Sometimes we like to have breakfast for supper.   On the weekends, we might splurge and have a big breakfast on occasion, but more normal than not . . . we have a big breakfast for supper . . . and by that I mean bacon and eggs, or sausage and eggs, or egg chips and beans, egg and chips, or even a full on proper fry up!  (I thought I had done a traditional proper English fry up on here before, but it appears I haven't. so look forward to a post on that soon!)

 

Today I decided to make us some sausage and eggs for our tea, but not the normal banger type of sausage.  Today I wanted to make my own breakfast type of sausage patties.  You can buy bulk sausage meat at the shops . . . and you can use that to make breakfast sausages with, and many use it to make traditional stuffing with at Christmas time.  I don't really like it though . . . it's a bit too pasty for my liking . . . probably full of fillers and bread.  I like to make my own.

 

It's not all that hard you know . . . and when you make your own, you know exactly what it in it.  Mine is purely meat and some seasonings . . . not a filler in sight.
I like to flavour mine with the traditional flavours of sage and thyme, and then I add a nice jot of  black pepper and cayenne pepper for just a bit of a bite.  Garlic adds another depth of flavour . . . not too much, mind . . . just one clove.

 

I am a Canuck . . . and so I like to add just a touch of Maple syrup.  It reminds me of the Maple sausages we can get back home . . . yummo!  A bit of salt for seasoning . . . and Bob's your Uncle!!

 

These are great to make ahead of time and freeze.  Then you can take out as many or as few as you like at any given time, which makes them a great make ahead for the upcoming holidays!  I hope you will give them a try and that you will like them as much as we do.  Just make sure you use not too lean a ground pork.  If it's too lean, they won't stay together . . . and like most things, a bit of fat only adds to the scrumminess.

 

One of the nicest quirks of being a food blogger means that I am able to try out new products from time to time.  I was recently contacted by Lindt and asked if I would like to try their new Lindt Creation, Velvety Vanilla Almond Milk Chocolate Bar.

Test chocolate?  You don't need to ask me twice.  I have long been a fan of Lindt chocolate . . . oh my . . . I do love their Easter Bunnies and Christmas Reindeer . . . oh heck . . .and their Dark Chocolate with Chili is my absolute favourite.  I once used it to dip strawberries into . . . on my . . . soooo good.



But I digress.

 

A few days ago I received this Lindt Creation Velvety Vanilla Almond Chocolate bar in the post . . . and I don't mind confessing . . . as cheesy as it may sound . . . it was love at first bite.

 

 Velvety vanilla truffle, layered with luscious golden caramel  . . . smothered in Lindt's beautiful milk chocolate.  What's not to like I ask???



The vanilla truffle filling is dotted with little crunchy bits of almond pieces . . . oh so good . . .



Look at that caramel layer . . . slightly oozing out.  Oh so fabulously delicious.  The hardest part of eating this was keeping it all to myself.

Alas . . . I could not . . . Todd heard my lips smacking and begged to share my indulgence . . . what could I do.  I took pity on him . . . as everyone knows full well . . . blessings when shared double in value.

Lindt Creation Velvety Vanilla Almond Milk Chocolate Bar with caramel
100g bar  £1.99

A TEN * experience.

Thanks to Lindt Chocolatiers for sending me this tasty bar!

I think that this year some tasty Christmas Chocolates would not go amiss!!  (Todd!  Listen up!!)

I have never made any secret of my fondness for Nigel Slater's cooking.  If I was a millionaire I would tempt him to come and cook with me, but only if he let me help.  He cooks like I want to eat.  He is the most un-pretentious down to earth cook you could ever ask for.  Simple ingredients, simple methods . . . fabulous taste, end of.



As you know I treated myself to his second volume of his kitchen diaries a month or so back and I just love it.  Just look at that beautifully splodged cover . . . that is how all of my best handwritten recipes look . . . all splodgy and loved . . . that's how you can tell they are good, and that they are loved . . .  and it is the same with this book . . . it's stogged full of recipes which are really, really good, and loveable too . . .



