Lamb was not something I really ate a lot of before I moved over here. I guess it was just not something that was readily available where I lived over in Canada, or maybe it was because it was not something that my mother ever really cooked when I was growing up.

She did try to cook some lamb chops one time, but they smelled like she was burning a pair of wool mittens when they were cooking, and none of us would touch them. That was my sum whole total experience of lamb.



After Todd and I got married our church Ward took us out for a meal about a week later to celebrate. One of the things on the menu at the restaurant was Roasted Lamb Loin with a Cumberland sauce. It sounded really good and I thought . . . . why not be brave and go for it.
I fell in love. Totally in love. The meat was sweet and tender and incredibly tasty.

Since then I have taken every opportunity to cook lamb when I can. I once did a slow roasted shoulder in the oven, using lemon and oregano and it was succulently delicious with some boiled potatoes. That reminds me . . . I need to do that again soon!



We had a delicious lamb curry one night for our tea last week and it was gorgeously tasty. Not too spicy . . . I don't like it when the spice in a dish masks the true flavours of what you are eating. The rich flavour of the lamb shone through in this, with just a hint of curry.

It was incredibly moreish served up with a Coriander Rice. I had thought there would be leftovers the next day for lunch . . . but it was gone right away. Totally gone. In fact . . . we licked the platter clean.




*A Mild Lamb Curry*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

A delicious gentle curry, creamy and mild. Serve with some tasty lime coriander rice.

2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
The seeds from 8 cardamom pods
4 whole cloves
3 TBS mild flavoured oil
4 medium onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 KG of lamb shoulder, trimmed and cut into ½ inch squares
2 tsp ground turmeric
4 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
1 TBS minced fresh ginger root
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
450ml of coconut milk
150ml of chicken stock
The juice of one lime

For the rice:
500g basmati rice
1 ounce butter
A large handful of fresh coriander, chopped
The grated zest of one lime
The juice of one lime
Salt and black pepper to taste

To make the curry, toast the seeds and whole cloves in a dry skillet until fragrant. Tip into a pestle and mortar and grind until fairly fine. Pour two TBS of the oil into a heavy based saucepan over high heat. Once hot, add the onions and cook, stirring for about 5 minutes. Scoop out to a bowl and set aside. Add the remaining oil and add the lamb, in batched, browning one batch on all sides before removing to the bowl with the onions and browning the rest. Don’t overcrowd the pan or your meat will not brown properly and will stew instead of sear.

Tip the onions and meat back into the pan along with the ground spices, the turmeric, garlic and ginger root. Season to taste with some salt and pepper. Toss all together and then add the stock, coconut milk and lime juice, stirring and scraping any juicy bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer for about an hour, until very tender. Remove the lid and simmer for about 15 minutes longer. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

While the curry is cooking cook the rice. Place the rice in a sauce pan with double the volume of salted water. Bring to the boil. Cover with a lid. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 to 12 minutes until the rice is completely cooked and all of the moisture has been absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat and let sit for about 10 minutes with the lid on. Stir in the butter, lime zest, lime juice and chopped coriander with a fork. Serve immediately with the curry.

My local Tesco shop had punnets of home ripening plums on special last weekend for £1 a punnet. Normally I don't buy things like that. Mostly because it takes too long for them to ripen and most of the time they don't ripen at all but go bad anyways . . .



I had in mind this plum cake that I wanted to make though and for that I needed really firm plums.



This is a very unusual cake. You make a crumble mixture in the food processor that you use in the base, filling and topping.



Some of the crumbs get pressed into a baking tin and baked into a lovely buttery crust.



Then you make a frangipane mixture with more of the crumb mixture by beating in some eggs and stuff. This you spread over the buttery baked base. Top with some sliced plums and you bake it some more.



The plums get all soft and sweet and the frangipane mixture bakes up around them. Then you add a final topping of the last of the crumbs which you have mixed with some flaked almonds and you bake it a little longer til golden brown.



It's all you can do to wait until it cools to dig in . . . but wait. It's worth it. Trust me on this. It tastes so much better lukewarm than it does hot. (And it tastes pretty good hot!!)



It is kind of like a tart, but also a cake, and a crumble.



