somewhere along the line.

This tasty salad with a baked potato on the side fits the bill perfectly for him . . . and he doesn't even complain that it's salad. There's cheese here . . . something else that he really likes.



*Herbed Chicken Salad*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Quick to make and low in fat, this is the perfect supper salad for a hot and humid summer's evening. We love eating this with bread sticks, but toasted pita breads go really well also.

For the Chicken:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 TBS fresh lemon juice

For the Salad:
8 cups chopped Cos lettuce
1/2 English Cucumber, peeled and cut into cubes
1 small punnet of baby plum tomatoes, cut in halves
a small handful of pitted kalamata olives, halved
2 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled

For the Dressing:
1 cup plain Greek Yoghurt
2 to 3 tsp tahini Isesame seed paste)
1/2 tsp garlic paste
1 to 2 TBS fresh lemon juice (depending on how tart you want the dressing)
salt and black pepper to taste



Mix the oregano, garlic powder, black pepper and salt together for the chicken. Heat a large skillet, which you have sprayed with low fat cooking spray, over medium high heat. Add the chicken pieces and sprinkle with the herb mixture. Saute until the chicken is cooked through and slightly browned. Drizzle with the lemon juice and remove from the heat.

Make the dressing by whisking together all the dressing ingredients. Set aside.

Divide the lettuce amongst 4 chilled salad plates. Divide the olives, tomatoes and cucumber evenly amongst them as well. Scatter 1/4th of the chicken mixture over each. Crumble the feta cheese over all. Place the dressing into a small pouring container, for each person to drizzle over their own salads. Serve immediately.

I've always found recipes, cooking and food very interesting. I've been collecting recipes since I was 7 or 8 and have always found the chemistry of it fascinating. I can be cooking a cake, for instance, and I will start to think and ask myself questions . . .


Questions like, who was the first person that put flour, eggs, fat and sugar together and came up with cake? And why? What inspired them to do so?



I have always found it amazing that, by combining just a few simple ingredients together, you can create something totally edible and wonderfully tasty. . . and that you can then take the same ingredients and put them together in a different way, using a different method and come up with something equally as delicious, but totally different!




For instance . . . you can put together a starch (bread), some cheese and sliced tomatoes, and then, with a bit of seasoning, you have a scrumptious cheese and tomato sandwich . . .

or . . .



change the starch to a pie crust and layer in the tomatoes and cheese, add a bit of onion and herbs, and some mayo . . .

and you have a deliciously moreish summer pie!



*Country Tomato Pie*
Serves 4-6
Printable Recipe

This is a really tasty supper dish, just perfect for these summer days when the tomatoes are ripening on the vine fastet than we can get them used up! I also make this in the winter, but I use tinned tomatoes then. I use one tin of chopped tomatoes, and I drain them really well, and then, I squeeze as much moisture out of them as I can.

2 to 3 large tomatoes
1 small bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced
1 TBS julliened fresh basil (roll several leaves into a cigar shape and cut crosswise)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 to 1 cup good quality mayonnaise (I like to use French Mayonnaise)
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 partially baked 9 inch wide, deep pie shell



Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. If you are using fresh tomatoes, peel. This can be very easily done by cutting a small x with a sharp knife on the bottom. Dip into boiling water and leave for 30 to 40 seconds. Remove from the boiling water and plunge into ice water. The skin should now easily slip right off.

Slice the tomatoes into thick slices. Place them in layers into the pastry shell, sprinkling each layer with some spring onions, basil, salt and pepper. Mix together the mayonnaise and the cheese. Spread this mixture over top of the tomatoes. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until the filling is nicely browned.

Remove and allow to sit for 10 minutes before cutting into slices to serve. Delicious!

I think by now you all know that plums hold a very special place in my affections.

They, quite simply are my favourite fruit, but only when they are in season . . . to buy them any other time of year simply doesn't do the fruit any justice, that is unless you are talking about French Pluots . . . those I could eat any time of the year, all ripe and sweet and juicy.



