A healthy big breakfast? Is that even possible you ask? Well, I am quite happy to tell you that it is and its quick, easy AND delicious!
Sorry, there's no sausage or bacon, or hashbrowns, but trust me when I tell you that you won't miss them at all. These breakfast tastes and feels luxurious to say the least!
This is in part due to beautiful baby Portabella Mushrooms which are brushed with ready-made (Or homemade if you have it) Basil Pesto prior to baking . . .
 |
Medium sized vine ripened tomatoes also get the luxury touch. You simply cut an x into the tops and poke a sprig of fresh thyme down into the cuts. A judicious sprinkle of good sea salt and a nice grinding of black pepper and they are ready for the oven.
While they are in the oven you get busy scrambling some eggs (I always use large, free-range rspca approved eggs) in a hot skillet along with a few handfuls of baby leaf spinach (I remove as may of the stems as I can prior to cooking).
This adds loads of extra colour and vitamins and lots of lovely flavour to the eggs. You can leave it out if you wish, but I rather like it myself. Or you could use any other cooked vegetable that you enjoy. Chopped cooked asparagus, courgettes, peppers and onions, etc.
I am not sure I can adequately describe just how delicious those roasted tomatoes are. In Winter when we are sadly lacking in fresh tomatoes, warm from the summer sun, roasting them helps to really enhance their natural sweetness.
They are some tasty! I use whole wheat English Muffins because I am a diabetic and if I am going to eat carbs, I try to make them good ones.
*A Healthy Big Breakfast*
Serves 4
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Cut an x in the top of each tomato with a sharp knife. Push a sprig of thyme down into each x. Place onto the lined baking sheet and sprinkle with a bit of sea salt and black pepper. Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Place them onto the baking sheet with the tomatoes, in a single layer. Top each with 1/2 tsp of basil pesto. Place into the oven and roast for 20 to 25 minutes.
While the mushrooms and tomatoes are roasting cook your eggs.
Beat
your eggs together with the milk and some salt and black pepper. Heat a
large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Spray it generously with
low fat cooking spray. Pour the eggs into the heated pan. Let sit
for about 30 seconds and then with a wooden spatula start to scrape the
cooked egg from the outside into the centre of the pan, folding and
stirring as you go. Don’t rush it. You don’t want to over cook it,
neither do you want to undercook it. You just want to cook them until
they all pull together into soft creamy lumps, not dry curds. This
should take several minutes.Add the spinach a handful at a time, cooking
to wilt it and scramble it in with the egg. You may want to turn the
heat off
under the pan for the last minute or so. I often do.
And just so you know, my husband did not suffer much when I fed him this . . . he enjoyed the addition of some Hashbrown patties and a couple of sausages that I had cooked ahead and frozen. That's a handy tip actually. I like to roast a whole pack of sausages until cooked through and then I freeze them individually until they are frozen solid and then pop them into a freezer bag, ready to take out and reheat in the oven when I want to use them.
There were NO complaints.
I was happy. He was happy, and I am pretty sure my waistline was happy.
This recipe today is a brilliant one to use when you have some leftover cooked chicken (or turkey) that you are needing to use up. It's quick and easy and quite tasty!
The recipe is one which I adapted from this BHG cookery book that I bought way back in the early 1970's. Yes, it is old, just like me! But old doesn't necessarily mean its no good!
I started buying these books when I was still in High School. There was a whole enclopedia of them. I have talked about them before on here. They contain a lot of recipes that I cut my culinary teeth on.
I have adapted this one somewhat. I tend to use my own homemade stuffing mix (see recipe below). Stuffing Mix is not the same over here as it is in North America. They use rusk crumbs, not bread cubes, and the flavouring is quite different. After making my own stuffing mix, I don't think I would ever buy a stuffing mix again. Its really quite good and you know exactly what is in it. (Note - If you are living in the UK, do NOT use British Stuffing Mix. It will not work the same. Make your own from scratch. Its worth it.)
It also uses a tin of condensed soup. Mushroom. I am not a tinned soup snob. They do have their uses. By all means use the lower fat one if you can find it.
The stuffing gets mixed with half of the tin of soup (undiluted) and some chicken stock, and a couple of beaten eggs. I did cut down on the quantity of chicken stock. The original recipe called for 2 cups, I thought 1 1/2 cups was sufficient.
