I have been making this delicious salad for years. I am sure I must make it at least two or three times a week during the summertime, it's that popular with us!



I first tasted it at my sister's inlaws at their cottage on the banks of Lake Erie back in the 1970's. I had never ever had sour cream before, and my sister's mother in law made it only with cucumbers.



Oh, my . . . it was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted! I remember we had it along with fried bologna sandwiches, eaten out on their deck overlooking the water.

A simple supper, yes, but that simple supper goes down in my memories as being one of the most favourite suppers I have ever had! Just goes to show you that I am a woman of simple tastes!



The tomato and dill are my own additions. It just seemed natural to me that these things would go together spectacularly, and you know what???

I was right. Enjoy!



*Tomato and Cucumber Salad*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

Cool, and refreshing on a hot day. We love this.

2 English cucumbers, peeled, halved and sliced into moons
1 small red onion, slivered
salt
2 large tomatoes, cut into wedges

For the dressing:
200ml of sour cream (3/4 cup)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp dillweed
freshly ground black pepper

Place the cucumber into a bowl. Sprinkle it with some salt and slosh it around a bit, so that the salt is well distributed. Put onion into a bowl and sprinkle it with some salt, slosh it around too. Let sit for about 15 minutes, then drain well, discarding any liquid and squeezing the onions. Stir them together in a bowl and add the sliced tomatoes. COmbine the sour cream, sugar, dillweed and vinegar along with a nice grinding of black pepper. Stir this into the vegetables and serve. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

 

Now that summer is here, we are definitely eating a bit lighter. Todd has always said that he is not fond of salads, and by that he means a plate of boring leaves with little else.



Indeed . . . salad is something that the British got quite wrong for a number of years, with most salads consisting of some torn iceberg lettuce, a few slices of wilted cucumber and an bit of anemic tomato on top! If you got any dressing at all . . . it was salad cream, or straight mayonnaise. And while I am rather fond of salad cream on boiled eggs or in sandwiches at times . . . I really want to have something a bit more tastier on my salad. It is no wonder that Todd thought he didn't like salad.



Nowadays there is no excuse for a boring salad here in the UK. We grow all sorts and varieties of salad greens right here at home . . . meaty rocket, tender oakleaf, peppery watercress, sweet baby gems, cos . . . to name but a few. Us UK'ers are quite well travelled these days, and have taken a lesson from the continent. It is now quite common to find tasty salads in most restaurants.



At home, Todd is still not overly fond of a plate of lettuce and so I always try to dress them up with a bit more than just lettuce, using a variety of vegetables and in this case here today . . .



Topping the colourful plate of salad greens with a delicious wheatberry salad, chock full of crunch and sweetness. Crunchy toasted walnuts and chopped celery . . . sweet dried cranberries . . . spicy spring onions, and a tangy lemon and olive oil dressing.



Topped again with a breast of chicken that has been rubbed with a delicious mixture of spices and grilled until perfectly cooked, and still juicy and tender.



This is quite nice . . . Todd mumbled in between satisfied mouthfuls.
My job was done. ☺ I do ♥ a happy and well fed man!!



*Grilled Chicken and Wheatberry Salad*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Hearty and deliciously different with a nutty and chewy wheatberries, sweet dried cranberries, crunchy toasted walnuts atop tender greens and topped off with a spicy grilled chicken breast!

For the Salad:
1 cup of hard wheat berries
(I used an 8 ounce measure of Ebly and 16 ounces of chicken broth)
2 ounces of chopped toasted walnuts (1/2 cup)
a large handful of parsley, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, washed, trimmed and finely chopped
2 1/2 ounces of dried cranberries (1/2 cup)
2 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS lemon juice, plus 1 tsp
salt and black pepper

4 cups of mixed salad leaves

For the Chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp olive oil

Make the wheatberry salad first. Combine the wheat berries and enough water to cover by 2 inches in a pot. Bring to the boil, and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, uncovered until tender, about 1 hour. Drain and let cool. (If you are using Ebly, combine 1 measure of the Ebly with 2 measures of chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then cook for 10 minutes, until tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Drain well and cool.)

In a large bowl, combine the cooled wheat, toasted walnuts, parsley, celery, cranberries, spring onions, olive oil and lemon juice. Season to taste with some salt and pepper. Set aside.

