I love summer. Our garden is filled to overflowing with fresh produce and fruit. It's one of my favourite times of the year. I know . . . I know . . . I say that all year round. I guess I just love food, no matter what time of year it is . . . but in the summer when it is fresh, it's even better!
There are a few things that have a tendency to come on in a glut though . . . like courgettes and tomatoes. It's a bit early for the tomatoes just yet . . . but the courgettes are coming on fabulously!
It helps to have delicious recipes like this one here today to help keep things from getting boring. I mean who wouldn't like a tasty casserole which bakes like a pudding . . . but a savoury pudding . . . topped with the buttery crunch of crisp croutons.
A deliciously savoury pudding chock full of lovely green courgettes, garlic, onions and cheese. Yep. Two kinds. A rich strong cheddar and a punchy Monterrey Jack . . . use the peppered one if you are feeling especially up to it . . .
Oh, and there are green chilies in it too . . . just for an added kick. I guarantee nobody is going to be bored with this one . . . trust me on this.
*Courgette and Cheese Bake*
Serves 5 to 6
This is a fabulous way to use up the glut of courgettes which should be appearing in the gardens about now.
4 medium courgettes
3 medium free range eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 TBS flour
small handful flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 TBS flour
small handful flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
2 green jalapeno chilies, trimmed, seeded and chopped
1 cup grated strong cheddar cheese
1 cup grated Monterrey jack cheese
1 1/2 cup seasoned croutons
2 TBS butter, melted
2 TBS butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a shallow 1 litre casserole. Set aside.
Whisk
together the eggs, milk, salt, baking powder and flour until smooth.
Toss the courgettes together with the parsley, garlic, onion, chopped
chilies and cheese in a bowl. Pour the egg mixture over all and stir
to combine. Pour this mixture into the prepared baking dish. Combine
the melted butter and croutons. Sprinkle these over top of the
casserole, spreading them out evenly. Bake, uncovered in the heated
oven for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown and set in the middle. Let
stand for ten minutes before serving. Delicious!
I can't remember the first time I tasted Buffalo Chicken Wings, but I do remember it was love at first bite. Of course I love any kind of chicken wings . . . why oh why are the things that are so tasty so bad for you? It's just not fair!
There is something pretty special about Buffalo Chicken Wings . . . you get all the richness of a fried chicken wing . . . with that crisp crunchy skin, that succulent chicken meat . . . slathered in a buttery hot and spicy sauce . . . and then the cool richness of blue cheese dressing. The three things just go soooo well together. Quite, quite irresistible really!
This delicious casserole combines the fabulous qualities of those wings, but in a casserole form. What could be better??? Not much I tell you! (Except for maybe the real thing!!)
You start by creating a delicious hot sauce/marinade, which you combine with cubed chunks of baking potato to coat. You then roast these in a hot oven until they are nicely browned . . . cooked through and tender on the insides, but crisp on the outsides.
While those have been roasting, you marinate leftover roast chicken in another portion of that hot sauce. Once the taters are all crisped up and down you sprinkle the chicken mixture over top and then sprinkle the whole lot with cheese . . . both blue and cheddar cheeses.
And that's not all . . . oh no . . . that's not all. You then sprinkle the cheese topping with crisp nuggets of pancetta bacon and chopped spring onion.
The whole thing gets banged back in the oven until the chicken is heated through and the cheese is all melty gooey . . . oh my . . . oh my.
Tis a mighty delicious way to deal with chicken leftovers is all I can say . . . mighty delicious indeed.
*Buffalo Chicken Casserole*
Serves 4
Serves 4
1 TBS freeze dried parsley
100g of crumbled blue cheese (1 cup)
240g of grated medium cheddar cheese (2 cups)
Remove all from the oven. Scatter the sauced chicken over top of the potatoes. Crumble the blue cheese over top of the chicken and sprinkle with the grated cheddar. Drain the pancetta and sprinkle this over top. Scatter with 2/3 of the spring onions. Bang back in the oven and bake for a further 10 to 15 minutes, until the chicken is heated through and the cheese is all bubbly.
Note - I served this with wedges of iceberg lettuce with a homemade creamy dressing.
Our Black Currant bush is fruiting at the moment and providing us with oodles and oodles of lovely black berries. I just adore black currants, don't you?
I have all sorts of plans for them. Black Currant Cordial. Creme De Cassis. Dried black currants (in my dehydrator) to use this winter in cakes, etc.