It also did not state what size eggs to use. I used medium. This mixture bakes into a savoury stuffing flavoured bread pudding. It is topped with chopped cooked chicken prior to baking. That in turn, gets the remaining half tin of soup (which has been thinned with some milk and mixed with chopped red peppers) poured over top.
Covered and baked for abotu 45 minutes, I uncover it and bake it for a bit longer just until lightly golden. This is actually delicious. Proof positive that these older recipes, with a tiny bit of adaption, are still solid and quite usable!
*Chicken & Stuffing Bake*
Makes 6 servings 
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter an 11 by 7 1/2 inch baking dish. (I used a 9 inch pie dish.) Set aside.
Toss the dry stuffing crumbs together with 1/2 of the tin of soup, the chicken broth and both eggs. Spread in the prepare baking dish. Top with the cooked chicken. Mix together the remaining half tin of soup with the milk and chopped red pepper. Pour over all. Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, until set. Uncover and bake for a few minutes longer until golden. Serve hot.
*Herbed Stuffing Mix*
Makes about 12 cups
I served it with tiny baked potatoes, roasted beetroot and steamed broccoli. Todd gobbled his up. I did cut the recipe in half as there are only two of us. It was quick, easy to make and quite delicious. My trinity of good eating! Bon Appetit!
I decided to bake some little Valentine Treats for my sweetie pie today in the way of these cute little Queen of Hearts Jam Tarts. Todd loves jam tarts. I think they are about his most favourite thing of all that I bake, next to a Victoria sponge, fruit cake, or apple pie . . .
The Queen of Hearts. So sweet here with her little tray of baked goodies and her cute crown, dress, etc. It was really difficult to find a nice picture of the Queen of Hearts . . . most are associated with that grouchy old Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland . . . and someone who looks that grouchy doesn't belong on my page!
These however are not that grouchy, and they really put a smile on our Todd's face when he came in from being in town.
They are a really simple make. If you can make pastry, then you can make these. I used my basic butter and lard pastry with a bit of sugar added. The recipe makes enough for 24 double heart tarts.
I only did one half of the pastry as tarts however, I baked the other half blind as a pie shell for a Lemon Meringue Pie. (Which I will tell you about another time!)
You want a well flavoured nice strawberry jam for the filling. I favour Bon Maman, but you use whatever strawberry jam you like best. If you have homemade, use that. Its the best!
Just be sure not to overfill them. This is definitely a case where less is more!
And even being judicious with your filling, blow outs will occur, no matter how well you try to seal them! So really . . . less is more! Trust me on this.
Mind you, if you are like me (And I like to think that we are more alike than we are different!) a little bit of blow out only makes them tastier, with their chewy sweet crunchy almost candy-like bits . . .
*Queen of Hearts Jam Tarts*
Makes 24 little heart pies
Pastry:
2 cups all purpose flour (280g)
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all purpose flour (280g)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tsp sugar
1/3 cup butter (76g)
1/3 cup lard (or white vegetable shortening) (74g)
5 to 6 tablespoons of ice water
1/3 cup lard (or white vegetable shortening) (74g)
5 to 6 tablespoons of ice water
You will also need:
strawberry jam
(I like Bon Maman)
milk for brushing
demerara sugar for sprinkling
icing sugar to dust
First make the pastry. Mix flour with salt, and cut in butter and
lard, until you have pieces of fat in the flour about the size of peas.
Add
ice water, one TBS at a time, tossing it in with a fork until pastry
comes together. Form in to a
ball and cut in two pieces. Form each into a round flat disc. Wrap in
cling film and
refrigerate for 1 hour.
At the end of that time,
preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking tray
with aluminium foil and spritz the foil with non-stick cooking spray.
Set aside.
Working with one disc at a time, roll the
pastry out on a lightly floured surface using a lightly floured rolling
pin to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out heart shapes with a 2- inch heart
cookie cutter. (Set the trimmings aside for the end.) Place spaced apart
on the baking tray. Place 1/2 tsp of jam or to taste in the centre of
each heart. Roll out the other disc of pastry the same as the first and
cut out an equal amount of herat shapes with the same cutter. Brush
the edges of the hearts on the baking tray with some milk and press the
other hearts on top to enclose the jam. Press around the edges with a
fork to seal completely. Brush the tops with some more milk and
sprinkle with demerara sugar. Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife,
cut a little x shaped vent in the centre of each.
