If you were to look through my cottage home, you would see fairies tucked in here and there all over the house. I am a great collector of fairies, and a believer in their magic as well . . .

The sight of them brings joy and light, especially when you find them tucked away in hidden unexpected corners . . . little surprises just for your eyes.



I have long wanted to paint little wooden doors to tuck into the bases of trees and rocks here and there in my garden . . . only lacking the time to do so . . . but the wish is there in my mind. One day I'll make the wish a reality.



In the meantime I treat us to these fudgy little Christmas Fairy cakes. Not sure why they call these fairy cakes over here . . . but it is a name that trips off the tongue like silver . . .



Not large enough to be called a muffin or a cupcake . . . these are delightful little fudgy bites . . .



with just a hint of ginger that will leave you wondering . . .

was that the whispery kiss of a fairy on your lips?



*Toffee Ginger Fairy Cakes*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

Delicious little fairy cakes, topped with a creamy fudgy icing and little bits of fudge toffee. Scrumptious!

For the cakes:
100g softened butter
100g soft light brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp vanilla paste
25g golden syrup
100g self raising flour. sifted
2 medium eggs, at room temperature and well beaten

For the fudgy icing:
25g butter
50g soft light brown sugar
2 TBS cream
100g icing sugar, sifted

To decorate:
pieces of fudge toffee
(cut into small cubes with a sharp knife)

Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. Place paper fairy cases into a 12 cup bun tin. Set aside.

Beat the butter and the brown sugar together with a wooden spoon until pale and creamy. Beat in the ginger and vanilla paste, until well amalgamated. Beat in the golden syrup/

Gradually add the sifted flour and the egg, beating well after each addition, until all have been added and the mixture is thick and creamy. Spoon into the fairy cases, dividing the batter equally amongst them. Bake for 15 minutes, or until well risen and golden brown. Remove from the pan to a wire rack to cool completely before proceeding.

Make the icing just before you are ready to ice the cakes. Melt the butter and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil and then add the cream. Simmer on low for about 5 minutes. Beat in the icing sugar until smooth. If the mixture becomes too stiff, beat in a tablespoon of boiling water and beat again. Spread the icing over the cooled cakes and decorate with bits of the fudge toffee.

Back in the 1970's my ex husband and I were posted to BATUS (British Army Training Unit Services) in Suffield, Alberta which is where I tasted curry for the very first time and fell in love. My friend Cathy Giles, who was a Liverpudlian, made me my very first curry and it was pure heaven.

She added a whole bottle of curry powder, so it was a bit spicy, but again . . . it was lovely. I find at my advancing age though, and with a husband in his 70's we can't handle too spicy these days, so you'll find that our curry is always on the milder side.



Over here in the UK, Curry is like a National Dish. Kind of a hangover from the British colonial days in India I guess. I reckon there are as many curry houses over here as there are fish and chip shops and chips with curry sauce ladles over are a very popular dish up North. Most Friday nights out with the guys or gals end up in a curry house . . . no surprise there.

I think curry is something that you either love or you hate.



We just happen to love it. Just the smell of it cooking gets my tastebuds tingling . . . but I know other people that get a whiff of it and want to gag and run for the hills.

I guess it's all a matter of taste, and . . . as my mother always said, there's no accounting for some people's tastes . . .



I'm rather lazy when it comes to curries though, especially when I only have a little bit of time to throw a quick dinner together during my lunch break. This is one of my quick, cheap and cheerful dinners. A bit of pilau rice, some naan (To sop up all that lovely sauce), an onion bhajis or two or three . . . some samosas, and we are in curry house heaven!

(Grrr . . . just noticed I forgot to scatter on the coriander before I took these pictures, but . . . I'm sure you'll forgive me won't you?)




*Chicken Curry in a Hurry*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

This beats anything that comes out of a jar hands down. It's so easy and quick too!

