♪.♪.♪ We're having a heat wave . . . a Tropical Heat Wave . . . ♪.♪.♪ YES! We are finally having the summer we have been waiting for for three years! And we are loving it . . . well, so far at any rate. It seems to always be feast and famine over here, with not a lot of moderation involved. I guess it is an all or nothing kind of climate . . .
Anyways staying cool is the order of the day, which means turning on the oven as little as possible and using the convection oven or grill when I can. (Thank goodness I have one!) To be perfectly honest, neither one of us has much of an appetite anyways . . . light and fresh suppers are about as much as we are up for.
Deliciously light little suppers like these Little Goat's Cheese Souffle's! Well . . . it's a bit of a cheat really, as you use soft bread crumbs instead of going to all the faff of making a white sauce, but who cares. We're all feeling a bit lazy, and these taste just wonderful anyways!
To keep the calories down I use un-diluted evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed! This is the milk that you would normally add an equal amount of water to to reconstitute it.) There is no after taste from this and I used the *light* one so they are a lot lower in calories than if you used cream.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Goat's Cheese. You get a lot of flavour without having to use an awful lot of cheese. It's not to everyone's taste . . . I suppose. But . . . we quite like the tang. Use the soft one. I used a soft French Goat's cheese.
I accompanied it with a quick and easy tomato and cucumber salad that I have been making for yonks. I first tasted this at my sister's ex in laws out at their cottage on the shores of Lake Erie. I fell in love with it then, and have been making it ever since. It's easy and quick . . . just like the souffle's.
In short . . . the perfect light supper. Enjoy!
*Little Goat's Cheese Souffle's*
evaporated milk. I use the non fat one)
*Tomato and Cucumber Salad*
Serves 4 to 6
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe
I've been making this refreshing summer salad for years. It's easy and it's delicious.
1 small english cucumber, trimmed, scored, cut in half and then sliced I've been making this refreshing summer salad for years. It's easy and it's delicious.
into half moons
a small handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
As I told you a few days ago I had picked up two lovely bags of fresh juicy local tomatoes at the green grocers in Chester last weekend. I had in mind to make some delicious slow roasted tomatoes. I love roasting tomatoes. It brings out their natural sweetness and we just love them.
They are so easy to make too. You basically just cut them in half, bang them into a roasting tin, drizzle them with olive oil, sprinkle with herbs, garlic, sea salt and cracked black pepper and Bob's your Uncle!! They come in ever so handy for all sorts! They make fabulous soups and are great in a salad. They're also pretty wonderful in hearty sandwiches such as these steak ones here today!
Think about it . . . two thick slices of grilled sour dough bread . . . charred in all the best bits . . . topped with a deliciously moreish roasted garlic mayonnaise. Of course you roast your own garlic for this. Why not . . . you're roasting the tomatoes anyways, why not do the garlic at the same time . . .
You spread one slice of the toasted bread with the scrummy garlic mayo . . . and then you top it with two nicely grilled sandwich steaks. Just look at those lovely char marks . . . yummo!!
You pile the other slice with fresh rocket leaves and several of those deliciously caramelized slow roasted tomatoes . . . just look at them . . . all sticky and slightly sweet, garlicky, herby . . . deliciously mouth wateringly scrummo . . .
You put that all together and you have a sandwich made in Heaven!! Delicious enough to be restaurant fare . . . but created and eaten in the comfort of your own home. Summer comfort food. This is pretty wonderful if I don't say so myself . . . would I like? I don't think so! A picture tells a thousand words and these are calling my name . . . I could easily eat another one right now. Couldn't you?
*Grilled Steak Sandwiches*
Serves 2
fine sea salt
a handful of rocket leaves
*Slow Roasted Tomatoes*
Makes as many as you likecoarsely ground black pepper
*Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise*
Makes 8 servings
If
you love garlic, you'll love this mayonnaise. It goes so well in a
sandwich, with steaks, chips, you name it! It's fabulous! Don't worry
about there being a whole head of garlic in the mix. Roasting the
garlic makes it really mellow and sweet.Makes 8 servings
1 head of garlic, top end trimmed off
3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
375ml of canola oil (1 1/2 cups)
Alternately - if you are afraid to use raw eggs, mash the garlic until pureed, and whisk it into a good quality egg mayonnaise along with some lemon juice to taste.
