Everyone should have a recipe like this up their sleeves. A fabulous soup which makes good use of ingredients that are in most people's larders, and goes together lickety split . . . with very little effort.



Quick and easy . . . and simple to execute. Don't let that fool you into thinking that it's simplicity will affect it's taste. This is quite, quite delicious.

Your family will think you have slaved all day over it . . .



Just make sure you bury the tins deep in the bin, and your secret will be safe!




I promise not to tell. Cross my heart!




*Simply Tasty Tomato Soup*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Simple, tasty and very easy, this store cupboard soup is bound to become a family favourite.

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 TBS butter
2 (400g) tins of dice plum tomatoes with garlic and olive oil
1 (295g) tin of condensed tomato soup (Batchelors or Campbells) undiluted
250ml of milk
boiling water as needed
dash of tabasco sauce
1 tsp dried basil (I use Bart Freeze Dried)
1 tsp dried parsley flakes (once again I use Bart Freeze Dried)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

To Garnish:
garlic croutons
2 ounces grated cheddar cheese



Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onion and saute, stirring occsionally, until softened. Stir in the undrained tomatoes, tinned soup and milk. Add enough boiling water to give you a desirable consistency. Bring almost to the boil. Stir in the tabasco, basil and parsley flakes. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook on low for 10 to 15 minutes until the flavours melt together. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle out into heated bowls, garnishing each serving with some croutons and grated cheese.



By the way, I am giving away a tasty muffin cookbook and a pretty set of scales over on my other blog, A Year From Oak Cottage. Be sure to hop on over and check it out.

This is the time of year when I begin to reap the benefits of all those hours spent in the Bramble Hedges last autumn, picking bucket after bucket full of blackberries. I have bags and bags of them in the freezer, just waiting now for me to make them into lovely pies and crumbles. They look so pretty and promising coming out of the freezer, like little purple jewels all covered with frost.



There is nothing so satisfying as a delicious hedgerow fruit crumble in the dead of winter . . . it is something we really look forward to, and indeed it is the thoughts of just such treats as this that keep me in the hedgerows picking long after I feel tired and like giving up . . . the thoughts of a fresh crumble on a rainy winter's day . . . all warm from the oven, and juicy and sweet . . . beneath a blanket of buttery crumbs . . . along with lashings of warm custard or cold cream from the fridge gilding it's sweet edges . . . autumn berry picking is a labour of love . . . and perhaps more than a little gluttony . . .



This crumble is a bit different than most, in that you make a luscious toffee sauce to cook the fruit in . . . and the crumble on top is filled with lovely toasted almonds. Oh, it is soooo good. I could almost eat a whole meal of this and nothing else . . .



It is so pretty . . . the apples tinted in pink and ruby colours from the blackberries . . . the crumble topping golden brown and crisp . . . the cream soaking in around the edges of those crumbling buttery cliffs and meandering through the sweet/tart fruit . . .



A bowl of the leftovers for breakfast perhaps??? I think it would go down rather well, don't you??



*Apple and Blackberry Crumble*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

A delectable mix of tart cooking apples, sweet bramble fruits and a luscious caramel sauce beneath a blanket of crisp and buttery almond crumble.

Fruit:
150 g caster sugar
100ml of water
60g unsalted butter
3 cooking apples (about 900g) peeled, cored and cut into 1/2 inch dice
50g of blackberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 tsp cinnamon

for the crumble:
75g soft light brown sugar
75g plain flour
75g flaked toasted almonds
75g unsalted butter

To serve:
pouring cream, custard or vanilla ice cream



Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F. Butter a shallow oval gratin dish and set it aside.

Place the caster sugar with the water into a heavy based saucepan. Simmer over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until it becomes a delicious toffee gold. You will want to give it an initial stir to help the sugar dissolve, but after that leave it alone just until it begins to change colour. Add the butter in small pieces, whisking it well after each addition until the butter is completely incorporated. You should have a thick butterscotch sauce. Stir in the cinnamon. Add the apples and cook for an additional 4 or 5 minutes. The mixture will seize up, but don' be worried. This is completely natural and to be expected. It will loosen up and melt again as the pan continues to heat. After five minutes, pour the fruit mixture into the prepared baking dish. Tuck the blackberries here and there throughout.

Place all the ingredients for the crumble into the bowl of your food processor. Whizz until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Scatter the crumble mixture evenly over top of the fruit.

Bake for 40 minutes until the crumble is lightly golden and the fruit is bubbling around the edges.

Serve warm with your preferred accompaniment.

We just love cauliflower in this house. It's not something that I ever had as a child, but I am quite sure that I would have loved it . . . even then. I can make a meal of it. It's so very versatile.



