The cold was our pride, the snow was our beauty. It fell and fell, lacing day and night together in a milky haze, making everything quieter as it fell, so that winter seemed to partake of religion in a way no other season did . . . hushed . . . solemn.
~Patricia Hampl



oh winter . . . winter . . . these bitterly cold days that make one want to cling to the warmth of the hearth . . . and all the comforts of home . . .



There is something about the chill of winter that makes things like hearty stews, soups and desserts taste much better than they do at any other time of year . . . they truly warm the soul and comfort the heart.



My spoon dips beneath the crisp oaty sweet and buttery crumble, to find hidden beneath . . . the softness of autumn apples and berries, tart and lightly sweetened with some sugar . . . having been tucked away and kept for just such a moment . . .



The moment my heart would need a whisper of sunshine days gone past . . . and the promise of harvests yet to come . . .

My spoon glides beneath the earthy sweetness of the fruits . . . and the milky sweet blanket of custard, and I am home . . . sweet . . . home.



*Apple, Blackberry and Oat Crumble*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

A delicious crumble with a scrummy brown sugar oaty crumble topping!

3 to 4 large cooking apples, peeled and cut into chunks
1 TBS water
3 TBS granulated sugar
200g of fresh or frozen blackberries (about 1 cup)

For the crumble topping:
5 ounces plain flour (a generous cupful)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 ounces butter, chilled and cubed (approx 1/3 cup)
1 ounce porridge oats (1/3 cup)
3 ounces soft light brown sugar (scant 1/2 cup, packed)

Custard, ice cream, or whipped cream to serve



Butter a 1 litre pie dish and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.

Place the apples in a saucepan along with the water and sugar. Set over gentle heat and cook, stirring every few minutes, until the apples become a soft pulp. Taste and add more sugar if needed. Set aside to cool slightly. Spoon half the apples into the baking dish. Sprinkle with half the blackberries. Repeat with the remaining fruit.

To make the crumble topping. Stir the flour and cinnamon together in a bowl. Rub in the butter with your finger tips until coarsely crumbled. Stir in the oats and brown sugar. Sprinkle this crumb mixture evenly over top. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes until cooked and golden brown. Serve warm with whipped cream, ice cream or custard.

This is my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip loaf. Normally it looks a lot better than this one. I toyed with not showing it to you, but I like to keep it real and you need to know that things don't always go as planned in The English Kitchen as in any kitchen.



For some reason this time all the chocolate bits sunk to the bottom of the loaf, creating a scrummy, but not entirely aesthetically pleasing, layer of chocolate crunch.



They do look a lot better when they are speckled here and there throughout the loaf, and normally they are . . . speckled here and there, that is . . .
Today they all sunk . . . coz yes . . . even I have things go wrong in my kitchen from time to time. Everyone does.



So whilst I would not consider this outing a total success . . . neither would I call it a total flop. It's still scrummy enough to keep me coming back into the kitchen for just . . . one . . . more . . . sliver. Which says an awful lot, in my opinion . . .



So, if you like peanut butter and chocolate together, I highly recommend this deliciously moist and peanut buttery loaf. Next time I am going to dust my chocolate bits with a bit of the flour before I fold them in. I usually do that, but today . . . well . . . c'est la vie!



*Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Loaf Cake*
makes one 9 by 5 inch loaf
Printable Recipe

Wonderfully moist and peanutbuttery, and stogged full of bittersweet chocolate chips.

4 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla
6.5 ounces of plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
6 ounces butter, softened (3/4 cup)
4 ounces smooth peanut butter (1/2 cup)
7 1/2 ounces of soft light brown sugar (1 cup packed)
12 ounces good quality bittersweet chocolate, chopped into bits*C/325*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 by 5 inch loaf pan and line with parchment paper. Butter the parchment. Set aside.

Beat together the eggs and vanilla. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.

Place the butter, peanut butter and brown sugar into a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on high until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides from time to time. Continue to beat, drizzling in the egg mixture in a slow stream, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the flour mixture in three additions, beating on low speed, and scraping down the sides after each addition. Fold in the chocolate bits.

Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan, leveling the top with a rubber spatula. Bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and the cake is golden brown. If in an hours time you think the cake is browning too quickly, tent loosely with foil.