Our soft fruit is going great guns in the garden at the moment. With all of the hot weather we are having it all seems to be ripening at once. We have never gotten so many strawberries as the bumper crop we are enjoying this year! I am not complaining!
With so much coming at once however, it can be somewhat of a challenge to use it. At present I am drying strawberries, raspberries and black currants in our food dehydrator, and I have frozen bags of them as well. At the weekend I decided to make a summer fruit cordial with some of them . . . something delicious for us to remember summer with in the colder months ahead. The nice ones that you can buy in the shops are so very expensive . . . I thought it would be nice to have some of our very own.
A Cordial is a thick syrupy fruit drink, very concentrated. It can be drunk on it's own in small quantities, or mixed with sparkling water and poured over ice for a refreshing drink. You can also make an alcoholic cordial. If you are familiar with the Anne of Green Gables story, you will remember that on a lovely October day Anne invited her friend Diana over for tea in the afternoon. Marilla had told her they could have the raspberry cordial that was leftover from the church social. Anne took the wrong bottle and the pair proceeded to get very drunk!
Mine is not of the alcoholic variety! (Although you could probably use it to make a cocktail with if you were so inclined!)
Mine is of the non alcoholic variety, and delicious . . . and not so hard to make as one should suppose! Truly!! It tastes delicious diluted with sparkling water and poured over ice on these hot summer days.
Deliciously refreshing I would say! It went down a real treat today!
It's also delicious served straight up in a small cordial or liqueur glass. I can see us enjoying it this way when the winter winds begin to blow . . . oh, but it would make a lovely dessert sauce as well.
It also makes the perfect hostess gift, decanted into a pretty glass container, for all of those summer parties and barbeques you are going to be invited to this summer! I hope you will give it a try! You will just LOVE it!
With so much coming at once however, it can be somewhat of a challenge to use it. At present I am drying strawberries, raspberries and black currants in our food dehydrator, and I have frozen bags of them as well. At the weekend I decided to make a summer fruit cordial with some of them . . . something delicious for us to remember summer with in the colder months ahead. The nice ones that you can buy in the shops are so very expensive . . . I thought it would be nice to have some of our very own.
A Cordial is a thick syrupy fruit drink, very concentrated. It can be drunk on it's own in small quantities, or mixed with sparkling water and poured over ice for a refreshing drink. You can also make an alcoholic cordial. If you are familiar with the Anne of Green Gables story, you will remember that on a lovely October day Anne invited her friend Diana over for tea in the afternoon. Marilla had told her they could have the raspberry cordial that was leftover from the church social. Anne took the wrong bottle and the pair proceeded to get very drunk!
Mine is not of the alcoholic variety! (Although you could probably use it to make a cocktail with if you were so inclined!)
Mine is of the non alcoholic variety, and delicious . . . and not so hard to make as one should suppose! Truly!! It tastes delicious diluted with sparkling water and poured over ice on these hot summer days.
Deliciously refreshing I would say! It went down a real treat today!
It's also delicious served straight up in a small cordial or liqueur glass. I can see us enjoying it this way when the winter winds begin to blow . . . oh, but it would make a lovely dessert sauce as well.
It also makes the perfect hostess gift, decanted into a pretty glass container, for all of those summer parties and barbeques you are going to be invited to this summer! I hope you will give it a try! You will just LOVE it!
*Summer Berry Cordial*
Makes 1 scant litre
This
is a delicious drink that will be lovely in the months to come. A
little taste of summer. You can drink it full strength, or dilute it
with some sparkling water and serve over ice, for a refreshing summer
drink.
Place a large fine meshed strainer over a deep bowl. Carefully pour the fruit and all of the liquid into the strainer. Cover with a clean cloth and leave to drain overnight. The next morning remove the strainer and discard any pulp inside. Pour the juices into a clean pot. Add the sugar. Heat over low heat, stirring constantly until all of the sugar is dissolved. Pour immediately into warm sterile bottles. Leave a 1/3 inch gap at the top. Seal and store in a cool dark place or the refrigerator for up to 6 months.
