So here we are on one of the most romantic days of the year . . . the day when Sweethearts the world over (or at least in the Westernized nations) go out of their way to let their beloved know that they are appreciated in a very special way.



Cards and special gifts will be exchanged . . . Intimate Dinners a Deux will be cooked . . . Champagne Corks will fly . . . the music of love will be everywhere . . . and all over will be heard the words . . . je t'adore . . . je t'adore . . .



Why is French such a romantic sounding language . . . the language of love . . . even English spoken with a French Accent sounds more romantic . . . and I have always wanted to visit the "City of Love" (Paris) with my beloved . . . that is sur ma "Bucket" list . . . or as Hyacinth would say . . . my ♥♥Bouquet list!♥♥ (I think she is so funny!)



Here at ma petite maison, we shall be dining on a starter of Thai Fish Cakes, done to a turn and served on a bed of salad greens . . . with a light Thai Dressing. Next there will be a tasty Steak with a Cognac and Pepper Sauce, Potatoes Boulanger and some vegetables . . . dessert will be this . . .



Delicious Baby Berry Custard Cakes . . . no chocolate here. (Todd hates chocolate as you know.)



Delicious bread puddings made from stale madiera cake and custard, baked over top of fresh berries which are surrounded with raspberry preserves. The cake and custard . . . all goldenly scrummy . . . the custard rich . . . the berries sticky sweet.



With a garnish of berry coulis and a light dusting of icing sugar, this is tres tres magnifique!!



Impressive . . . easy . . . delicious. Light and perfect for a special celebratory meal. What more could you want??? Happy Valentines Day everyone! May your day be filled with sweetness and light and more love than you can count!



*Baby Berry Custard Cakes*
Makes 6 servings
Printable Recipe

Delighful little baby cakes with a delicious madiera cake custard, topping a layer of sweet berries baked in raspberry preserves. Delicious when served with some berry coulis, or chocolate sauce, or warmed and sieved raspberry jam.
The perfect dessert to share with your sweetie pie!

2 TBS raspberry preserves
300g of assorted berries (2 cups) (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, currants etc.)
60g of madiera cake, cut into 1/2 inch cubes (1 cup, pound cake)
500ml of evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed) (2cups)
(Can also use single cream or half and half)
95g of white sugar (1/2 cup)
2 large free range eggs
2 large free range egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla

To serve:
Icing sugar for dusting
fruit coulis, or chocolate sauce, or warmed and sieved raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter 6 4 to 6 ounce ramekins. Place 1 tsp of preserves into the bottom of each ramekin. Divide the berries amongst the ramekins. Top each with an equal portion of cake cubes. Set aside.

Whisk together the evaporated milk (cream or half and half), eggs, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla. Divide equally amongst the ramekins, pouring it in over top of the cake cubes. Place each ramekin into a shallow roasting pan. Place the roasting pan on a rack in the oven and fill with boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until set and golden brown.

Run a sharp knife around the insides of each ramekin to loosen cakes and tip out, then tip back right side up onto 6 dessert plates. Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with your desired sauce. Delicious!

As a foodie I am a big fan of several cooking blogs . . . no surprise there. One of my favourites happens to be a Canadian food blog entitled Mennonite Girls Can Cook. It is authored by 10 lovely Mennonite ladies and is just fabulous . . . filled with good old fashioned, non-pretentious cooking.



I happen to know first hand that Mennonite's are wonderful cooks. I have lots of very fond memories of a fabulous restaurant that we used to visit in St Jacob's, Ontario called Anna Mae's. The food there was just wonderful and the restaurant was always super busy. Eating there was just like sitting down to supper at a good friend's house or your mum's . . . everything homemade, delicious and . . . just like at mum's you can tell what day of the week that it is by what's on the menu! (Do take a look at their page and you'll see what I'm talking about.)



Everything was super delicious and the pies . . . homemade bread and rolls and the pies . . . wow. Pie at Anna Mae's = out of this world!



I would be the first one to confess that I am not a great bread baker. My mother made beautiful loaves of bread . . . and my Aunt Thelma's Potato Rolls were the best I've ever eaten. I am afraid I missed out on the bread baking gene when it was being handed out. I saw this recipe over on the Mennonite girl's page one day last week and I thought to myself. YES! I can do that!



And so . . . I adapted the recipe to the ingredients that I have available to me over here in the uk . . . and . . . know what??? They turned out not half bad!



In fact, I would even go so far as to say they are quite, quite scrummy! We had them with a delicious vegetable potage that I will share with you another day, but for now . . . here's the roll recipe.



*Herbed Oatmeal Pan Rolls*
Makes 9 pan rolls
Printable Recipe

Wholesome and delicious. These tasty rolls are perfect with soups, stews or even on their own, buttered with some tasty strong cheddar on the side.