They are coming fast and furious now in my garden now and with the warm humid weather we have been promised for the week ahead (fingers crossed), well . . . I just want to get as much out of them as I can. I know I will lose a lot to the birds . . . or them overripening . . . I'm ok with sharing with the birds. They need to live too. I just want to get my own share's worth first!
I don't make my own jams anymore. With just the two of us, it's just not feasible. That means I have to do something else with the fruit that we grow and pick. I do try to bake crumbles, cakes, pies etc. with whatever fresh fruit that is in season at the moment, and I try hard to freeze some to enjoy in the winter ahead.
This pie is simple and delicious. You can have it warm with some custard, or ice cream, creme fraiche or even with some clotted cream. You will want somethiing rich and creamy to contrast with that crisp pastry and the sweet/tart fruit. I hope that the missionaries like it. Yes I do like to spoil them when they come for supper. Cold supper tonight. Fried chicken. Potato Salad. Coleslaw and . . . pie!
*Deep Dish Black Currant Pie*
makes one 8 inch pie
Printable Recipe
A beautiful deep dish pie that is at once sweet and yet tart, and oh so oozingly delicious! This is fabulous!
For the Pastry:
170g plain flour (approximately 1 1/4 cups)
a pinch of salt
100g unsalted butter (7 TBS)
1 medium egg yolk
Cold water, to combine
For the Filling:
350g fresh blackcurrants, washed, picked over, topped and tailed (abput 4 cups)
150g granulated sugar (3/4 cup)
1 tablespoon cornflour (corn starch)
Milk and extra sugar to glaze
To make the pastry, sift the flour with the salt into a large bowl. Rub in the butter with your fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Beat the egg yolk together with 2 tablespoons of water and add to the butter mixture. Mix to a firm dough with a fork. Shape into two flat rounds, and then chill, wrapped for at least 30 minutes before using.
Preheat your oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.
Put the blackcurrants into a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar and cornflour. gently turning them with a spoon until they all get coated with the sugar and corn flour.
Roll out half of the chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface to fit in the bottom of a 7 to 8 inch deep pie dish, along with some overhang. Line the pie tin with this. FIll with the fruit sugar mixture.
Roll out the remainder of the pastry in a round large enough to cover the top of the pie. Brush the edges of the bottom crust all the way around with some milk. Apply the top crust and trim, pinching and folding the edge to seal. (Flute according to your preference.) Cut a few slashes in the top to vent. Brush with more milk and extra sugar.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is golden brown. Serve warm with some ice cream, custard or creme fraiche. Delicious!
I reckon by the time my strawberry plants finish producing this year I will have you tired of strawberries! They are coming in at a handful at a time at the moment and so I am using them in whatever way that I can. Not quite enough to make jam or a pie, but good enough for tasty little treats like these fabulous pancakes that I made for our breakfast yesterday!
I treated myself to a new cookbook the other day. (Shh . . . don't tell Todd!) I fell right in love with it. It is chock full of all sorts of tasty recipes that I can't wait to try. It is a rare thing when you find a cookbook that is filled with one recipe after another that you want to make, but this cookbook does just that! It's fabulous! I can't wait to try making my own yogurt, ricotta cheese, cream cheese and butter! I'm at least going to give it a go.
In the meantime I decided to make the buttermilk pancake recipe from the book, based on the Honey & Vanilla Butter recipe that they give to go along with them alone . . . it sounded significantly delicious!
Oh my . . . was it ever good. I think I will always have a pot of this tasty butter in my fridge because it was sooooo good. We even had it on toast for our supper last night. We just could not get enough of it. Even if you don't make the pancakes . . . you simply MUST make the butter! *slurp*
I added the strawberries to the pancakes myself . . . because I have lots and I am trying to use them so they don't go off . . . and it's strawberry season. It sounded like a fab idea at the time . . .
They were rather scrummy if I don't say so myself. The butter made them even more so. I even crumbled up some meringues in the last few to make . . . dare I say it . . . I must for they were fab . . .
♥♥♥ EATON MESS PANCAKES ♥♥♥
As Lawrence Welk would say . . . wunnerful . . . wunnerful . . .
There's a couple of things you can count on enjoying (or not) every July . . . Wimbledon . . . beautiful strawberries . . . and now . . .
These tasty pancakes!
*Strawberry Buttermilk Pancakes with Honey & Vanilla Butter*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
In honor of fresh berries and strawberry season. Feel free to substitute other berries for the strawberries. Blueberries, raspberries and even sliced banana works well!
