Today I tortured my pasta hating husband with some comfort food from my
childhood, which rang all my bells, but left him feeling rather off key!
haha He says he hates pasta, but he always eats it when I make it. I
think it's because he knows it's cheap . . . and that part of him that
grew up during the War and during rationing, likes a good bargain!
This might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is mine. I love macaroni. I love tomatoes. I love cheese.
Put the three together and
you have my idea of heavenly bliss. I could eat this until it comes out my ears.
This is a great meal to throw together to feed your hungry family on a
weeknight when you know you aren't going to have a lot of time . . .
Also for when it's getting close to payday and you are wanting those hard
earned pesos to stretch that little bit further.
I always pick up blocks of cheese when it's on special at the shops and
keep it in my freezer until I need it. It is perfectly find for cooking
with and to be honest that's how most of the cheese in this house gets
used.
Oh we will have the odd piece, every now and then, just with some crackers, and maybe some fruit. But, truth be told, most of the time . . . it's used in cooking.
I always pick up tins of tomatoes when they are on special as well. We
love our tinned tomatoes in this house.
If you've got a tin of tomatoes
in the cupboard, you've got the makings of a tasty meal. That's my
opinion at any rate!
We also always have milk. I keep a large jug of fresh milk in the refrigerator, and I have several cartons of long life milk in the cupboard. Of course you could make this
really decadent and use half cream and half milk.
And I have done that
from time to time and it is rather good, if I don't say so myself . . . but normally I just use plain old ordinary milk.
This is the kind of comfort food that your mom or gran might have cooked.
You could brown off some lean minced beef and add it along with
some onions, but it's not really necessary because . . . this tastes pretty fabulous just the way it is. Who says simple has to be boring??
*Scalloped Macaroni*
Serves 4
Serves 4
This may be simple and plain, but don't let that fool you. Sometimes the simplest things are the most delicious of all.
225g uncooked macaroni (1/2 pound, 2 cups)
240g grated strong cheddar cheese (2 cups)
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice (2 cups)
160ml scalded milk (2/3 cup approx. To scald milk, put into a beaker and
heat on high in the microwave for 1 minute, or heat in a small saucepan until bubbles appear
around the edges. Don't let it boil.)
a handful of coarse breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs
1 TBS melted butter
salt and black pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/gas mark 4. Butter a 1 litre casserole dish and set aside.
Cook the macaroni according to the package directions in lightly salted water, just to al dente. Drain well, rinse with cold water and drain again.
Layer the macaroni, cheese and tomatoes in the prepared casserole dish, as follows: a third of the macaroni, a layer of cheese, half of the tomatoes, a third of the macaroni, a third of the cheese,the remaining tomatoes, the remaining macaroni and ending with the remaining cheese. You will want to lightly season each layer of macaroni, remembering that the cheese will be salty so heavy on the pepper, and salting judiciously! (Love that word, don't you?) Pour the scaled milk over top of the casserole, running a knife down through it here and there so that you make sure it goes well to the bottom. Mix the bread or cracker crumbs with the melted butter and sprinkle over the top.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the milk is bubbling up and the top is nicely browned. Serve hot.
Note: you can add some finely chopped raw onion with the tomatoes if you wish. I sometimes do
These old fashioned comfort meals are the best of all I think. They come in especially handy on busy days when you are lacking in time and inspiration. Those old gals sure knew what they were doing! Bon Appetit!
Cranberry, Pecan & White Chocolate Flapjacks. Prepare yourselves to fall in love. This is a fabulously moreish and delicious bar you are really going to enjoy!
Sorry for the background in these photos today. I was fighting with waning light. We have had one of those days. We set off for the grocery shop fairly early, only to discover that there were roadworks on one of the major roundabouts to get to where we wanted to go.
Roadworks in the UK mean one thing . . . a huge traffic nightmare.
As a result a trip which should not have taken very long took twice as long and so I was very late getting these delicious bars into the oven and back out again!
I had to take my photos quickly before it was too late. I didn't have time to set up a plainer background.
Don't let that put you off of making these delicious flapjacks however! They are easy to make and fabulously tasty!
In North America a flapjack is a pancake. Here in the UK it is a scrumptious buttery and sweet oaty slice/bake! Perfect for enjoying with a hot cuppa!
This delightful version is filled with lovely toasted pecans, white chocolate bits, and dried cranberries . . . aside from the usual things that is . . .
Incredibly moreish. Incredibly delicious.
The main ingredients is porridge oats (not quick oats not old fashioned). Plus there is plenty of dessicated coconut.
Add to that a scrummy mix of melted butter, brown sugar, and . . . *gulp* . . . lush golden syrup. Oh boy, but these are incredibly tasty.
This is a winning combination.
Melted white chocolate is drizzled on top. I say that rather loosely, because I have NEVER been able to drizzle white melted chocolate.
If I don't manage to burn it first, I end up dobbing it on. That's the best I have ever been able to manage.
Dobbing it . . . and in as decorative a manner that I can. Any tips to share anyone? Anything that actually works will be great!
I have tried everything. Even mixing in a bit of shortening doesn't work for me. I really need help with this!