Let the cake cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely. Slice and serve.

There are a lot of people that would like to try making their own sausages, but they get put off because of their fear of having to stuff casings and go through all that faff.

The manufacture of sausage began some two thousand years ago, and whilst some of it's traditions are going strong as they ever were, there are also a lot of new ideas creeping into the industry and new flavours. There are probably as many sausages in the world as there are countries and counties . . . with each area having adapted their own peculiarities and flavours.



I do love a good banger . . . nice and fat (in size) . . . with a great casing that almost snaps when you bite into it. You can really tell a good Butcher by the quality of his sausages, and our local Butcher is very good indeed. His sausages, all varieties, are beautifully meaty with delicious flavours . . . and you know they are not filled with anything that you wouldn't want to eat or nasty fillers.



But tis also nice to know that I can make my own at home, without casings, or stuffing anything . . . I guess technically you can't really call them sausages . . . they are more like sausage shaped rissoles . . . but then again . . . a rose by any other name and all that!

These "sausages" are not only easy to make, but they are delicious to boot! What I like about them is I can knock them up in very short time and then freeze them, ready to grab out of the freezer at a moments notice.



They always cook up crisp and delicious on the outside, while nice and moist on the insides, and full of flavour . . . with the suet making sure that the meat doesn't dry out and every mouthful bringing you lovely hints of lemon, sage, marjoram and nutmeg . . . a most delicious combination with pork.

Sure . . . traditional they certainly are not . . . but anyone who has ever eaten them has very quickly forgiven me from straying from the beaten path.

Something which I am very good at doing. Todd loves these. Yes . . . that is ketchup on my plate . . . a old North American habit that I just haven't been able to quite give up. ☺



*Oxford Sausages*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe

So easy to make and so much tastier than shop bought, plus you have the added advantage of knowing what's in them!

1 pound of lean ground pork shoulder
3/4 pound ground beef suet
8 ounces fine dry bread crumbs (2 cups)
the finely grated zest of one unwaxed lemon
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp dried sage leaves, rubbed between your hands
1 tsp dried marjoram leaves, rubbed between your hands
1 tsp fine sea salt
more crumbs and paprika for rolling

Place the pork into the food processor and blitz until very fine, about 4o seconds or so. Remove and do the same for the beef suet. (Or you can ask your butcher to put both (together) through his grinder twice).

Place into a bowl and add the bread crumbs, lemon zest, nutmeg, pepper, sage, marjoram and salt. Mix in well with your hands. Turn onto the counter and knead with your hands until very smooth. Shape into sausages. I usually grab a half handful and roll it into a tube shape between my palms and then flatten the ends on the counter top by tapping them down on either end.

Place some more dry bread crumbs onto a plate along with some ground paprika. Roll the tubes into this to coat. Place in a plastic box in a single layer and chill for several hours before using. They will keep about 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator or you can freeze them for 2 to 3 months.

To cook, panfry or grill as you would regular sausages.

For a long time in Ireland the only bread readily available, except for in the cities, was Soda Bread. Easy to bake on a hearth stone or in an oven, it was quick to make and as likely to be served with the main meal of the day to soak up gravy as it was to appear with breakfast in the morning.



The one I have here today is the cake type. Simply mixed, kneaded lightly and then shaped into a round and baked on a baking sheet or baking stone. There is also a flat type, or farl. which is more like a heavy pancake, rolled out and cut into triangles, and then baked on a griddle or in a heavy skillet rather than in an oven.



Both are equally as easy to make and delicious . . . as long as you follow a few rules, main one being to handle the dough as little as possible . . . kinda like scones or American style biscuits. I like to make sure all my ingredients, including the buttermilk are at room temperature as well.

Sift the dry ingredients together a few times to aerate the flour, and evenly distribute the soda throughout. Put the sifted dry ingredients in a good big bowl (you want stirring room) and make a well in the center. Pour about three-quarters of the buttermilk in, and start mixing in with your fingers, the two best tools ever invented. You are trying to achieve a dough that is raggy and very soft, but the lumps and rags of it should look dryish and "floury", while still being extremely squishy if you poke them. Add more liquid sparingly if you think you need it.



Blend quickly and lightly until the whole mass of dough has become this raggy consistency. Then turn the contents of the bowl out immediately onto a lightly floured board or work surface, and start to knead. Don't knead it for any longer than about 15 seconds. Any longer than that and you risk a tough bread. Lightly shape it into a rough round about 6-8 inches in diameter, and put it on the baking sheet (which should be dusted lightly with flour first). Then use a very sharp knife to cut a cross right across the round. The cuts should go about halfway down through the sides of the circle of dough, so that the loaf will "flower" properly.



Bake for a good 45 minutes, without disturbing, and then tap the bottom. If it sounds hollowish it is done! For a crunchy crust, put on a rack to cool. For a softer crust, as above, wrap the cake in a clean dishcloth as soon as it comes out of the oven. I Like mine warm and spread with butter and sweet red jam.

I think it's the child in me. I just can't help myself.



*Irish Soda Bread*
Makes 1 loaf
Printable Recipe

Quick, easy and tasty. Those Irish sure know what they are doing!

450g of plain flour (about 3 1/2 cups)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1 tsp baking powder
14 fluid ounces of buttermilk (1 3/4 cups)

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Lightly butter a baking tray. Set aside.

Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl. Whisk in sugar if using. Make a well in the centre. Pour in most of the butter milk, holding a little back. Use your fingers and get stuck in mixing it all well together to make a soft, but not sticky dough. If necessary add the remaining buttermilk.

Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly. It's important not to overknead the dough. 15 to 20 seconds is enough time. . Shape into an 8 inch round. Place onto the prepared baking tray.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Test that the loaf is cooked by turning it over and tapping it on the bottom with yout knuckles. It should sound hollow. Place on a wire rack to cool. Serve cut into slices. Goes well with soup and stews.

Do you like cheese like I like cheese?? I am betting you do!

Funny thing is . . . when I was a child I did not like cheese at all . . . not unless it was bright orange and came wrapped in flat celophane squares . . .



Or was bright orange and came in a rectangular box (read Velveeta here). As an adult I have come to question the value of a cheese product that doesn't need refrigeration . . . and that colour, well . . . 'nuff said.



Seriously though, I really did not like cheese very much unless it was artifical cheese. I have come to love and appreciate all sorts of cheeses though, which is a very good thing . . .
Unless of course you are trying to keep your weight down, which I'm not really very good at it seems . . .



I love all kinds of cheese now . . . stinky cheese, sharp cheese, creamy cheese, cheese full of blue bacteria . . . you name it, I love it.



These fabulous quesadillas are a perfect way to get rid of some of the cheese you have hanging around in your fridge after Christmas. You don't have to use the three cheeses I have suggested of course . . . but these three do work incredibly well together. Crisp, buttery and nicely browned on the outside, and scrummy yummy and gooey on the inside. . .



It goes without saying that the garlic butter on the outside may not go with everything. Use your discretion, and enjoy!




*Three Cheese Quesadillas With Cranberry Chutney*
Serves 8 to 12 as an appetizer or 3 to 4 as a light lunch, along with some salad
Printable Recipe

s small cloves of garlic, unpeeled
2 TBS butter at room temperature
8 ounced medium cheddar cheese, grated coarsely (2 cups)
1 1/4 ounces Gran Padano Cheese, finely grated (1/2 cup)
4 ounces fresh Goat's Cheese, crumbled (3/4 cup)
4 (9 to 10 inches in diameter) flour tortillas
Cranberry Chutney to serve (see recipe below)

Bring a small pot of water to the boil. Drop in the garlic and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, drain and allow to cool. Once cool, peel and mash in a bowl, along with the butter, mixing in well. Set aside.

Combine all the cheeses in a bowl. Spread one side of each tortilla with some of the garlic butter. Set on a work surface, buttered side down. Sprinkle one half of each with some of the cheese mixture, dividing it equally amongst the four. Fold the other half over the cheese, creating half moons, and lightly press down.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add half of the tortillas and cook on one side until nicely crisp and lightly browned. Flip over and crisp and brown the other side. Place into a warm oven to keep warm while you cook the other two. You can keep them warm in the oven for about half an hour if need be.

When ready to serve, cut into wedges and place on a heated tray along with a bowl of cranberry chutney. Delicious!



*Cranberry Chutney*
Makes 4 cups
Printable Recipe

This lovely chutney makes a wonderful gift and is such a lovely change from the usual cranberry sauce. It goes beautifully with turkey, ham or chicken. We just love it.

3 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup sultanas
1/2 cup chopped candied peel
1/2 cup chopped peeled onion
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
1 cup white vinegar
1 cup water
1 cup white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tsp salt
2 whole cloves
2 tsp celery seed
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp dried chilies



Place the vinegar, water, both sugars, lemon juice and salt into a heavy non-reactive saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring to help dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved add the cranberries, sultanas, candied peel, onions, garlic, cloves, celery seed, ginger and chilies. Simmer gently, stirring often, uncovered for 45 minutes. Pour into hot sterilized jars and seal. Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. This will keep for up to a year. You can, of course, just put it into jars for giving away and immediate use, but if you do want to keep it longer, you really must process it in the water bath. Enjoy!



You can play with chutney flavours as well. A good mango chutney would go wonderfully with a mixture of cheddar and blue cheeses! (just a suggestion!) Let your imagination go wild! I do!

When I am not torturing my husband with foreign food (read pasta here) and chocolate (men!!), I am indulging his meat and potatoes heart. He grew up during the war and is never happier than when I set a stodgy meal in front of him . . . he is actually one of those rare birds that has fond memories of old school dinners. Give him a plate of boiled cabbage and stewed beef, with some carrots and potatoes for dinner, along with a big bowl of spotted dick and custard for dessert, and he is over the moon!




Difference being that I don't cook my vegetables to death like they used to in the olden days. I have a very old cook book and they actually recommend cooking most vegetables for 25 to 30 minutes, if you can believe it! Blah!!

One of his favourite things is pork chops. He just loves pork chops. We don't have them very often but when we do, I like to prepare them in a delicious way. Delicious doesn't have to be complicated or hard. This is a quick and easy way to make them seem really special.




Tender pork, all crisp on the edges and moist in the middle, served with a deliciously tangy mustard and cornichon sauce. Of course it is the butter that you whisk into the sauce at the end which gives it that fabulous flavour and smooth and glossy finish . . .

But we won't think about that will we. We shall just enjoy them for the rare treat that they are.




*Mustard Chops*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

A quick and easy way to make pork chops extra special.

6 bone in pork chops, about 3/4 inch thick
(I like the rib ones)
fine sea salt
100g of butter ( a scant 1/2 cup [.44 cup])
3 onions, peeled and finely chopped
100ml of white wine (1/3 cup)
2 TBS Dijon mustard
100g of small cornichons, sliced (about 1/2 cup)

Trim the chops so that there is not too much fat on them and then season them well with some fine seasalt. Melt about 1/3 of the butter in a large skillet until it begins to foam. Add the chops and cook for about 12 minutes per side, until golden brown all over and the juices run clear. Remove to a heated plate and keep warm.

Add the onion to the pan drippings and saute over gentle heat, being careful not to brown them. Pour in the white wine and increase the heat. Reduce the sauce by half. Whisk in the mustard. Reduce the heat and then whisk in the remaining butter, bit by bit to form a smooth glossy sauce. Stir in the cornichons. Spoon over the hot chops and serve immediately.

Sharon, I have that recipe for Madame Benoit's Maple Beans with Apples that you asked about. E-mail me and I will be glad to send it to you! mariealicejoan at aol dot com

I make no secret of the fact that the humble potato is my favourite vegetable. Actually I love all vegetables (except canned peas), and could quite happily become a vegetarian . . .

well . . . except for my love of a good steak, which I would really have a hard time turning my back on . . . but, I digress.

The potato . . . my favourite vegetable. Yes.



I'm not picky either about how they are prepared. I'll take em boiled, fried, baked . . . you name it!

Mashed, whole, fried until crisp, stuffed, hot cold . . .



Skins, or no skins . . . new, or old. Big or small . . . light and fluffy or waxy and solid . . .

I just love potatoes! This way of preparing them is fabulously easy and really tasty!



No need to make a cream sauce of any kind . . . just peel 'em and slice 'em (really thin, use a mandoline or your food processor) and layer them in a pan with some sliced onion, salt, pepper and thyme, and then cover with hot stock . . . oh and . . . ahem . . . BUTTER! Not lashings of it, mind, but just enough to perfectly gild the lily.



