Some days you just want to bury your face into an indulgent fruity dessert, but having no fruity fruit to hand, you make do with what you do have  . . . and today it was bananas.  

We always have bananas in this house, them being one of the Toddsters favourite snacks . . .  the fact that they are loaded with potassium and good for you not withstanding . . .



 

I've never been overly fond of raw banana, unless they are sliced on top of my rice crispies, or in a banana cream pie.    I do love a Banoffee Pie also . . . a quintessentially British Dessert, composed of Bananas and caramel in a buttery digestive crust and topped with whipped cream!  

I suppose it is a British version of Banana Cream, but in true British fashion . . .  over the top!   ☺  In a very tasty way.



This recipe today is a play on a traditional British indulgence known as Eton Mess  . . .  a dessert composed of red berries, whipped cream and crushed meringues, all folded together into a . . .  well a splodgy mess which is oh so delicious!   

In doing some research just now to tell you  where the name Eton Mess came  from, I have discovered that they have also been known to use Bananas in this indulgent dessert, so I may not be as innovative as I thought I was!



In any case allow me to present Banoffee Mess  . . . an indulgent dessert composed of whipped cream, crushed meringues, sliced bananas, toasted pecan nuts and a delicious toffee sauce . . . all moreishly folded together.   

 Light.   Delicious.   Satisfying for the sweet tooth.  Easy and quick to throw together.  Need I say more?     Dig in!

Pour the cream into a large chilled bowl.  Whip just until soft peaks form.  (Don't be tempted to over whip)  Crumble in the meringue nests, then gently fold in the sliced bananas.   Swirl in the toffee sauce.   Divide the mixture between six dessert dishes and then scatter over the toasted pecans and drizzle with a little more toffee sauce.   Delicious! 

 

When I was growing up my mother used to treat us every now and again to a steak supper called Swiss Steak.   It was delicious and one of my father's favourite meals.   Easy to do . . .  it involved beating tougher cuts of steak to tenderize them, browning them and then braising them in a mix of tinned tomatoes and onions.   When I had my own family, I added peppers and herbs to the mix.   Everyone loved it.

Once the weather starts to turn warmer, the North American in me starts pining for a good old BBQ! There is nothing like warm temps and the smell of a charcoal grill to get the tastebuds tingling.   My Brit husband tends to think that there is nothing like planning a BBQ at the weekend to insure a good sprinkling of rain.   After having been over here for almost fifteen years now I don't think a BBQ would be complete with at least the risk of showers!

The people at the Mill Race Garden Centre have put together a really humorous list of  21 Signs You are at a Quintessentially British BBQ!  It's brilliantly witty and oh so true!  I really had to chuckle when I read it myself, because it is all so true!  Do hop on over to their page and get in on the fun.   (That's another thing I love about the Brits . . .  their ability to poke fun at themselves in a very tongue in the cheek way!)  

We had the most delicious chicken for lunch last week when we went to our friend's house.   It was incredibly tasty, and I think it's pretty safe to say that nobody was worrying about calories that day!  (What with this chicken dish and the Malva Pudding and all!)  It's nice to indulge once in a while and this chicken was incredibly tasty.  My friend Tina got the recipe from her daughter Kim and it was sooo good that I had to make it for the Missionaries when they came for tea.   Once again no complaints.  I am calling it Kim's Chicken Dish, but it really should be called the Flippingly Amazingly Delicous Chicken Dish!!

One thing that the British do really well are biscuits, or cookies as they are known in North America.   There are whole aisles in the grocery shops devoted to the British Biscuit containing every indulgence under the sun!  I was quite amazed when I first moved over here and saw the variety available!  It's quite mind boggling, really . . .  but after 15 years I have come to have favourites amongst the lot!

We were invited to have lunch with some friends earlier this week in their home.  Tina and Tony.   We love spending time with them.   They are a fascinating couple and good people.   They've lived  several places in their lives, including South Africa and Australia and now they live in Wales.  They're retired just like us and just like me, Tina loves to cook.  You can be certain that when you are invited to theirs for a meal, you are in for a real treat, and boy oh boy was lunch the other day a treat!