The Toddster  went into town today, leaving me on my own,  which I don't mind really.  It's nice to be able to enjoy time together . . . but it's nice to be able to enjoy time on your own too.  I knew he would be treating himself to a nice hot bowl of soup and a roll at the Market Cafe for his lunch, so I decided to get together with Nigel and cook myself an equally as delicious lunch.

And you know what that means when I cook when the Toddster is away . . . I cook PASTA!  Coz he hates it . . . and I love it, and I just got to have it sometimes.  Besides I had a packet of fresh spaghetti in the fridge that was going to soon expire.  Today was my chance to use it.  Don't you just love fresh pasta?  I know!  It's soooooo good!



Nigel never disappoints.  I had only been looking through his gorgeous book for a few minutes when I spied exactly what I wanted to make, right there on page 416 near the bottom.  It wasn't even a recipe, so much as it was an idea . . . a few sentences describing what he had made for his supper . . . but it sounded very, very good . . .



I love that he is not afraid to just grab a few simple ingredients that he has on hand and then throw them together  in a simple way to create a fabulous meal for one or two.  Just look at all of that creamy deliciousness sitting in that  bowl!  Wowsa!



I had absolutely everything I needed with the exception of Pine Nuts.  I used spaghetti because that is what I had . . . he used cappelletti.  They are two different animals . . . but it worked.



Don't  look at me like that Nigel . . . ok . . . I know there is a big difference between little tortellini types of pasta and spaghetti . . . I do.  But stay with me here . . . it gets better . . . I promise.

I used salt and pepper cashews instead of pine nuts . . . coz that is what I had to hand . . .
I had a brief moment wondering what Nigel would think . . . I mean first I used spaghetti instead of Cappelletti . . . and now cashew nuts?  Salt and Pepper Cashew nuts!



See  . . .  I've already intrigued him . . . I'm cooking like he does and he's impressed.  I've taken what I had to hand and I've used it in a very delicious way.  He wants a taste . . . I know he does!

Anytime Nigel . . . any time.

This was rich and creamy . . . with a fabulous mix of flavours and textures . . . including that moreish crunch from the cashew nuts.  I mean "in for a penny in for a pound."  There's already cream . . , so why NOT cashews I say!  Why not indeed!



Oh wow, wouldn't that be so cool to cook for Nigel Slater . . . I wonder what I would make for him??  Hmmm . . . . I'll have to give that some more thought I think . . .



*Spaghetti with a Basil and Caper Sauce*
Serves 2 generously
Printable Recipe

Quick, delicious and as easy as boiling a pot of water.

220g of fresh pasta (5 ounces)
a large pot of lightly salted boiling water
a few good handfuls of fresh basil leaves
a clove of fresh garlic, peeled
1 generous teaspoon of Dijon mustard
2 TBS white wine vinegar
1 tsp capers (I  like the ones in vinegar, but you can use salted ones if you want.
just rinse them well.  I also like to use the non pareil ones, or tiny ones)
3 TBS extra virgin olive oil (may need more)
2 to 3 TBS cream
fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Toasted pine nuts, or  broken salt and pepper roasted cashews

Put the basil leaves, garlic, mustard, vinegar, capers, and the olive oil in the blender or the beaker which came with you stick blender.  Blitz until smooth adding more  olive oil if need be to make thick, yet pourable mixture.  Stir in the cream and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cook your spaghetti al dente according to your package directions.  Drain well.  Return to the pot and toss together with the sauce.  Divide between two pasta bowls and sprinkle with some toasted pine nuts or cashews.  Enjoy!

I ate it all.  *burp*

Thrift has always been something that I take great pride in. I can remember my mother using up every scrap of whatever she cooked when I was growing up. Nothing was wasted, ever. Sadly now, here in the UK, we waste 6.7 million tons of food every year, which is really astonishing, especially when you think of how many people there are starving in the world at any given time, . . .

 

Whenever my mother cooked a roast . . . be it a beef, or pork, or  chicken or a turkey . . . she got as many meals from it as possible. We'd have it as a roast on the day with some veg on the side. Day Two saw us having it again, sliced cold with more veg, or even salad. Day Three  meant that any veg or meat that was left got made into pot pies, a really ingenius way to stretch a little meat, veg and gravy. We loved my mom's pot pies. If there was no veg, a bag of frozen mixed veg was perfect and it was very simple to boil up a few potatoes and chop them up. With some gravy, minced onion and a few herbs her pot pies kept us coming back for more! Pot pie night was our favourite night, even tastier than the roast.

