*Perfect Deviled Eggs*
Makes 12 servings
Makes 12 servings
Printable Recipe
I
wish I had a pound for every one of these I have cooked in my
lifetime. I'd be sitting real pretty on a huge pile of dosh right now!
These are excellent. Always the first things to disappear on the
buffet table.
Tips for Creating Perfect Hard Boiled Eggs:
1. Older eggs are a lot easier to peel than newer eggs. I always use eggs that at least one week old, if not older. If you have eggs that are close to their expiration date, so much the better. It's true!
2. Boiled Eggs, should actually NEVER be boiled! Keeping them at a steady simmer is much better. Boiling toughens the yolk. Also, never add salt to the water. I do add a tiny bit of vinegar, which helps them to peel easier.
3. Always bring your eggs to room temperature before boiling. They are less likely to crack if you do this.
4. Don't stack your eggs in the pot. Have them laid out in one layer. If you have too many eggs to do this with, you need a larger pot! You only need about 1 inch of water over the top of the eggs. More than that and it takes too long to boil. Less than that and your eggs won't stay covered.
5. As soon as your water comes to the boil, remove your pot from the heat, pop a lid on and let them set in the boiling water for (17 minutes) large eggs, (20 minutes) jumbo eggs. At the end of that time, drain and then run cold water over them until they are cooled down. Let them sit in cold water for about 10 minutes and then drain. For ease of peeling roll them around and allow the shells to crack while they are still in the water. Let sit for a few minutes.
For ease in peeling these things help alot . . . using older eggs, beginning at the large end of the egg, peeling under running cold water. I usually tap the large end on the counter until it cracks, then give the egg a gentle roll all over before peeling them under a slow running tap. You will get perfect results almost 100% of the time.
And now for a giggle. Here's a few things I baked over the past few days for Easter that never made the cut for the blog for aesthetic reasons. In other words, they didn't photograph well.
This is my Easter Lamb Cake. I had always wanted to do an Easter Lamb Cake, but did not have the proper pan. I decided to use a Scottie Dog Shortbread tin, which kinda worked, lol. But I laughed and laughed when I saw it done. Here is the recipe I used for the cake itself, which is a excellent recipe.
*Kentucky Butter Cake*
Makes 12 servings
The other cake I baked was this Easter Basket Cake, which was a recipe I have had in my Big Blue Binder. It was clipped from a magazine and was supposed to be in aid of Sunmaid Raisins and Pet Evaporated Milk. It's a lovely cake. For some odd reason however, this time my cake stuck to the sides of my pan. You win some and you lose some! Its a cake I made quite frequently when my children were growing up.
*Easter Basket Cake*
Makes 15 servingsI don't think I will ever be able to find work as a Cake Decorator, lol. Happy Easter!
Happy Easter weekend! How can you tell its a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK. The Traffic going out of town towards the coast on the Motor Way is horrendous!
And it's raining. LOL Most Bank Holidays come accompanied with copious amounts of rain. For all these reasons, my husband and I never go anywhere on a Bank Holiday weekend, except for church!
On Thursday we had to take a meal to a family who just had a baby this past week, and let me tell you, at 3 PM on Thursday afternoon, the traffic flow towards Flint was bumper to bumper.
After we had dropped it off and were on our way back home, the traffic moving into Flint (and towards the coast) was at a virtual stand still. Not my idea of a holiday!
Tastiness such as this Hot Cross Bun French Toast is just the ticket to enjoy for an Easter Weekend Breakfast!
OH MY GOODNESS! That's all I can say! Soooo good! This is the perfect Easter weekend breakfast.
4 quality hot cross buns
4 large free range eggs
4 TBS whole milk
1 tsp grand marnier or courvoisier or Orange extract
To serve:
Maple Syrup
cooked bacon
cooked sausage
Cut
your hot cross buns in half horizontally, giving you four bottoms and
four tops. Beat the eggs together with the milk and the grand marnier.
To serve place a bottom and top of a
hot cross bun on each of four heated plates. Add some bacon and
sausage and pass the Maple Syrup!
Note - there is no need for sure in this as the buns themselves are sweet enough!
If you didn't want to serve bacon or sausage with this, fresh fruit would also go very nicely. Bon Appetit!
I cannot claim to have thought this up myself, although I certainly had it in the pipeline, but Waitrose beat me to the pip!
I can only lay claim to the addition of the Gran Marnier Liqueur
I thought it would go excellently in the batter and along with the flavours of the hot cross bun themselves, and I was right . . . it did.
Vanilla would also work, as would Courvoisier or orange flower water. It is really a nice addition.
I served this on heated plates along with some grilled streaky bacon and meaty sausages, with Maple Syrup for pouring.
Altogether it was very . . . very nice. I highly recommend!
