I decided to spoil Todd yesterday and made him a Malvern Apple Pudding. This is an old, old recipe which I got from a small booklet entitled Favourite Shakespeare Country Recipes. It differs from most of the recipes for Malvern Pudding out there in that it is a steamed pudding. Most of the recipes I discovered when researching it were actually baked and included stewed apples and a kind of custard. I even found a few that didn't have apples in them at all but berries.
Malvern is a spa town in Worcestershire, in an area which is known for its great beauty at the foot of the Malvern hills. At its centre, Great Malvern, is an historic conservation area, which was very popular during Victorian times due to the natural mineral springs in the vicinity. I am not sure entirely as to the history of this dish and which is even the proper way of preparing it, the baked or the steamed. Todd loves a steamed pudding however and I knew he would really enjoy this one as it is stogged full of lovely bits of apple and currants, or sultanas. Whichever you happen to have in the cupboard will work. I dare say dried cranberries would also work well. I used sultanas today.
I think these steamed puddings take Todd back to his school boy days and his school dinners. I know they get a bad rap, but he never minded school dinners. With meat, two veg and a pudding, he quite enjoyed them, especially the puddings, and the stodgier the better!
This actually isn't that stodgy. Its a bit like a steamed apple cake, moist and filled to the brim with lovely bits of apple and studded with sweet sticky sultana raisins. It is also flavoured with apple brandy. (Calvados) You can use ordinary brandy if you want. I happen to always have a bottle of Calvados in the larder, so that is what I used.
The serving suggestion was to serve it warm with either pouring cream, custard or brandy cream. Of course my custard loving husband chose custard. He loves his custard. You can find my recipe for that here.
Its not that difficult to make and is not at all overly sweet, so it goes very well with this pudding. Myself, I would probably like vanilla ice cream. But that is the North American in me coming out! And I guess ice cream is really frozen custard after all, so its not that different, and the hot pudding melts it so you get a bit of hot and cold, altogether very scrummy to my way of thinking!
I did taste a tiny corner of this and I have to say it is really delicious. It smelled heavenly when I tipped it out of the bowl, with all of the apples. There is a slight lemon tang as well, from the use of lemon zest and a tiny bit of juice. Simple and uncomplicated, I just know your family will love it as well. Also, there is no need to buy a special pudding basin to steam it in. Today I used my medium sized tempered glass mixing bowl and it worked just fine!
*Malvern Apple Pudding*
Serves 4 - 6
To serve:
Brandy cream, custard or pouring cream
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs a bit at a time. Stir in the flour to mix thoroughly.
Stir in the apples, lemon zest, lemon juice, currants and brandy, mixing
well together. (Make sure you cut your apples in a fine dice so that
they will cook through!)
Butter a 2 1/2 pint pudding basin really well. (5 cup) Place a small square of baking paper in the bottom to allow for ease of unmolding when done. Spoon the apple mixture into the basin, smoothing over the top. Lay a sheet of baking paper over a sheet of aluminium foil. Pleat in the centre and spray the paper with oil spray Place on top of the pudding basin and secure around the edges, sealing well, with some kitchen twine. Place onto a trivet in a large saucepan (with a lid) and fill the pan to halfway up the side of the puddig basin with boiling water. Cover and steam for 1 1/2 hours, topping up with boiling water as necessary. When done a skewer inserted into the pudding should come out clean. Unmold onto a warm serving plate. Serve warm, cut into wedges with pouring cream, brandy sauce or custard.
Note - for a trivet I use a large metal canning jar ring, which works very well
It won't be long before Spring will be here and we won't be wanting these winter desserts, so I thought I would get in one more before we move onto other things. If you are looking for a tasty, yet simple dessert to feed your family this weekend, look no further. This one is all that and more! Bon Appetit!
These salmon cakes are one of our absolute favourite suppers. They are very quick and simple to make and don't use anything out of the ordinary. In fact I am betting you have everything in your larder and refrigerator to make these for your tea tonight!
These crisp tender little salmon cakes are made using tinned salmon. You could also use leftover poached salmon as well if you wanted to. But the tinned salmon is very convenient. I always keep several tins of the boneless skinless salmon in the cupboard to use for things like these cakes.