As I told you the other day I picked up a couple of bags of beautifully ripe and Cheshire grown tomatoes in town on Saturday. I had in mind to make a lovely Panzanella salad for our supper that night. I got lucky and also scored a day old loaf of bread at the cheese shop for half price too.
To be honest it was hard not to go crazy in the vegetable market as everything looked so good and was so reasonably priced. I have Basil growing in my garden at the moment, but my parsley isn't doing very well this year for some reason, and so I picked up a handful of gorgeous flat leaf parsley as well. (Did you know you can keep fresh cut herbs very well on the counter top by cutting the ends and slipping them into a glass of cold fresh water, just like a beautiful green bouquet. Just remember to change the water every day. They'll last quite a while this way.)
I love Panzanella salad. It's fabulous peasant food . . . using simple and fresh ingredients, along with stale bread in the most delicious way. Leave it to the Italians to turn a silk purse out of a sow's ear, or in this case a stale loaf of bread!
Chunky cut ripe tomatoes, likewise cucumber . . . chopped peppers, red onions, capers, olives, fresh herbs, seasoned and toasted stale bread . . . tossed together with a punchy vinaigrette dressing make this one of the tastiest and easiest offerings on a hot summer's day! I love the stuff!
I even love the leftovers. I store them in the refrigerator overnight and then take them out the next day, bringing them to room temperature. They make a fabulous light lunch! When I was a girl my favourite summer lunch used to be a tin of chopped tomatoes with a slice of buttered bread. This is kind of the same idea . . . except it's been jazzed up. Yes . . . I am a tomato lover extraordinaire!
To be honest it was hard not to go crazy in the vegetable market as everything looked so good and was so reasonably priced. I have Basil growing in my garden at the moment, but my parsley isn't doing very well this year for some reason, and so I picked up a handful of gorgeous flat leaf parsley as well. (Did you know you can keep fresh cut herbs very well on the counter top by cutting the ends and slipping them into a glass of cold fresh water, just like a beautiful green bouquet. Just remember to change the water every day. They'll last quite a while this way.)
I love Panzanella salad. It's fabulous peasant food . . . using simple and fresh ingredients, along with stale bread in the most delicious way. Leave it to the Italians to turn a silk purse out of a sow's ear, or in this case a stale loaf of bread!
Chunky cut ripe tomatoes, likewise cucumber . . . chopped peppers, red onions, capers, olives, fresh herbs, seasoned and toasted stale bread . . . tossed together with a punchy vinaigrette dressing make this one of the tastiest and easiest offerings on a hot summer's day! I love the stuff!
I even love the leftovers. I store them in the refrigerator overnight and then take them out the next day, bringing them to room temperature. They make a fabulous light lunch! When I was a girl my favourite summer lunch used to be a tin of chopped tomatoes with a slice of buttered bread. This is kind of the same idea . . . except it's been jazzed up. Yes . . . I am a tomato lover extraordinaire!
*Panzanella*
Serves 4 to 6For the dressing:
As many of you know I am a self employed artist as well as a cook and I have created several downloadable cookbooklets over the past year or so, which combine my two loves. Cooking and illlustration. As I have a lot of new readers and it is picnic season I thought I would bring my Picnic cookbooklet back into print and re-offer it for a limited time once again. It was very popular last year and anyone who purchased it was more than happy with it.
The British are great Picnickers! When the warm weather hits and the children are let out of school for their summer hols, we are all out hitting the roads with our portable feasts. Containing over 35 unique recipes for everything from cold drinks, to appetizers, salads, cold soups, sandwiches, cakes and other picky bits, interspersed with original water colour illustrations, it makes a delightful gift for yourself or for a friend.