2 ounces butter
2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
3 large cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 inches of fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
(I use my microplane grater)
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp ground tumeric
1/2 tsp ground mild chili powder
2 ounces blanched almonds, chopped
2 bay leaves
500g of chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
6 ounces boiling water
150ml coconut cream
salt and pepper to taste
150ml of single cream
150g of thick plain yoghurt
2 TBS chopped coriander leaves to garnish



Melt the butter in a large skillet. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook for about 5 minutes without colouring. Stir in the spices, bay leaves and nuts. Cook for 3 minutes, until very fragrant, stirring constantly. Add the chicken chunks, and stir around and cook for several minutes, until beginning to brown a bit. Pour on the boiling water, along with the coconut cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Leave to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the chicken is quite tender. Mix the yoghurt and cream together and whisk into the chicken. Heat gently without allowing it to boil. It will curdle if it boils. Scatter over the chopped coriander and then serve immediately with some pilau rice and or naan bread.

Dried fruit is a great thing to have in your larder.

Back home in Nova Scotia, in the apple growing area that I grew up in, most people dried their own apples every autumn. It was quite common to see long strings of them, threaded and hanging behind the kitchen wood stove in most country homes. Oh the scent . . . woodsmoke and drying apples. This speaks autumn to me.

Other than raisins, sultanas, dates and currants, those dried apples were pretty much the only dried fruits we had available to us.



Now you can get a great many different varieties . . . pears, plums, pluots, cranberries, pineapple . . . amongst many . . . and of course, my absolute favourite . . . dried mango! I first tasted this delicacy when my son brought me a few packets when he came to visit us from the Philippines, and I was hooked!




Mostly . . . I just like to eat the larger varieties of dried fruit out of hand. They are a wonderful low fat snack, sweet and chock full of energy. A little goes a very long way.



But occasionally, it is nice to know that you can also make a delicious winter dessert using a variety of them.



A dessert, that is every bit as nice, and possibly nicer in some ways, than a dessert made using fresh fruit.



It's also nice to know that, as long as you keep a tidy little variety of them in your larder, you can make this tasty dessert . . .

any . . . time . . . you desire it.

Any time at all.



Trust me . . . one taste of this and you will desire it . . .

Often.

I can see myself making this more than once during the Christmas holidays.
(Adapted from the cookery book, Long Nights and Log Fires)



*Mulled Winter Fruit Crumble*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This lovely spiced crumble just screams out Christmas!! It has a comforting and homey smell whilst it is cooking. Just delicious! You can use a medium bodied fruity red wine instead of the fruit cordial I have used here if you wish.

350g mixed dried fruits, such as sultanas, cranberries, apricots, figs or mango, pawpaw, pineapple
(I used golden raisins, cranberries, pluots, and apricots)
200ml of undiluted fruit cordial
(I used Pixley & Berries Black Currant It's just lovely!)
100ml of water
1 small muslin bag containing a piece of cinnamon stick, a few cloves, a few allspice berries. Tie in bag and
then crush a bit with a rolling pin)
a thin strip of fresh orange peel
50g caster sugar

For the Topping:
200g wholemeal flour
1/4 tsp mixed spice
a pinch of salt
100g chilled butter
100g demerara sugar

To Serve:
Thick cream or Vanilla Ice cream

Pre-heat the oven to 190*C/375*F. Place a baking tray in the oven to heat. Chop the dried fruit into bite sized pieces if they are large. Place them into a saucepan and add the sugar, cordial and water, along with the spice bag and orange peel. Bring gently to a simmer and then allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Once cool, remove the spice bag and orange peel, and spoon into a shallow baking dish.

Make the topping by whisking the flour, spice and salt together. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Stir in the sugar and then sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over top of the mulled fruit. Put the dish on the hot baking tray and then place in the heated oven. Bake for 25 minutes, or until crisp and golden on top.

I make no secret about the fact that I just love parsnips. Boiled, roasted, fried, mashed . . . I'll take em any way that I can get em!!

It's been so cold here. In fact today we had our first frost of the year, which seems a bit early to me, but then . . . it is December and that is to be expected. At least the rain held off today. I'm afraid that one does get quite, quite sick of rain over here . . . I'd ruther have snow.



Along with the cooler temperatures, comes the desire to eat warm and comforting foods. . . foods like this tasty soup.

It's thick and rich, and oh-so-delicious! Full of the sweet flavour of parsnip, carrot, and chestnut, and the lovely smokey flavours of spanish chorizo sausage. It's also very filling, so it makes a meal in and of itself.



