This week we are finally having beautiful summery weather . . . hot and sunny . . perfect picnic weather. Not the kind of weather that you really want to heat up the kitchen by cooking a roast dinner or some such.



The quicker and cooler the better. It's also portable food weather . . . you know the kind I mean . . . the kind that can be easily wrapped and transported in to the great outdoors where you can enjoy it surrounded by all that is good about nature and summer!



Tortillas are the perfect summer food. Easy and quick to make, they are equally as delicious served warm or cold. They are very easily cut into wedges and wrapped and fit perfectly into a picnic basket. They're also fairy sturdy and can't be too awfully damaged by a lot of jostling around!




They also very versatile. Basically they are not much more than a baked omelette, filled with your favourite scrummy ingredients . . . tasty things like herbs, olives, tomatoes, peppers, onions, mushrooms, chorizo, etc. Even leftover spaghetti and macaroni and cheese make great tortilla fillings.



Beaten eggs with your favourite savoury weaknesses folded in . . . browned in a well oiled skillet until set on the bottom . . . then popped under the grill to brown the top and set the whole thing together.



Cheese is nice. Cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan . . . tuck in your own chosen poison. Today I have chosen simple courgettes and new potatoes from the garden . . . and rich soft lucious dolcelatte cheese. Oh so delicious!



*Courgette and Dolcelatte Picnic Tortilla*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe


Delicious served warm from the pan, or wrapped up and served at room temperature at a picnic. Easy to transport. Goes very well with crusty bread, sliced ripe tomatoes and olives.

9 ounces of new potatoes (You want a waxy potato, a generous half pound), ends trimmed off
and cut into thick slices
2 medium courgettes, ends trimmed and cut into thick slices (zucchini)
5 large free range eggs
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
2 TBS snipped fresh chives
1 TBS olive oil
3 ounces dolcelatte cheese, broken into pieces
Sliced tomatoes, crusty bread and black olives to serve
salt and black pepper

Bring a saucepan of water to the boil. Add the potato slices. When the water comes back to the boil, cook the potatoes for 2 minutes. Add the courgettes and cook for two minutes longer and then drain everything well.

Turn the grill on to high. Beat together the eggs, garlic, chives and season very well with salt and black pepper. Stir in the vegetables.

Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet, with an oven proof handle. Pour in the egg mixture. Smooth it all out. Tuck in the dolcelatte cheese here and there. Cook, undisturbed for about 5 minutes, until nicely browned on the bottom. Place under the grill for an additional 5 to 8 minutes, until the top is set and golden brown. (If you pan doesn't have an oven proof handle, cover it with foil.)

Serve warm or cold, cut into wedges along with sliced crusty bread, sliced ripe tomatoes and ripe olives. Delicious!

This recipe here today is in honor of a good friend of mine named Jo. She just loves a good curry, and like me, she is always trying to watch her weight! (She's a bit better at it than I am though!)



Jo used to be the housekeeper at the Manor when I first started working there. Over the years we became good friends, and I really missed her when she and her husband left the area to pursue their dreams. She's now a Chiropodist, and her husband, well . . . he is still a plumber, but quite happy in his work!



Jo and her husband took me out to my very first Indian Restaurant actually! We had a really good time. They also took us to our very first Gherka Restaurant, and introduced us both to Thai Food as well! I guess you could say that they are very worldly in their tastes when they eat out!



They also enjoy a good curry at home. Colin likes the blow your head off kind . . . a hearty hot Madras, whilst Jo opts for something a bit milder.



This is probably a bit too mild for her, but she (and you) can certainly adjust the heat by adding more tikka paste, or even some chili powder. I found it just right for me. One thing she won't mind though is the fact that it's relatively low in fat and filled with lovely spinach, both for colour and texture.



So anyways, I never eat a curry now without thinking about Jo, and giving her a nod of thanks for having broadened my tastes!



*Chicken Curry with Rice*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This is quick and easy and relatively low in fat. There is no cream or coconut milk added. The spinach makes it quite healthy as well. You could cut the fat even more by using chicken breast meat instead of thighs. I think you could safely cut the oil in half as well.

2 TBS vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (trim off any fat and discard, then cut into strips)
2 TBS tikka masala curry paste
200g tin of chopped tomatoes (2 cups of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice)
450ml of hot vegetable stock (1 1/2 cups) (Use low salt stock)
7 ounces basamati rice (3/4 cup)
1 tsp salt
1/2 pound of baby leaf spinach (225g)
naan bread and mango chutney to serve

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and fry, stirring, over medium heat, for about 5 minutes until golden. Add the garlic and chicken. Stir fry for another 5 minutes, until golden.

Add the curry paste, tomatoes and stock. Stir and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes, giving it a stir every so often to make sure it doesn't catch on the bottom.

While the chicken is cooking, cook the rice. Bring 1 pint of water to the boil. (2 cups) Add the rice and salt and stir. Cover and reduce the heat to it's lowest setting. Cook for the time stated on the package of rice. Once cooked, cover with a teatowel and the lid. Leave for 5 minutes to absorb the steam.