Also included are my top tips and chic ideas for making this year's summer picnics the very best ever. I am making this delightful booklet available again for two weeks only until the end of July. It will be delivered as a downloadable PDF file, which you can print or not as you wish, to your e-mail within 24 hours of your payment clearing. (DO make sure you have adobe reader enabled and make sure my e-mail address is on your list of allowable senders!) In most cases it arrives a lot quicker than that. I am keeping the same low price this year as last year at only £5. For that you get 28 pages of tastiness and picnic joy! Remember you will have to act quickly as it will only be offered for two short weeks.
Thanks so much for looking!
I went into this pub, and I ate a ploughman's lunch. He was livid.
~Tommy Cooper, British Comedian
Ahhh . . . the ploughman's lunch . . . you can't get more British or traditional than a ploughman's lunch. With all of this hot weather, this is traditional pub fare that anyone can get sorted and onto the table without much fuss at all.
What is a ploughman's lunch? At it's very simplest, it comprises a nothing more than a thick wedge of crusty bread, a large chunk of tasty cheese and a pickled onion.
It came into favor at a time when most pub's didn't actually serve much food at all, but nowadays pub's are mainly eating places, so it's become much more than that. It's an easy meal to prepare on these hot summer days.
You don't need to turn the cooker on and so you can keep your cool.
Cheese is an important aspect of the Ploughman's Lunch. Traditionally the cheese would have been locally made . . . so it could have been anything from Stilton to Wensleydale.
Cheddar became the the standard and most popular cheese of choice for ploughman's lunches served in pubs in the 1960's, but I am happy to say that nowadays it is not at all unusual to have a Stilton or even a non-Anglo cheese such as a Brie or a Camembert.
When I saw the name of this cheese here today, I could not resist. I just had to buy it.
Kick Ass Roasted Onion, Garlic and Chive Cheddar. It did live up to it's name, in every way.
It kicked ass and it was delicious, with the wonderful tang of a good cheddar mixed with just a hint of chive and onion, and a nice hit of garlic. Well flavoured and delicious it was . . .
In some pubs you won't find any cheese at all on the plate, instead opting for some ham or even a European Salami or even smoked sausage. I used both ham and cheese.
I was lucky enough to be able to buy some ham ends at the market at only 70p for 100g. I took 200g and it was fabulous. I liked that it was chunky for the most part and very rustic in appearance.
We did not have the traditional pickled onion with ours. Whilst my husband does enjoy a pickled onion, I find them to be quite harsh and I don't really enjoy them.
Back home I did enjoy sweet pickled onions, but the huge ones they have over here, pickled in malt vinegar are a bit too strong for my liking.
Instead we had a chutney . . . still somewhat of a pickle, but sweeter and a bit spicy. Branston's Pickle would also go very well.
I added some sliced apple, but you could do grapes, or pears if you prefer.
I am not sure that fruit is traditional, but I know that it goes very well with the chutney, the jam AND the cheese. So it's a win/win/win situation all over the plate.
I had no crusty bread . . . only a day old ciabatta loaf, but it worked beautifully, spread with some black pepper Boursin . . . again not totally traditional, but very nice.
I added some salad leaves and sliced cucumber to bring some colour and healthy crunch to the plate. Radishes would be nice also.
Once again, not totally traditional, but . . . meh . . . it's my lunch, my choice.
Traditional or not . . . pickled onion, or chutney, or even Branstons . . . ham or cheese or both . . . apples or grapes or no fruit at all . . .
Some tasty ham and a nice hunk of well flavoured cheese, some crusty bread and a bit of salad. This went down a real treat, and it was cheap too.
We both enjoyed. Summer food. Pub food. Tasty and enjoyable. What more could a ploughman want?
Some other cold coalitions you might enjoy are:
CLASSIC COBB SALAD - A delicious salad which comes from the days of the Brown Derby Restaurant in Hollywood. Chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, bacon, boiled egg, cheese and avocado, delicately placed in a delicious manner and drizzled with a lush sherry vinaigrette dressing.
BACON AND EGG SALAD - Another main dish salad. Here you have crisp hearts of romaine lettuce, topped with rich quartered boiled egg, crispy bacon, grilled tomatoes and crisp homemade buttery croutons. With its fabulous creamy dressing, you can have your bacon and eat it too!
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
Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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