It's all three rolled into one scrummy, moreish bake! Oh my but this is some good!



*Plum and Almond Crumble Cake*
Makes 16 servings
Printable Recipe

It's a Crumble! It's a Cake! It's a Crumble Cake! (Pretty scrummy too!)

250g COLD butter
8 ounces castor sugar, plus a bit extra for sprinkling
10 ounces ground almonds
5 ounces plain flour, plus 1 ounce extra flour
2 large eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon, plus extra to sprinkle on top
1 tsp baking powder
6 firm plums, stone and cut into sixths
2 ounces flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/Gar 4. Butter an 8 by 12 inch baking tin and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Place the butter, sugar and ground almonds in a food processor. Pulse them together until the mixture resembles a rough crumble. Remove half of this mixture to a bowl and set aside. To the remaining mixture in the processor, add the 5 ounces of flour and whiz this together until it forms a dough. Tip this into the prepared baking tin and press it out evenly, pressing it down well. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

To make the filling, tip the remaining crumble mixture back into the food processor. Add the remaining 1 ounce of flour, the baking powder, the eggs, and the cinnamon. Whiz until it forms a soft batter. Spread this batter over the cooled base.

Top the batter with the prepared plums and sprinkle with a little extra sugar and cinnamon. Bake for 20 minutes.

Mix the remaining crumbs with the flaked almonds. Sprinkle this over top of the baked plums and return to the oven to bake for a further 20 minutes, until golden brown and the batter and plums are thoroughly cooked. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before cutting into slices to serve.

Once in a while I love to serve a warm potato salad for our tea. It always goes down a real treat with burgers, grilled fish, chicken . . . even steak and chops.

Hot potato salads are pretty versatile. You can toss pretty much anything into the bowl and it turns out grand. Olives, tomatoes, beans, mushrooms, cheese. The sky's the limit!


Tossing the warm potatoes in a well seasoned vinaigrette ensures that the potatoes absorb the flavours of the other ingredients really well.

Mmmm . . . this is one of my favourite combinations. You get all the sweetness of the new potatoes combined with the tender crunch of haricots vert, the peppery snap of fresh rocket, and the saltiness of beautifully rich and meaty dry cured black olives. I like to buy the ones that come marinated with herbs and garlic. They really have a lot of flavour.


Add to that the sweetness of baby plum tomatoes and a tangy balsamic vinaigrette and you have a match made in heaven . . . with a touch of mild red onion and a sprinkling of salty freshly grated Parmesan cheese, this salad is a meal in and of itself.

You are going to love this! And it's so easy and quick to put together. Lickety split and it's done and you're digging in! You'll want to eat this on the day. The rocket gets all wilted if you keep it any longer, which isn't a problem if you don't mind soggy rocket.




*Warm Potato, Olive and Green Bean Salad*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

A delicious warm potato salad which makes the most of that wonderful sweetness you find in baby new potatoes. A delightful mixture of potato, olives, baby plum tomatoes, black olives and rocket, in a garlicky balsamic vinaigrette. Incredibly tasty!

450g small new potatoes (about 2 pounds)
12 baby plum tomatoes, halved
1/2 a red onion, finely chopped
4 TBS basil leaves, torn into bits with your fingers
about 12 dry cured black olives, pitted and halved
a handful of fresh green beans
a couple handfuls of fresh rocket

For the dressing:
5 TBS good quality extra virgin olive oil
2 TBS good quality balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

To serve:
25g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Place the potatoes into a pan of lightly salted boiling water. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until tender, adding the green beans the last five minutes of cooking. Drain well. Cut the potatoes and beans in half while still hot and toss with the dressing right away.

To make the dressing whisk together the oil, vinegar, garlic and seasoning. Pour this over the hot potatoes and beans, tossing all together until well coated. Add the tomatoes, onions, olives and basil leaves. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Toss in the rocket leaves just prior to serving and garnish with a healthy grating of Parmesan cheese.

Note:  The North American equivalent of rocket would be arugula.

We had some people over for dinner the other night, as a thank you for all the help they had given us in moving into our new house. I wanted a dessert that was really going to wow them.