Stir the spinach into the curry and cook until just wilted. Spoon the rice into heated bowls. Ladle on the curry and serve immediately, along with the naan bread and some mango chutney.


You can get a good Peshwari Naan Bread recipe here. It's delicious!

I have had this recipe kicking around my recipe files for several years now. It comes from a little booklet that I picked up at our local Waitrose when we were living down South in Kent.



It's entitled Essential Summer, Waitrose Seasons Cookbook 2009. I always love the Waitrose recipes. They are usually very, very good.



Actually I really miss Waitrose up here in Chester. The food they sold was always of exceptional quality. It may have cost a bit more, but I never ended up having to throw any of it away. Today alone I had to throw away a packet of spring onions and half a cucumber. I only bought them on Friday. I won't say where . . . unfortunately they had already turned, in just 3 days. That shouldn't happen, but it happens all too often. It's a disgrace!



Anyways, back to the recipe. Delicious pork loin steaks, cut in half and pounded until thin . . . wrapped in bacon strips, with some sage leaves tucked in . . . brushed with a grainy mustard oil and then grilled on the barbeque until scrummy delicious.

Served up with a moreish honey and grainy mustard dressing, they were fabulous!




*Pork, Bacon and Sage Escalopes*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Delicious pork cutlets, flavoured with sage, wrapped in bacon, brushed with a mustard flavoured oil and grilled until scrum yum delicious!

3 thin pork loin steaks (about 1 pound in total) (Preferably free range, organic)
6 rashers of thin cut smoked streaky bacon (dry cure)
14 large sage leaves
4 tsp grainy mustard
1 TBS clear honey
4 TBS mild olive oil
2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Prepare and light the grill. Cut the pork loin steaks in half, then pound them lightly between two sheets of clingfilm until they are about 1/4 inch thick with a rolling pin, taking care not to tear the meat.

Wrap a rasher of bacon around each piece of meat, tucking in two sage leaves and securing the bacon and sage leaves in place with wooden picks. Place in the refrigerator to chill while you make the oil and dressing.

Whisk together 2 tsp of the mustard, along with the honey, 2 TBS of the oil, the white wine vinegar and the Worcestershire Sauce. Set aside for the dressing.

Whisk together the remaining oil and mustard. Finely chop the remaining sage leaves and stir in. This will be used for basting the pork while you are cooking it.

Cook the meat on the barbeque for approximately 3 to 5 minutes per side, basting with the mustard oil mixture, until the juices run clear. Serve hot with some of the mustard honey dressing spooned over top.

Note: To cook indoors, grill in a hot skillet, gently frying on both sides for about 3 to 4 minutes per side and brushing with the mustard flavoured oil.

 

I've had this little book in my bookcase(s) for a while now. It's one that I picked up one time when we were visiting a National Trust Place. It's called




*Featherlight Wholewheat Cake*
Makes one 7 inch two-layer cake
Printable Recipe

This is only a small cake, just perfect for a tea party. With the icing having been made with cream cheese,
it is best eaten on the day. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

For the cake:
4 ounces butter, softened (1/2 cup)
4 ounces soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)
2 large free range eggs, separated
1 TBS cold water
4 ounces whole wheat self raising flour, sifted (1 cup)
(Be sure not to throw the bran away after sifting, stir this back in)

For the filling and icing:
7 ounces low fat cream cheese
2 ounces icing sugar, sifted (1/2 cup)
3 ounces toasted walnuts, chopped (a scant cup)

To Decorate:
9 toasted walnut halves

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter two 7 inch round sandwich tins and line the bottoms with baking paper. Butter the paper. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat together the eggs yolks and water. Beat into the creamed mixture, beating it in hard. Fold in the flour. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Fold in. Divide the mixture equally amongst the prepared tins. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes.

Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Beat together the ingredients for the filling until light and fluffy. When the cake is completely cold, place one layer, right side up on a plate. Spread with half of the filling. Top with the other cake, right side up and ice with the remaining icing. Decorate with half walnuts. Cut into wedges to serve.

Note: I added a layer of seedless raspberry jam on the bottom layer before I put on the walnut cream cheese filling. Fabulous addition!

One day a few weeks back I was talking to my mother on the phone and somehow the conversation got around to pies, as they do . . . ☺



My mother always made the best pies going. When pie was on the menu, everyone in our family was a happy camper . . . and it didn't matter if it was a sweet pie or a savoury pie. All her pies were great!!



When I was 13, she had to go away for a weekend and she left me in charge of the kitchen. I had to do all the meals which was no problem. She had left a homemade Turkey Pot Pie for one of the meals. I thought I had divided it up equally amongst everyone . . . but I was accused of having taken the largest piece for myself, which I strongly denied, but which in retrospect I probably did! Isn't that the cooks prerogative??? (I was doing all the work, even if it was only heating it up and cutting it into servings!!!)



