I got a new cookbook the other day. (shhhh . . . don't tell Todd. He thinks my library is having babies.) River Cottage Veg Every Day, by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall. I'm a huge fan of HFW!

This is more than just a veggie book, filled with veggie recipes. Hugh’s approach to vegetables is from the green, sustainable and ethical food and fitness standpoint. I tend to agree with his attitude . . . we do tend to eat far too much meat and I've never heard of anyone being accused of eating far too much veg . . . in fact we are always being encouraged to eat more . . . five a day and all that!



I just love this book. I've toyed with the idea of becoming a vegetarian off and on through the years . . . it's only the thought of a good steak that makes me a bit wobbly with the idea . . . but I do try to incorporate more vegetarian dishes into our menues here at casa de rayner.



Vegetarian food used to be considered quite, quite boring, but not so any more, and this fantastic book makes that quite clear! It's beautifully illustrated and photographed and is chock full of delicious looking and sounding recipes . . . that are not out of the reach of the ordinary cook . . . nor are they boring in the least.



Take this beautiful Macaroni Peas recipe. Not only is it beautiful to look at, but I can tell you it's incredibly tasty as well! And . . . it was very quick and easy to make. Todd balked a tiny bit when he saw it . . . he is one of these men who always thought vegetarian food was quite yukky and well, we all know how much he loves pasta! Well, he ate a whole big bowl of it and went back for seconds. 'Nuff said.



If you really wanted to you could add some chopped ham or cooked bacon to the mix . . . it certainly would taste quite right here . . . but really, this is pretty darn good all on it's own.
(And this is coming from a gal who hated peas at one time!) Oh so scrummy, this is . . . oh so scrummy!



*Macaroni Peas*
Serves 4
(Adapted from River Cottage Veg Everyday)
Printable Recipe

This is fantastic. You can keep it veggie of course, but if you wanted a bit of meat some chopped boiled ham or crispy pancetta would not go amiss!

500g of frozen petit pois (4 cups)
500g of dry macaroni (2 cups)
50g of butter (scant 4 TBS)
1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
25g of Parmesan cheese, coarsely grated (1/2 cup) plus more for serving
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
chopped fresh flat leaf parsley to serve

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions while you make the sauce.

Heat the butter in a small pan. Add the garlic and cook gently for a few minutes without colouring.

Put the peas in a separate pan, cover with water, bring to the boil and simmer until just tender. This should only take a couple of minutes. Drain, reserving the cooking liquid. Put half of the peas into a blender along with 6 TBS of the cooking water, and the melted butter and garlic. Add the cheese. Blitz until you have a smooth and loose puree, adding a bit more of the pea cooking water if needed. Combine with the whole peas and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta as soon as it is ready and toss immediately with the hot pea sauce. Serve topped with a hearty grinding of black pepper, some more grated Parmesan and a garnish of chopped flat leaf parsley.

This book gets a hearty 10 out of 10 from me!! I have flagged almost every recipe! Well done Hugh! (I am really liking the shorter hair on Hugh too!)



I've got a Lemon Basil Mayonnaise going over in The Cottage today!

There are some days when you just don't feel much like cooking aren't there??? I like to call them "Egg & Chips" days or "Beans on Toast" days! (and we all have them!)



Today was an "Egg & Chips" day. In fact I was really, really lazy today and sent Todd to the local chippie for the chips. (So bad but oh so good!) By the time he came home the eggs were fried, with crisp lacy brown edges (just the way we like them) and the bread was buttered.



I did bake cookies though . . . so all was not lost. We are going to be visiting an elderly gentleman that is a member of our church Ward and I wanted to bake a treat for him.



I think he'll like these. They're really quite scrummy!



In fact, you could say they are one of my favourite cookies.
Soft and chewy and chock full of lovely dark milk chocolate chunks, sweet and chewy raisins and crunchy toasted macadamia nuts.



Oh my . . . I just may have to bake some more! I am such a bad puddy tat . . . =^..^=



*My Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chunk, Raisin & Macadamia Nut Cookies*
Makes one dozen oversized cookies
Printable Recipe

These are nice and chewy and chock full of lovely raisins, chocolate chunks and toasted macadamia nuts. What's not to love about these!

6 ounces of butter, melted
7.5 ounces soft light brown sugar (1 cup, packed)
3.5 ounces caster sugar (1/2 cup)
1 large free range egg
1 large egg yolk
1 TBS vanilla extract
pinch salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
8.5 ounces plain flour (2 cups)
9 ounces good quality milk chocolate, chopped (1 1/2 cups approximately. I like
to use Green and Black' as it has a high cacao count and tastes lovely)
5.25 ounces raisins (1 cup)
5.25 ounces coarsely chopped toasted macadamia nuts
(Do take the time to toast them. They taste so much better)

Preheat the oven to 165*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Line several baking sheets with baking paper. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, soda and salt. Set aside.

