I do so love a good dip and a good dipper to dip into a good dip! With it being sports season this recipe is one that will come in really handy over the coming weeks. Hockey, British Footie, American Football . . . there is nothing like sharing good game viewing with friends and good food at the same time!
Who says that a savoury pie has to have meat in it to be good? This pie is absolutely fabulous! You can adapt it to use the cheese which you have in the house. It can be a tiny bit fiddly with the making of the pastry, but absolutely worth all of the fiddle! We were all drooling over it in this house!
I hate to do this to you but I must. This is one of those types of recipes that you are going to wish you had never seen . . . well, if you are a chocoholic at any rate. These babies are GORGEOUSLY rich, decadent and totally fudgy wudgy chocolatey!
This is a cake that I haven't made in a very long time. I had actually forgotten all about it, but then as I was going thru the Big Blue Binder the other day, I happened upon the recipe and remembered how very good it was . . .
I first saw these burgers a few years back on a delicious blog that I like to visit from time to time entitled Full Bellies Make Happy Kids.
Sandra is a stay at home mom and she cooks the most delicious things for her family. Reading her page reminds me of what my life was like at the same stage in life . . . when I had a whole houseful of hungry kids (Five to be exact!) . . .
I was so very busy preparing delicious and interesting meals to tempt their palates! (In between doing laundry, laundry and um . . . more laundry!!)
Anyhow, I first made these burgers a couple of years ago now and I thought it was time I made them again. After all Ariana hasn't had them, and some things are just so good they bear repeating.
They were every bit as tasty this time around and I like the thought that I am feeding us something that is a tad bit healthy.
I adapted them a bit by using low fat evaporated milk, which gave them a bit of richness without any extra calories. I also used half fat cheddar cheese slices, which cut back on the fat again.
I only ever use extra lean steak mince . . . it's a lot better for you and I think it tastes pretty good. I also added some creamed horseradish sauce which added a bit of zip, which we loved.
Garnished with some fresh rocket leaves and served with some oven baked sweet potato fries, these were fabulous!
I think mine got cooked just a tad bit too long . . . next time I will take them out about 5 minutes sooner, so do check on them after they have been in the oven for about 15 minutes, if you don't want yours to get overdone.
Delicious open face burgers, easy peasy, with no frying or the mess that goes along with frying. Adapted from a recipe found in Cook's Country.
3 to 4 finger rolls, split in half lengthwise
150g fine dry bread crumbs (1 1/4 cups)
1/2 small onion, grated on a fine grater
125ml evaporated milk, undiluted (1/2 cup)
4 TBS ketchup
1 TBS prepared horseradish sauce
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 large free range egg, lightly beaten
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
680g extra lean minced steak (1 1/2 pounds)
6 to 8 slices strong cheddar cheese (sandwich size)
a couple handful's of fresh rocket leaves (arugla)
Steak sauce to serve
Preheat your oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Place your finger rolls, cut side up on a baking sheet. Bake in the heated oven for about 5 minutes, until just beginning to brown.
Place the beef into a large bowl. Add the bread crumbs, grated onion, Worcestershire sauce, thyme, garlic powder, egg, evaporated milk, horseradish sauce and some salt and black pepper to taste. Mix together with your hands, kneading gently until well combined. Divide this mixture into 6 or 8 (depending on how many bun halves you have) equal portions and spread the raw beef mixture on to the tops of the toasted roll halves, making sure you cover the bread right to the edges.
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Cut the cheese slices in half diagonally. Place two halves onto each burger and return to the oven to bake for a further 3 to 4 minutes, until the cheese is melted over top. Remove from the oven and let stand for about 5 minutes before serving. Top each with some fresh rocket and serve. Pass the Steak Sauce.
Even though it's Winter and it's cold . . . I still find myself longing for the salad days of summer . . . there are some days when stodge just doesn't cut the mustard. I want lettuce, and I want it now!