 

Day Four brought us a delicious pot of soup, made from the bones or carcass. My mother made and still makes the best soup on the face of the earth. Thick and delicious we always called it stewp. It was a meal in and of it self. Even today when we go to visit we can trust that there are several ice cream buckets of soup laying in the freezer waiting for our arrival. Beef, or Chicken, maybe turkey and French Canadian Pea soup made from the bone of our Easter Ham.



I cooked us a nice roast dinner on Saturday night to celebrate our Anniversary.  The Toddster does love a roast dinner, but I so seldom (read never) have the time to do a proper one on Sunday, and so . . .  even though our anniversary was today, we had our celebration meal yesterday.



With the leftover sliced pork and gravy I made us a Pork and Apple Pie today . . .

Pork and apples go so very well together. We always eat pork with applesauce, so why not include apples in a pie??? Why not, I say, why not!!

I did.

It was deliciously scrumptious.



Out of that pork shoulder roast I cooked on Saturday night, we got a celebratory roast dinner, plus the pork and apple pie tonight, and I'll probably do a hash of all of the leftover bits, plus the leftover potatoes and carrots and sprouts from the other night . . . that will be tomorrow night.  And I know it will be tasty too.

This  is thrift and economy at it's very best.



*Pork and Apple Pie*
Serves 4
 Printable Recipe

This is one of the favourite things I like to do with leftover Roast Pork. It's also perfect for this time of year because of all the apples we end up with, and that I need to get used up. Pork and apple are perfect partners!

2 1/2 cups, more or less, cold roast pork, cut into cubes
2 medium to large tart apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup of leftover gravy
salt, pepper
Summer Savoury
Short crust pastry to cover

Pre-heat the oven to 200*C?400*F. Lightly butter a shallow baking dish.

Place alternate layers of the pork and apple into the prepared baking dish, sprinkling each layer lightly with some salt, pepper and summer savoury. Pour the gravy over the top when done layering. Cover the top with pastry, crimping the edges around the dish. Prick or slash the top. Brush with a bit of beaten egg yolk if desired, and sprinkle with some sea salt and cracked black pepper. Bake for about 15 minutes, until the crust starts to brown. Reduce the heat to 180*C/350*F and bake for another half hour, until the apples are soft and the filling is bubbling nicely away.

I usually serve this with some extra gravy, peas and carrots, as well as some mash or chips on the side. It makes Todd a very happy camper, and when he's happy . . . I'm happy too!

I've always been a firm believer in making lemonade when I have lemons, and I have a rather lot of them in the larder right now.

A hangover from thinking that I had a cold coming on. When I think I am going to get a cold, I always drink lemon and ginger tea . . . homemade of course, and . . . 99% of the time it holds the cold at bay.



Anyways, it's not lemonade season . . . alas. So I didn't make lemonade . . . but I did make lemon curd, (My recipe for that is here) which is my second favourite thing to do with lemons . . .



And . . . when life hands you lemon curd . . . you do what any self respecting cook must do . . .



You make a lemon cake. But not just any lemon cake . . . oh no . . .



A lemon cake filled with a delicious coconut streusel, little pockets of lemon curd and more streusel on top. Not to mention a tasty lemon glaze . . .



And then you do something else . . .



You eat it. It was very . . . very . . . good.



*Lemon Coconut Layered Cake*
Makes one 9 inch cake
Printable Recipe


Deliciously moist cake filled with lemon curd and a coconut streusel, with more streusel on top. You can toast the coconut if you wish before using it in the streusel. This is a great brunch cake!