250ml boiling water (1 cup)
40g rolled oats (not old fashioned) (1/2 cup)
2 TBS butter
200g strong white bread flour (2 cups)
65g granary bread flour (1/2 cup, multigrain)
2 TBS caster sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 TBS easy bake yeast (bread machine, quick rise)
1 large free range egg, at room temperature

For the herby topping:
2 TBS butter, melted
1/4 tsp dried basil leaves
1/4 tsp dried oregano leaves
1/8 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp finely grated Parmesan Cheese

Combine the boiling water, oats and 2 TBS butter in a small bowl, stirring to melt the butter. Let stand and cool to just warm before proceeding.

Measure the white and granary flours into a large bowl. Whisk in the sugar, salt and yeast. Beat the egg into the warm oat mixture. Stir this into the dry ingredients until all are well incorporated. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead dough until you have a smooth, soft dough, which is not sticky, adding more strong white flour as needed. Shape into a ball and cover with the bowl. Let rest for 20 minutes.

Grease a 9 inch square metal baking tin. Punch the dough down and then press it into the baking tin to fill all the corners. Take a sharp knife and cut down through the dough to the bottom of the pan, cutting it into 9 equal squares. (3 cuts across and 3 cuts down.) Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Once the oven has heated bang the pan of rolls into it and bake for 15 minutes. While they are baking, stir together all the ingredients for the herby topping. At the end of 15 minutes, remove the partially baked rolls from the oven. Brush the tops with the herby topping. Return the pan to the oven and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes until golden brown and they sound hollow on the bottoms when turned over and tapped lightly with your fingers. Tip out onto a wire rack to cool to warm. Best served fresh, but can be revived by a gentle reheating in a warm oven for 8 to 10 minutes.

 

One of the perks of having a food blog is that on occasion you get sent something really nice to try out. Sometimes, it's food . . . other times some new piece of equipment to play with . . . and best of all, sometimes it's a new cookery book!!



Now my husband would argue somewhat with that being the best . . . as he
is nuts mistakingly thinks I have far too many cookbooks already . . . but as any cooking aficionado knows. YOU CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY COOKBOOKS!! There . . . it just had to be said.



The people at FW Media recently sent me over a few to try out and I thought I would give the first one a go today. It's called Teashop Treats and is by the Reader's Digest.



I have a few Reader's Digest Cookery books that I've collected through the years. They've always been really good books, and I have to say that, despite it's lack of food photos, this has not disappointed me thus far. It's a small book, only about 8 by 6 inches in size, about the size of a pocket book novel, but don't let it's size fool you. It is chock full of lovely delights.



Tasty goodies such as Strawberry Shortcake or Bath Buns, Blueberry Muffins, Chocolate Cake, Scones . . . and little savouries such as Souffled Salmon Tartlettes. I really should be waiting a few weeks to let you know about this, but after baking this fabulous Ginger Loaf that I baked out of the book today, I just couldn't wait.



This may be the bestest and tastiest Gingerbread Loaf I have ever baked! It's rich, it's spicy . . . it's moist and best of all . . .it's absolutely delicious! I kid you not!! I have fallen in love with this recipe. That's why I couldn't wait to show you.



If this recipe is any indication of the quality of the other recipes in the book, I just know I won't be disappointed . . . because, food photos or not, I give this recipe a resounding 10+ stars with a few rosettes thrown in for good measure!



I do love the quaint little illustrations throughout, which are really very pretty, and I love the size. It has a wonderful combination of what look to be beautiful recipes covering just about anything you might want to serve at an afternoon tea . . . so break out the teapot and get baking . . . coz you are really going to enjoy this one!



I had mine warm . . . spread with cold butter a la Canadienne . . . with a hot cuppa. (Don't you just love that cup! I got it at Gordale Nurseries.)



*Treacle Gingerbread Loaf*
makes one large loaf
Printable Recipe

This has to be one of the tastiest gingerbread loaves I have ever made! Just be sure to use a large enough pan!

butter for greasing
185g plain flour (1 3/4 cup)
110g self raising flour (1 cup, plus 2 TBS)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 TBS ground ginger
3 tsp ground mixed spice (see my recipe in the
side bar on the right hand side of the page)
140g soft light brown sugar (scant 3/4 cup)
260g black treacle (3/4 cup) (In North America, use molasses)
185ml milk (12 1/2 TBS)
80ml olive oil (5 1/2 TBS)
2 large free range eggs

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 450g loaf tin with butter and line with baking parchment, ensuring that the paper extends 3 cm above the tin.

Sift the flours, soda, ginger and mixed spice into a large bowl. Stir in the sugar until well combines. Whisk together the treacle, milk, olive oil and eggs. Add the flour mixture and stir until combined.