Gather
up all of the scraps and shape into another dish and roll out as for
the other pastry, and cut and fill tarts as before, bearing in mind that
they will not be as tender as the first ones because of the extra
handling. Repeat brushing with milk, sprinkling with sugar, etc.
Like I said I used the other half of the pastry to do a single baked crust for a Lemon Meringue Pie, and I am using an unsual amount of restraint keeping it in the refrigerator until it gets really cold before cutting! Lemon Meringue is my favourite kind of pie, next to raisin pie . . . so its hard to not want to cut into it right now!
In any case if you are looking for a delicious little Valentines treat to bake for your loved ones that's not that hard or fiddly and one that they will really enjoy, look no further than Queen of Hearts Jam Tarts!! Bon Appetit and off with their heads!
I bought some bananas earlier this week and they all turned as quick as a wink. They didn't last very long at all.
I know you can freeze bananas to use later in baking, but I used one today to bake my husband these delicious Chocolate Chip Banana Brownies!
He loves them . . . they are everything a good brownie should be . . . dense, fudgy, and moist. They are only lacking in one thing that regular brownies have and that is a chocolate batter.
Its not chocolate . . . it's banana fudge . . . stogged full of chocolate chips and topped with a brown sugar fudge frosting. Easy Peasy.
Bananas are really great for making cakes and bakes really moist and cutting back a bit on the fat that would normally be used.
They also had a touch of natural sweetness . . . although in all truth these have plenty of sweet going for them by the use of brown sugar, which is also a great moistener . . .
Both in the batter and then in that delicious fudge frosting. The first time I tasted this kind of frosting was when I was in high school.
My ex husband's mum used to bake these fabulous Caramel squares and they had a frosting just like this.
We always called them "Camel" squares because when my ex copied the recipe down for me, he wrote camel instead of caramel! (I was collecting recipes even then!)
These squared are baked in an 8 inch square pan, and cut into 16 servings. In all truth and all joking aside, one of these at a time with a nice hot cup of something to drink is plenty!
They are quite sweet. (Just like the Camel squares!)
They are studded with milk chocolate chips, but you could also use dark chocolate chips in their place. I like to stir them in with the flour and then sprinkle a few more on top prior to baking so that you have them evenly distributed throughout.
Also stirring them in with the flour prevents them from sinking to the bottom.
I blitz the banana in my mini food processor so that it is really smooth and you don't end up with lumps of bananas in the squares.
Sometimes lumps of banana are a good thing, but in a square fudgy brownie like this, you want them to have a smooth texture!!
*Chocolate Chip Banana Brownies*
Makes 16
180g milk chocolate chips, divided (1 cup)
Preheat the oven to 180*c/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line an 8
inch square baking tin with non stick baking paper and spray with
non-stick spray.
Beat together the melted butter and sugar to combine well. Beat in the egg, salt and vanilla. Beat in the banana. Sift the flour over top and sprinkle on 3/4 of the chocolate chips. Stir all well together and then spread into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the centre is set. Transfer to a wire rack and cool in the pan. Frost when almost cold.
To make the frosting, melt the butter in the saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar and milk. Cook, stirring until it comes to the boil. Remove from the heat and cool for five minutes. Whisk in the icing sugar. Spread on top of the brownies. Let set until completely cold before cutting into squares.
Oh, I do hope you have some really ripe bananas around the house so that you can bake these lovely bars this weekend! If you wanted to you could leave the chocolate chips out entirely and replace them with toasted pecans or walnuts. Either way, you are going to fall in love! 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 Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
I don't think anyone would argue the fact that it is becoming more
difficult as each day passes to make our food budgets stretch as far as
we would like them to.
I know for myself, I have had to make quite a
few adjustments in order to make ends meet. It's hard, but it's not
impossible to do.
It just means eating a little bit differently, and relying
more on store cupboard essentials . . .
One thing we are doing here is stocking up on tinned fish and the like
when it is on special. We don't mind tinned salmon or tuna . . . and we
don't mind tinned corned beef either.
Truth is they are often on offer
and you can make some very tasty and nutritious meals for your family
by using them.
No, you would not want to eat them every day of the
week, but one or two meals a week made using these staples can cut down
one's budget quite substantially.