Something so incredibly delicious that they would leave our home thinking about it . . . and still be thinking about it the next day . . . in fact I wanted to make a dessert that would have them thinking about it for the rest of their lives!



There is one incredibly delicious dish that I tasted back in 1970 . . . I was on a school trip to Ottawa, Ontario and we ate at the Cascade Restaurant in downtown Ottawa. I had the Barbequed Chicken the first night we were there . . . it was sooooooooooo good, I had it every night for the rest of the week and I have dreamt about it ever since!



That's how good I wanted my dessert to be. I searched through all of my cookery books and finally decided on this recipe. The Tres Leche Cake recipe from the cookbook entitled, "You Made That Dessert", by Beth Lipton.



It did not dissapoint. I have always wanted to try Tres Leche Cake, and now I have. It is one of those cakes, like that chicken I had long, long ago . . . . will have you thinking about it long after you have eaten it and all that is left are the crumbs . . .

My guests really enjoyed it as did we all. ☺



Unlike the chicken though . . . this cake does not have to remain a distant delicious memory, coz here's the recipe. (I heard that the Cascade Restaurant closed down a long time ago . . . that chicken, well . . . tis destined to be a far off tantalizing memory til the day I die . . . sigh . . . )



*Tres Leches Cake*
Serves 12
Printable Recipe

A delicious rich and moist cake absolutely stogged full of three creamy milks . . . Evaporated, Condensed and Coconut milks!! Topped off with some sweetened whipped cream, it goes down a real treat with anyone and everyone!

Cake:
6 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature (12 TBS, or 1 1/2 sticks)
8 ½ ounces of plain flour (2 cups)
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
7 ounces caster sugar (1 cup)
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup milk, room temperature (225ml)

For the soaking liquid:
12 fluid ounces evaporated milk (1 1/2 cups)
14 fluid ounces sweetened condensed milk (1 3/4 cup)
8  fluid ounces canned coconut milk (shake the can well before using) (1 cup)
1 TBS dark rum, or 1 tsp rum extract

To finish:
12 fluid ounces of double cream (1 1/2 cups)
2 to 3 TBS sifted icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Gas 4. Butter a 9 by 13 inch pan really well and then dust with flour, making sure it is well coated and shaking out any excess.

Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Place the butter into a large bowl Beat it with the sugar until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Scrape down the sides and beat again. Fold in half of the flour mixture, until the two mixtures are almost combined. Stir in the milk. Fold in the remaining flour mixture, mixing just until combined. Pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and the cake is well risen. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.

Make the soaking liquid by stirring all the ingredients together in a large beaker.

Using a fork or toothpick, puncture the cake all over carefully. Try not to tear it. Pour the soaking liquid over top, in half cup measures, allowing time for the liquid to soak in before pouring on more. Once the cake refuses to take any more, stop adding it. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Cover the top with plastic cling film and then chill for at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Just before serving whip the cream and coat the cake. Beat the well chilled cream with an electric whisk until it just starts to thicken. Sift in the icing sugar and continue to beat until the cream just holds it’s shape. Be careful not to over whip. Spread over top of the chilled cake in soft waves. Cut into squares to serve.



Sliced strawberries or mangos are very tasty add ons!

I didn't really know all that much about sugar before I moved over here, except that there was white sugar and brown sugar. That just shows you how ignorant I was, really . . .

My Todd is a real meat and potatoes kind of a guy. If I want to keep him happy food wise, it's not all that hard to do. A bit of meat and some mashed potatoes and he's as content as can be.



One of his favourite meat fests happens to be Sausage and Mash. A fluffy and buttery pile of hot mashed potatoes, topped with two juicy grilled sausages . . . the whole thing smothered in onion gravy. This is truly the way to his meat loving heart.



It's a bit boring though . . . or at least that's my thoughts . . . I like to amp it up a bit if I can. Not so much that it becomes poncey . . . just a tad to add excitement and interest.

Adding a bit of Parsnip to the regular mash gives it a wonderfully different flavour . . . just a hint of sweetness that goes so very well with the herby flavour of a plump rich butcher's sausage.

Cabbage . . . stir fried and retaining a bit of a bite . . . the perfect go with.



Topped off with a delightfully tangy honey mustard vinaigrette, with the garnish of wonderfully crunchy toasted hazelnuts, this went down a real treat.

