We had such a beautifully gorgeous day here yesterday. The sun shone all day long into the night and the temperature was wonderfully warm. I even shaved my legs in preparation for summer. (I know . . .TMI!)



Seriously though, it was fabulous. After the long, cold and hard winter that we have just had in the UK, it was so wonderful to be able to finally bask in some warmth and sunshine.

Ahhh . . . England in the springtime. There is no more beautiful place on earth, with the birds singing and mowers mowing . . . and the smell of barbeques wafting through the air. Don't you just love that smell . . .




Hmmm . . . that reminds me. We got rid of our old barbeque when we moved up here as it was too old and decrepit to move and we have not replaced it yet. Time for me to kick the old grump into action and get him to open his purse for a new one! (Barbeque that is.)




Anyways, I digress. It was the perfect day yesterday for a lovely summery type of salad. I had some courgettes that I needed to use up and the tomatoes in the tomato bowl needed using up as well. (Tip here . . . always keep your tomatoes out of the fridge in a bowl on the counter top. They ripen up really nicely after a couple of days and taste soooooo much better!) With a bit of a clearout in the fridge and a tin of butterbeans, I ended up with a delicious salad that was not only filling, but also quite healthy!! Buttered toast went very well with it, but a good and hearty crusty loaf would have been fabulous!

You know . . . to mop up all those lovely salad juices. It went down a real treat nonetheless!



*Butterbean and Fresh Tomato Salad*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe

Healthy food for a change . . . although I did serve it with well buttered toast!

420g (14 ounce) tin of butter beans, drained and rinsed
500g (1 pound 2 ounce) cherry tomatoes, quartered
2 small green courgettes (if you have yellow they make a great colour contrast
and work fine as well, or use a mixture of both!)
4 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
a large handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
3 TBS olive oil
1 tsp ground cumin
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Tip all of the ingredients into a bowl and mix together well. Cover and leave at room temperature until ready to serve. You can make this the day before and it will taste even better. Just be sure to bring it to room temperature and give it a good stir before serving.

Lemons are something that I always have in my larder . . . a bit bowl filled with them. They are pretty to look at, smell fabulous and I always have a use for them . . . be it the juice or the zest . . . in something savoury, or sweet. They are one of my top ingredients.



Another thing I always have hanging about is chocolate . . . good quality dark chocolate, in large slabs, with at least 70% cocoa solids and also a good quality milk chocolate. My favourite is Green & Blacks Milk Chocolate as although it is milk chocolate it has a dark quality and rich flavour to it. It's not overly sweet. I don't like it when my chocolate is overly, sickenly . . . sweet.



You might be surprised to know that lemon and chocolate are two flavours that go very well together . . . seriously! Fruits that are tart and sour really balance out the sweet qualities of chocolate, and in particular, delicious loaves and cakes . . . where there is just a hint of lemon and a hint of chocolate. Together they are a sublimely delicious combination.



Never more so than in this deliciously moist loaf cake . . . with it's buttery moist batter, enriched with the light tang of plain yogurt and subtle flavour of fresh lemon zest . . . and lucious little bits of creamy chocolate . . .



Glazed while still hot with a tasty mixture of sugar, lemon juice and orange liqueur, giving the outside of the loaf a slight crunch. There is the option of adding toasted walnuts along with the chocolate, which I normally do add . . . but today alas . . . my cupboard was completely bare of the little dears . . .



This is very good . . . scrummily good . . . moreishly good. Rich and moist. Tangy and sweet. Crunchy and soft.



A little bit of heaven right from the first slice, down to the last bite!

This is a winner . . . pure and simple.



*Lemon Chocolate Chip Cake*
Makes one 9 by 5 inch loaf cake
Printable Recipe

Wrapped well in foil, and stored in a cool place, this delicious cake keeps for about 3 weeks, not that I've ever had it around that long.