Never mind. They taste great even if they aren't as pretty as they could be with beautifully drizzled chocolate.
You seriously want to be trying these. Not only are they very simple to make, but I believe they are destined to become one of your favorite teatime treats!
*Cranberry, Pecan and White Chocolate Flap Jacks*
Makes 12
Makes 12
Sweet and scrummy. Just perfect for those times when you want a little something to give you some extra energy.
140g butter, plus extra for greasing (1/2 cup plus 2 TBS)
200g of porridge oats (2 cups)
25g of dessicated coconut (1/4 cup)
50g light muscovado sugar ( 1/4 cup packed)
5 TBS golden syrup
170g toasted pecans, broken into chunks with your hands (1 1/4 cups)
60g dried cranberries (scant 1/2 cup)
100g bar of white chocolate (about 3 1/2 ounces)
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 7 by 11 inch
baking tin and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
Melt the butter together with the sugar and golden syrup, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Set aside to cool.
Stir together the oats, coconut, pecans and cranberries. Pour the cooled butter mixture over top. Stir to combine well. Break up 2/3 of the chocolate into bits and stir into the mix. Press into the prepared pan.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and mark into squares while still warm. Allow to cool completely, then cut all the way through. Melt the remaining white chocolate and drizzle it over top of the bars. (HAH!) Store in an airtight container.
I wasn't quite sure what to make of flapjacks when I first moved over here. I are not like granola bars . . . or even like cake bars . . . but they are very delicious no matter. Crisp edged, buttery and chewy middled. They always go down a real treat! One bite and you will be in flap jack heaven. Buttery, sweet, nutty and oh-so-very hard to leave alone. Resistance IS futile. Bon Appetit!
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One of the things I really enjoy during the holiday season is Stollen. I adore marzipan and dried fruits, and a bread which combines the two of them is somewhat of a delight, that is more often than not done really badly. More's the pity.
This delightful bake I am showing you today is a rif on the flavours and best bits of a traditional stollen without all of the faffing about of the original.
This is quick, simple and delicious!
It begins with a scone type of dough, made with butter and buttermilk, that you pat out to a rectangle. A mix of brandy/rum soaked dried fruits and nuts gets sprinkled over top of that . . .
This gets rolled around a long "sausage" of marzipan, almost like a cinnamon roll. I use the golden marzipan because I like it. You can use ready-made or homemade. Its your choice.
Once you have the roll, you simply cut it into twelve even slices . . .
Place the rounds on a baking paper lined baking tray . . . slighly overlapping in a circle shape . . .
And bake until it is nicely puffed and golden brown!
A simple glaze of warm sieved apricot jam and brandy/rum is brushed over the warm loaf which makes it glisten and shine . . . like a fruit and almond filled jewel!
I also like to pretty it up with a dusting of icing sugar for serving. You separate the rounds and serve to your most appreciative family and friends. This is a delight to wake up to on Christmas morning!
*Breakfast Stollen Slice*
Makes 12 slicesFor the dough:
280ml of buttermilk (2 1/4 cups)
420g plain flour (3 cups)
1 TBS caster sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
120g unsalted butter, cold, cut into small bits (1/2 cup)
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking sheet with grease proof baking paper. Set aside.
To make the filling, combine all of the dried fruits and pistachios in a bowl with the brandy and then set aside.
To make the dough, whisk
the flour, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt together in a large
bowl. Drop in the butter. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using
a pastry blender, or two round bladed knives, until the mixture
resembles very coarse meal. Some bits can be pea sized. You don't
want the butter to be too finely but in. The larger bits are what help
make these so flaky.
Make a well in the middle of the dry/fat mixture. Add the buttermilk all at once. Stir together with a fork, just to combine. Tip out onto a lightly floured board. Knead a couple of times to help bring the dough together and then lightly pat it out about to a large rectangle about 1/2 inch in thickness. Spread the fruit mixture over the dough to within about 1/2-inch of the edge.
Take
your marzipan and shake it into a long sausage, the length of the
longest edge of the rectangle of dough. Lay this sausage down along the
pastry's length about 1 inch in from the edge. Begin from that edge and
roll the dough up around the marzipan and continue until you have a
long, fairly tight sausage of dough. Trim off the ends. Cut the
sausage into 12 equal slices.
Lay the
slices in a ring on the prepared baking sheet, slightly overlapping the
slices. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until well
risen with a
nicely golden brown crust.
These sweet slices are so delicious and would make a fabulous Christmas morning goodie to enjoy with a hot drink. If you wanted to you could do all the prep of the filling the night before and mix together all the dry ingredients for the dough, only adding the wet first thing in the morning and proceeding. They go together really quickly after that! Happy Holidays!
We don't eat a lot of red meat in our home, but we do enjoy it once in a while. I tend to gravitate more to the cheaper cuts, and I do this for several reasons. One is price (no surprise there) and the other is that they tend to come from the parts of the animal that have gotten the most use and which have developed the most favour! And if you know me, you will know I am all about flavour!