It's fantastic curried, or made into creamy rich soup. Tasty roasted, and also fried. It makes a good substitute for potatoes when mashed or grated. (for all you low carbers out there!)



It's lovely raw, served up with a delicious aioli to dip it in . . . swooping large chunks down into all that garlicky goodness . . . mmmm . . . what a tasty mouthful. Or even chopped and added raw to salads. It gives them the most wonderful texture and crunch!




One of our favourite ways to eat it though . . . has to be cauliflower cheese. That beautiful crispy tender cooked cauliflower, laying all tastily beneath a rich blanket of cheese sauce and buttery crumbs. Here's where I could make a real pig of myself and eat the whole thing on my own . . . but I'm not that greedy, I do let Todd have some as well . . . sigh . . .



This is a very tasty upscale version of cauliflower cheese. The sauce is rich and tangy . . . and just loaded with strong cheddar cheese and chopped spring onions. The crumbs on top is where the big difference comes in.



Yes . . . they are buttery, but . . . they are also really flavourful, with the added tangy surprise of some creamed horseradish.



You are gonna love this. I promise!




*Cauliflower Gratin with A Horseradish Crust*
Serves 8
Printable Recipe

An upscale version of cauliflower cheese with a delicious crunchy crumb topping, all buttery and filled with the slight heat of horseradish. Delicious!

1 large head of cauliflower, about 3 pounds in weight
Trim and break into florets
4 TBS butter, divided
2 TBS plain flour
12 ounces milk
6 ounces strong cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
4 spring onions, the green parts only, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
10 Italian crackers, coarsely crumbled
2 TBS creamed horseradish

Preheat the oven to 205*C/425*F. Butter a shallow gratin dish. Set aside.

Place the cauliflower florets into a saucepan of lightly salted water. Bring to the boil and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until just tender. Drain well and then place into the prepared gratin dish.

Melt 2 TBS of the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Cook, whisking for several minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk. Cook, whisking, until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, whisking occasionally, for 8 minutes. Whisk in the cheese, spring onions, salt and pepper, whisking until the cheese is completely melted.

Melt the remaining 2 TBS of butter. Whisk in the horseradish sauce. Crumble the crackers into a bowl. Pour the butter/horseradish mixture over top and toss together.

Pour the cheese sauce evenly over the cauliflower florets in the gratin dish. Top with the crumb mixture. Bake in the heated oven for about 10 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.

Serve warm.

As I have said many times in the past, I love lemons. They have to be one of my favourite of all fruits. If I had to choose between chocolate cake and lemon cake, I'd be hard pressed to choose, but I think in the end . . . lemon would overcome.



I just love their fresh clean flavour and that lovely tang. I found myself this weekend having bought far too many lemons. (I have a tendancy to pick up a mesh bag of them almost every time I go to the shops. They come in ever so handy.)



Not a problem though as I also fancied some delicious homemade lemon curd. There is nothing as tasty as homemade lemon curd and it's not as hard to make as some would suppose.

Some handy hints for lemons. Keep them at room temperature and you will get far more juice from them than if you keep them in the fridge. Also give them a good roll between the palm of your hand and the counter top before juicing, and you'll get absolutely the most juice that you possibly can from them! I Love my wooden lemon juicer. It works like a charm and I would not be without one now!



Back to Lemon Curd. This recipe makes rather a lot, but it is such a wonderful thing to have in the fridge. I use it all the time. It is just wonderful spread on warm scones and bread, in between cake layers, on top of ginger biscuits, in crisp pastry tart shells . . . or just spooned out of the jar. Yummo! I am a glutton through and through I do believe!



Of course you can also pack it into jars and gift a few of your friends with some of it. They'll love you for it forever, I guarantee!



*Lemon Curd*
Makes about 3 cups
Printable Recipe

Once you have had proper homemade lemon curd, you will never want to buy ready made again. The fresh made stuff is delicious, and very easy to make. It's a good way of getting rid of that glut of lemons you may have! It's delicious spread on bread, scones or muffins. I love it spread between thin ginger thins and topped with whipped cream, or as a tasty filling in a nice sponge cake.

1 TBS finely grated lemon zest plus 2 tsp of the same
8 fluid ounces (1 cup) fresh lemon juice
265g caster sugar (approx 1 1/3 cups)
4 large free range eggs
6 ounces unsalted butter (3/4 cup)
plus 2 TBS, all cut into TBS sized pieces



Whisk the zest, lemon juice, sugar, eggs and a pinch of salt together in a heavy 2 litre saucepan. Add the butter all at once and then cook over moderately low heat, whisking constantly until the curd is thick enough to hold the marks of the whisk and the first bubbles appear and break the surface. This should take about 10 minutes. Immediately pour through a fine sieve into a bowl. Cover and chill before use. This should keep, covered and in the fridge for about 1 week.