4 ounces butter, room temperature (1/2 cup)
7 ounces caster sugar (1 cup fine granulated)
3 large free range eggs
the finely grated zest of one unwaxed lemon
8 1/2 ounces flour (2 cups)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
250ml of plain yoghurt (1 cup)
6 ounces of bittersweet chocolate, chopped into bits (1 cup)
2.25 ounces chopped toasted walnuts (1/2 cup) (Optional)

Topping:
3 1/2 ounces caster sugar
the juice of 1/2 lemon
2 TBS orange liqueur
(Can use the juice of one whole lemon and leave out the liqueur)

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 5. Butter a 9 by 5 inch loaf tin. Line with baking paper, leaving an overhang for ease of removal. Butter again. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift the flour into a bowl. Remove 2 TBS and add to the chocolate chips and nuts if using. Whisk the remaining flour together with the lemon zest, soda, baking powder and salt. Add at once to the creamed mixture along with the yoghurt. Beat on high speed for several minutes. Fold in the chocolate and nut mixture. Spread into the prepared pan, leveling the top with a rubber spatula.

Bake for 60 to 75 minutes, until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes while you make the topping.

Place all the topping ingredients in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour this slowly over the hot cake, allowing it to soak in. Lift out and allow to cool completely before cutting into slices to serve.



When I was going through my pictures I found a little glimpse of this "wee one" of ours peering on in adoration of the lemon and chocolate. I just could not resist showing you. Sadly this cake, because of the chocolate, is one that she must resist as much as it would charm and entice her . . . quite depressingly out of bounds!

Can a muffin ever be a cupcake? Can a cupcake ever be a muffin?? Hmmm . . . food for thought here.




When does a muffin cross over into cupcake territory . . . and when does a cupcake cross back into being a muffin????


What if the two merge together . . . into some kind of cross breed?? Does it then become a muffcake???




This inquiring mind wants to know.

Plenty of for thought here. What do you think?



In my quest to bake treats for Todd that are not over the top filled with fat . . . in an attempt to get his cholesterol down, I baked some banana muffins today.

When you bake with bananas, you can turn out scrumptiously moist cakes and muffins without having to use a lot of fat. In this case I added some additional crunch and flavours in the way of crushed dried banana chips, chocolate chips and toasted pecans and lemon zest . . .



Did you know that if you rub the sugar you are using in a recipe together with the lemon zest you end up with a gloriously fragrant sugar that smells good enough to eat all on it's own?? I know!! Just a little tip I learned from my good friend Dorie. She's an expert baker and she knows lots of handy hints and tips to make your scrummy home-baked goods taste even scrummier!




In any case, these are fabulous . . . scrummily moreish even . . .

In fact . . . since they are so low in fat . . . you could probably eat two without any guilt at all . . . ahem . . . Why not treat yourself and bake some muffcakes today!




*Fully Loaded Banana Chip Muffins*
Makes 9
Printable Recipe

Deliciously moist, low in fat and filled with the added crunch and textures of crushed banana chips, white chocolate chips and toasted pecans.

3 ounces dried banana chips
(approximately 1 cup)
5 ounces self rising flour
(1 cup)
2 tsp baking powder
the finely grated zest and the juice of one lemon
(I use my microplane)
4 TBS light muscovado sugar (can use soft light brown sugar) packed
5 TBS milk
1 large egg, beaten
2 fluid ounces of sunflower oil
(1/4 cup)
3 over ripe bananas
50g white chocolate chunks
(1/4 cup)
50g chopped toasted pecans
(1/4 cup)
For the Drizzle topping:
4 TBS sifted icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/Gas mark 6. Lightly grease or line a muffin tin with deep paper cases.

Place the muscovado sugar in a bowl. Add the lemon zest and rub together until very fragrant. Break 3/4 of the banana chips into small bits. Reserve the rest to top the muffins at a later time.

Sift the flour and baking powder together in a large bowl. Stir in the lemon infused muscovado sugar, broken banana chips, chocolate chips and chopped nuts. Whisk together the 1 Tablespoon of the lemon juice, the milk, egg and oil. Add the bananas, and mash together well. Fold this into the dry ingredients, only stirring it in until the dry ingredients are evenly moist and no dry bits remain. Divide equally amongst the prepared muffin cases, filling not quite to the top.

Bake for 20 minutes, until risen and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven. Let sit in the pan for a few minutes before scooping out onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely.

Once cooled, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in enough of the remaining lemon juice to make a smooth drizzable paste. Drizzle this over the muffins with a spoon. Top each with a whole banana chip.

Psst!! Know what would make these even better??? If you chopped up some glace cherries and added them in with the nuts and choco chips!!