We do have lovely purple plum trees, right here on the Estate, just dripping with those purple-hued jewels, and begging to be made into jams, chutney's, cakes . . . tarts . . .



What could be better on a lazy warm summer Sunday afternoon, than a perfectly baked, rustic plum tart, served warm with lashings of extra thick spooning cream . . .



It doesn't get any better than this . . . ahhh . . . this is my bliss . . .


*Rustic Plum Tart*
Makes one 7 by 11 inch tart
Printable Recipe

I love anything rustic and fuss free. That's why I love this tart so much. Using purchased pastry and a few additional ingredients, you can have a delicious plum tart cooling, ready to be eaten in less than an hour. I love the marzipan that lies like a tasty secret underneath the plums. This will have them coming back for more.

1 package of ready rolled short crust pastry, all butter, thawed if frozen
3 TBS golden marzipan, cut into pieces
1 TBS plain flour
half a dozen or so purple plums, pitted and cut into thin wedges
2 tsp golden caster sugar
1 tsp granulated sugar
1/4 cup plum or red currant jam
2 TBS water



Pre-heat the oven to 190*C/375*F. Unroll your pastry and use it to line a 7 by 11 inch baking tin, allowing the excess to overhang. Sprinkle the bits of marzipan evenly over the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle with the flour. Arrange the sliced plums over top of the flour and marzipan, in overlapping rows. Sprinkle with the 2 tsp of sugar. Fold the overhang over the plums, creating a 1 inch free form ragged edge. Sprinkle the edges with the granulated sugar. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the fruit bubbles, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven to a wire rack to cool. In a small saucepan, combine the jam and water. Heat over medium heat until warm. Remove from the heat and pass through a sieve, discarding any solids. Brush the warm glaze over the plums in the tart. Allow to cool slightly, before cutting into slices to serve.

I have to confess . . . I didn't eat a lot of lamb before I moved over here to the UK. My sole experience of eating lamb had been when I was a teen. My mother purchased some lamb chops at the local IGA and cooked them for us. Sadly, they smelled like she was burning a woolen mitten when they were cooking, and none of us would eat them.

Since my arrival over here though, I have come to realize that good lamb doesn't smell like burning mittens, and that it tastes luxiously rich and delicious when cooked properly. I love it so much so that Todd and I had lamb for our wedding celebration dinner, and I cook it fairly often.



Most often I cook my lamb cutlets only slightly, so that they are still meltingly pink and succulent on the insides . . . a brief searing heat on both sides of no more than 2 minutes, simply seasoned with some sea salt and cracked black pepper. Not everyone's choice I know, but I do so love it that way myself . . . with a bit of mint sauce on the side . . . and some lightly steamed baby new potatoes and fresh veg. My idea of heaven . . .



Once in a while though, it's nice to break free from the norm and try something completely new and different. When I received these lovely lamb cutlets last week from the nice folks at Abel & Cole I knew just the recipe I wanted to use for them . . . my adaption of one from Sophie Grigson's cookery book, "Country Kitchen." Abel & Cole organic lamb is very special, raised from slow growing traditional breeds, and grazed on lush green grass and wild herbs. Special lamb deserves top treatment, and I knew any recipe of Sophie's would be pretty wonderful.



If you like roasted root vegetables, roasted so that they are sweetly caramelized on the outsides and meltingly tender on the insides . . . combined with eastern spice . . . and topped off with lucious lamb cutlets, then this recipe is for you.

It's fabulous. So fabulous that, although it was supposed to serve four . . . in this house, it only served two . . . *smack*



*Spiced Lamb Chops with Roasted Roots*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is a very tasty, and mildly spiced dish of lamb and vegetables, all cooked together in one roasting pan. It looks like a lot of ingredients, but they go together very simply and with everything being banged together into one roasting tin, there's not a lot to clean up afterwards!