Streusel:
70g flour
2 1/2 ounces caster sugar (about 70g) (1/3 cup plus 1 tsp)
3 TBS butter
a large handful of sweetened flaked coconut
(Approx. 1/2 cup)
Cake:
315g flour (approx 2 1/2 cups)
200g sugar (a scant cup)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 ounces softened butter (170g) (3/4 cup)
6 ounces vanilla yoghurt (about 170g) (3/4 cup)
1 TBS lemon juice
2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
milk
Filling:
1/2 cup lemon curd (about 4 dessert spoons)
Glaze:
70g icing sugar (scant 2/3 cup)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp water

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Grease and flour a 9 inch cake tin with a loose bottom. Set aside.

Make the streusel by combing the flour and sugar in a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the coconut, toasted or not as you wish.

Combine all the cake ingredients in a large bowl. Beat well together until combined, adding as much milk as is needed to create a thick batter. Spread 2 cups of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with 2/3 of the streusel.

Dot the lemon curd by 1/2 tsp all over the top of the streusel, to within 1/2 inch of the edges of the pan. Spoon the remaining batter over top. Sprinkle with the remaining third of the streusel.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing sides. Combine the glaze ingredients until smooth and then drizzle it over the warm cake. Serve warm.



 

Happy Anniversary to me and the Toddster today, and Congratulations to  Cindy  
who wrote:

"collecting cookbooks....it's in the blood....must...have....lol xxoo"

I can't believe my brand new camera just died on me.  I've only had it for a couple months.  I am so sad about that.




I'll have to take it back to the shop today and have it, hopefully . . . replaced.  So annoying!

I did manage to pick a winner for the Hotel Chocolate Christmas Cracker though . . . and I took a picture of the winning comment with my i-pad camera, which will have to do for now.  I wish I could have a Christmas Cracker sent to each of you, but alas . . . there can only be one winner.



Hoping you can see that.  Mary McAndrew, you are the winner!  Please send me your postal details so that I can pass them on to the Hotel Chocolate people.  Congratulations!

Never fear though people, there is still the Jamie Oliver Cookbook giveaway (see post below this one) and a few more in the offing to look forward to!

I'm sure you all recognize this cheeky chap!  Yeppers, it's good ol' Jamie Oliver.   No surprise to you I am sure but he's come out with a new cookbook to go with his new Series, Jamie's 15 Minute Meals.  I purchased it as soon as it came out.  One, I love Jamie Oliver recipes.  Two, I am often pinched for time.  Three, there isn't a new cookbook by Jamie that I can resist.

So any ways, I was contacted after the fact and asked if I would like a copy to review.  Good news is I already had the book, double good news is I have been given a copy to give to one of you!  And, I will send it anywhere in the world, as long as you don't mind it coming your way on a slow boat.  (It will get there in the end, I promise.)

 

So anyways, Jamie's book.  15 Minute Meals.  Last year I had the pleasure of reviewing his 30 Minute Meals book, which you can read all about that experience here.  Obviously I was impressed because I bought this newest one, sight unseen, and it's just loaded with fabulous, tasty, nutritious and quick to prepare recipes.  I haven't managed to get one done in 15 minutes yet, but in all honesty they are rather quick to do, so it's all good.



There's a wide variety of dishes, as you can see, for everything from soup to nuts . . . he even tells you how to cook fast, giving you an in-depth list of Kitchen tools and gadgets you will need and a full pantry list.  Of course the timings are figured out taking for granted that you will have all of your tools and ingredients at the ready.  Just doing that will take a bit of time, but they're still pretty quick recipes.

I have a really tiny kitchen, so I end up having to use the table in my dining room a lot as a work surface, so I do have to run back and forth a lot.  It would be grand to one day have more space to work in and all up to date and modern kitchen appliances of course! (*hint* *hint*)



Just look at this fab looking Mexican Tomato Soup, with Chilli Nachos, Veggie and Feta Sprinkles.  Looks delicious doesn't it???



Warm Chicken Liver Salad with Little Welsh Rarebits anyone???

 

How about Poached Fish with Coddled Eggs and Tomato Loaf?



There are even delicious looking vegetarian options such as this  Veggie Chilli with Crunchy Tortilla and Avocado Salad.



A tasty looking selection of Toasties . . . who doesn't love a toastie?

 

Breakfast Smoothies . . .



Granola and much, much more.



Included is a complete nutritional breakdown of all of the recipes, including calories, fat content, sugar and saturated fat contents.

