This is a recipe that I have had for a while now. Over the years I have collected recipes which use certain ingredients, because I hate buying something to use specifically in a recipe, and then only using a portion of it . . . with the rest being wasted.
So, I have collections of recipes which use buttermilk . . . others which use sour cream . . . etc. and then my favourite collection of all which uses up lemon curd.
It is so frustrating when you open a jar or container of something and it has a use-by date of only a few weeks, don't you think???
I mean . . . how on earth are you going to use a whole bottle of walnut oil, or some such in just a few weeks??? It just ain't going to happen. Someone should make eensy teensy bottles of these things so that if you only need a little bit, the rest doesn't go rancid before you can get it used up.
Anyways, today I made these incredibly delicious cookies which helped to use up some of an opened bottle of lemon curd. With the rest I will probably make my Lemon Drizzle Cake. I am going to a pot luck lunch tomorrow and it will probably go over a real treat. (It usually does as it is really scrummy yummy.)
These cookies are ab fab too! They are light and puffed, with beautiful crisp edges, stogged full of lovely sultanas, buttery and glazed with a lovely lemon drizzle icing.
You don't have to use sultanas though . . . you can also use dried cranberries or blueberries instead with most delicious results. Or . . . if you are not fond of dried fruits, you can use toasted walnuts or pecans.
In any case, these cookies are quite, quite wonderful.
*Lemon and Sultana Cookies*
Makes about 30
Printable Recipe
You can use dried cranberries or blueberries instead of the sultanas, or chopped walnuts or pecans. A lovely soft buttery cookie with a sweet/tart lemon glaze.
350g plain flour (3 1/2 cups)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
140g of butter, cut into small bits (9 1/2 TBS)
175g caster sugar (3/4 cup)
85g sultanas (generous half cup)
100g of lemon curd (scant 1/2 cup)
2 free range eggs, beaten (medium)
For the icing:
100g sifted icing sugar (3/4 cup)
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter 3 baking sheets, or bake in 3 batches. Set aside.
Sift the flour, soda and baking powder into a bowl. Drop in the butter and rub into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and sultanas. Beat together the eggs and lemon curd. Stir into the dry mixture to make a soft dough. Drop by heaped TBS onto the baking sheets, leaving plenty of space in between for spreading. Using wet fingers tamp down gently on top of each biscuit to flatten it slightly.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until well risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for a minute or so before removing to a wire rack to finish cooling completely.
Whisk the icing sugar and lemon juice together until smooth and then drizzle this over top of each cookie.
Over in The Cottage today, a delicious Avocado, Tomato and Bacon Salad.
We only ever very seldom have a cooked breakfast. Usually that treat is reserved for special occasions or if we are on holiday at a B&B.
If we are going to have an egg meal, we usually have it as a light supper instead. That's what works for us at any rate. To each his own, I guess.
This is a really simple and fairly quick light supper if you are so inclined. Softly scrambled eggs . . . (Free range and organic if possible. Happy eggs are delicious eggs.)
Crisp bacon . . . (we have the loveliest bacon here in the UK. I always use dry cure, non smoked.)
Juicy roasted tomatoes and red onion wedges, lightly drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with fresh thyme leaves . . . (the edges of the tomatoes and onion lightly caramelized and sweet with the flavours of the vinegar and thyme)
All piled onto a freshly toasted whole wheat bagel. Nom! Nom!
A knife and fork meal. What's not to like!!!
*Breakfast on a Bagel*
Serves 4
Printable RecipeJust what it says. A tasty breakfast served on a toasted bagel.
4 medium ripe tomatoes, halved
1 medium red onion, peeled and cut into thin wedges
1/2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TBS good quality Balsamic vinegar
1 TBS fresh thyme leaves and a few sprigs for garnish
8 slices of bacon, smoked or unsmoked, with the rind removed
4 wholemeal bagels, cut in half horizontally
3 TBS butter, at room temperature
8 large free range eggs, beaten
100ml of milk (a generous 1/4 cup)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Put the tomatoes and onions into a shallow roasting tin. Drizzle with the oil and vinegar. Toss together and then spread out, with the cut side of the tomatoes up. Season well and sprinkle with half of the thyme leaves. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until tender. Keep .