Dessert was this fabulous pudding which is South African in origin.  Hands down the most delicious pudding I have ever eaten.  I just had to ask for the recipe and one of the nice things about Tina is she doesn't mind sharing, which is great!



This dessert was soooooooo delicious that I ended up making it for the Missionary Elders when they came to us for tea on Thursday evening and it went down a real treat then too!


It's like a dense, sticky rich cake.  You make a batter first, which you bake in a casserole dish in a slow oven for about 45 minutes, covered with foil.


While it is baking, you make a rich buttery sauce with cream, which you then pour over the baked batter as soon as you take it out of the oven.


The sauce soaks into the batter adding to it's moistness . . .  rich, sticky . . .  scrumptiously delicious.  Almost dangerous.



Tina served hers with warm custard, but I served it with pouring cream . . .  mostly because I ran out of time and didn't have time to make custard . . .


There were no complaints.  'Nuff said.


Remove the cake from the oven and pour the sauce mixture over top, allowing it to absorbe as you pour it.   Serve warm or at room temperature with custard, pouring cream or ice cream.

If there is one thing that prevents me from becoming a vegetarian, it's the idea of a delicious steak dinner  . . .  okay bacon does it too, but today's recipe is all about steak.   I do love a nice steak, but it can sometimes be a bit on the expensive side.   Today's recipe shows you how to make a delicious steak dinner, using one of the cheaper cuts.

Minute, or "Cube" steaks  as I believe they are called in North America are from a tougher cut of beef, usually the round or rump or so called frying steaks  . . .  but they have been tenderized by the butcher running them through a tenderizing machine, which dimples them and makes little cuts in them all over.  You can do the same thing by pounding them to within an inch of their lives.



This is a fabulous way of turning a relatively cheap cut of meat into something which tastes anything but cheap.  All it takes is a bit of effort on your part and proper cooking.



The pounding helps, but so does the method of cooking.   The way to ruin any steak, even the most expensive cuts . . .  is to over cook them.  By cooking these quickly and for a minimum time at a relatively high temperature you preserve the flavour of the meat . . .  searing in all of the tasty juices.  Of course when you mingle those juices with a few pats of a delicious garlic and parsley butter . . . well the result is sublime.


Delicious flavours which belie their inexpensive price tag.   I paid less than £2.50 for two and they were gorgeous.  Cheap eats that feel like a treat.  I love it when that happens!

We like to have mashed potatoes and a green vegetable with this.  Delicious!

One of our favourite suppers when I was growing up was my mother's homemade baked beans.  Oh my but they were absolutely gorgeous.   She would start the night before by soaking the dried beans overnight and then early the next morning, often even before anyone else was up, she began her magic with them . . . putting everything together and into her bean crock and into the oven, so that by the time we woke up we could already smell the deliciousness that was waiting for us later in the day!

Salmon and Broccoli have to be one of my absolute favourite flavour pairings!  I'm not sure why they work so well together.  You wouldn't think they would because both salmon and broccoli have somewhat strong flavours all on their own . . .  but somehow it just works and works well!

In my later years I have developed a much more interesting palate and there are things I would cook and try now that I wouldn't have even thought of trying when I was younger.   We also have such beautiful produce, eggs, etc. here in the UK,  and such a wide variety . . . that I just enjoy  cooking and eating with gusto!  (And it shows blah . . . )

This may not be the most beautiful cake in the world . . .  but it sure is one of the most delicious cakes!  It's extremely moist and somewhat dense . . .  a cake you can really get yourself stuck into.   It's sturdy and picnick-able.  (Is that a word?)   What I mean is its quite portable and not so fragile that it will fall apart  which makes it perfect for picnics!

We eat a lot of chicken in my house.  We really like chicken.  It is incredibly versatile, and most of the time it is pretty affordable.