It was too hot to cook . . .
It was too hot to play . . .
So I sat on the sofa,
just melting away.
Visions of cold food
swim in my head . . .
but
In truth I've no energy
I feel pretty dead.
No cooking happening here
not today
Tis far, far too hot,
and
I hope that's ok . . .
I'll return tomorrow
and hopefully I'll be
back in full form
and as fit as a flea!
Okay, so I am not a poet. But I am meltingly hot and lacking in energy. And I haven't cooked. And I probably won't cook. I'm sure you'll find something here that will tantalize your tastebuds even a tiny bit anyways. I promise to be back tomorrow with something new. Fingers Crossed.
Little Ginger Cheesecakes
Summer Fruit Salad
Clare College Mush
Lemon, Limoncello and Raspberry Syllabub
Poached Vanilla Apricots
Summer Berry and Lemon Tarts
Blueberry Bliss
Easy Berry Charlotte
Oh boy . . . it's hot, Hot, HOT! Not complaining though . . . well not much anyways. We have to take our blessings where we find them. One thing though this heat is not really very conducive to cooking. I've been trying to stay as cool as I can and just do simple things. Salads mostly . . . but there is the odd dessert that I can make which won't heat up the kitchen too much . . .
Easy desserts like these fresh apricot tarts. I had picked up a punnet of fresh apricots for a pound the other day, with this exact idea in mind and what could I do . . . fruit goes off so quickly in this heat, so I had to make them . . .
Good thing they are quick and easy. Simple to make too. Even Todd could manage this I think . . . well, I like to think he could, but I probably wouldn't let him just in case he couldn't. He's quite adept at using a tin opener . . . but anything else, I don't know. I'd have to stand over him and instruct him the whole way through. I'd rather just do it myself.
You end up with nicely lightly cooked apricots on a bed of apricot jam and almonds, topping a crisp puff pastry crust . . . lightly sugared. Deliciously easy.
I like to serve something cool on top . . . like some creme fraiche or ice cream . . . but custard or cream would go quite well too. In fact you can do most stone fruits in this simple manner. Apples and pears too. Just adjust the flavor of jam and Bob's your Uncle!
*Easy Apricots Tarts*
Makes 6
Makes 6
Printable Recipe
These are a real doddle to make. You can have an easy, quick and delicious dessert on the table in no time at all. I like to serve them with a dollop of creme fraiche, but do feel free to use ice cream, clotted cream or whipped cream! You can also substitute other stone fruits for the apricots, or even sliced apples or pears, changing the flavour of jam to accommodate. With apples and pears I would use a ginger conserve, or even some marmalade would be nice.
These are a real doddle to make. You can have an easy, quick and delicious dessert on the table in no time at all. I like to serve them with a dollop of creme fraiche, but do feel free to use ice cream, clotted cream or whipped cream! You can also substitute other stone fruits for the apricots, or even sliced apples or pears, changing the flavour of jam to accommodate. With apples and pears I would use a ginger conserve, or even some marmalade would be nice.
6 TBS ground almonds
12 fresh apricots, halved and stoned
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking tray with nonstick paper.
Bake in the heated oven for 15 to 18 minutes, or until puffed and golden brown and the fruit is knife tender. Remove from the oven and brush all over with warm apricot jam. Serve at room temperature with some cream, creme fraiche, ice cream, etc. Deliciously simple!
♪.♪.♪ 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:
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