Heat the grill to high. Grill the bacon for 3 to 4 minutes, until crisp, turning halways through the grilling. Remove and then toast the bagels under the grill, until golden brown. Spread with half of the butter and keep warm.
Beat together the eggs and milk. Season well. Heat the remaining butter in a nonstick skillet over medium to low heat. Once it begins to foam, pour in the eggs and leave for 30 seconds. Use a wooden spoon to stir briefly, leave to cook again, repeat until the eggs are just set. Remove from the heat.
Serve each bagel on a heated plate with a portion of the scrambled eggs spooned over top, a few roasted tomatoes and onions, and 2 slices of bacon. Sprinkle with the remaining thyme leaves and serve immediately.
I really debated whether to post this recipe or not. I don't suppose you could really call it an English recipe . . . or can you??? hmmm . . .
The English are well known for their thrift and ingenuity when it comes to cooking, and show it off in delicious one pot meals, such as Lancashire Hot Pot, Stovies, Chicken and Mushroom Casseroles, and good old fashioned Soups and Stews, with dumplings (of course).
Then there are the meat puddings and pies. Stodgy, old fashioned, rib sticking, simple and delicious.
This is along those same lines and is something that my mom always made and her mother before her. Sometimes we add ham, and sometimes we don't. It all depends on if we have any ham leftover . . . it's a great way to use leftover ham.
My ancestry is English and German on the one side, and French on the other. Perhaps this is a conglomeration of all those cultures.
Perhaps the hot pot from England got translated loosely into a potato scallop, because those were the types of things that were to hand and in abundance in the new world . . . potatoes, onions, milk . . . and then ham was something that was also common as people raised their own pigs.
I know my grandfather always smoked his own hams and made his own sausages and sauerkraut, and they were good.
This is a recipe that has been born out of thrift and ingenuity, by several generations of cooks that made do with what they had to use and like to use up what they had . . . in the most delicious way possible.
So, perhaps it's not really all that distanced from English cookery after all methinks. In any case, this is fabulously delicious. Simple, hearty and a great way to use up leftover ham. And truth be known, if there are any leftovers (and there seldom are) it's even better for having sat a day in the fridge.
From the Big Blue Binder . . . Ham and Corn and Escalloped Potatoes. I always like to serve baked beans and a crusty loaf with this. It goes down a real treat. (Do place a baking tray underneath, just in case. If you have too much milk in it, it might overflow. Better safe than sorry.)
*Ham and Corn Escalloped Potatoes*
Serves 4 Printable Recipe
This is a really old recipe. Something that my mom always made and her mom before her. Simple and delicious.
1 tin of creamed corn (400g or 2 cups)
leftover baked ham, how much is up to you (I like to put in about 2 layers at least, sliced into pieces about 1/3 inch thick)
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into slices, again about 1/3 inch thick
1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced
6 ounces of milk, scalded (heat just until bubbles appear around the edges of the milk in the pan)
salt and black pepper to taste
2 TBS flour
2 TBS butter, cut into bits
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*f/ gas mark 4. Butter a 2 litre casserole dish.
Layer up everything in the casserole dish, beginning with a spoon full of the corn on the bottom, then add 1/3 of the potatoes, half of the onion, half the flour, 1/3 of the butter, some salt and pepper to taste (remember ham is salty so don't use too much) some more creamed corn and half of the ham.
Do another layer with 1/3 of the potatoes, the remaining onion, the remaining flour, 1/3 more of the butter, salt and pepper and the remainder of the ham, and half of the remaining corn.
Top with a final layer of potatoes, and the rest of the corn. Season lightly and dot with the remaining butter.
Pour in the milk. You may not need all of it. You just want to barely see it through the top, it should only fill the dish about 2/3 full.
Cover with a lid and bake for about 45 minutes.
Uncover and bake for a further 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender and the casserole is golden brown. Serve hot.
I like to serve baked beans and crusty bread with this for a real down home meal.