2 heaped TBS of tamarind paste
7 fluid ounces of boiling water
4 TBS sunflower oil
12 small new potatoes
6 carrots
3 large parsnips
3 red onions, peeled and quartered
6 cloves of garlic, whole and unpeeled
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black onion seeds (called kalonji or nigella seeds as well)
4 meaty lamb cutlets or chops
coarse sea salt, freshly ground black pepper



Pre-heat the oven to 220*C/425*F. Place the tamarind paste in a bowl along with the hot water and sunflower oil, whisking it together well. Whisk in the tumeric, cumin seeds and Kalongi. Mix together well. Peel the carrots in cut them half lengthwise. Peel the parsnips and quarter them. Remove the tough inner core. Peel the new potatoes if desired. Place all the vegetables in a large roasting tin along with the onion quarters and garlic cloves. Pour the tamarind mixture over top and disperse amongst the vegetables using your hands. Cover tightly with tinfoil and then bang the pan into the oven and roast them, covered, for half an hour. Remove from the oven and discard the foil. Give the vegetables a good stir and then bury the lamb cutlets down into them, making sure they are coated in the juices. Return to the oven and roast, uncovered, for an additional 40 to 50 minutes, until the chops are cooked and the vegetables are all very tender and gorgeously caramelized on the edges. (Check once in a while and add a bit more water if need be.) When done, serve immediately with some crusty bread.

Since I arrived in the UK, some 9 years ago now, I have never seen anything but a brown egg. Back home we always paid more for brown eggs, but here they are pretty standard fare. You can get eggs with blue and greenish tinted shells, but they are from a particular kind of hen. (Who's name escapes me at this particular moment!)



I have long been a proponent of buying only free range organic eggs. In fact that is the only type that my local shop sells. (Waitrose) I like to think that I am buying happy eggs, laid by happy chickens. It makes me feel better about what I am eating. They do cost more though, a lot more, but I guess that is the price you pay for hen freedom . . .

I used to work in a hen house grading eggs when I was a young bride many moons ago. They were battery hens. Todd also worked on a battery hen farm, many years ago. We both had to quit as our consciences were really bothered by what we saw. Our hearts just could not take it. they say that the heart can't grieve what the heart can't see . . . but our hearts saw plenty.



When I was a child I could not eat fried eggs at all, or any kind of egg with a runny yolk. My mother had the stomach flu one time and so my dad had to cook for us for a few days. All he could cook was fried eggs. I ended up with the stomach flu myself after a few days and so . . . let's just say, runny eggs were a no go for me for a very long time.

I am actually eating them now and rather enjoying them! Especially with toast fingers, or soldiers as they call them over here . . .

This is my version of egg and chips, kicked up a notch.



*Pan Roasted Eggs and Tomatoes*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

Simple, economical and full of delicious flavours, this recipe is proof positive that tasty doesn't have to be complicated. You can multiply this to make more servings, but I don't recommend cooking any more than two eggs in the pan at any one time. You could also do individual servings in small skillets and serve them right in the skillet at the table for a unique presentation.

2 TBS good quality extra virgin olive oil
1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 (400g) tin of diced plum tomatoes with juice
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 leaves of fresh basil, torn, or 1/2 tsp basil
2 large free range eggs



Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat until hot. Add the olive oil and heat just until it begins to shimmer. Add the garlic and saute it until it becomes fragrant. Pour in the tinned tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and throw in the basil. Turn the heat down to low and allow to simmer for a few minutes until the flavours are well melded and the tomatoes have thickened a bit. Break the eggs into the pan, leaving some space between them. Cook until the whites just start to set, then pop a cover over top and continue to cook until the eggs are set and done to your taste. (We like them with the yolks a bit runny) Season the yolks with a bit of salt and pepper and serve with toasted bread fingers for dipping.

Early this spring a good friend of ours gave us some tomato plants. She said that she had far more than she needed and wanted to give them a good home.