All you need to go with it, is a crusty loaf, warm from the oven . . . with sweet butter to gild it's crusty edges.



The chorizo and the hot pepper flakes give it a tasty bite, that warms the cockles of the heart.



This be comfort food, plain and simple.



*Parsnip, Chorizo and Chestnut Soup*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

This is a rich and full flavoured soup. Just perfect after a chilly winter walk. It's quite heavy and rich so a little goes a long way. Serve hot with some crusty bread for the perfect
light supper.

125g raw chorizo, peeled and chopped
1 medium white onion, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 stick of celery, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
3 parsnips, peeled and chopped
1/4 tsp dried chili flakes
1 tsp ground cumin
200g peeled, cooked chestnuts
(fresh or vaccum packed)
1 litre of hot vegetable stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the chorizo into a large saucepan and heat gently for several minutes, until the oil is released from the chorizo and it becomes slightly crispy. Lift out with a slotted spoon and set aside. Keep warm. Add the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and parsnips to the pan, stirring to coat them with the oil. Cover and let sweat over low heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the chili flakes and cumin. Stir and cook until quite fragrant. Season to taste with some salt and pepper. Add the hot stock and the chestnuts. Cover and simmer over low heat for 25 to 30 minutes, or until all the vegetables and chestnuts are very tender. Puree with a stick blender until smooth, or in a regular blender. (with care) Ladle into warmed soup bowls and scatter some of the crispy chorizo over top of each to serve.

You might be forgiven for thinking that the above vegetable is some wierd alien species of potato! You would be in fact wrong, for it is not a potato at all, but a wonderful delicacy known as the Jerusalem Artichoke.

What's that you say??? Looks nothing like an artichoke! Well, that would be because they are two completely dissimilar vegetables and plants. One (the regularArtichoke) is a thistle type flower of a plant, and the other is the tuberous root of a particular species of sunflower. Often called sunchokes or sun roots, and even earth apples, these are one of my favourite vegetables . . . cooked into beautifully rich winter soups, mashed and souffled, or layered in casseroles and gratins.



They do have one drawback though . . .

Not to be indelicate, but . . . they can create a lot of . . . *ahem* . . . shall we say . . . wind . . . for some people who eat them . . .

I do make a wonderfully delicious Jerusalem Artichoke and Lentil soup, which creates somewhat of a double dose of the . . . *ahem* . . . self same problem, but . . . is well worth the consequences of eating it, as it is soooo delicious!!!



Here I've combined them with another of my favourite vegetables, parsnips . . . and created a delicious gratin . . . not to be missed!



I think you will love this. It goes wonderfully with chicken or fish and even pork.

Oh heck . . . it goes wonderfully with anything, and even makes a delicious vegetarian main option, as long as you use a vegetarian cheese.



Enjoy! We sure did! No matter the . . . ummm . . . consequences . . .



*Jerusalem Artichoke and Parsnip Gratin*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Two of my favourite vegetables combined in a tasty Gratin. What more could you ask for?

500g of parsnips, peeled and sliced
500g Jerusalem Artichokes, peeled and dropped into acidulated water
(water with some lemon or vinegar added to help prevent them from browning)
2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and mashed
5 to 6 stalks of fresh thyme
2 TBS butter
2 TBS grainy mustard
4 TBS grated gruyere cheese, divided
100ml white wine
250ml double cream
salt and pepper to taste

Parboil the parsnips in lightly salted water for about 8 minutes, then drain well and set aside. Do the same with the artichokes, cooking them for about 15 minutes. Drain well and then slice the same thickness as the parsnips.

Pre-heat the oven to 200*C/400*F. Place the garlic into a saucepan along with the butter. Heat over low heat until the garlic becomes very fragrant and soft. Add the thyme, mustard and white wine. Heat gently and then whisk 2 TBS of the gruyere cheese.

Butter a shallow gratin dish. Layer the blanched and sliced vegetables in the dish, seasoning with some salt and pepper. Pour the wine mixture over top and give the dish a bit of a shake to distribute it evenly. Drizzle the double cream over top. Cover tightly and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle the remaining TBS of gruyere on top and bake for an additional 15 minutes, uncovered or until the vegetables are completely tender and the dish has become golden brown on top.