Cream together the melted butter along with both sugars. Blend together well.Beat in the egg, egg yolk and vanilla, until light and creamy. Stir in the dry ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips, raisins and nuts using a wooden spoon. Drop the dough by super heaped dessertspoons onto the baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches in between each. (About 1/4 cup each)

Bake for 15 to 17 minutes until the edges are lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheets for several minutes before removing to wire racks to finish cooling completely. Store in an airtight container.

(This is their picture.)

Today for our dinner we had one of the ready meals that had been sent to us via Pipers Farm, the Daube of Red Ruby Beef from their Ready Meal Range. From their page:

We take joints of rolled & tied Beef shin & cook them slowly for 20 hours until they are tender. We then make a rich sauce using Brandy, reduced red wine, our own homemade Beef jus & Beef stock infused with cinnamon, juniper, orange zest, peel & bay leaves which we allow to simmer gently. Finally we combine the Shin with sauce, adding onions, crisp bacon lardons. kalamata olives, carrots & chopped parsley.



There were two portions which was just enough for us. It was convenient and very easy to use. I just simply dropped the handy single portion pouches into some boiling water and then simmered them for 20 minutes. Easy peasy, lemon squeasy. The hardest part was getting it out of the bag, but I managed to do it with the aid of some tongs and my kitchen scissors.



The portions were quite ample in size, in fact I couldn't finish mine. (Mitzie didn't mind because that meant she got to taste it too.) The beef was tender and flavourful, as was the sauce. I loved the saltiness of the kalamata olives, which went very well with the beef and offset the sweetness of the prunes. If I had anything negative to say about it at all, it would be that I found the meat to be a little bit fatty, but then shin can be somewhat fatty, and I would have preferred the lardons to be crisped before baking. Todd didn't mind any of that . . . it's just me being a bit finicky. Other than those two things we both really really enjoyed. I served it with some steamed long grain and wild rice. It retails at £4.50 per serving which is really quite reasonable, and as with all of their products, it comes with a money back guarantee if you are not satisfied.



In The Cottage today, Chicken with Rice Soup. Perfect for when you are feeling a bit under the weather. (Note to all you people celebrating Thanksgiving on Thursday. You can also make this soup using your turkey carcass.)

The people at Piper's Farm recently contacted me to see if I would be interested in trying out some of their Christmas line and I jumped at the chance. After having tried some of their other products earlier this year, I knew I was in for a real treat!


First let me tell you a bit about Piper's Farm though. Located in Devon, Piper's Farm has over 20 years of experience at rearing, producing and selling and delivering consistently good quality meats and poultry. All the meat and poultry they sell, they produce themselves, and is free from preservatives and additives. It's free range and organic, with every detail controlled, allowing their animals to grow slowly, naturally and free from stress. You can read more about my past experience with them here. I have always been suitably impressed with it all.

I was not disappointed this time either. About 4 days ago, I looked out the door to see a delivery man struggling up my path with a HUGE box in his arms. Oh my what could it be? It was just like Christmas morning. As soon as I saw the Piper's Farm logo on the box I got really excited! Inside was a wonderful assortment of different goodies, which I couldn't wait to get started on. Everything arrived perfectly packaged and still frozen. These people know how to do this right and it shows in every detail.

Their Christmas Line of goodies is just as impressive as their everyday line. You can choose from a variety of beautiful meats and accompaniments to suit just about any budget and taste, with everything available from Turkey to Goose, Venison and everything in between.



(Doesn't this look delicious!)

For instance they offer a very delicious looking Turkey alternative to the traditional whole roasted bird. The Simplest Turkey combination consists of a boned, stuffed (Apricot and Hazelnut stuffing) and rolled Bronze turkey breast, a boned stuffed and rolled Bronze turkey thigh joint (for the dark meat lovers in the family), some scrummy bacon wrapped chipolatas and turkey stock (ideal for the gravy) all sold together and working out at roughly £6.50 per serving, which isn't all that bad really. AND . . . you can have it all cooked in about an hour! What a time saver!



One of my earliest Christmas memories is staying up late to watch A Christmas Carol on the telly with my mother. It was the old film, black and white and scratchy with Alistair Sims in it. I'm not sure how much of it I actually took in . . . but I do remember the mention of a Christmas Goose.
Goose is not something I have ever eaten, although to be sure, I have used my own fair share of goosefat to do roast potatoes in and let me tell you . . . they are fabulous.



I was really excited when I discovered that one of the products in my box was their Simplest Goose range, in a two portion size just perfect for Todd and myself. The Simplest Goose breast comes with their home-made fresh prune, apple and onion mixture which perfectly complements the goose along with some pure goose stock. Also added is a tub of goose fat for the most amazing roast potatoes.

I could hardly wait to cook this up for Todd and myself!