*Hot Cross Bun French Toast*
Serves 4
2 TBS butter
Heat one TBS of butter in a large skillet over medium heat until the
butter begins to foam. Soak the hot cross bun bottoms in the egg
mixture. Place into the foaming butter, cut side down first. While the
bottoms are cooking, soak the tops.
Cook the bottoms until golden
brown, flip over and brown the other side. Place into a warm oven to
keep warm (you should have your bacon and sausage keeping warm in the
oven.)
Repeat with the hot cross bun tops and remaining TBS of butter.
Melt the butter until it foams, add the bun tops, cut side down in the
foaming butter, cook until golden brown, flip over and cook until golden
brown on the top side.
If you didn't want to serve bacon or sausage with this, fresh fruit would also go very nicely. Bon Appetit!
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.
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Sixty years ago, the English writer GK Chesterton wrote, `If an Englishman has understood a Frenchman, he has understood the most foreign of foreigners. The nation that is nearest is now the furthest away.' We even choose to measure the distance between differently . . . for us it's miles . . . for them kilometers. We tend to think of them as arrogant individuals wearing berets, with ropes of garlic hanging around their necks . . . and they think of us as being rather "toffee-nosed" and "tasteless" . . . capable only of cooking a good roast beef!!
Our relationship has always been tenuous at best . . . its really a bit of a love/hate kind of thing! We noticed, on those few holidays we have spent in France, that you can get delicious cheeses from all over the world, but there are no British Cheeses. At least we have never been able to find them. The Toddster finds that very hard to take . . . a world without a good cheddar is a world that is missing something very vital!
Anyhoooo . . . I do love most French food, and I think most Brit's do. A lot of the higher class restaurants here in the UK carry French dishes on the menu . . . seriously. Love . . . hate . . .
This is a delicious salad, which one might easily find in any French Bistro . . . but, when you really look at it . . . we are not talking gourmet here. Simple ingredients, well prepared and put together with care.
For years the English did not do salad very well . . . and indeed, it can still be very difficult to find a decent salad when out and about here in the UK. I am always so disappointed when the menu in a restaurant says salad is included, and it comes and . . . . salad is a few limp lettuce leaves with a slice of tomato and a slice of cucumber on top . . . . and NO dressing. If you ask for dressing, you are given a squeeze packet of salad cream. (Salad cream has its place, but when I pay for a salad in a restaurant, I want a decent dressing.) Is it so hard to get it right???
Salads can be as diverse as the people who enjoy eating them. To some . . . that aforementioned combination might well be the salad of some people's dreams! To others . . . well . . . it's sadly lacking. Early on in our marriage when I told Todd I was making us a salad for lunch, he turned up his nose and said . . . "I don't really like salad. Salad is boring." Well . . . he had never had one of mine and now he quite likes it, I am very happy to say!
*Salade Composé*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
This literally means "Composed Salad." The ingredients are layered on top of each other rather than being tossed together. I love the tangy vinaigrette.
For the salad:
1 small French Baguette
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
60ml of extra virgin olive oil (1/4 cup)
6 rashers of streaky bacon, rind removed
150g of salad leaves (about 4 cups)
6 ripe plum tomatoes, sliced thinly
4 hard boiled eggs, halved lengthwise
For the Dressing:
60ml of sherry vinegar (1/4 cup)
80ml of extra virgin olive oil (1/3 cup)
3 tsp of good quality Dijon mustard
1 tsp runny honey
fine seasalt and cracked black pepper to taste
Put all of the dressing ingredients into a jar with a screw top lid. Give it a good shake. Set aside.
Preheat the grill to high. Cut the bread into 1/2 inch slices. Combine the garlic and oil for the salad. Brush this mixture onto both sides of the bread slices. Toast under the grill until golden brown. Set aside and keep warm. (Don't let them burn!)
Cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet until crisp. Place onto paper kitchen toweling to drain. Set aside.
Layer the salad leaves in top of each of 4 chilled places. Top with the bread slices, and bacon broken into chunky bits. Top with the egg and tomatoes. Give the vinaigrette another shake and drizzle some over each salad. Pass the remainder at the table.
One of my favourite things that I love about Easter are Hot Cross Buns. It has been ever so, since I was a child. What a treat they have always been . . . sweetly spiced and studded with fruit and citrus, with those little icing crosses piped along the tops!
They are a bit fussy to make and involved a lot of time, and so sometimes I just like to make hot cros scones instead. Nobody really complains. Actually I have both to hand. I like to make a hot cross bun and butter pudding after Easter, and only a hot cross bun will do for that . . . but we also like to enjoy these over the holidays, with a nice hot drink.
They are quick and easy to make and incredibly tasty . . .
With just the right amount of fruit and spice . . .