I use minced red onion in mine, (for a bit of colour), but you can just as easily use plain brown onions or even spring onions, which also add a bit of colour. Other than that, you need nothing more than a bit of cornmeal, some flour, eggs and cream. I use no-fat evaporated milk instead of the myself. It helps to save on fat and calories, which works very well, but if you aren't bothered those things, go ahead and use the cream!
I have cut down on some of the fat for frying them as well. The only way to get that crisp exterior is to fry them, baking doesn't cut it. But with only a tsp each of butter and olive oil, its not too bad altogether.
The lemon sauce is luxurious. No two ways about it. With butter, flour, lemon juice, water and a bit of seasoning and some sugar, it is exellent spooned over the cakes. The sauce is so flavourful that a little bit goes a very long way.
These salmon cakes are crisp and flavourful . . . the sauce rich and luxurious . . . the two together are quite heavenly.
They go very well with steamed new potatoes and a green vegetable. If you didn't want to make the lemon sauce, you could also make creamed peas to spoon over the cakes. I can promise you thugh, however you choose to make them, you are sure to enjoy! Who says delicious needs to be complicated!
*Salmon Cakes with a Lemon Butter Sauce*
Serves 4 For the salmon cakes:
2 large free range eggs
60ml of heavy cream (1/4 cup)
45g of cornmeal (1/4 cup)
4 TBS minced red onions
2 TBS plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
pinch black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 large can of salmon, drained, skinned and boned or two smaller ones
(I buy the boneless, skinless salmon. It comes in a 125g (6-oz) tin. I use two of those)
1 tsp each butter and olive oil for cooking
the juice of one large lemon
120ml of cold water (1 cup)
65g butter (1/4 cup)
1 1/2 TBS plain flour
1 TBS sugar
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
First make the Sauce. 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. Keep warm.
To make the Salmon Cakes, beat the eggs. Beat in the cream, cornmeal, minced onions, flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Flake the salmon into the mixture. heat the butter and oil in a large non-stick skillet, over medium heat. Once heated, shape heaped dessertspoons of the salmon mixture into a ball and then flatten out. Place into the hot fat. Cook for about five minutes per side, until golden brown.
Serve the warm salmon cakes with the lemon sauce for spooning over top. Delicious!
Its also very easy to cut the quantities for the salmon cakes in half to serve fewer people. I do it all the time, as there are only two of us. I have never cut the sauce recipe in half, but I dare say it wouldn't be that difficult to do so. In any case you are sure to enjoy! Fish for Friday, Bon Appetit!
I have always loved sandwiches. Put a tasty filling between two pieces of bread and I am all over it like a rash. I am like my Aunt Freda in that respect. She also loved sandwiches and watching her enjoyment in eating one was an experience in pure and utter joy. Having been diagnosed as a Type 2 Diabetic several years ago, I had thought that sandwiches would be off the menu for me forever. I recently discovered the joys of sandwich thins however and I am back enjoying what I have always loved! Yay!
They come in several flavours . . . white, brown, seeded, and high protein whole meal. You can also get gluten free ones.
Today I used a brown one because I was all out of the protein whole wheat ones. (Actually I haven't been able to find them lately in my shops) There is an additional 4g of carbs in a brown one, about the same as a white one. Did you know that the only difference between white and brown bread is the colour? Yep! Brown bread is simply white bread with brown colouring added. It is not any better nutritionally than white bread. If I continue to have a hard time finding the whole wheat ones, I am going to have to figure out a way to make my own . . . sigh . . .
This Curried Chicken Salad filling is delicious and very low in fat. Using both low fat sour cream and a tiny bit of low fat mayonnaise, it is filled with flavour. The Curry powder adds some lovely spice, and there is a bit of sweet from some chopped raisins and crunch from the use of celery and spring onions.
I like to add a hefty layer of salad greens to the middle of mine, which adds plenty of colour and additional nutritional value. (Crunch too!)
Today I used superfood salad greens, which includes baby kale, spinach, rocket, peppercress, beetroot and baby chard. Lots of colour and lots of crunch. I love them!
You don't need to worry about the bread getting soggy if you are eating this right away, which is usually a problem with sandwiches that are going to be held for a long time prior to eating. If this is the case, and you are wanting to take this to work, I recommend bring the filling separately in a small container and spreading it onto the bread just before eating. That way you can get around the added fat and calories of adding a bread spread.