Place the chicken breasts into a plastic baggie and bash them with a rolling pin until they are about 1/2 inch thick and of even thickness throughout. Combine the cumin, coriander, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Rub the chicken breasts with the olive oil and then with the spice mixture, rubbing it all into both sides.

Heat a large grill pan over medium high heat. Spray with some cooking spray. Grill the chicken until grill marks have formed and the chicken is cooked all the way through, some 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

To serve, place 1 cup of salad leaves on each of four chilled plates. Cover with 3/4 cup of the wheat berry salad. Slice each chicken breast on the diagonal and lay atop the wheatberries. Serve immediately.



Note - You can also chill the wheatberry salad and then pack it with the salad leaves and chicken into a takeaway container for a delicious, and yet hearty, go to work lunch!



I stored the leftovers in one of my handy dandy Pyrex 4-in-1 Plus dishes that I was sent to try out last week. They are just lovely! Ideal for eat-in and take-away cooking, the Pyrex 4-in-1 Plus range offers air tight storage that can be used in the fridge or freezer. Its smart lid has a steam valve that enables microwave heating, remove the lid and it can be used to cook in an oven. Made from borosilicate glass, it is thermal shock resistant and able to withstand temperatures of up to 300*C. They come with a 10 year guarantee under normal use and are nicely sized for easy storage. Available at stockist in the UK and starting at £5.50 they are easily affordable. Thank you Pyrex for allowing me to try them out! I've spent the last week, storing, baking and reheating with the three that I was sent and I am very happy with them. I highly recommend!!

Hooray for summer! This is cherry season and if we were living down in Kent at the moment, we'd be able to pick up paper bags full of them all over the place. The lay-byes are filled with cherry sellers plying their wares. Beautiful sweet cherries, warm from the sun. I never could get my fill!



But alas we are up in Cheshire now and you don't see cherry sellers up here, or at least I havent'. The cherries in the shops are very expensive as well, so cherries are a very rare treat . . . that is until today when I was at my local Morrisons and lo and behold they had these lovely Picota Cherries from Spain on for £1 a punnet! I picked up two and may go back and get more to freeze.



They are not British Cherries, nor are they French Cherries, and I had never heard of Picota Cherries before, but they are apparently the Queen of the beautiful Jerte Valley in Western Spain. They are only available for a short time . . . mid June until the end of July. They have two unique qualities . . . they are smaller than the other varieties and they are naturally stalkless as the stalk is left on the tree when each cherry is picked.



They have a nother beautiful quality I'd like to shout about . . . THEY'RE DELICIOUS! Yummy! I have eaten a whole punnet, without blinking an eye. I just couldn't stop! (I am so bad! But they are soooo good!)



I decided to make a Clafoutis with the remainder of them, using this recipe I found on the M&S site. I have adapted it to include North American measurements for you North Americans. It is some good. A little bit different from my other recipe which you can find here.



This one doesn't have any cream so it is a little bit less fattening. Oh scrummy yummy. I love me some Cherry Clafoutis!

I have something spectacularly simple and yet very elegant to share with you today.

These little gems are quite old fashioned, coming from a recipe that's been around a very long time. (1933) I have a series of cookery books in my home library, called The Farmer's Wife cookbooks. I have the Baking one, the Comfort Foods one, and one simply entitled The Farmer's Wife. There are quite a few others as well, but I haven't managed to collect them just yet.



These are lovely ring bound cookery books, just stogged full of tried and trues, family and farm tested recipes, based on simple, wholesome and nourishing ingredients.



It's simple food. Honest food. Old fashioned and delicious.



I have wanted to make these little sweet biscuits for a long time now. From the Farmer's Wife Comfort Food Cookbook (over 300 blue-ribbon recipes), they use every day ingredients . . . round buttery crackers, egg whites, jam, chopped nuts. They're very easy to make and in less than 15 minutes, you can have a delicious little sweet on your teatime table that is not only pretty, but quite, quite delicious.



Each bite is at once buttery and crisp, from the cracker base and ethereally angelically sweet from the soft jam meringue topping, with the added pleasure of chopped toasted nuts. I quite like these. The combinations are endless . . . raspberry jam with almonds, marmelade with walnuts, strawberry jam with pistachios, apricots jam with almonds, etc. . . . let your imagination and fancy go wild!




*Jam Marguerites*
Makes about 20
Printable Recipe

A pretty little dainty, just perfect for the tea table! Quick, easy and delicious!

2 large free range egg whites, at room temperature
3 TBS raspberry or other jam
2 ounces of chopped nuts (1/2 cup)
2 drops lemon essence
20 round buttery crackers (such as Ritz. You can also use TUK, in which case you
will have rectangular shaped ones)

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Have ready a baking tray.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and then gradually beat in the jam, beating until thorougly blended. Add 1 TBS of the choppled nuts and lemon essence. Place a spoonful of the mixture on each cracker and place onto the baking sheet. Sprinkle with the remainder of the chopped nuts. Bake for abou 10 minutes until delicately brown. (Keep an eye on them.) Serve on the day as they are not great keepers.

What can be better than some lovely scones on a late afternoon . . . all short and buttery . . .
flakey and tender . . .



There are sweet scones, just perfect with jam or marmalade, and a nic ehot cuppa . . . and then there are savoury ones, just right for serving on their own, or with breakfast or lunch or supper on the side.



I like them both equally. Both are lovely . . . but how can you improve on perfection??? How indeed!!



By stogging some savoury scones full of cheese and then baking them, that's how!



Lovely savoury scones, with a bit of crunch from the polenta, but short and flakey and filled with Double Gloucester Cheese . . . oozing out when you bit into them . . . perfect with soups, or stews . . .



Chili Con Carne . . . salads, or even on their own. This is my best idea yet, I think! Very moreish!



*Cheese Filled Cornmeal Scones*
Makes 12
Printable Recipe

Short and scrummy and stogged full of lovely oozing Double Gloucester Cheese!

7 ounces plain flour (1 1/2 cups)
2.5 ounces coarse polenta (1/2 cup cornmeal)
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
3 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
3 ounces cold white vegetable shortening (Trex or Crisco)
125ml of whole milk
125ml of sour cream
4 ounces Double Gloucester Cheese, cut into 12 cubes (Can use Colby or Monterey Jack Cheese)

Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Dust a baking sheet lightly with flour. Set aside.

Sift the flour into a bowl along with the baking powder. Whisk in the salt and cornmeal. Drop in the fat and rub it in lightly with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the Cayenne pepper and the onions. Beat together the sour cream and milk. Stir into the flour mixture with a fork, using only as much as you need to form a soft dough. (You may or may not need it all.) Do not overmix.

Dump onto the baking sheet and knead lightly about 10 times. Pat our into a 12 by 8 inch rectangle. Using a pizza cutter for ease, or a sharp knife, cut the rectangle into 12 (4 by 2 inch) smaller rectangles. Place a cube of cheese about 3/4 of an inch from one short edge. Moisten the edges all around with water and then fold the dough over the cheese to form a 2 inch square. Firmly pinch the edges all the way around to enclose. Spread out on the baking sheet.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until well risen and lightly browned. Serve warm. Store any leftovers, tightly covered, in the refrigerator.

Note - You can reheat any leftover scones by wrapping in foil and heating in a 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4 oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until heated through.

We had the missionaries over for supper yesterday. I just love feeding the missionaries and I think they enjoy coming over for a meal as well. I usually try to cook them a tasty treat from home, or a cosy meal like their mum would cook for them. Yesterday it was some tasty Bacon Chops and Macaroni and Cheese. Of course I threw in a few vegetables and some salad and buns. They were well chuffed.



For dessert I baked some strawberry tarts, which went down a real treat and then, when they were ready to leave I presented them with a bag of these delicious cookies!



They were over the moon!



Delicious buttery chocolate chip cookies, stogged full of chocolate chips and then filled with a tasty square of milk chocolate filled with gooey caramel. What's not to like about these!!



I was actually very happy that I had the missionaries to give these too. They are far too dangerous to have around the house for very long. I managed to eat three of them in the afternoon . . . and that was with a mouth that was frozen from having been to the Dentist! (They were THAT good!) I couldn't help myself.



Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, and OH SO SCRUMDIDDLYUMPTIOUS! Resistance is futile. Totally futile.