This is simple food that is nutritious and a total joy to eat.  I just love this book.   Of course you know I can't tell you about this book without showing you one of the recipes which I prepared myself.  I chose to show you the Crispy Polenta Chicken Caesar Salad . . . for a few reasons actually.  One, I had all the ingredients in the house.  Two, I love Caesar Salad, and in particular Chicken Caesar Salads . . . and three, it's what I felt like eating, the most important reason of all.



This is how Jamie's looked.  Looking gorgeous isn't it folks?

 

This is how mine looked.  Scrummilicious!  I loved that crisp coating on the chicken . . . along with the toasted Ciabatta croutons . . .



Look at that crispy pancetta and those lovely salty flakes of Parmesan cheese . . . I added some sprouting radish micro leaves for colour and dash.

 

The dressing was a tad on tart side, so I added a pinch of sugar, but this salad was totally delish and something I will make again and again. It did take me a lot longer than 15  minutes, but that's because I didn't have everything ready to begin with and I got a few phone calls when I was working at it, not to mention the door bell must have rang half a dozen times.  Totally scrummy though!  (Just as you would expect from Jamie!)



*Crispy Polenta Chicken Caesar Salad*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Rumored to take only 15 minutes.  Not in my kitchen, but it didn't matter because it was gorgeous.  Adapted from Jamie's 15 Minute Meals.

Chicken:
2 X 200g boneless, skinless chicken breasts
(about 1 pound)
1/2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
2 heaped TBS polenta (fine cornmeal)
olive oil

For the Salad:
1 ciabatta loaf
1 clove of garlic
2 red chicory (endive)
4 slices of smoked pancetta
2 romaine lettuces
10 ripe cherry tomatoes
2 large jarred red peppers
balsamic vinegar
1 punnet of salad cress

For the Dressing:
1 clove of garlic
2 lemons
40g of Parmesan Cheese, plus extra to serve (1/4 cup plus extra)
4 anchovy filets
4 heaped TBS fat free natural yoghurt
1 splash of Worcestershire Sauce
1 TBS red wine vinegar
1 tsp English Mustard
1/2 bunch of fresh basil

To begin, have all of your ingredients out plus a large frying pan on medium heat, a griddle pan on high heat and a liquidizer (stick blender)

On a large sheet of greaseproof paper, toss the chicken with some salt and pepper, the paprika and polenta.  Fold over the paper, then bash and flatten the chicken to roughly 1/2 inch, using a rolling pin.  Add a TBS of oil to the heated frying pan, then bang in the chicken breasts.  Cook, turning after 3 or 4 minutes, until golden and cooked through.  Cut 4 thick slices of ciabatta, placing them on the griddle pan.  Char them nicely on both sides.

Squash the unpeeled garlic through a garlic crusher into the liquidizer.  Squeeze in the lemon juice.  Add the Parmesan and the rest of the dressing ingredients.  Blitz until smooth, then season to taste.  (I added some sugar because it was too tart for our tastes.)  Rub the ciabatta toasts with a halved garlic clove and cut into soldiers.  Quarter the chicory and add to the griddle pan with the pancetta to char for a couple of minutes.

Roughly slice the lettuces and arrange over a large serving board or platter.  Scatter over the ciabatta soldiers.  halve the tomatoes and slice the peppers.  Add to the board.  Slice the chicken, lay it around the salad.  Drizzle with the dressing.  Crumble over the crispy pancetta and snip over the cress.  Use a speed peeler to shave over a little extra Parmesan if you like.



Jamie's 15 Minute Meals
Published by Penguin Books
ISBN 978-0-718-15780-7
Hard Cover
Fully illustrated in Colour
288 pages
Suggested retail price £26.00 but you can get them at Amazon for £11.00

And, if you would like to have a chance at winning your very own copy, just leave a comment at the bottom of this post.  I don't require jumping through hoops or signing up to raffelocopter thingies, or twitter or anything else.  Quite simply tell me you're interested. I'll pick a winner on Sunday, November 11th, which is my wedding anniversary.  You might as well celebrate it with me! 

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED.

Many thanks to Anwen at Riot Communications for supplying us with a giveaway copy!