Altogether this makes for a very satisfying and delicious sandwich. with plenty of flavour, colour and crunch! I hope you'll want to try it out. You could leave out the raisins and add the equivalent in chopped dry roasted nuts, but I like the little hint of sweetness from the raisins myself.
*Curry Chicken Salad Sandwich Filling*
Makes 2 sandwiches
Blend the sour cream, mayonnaise and curry powder together. Stir
in the chicken, celery, onion and raisins. Taste and adjust seasoning
as required with salt and pepper. Use to fill your sandwiches.
As a Diabetic I like to use whole wheat sandwich thins. I put half of my serving of chicken salad on the bottom sandwich thin, and the other half on the top sandwich thin. I add a hearty layer of salad greens and then put the two sides together, with the filling sandwiching the greens in the middle. Yum!
As a Diabetic I like to use whole wheat sandwich thins. I put half of my serving of chicken salad on the bottom sandwich thin, and the other half on the top sandwich thin. I add a hearty layer of salad greens and then put the two sides together, with the filling sandwiching the greens in the middle. Yum!
Todd had his on a long buttered Brioche torpedo roll, without the salad. (He is not a salad lover.) I didn't feel hard done by with what I had, in fact, truth be told I felt I had the more delicious of the two sandwiches! Bon Appetit!
Oh, how I do love Gratins . . . who wouldn't with their creamy well flavoured base . . . spread out in shallow dishes to maximize all of the golden deliciousness of a crisp topping. I have never met a Gratin I didn't fall in love with, but they can all too often be quite high in unhealthy fat and not needed calories!! It doesn't have to be so however, and I am going to prove this to you today with a fabulous vegetable gratin, that is not only low in fat, but also healthy, Diabetic friendly, contains several of your five-a-day, as well as being deliciously filled with plenty of flavour to boot!
I found myself at the end of last week with some vegetables that needed using up before I went for my next grocery shop, and I wanted to do something that I could use them all up in . . . half a bag of Brussels sprouts, half a savoy cabbage and a couple of lone leeks. Typical vegetables that are abundant at this time of year. Lovely and green and filled with fibre and lots of vitamins. It is common knowledge that vegetables from the Brassica (Cruciferous) family (Sprouts and cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower) are filled with anti-oxidents, and plenty of Vitamin C and Folic Acid.
Leeks on the other hand, a member of the allium family, with their unique combination of flavonoids
and sulfur-containing nutrients, belong in your
diet on a regular basis. There is strong research evidence for including at
least one serving of an allium vegetable in your meal plan every day. Not a problem as I love all of the members of the onion family . . . leeks, onions, shallots, garlic . . .
I think it is safe to say that this lovely gratin is a powerhouse of all things that are good for you! Rather than using fatty cream and whole milk for a sauce . . . I have mixed 2% (semi skimmed) milk and water, along with a stock cube and some flour. Mixing the milk, water, stock cube and flour in a blender, made for a smooth lump free mixture that only needed heating, whilst stirring to thicken up nicely. A smidgen of cheese is added to help create a lovely creamy sauce that is filled with plenty of flavour.
I have used only 6 TBS of cheese for the whole dish, including the topping. I used three different kinds, strong (sharp) cheddar, Parmesan and Swiss . . . all cheeses that are packed with flavour. The more flavour a cheese has, the less of it you will have to use. Fact. I also made good use of some grainy Dijon mustard to impart even more flavour to the sauce along with some black pepper. I found that the sauce was so tasty, that I didn't need to add salt at all, bonus!
Four tablespoons of the cheese go into the sauce, and the remaining two are combined with some whole wheat bread crumbs for the topping. Whole wheat bread crumbs give a lovely nutty crunch. All in all this is a really fabulous dish. I could eat a plate of this and nothing else! I was more than pleased with the results!
*Winter Vegetable Gratin*
Serves 6
Put the flour, milk, water, stock pot, nutmeg, and pepper into a food processor. Blitz until smooth. Pour into the saucepan you used to cook the vegetables in. Cook, whisking constantly, over medium heat until the mixture bubbles and begins to thicken. Cook, stirring, for several minutes. Mix together the cheeses. Remove 2 TBS and mix into the bread crumbs. Set aside. Stir the remainining cheese into the sauce, whisking until it melts. Whisk in the mustard. Remove from the heat.