I put my hand up and make no apologies for it, I love Cinnamon. Nom! Nom! If anything has cinnamon in it, I'm right there.
I also love cinnamon rolls, but in all honesty they can be a bit of a faff to put together and they take so much time that by the time you have them done . . . you're too tired to really enjoy them as much as you could. Or at least that's my experience and in truth . . . I can be a rather lazy cook at times . . .
This recipe I have posted here today gives you about as much instant cinnamon roll gratification as you are ever going to get. You can have a delicious, yeasty, buttery, cinnamon roll sitting on your plate, all warmed and glazed in about 20 minutes. I kid you not!!!
And yes . . . it is a bit of a cheat. But, who cares!! They're Cinnamon Roll Croissants people, and they're fabulously scrummily delicious!!!
I let the pictures speak for themselves . . . just look at all that sugary cinnamony buttery filling, sitting there looking all scrumptiously irrestible!!
How much moreish can you get??? Not much, I don't think!!
Your family will love you for these, and your elderly Aunt, twice removed, will probably put you at the top of her inheritance list!
What??? Are you still here????? Wipe your chin and get your bake ON!!
*Cinnamon Roll Croissants*
Makes 6
Printable Recipe
Now you can have all the pleasure of a yeasty cinnamon roll, without all the faff, and be indulging on one in less than 20 minutes. Deliriously delicious!
1 250-g tin of refrigerated croissant dough (in the chiller cabinet next to the butter in most
British shops. Ours do 6 but I think they make more in North America per tin)
4 TBS butter, softened
50g of soft light brown sugar (1/4 cup packed)
1 TBS cinnamon (you can use less if you want. We love cinnamon.)
For the Glaze:
65g of icing sugar, sifted (1/2 cup)
few drops vanilla extract
1 to 2 TBS milk, or as much as is required to give you a drizzleable consistency
Preheat your oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Spritz lightly with cooking spray. Set aside.
Cream together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until well mixed and smooth.
Crack open your tin of croissants. Unroll and separate into triangles. Spread each triangle with 1/6 of the cinnamon butter. Roll up each, starting at the widest edge, as per normal. Seal edges or not, as you wish. (I don't mind if a bit oozes out as it makes them even scrummier!) Place each one onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving plenty of room between each for spreading.
Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Remove from the oven. Whisk together all the glaze ingredients to give you a smooth drizzelable icing. Drizzle over the warm rolls. Serve to your most appreciative family pronto!
PSSSTT!!! Even Nigel Slater, Delia Smith and Nigella have been know to be lazy cooks from time to time. I'm in good company!!
Well, folks, what with having an early spring and such a lovely March, quite a bit of the rhubarb in our garden is ready to begin harvesting now. Not bundles and bundles of it, but enough for me to indulge in a few rhubarb treats.
I love rhubarb season. I love rhubarb!! When I was a child, during rhubarb season, my mother used to give us each a stick of rhubarb and a small bowl of sugar. We would sit there sticking the end of the rhubarb into the sugar and biting it off on the sugared end. Oh boy. Was that ever mouth puckering good! You got the super sour tang of the rhubarb and a blast of sweet from the sugar. It was like a natural, "chemical free" pixie stick!
The other week I made a rhubarb pie and it was sooooo good. This weekend I decided to make a Rhubarb Clafoutis. Traditionally made with cherries, this is a French Dessert. It's like a batter pudding made with eggs, ground almonds, a bit of flour, sugar, fruit and cream. Technically a clafoutis made with fruit other than cherries it called a Flaugnarde, but why split hairs . . . this is a clafoutis.
Rich and sweet . . . with tender pieces of honey roasted rhubarb and lovely flecks of vanilla seeds througout, this is a fantastically scrummy dessert.
Of course Todd had to have his with some cream drizzled over top, and why not . . .
A little bit of an indulgence once in a while is a good thing. (So is the smell of your fingers after playing with the vanilla seeds. There's no calories in smell right??? Ok . . . so I did have an eensy peensy taste.)