There is no doubt in my mind that blueberries and lemons go together like . . . well, peas and carrots!!

I grew up in rural Nova Scotia, a very small province in Canada with a distinctly maritime climate . . . and ditches and fields just chock full of wild blueberries in late summer and early autumn. Wild blueberries were always something I had taken very much for granted when I was a child, and even as an adult . . .



Flicker
until I couldn't get them anymore. That is when we seem to miss things the most . . . when they are seemingly out of our reach.

It is my dream to visit home again one summer . . . when the corn is ripe for the picking and eating . . . and when the wild blueberries once again are deep purple and growing profusely in the brush along the bye ways and highways of my beautiful home province.



We do have cultivated berries here, and they are quite tasty . . . but nothing ever comes quite up to that beautiful taste of the wild berry, all that fruity flavour concentrated into a small juicy berry no larger than the tip of my baby finger . . . ahh . . . bliss.



We do get wild blueberry preserves over here though, and they are quite tasty in a pinch! I love them on my toast in the morning and spread onto fluffy buttermilk pancakes . . . all warm and stodgy good, with melted butter gilding and soaking into their lace like crisp edges.



Sometimes for a treat on a Sunday afternoon, I make us a lovely jelly roll, or Swiss roll as it is called over here in the UK . . . and I spread it through the middle with sweet and tasty wild blueberry preserves . . .



I like to eat it with my fingers, and while I eat . . . I dream of August days when the air is dry and hot . . . and filled with the sounds of humming insects . . .



of ice cream buckets filled to over flowing with wild blueberries . . . the smell of wild brush in the heat of the sun . . . fingers and teeth stained blue from our exertions . . . aching backs after hours spent hunched over in this glorious labour of love . . . and . . . well . . .

of home . . .



*Lemon Scented Blueberry Swiss Roll*
Makes one 12 inch roll
Printable Recipe

This swiss roll has to be one of the easiest and quickest cakes in the world! You can have the cake mixed together, baked and cooling on the countertop in less than 15 minutes!

For the cake:
3 large free range eggs
5 ounces caster sugar
2 TBS milk
the finely grated zest of one un-waxed lemon
5 ounces plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
a handful of slivered almonds
caster sugar for rolling
1/2 pint of blueberry preserves



Pre-heat the oven to 230*C/450*F. Line a swiss roll pan (8 by 12 inches) with greaseproof paper and set aside.

Break the eggs into a bowl and add the sugar. Beat together with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Add the milk and the lemon zest. Whisk together the flour and baking powder. Fold this into the egg mixture, making sure all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Pour into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the slivered almonds on top.

Bake for about 5 minutes in the centre of the oven. Cake is done when lightly browned and when it springs back when lightly touched.

Have a sheet of grease proof paper ready on which you have sprinkled more caster sugar. Remove the cake from the oven and turn out immediately onto the sugar coated paper. Carefully peel off the greaseproof from the baked cake. Roll up the cake in the caster sugar covered paper, from one long side towards the other, tucking in the first long side tightly. Set aside and allow to cool completely before proceeding.

Once the cake is cooled, unroll and spread with the blueberry preserves. Reroll. Cut into 1/2 inch thick slices to serve.

hmmm . . . the thought just occurs to me that this would be lovely in a lemon trifle . . . stay tuned!!

We just love pork in this house, especially free range pork. Loaded with flavour it's positively delicious. You just can't ask for a nicer piece of meat. Our local Waitrose stocks beautifully flavoured Hampshire bred free range pork that is absolutely wonderful . . . delicate and sweet . . . with just a hint of apple . . .

I particularly love pork tenderloin. It's mild flavour and texture are such a treat. It requires very little cooking time, and cooked properly, is always moist and tender . . . My mother always cooked pork to death, but I think most people did back then. Admidst great fears of trichinosis, pork in those days was always well cooked . . . over-cooked really. Never mind, we loved her pork chops anyways, and were always well pleased when they were on the menu, especially when accompanied with her tasty milk gravy and a mound of fluffy mash!




