I know that today is not Mother's Day here in the UK, they always celebrate that in March, however I have a foot in both worlds, and all of my family lives in Canada. I always celebrate Mother's day in May, which is the way it has been for my whole life. Its also not a day where I celebrate my own being a mother, but rather a day when I celebrate having my own mother, who is thankfully still with us and the STATE of motherhood, which includes anyone with maternal feelings. Are we not ALL mothers? I think so . . . anyone who cares for and loves others is indeed a mother in my books.
This is a photograph taken of my own mother when she was about 19 or 20 I believe. My mother has always been beautiful to me, and that has not changed. It is more to do with what's inside than the outside. My mother taught me all I needed to know about graciousness, honesty and integrity. She taught me the value of hard work, and has been a great example to me of strength and determination, having survived a lot of things that would break most people, such as the breakdown of a marriage. But even that she did with dignity. She and my father remain very good friends, which has made it all a lot easier for us, their children, to love them both equally. She is a double cancer survivor, having survived both breast and lung cancer. She is like the Every Ready Bunny. She might get knocked down, but she pulls herself up and then keeps going and going. I wish I did not live so far away from her. For years and years I lived close enough that we could always be there for each other and it pains me that, here in the Winter of her life, I find myself so far away. I will be calling her this afternoon of course. These phone calls are very precious to me, and I hope to her. I call her twice a week now, and those talks are like small gifts to each of us, and even more so as she is now battling dementia. Good days and bad days. I cherish and value the good days.
If I lived closer this is the dessert I would make for her. Its simple and delicious and just enough for someone with a smaller appetite, and even for those with larger appetites, it is so rich that a little bit is all you really want!
They are beautifully flavoured rich little pots of a thick cream custard . . . .
Flavoured with tart lemon and sweetly fragrant vanilla . . .
I always add a bit of raspberry jam to the bottom of the pots, because . . . I love jam, and it goes very well with the lemon.
I like to serve it with fresh raspberries . . . their ruby redness goes so lovely with the rich yellow of the lemon custard . . . and of course their fresh tart/sweet flavour adds another layer of complexity to the dish.
Altogether they are very beautiful . . . the three . . . the jam, that rich lemon vanilla creamy custard, the fresh berries . . .
I like to dust them lightly with icing sugar . . .
Its like adding a touch of lippy. What woman would go out the door without a light touch of lippy.
Not me, that's who!
You will want to make these early in the day so that they can have several hours in the refrigerator to chill. But they are very quick and simple to make other than that.
*Lemon Pots De Creme*
Serves 6
To serve:
Fresh berries
icing sugar to dust
Pour the cream into a saucepan. Add the lemon peel.
Scrape in any caviar from the vanilla bean and throw in the spent
bean. Warm gently to a simmer, then let sit to infuse for 10 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Have ready 6 ramekins or small souflee dishes, and a roasting tin large enough to place them in with a bit of space between. Boil the kettle. Spoon 1 TBS of raspberry jam into the bottom of each ramekin. Place them into a large roasting tin.
Beat the egg yolks with an electric whisk until they are light and lemony coloured. Whisk in the sugar, 1 TBS of the lemon juice and a pinch of salt. Strain the cream into a clean bowl and then slowly whisk it into the egg/sugar mixture, taking care to temper it with a bit of the warm cream first so that you don't end up with scrambled eggs. Make sure all are whisked well together. Boil the kettle.
Pour the egg custard into a large measuring cup and then divide the custard between the prepared ramekins, carefully pouring it over top of the jam, taking as much care as possible not to mix the two together. Pour boiling water into the roasting tin to come up halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the tin with foil and then bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until lightly set.
Remove from the pan and let them sit for half an hour before placing them into the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
When ready to serve top each with a few raspberries and a light dusting of icing sugar. Enjoy!
Jam Filled Buns. I always like to make my husband a little something special to enjoy with his breakfast or his morning drink at the weekend. He is always so very appreciative of everything I do for him, which means a lot to me.
Its awfully nice to feel appreciated. Today I decided to bake him some of these Jam Filled Buns. This sweet buns recipe is one of his favourite things I bake for him.
These delicious little buns are real family pleasers. They are like a cross between a scone and a North American Biscuit, being very easy to throw together.
Making them is as simple as sifting some ingredients into a bowl. Quick, easy, delicious and no yeast involved.
Cutting in some butter . . . and stirring in some wet ingredients to make a dough.
After that you just pat it out, cut into rounds . . . make a dip in the centres with your thumb, fill the dips with jam, then bake!
They don't take too long to bake, which is good . . . because we love our jam in this house. Jam in anything.