*Rhubarb Clafoutis*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe
Tender Spring Rhubarb is showcased in a very tasty dessert. The pinker rhubarb looks very nice done this way.
400g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 2 inch lengths (3/4 ld)
1 vanilla pod
25g of butter (scant 2 TBS)
1 TBS runny honey (Acacia is nice)
50g of ground almonds (generous 1/2 cup)
2 TBS plain flour (all purpose)
100g caster sugar (1/2 cup fine white sugar)
2 medium free range eggs
2 medium free range egg yolks
250ml of double cream (a generous cup of heavy cream, a scant 9 fluid ounces)
icing sugar for dusting
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Arrange the rhubarb in a single layer in a shallow 1 litre baking dish. Split the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife. Dot the seeds over the rhubarb pieces. Dot with the butter as well and then drizzle the honey over top. Bake for 15 minutes in the heated oven, until tender.
Beat together the almonds, flour, sugar, eggs, egg yolks and cream, until you have a smooth mixture. Remove the roasted rhubarb from the oven. Pour the egg mixture over top. Bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes until puffed and golden. Dust with icing sugar and serve immediately. Delicious!
Today I tortured my pasta hating husband with some comfort food from my childhood, which rang all my bells, but left him feeling rather off key! haha He says he hates pasta, but he always eats it when I make it. I think it's because he knows it's cheap . . . and that part of him that grew up during the War and during rationing, likes a good bargain!
This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is mine. I love macaroni. I love tomatoes. I love cheese. Put the three together and you have my idea of heavnly bliss.
This is a great meal to throw together to feed your hungry family on a weeknight when you know you aren't going to have a lot of time . . . and for when it's getting close to payday and you are wanting those hard earned pesos to stretch that little bit further.
I always pick up blocks of cheese when it's on special at the shops and keep it in my freezer until I need it. It is perfectly find for cooking with and to be honest that's how most of the cheese in this house gets used. Oh we will have the odd piece just with some crackers, but mostly . . . it's cooked.
I always pick up tins of tomatoes when they are on special as well. We love our tinned tomatoes in this house. If you've got a tin of tomatoes in the cupboard, you've got the makings of a tasty meal. That's my opinion at any rate!
Milk. Check! We always have milk too. Of course you could make this really decadent and use half cream and half milk. And I have done that from time to time and it is rather good, if I don't say so myself . . . but normally I just use plain old ordinary milk.
This is the kind of comfort food that your mom or gran might have cooked. You could brown off some lean minced beef and add it along with some onions, but it's not really necessary because . . .
This tastes fabulous just the way it is. Who says simple has to be boring??
*Scalloped Macaroni*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
This may be simple and plain, but don't let that fool you. Sometimes the simplest things are the most delicious of all.
8 ounces of uncooked macaroni (1/2 pound, 2 cups)
8 ounces of grated strong cheddar cheese (2 cups)
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice (2 cups)
5 ounces scalded milk (2/3 cup approx. To scald milk, put into a beaker and
heat on high in the microwave for 1 minute, or heat in a small saucepan until bubbles appear
around the edges. Don't let it boil.)
a handful of coarse breadcrumbs or crackercrumbs
1 TBS melted butter
salt and black pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4. Butter a 1 litre casserole dish and set aside.
Cook the macaroni according to the package directions in lightly salted water, just to al dente. Drain well, rinse with cold water and drain again.
Layer the macaroni, cheese and tomatoes in the prepared casserole dish, as follows: a third of the macaroni, a layer of cheese, half of the tomatoes, a third of the macaroni, a third of the cheese,the remaining tomatoes, the remaining macaroni and ending with the remaining cheese. You will want to lightly season each layer of macaroni, remembering that the cheese will be salty so heavy on the pepper, and salting judiciously! (Love that word, don't you?) Pour the scaled milk over top of the casserole, running a knife down through it here and there so that you make sure it goes well to the bottom. Mix the bread or cracker crumbs with the melted butter and sprinkle over the top.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the milk is bubbling up and the top is nicely browned. Serve hot.
Note: you can add some finely chopped raw onion with the tomatoes if you wish. I sometimes do.
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