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Spray a gratin dish lightly with low fat cooking spray. Layer in half of the drained vegetables, half the sauce (making sure you drizzle it evenly over all) the remaining vegetables and then finally the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the breadcrumb cheese mixture evenly over top.
Bake in the preheated oven fore 30 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown. Serve hot.
I am enjoying this challenge of healthier eating. It doesn't have to be boring if you use a bit of ingenuity. We had this with some steamed salmon, and Todd had some baby potatoes with his. It all went down a real treat! Bon Appetit!
I think if I were to have to pick a favourite kind of soup for myself out of all the soups, tomato soup would be right up there near the top. I adore soup, and I especially like homemade soups.
As I have told you in the past my mother made really good soups from scratch, but one kind she never did make from scratch was Tomato Soup. We always had tinned tomato soup, and I was always very happy with that. I still am, having a particular liking for the Heinz brand of tomato soup.
I don't think it ever disappoints. I am trying harder though, these days, to cook everything that I can from scratch and that included Tomato Soup. This Tomato & Rice Soup is a particularly nice one!
It is simple, using nothing at all out of the ordinary, in fact I am guessing that you would have everything in the house right now to make it. Good tinned plum tomatoes. I like Cirio myself.
In a soup where the tomato is the star, you want really good ones and I have never made any secret for my love of Cirio Tinned tomatoes. They are . . . simply put . . . the BEST. You can almost taste the Italian sunshine on them . . .
So . . . good tinned plum tomatoes in tomato juice . . . along with some vegetables. Carrots, onions, celery . . . nothing too fancy . . . a clove of garlic . . .
These are sauteed in a bit of butter and olive oil until golden. I then stir in a bit of whole wheat flour and leftover cooked brown rice . . .
I cook that until the rice just begins to brown and then I add the tomatoes, breaking them up with the back of a wooden spoon, into nice chunks.
A bit of chicken stock and some dried herbs . . . basil and oregano . . . salt and black pepper, and my secret ingredient, a splash of hot sauce. Not a lot just a splash.
It then gets simmered, covered . . . for about half an hour.
You could add a handful or two of baby spinach leaves. Its very good with those as well, but today I did not have any to add. Frozen spinach would also work.
At the end of that time you simply stir in a bit of light cream. I tend to use skimmed evaporated milk because it is lower in calories and fat and to be honest you can't really tell the difference.
All in all this is a lovely soup. Toothsome, wholesome, and quite quite delicious!
*Tomato & Rice Soup*
Serves 4 - 6
Heat the butter and the oil in a large saucepan until the butter begins to foam. Add the celery, onion, carrot and garlic. Saute, stirring occasionally over medium low heat until the onion is golden. Stir in the flour and rice, breaking up the rice.
Continue to
saute until the rice begins to brown a bit. Add the tinned tomatoes,
breaking them up with the back of a spoon, the chicken stock, brown
sugar, oregano and basil and a splash of hot sauce if using. Bring to
the boil, then reduce to a very slow simmer.
Cover and simmer over low
heat for about 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with some salt
and black pepper. Stir in the cream and heat through without boiling.
Serve immediately.
I of course enjoy mine with crackers. My husband favours a roll. I tried to tempt him with some hot buttered toast instead today, but he wasn't having it. It was a roll all the way.
I had some nice big whole wheat rolls and he thoroughly enjoyed. I think you will too! This is very diabetic friendly with the use of the brown rice and whole wheat flour, and the extra protein they provide. Bon Appetit!
Some other soup recipes you might enjoy are:
Soup with dumplings? Count me in! Especially cheese dumplings. Simple to make and using simple everyday ingredients. It's also a great way to use up what's in the fridge. This is a deliciously hearty soup with plenty of vegetables, ham and fluffy cheese dumplings. I guarantee your family will love this!
A fabulously tasty soup filled with ham and white beans. You do need to plan ahead as the beans need soaking. One word describes this perfectly. Delicious. This is gorgeous ladled into heated bowls and served hot with some crusty bread.
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