100g self raising flour (14 1/2 TBS)In honor of fresh berries and strawberry season. Feel free to substitute other berries for the strawberries. Blueberries, raspberries and even sliced banana works well!
a handful of fresh strawberries, chopped
Serve hot at the table with the butter. Delicious. Crisp slices of streaky smoked bacon go very well! (It's that sweet and salty thing you know . . . )
This is the type of food I like to eat in the summer. Light and fresh, and easy to prepare.
We do eat a lot of chicken in this house. It's such a versatile meat and goes with just about anything. I always have boneless chicken breasts in the freezer. Just perfect for this delicious chicken recipe. I have adapted it from the Betty Crocker website.
It always turns out moist and delicious, and let's face it . . . chicken breasts are so very easy to get wrong. I hate dried out chicken breasts . . . cardboard is every bit as palatable . . .
These are always moist and delicious, easy to make and perfect for eating cold with salads, or hot . . . as you like. They are great both ways. The chicken is dipped in buttermilk and then rolled in a tasty coating and baked just until golden brown on the outsides, yet still moist inside. These are fabulous! You can also do chicken tenders in this way. Just cut the baking time down!
We do eat a lot of chicken in this house. It's such a versatile meat and goes with just about anything. I always have boneless chicken breasts in the freezer. Just perfect for this delicious chicken recipe. I have adapted it from the Betty Crocker website.
It always turns out moist and delicious, and let's face it . . . chicken breasts are so very easy to get wrong. I hate dried out chicken breasts . . . cardboard is every bit as palatable . . .
These are always moist and delicious, easy to make and perfect for eating cold with salads, or hot . . . as you like. They are great both ways. The chicken is dipped in buttermilk and then rolled in a tasty coating and baked just until golden brown on the outsides, yet still moist inside. These are fabulous! You can also do chicken tenders in this way. Just cut the baking time down!
*Oven Fried Picnic Chicken*
Serves 4
A
tasty and easy way to prepare chicken to bring with you on picnics or
for those summer evenings when you want something tasty to serve with
your salad! Adapted from a recipe found on the Betty Crocker site.
Tip the buttermilk into a bowl. Put the cereal, biscuit mix (flour) and ranch dressing mix into the bowl of a mini food processor. Blitz to combine well and crumble the cereal. Tip this mixture into a plastic food storage bag. Roll your chicken breasts in the butter milk, turning to coat, one at a time. As you coat them, drop them into the bag with the dry mixture and give them a shake in it to coat. Place them onto the baking sheet, presentation side down. Repeat until all four breasts are coated. Spritz well with the cooking spray. Bake for 25 minutes. Flip them over and spritz them again with the cooking spray. Bake for a further 15 to 20 minutes or until the juices run clear when pricked at the thickest part. Serve hot or cold.
Of course a tasty salad goes well with these. I like a tossed salad myself . . . but the Toddster is a meat and potatoes kind of a guy . . . so I like to make this creamy garden Potato salad, which meets both of our desires. He gets to please his meat and potatoes soul . . . and I get part of my daily dose of veg . . . both in a tasty salad. This dressing is a type of honey mustard, creamy delish!!
*Creamy Garden Potato Salad*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe
A delicious potato salad with a punchy low fat Honey Dijon mayo dressing. The green bush beans and radishes add a bit of crunch and colour.
1 pound of small new potatoes
2 TBS Cider Vinegar
4 TBS low fat mayonnaise
2 TBS honey Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 to 4 spring onions, chopped
(white and green parts)
a handful of radishes, trimmed and chunked
a handful of bush green beans, trimmed and cut in half crosswise
1 TBS Dill Weed (or a handful of fresh dill, finely chopped)
Place the potatoes in a pot of lightly salted water to cover. Bring to the boil and then simmer on medium heat until tender, about 15 minutes. Add the green beans for the last 5 to 6 minutes of cooking time.
While the potatoes are cooking whisk together the vinegar, mayonnaise, mustard, and cayenne pepper along with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Drain the potatoes and beans once they are tender. Leave in the colander and place the colander over the hot pot. Allow to cool until you can easily handle. Cut the potatoes into halves or quarters. Place the warm potatoes and beans into a bowl. Pour the dressing over top of the warm vegetables. Add the onion, radishes and dill weed and gently toss together.
Serve at room temperature.
I like to watch food television once in a while. Actually I would probably watch it a lot more often, but my husband gets rather annoyed with it, and so . . . I usually only indulge when he's not home.
I'd like to say on record though, that he doesn't mind reaping the benefits "eating-wise" from my obsession with cooking and recipes!!
