I admit I am a person with quite a few weaknesses when it comes to food . . . pasta, mac & cheese, creamed corn, tinned tomatoes, cheese, chocolate ANYTHING, oatmeal cookies, salad, hot dogs, . . . just to name a few. Occasionally there is a dish that will incorporate several of these weaknesses and that is what I am showing you today. It will soon be far too hot to eat anything like this, and the day that I baked this, was cold and rainy, so I do hope that you will forgive me for showing it to you now, but do bookmark and take note of it for another time.
It combines two of my great loves . . . mac & cheese and creamed corn. I love creamed corn so much that I could just sit and eat it with a spoon. Yes, I am that crazy in love with it!
You make a simple, yet rich creamy sauce, which uses a mix of cream, semi-skimmed milk, and some savoury seasonings . . . dried mustard, onion powder, salt and pepper . . . and then you whisk in two kinds of cheese, strong cheddar and Parmesan . . .
Once the cheese melts you simply stir in a can of creamed corn and a can of sweet corn niblets, along with some cooked macaroni . . . or macanoni as my youngest son used to call it!
Pour it into a baking dish, sprinkle with a bit more cheese and some buttered cracker crumbs and bake. Half an hour does it.
This is so delicious and makes both a fabulous main course or a side dish for Pot Lucks, BB Q's and Covered Dish Suppers and get-togethers!
I guarantee everyone will be asking for the recipe! I will most certainly guarantee you will be bringing home an empty dish!
The recipe is also very easily cut in half (which is what I usually do) leaving you with 1/2 a tin of creamed corn and some corn niblets that don't get used, but that is never a problem, because I will just throw together a corn chowder the next day, sized for just us. Or I will pop both into a container and freeze them to make a corn chowder another time! No problemo.
I really love meals like this. Todd, not so much. He always asks me if I am punishing him, what did he do wrong, but haha, I think he is exaggerating because he always eats it, so methinks he doesn't dislike pasta as much as he says.
Or maybe I am just wearing him down . . . or maybe, like salad, he is only since marrying me getting to taste how really good it can be!
I always try to be positive about these things. ☺
A bit of chopped cooked bacon or ham would also be very good in this, in which case it would definitely be a main dish. But it goes with all sorts . . . which is what makes it the ideal dish for taking out to get-togethers.
I have never frozen it myself, as like I said, I usually halve the recipe, but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't freeze well. So you could cook the whole dish and divide it into two casseroles, packing one up all airtight and freezing it prior to baking, so that on a later date all you have to do is take it out, de-frost and bake as per the recipe requires.
*Creamy Sweetcorn Mac & Cheese*
Makes 8 servings
This is a delicious side dish that is great for bring to pot lucks and BB Q's. Everyone loves it.
450g elbow macaroni (4 cups)
65g butter (1/4 cup)
35g plain flour (1/4 cup)
360ml semi skim milk (1 1/2 cps)
240ml heavy cream (1 cup)
1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
1/2 tsp onion powder (not salt)
1 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 (418g) tin of creamed corn (14.75oz)
1 (285g) tin of sweet corn kernels, drained (10 oz)
365g grated strong cheddar cheese (3 cups sharp cheddar)
90g grated Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup)
About 6 dry crackers buttered lightly and then crumbled
Put a large pan of lightly salted water on to boil. Cook the
macaroni in this according to the package directions. While the
macaroni is cooking, make the sauce.
Melt
the butter in a largish saucepan. Whisk in the flour, until smooth. Cook
for about a minute. Whisk in the mustard powder, onion powder, salt
and pepper. Whisk in the milk and cream. Cook, whisking constantly,
until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Whisk in all but 60g (1/2 cup)
of the cheddar and half of the Parmesan cheese. Stir to melt. Stir in
the creamed corn and the drained corn kernels.
Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Butter a large shallow baking dish. (9 by 13 inch)
Drain
the macaroni well and stir it into the sauce. Pour into the prepared
baking dish. Mix together the remaining cheddar and Parmesan and
sprinkle evenly over top. Crumble the buttered cracker crumbs over top
of all.
On this particular day we had this with Sole Goujons and salad, and it went down a real treat. Plus the leftovers were awfully tasty, heated up in a skillet the day after for our supper and served with crusty bread. Oh, I do love LOVE pasta that is heated up the day after in a skillet, so that you have lots of crispy little bits to enjoy. Yes. I am a bit of a glutton. Love me or leave me. I don't think that is anything that is going to change now. Bon Appetit!