Tinned salmon is something I always have in the house. It's a very versatile ingredient and something which we both love. It's great in sandwiches and pate's . . . in casseroles, on it's own, in salads, etc. One of my favourite ways of using it is to make these delicious salmon patties!
I was recently sent a hamper from the people at Knorr and challenged to come up with a recipe using their award winning Flavour Pots. I am no stranger to the Flavour Pots. I use them all the time and I really love a challenge so for me this was something I really enjoyed doing. I am not sure how many recipes I am allowed to create, but this is the first one. I got the hamper on Friday and already I have done the recipe. Just goes to show you how much I love these flavour pots.
I found these really nice sausage patties in the grocery store the other day. They were my favourite brand of Sausages, Heck Sausages, and they were shaped like hearts!
What better to serve your sweetie pie with in the month of love than a breakfast sandwich made with a heart shaped sausage patty!
To be honest we didn't really have these breakfast sandwiches for breakfast. We had them for lunch . . . kind of like brunch I guess. They went down a real treat.
You want to make sure you have a really good sausage meat to use for these . . . when the star of the dish is the sausage, you want it to be a good one.
The egg part are small omelettes . . . beaten eggs together with minced peppers. So tasty. I have stainless steel cooking rings so I cook them in them.
Just pop the greased rings into a greased skillet and divide the beaten egg mixture between them, cover and cook, until almost set. Uncover and remove the rings, flip em over and they are the perfect size for popping between two halves of a toasted English Muffin along with that sausage patty.
A nice slice of cheddar gets melted on top of the sausage pattie. Seriously good.
Yummo! But that's not the best part . . . nope . . .
I caramelized some onions to spoon over top of the whole thing. FABULOUS!
I just used some butter and slow cooked them until they were golden brown and meltingly tender . . . adding some seasoning and a bit of honey for the last five minutes or so of cook time.
Served up with potato wedges, this was one very wicked Breakfast/Brunch/Lunch/Supper sandwich, I kid you not! Try and fine one of these in that place with those yellow arches. Impossible.
This is the best! And so simple to make too. My husband quite simply adored it . . . okay . . . I did too.
This is a sarnie nobody can complain about. Serve with ketchup or brown sauce and some wedges on the side for a full meal deal!
Four thick pure pork sausage patties
(I used heck)
For the eggs:
6 large free range eggs
2 TBS whole milk
1/4 each of a red, green and orange or yellow pepper, finely chopped
(Should come to about 1/2 cup altogether)
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 English muffins toasted
Cook
the sausage patties in a non-stick skillet until nicely browned and
cooked through. Place a slice of cheese on each. Set aside and keep
warm. Beat together the eggs, peppers and seasonings. Take 4 (3 1/2
inch) cooking rings and spray them with cooking spray. Place them in a
clean skillet you have already sprayed with cooking spray. Divide the
eggs between the rings. Cover and cook over medium heat, until almost
set. Remove the rings and flip over to brown the other side.
Toast
your muffins on one side only. Place the eggs on the bottom halves.
Top with an egg round each, then a sausage pattie and one fourth of the
caramelized onions. Place the top halves of the muffins on top and
serve immediately.
To caramelize onions:
Peel and
slice two large onions into rings. Melt a knob of butter in a pan.
When it begins to foam add the onions. Season with a bit of salt and
pepper. Cook, over medium low heat, stirring frequently for about 15
minutes, until golden brown and caramelized, adding a teaspoon of honey
for the last five minutes or so. They should be meltingly tender.
*The Ultimate Sausage Breakfast Sandwich*
Serves 4
Serves 4
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
You will also need:
a quantity of honey caramelized onions (see below)
4 slices of cheddar cheese
Note - I was not paid or given free sausages to write this. I quite simply love the sausages I used and they are my favourite. You might like them too.