One of the programs I like to watch it Diner's Drive In's and Dive's with that guy who has that freaky died hair. He goes to some really tasty looking spots and eats some really fabulous food!
I was watching it a while back and I noted these really tasty looking burgers he was trying at this one place and I thought they looked like something which we would enjoy at home.
They didn't look that hard to make either, and I have to say I was greatly intrigued with the way they were made.
I loved the idea of mashing the onions into the burger and then steaming the buns over the onions . . . what a great way to get the onion flavour right into the meat and the buns!
SO anyways, it was so long ago that I can't remember the restaurant he was at, and I can only tell you what I did myself that worked.
In any case, these were some pretty tasty burgers! We had them with some steak cut oven chips for a mighty scrummy supper!
*Onion Pan Burgers*
Serves 2Printable Recipe
a bit of oil and a knob of butter
2 large onions, peeled and sliced
Heat a large skillet over
medium heat. Add the knob of butter and some oil.
Add the burger
patties, then cover with the onions. Cook, pressing down on the sliced
onions to embed them somewhat in the burgers, cooking until the burgers
have browned.
Flip the burgers over so that they are then on top of
the onions. Continue to cook until the onions begin to soften. Top each
burger pattie with a slice of cheese.
Split your buns in half. Lay
the top halves on top of the cheese and the bottom halves over the
onions in the pan. Allow the bottom buns to steam in the onion fumes
to heat through.
Place the bottom buns on heated plates. Carefully
scoop up the burgers, along with the onions, cheese and top bun halves
to place on top. Serve immediately along with your favourite burger
condiments.
I like to have mustard and sliced pickles with mine. My husband, he likes catsup.You can enjoy these whatever way you wish!
I think one of my favourite seasons of the year is Strawberry Season. It has been ever so . . .
As a child I would walk along the railroad tracks which ran along the back edge of our yard and pick the wild strawberries which grew abundantly in little clusters around the black tarred wooden ties . . . summer memories.
Hot sun, pink stained fingers, sweet berries, accompanied with the faint whiff of tar . . .
If I hadn't been a glutton, when I was done I would have the bottom of a plastic margarine tub filled . . .
Just enough for a small bowl of wild berries, dusted with sugar and served with some of the top cream from the milk . . .
Of course the highlight of strawberry season was my mother's strawberry shortcake! Home baked biscuits . . . but not just any biscuits . . . my mother's cream biscuits.
Oh so flaky and buttery. They positively melt in your mouth. Seriously.
These are split and buttered with sweet unsalted butter. Why not?
In for a penny in for a pound, but that is not all . . . no, that is not all . . .
Next comes a layer of sliced, crushed and sweetened summer berries, ladled over those crisp, flaky and buttery biscuits . . . and yes . . .
Then comes even more delectability . . . softly whipped cream, sweetened or not as you prefer. Or really go whole hot and use clotted cream . . . and why not?
It's summertime after all!! And the strawberries are ripe and calling your name!
It only happens for a few short weeks. Indulge yourself. I promise not to tell . . . it can be our little secret . . . pinkie swear.
*Mom's Strawberry Shortcake*
Makes 6 to 8 servingsThis is a must during Strawberry Season. It has ever been so since my very earliest memory. Crisp cream biscuits filled with softly whipped cream and fresh berries.
coarse sugar to dust
caster sugar to taste (fine fruit sugar)
softened unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Make the biscuits early in the day. Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Have ready a paper lined baking sheet.
Whisk
the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar together in a bowl. Start
slowly pouring in the cream, adding only 1 cup at first, stirring
constantly. Gather the dough together; when it holds together and feels
tender, it is ready to knead.
If the dough appears to be too shaggy
and the pieces are dry and wanting to fall away, then slowly add enough
additional cream until you have a dough that holds together. Tip out
onto a floured board and knead the dough for 1 minute. Gently pat the
dough into a square which is half an inch thick throughout. Cut into 12
squares.
Dip the squares into the melted butter,
coating all sides and place them onto the prepared baking sheet.
Sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 15 minutes until they are
golden. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool completely.
Slice
the berries, reserving a few to decorate the tops of the shortcakes, if
desired. Add sugar to taste. Split the biscuits, placing the bottom
halves into each of 6 to 8 cut glass dessert bowls. Spread with
softened butter. Top each with a generous spoonful of berries, a dollop
of cream and the top halves of the biscuits.
Serve immediately and pass more cream at the table. Note - if you have it by all means use clotted cream instead of whipped cream for the finished dessert. It's turns something which is already fabulous into something which is pure bliss! Mom would approve.
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