I really like using my crockpot and it has come in especially handy these past couple of days, when we have spent more time packing than doing anything else.  We actually have two crockpots.  The larger one that you see here, and a smaller one.



Often on Sundays I will put a chicken or roast into the larger one and potatoes in the smaller one.  That way supper is ready and waiting for us when we get home.  We're usually starving by then!



We have several freezers here.  A large chest freezer that is ours, and which will be going with us up to Chester, and a smaller bar sized one, which will be staying as it belongs to the cottage.  I have been trying really hard to use up everything in it and found myself with a lovely piece of rolled brisket to cook.



I had always wanted to try cooking one in coffee.  I had heard that done that way, brisket turns out really tender and delicious, and that you cannot taste the coffee in it at all.  We don't really do coffee, but I bought a small jar of decaf to use in this recipe.



It is really a combination of several recipes that I found.  I liked bits of both and put them together to make my own taste tempting concoction.  Delicious tender beef,  cooked with onion, carrots, sweet bell peppers, mushrooms, garlic and some seasonings.   Stirring in some cream cheese at the end creates a luciously rich and creamy gravy.



And taste tempting it was!  You really could not taste the coffee at all, and it gave the gravy a nice colour, and true to it's reputation . . . the brisket was tender as could be.



Todd gave this two thumbs up and I will be putting it into my regular Sunday Recipe rotation schedule once we get all settled in up North.



I really hope you will give it a try.  Not only was it easy to do, but relatively painless, totally scrumptious and smelled fantastic when it was cooking!  We had this simply with some mashed potatoes and brussels sprouts on the side.  The gravy was really scrummy spooned over the potatoes!



*Crockpot Java Brisket*
Serves 6
Printable Recipe

Delicious moist  beef brisket with a wonderfully rich and flavourful sauce.  You would  never know there was coffee in the gravy.  You can use beef broth  instead if you are not fond of coffee.

1/3 kg rolled brisket  joint
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1  large onion, peeled and chopped
4 to 5 garlic cloves, peeled and  minced
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
6 ounces strong brewed coffee or  beef broth
1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
3 TBS Sherry Vinegar
1/2  tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

To finish:
4  ounces cream cheese

Place all of the chopped vegetables in the  bottom of the crockpot.  Top with the brisket.  Stir together the  coffee, worcestershire sauce, vinegar, salt and pepper.  Pour over all.   Cover and cook on low for 7 to 8 hours, or on high for 4 to 5 hours.    At the end of that time, remove the meat carefully from the crockpot to a  platter.  Whisk the cream cheese into the juices until smooth and  amalgamated.  Serve the meat sliced with the juices spooned over top.

 

Cheddar Baked Chicken. This cheddar baked chicken is coated in a cheesy buttery crumb, and baked to perfection. This easy chicken recipe comes out perfect, moist and delicious every single time!

This is something which my kids always enjoyed.   It was one of my cheap and cheerful mains and a great way to serve chicken and so much better for them than the packaged chicken baking mixes.  (without saying any names, but you know what I mean I am sure!)

 

These are moist and flavorful with a nice crisp coating filled with flavor.  It gets it's crispness from the crushed cereal and the bread crumbs. I love crispy chicken.

More flavor comes from the herbs and spices which are mixed in the initial flour coating. Add the cheese and you have something which is incredibly delicious with  a touch of cheesy tang and another depth of flavour.

I love fried chicken, but frying chicken at home is a real pain in the butter.  So much work and so much mess.  Baking your chicken this way is so much easier and so very delicious.

Do be careful not to over cook them.   You only want the coating to get golden brown . . . and you want the chicken to stay nice and moist.  Over cooked chicken breasts are dry and not so nice to eat.

 




I like to serve this with mashed potatoes, or scalloped potatoes along with a steamed vegetable on the side.  Carrots or green beans are just perfect with this.  It's a mighty tasty way of making a few chicken breasts go further!  

Your family is guaranteed to love them!  (My kids liked to have some ranch dressing to dip it in as well, but I love Sweet Chili Sauce myself or runny honey.)  Nom! Nom!



 




*Cheddar Baked Chicken*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe

Moist chicken with a tasty crispy cheese coating!