Anyways, back to our conversation and pies . . . we got to talking about blueberry pies. When I first moved over here to the UK, you could not find a blueberry for love nor money. Having grown up with an abundance of wild blueberries, they were something that I really, really missed over here. I was so happy when they started to appear in the shops. They may not be wild and they may come mostly from Poland (although more and more are being grown here), but I just love them, and they are so good for you!



My mom was saying that her mother (my grandmother) always used to make the custard variety of blueberry pie and I was intrigued when I thought about it afterwards . . . how delicious it sounded . . . blueberry custard pie . . . wowser, wowser!



I've been thinking about it ever since and today I came up with this tasty little gem. You don't have to use blueberries with it . . . you could use just about any type of berry you want, or a combination of several different types. Blueberries were what I had today though, and Blueberry Custard Pie was what I was dreaming of, and so that is what I made, in honor of my dear late grandmother.



It was fabulous! I think I have found a new ♥ favourite ♥ kind of blueberry pie! It may even become your ♥ favourite ♥ kind of blueberry pie. You never know! (Ice cream would go very well with this, but I didn't have any . . . sigh . . . )



*Berry Custard Pie*Makes one 9 inch pie
Printable Recipe

A delicious berry pie layered with berries, custard and a vanilla streusel on top!

You will need:
your favourite pastry recipe to line one 9 inch glass pie dish

For the Filling:
1 oz plain flour (1/4 cup)
10 ounces sugar (1 1/2 cup)
450g of berries (blueberries, raspberries, currants) about 3 cups
2 large free range eggs, beaten lightly
170g tin of evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed) (6 fluid ounces)
1/2 tsp vanilla

For the Streusel:
1.5 ounces of plain flour (1/3 cup flour)
3.5 ounces sugar (1/2 cup)
2 ounces butter, cut into bits (1/4 cup)
1/4 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line a 9 inch glass pie dish with your pastry, trimming and crimping the edges to please.

Put the berries into the crust. Whisk together the flour and sugar for the filling to mix. Sprinkle this evenly over the berries, stirring them up a bit to mix. Beat together the eggs, evaporated milk and vanilla. Pour this evenly over top of the berries and flour mixture.

Rub the streusel ingredients together until they resemble coarse crumbs. Sprinkle evenly over the berry filling.

Bake for about 1 hour in the heated oven until the pie is golden brown and set and the crust is nicely crisped.

Allow to cool at least two hours before serving. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

I am just loving summer with all of it's fresh fruit and vegetables! It is by far and away the best time of year for fruit and veg just packed with flavour!



The supermarket shelves (not to mention my garden) are a dancing parade of delicious colour and taste, and I am love, love, lovin' every moment of it!



I especially love the abundance of fresh berries! Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, red and black currants, gooseberries, . . . oh so lovely. And the stone fruit . . . English cherries, early plums, apricots and fresh peaches from the continent . . . oh so yummy!



There is so very much you can do with them and we have been enjoying our fair share of them fresh and eaten out of hand and then in some pretty scrummy desserts . . . but you know what?



They just aren't for dessert! They also make lovely fruity salsa's that are just perfect with grilled chicken, lamb and pork.



Today I did some lovely grilled chicken breasts, all moist tender and flavourful . . . accompanied by a fruity yet zesty fresh berry salsa.



Each mouthful was a delight . . . the berries sweet and yet at the same time tangy from the lime juice and a bit salty from the salt and the pepper, chili and cilantro gave it a nice zip! And let's not forget the rich creaminess from the avocado!



All in all a truly wonderful combination that I hope you will want to try out for yourself! (I am thinking it would also be wonderful in a wrap with either sliced roast turkey or chicken, and perhaps a gutsy lettuce like Baby Gems or even rocket.) Watch this space!

This is light, fresh, colourful and delicious!



*Grilled Chicken with a Summer Berry Salsa*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Berries aren't just for dessert! Moist tender chicken with a delicious berry salsa that has a bit of a bite!

3 TBS olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, butterflied
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
the juice and zest of one unwaxed lime
100g of fresh strawberries, roughly chopped (6 large berries)
100g of fresh blueberries (about 3/4 cup)
100g of fresh raspberries (23 raspberries)
1 red chili, deseeded and finely chopped (do be careful not to touch your nose, face or eyes when
working with fresh chilies)
1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 ripe avocado, skinned and diced
20g of fresh coriander leaves, chopped (Cilantro) (a handful, leaves only, discard stems)

Heat a griddle to medium heat. Brush 2 TBS olive oil over the butterflied chicken breasts. Season with salt and pepper. Cook on the heated griddle, turning halfway through the cooking time, until cooked through and the juices run clear. (4 to 5 minutes per side.)

While the chicken is cooking, whisk the remaining oil with the lime juice and zest. Season to taste with some salt and pepper.

Put the berries into a bowl. Add the dressing along with the onion, chili, avocado and coriander. Toss gently together.

Serve the griddled chicken with the berry salsa spooned over top. Serve immediately.