They always include cooking instructions and tips in the packaging so that you know exactly what to do with it all with no surprises or mysteries involved, something which was really important to me as I had never cooked or eaten goose before.



Their free range goose is grown slowly to natural maturity and grass fed. Following their instructions, we ended up with a beautiful dinner of tender and moist slices of goose breast with a wonderfully delicious prune and apple sauce, and some crispy golden roasted potatoes. This line is a bit more expensive than the turkey line, working out at £9 per portion . . . a bit pricey, but for a special meal like Christmas and with a small family it would be just perfect for us!

The meat was delicious, not gamey at all like I was expecting . . . well, I don't really know what I was expecting, but it was most certainly not disappointing in the least!




It was most, most delicious and we both really enjoyed this very much.



Next up was their delicious Venison Haunch. I served this the other night as a treat for the Missionaries and we were all delighted. Boneless and completely fat-free, it was beautifully tender with a mild venison flavour, and once again very easy to cook as per their instructions. I served it up with a variety of roasted vegetables and a red currant sauce. It was just beautiful and works out at roughly at a cost of £8 per person, which again, isn't bad. (This is not my picture. The lighting was so poor due to the time of the day we served it I couldn't get a good picture, but let me tell you in reality it looked every bit as scrummy as their picture on the site, and tasted even better!)

There were a few other things in the box, which I will talk about on another day, so stay tuned!



I am planning on ordering one of their Ruby Red Beef Roasts for our own Christmas Dinner this year (just for a change from Turkey) and some of their delicious meat pies or maybe a gammon for boxing day. Their delivery service is reliable and their packaging is exemplar. With free delivery and a 10% discount on your first order I reckon it's a pretty good deal all round, and what's an even bigger bonus . . . I won't have to suffer the crowds and chaos in the Grocery shops in the days running up to the big day!

Thank you Piper's Farm for once again treating me to your wonderful products. Please feel free to read more about their award winning meats and poultry on their homepage, and follow them on their Facebook page and Twitter. as well as their You Tube Channel.



(A fun video which shows you how brilliant their packaging is!)



Baking in The Cottage today, delicious Caramel Squares!

Do you know what time of year it is? The Holidays are almost upon us. The shop shelves are filled with mincemeat pies, stollen, and Christmas Cakes. Holiday chocolate selection boxes and every ingredient you could possibly use to make your own from scratch holiday goodies.



I love mincemeat and every year I try to come up with new ways to use it in my Holiday Baking. I have a great recipe for making your own, which you can find here. It's nice to have lots of it ready to use in a variety of ways!

In the past I have come up with:



Christmas Morning Dougnut Muffins



Fruity Chocolate Fondant Puds




Baked Holiday Custards



Open Mince Pies



Traditional Mince Pies



Holiday Split Seconds



Mincemeat and Marzipan Teabread



Mincemeat and Apple Jalousie



Spicy Cranberry, Almond and Mincemeat Eve's Pudding

This year is no different. The Mincemeat fest has already begun. Today I baked some lovely Mincemeat Rolls.

They were quick and easy and quite, quite delicious.



Each mouthful was fruity and buttery and spicey scrummy.



All you need is a jar of mincemeat (or your own homemade stuff) and a tin of refrigerated Croissant Rolls. (Crescent Rolls)



You can have a deliciously different and welcome Holiday Breakfast or Brunch bread sitting on the table for your family in less than 20 minutes, counting the time it takes to open the tin and roll them up.



It seriously is very easy and they are seriously quite lovely. Well, so long as you like mincemeat that is . . . and as you can clearly tell . . . WE DO!!

Oh sure . . . you could make your own Crescent Rolls from scratch . . . but this is about INSTANT Gratification baby, or darned close to it!



*Mincemeat Rolls*
Makes 6
Printable Recipe

Fluffy buttery cresent rolls filled with tasty mincemeat, baked and then dusted with icing sugar and served warm. A delicious holiday breakfast addition!

1 (250g) tin of refrigerated croissant rolls (Jus-Roll. They come in a tin you crack open and unroll, separate, and then roll
up into croissants. There are six in the tin. You will find them in the chiller cabinet at the store. In North America you could
use Pillsbury Cresent Rolls)
6 heaped dessertspoons of jarred or homemade fruited mincemeat
Icing sugar to dust



Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Set aside.

Crack open the tin of rolls and separate them into 6 triangles. Spread each triangle with a heaped dessertspoon of mincmeat, leaving the edges free. Roll up from the wide edge to the point. Place onto the baking sheet and curve gently to form a crescent.

Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, until golden brown. Allow to cool somewhat before dusting with icing sugar and serving. (Be careful as the sweet filling will be very hot when fresh out of the oven. I let mine cool to lukewarm before serving and eating.)



Cooking in The Cottage today, a delicious Steak with a Mushroom and Stilton Sauce.