He never even missed the gravy. Bisto who??




*Herby Sausages with Parsnip Mash and Stir Fried Cabbage*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Pan grilled sausages, all sticky and brown and served along side of a delicious parsnip mash and tasty cabbage, drizzled with a tangy honey mustard dressing. Delicious!

1 ½ pounds good quality thick meaty herby sausages (I use Cumberland
as they are my favourites, but any well flavoured one will do, Irish herb ones
are nice too.)
750g floury potatoes, peeled and cut into small dice
4 parsnips, peeled and sliced into rounds
4 TBS crème fraiche
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 TBS grainy mustard
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 TBS runny honey with a mild flavour, like acacia
3 TBS mild extra virgin olive oil
2 ounces hazelnuts, chopped and lightly toasted
2 ounces butter
1 savoy cabbage, finely shredded

Place the sausages in a lightly greased and heated skillet. Cook over medium heat, turning from time to time, until nicely browned all over, and cooked through. Keep warm.

While the sausages are cooking, put the potatoes and parsnips into a saucepan of lightly salted water. Bring to the boil. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, until tender. Drain well and return to the hot pot. Shake over the residual heat on the burner to dry them out a bit and then mash well along with the crème fraiche. Season to taste with salt and black pepper. Keep warm.

Melt the butter in another skillet. When it is foaming, add the cabbage and cook, stirring it until it begins to soften, but still retains a little texture. Season to taste.

Whisk together the mustard with the vinegar, honey and a bit of salt. Whisk in the olive oil and hazelnuts.

Divide the hot mash equally between 4 heated plates. Top with several sausages and add a spoonful of the cabbage on the side. Drizzle all with the honey mustard vinaigrette and serve immediately.

Well, it's taken several weeks, but I am thankfully back online now! All the boxes are unpacked and we are finally settled into our new home. Well, almost settled anyways!

It's been a whole lot of fun trying to cram all of our belongings into a much smaller place . . . NOT! There's been ever so much we have had to get rid of . . .



The first thing was my lovely electric cooker. Yes . . . I don't know why we didn't notice it before we moved in . . . but . . . there was no point in the kitchen on which to hook up our electric cooker . . . only a gas point.



We ended up having to go out and buy a new gas cooker. It was kind of exciting, really!! Todd wasn't too thrilled about it, but as most women know, there is nothing like a new cooker to put a smile on your face!

I wasn't very smart though . . . there was only a small space to fit one in to and I didn't want to make Todd do a lot of extra work by having to trim the counter edge to fit a large one in and so I went for a more compact model that would easily fit.



Besides . . . it was really cute. I just love toast done under a gas grill . . . sigh . . . that was something I had missed the whole time we were down in Kent . . .

Don't you think it's really cute? I fell in love with the gold buttons and handles and well . . . I just fell in love with everything about the way it looked!



It wasn't until I went to bake something in the oven for the first time that I realized . . . it is much, much smaller inside the oven than what I have been used to. I had thought it was plenty large at the shop . . . but when you take the heat shields into consideration . . . I lose about 6 inches off of the inside.

*Note to self . . . don't get too carried away with how something looks in the future, be a bit more practical and take measurements into consideration.



Half of my pans don't fit. They are too wide and you can't get the door shut with them in it. This meant that I had to go out and buy some new pans. Oh woe is me . . . woe is me . . .



It also means that when I bake a double layer cake, I have to have both layers on different racks in the oven. The top layer bakes quicker than the bottom one . . . so I found myself having to switch the racks halfway through the baking time.

Which was rather dumb of me actually as, in retrospect, I could have just taken the top layer out a bit sooner than the bottom . . . which is what I will do next time.



I was in Lakeland buying some new pans and saw these handy dandy pan liners . . . kind of like big muffin pan liners, but for larger pans and for loaf pans as well. I bought some as I thought it would be a lot quicker to use them than to have to trace and cut baking parchment.



It was quicker, but . . . my cake layers ended up being a bit lopsided. What with the combination of me switching shelves halfway through the baking time and using paper tin liners, it's a wonder my cake turned out at all when I think about it.