We didn't have to think twice about accepting them. There is nothing more delicious on earth than tomatoes fresh off the vine, with the warmth of the summer sun still on their skin.



We planted them in plastic pots and right now they are producing abundantly, beautiful little cherry tomatoes, so full of flavour I could eat them just like, well . . . cherries!! A handful of these tasty little gems and I am in heaven!



The other night I made a tasty pasta salad with some of them as well as a roasted cherry tomato sauce to pop into the freezer for another time.

Today you get the salad. Enjoy!



*Incredibly Tasty Pasta Salad*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe

Not only is this a wonderfully easy side dish for these hot summer evenings, but if you chose to add a bit of cooked chicken or ham, or even some cheese, you would have a really tasty salad main course! The dressing is phenomenal and makes more than you need, but that's ok, once you taste it you will always want to have a bottle of it in your fridge ready to use for other salads! This tangy sun dried tomato dressing will keep about a week, covered, in the fridge

For the Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup (50ml) drained oil packed sun dried tomatoes
2 TBS good quality Balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup (125ml) cold water
1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and minced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp caster sugar
1/4 tsp black pepper
pinch of salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
For the Salad:
8 ounces pasta, cooked, drained, rinsed in cold water and drained again
1 punnet of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 medium red pepper, chopped
1 medium yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 English cucumber, peeled and chopped
3 to 4 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
2 1/2 ounces of dry cured black olives, pitted and chopped
1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 TBS chopped flat leaf parsley



Put all the ingredients for the vinaigrette into a blender and blitz until fairly smooth and well blended. Set aside. Mix the pasta, vegetables and olives together in a large bowl. Add 1 cup (8 ounces) of the salad dressing to the pasta mix and gently mix together. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the chopped parsley over top and serve immediately. You may make this ahead and keep it stored in the refrigerator. Just add a bit more of the dressing before you serve it.

 

The cottage we live in lies in the beautiful English countryside atop a hillside in rural Kent. We are almost totally surrounded by fruit orchards . . . apples of all varities and pears. It makes for great beauty in the springtime when the air is filled with the sight and smell of beautiful blossom . . . and in the late summer and early autumn, the air is filled with the smell of ripening apples.



We often walk through the orchards as there is a public footpath that runs past our humble home and on through the orchards. Jess, our Border Collie, loves to wander through them with us, quite often with one of the drops in her mouth. Playing ball is her favourite game to play and an apple is just another ball to her . . .



One of the nice things is that we are allowed to pick up the drops ourselves and we often do. I'll bring them home and make a big pot of applesauce if they are cooking apples . . . big green Bramely Apples . . . tart and full of that wonderful apple flavour. Each year I am able to make lots of applesauce with the apples that we find as well as pies, cakes and this delicious dessert, called Eve's Pudding, comprised of scrumptious stewed apples baked beneath a thatch of delicious sponge cake. Lashings of custard are a MUST have, or you can do cream . . . as you wish.



We are partial to custard though . . .



This is one tasty mess that Eve got Adam into . . .



*Eve's Pudding*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This pudding is proof positive that you can create something totally delicious with a few simple ingredients. This is an old English favourite from way back.

400g cooking apples (about 2 1/2 cups)
the grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
75g demerara sugar (6 TBS Turbinado)
2 TBS water
75g of butter, plus more for greasing the pudding pan (1/3 cup)
75g caster sugar (6 1/2 TBS)
1 large free range egg
100g self raising flour (3/4 cup plus 1 TBS)



Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Lightly butter a 1 litre baking dish. Set aside.

Peel, core and slice the apples thinly. Place them into a bowl and mix together with the lemon zest, lemon juice, demerara sugar and the water. Pour this mixture into the buttered baking dish.

Cream the butter together with the caster sugar, until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg. mixing it in well. Fold in the flour lightly and then spread the resulting batter over top of the apples in the baking dish.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until the apples are soft and the sponge is firm and nicely browned.

Serve warm with lashings of custard or cream!