With the lovely short buttery texture that we love in scones . . .
Just look at how nice and high they rise! Seriously flaky!
With just the right amount of icing piped across the tops for that sweet touch we love. These truly are beautiful. To enjoy on Easter morning, or in the afternoon with a hot drink. You can't lose!
*Hot Cross Scones*
Makes 8
few TBS cream for brushing
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F. gas mark 6. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Set aside.
Sift the flour into a bowl along with the baking powder, allspice and cinnamon Stir in the orange peel, salt and sugar. Drop in the butter. Rub it in with your finger tips using a snapping motion until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the fruit. Whisk together the egg and cream. Stir this mixture into the with a fork until it starts to form a soft dough. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently a few times until you have a smooth mixture. Pat the dough out to 1 inch thickness. Stamp into rounds using a 3 inch round cutter. Try not to twist the cutter or your scones will be lopsided. Sharp up and down tap will do the job nicely. Place evenly spaced apart on the baking sheet. Brush the tops with some cream and then bake the scones in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
To make the icing for the crosses, whisk the icing ingredients together until smooth and thick. Spoon a cross onto each scone. Let stand to set the icing before serving. Delicious!
Todd enjoys his spread with a bit of butter. He can afford the calories. I cannot, but that's not a problem because they are tasty enough for me even without any butter! Bon Appetit!
When I was a child, with the exception of bananas, oranges and apples, and berries during berry season, most of the fruit we ate came in tins. We did not mind and I still do not mind. I like tinned fruit. I was really excited recently to discover these new fridge packs from the people at Dole!
Available in resealable fridge packs these are easy to store and there is no hunting for the tin opener or a plastic container to pop the leftovers into. You just tear off the top, spoon out what you want and then a handy zip lock top allows for resealing and popping into the refrigerator. They also take up a lot less room in the cupboard. I think they are fabulous. I've been buying them for a few months now and I really like them!
Its the same delicious fruit we have always enjoyed, but it just got easier. Easier works for me! Hey, when you were a child did you all try to have one of the few cherries in the tin? We did! There never seemed to be enough to go around! That wouldn't have been a problem with this pack I opened today. There was plenty of cherries in it. Oh I do love me some mixed fruit with cherry in juice. Yum!
Simply fruit in juice, is available in Slices Peaches, Mixed Fruit with Cherry, Prunes, and Pineapple Chunks. Deliciously ripe and convenient!
They have also recently come out with resealable frozen fruit packs are available as raspberries, Tropical Gold Pineapple Chunks, Blueberries, Sliced Strawberries, Triple Berry and Tropical Mix.
These new products take the peeling, chopping and general mess out of the smoothie-making, home-baking, breakfast-prepping or just general snacking occasions. They're great!
Note - I was sent a few packs to use, but in all truth I was already using them and like them. I was not required to write a positive review. Any and all opinions are entirely my own.
Garden Tomb Cookies. These easy delicious cookies are the perfect make for the children for Easter treats, plus they help to teach them for the reason for the season in a most delicious way.
I saw something similar to this on Pinterest one day last week, but could not find any instructions and so I decided to try to make them myself and write things out clearly so that other people could make them too.
Whoever it was that did the original ones I thank you for the Inspiration!
There was no internet to inspire me when my children were growing up. No craft Television.
No cooking television, etc. We had Madame Benoit on Take 30 and Wok with Yan and Julia Child, all great cooks, but nobody did things like this.
For this type of inspiration I would have relied on family magazines such as Chatelaine, or Women's Day, Family Circle, Good Housekeeping.
And I would have had to have the money to buy them. Young mums today are so very blessed to have the wealth of inspirational resources that they have at their fingertips!
If you are a religious family, and we happen to be, the making of these would make a great family activity.
It would provide a great opportunity for you to create them together with your children and talk about the Easter Story. And then you could eat the when you were done.
They are very easy to assemble and I can't think of any child that would not enjoy this activity and get something out of learning about the Resurrection Story.
You can find a picture story of it here if you are interested.
We have a family that lives not too far of us. They have three lovely children.
These children were kind enough to bring my husband some get-well cards a few month back and a small stuffed toy for comfort.
These cookies are destined for them. I know they will appreciate them!
It is at times like this that I miss having my grandchildren close by. These are things we could be doing together, but alas, at least I have these children around the corner!
You have to count your blessings where you find them!
These are really easy to make and cute when they are done.
I had fun planning and making them. I hope you will too!
*Garden Tomb Cookies*
Makes 16
(I used Jammie Dodgers, which have 8 in each pack)
(you want a double cookie that has a hole in the top
cookie that resembles the door to the tomb.)
16 flat round cookies (I used Digestives,
but Social Tea would also work. You just want a
plain flat round cookie)
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.
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