And when it is combined with a tasty scone/biscuit, we love it even more! Yum yum!!
These lovely buns would actually be good any time of the day . . . breakfast, elevensies, lunch, tea break, supper.
You name it. I can't think of any singular time they would not be welcome! Not a one!
They are so light and dainty, they would be perfect on the tea trolly for High Tea.
Oh, I could just imagine the Queen or some other Aristocrat tucking into one of these with their afternoon cuppa . . . pinkie raised en pointe!
Any blue blood in my body is long since watered down. Long watered down.
So we don't stick up our pinkies here, or cling to any set rules. If we likes it . . . we eats it.
And so it is with these. We likes 'em . . . we likes 'em a lot!
Don't judge me on this. I cannot help myself. My veins run with jam.
They would be great to take on picnics as well. I dare say they are perfect for picnicking with.
I bet nobody would be complaining as they tucked into one or two or three . . .
Its the North American Mother's Day this weekend, why not bake a batch for the special mom in your life? Show her how much you appreciate her . . . or your hubbie, or children.
You are sure to become their favourite person if you do! I guarantee!
*Jam Filled Buns*
Makes 14 to 16Your favourite jam
Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Drop in the butter and quickly rub it in until crumbly. (can use a pastry blender, two knives or your fingertips.) Beat together the milk and egg. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the liquid all at once. Stir together with a fork to make a soft dough, adding a bit more milk if necessary.Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a couple of times to really bring together. Pat out 1 inch thick. Using a floured 2 inch cutter, stamp out rounds, pushing straight down and lifting straight up. (bring the scraps together and repat to make more. Do note that the second patting will not give you the same results, so do try to get as many cuts from the first cutting as you can.) Place well apart on the baking sheet. Using a floured finger make a deep hole in the centre of each. Drop a small bit of jam into the centre of each.
Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.
Nom Nom Nom . . . betcha can't eat just one of these. Yes, they are THAT good! Bon Weekend!
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!
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I put my hand up! I adore salads, and it doesn't have to be summer for me to enjoy them. I am the salad Queen! Todd, on the other hand, is not so fond of them. One, he's a man, and two, prior to marrying me, he had been served far too many mediocre salads. It happens. I have to confess, that for such a simple concept, I have never (in 18 years) had a good salad in a restaurant over here. They charge an arm and a leg, but you get literally no bang for your buck. I don't understand this as we have some of the most beautiful fresh ingredients available to us in the world. How can they get it so wrong!
All of my children love to cook. I can't claim total responsability for that, as their father used to love to cook as well. He made great Spaghetti sauce and baked beautiful bread. He used to make our kitchen table dance across the floor when he was kneading his bread. As you can imagine we went through a lot of bread with five hungry children to feed, three of them being boys! I was talking to my oldest daughter the other day and she asked me if I knew how to make curry. She liked curried chicken and she was wanting to make one.
My oldest daughter is developmentally challenged, but whatever challenges she faces, cooking is not one of them. She loves to cook and is a really good cook. So long as a recipe is fairly straight forward, she does really well. I created a delicious, yet simple chicken curry recipe just for her that I thought she would enjoy.
Its a very straight forward make and doesn't require any unsual or even a lot of ingredients. You just cook some spring onions and garlic in a bit of oil, add some tinned tomatoes and curry powder and ginger. Nothing unsual there. Once that gets going you add in chicken thighs that you have cut into bits and you brown them in the curry paste/mixture for a while, just until they start to brown a bit.
Then you add some hot water, bring it to a boil and let it simmer for a while, until the sauce thickens up a bit and the chicken is tender. That's it. Simple.
At the very end you stir in a bit of natural Greek yogurt which gives it a lovely creaminess and that is it. Its ready to serve.
With some simple steamed basmati rice and a smattering of spring onion sprinkled over top, that's it. Dinner is served. We like to have a dollop of Greek yogurt on top as well when we eat it.
This is just spicy enough, not too spicy and not too mild. Todd really loved it. I think he had two servings himself.
The North American in me likes to add a bit of mango chutney as well, when it is cooking. It just adds a hint of sweetness which I find very appealing. I always use Geeta's Chutney because we like the flavour of it. It has lots of lovely bits in it and a bit of a bite. Its very nice.
But you can leave that out entirely if you wish. It will still be very good without it . . . I just like that little bit of something extra that it adds.
I can't wait for my daughter to make it. I just know she is going to love it and I have every bit of confidence in her ability to do so. Her husband won't eat it, but by making this whole recipe, she has one portion she can eat on the day and three more that she can freeze for the future when her husband is having something she doesn't like! Everybody wins!