The secret to their melting tenderness is the long slow cooking they get . . . an hour covered . . . so that they melt down soft and absorb all of that lovely stock . . . and then half an hour uncovered . . . just long enough for all that buttery goodness to create a crunchy golden crust on top.



This may well be my favourite way of eating potatoes . . . but then again . . . put any potato in front of me . . . cooked in any way, and I am in . . .

HEAVEN . . . sigh . . .

The potato . . . it may look humble, but then again . . . looks are often quite deceiving are they not?



*Boulangere Potatoes*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Meltingly tender potato slices with a crunchy, golden crust, kinda like a good French Baguette!

1 kg floury potatoes (2.5 pounds) such as Maris Piper, Desiree, King Edwards or Idaho
2 medium onions
4 TBS butter, softened, plus extra to butter the dish
300ml of hot chicken or vegetable stock (a generous cupful)
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
a few springs of fresh thyme

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4. Butter a large shallow ovenproof dish. Set aside.

Peel the onions and potatoes and then slice them very thinly using a mandoline or a food processor. Layer them in the prepared baking dish, seasoning each layer with some salt and pepper and a few leaves stripped from the thyme and finishing with a layer of potato. Place the last layer on decoratively and press them down with the flat of your hand firmly. Pour the hot stock over top. Dot with the butter. Cover tightly with foil and then bake in the heated oven for 1 hour.

Remove the foil and bake for a further 30 minutes. The potatoes should be meltingly tender down through with a golden crunchy crust on top!

It is rumoured that there are over 900,000 poppy seeds contained in a pound of poppy seeds . . . I've never actually counted them, nor am I likely to, so I'll just have to take the rumour monger's word for it.



What I do know for sure is that I love poppy seeds in baked goods. Always have done, probably always will. (although to be sure they aren't necessarily ideal to serve in dinner party foods . . . a poppy seed caught in the tooth can be quite disconcerting to your dinner time partners!)



When I was a much younger (ahem) woman I was lucky enough to live in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains of Alberta for a time . . . while there I used to ubdulge myself in these lovely sweet pastries that were sold in most of the bakeshops . . . filled with a sweet and scrummy poppy seed filling . . . no doubt a tasty treat come down from the traditions of Eastern European settlers that filled the Canadian West . . .



Oh my . . . but they were soooo delicious . . . I could never quite get enough of them . . . the pastry all buttery and the filling so sweet and yet crunchy at the same time, with a distinct almond flavour and a lucious glaze gilding all of that goodness.



They were so good that some 30 years later I am still thinking about them . . . or is that just the power of a rose coloured food memory clouding my culinary vision . . . I am not sure.

I only know for sure, that I do have a special fondness for Poppy Seeds that goes way back.



They make quite a lovely showing in these delicious breakfast or teatime muffins . . . the muffins all buttery and sweetly moist . . . and at the same time tangy with lemon, both in flavour and the scent . . and then with those pretty blue seeds scattered throughout . . . a feast for all the senses . . . and lets not forget that lemon sugar crunch topping!

These go down a right treat with your morning cuppa!



*Lemon and Poppy Seed Muffins*
Makes one dozen
Printable Recipe

Light and sweetly tangy and filled with lots of poppyseed crunch, and a scrummy lemon sugar topping!!

3 tsp finely grated lemon zest
220g caster sugar (1 cup)
335g of self raising flour (2 1/4 cup)
2 TBS poppy seeds
80ml of fresh lemon juice (1/3 cup)
250ml of milk (1 cup)
60g of butter, melted (1/3 cup)
2 large free range eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a 12 cup muffin cup pan really well. Set aside.

Place the sugar and lemon zest into a large bowl. Rub the two together with your fingertips really well. (This smells great!) Remove 3 TBS of the mixture and set aside. Sift the flour into the remainder. Stir in the poppy seeds. Whisk together the lemon juice, milk, beaten eggs and melted butter. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the liquid all at once. Stir together only to combine. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups, dividing it equally.

Sprinkle the tops of each with the reserved lemon sugar.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for ten minutes before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling. Serve warm or at room temperature.