It turned out fabulous. Each layer moist and perfectly ribboned with delicious swirls of blackcurrant preserves . . . the centre filling of buttercream and more blackcurrant preserves being oh so yummy, yummy.

This fabulous cake went down a real treat! It was the most perfect way to celebrate a new home and a new beginning!




*Blackcurrant Jam Cake*
Serves 8 to 10
Printable Recipe

A deliciously moist cake, with ribbons of black currant conserve running through the sponge layers, and filled with tasty vanilla butter cream icing and more conserve. Scrummy yummy!!

8 ounces plain flour (1 3/4 cup) (245g)
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
284ml of buttermilk or sour milk (1 1/4 cup)
(to sour the milk add a tsp of lemon juice
Or vinegar to the measure and finish with milk.
Allow to sit for 5 minutes before using)
8 ounces caster sugar (226g, or 1 1/4 cup)
5 ounces butter, at room temperature (142g of 10 TBS)
2 large free range eggs, at room temperature
½ tsp vanilla
4 ounces blackcurrant conserve (about 1/2 cup)

For the butter cream:
2 ounces butter, at room temperature (56g, 1/4 cup, or 4 TBS)
4 ounces icing sugar, sifted (114g or 14 TBS)
A few drops of vanilla
1 tsp milk

To finish:
2 heaped TBS of blackcurrant conserve
Icing sugar to dust over the top
Preheat the oven to 170*C/320*F/Gas Mark 3. Butter and base line two 8 inch sandwich tins.

Place all of the cake batter ingredients, with the exception of the blackcurrant conserve into a large bowl. Beat with an electric whisk for several minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl down now and then, until you have a smooth batter.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins. Whisk the conserve with a fork until smooth. Dot over the surface of the cakes into 5 dollops on each. Using a round bladed knife, drag and swirl the jam through the cake.

Bake in the heated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the cakes test done. The top should spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the centre should come out clean. Remove from the oven and loosen from the tin. Let rest for about 10 minutes before removing completely to a wire rack to finish cooling.

To make the butter cream, place all of the ingredients into a bowl. Beat well with an electric whisk until it is smooth and fluffy.

Place one of the sponges on a plate. Spread the butter cream over top. Top with the blackcurrant conserve, swirling it over a bit. Top with the remaining sponge, right side up. Lightly dust with icing sugar to serve.

The other morning, with packing boxes sitting around us, reaching up to what seemed to be the ceiling, Todd and I decided that we were going to treat ourselves to a nice big breakfast in the corner cafe in our nearest local town.



You know the kind of place I mean . . . cheap and clean . . . and definitely not gourmet food, but good, plain, simple and filling food. The kind of place that specializes in good old cheese on toast, chips, omelets, burgers, tea, coffee and BREAKFASTS!!!



You can usually get a really, really good, tasty and filling breakfast in these kinds of places and our local is no exception to the rule. The other morning though . . . we got into town and were really, really disappointed.



Not because of the breakfast that they served, but because they were CLOSED!! Yeppers! Opening up soon under new management. We had so wanted to hold hands across the table and enjoy one last breakfast there, but it seems it was not to be . . .



Instead I nipped into the local Waitrose and picked up half a dozen extra large eggs, a tasty Cumberland Sausage Whorl, and some maple smoked bacon. I already had the rest of what I would need at home. It meant that we didn't have breakfast until almost 11 that day, but it was rather tasty if I don't say so myself. I used my good old recipe for Scrambled Eggs with Cheese and Chives, using some fresh chives from our garden. (Click the link to get the recipe.) It all went down a real treat. We did not really want anything else to eat the whole rest of the day!!

I had forgotten how good toast tastes when done under the grill . . . crisp and hot and slathered with butter. Much better than when done in the toaster, I think!!



By the time you read this, we shall be in our car, all packed up and heading up the M6 to good old Chester. It may be the end of our days down here in the Kentish countryside, but it is deffo not the end of my days in my English Kitchen!! Look for more tasty articles coming your way real soon!

Well, as soon as I get my pots and pans unpacked and sorted at the other end. Hopefully it won't be too long before we up and running again! Stay Tuned!! This is not the end, but merely the beginning of a Brand New Adventure. The best kind!