Spoon into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to stand in the tin for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Store tightly wrapped and it will stay lovely and moist for days and days.



Oh and in the spirit of always keeping it real . . . do be sure to use the proper sized pan for this. My pan was a bit on the small side and I kinda thought so when I poured the batter into the pan . . . but I ignored the niggling doubt in my mind and went with it anyways . . . now I have a bit of a mess to clean up in my oven . . . but I do have to say, those crunchy bits that were hanging over the sides . . . just as delicious as the rest of it. Yep!! Scrummy deliciousness with the added joy of crunch!

Many thanks to Crystal and the people at FW Media . . . and the Reader's Digest of course!



As you can see from the recipe, it calls for Olive Oil, which is really unsual in a loaf recipe, but which I think gives this tasty loaf all of it's rich moist texture. I was recently sent an assortment of oils to try out from Cooks & Co.uk. I am no stranger to their line of products, having used their real quality olives, roasted peppers and sundried tomatoes in the past. (I just love their roasted Red Peppers Stuffed with Feta Cheese. Beautiful.)

Anyways, they sent me a lovely assortment of oils to try out, including this beautiful bottle of Grapeseed Oil. I thought it was just perfect to use in this recipe and I was not wrong. The flavour is delicate and not at all overpowering, which makes it an excellent choice for using in baked goods, salad dressings and stir fries. It also has a higher burning temperature than most oils, which is a bonus as well. (I also have bottles of a few of their other oils to try out, so look for my opinions on them soon.) In the meantime, this one gets two thumbs up! (RSP: £3.99, 500ml) Many thanks to Simon and the people at cooks&CO!

And now to tackle the mess of spill over in my oven . . . sigh. There is no rest for the wicked.



Cooking in The Cottage today, a delicious Chicken Enchilada Casserole!

Oh, I am having such a lazy day today. It's gloomy and dull and I hardly slept a wink at all last night . . . it's a low energy day for me . . . a kind of blah day.



There is no rest for the wicked though . . . because I have had to get things ready for our church ladies group activity tonight (muffins, valentines rice krispie treats and bits and bites) . . . but alas . . . all that work has left me with little or no energy for cooking a big meal. It will be all I can do to just get through the rest of the day.



Spying a package of fresh potato gnocchi in the refrigerator though . . . I wondered if there would be something that I could do with them. I took a boo on Tastespotting at the scrummy food pics on there, but there was nothing that

a. struck my fancy
b. I had all the ingredients to make . . .  or
c. had enough energy to execute.



And then I remembered one of our favourite suppers, Posh Eggs, Chips and Beans!!! I was inspired to use the gnocchi just like potatoes. In fact this was even easier than using potatoes, and a lot quicker too . . .



And so so so tasty! Puffy little potato gnocchi, gilded until golden brown in a mixture of olive oil and butter infused with sage and garlic . . . two fresh organic free range eggs broken over top and fried until the edges of the eggs are crisp, the golden yolks still runny and just waiting for your fork to dip one of those little gilded gnocchi in . . .



I have little or no resistance when I am very tired. I could just as easily be chowing down on chocolates and potato chips . . . I figure this is the lesser of most evils! a light dusting of freshly grated Parmesan completely the picture quite nicely, thanks . . .



Todd didn't complain about it being pasta either . . . I told him they were potato dumplings, which . . . they kinda are, right? In any case he loved them!



*Sauteed Potato Gnocchi with Egg*
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

This makes a hearty, quick and simple supper for two. A variation on my regular posh egg and chips recipe.

500g of refrigerated potato Gnocchi (a generous 1 pound)
2 TBS good quality olive oil
1 TBS butter
2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and bruised and left whole
3 springs of fresh sage
2 large free range eggs, at room temperature preferably
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Finely grated Parmesan Cheese (grate it yourself, preferably)



Put a pot of lightly salted water on to boil. Place the olive oil and butter in a large nonstick skillet along with the garlic and sage. Heat gently while you cook the gnocchi.

Cook the Gnocchi according to the package directions. Once they are done and float to the surface, scoop out with a slotted spoon and drop into the infused and heated oil/butter mixture. Turn the heat up and cook, stirring occasionally until they begin to turn golden brown and the sage leaves crisp up. If the garlic looks like it is going to burn, lift it out and place on top of some of the gnocchi. Make two hollows in the bed of gnocchi and drop an egg into each.

Cover with a lid and cook over medium low heat, just until the whites are set. Season to taste with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Serve at once, divided in half and placed onto heated plates. Sprinkle some cheese on each serving. The gnocchi is delicious dipped into the egg yolks.



Over in The Cottage today, Fish Stick Taco Dogs.