Normally at the weekend, I like to do some baking that takes a bit more effort than what I usually get up to during the week. I'm not a really big fan of yeast baking, but I am a huge fan of Chelsea Buns . . . and the shop bought ones are usually so disappointing, so this weekend I decided to try to make my own with excellent results, using a recipe I got from a National Trust baking book. They are excellent sources of traditional recipes.
I'm not sure what it is about the flavours of Toffee, Caramel and Butterscotch that makes me go weak at the knees, but I know I am not alone in this. They have long been favourites of many people and one only has to look at the proliferation of recipes for Salted Caramel anything on the internet these days to see just how popular that flavour is.
Well, January is certainly going out with a big bang! We have had probably one of the mildest winter's on record (according to the weather people, it's still felt pretty cold to me!) and now Lady Winter has decided to remind us that she is boss by giving us a couple of really nasty days. These days are perfect for staying inside all warm and cosy by the fire.
The Toddster is always after me to cook using things that we have in our store cupboard. He is always complaining about how much we have stored. It is useless for me to explain to him that your cupboards may be full, but in a lot of cases they are full of ingredients that you put together with other things to make a meal . . .
I was lucky enough to get some Flank Steak last Saturday, a nice four pieces of it and all four pieces a really good size. You don't often see Flank Steak here. I froze three bits and then used the fourth bit to make us this delicious stir fry. I also happened to have gotten a large bag of really nice peppers at the same time, so it just seemed the natural thing to do was to put them together.
I think Bangers (sausages) and Mash has to be the Toddsters favourite meal of all that I cook for him. He loves a good meaty sausage. He love a nice pile of fluffy mash and . . . he adores a nice onion gravy. This meal ticks all the boxes for him and he is a very happy camper when I make it for him!
It goes without saying that you will want a nice and well flavoured meaty sausage for this. After all, it IS the star of the show! Never ever opt for a cheap and nasty sausage. When you go for cheap and nasty, that is what you get. When it comes to sausages . . . you DO get what you pay for.
Cheap sausages are overloaded with fillers and fat . . . gristly bits . . . with almost a pasty texture, which almost makes me want to gag. I want to feel like I am eating somehing meaty . . . not wall paper paste and sawdust stuffed into a tube, and not a nice tube at that.
When you bite into a quality sausage the difference is immediately apparent . . . when that skin snaps beneath your teeth and they sink into beautifully textured and flavourful meat, you have reached sausage heaven. (Today I picked some sage from my garden and roasted it with the sausages. It was gorgeous. I love sage, it is one herb that winters very well in our garden. Sage and Sausage are a marriage made in heaven.)
I am a real fan of Heck Sausages myself (and no I have not been paid to say that. It's simply the truth). But any of the higher end sausages you see in the shops are sure not to disappoint and a good butcher's sausage that you buy at the Butcher shop itself, cannot be beaten. Our local shop does a lovely sausage with caramelized onions in it. Fabulous.
Which brings me to the second part of this fabulous meal. A great onion gravy! You cannot beat a good onion gravy. This one I am showing you today benefits with a long slow cooking of the onions and the addition of some good balsamic vinegar and a bit of brown sugar. It's sooooo good ladled over the potatoes and sausage.
Of course the final layer of this trinity of good taste is the mash. Use a good floury potato that will break down nicely when you mash it . . . giving you nice and dry fluffy potato . . . ready and willing to soak up that butter and warm milk without becoming soggy. You will end up with light and fluffy . . . the perfect back drop for all that lovely meat and gravy. No wonder this is a favourite of Todds!
*Sage Roasted Bangers with Onion Gravy and Mash*
Serves 4For the Mash:
fine sea salt and ground white pepper to taste
freshly grated nutmeg
For the Gravy:
a knob of butter
3 large red onions, peeled and thinly sliced into half moonsfine sea salt and black pepper to taste
Bang the sausages into the oven and turn the burner on under the pot of potatoes and water. Bring to the boil. The sausages should take about 30 minutes to cook through.
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