One thing which I like to do with tinned salmon is to make this
Crustless Salmon Pie.
It's a pretty delicious way to stretch a tall tin
of salmon, or two smaller ones (they are usually on special offer more
than the tall ones) into a substantial meal large enough to feed four
to six people!
Nothing outrageous there! I often make a delicious Lemon
Butter Sauce to spoon over top of it, but in truth my children used to
like ketchup on theirs. (There is NO accounting for taste!)
Delicious, quick and economical! Filled with omega 3 fatty acids, salmon is really good for you. We try to eat it once a week.
1 tall tin of red or pink salmon (439g or 15 1/2 ounces)
whole milk
60g of soft fresh bread crumbs (1 cup)
1 medium onion, peeled and finely minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried dill leaves
the juice and finely grated zest of one lemon
2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
2 TBS butter
Beautiful when served with Fish and vegetables. It's not too tart, but if you find it is you can add a bit more sugar to balance it out. Tartness depends on the size and strength of your lemons.
the juice of one large lemon
120ml of cold water (1 cup)
2 ounces of butter (1/4 cup)
1 1/2 TBS plain flour
1 TBS sugar
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Whisk together the lemon juice and water. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and sugar. Cook, stirring for about a minute. Slowly whisk in the water/lemon mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture boiled and thickens. Season with some salt and pepper to taste. Taste and adjust sweetness if necessary. Serve warm.
Note
- you get more juice from a lemon if it is at room temperature. You
can microwave it for about 35 to40 seconds and it will yield even more
juice.
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.
To round out the meal I serve it quite simply with some cooked baby peas
and pan fried new potatoes. Delicious! (I always keep tins of new potatoes in the larder.
They are quite a lot
cheaper than the fresh ones and they come in really handy to have in the
cupboard for something like this. They are also low GI.
I also always have a large bag of frozen petit pois in the freezer. When they are on offer I always buy two bags.)
*Crustless Salmon Pie*
Serves 4 to 6
Serves 4 to 6
Delicious, quick and economical! Filled with omega 3 fatty acids, salmon is really good for you. We try to eat it once a week.
1 tall tin of red or pink salmon (439g or 15 1/2 ounces)
whole milk
60g of soft fresh bread crumbs (1 cup)
1 medium onion, peeled and finely minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp dried dill leaves
the juice and finely grated zest of one lemon
2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
2 TBS butter
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Taking a glass pie dish,
put the butter into it and place it in the oven to melt. Swirl to coat
the interior of pie dish and set aside.
Drain the juice from the salmon into a measuring beaker. Add milk to make up 250ml (1 cup).
Pick out any skin and bone from the salmon. Mash well with a fork and then stir in the remainder of the ingredients. Mix well together to combine. Spoon into the butter coated pie dish and press down to smooth over the top.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until golden brown. Cut into wedges to serve. I like to serve this with baby peas and pan fried potatoes. I also make a delicious lemon butter sauce which I spoon over top of each serving.
Drain the juice from the salmon into a measuring beaker. Add milk to make up 250ml (1 cup).
Pick out any skin and bone from the salmon. Mash well with a fork and then stir in the remainder of the ingredients. Mix well together to combine. Spoon into the butter coated pie dish and press down to smooth over the top.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until golden brown. Cut into wedges to serve. I like to serve this with baby peas and pan fried potatoes. I also make a delicious lemon butter sauce which I spoon over top of each serving.
*Lemon Butter Sauce*
Makes 1 cup
Makes 1 cup
Beautiful when served with Fish and vegetables. It's not too tart, but if you find it is you can add a bit more sugar to balance it out. Tartness depends on the size and strength of your lemons.
the juice of one large lemon
120ml of cold water (1 cup)
2 ounces of butter (1/4 cup)
1 1/2 TBS plain flour
1 TBS sugar
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Whisk together the lemon juice and water. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and sugar. Cook, stirring for about a minute. Slowly whisk in the water/lemon mixture. Cook and stir over medium heat until the mixture boiled and thickens. Season with some salt and pepper to taste. Taste and adjust sweetness if necessary. Serve warm.
This is one of those cheap and cheerful meals that has been pleasing my family for many, many years. We just love it and I guarantee you will too! Bon Appetit!
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons