This is an easy Vegetarian dish I have had on my list of things to make for a very long time. I can't even remember where it came from now. I think possibly it was a Pillsbury recipe, but I can't say for sure. In any case it I finally got it made the other day and it wasn't half bad!
We have had some really cold weather these past couple of weeks. I know it is not near as cold as the temperatures you hardy North Americans are used to, but over here in the UK, the temperatures don't have to dip very low before we are freezing. We don't have the heating, insulation and windows that you are used to in North America, and it is a lot damper . . . so when it is cold, it is cold. Cold weather is soup weather and when I cook us a pot of soup, I always like to bake some sort of bread to accompany it. A decent piece of bread can turn even the simplest of soups into a hearty meal!
For Soft Boiled Eggs with set whites and runny yolks
Fill a saucepan wit enough water to cover the egg, and heat to a gentle boil. Pierce the large end of the egg with an egg piercer or a needle. (This helps to release any pressure which might crack the shell.) When the water is gently simmering, lower the egg on a tablespoon. Set an egg timer. It will take 3 to 4 minutes for a large egg to be soft boiled. If you are cooking many eggs at the same time, it is helpful to lower them into the water in a wire basket, such as those used for deep frying.
For Medium Boiled Eggs with firm opague whites and soft yolks.
Medium boiled eggs can be shelled and used in place of poached eggs. Fill a saucepan with enough water to cover the egg, and heat to a gentle boil Pierce the large end of the egg with an egg piercer or needle. (See above) When the water is gently boiling, lower the egg on a tablespoon into the pan. Cover the pan and remove from the heat. Let the egg stand for 4 to 5 minutes, depending on how firm you want it to be.
For Hard Boiled Eggs with firm whites and yolks
Pierce the large end of the egg with an egg piercer or needle (see above). Put the egg in a pan and fill it with water. Bring it to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 12 minutes. Remove from the heat and immediately place the egg into cold water.
NOTE: An over cooked egg will develop a harmless dark ring that isn't as appetizing as the bright yellow yolk.
Also for hard boiled eggs, older eggs are easier to peel. If I know I am going to be needing boiled eggs for something I always get them in well ahead of time. I have tried adding salt and vinegar to the water, which is said to help, but the fact remains that the fresher the egg, the more difficult it will be to peel intact.
Makes 12 servings
I came across a peanut butter cookie recipe the other day that looked pretty good, on a blog called Julia's Album . I like puffy peanut butter cookies. I prefer my peanut butter cookies to be a bit soft and chewy rather than hard and crunchy. These looked perfect and not only that, but her recipe only made between 12 and 15 cookies, which is just the perfect amount to have here in this house because we are only two. People that is.
As you know we had the Missionary Elders here for their supper the other night. That's when I made that gorgeous Profiterole Cake.
Today I am going to show you what they had for their main course. A delicious Hamburger and Potato Casserole! They both had seconds!
There are not a lot of ground beef and potato recipes out there when you take Cottage Pie out of the mix. This ground beef and potato casserole is amazingly delicious, I kid you not!
I always figure they get enough roast dinners and so when they come to us I always try to cook them a meal similar to one they might get at home from their mums.
Family type of food. Home cooking at it's best.
This went down a real treat. It's simply potatoes, browned ground beef and cheese layered together with a simple sauce made using tinned condensed soup, sour cream and regular cream.
I know it's a bit of a cheat using tinned soup, but I'm not a tinned soup snob. It has it's uses.
There are not too many tinned soups (except maybe tomato) that I would eat as soup, but they do make great sauces for Casseroles in a pinch!!
And this meat and potato casserole is a wonderful way to use it. I simply serve it with some vegetables on the side, a salad and some crusty bread to mop up all that cheesy sauce. Scrumptiously tasty!
Serves 4 to 6
Whisk together the soup, onion, cream, sour cream, Parmesan Cheese, garlic powder, seasoning salt and black pepper. Set aside.
Begin to layer the ingredients into the prepared baking dish as follows. One third of the potatoes, half of the meat, 1/3 of the soup, 1/3 of the cheese, one third potatoes, remaining half of meat, 1/3 of the soup, 1/3 of the cheese, remaining potatoes, then remaining soup and cheese.
Cover with a sheet of foil which has been buttered on one side, buttered side down. Place on a baking sheet and bake for one hour in the preheated oven. Uncover and bake for about 30 minutes longer until the potatoes are fork tender and everything is nicely bubbling and golden brown.
Note: If you want
you can add an additional handful of cheddar cheese to the top for the
last half hour of baking. I often do and nobody complains at all!
Delicious!
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!
They have a rich and buttery cake/shortbread type of base . . . and everyone's favourite . . . coconut macaroon topping . . . with sweet strawberry jam baked into the centre.
They're super easy to make and store well. You can also freeze them if you don't think you can have them all eaten up within a few days.
They are not the easiest things to photograph, but don't hold that against them.
Makes 16 servings
Whisk together the egg whites, coconut and sugar for the macaroon topping. Dollop evenly over top to cover the jam. I like to just dollop it in small bits and then spread it gently with a fork.
Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean and the macaroon topping is golden. Allow to cool completely in the tin before cutting into squares to serve. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to a week.
Chocolate Eclair Cake. We had the Missionary Elders for tea last night and I wanted to make them a special dessert to enjoy. This chilled dessert always goes down a real treat with everyone I serve it to.
Another name for it would be Profiterole Cake. It's basically a choux pastry base filled with a vanilla and cream cheese filling, topped with whipped cream and then drizzled with a chocolate sauce! It is fabulously delicious!
Chocolate Eclair Cake from scratch is one of those desserts that will have people thinking about it for a very long time. Its a lot simpler to make than one would suppose as well!
One of the things I love most about this cake is that it is a chocolate eclair cake without coolwhip. I would much rather use the real thing rather than a petroleum by-product, wouldn't you?
I have never had anyone turn their noses up at this . . . in fact most people want seconds and the Elders were no different.
When I offered seconds they jumped at the chance! It just so happened that Eclairs was our Alaskan Missionaries favorite dessert, so he really enjoyed this!
It is a North American Recipe that I had to adapt to English ingredients when I moved over here fourteen and a half years ago.
Many of the original ingredients were not readily available here and still aren't. I have listed the original North American Ingredients in the recipe.
It's such a simple dessert to make and yet it is a show stopper! You might be a bit afraid of making choux pastry, but if you make sure your boiled mixture is cooled to lukewarm and you persevere when beating in the eggs, you have every chance for success.
Adding eggs to a boiling hot flour mixture is always a sure recipe for disaster. Been there, done that when I was thirteen. A mistake I never made twice. Experience is a great teacher.
That rich custardy filling is deliciously creamy and just sweet enough without going over the top . . . a nice layer of lightly sweetened whipped cream is layered over the whole cake and then a delicious chocolate sauce is drizzled over all.
Again, let the sauce cool before you drizzle it on. You don't want it to melt the whipped cream. Altogether this simple dessert is a real delight both to make and to indulge in!
Filling:
(I used Banana Flavoured Angel Delight)
To make the sauce whisk the sugar and cocoa powder together in a saucepan. Whisk in the milk. Drop in the butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring to melt the butter. Bring to the boil, whisking constantly. Boil for two minutes then remove from the heat.
Whisk continuously during this time. Whisk in the salt and vanilla. Cool to room temperature. Drizzle the chocolate sauce decoratively over top of the chilled cake. Chill the cake until ready to serve. You will have plenty of sauce, so put the remainder into a pouring jug. Pass any additional sauce at the table.
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!
If there is one thing which I enjoy more than almost anything else, it is a good Lemon Drizzle Cake. Back home we always called it Lemon Loaf, but over here they call it Lemon Drizzle. I think Lemon Drizzle sounds tastier don't you?
The other day I cooked us some very delicious Pierogi for our supper. I am no stranger to Pierogi, having discovered them as a young bride when I moved West to Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. They were a very popular dish and one year at Christmas time a good friend of mine, Esther, taught me how to make them myself. They have been a staple in our home ever since. Delicious! That was not the recipe I used this time however. I used a recipe from a book I was recently sent to review, entitled . . . Noodle Kids, by Jonathon Sawyer.
I cooked us a roast on Valentines Day. We had not had a roastable (other than pot roast) beef in a very long time and so I splurged and treated us to a Prime Rib. Oh boy it was really good. Prime Rib is my favourite of all the roasts. I used to cook it for my employers fairly often when I worked at the Manor, but I think Todd and I have only ever had it one other time the whole time we have been married.
I ended up with a few bananas today that needed using up pronto, and as I am a person who doesn't like to waste anything I decided to make some muffins with them. That way we could keep some for ourselves and I could take a few over to our elderly friend Doreen . . .
I had wanted to share this recipe with you prior to Valentines Day, but the time just got away from me. You know what they say though . . . better late than never. I am sure you will find some use for it your repertoire of easy and delicious dessert recipes! This is one which is perfect for entertaining. I have adapted it from "East Baking" by Linda Collister, published by Ryland Peters.
On Valentines day I like to pull out the stops a little bit when it comes to serving a lovely dinner to my beloved. Nice needn't be complicated however. A simple soup for a first course . . . a steak (with a bearnaise butter) and baked potato for the main, along with a salad . . . and for dessert, this simple, uncomplicated yet delicious dish. Floating Islands. A bit old fashioned yes, but impressive nonetheless and light. Perfect for afters when you've eaten a somewhat heavy meal.
This was something that I made at the weekend, and am only now getting on to writing about it on here. I actually made it on Saturday, and then warmed it up in the slow cooker on Sunday when we were at church.
There is nothing I love more than getting a new cookery book. I know . . . Todd agrees. I have enough cookbooks already, but I just can't help but get excited when I am offered a new one to review. I was recently sent a new one from DK entitled Cupcakes and Mini Cakes . . . I know cake . . . sigh . . . mini cakes. If there is anything better than cake it's a cupcake or a mini cake . . . coz it's perfectly sized just . . . for . . . YOU!
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