Sage and garlic have such a wonderful affinity with pork. They're like the holy trinity of pork, and you just can't get much better than that combination . . .



well . . . unless you decide to wrap it in some smokey Italian Proscuitto ham, . . . with some earthy brown mushrooms . . .



and tart fresh lemon thrown in to the mix, for an added layer of flavour . . .



mmm . . . this combination is pure heavenly bliss . . . moreishly scrummy . . . absolutely . . . the best!



sorry mom . . .



*Pounded Pork Tenderloin with Lemon, Sage and Mushrooms*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A delicious pork dish with an abundance of flavours, all melding together into a wonderful taste experience. Be careful not to over cook the pork so that it drys out. You will be rewarded with meltingly tender pieces of meat if you follow my advice.

16 ounces pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 8 thick slices
salt and black pepper
8 fresh sage leaves
8 slices of proscuitto ham
1 punnet of brown mushrooms, sliced
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
£ TBS butter
1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
a handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
the juice of one lemon

Place the pork slices in between two sheets of cling film and carefully pound it with the side of a rolling pin until you have pork cutlets, about 1/4 inch thick, without tearing the meat. Season well on both sides with salt and black pepper. Chop the sage leaves and sprinkle some on each cutlet. Wrap a piece of proscuitto around each and secure with a cocktail stick. Set aside.

Melt 1 TBS of butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Once it begins to foam add the mushrooms. Cook without stirring until they begin to brown, then stir them so that you can brown them all over. Scoop out to a bowl and set aside.

Add the olive oil and garlic to the pan. Cook over medium high heat until the garlic becomes quite fragrant. Working in two batches brown the pork well on each side, no more than 2 minutes per side. Remove from the pan to a platter and set aside. Add the remaining 2 TBS of butter to the pan. Cook until it turns a nut brown, about 2 minutes, and then remove from the heat. Stir in the lemonjuice and the parsley. Add the mushrooms to the pan and then pour the mixture over the warm cutlets. Serve immediately.

When I was growing up my mother couldn't get us to eat oatmeal, not for love or money. None of us would. It reminded us too much of wallpaper paste, or glue . . .

I know . . . we were spoilt . . . we were reared on tasty breakfast cereals such as Cap'n Crunch, Fruit Loops and Puffa Puffa Rice . . .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/MarieAlice/The%20English%20Kitchen/cookingoatmeal008.jpg

As an adult I have come to love my oats in the morning. There is nothing tastier, nutritious or more filling to start off your day.

They're good for your heart, and help to lower blood cholesterol. Loaded with healthy fibre and vitamins, and well known for being one of the best foods for those who are seeking to lose fat and stay healthy.



I love Scottish Pinhead oats, or steel cut oats as they are also known. They have more texture and a real nutty flavour that we here in Oak Cottage just love.



This is my perfected way of cooking them. I could eat this every morning and would choose it over anything else in a heartbeat!!



If you would have told me that when I was ten, I would have thought you quite insane . . . although . . . being the perfectly well behaved child that I was, I would never have told you so . . . ☺



*Perfect Oatmeal*
serves 3 to 4
Printable Recipe

Also known as Scotch oats, Irish oatmeal and pinhead oats, Steel cut oats are whole oats that have been cut into thirds instead of rolled and flattened into flakes. Yummo! (Psst!! Use a wooden spoon for stirring and cooking them! Don't ask me why, but they taste better! )

1 1/2 pints water
1/2 pint of whole milk
25g unsalted butter
6 ounces of steel cut oats
pinch salt

Place the water and milk into a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Keep simmering on medium low heat while you toast the oats. (you do NOT want it to boil)

Heat a medium heavy based skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and heat until the butter starts to foam. Add the oats and toast, stirring constantly until golden and fragrant and having an almost butterscotch aroma. This should take several minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk the toasted oats into the simmering water/milk mixture. Simmer gently for around 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens. Stir in the salt and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, for another 6 to 8 minutes, or until the oatmeal is thick and creamy like a custard pudding. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for about 5 minutes, undisturbed before serving. Serve immediately with your choice of additions. I personally like cream and a bit of golden syrup, but you may like something else. Maple syrup is good as are raisins and other dried fruits, and brown sugar. Enjoy!!