One of my favourite things is nutmeg. I love the way it smells and I love the way it tastes. It is a member of the sweet baking spices, and very fragrant, but its very unique, sweet, nutty and almost astringent flavour, enables it to be able to stand on its own, much more acceptably than the others. In fact, its flavour is almost improved when used on its own. It is the fruit of a tree called Evergreen, which grows in Indonesia, and it is a spice which works well with both sweet and savoury dishes.
It is one of the major flavourings used in breakfast sausage and I always add a pinch of it to my cooked carrots. (Its my secret ingredient!) Everyone loves my cooked carrots. It is also a vital component of my bechamel sauce. It works majorly in these beautifully fragrant and delicious muffins I am sharing with you today.
The recipe uses 1 1/2 whole nutmegs grated. I can no longer truly remember where I got the recipe from, as I have it handwritten in a small notebook of mine. I do believe however, that the original recipe might come from The Breakfast Book, by the late Marion Cunningham.
At
first glance one might think that 1 1/2 nutmegs is a whole lotta
nutmeg, and it looks like a whole lotta nutmeg, but trust me when I say,
it works beautifully! There are NO other flavours added to these and it doesn't need them. No vanilla. No cinnamon. No nothing. Just nutmeg.
You could use already ground nutmeg, but if you do, make sure it is a fresh jar. The really lovely flavour comes from the use of FRESH nutmeg, which is why I highly recommend that you buy some whole nutmegs and grate your own. It doesn't really take that long and is well worth the effort, both in smell and flavour. 1 1/2 whole nutmegs. I looked up on line how much that would be the equivalent of and it says 3 tsp. Mine looked like a whole lot more than that however. So judge accordingly.
These are moist and delicious with full on nutmeg flavour. You might think the flavour would be obnoxious, but in reality it isn't. Its perfect. I do not use papers. I like to bake them directly in a well greased pan.
The edges get all crispy. I love that quality of a muffin . . . these also peak very nicely.
Just look at that beautiful highly speckled texture. They are great served warm, with some butter and jam, but I like them just as they are with nothing added. Just the warm muffin, and perhaps a warm cuppa something . . . or maybe a cold glass of milk. Whatever floats your boat.
I think these are a muffin you will truly fall in love with. I had not made them for quite some time and I have to tell you, I fell in love with them again today. So much so that I very naughtily ate not one but two. True confessions. I will repent tomorrow.
*Nutmeg Muffins*
Makes one dozen
These
muffins smell gorgeous when they are baking. You might think it is a
lot of nutmeg, but trust me, they taste beautiful. However if you are
not a lover of nutmeg, you may not like them. I adore nutmeg.
280g plain flour (2 cups all purpose)
140g sugar (3/4 cup)
1 TBS baking powder
1 1/2 whole nutmegs, grated (3 tsp)
1/2 tsp salt
1 large free range egg
72g butter, melted (5 TBS)
180ml heavy cream (3/4 cup)
180ml milk (3/4 cup)
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a non-stick 12-cup medium muffin tin really well. Set aside.
Whisk
together all of the dry ingredients. Whisk together all of the wet
ingredients. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Pour in
the wet ingredients, and stir together until just moistened without any
dry streaks. Lumps are okay. Divide equally amongst the prepared
muffin cups.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20
minutes until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre of one
comes out clean. Serve warm. Store any leftovers in an airtight
container.
If you don't like nutmeg, you won't like these, but if you do like it, you are going to fall in love with these beautiful muffins. I think it would be worth baking these and popping them into the freezer so that when the weather gets really hot a bit later on in the season, you have something tasty to enjoy that won't heat up the kitchen. Simply pop into a microwave and warm on high for about 30 seconds. Bon Appetit!
When my children were growing up, I always tried to have something tasty waiting for them when they got home from school. Sometimes it was cookies (most of the time) and others it would be cake, or cupcakes. On rare occasions I would have made them donuts. They really felt special when I made them those!
I remember one particular occasion when I happened to be watching my next door neighbours little girl after school. I decided to really pull the stops out on that day and make jelly donuts. My next door neighbour was a really good cook, and I wanted to do something really special for her little girl.