60g butter, melted (1/4 cup)
50g of plain flour (1/2 cup)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried thyme, rubbed to a powder
25g of crisp rice cereal (1 cup), crushed lightly
120g of grated strong cheddar cheese (1 cup)
120g of dry bread crumbs ( 1 cup)
1 large free range egg
1 TBS milk
2 to 3 large boneless skinless chicken breasts

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F gas mark 4.  Pour half of the melted butter into a shallow glass baking dish.

Combine the flour, salt, pepper and garlic powder in a shallow bowl.  Combine the egg and milk in another shallow bowl.   Combine the cereal, bread crumbs and cheese in a third bowl.   Cut your chicken breasts in half diagonally so that you have approximately 6  wedges.   

Dip them first into the flour mixture, patting the flour on.  Then into the egg mixture, Allowing any excess to drip off.  Finally roll them into the crumb mixture, patting and pressing the crumbs so that they adhere well.  Place them into the baking dish  Drizzle with the remaining butter.

Bake for about 20 to 25  minutes until the chicken is golden brown and just cooked through. Serve hot. 

 

This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com. 

 

This is a very old recipe which I have had in my files for a very long time.  It is a recipe which was given to me by my mother in law back in the early 1970's.

 

You may recall me showing you a delicious casserole the other day called Beef and Beans.  Oh my but it is some good.   Just in case you missed it, that's a picture up there at the top of this  post, and you can find the recipe here.  This may not be a very pretty dish, but it is certainly one of the most delicious dishes you could ever want to eat. Economical, easy and tasty.  You can't get much better than that.

 

Well, after what I show you today . . . you may want to double that recipe the next time you make it, because I have a real winning sandwich to show you here today, and it involves using the leftovers from Beef and Beans.

 

Because there are only two of us we normally have leftovers when I bake a casserole unless it is a very tiny one or we are lucky enough to have someone here at the house to enjoy it with us . . . and this was the case the other day after I had baked Beef and Beans.   I could have just reheated the leftovers and they would have been really delicious that way, but . . .

 

I got to thinking about the baked bean sandwiches that we used to eat back home  the day after an especially tasty feed of homemade beans.  Oh my they were so good . . . mashed cold beans spread between two slices of buttered bread with a few thin slices of raw onion . . . oh boy . . . were they ever tasty.   A real favourite!



And then I got to thinking about patty melts . . . and how good they are and then . . . I thought to myself, why not combine the two ideas and create a delicious sandwich, using the leftover Beef and Beans???   Why not indeed!!  I heated some of the leftovers up and spread it on the un-buttered side of two slices of thick white bread.   Then I topped them with some thinly sliced raw onions and some slices of strong cheddar cheese.   I topped them with another slice of buttered bread, buttered side out and then toasted them like you would a grilled cheese . . .



The end result was one of the most delicious toasted sandwiches we have ever eaten.  So delicious.   So easy.    So good that it is one I will repeat . . .I love it when that happens and I am able to turn my leftovers into something which is every bit as delicious as the original meal.  I do hope that you will make the Beef and Beans . . . and that when you do, you have enough leftover to make one or two of these tasty sarnies!



*Beef and Bean Patty Melts*
For one
Printable Recipe

This may well be the tastiest patty melt you have ever eaten!  You will want to make sure you have leftovers from my Beef and Bean recipe, in fact I suggest you double the recipe when you make it!

Softened butter
two thick slices of sturdy white bread
about 1/2 cup of the leftover Beef and Bean Casserole
or enough to cover the bread in it's entirety
(Even better if you have managed to save some of the bacon from on top)
sliced strong cheddar cheese to cover the beef and beans
very thinly sliced raw onions



Warm up your beef and bean mixture in the microwave so that it is not cold.  Butter the two slices of bread on one side.  Place one slice buttered side down in a heavy skillet.  Spread the side facing up with the beef and bean mixture.   Top with thinly sliced onion and cheese to cover.  Place the other slice of buttered bread on top, butter side up. 

Grill over medium low heat, until the bottom side of the sandwich is crisp and golden brown.  Do not be in a hurry.  Carefully flip over and brown the other side in like manner, until the sandwich is golden brown all over the filling is nice and hot and the cheese has melted.

Serve immediately, cut into diagonals and topped with a pickle if desired.