Here's another delicious use for some of that Lemon curd. A tasty Lemon Drizzle Cake. mmm . . .



*Lemon Drizzle Cake*
Makes one loaf sized cake
Printable Recipe

This has to be one of the easiest cakes ever. You just bung everything into a food processor and blitz. Quick, easy and oh so very delicious!!

140g self raising flour (1 cup)
4 ounces butter (1/2 cup)
115g caster sugar (2/3 cup)
2 large free range eggs
2 dessertspoons of lemon curd
the grated zest of one lemon

For the topping:
the juice of 1/2 lemon
2 TBS caster sugar



Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Butter a loaf tin and line with greaseproof paper. Set aside.

Put all the cake ingredients into a food processor. Blend together for 2 minutes. Scrape mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

While the cake is still warm, and before turning it out of the tin, mix the lemon juice and sugar together until the sugar dissolves somewhat, and pour this mixture over top evenly. Let sit for about 10 minutes before removing from the tin to cool completely on a wire rack.



And of course, there is nothing tastier than a fresh piece of Lemon Drizzle Cake with a huge dollop of lemon curd spread over the top of it. Oh, my . . . I must have surely died and gone to heaven . . . .

 

If you were to ask me to pick a final and last meal . . . there is no doubt as to what I would choose. It is a certainty that Steak would show up on the menu. There is nothing I like better than a beautifully cooked steak . . . richly seared on the outside and meltingly tender and rare on the inside.



Yes, I am a lover of rare meat . . . not so rare that it can crawl off of the plate and into your mouth all by itself, but certainly more red than pink inside.



Surprisingly my favourite steak is not the tenderloin, but a juicy rib eye . . . cut thick and richly marbled with just the right amount of fat to lean. Dusted with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and then quickly seared on both sides to seal in the flavour, no more than four minutes per side . . .



This is steak perfection . . . especially if you gild the lily with a delicious bearnaise butter . . .



the flavours of tarragon and shallots, melting over the surface of the meat, all rich and buttery . . . mmmm . . .



This is heaven to me, pure and utter bliss . . .



*Pan Grilled Steaks with Bearnaise Butter*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Perfectly cooked and tender rib steaks with a delicious bearnaise butter melted on top. Fabulous! Make the butter at least one hour before serving, or up to a day ahead.

4 1-inch thick rib eye steaks, at room temperature
Vegetable oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the butter:
3 TBS softened butter
2 tsp finely chopped tarragon leaves
2 tsp minced shallots
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
pinch of salt

First make the butter. Mash together the butter, tarragon, shallots, lemon juice and salt. Mix well. Shape into a small log on a piece of cling film. (Approximately 4 inches long) Wrap well and then place in the refrigerator to chill.

When you are ready to eat, heat a large heavy skillet over medium high heat. Brush each of the steaks on both sides with a bit of vegetable oil. Sprinkle each side with a bit of salt and pepper. Sear in the hot skillet, cooking the first side for approximately 4 minutes for medium rare. Turn over and sear the other side for approximately the same amount of time. Remove from the heat and place on heated plates.

Serve with slices of the bearnaise butter on top. Delicious!

To go with that steak? Well, it would have to be a crispy baked potato, or some richly mashed potatoes . . . and a salad or green vegetable of course!

No secret here, the potato is my favourite vegetable. Always has been, always will be.




I've tried low-carbing it in the past . . . the potato has always been my downfall. I just can't go very long without a potato . . . period . . . end of statement.




You can take away my chocolate. You can take away sweets . . . but don't take away my potato. To do so is risking my eventual wrath! Imagine my joy at discovering Bombay Potatoes!!

Yes, a potato curry!



Delicious and spicy with a bit of heat that you can control by either increasing or lessening the amount of chili powder you use.

mmm . . . mmm . . . good. I could eat a whole plate of these and nothing else . . . seriously. Thank you India!



*Bombay Potatoes*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe

A delicious accompaniment to any curry, meatwise or vegetarian. It's also a great way to use leftover cooked boiled potatoes. Very easy and very tasty!

3 TBS sunflower oil
1 tsp mustard seed
1 pinch ground cumin
1 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp freshly ground garam masala
1 tsp chili powder
1 knob of fresh ginger root, peel and finely grate
6 potatoes, peeled, parboiled and cut into cubes
4 knobs of butter
4 tomatoes, cored and diced
a handful of roughly chopped fresh coriander

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat until it shimmers. Add the mustard sed, cumin, tumeric, ground coriander, garam masala and chili powder. Cook and stir until the mustard seeds begin to pop. Stir in the ginger root, potatoes, and butter. Stir to coat the potatoes in all the spices. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes. Cook until they begin to wilt, then stir in the coriander and serve.