As I was making them, I felt really good about it and I was picturing in my mind how very much she was going to enjoy these jelly filled donuts. I was practically beaming when they all got in from school and sat down at the kitchen table to enjoy them with ice cold glasses of milk.
I was practically hovering over them in anticipation of all the kudos I was going to receive. Imagine my chagrin when the little girl piped up. "Your donuts are very good, but when my mother makes them, they are cooked inside!"
DOH!! They were still raw inside. How could I not have noticed. I felt like a real dope. Mind you this was some 35 or so years ago, and I have learnt an awful LOT since then!!
Plain yeast donuts are not all that hard to make really. They aren't even really time consuming. What takes the time is leaving the dough overnight, that's all. The actual hands on time isn't very long at all.
The hardest part is making sure your oil for frying is the right temperature. I cannot underestimate the importance of having a candy/frying thermometer! This takes away all of the uncertainty and worry. You can be assured that your oil is the correct temperature for frying. The reason my donuts were raw in the middle? My oil was probably far too hot and the outside cooked too quickly for the insides to catch up. Use a thermometer if you can. Its worth it.
Another way, and the easiest and safest method IMO, is to stick the end of a wooden spoon into
the oil. If you see many bubbles form around the wood and they start to
float up, your oil is ready for frying. If it is bubbling hard, the oil
is too hot. Let it cool a bit and then check the temperature again.
When oil is too hot, the outside cooks before the inside does, and in fact you will burn the outsides waiting for the centre to cook, so the temperature is really an important thing to take note of. If the oil is too cold, then the food you are frying will absorb too much of the oil, which is also a no no, resulting in greasy fried food. If your donuts/fish/etc. are greasy, chances are the oil that they were fried in was not hot enough.
So you see . . . a fine balance is needed.
No need for fear though . . . just follow those few tips and your donuts will be perfect. I like to glaze my donuts with a simple sugar glaze. You could also make a thin icing to frost them with. I find the glaze works best.
I wish the glaze up in a bowl large enough for me to dip the donuts into, top side down. Just a quick in and out, letting any excess drip off back into the bowl before putting them top side up onto a wire rack to set the icing. Doing this while they are still a bit warm, works really well.
Today I sprinkled them with candy sprinkles just for show purposes. In reality I don't like sprinkles on my donuts . . . its a texture thing. I feel like I am eating sand, but they sure do look pretty.
*Grandmother's Glazed Donuts*
Makes 1 dozen
These
take a bit of time and effort, but as a once in a blue moon treat, they
are well worth both! You will need to start them either the night
before or early in the morning.
135ml whole milk, warmed (1/2 cup + 1 TBS)
2 TBS sugar
1 heaped tsp of active or instant dry yeast
1 large free range egg, beaten
5 TBS butter, melted
280g strong flour (2 cups)
1/4 tsp salt
oil or white vegetable fat for frying
For the glaze:
2 TBS butter, melted
1/2 tsp vanilla
195g icing sugar, sifted (1 1/2 cups)
just enough milk to make a thin glaze (maybe 60ml/1/4 cup)
Warm your milk to blood temperature. (It should feel nice and warm,
but not hot, when you dip your finger in.) Pour into the bowl of a
stand mixer (if you have one) or a bowl if you don't. Add the sugar, and
stir to dissolve. Stir in the years and then leave to prove for 5
minutes. Add the beaten egg and melted butter to the bowl stirring to
combine. With the mixer running slowly, add the flour and salt, mixing
until the dough comes together. Let the mixer run on medium low for
about 5 minutes. Alternately if you are doing this by hand, knead the
dough for about five minutes, until smooth and elastic. Let sit for
10 minutes, then turn into a lightly oiled mixing bowl, cover with
plastic cling film and chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours
or overnight.
Remove from the refrigerator.
Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness. Use a 3
inch donut cutter to cut out the donuts. Alternately use a 3 inch round
cutter to cut out rounds, and then a small cutter to cut out centres.
(An icing decorating nozzle is about the right size.) Place onto a
lightly greased baking sheet. (Don't forget the holes!) Cover and leave
to rise for about an hour until double in size.
To
make the glaze, combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix
together until smooth, only adding enough milk to give you a thin
glaze. Have ready for when you start frying the donuts. Also have a
rack ready to hold the glazed donuts on after you have glazed them. (I
stand mine on top of another baking sheet to catch all the drips. Less
mess to clean up.)