Red meat tends to be a bit on the expensive side over here and I think it has probably always been so. I can remember when I lived in Suffield, Alberta, which was a British Army Training Unit Services base. We were friends with quite a few Brits and were invited to a home for a dinner party one night. They loved to entertain, and were quite entertaining people! We loved them to bits!
On this particular occasion the hostess served some lovely trout as a first course, and then she cooked a whole round steak for each person. Apparently meat was very cheap in comparison to the UK and she wanted to treat everyone to a nice piece of meat. The servings were huge to say the least and tougher than blazes! Round steak begs to be simmered long and slow and is what they would call braising steak over here in the UK!
This hot pot here today is gorgeous . . . with a tender beef filling made with flavourful braising steak, braised with mushrooms and shallots until it is meltingly tender . . .
A goodly bit of stilton cheese gets stirred into the juices and then it gets spooned into either individual casseroles or one large one and then covered with a thatch of mashed potatoes prior to baking until it is golden brown and bubbly.
*Steak & Stilton Hot Pot*
Serves 6
1 1/4 pound of mashing potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
2 TBS butter
60ml whole milk, warmed (1/4 cup)
salt and pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
2 TBS butter
60ml whole milk, warmed (1/4 cup)
salt and pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
You will also need a few TBS of grated cheese to top the potatoes (optional)
The next day remove the meat from the marinade and pat dry. Dredge with the seasoned flour. Strain the marinade and reserve.
Heat the oil and butter in a large flameproof casserole. Brown the beef in batches, removing it with a slotted spoon to a bowl, as it browns. Repeat until all the beef has browned. Add the shalots and mushrooms to the pan and saute for 5 minutes or so until beginning to soften. Return the beef to the pan along with the reserved marinade and the stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce and simmer over low heat for about 1 1/2 hours, until the meat is very tender.
About
45 minutes before the meat is done make the mash for the topping. Place
the potatoes in a pot of lightly salted water to cover. Bring
to the boil, then simmer for 10 to 15 minutes until tender. Drain and
mash well. Stir in the butter and warm milk. Season to taste with
salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F gas mark 5.
Divide
the meat between six individual casserole dishes, or place into one
large shallow casserole dish. Strain off and discard half of the liquid
in the pan. Crumble the stilton into the remaining pan juices and then
divide them equally amongst the casserole dishe(s), spooning them over
the meat.
Let stand a few minutes before serving.
I served this with some steamed broccoli and sweet corn, but a salad would also go very nice! I don't mind me saying this is supremely delicious. Note, the stilton I used was not blue stilton, but regular stilton! Bon appetit!
This is a really simple and yet delicious bake which makes great use of any leftover ham and potatoes you might have that you want to use up. I don't always have leftover ham, and in that case I simply buy some slice ham, or a chunk of ham that I will shred and use in its place
I always have leftover potatoes however. They are a favourite vegetable in this house and so when I am cooking them, I will usually cook extra as they come in very handy for dishes like this, or simply for fried potatoes.
If you can make a cream sauce (or bechamel) or cheese sauce, then you can make this sauce. It is made from sliced leek and some garlic . . . cooked until meltingly soft in some butter . . .
A bit of flour gets mixed into them to make a roux, and then you simply wisk in warm milk . . . and keep whisking until you get a smooth velvety thick sauce.
I add a bit of mustard for flavour and some seasonings. You don't need a lot of salt really as ham can be fairly salty, but you will want a bit to counter act the blandness of the potatoes . . .
You layer the shredded ham in the casserole dish and top with sliced cooked potato. Simple . . .
The sauce gets poured over the whole top. I like to use a fork to gently lift the potatoes here and there, which enables some of the sauce to leak down into the bottom. You don't have to do this, some will make its way down there anyways, but I always do
Finally you scatter some buttered bread crumbs on top, not a lot, just one slice. You can remove the crusts or not as you wish.
A smattering of cheese gets sprinkled on top of them . . . I like a combination of strong cheddar and gruyere (Swiss). Its a great combination. After that you bake in the oven until the sauce is bubbling up and the whole thing is golden brown and a bit crispy on top. Comfort food indeed.
*Ham, Leek and Potato Gratin*
Serves 4
1 small clove, garlic peeled and minced
2 TBS plain flour
1 slice of buttered bread made into crumbs
4 TBS grated cheese (I like a mix of cheddar and gruyere)
Melt
the butter in a saucepan. Add the leek and cook, stirring frequently
over medium heat, until totally softened. Whisk in the flour to make a
roux. Slowly whisk in the warm milk, whisking contantly until the
mixture bubbles and thickens. Whisk in the mustard and cook for a few
minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, remembering that the ham
will be salty.
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Butter a shallow gratin dish. Spread the ham out in the bottom of the dish. Top with the sliced potatoes and pour the sauce over the potatoes, Take a fork and kind of lift the potatoes a bit here and there to let the sauce run down into the bottom of the dish. Sprinkle with the buttered bread crumbs and the cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling. Serve hot.
This is a great way of using up any leftover bits of ham you might have after the holidays, and truth be told I sometimes buy a small chunks of ham just to make it. I like to serve it with steamed green beans and a salad on the side, and for Todd some crusty bread. It always goes down a real treat! Bon Appetit!
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