*Eileen's Curry*
Serves 4
250ml hot water (9 fluid ounces)
2 TBS good mango chutney (optional)
100ml Greek-style naturaal yogurt (3 1/2 fluid ounces)
salt and black pepper to taste
Like I said Todd really enjoyed this. I think I am getting the hang of this curry lark. For a person who didn't have a lot of experience with making curries before I moved over here to the UK, I think I am doing really well. Bon Appetit!
Following the huge success of the first and second editions, the people at Go Outdoors have decided to take things up yet another notch with the third instalment of their ever-popular GO Outdoors Camping Cookbook.
For the third successive year, they have teamed up with leading outdoors and foodie bloggers (Including myself) to bring you a host of delicious and easy-to-make campfire recipes - and this time we’ve made things even more convenient for you!
Our one-pot recipe special features a range of super-convenient and unbelievably tasty meals that you can prepare and eat on your next camping trip. What’s more, it’s completely free.
From gluten-free and diet-friendly options to vegan and vegetarian recipes, you’ll find everything you need for breakfast, lunch, dinner and all-day snacks across our three volumes.
Download the new edition of The Camping Cookbook now so you can print it out and take it with you on your next outdoor adventure or browse through their new recipe hub to find and print your favourite recipe. Just follow this link to go to the page where you can download this latest cookbook, plus their past versions, all for free! I am so pleased and honored to be a part of this project and I can tell you from the outset that I am in very good company! Many thanks to the people at Go Outdoors for including me in this project!
We are having a set of the Missionaries over for supper tonight, so you know what that means. I am pulling out all the stops. We have three sets of missionaries here in Chester at the moment, including a Senior couple.
I do always like to spoil them a tiny bit by making something for them that is a tad bit special and maybe even a bit naughty. Today it is my Hot Italian Hoagies, Mac and Cheese, Coleslaw and for dessert, this fabulous Toffee Almond Cake. I think they are in for a treat. I hope they enjoy it all!
This is a fabulous cake. Its very moist and filled with flavour, both from the use of ground almonds in the batter along with toffee sauce which not only flavours the cake, but helps to keep it moist.
This is the toffee sauce I use in it. Plain old ice cream toffee sauce. The recipe is an old one I have had copied out in my big blue binder now for many, many years.
I suspect I copied it from an ad for prepared ice cream toffee sauce once upon a time, but sadly back in those days when I was handwriting out these things, I didn't really take note of the source, never dreaming that one day we would have the internet to share these things on. Sorry about that chief!
This really is a fabulous cake . . . truly. Like I said there is toffee sauce in the batter and then after you take it out of the oven you spoon warmed toffee sauce over top.
You then let the sauce soak down into the cake, which adds even more flavour and moistness.
Don't try using that dark caramel sauce/dulce de leche type of thing. It isn't the right consistency, and the batter will curdle and be too thick.
It also doesn't warm up very well and won't soak into the top properly. You want a thinner toffee sauce, the type you pour over ice cream.
I used Dulce de Leche once . . . thinking it was going to be a good thing, but instantly regretted it.
Total F A I L U R E
So just don't . . . don't . . . don't. No matter how good you think it will be. It won't.
I use flaked almonds on top, but you can use slivered if that is all you can get. You can't get slivered over here, just flaked.
See how lovely and moist that is? Its incredible. C'est incroyable!
I like to drizzle a bit more toffee sauce over top when I go to serve it . . . because, it's just plain good . . .
And is there ever such a thing as TOO much toffee sauce???? I think not! But that's not all . . . I also like to add a dollop of squirty cream . . . just like on an ice cream sundae.
Its pretty wonderful if I don't say so myself. I think the guys are going to love it.
*Toffee Almond Cake*
Serves 8
To Serve: (optional)
Additional Toffee Sauce
Whipped Cream
Whisk together the flour, ground almonds, baking powder and sea salt. Set aside.
Cream together the butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the toffee sauce and then the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. If the mixture starts to curdle, beat in a couple of TBS of the flour mixture each time. Stir in the flour mixture in thirds, mixing in well after each addition. Spread into the prepared baking tin. Sprinkle the flaked almonds over top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Gently heat the remaining toffee sauce. Using a toothpick, carefully poke holes all over the top of the hot cake. Spoon the warm toffee sauce over the cake to cover, allowing it to soak in as you go. Lift out onto a wire rack and cool completely before cutting into wedges to serve.
Today mine took a tiny bit longer in the oven, about 8 or 9 minutes. Not sure what was up with that. But never mind. Start checking it at 25 and then judge accordingly. I really hope you will give it a go. I think your family will be sure to love it.
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!
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