To fry, heat a few inches
of oil or at in a large skillet over medium heat. ( The oil should be
180*C/350*F in temperature.) Line a baking sheet with paper towels, and
set aside.
There was always something special about coming home to a hand-fried donut and a glass of cold milk. When you are a child, you never worry about the waistline do you? Those were the days . . . Bon Appetit!
We do eat a lot of chicken in our home. Mostly because it is fairly economical and also because you can do a LOT with it.
As there are only two of us now, I tend to buy organic, free-range, cornfed chicken, but I totally understand why larger a larger family would not be able to afford it.
I just like to eat happy chicken, and I think the organic, free-range, cornfed tastes better. I also make sure that it is RSPCA approved so I know that free-range really means free-range!
If you love chicken I think you are really going to love this crispy chicken recipe with its tangy lemon sauce.
I love the thigh meat most of all, but I also like breasts, especially for dishes like the one I am showing you here today. Lemon Sauced Crispy Chicken, which is a bit of a riff on Chinese Lemon Chicken, which I totally adore without question.
My chicken for this is panko crusted. I love the Japanese Panko bread crumbs for coating things that I am going to fry. They are wonderfully crisp and always give me perfect results!
The chicken part is fairly simple. Pound to an even thickness, dust with seasoned flour, dip in egg, then in the crumbs, and finally fry. Use one hand for the dry ingredients and the other for the wet, and you won't get into a mess!
They fry up beautifully crisp and the sauce is to die for. A perfect balance of sweetness, using brown sugar and honey, with some pineapple juice, along with plenty of sour with fresh lemon juice and apple cider vinegar.
There is a balance of saltiness as well through the use of soy sauce. I like the dark variety. I have also added some garlic powder and chilli flakes for an additional layer of flavour.
This is so, so, soooooo good. I could eat that sauce up just with a spoon, but instead I cut up the chicken into strips and drizzle it over top.
The sauce and coating would also go really well on jumbo prawns. I might do some of those for my husband as he loves prawns.
I am not fond of them myself, but every now and again I do like to spoil him a tiny bit!
*Lemon Sauced Crispy Chicken*
Serves 4
Panko
bread crumbs work the nicest with this,
although you can use ordinary dried bread crumbs. You can find Panko
bread crumbs in the oriental food section of the shops. The sauce has a
beautiful lemon flavour with a bit of a bite, which you can control
according to how much chilli flakes you add.
For the Chicken:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, pounded to an even thickness
salt and freshly ground black pepper
45g plain flour (1/4 cup)
2 medium free range eggs
125g of Japanese Panko, or other fine dried bread crumbs (1 1/3 cups)
60ml of vegetable oil for frying (1/4 cup)
For the Sauce:
85g honey (1/4 cup)
100g soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup, packed)
80ml dark soy sauce (1/3 cup)
pinch chilli flakes
80ml pineapple juice (1/3 cup)
240ml fresh lemon juice (1 cup)
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
the zest of one lemon
1 1/2 TBS cornflour (cornstarch)
Make the sauce first. Whisk everything but the cornflour together
in a saucepan. Simmer over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the
sugar has melted and all the flavours have melded together. Whisk the
cornflour together with enough cold water to make a slurry. (about 60ml/
1/4 cup) Whisk this into the the warm soy/lemon/honey mixture. Cook,
whisking constantly, over medium heat until the mixture bubbles and
thickens. Let bubble for about 1 minute, then lower the heat to very
low and keep warm while you cook the chicken.
Season the pounded chicken breasts with some salt and pepper.
Place the flour on a plate. Beat the eggs in a shallow bowl. Place
the Panko into another shallow bowl. One at a time, dredge the chicken
breasts into first the flour, then the eggs, and finally the Panko,
coating them evenly and pressing the crumbs on to adhere. Set aside on a
lined baking sheet while you heat the oil.
Heat
the oil in a large frying pan until very hot, but not smoking. Add
the chicken breasts and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, turning once,
until the crumbs are golden brown and the chicken feels firm when
pressed in the centers, about four minutes per side. Adjust the heat
as needed so that the crumbs don't burn. Transfer to a cutting board.
I served these with some of my Friday Fried Rice. Everyone was happy! Bon Appetit and happy 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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