We are really blessed to have friends who have free range hens, and lately they have been sharing with us some of their lovely eggs.  They are so fresh and beautiful and more often than not we will enjoy one or two for our supper.  

Eggs are one of those things that make for a lovely light supper or lunch.  They're not just for breakfast!  In fact we probably have them more for supper than we have them for any other meal!

 

The recipe I am sharing today is one that I adapted from a recipe I found on the blog Simply Delicious several months back.  

It is only now that I have gotten around to making it, and I can tell you, it won't be long before I make it again, as we both really enjoyed it!

 

One of the things I liked most about it and which drew me to it was the creamed spinach. 

Fresh crisp buttered toast is topped with a layer of creamed spinach, crisp bacon and then eggs.  I adore creamed spinach.

 

Actually I just adore spinach full stop. Raw and in salads, in tarts, sautéed, and yes, as in this recipe . . .  creamed.  And the method of creaming it is very simple.  

You simply sauté spinach in a bit of oil.  The original recipe used 1 TBS of oil, but in reality you don't need that much.  I only used 1 tsp.

 

The spinach as it cooks and wilts, releases a lot of juices, so really you probably wouldn't need to use any oil at all, except for the bit of flavor it adds.  You also cook a bit of garlic in the oil first, just until it becomes quite fragrant. 

You don't want it to brown as browned garlic can taste somewhat bitter.   So you flavor the oil with some garlic and then you start wilting the spinach.  

I like to remove any longish or thickish stems from the spinach and discard them. They can be a bit undesirable and stringy.  Its not a bother to do that.  It is the type of mindless job you can do while you are watching your soaps or whatever.

 

I don't mind mindless jobs like that.  After you have wilted all of the spinach, you put it into a sieve to drain. It is surprising how much liquid there is in spinach.  

You can press it out very easily with the back of a wooden spoon. Then I chopped it coarsely with some kitchen scissors.

 

After that you just stir in some sour cream, and a bit of lemon juice and seasoning. Easy peasy.  

Pile it on some hot buttered toast and top with some crisp streaky bacon and eggs . . .  poached or fried.  Both work.  

The day we had this, I fried them, but I think I would like poached eggs better, personally.

 

I used toasted ciabatta rolls that I trimmed the crusts off and then thinly sliced.  They worked beautifully and were just the right size.

 

I can remember my brother begging my mother to buy spinach when we were children.  We used to watch the Popeye cartoons.

He thought if he ate spinach he could have muscles like Popeye.  She told him she didn't think we would like it, but she bought a tin anyways . . .

 

And she was right . . .  none of us liked it. (tinned spinach . . . YUCK!)  I dare say however, if fresh spinach had been available, the story might have ended quite differently.  

I think  fresh spinach, lightly cooked, is a little taste of heaven on earth!  It has a beautiful earthy almost mineral taste that I quite enjoy.

 

Especially when you mix it with a bit of cream, sour or otherwise . . .  and some crisp bacon.  Bacon is another bit of heaven . . .  ahem  . . .

 

And then when you top that with an egg  . . .  the yolk lightly torn open so that golden richness dribbles down over the creamed spinach . . .  such a  beautiful taste combination.  A feast for the eyes and the mouth.

 

This made for the perfect, light supper on a night when it was too hot to cook very much of anything. It would be a beautiful breakfast or brunch dish at the weekend.  

The recipe serves 2, but I think it could very easily be multiplied to serve more.

 

 

 

Bumbleberry and Almond Crumble. All of the warm weather this summer has meant that our soft fruit is ripening much quicker than it has in summer's gone by.  I find myself most days with a handful of this and a handful of that, all needing to be used or frozen today, but not enough of any one this to make a whole dessert with or even jam. 

 

That's what happens when you only have a few bushes of this or that. We have our own strawberries (only a very few left of those), raspberries, blackberries and blueberries, oh and black currants.

 

There really is no such thing as a bumble berry . . . it's basically a name you give to a pie or dessert which has been created using at least three different berries . . . all "bumbled" together, and so it was with this Bumbleberry & Almond Cobbler.

 

Today I used a mix of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries.  These get mixed together in a buttered baking dish along with some sugar and cornflour. 

 

I use a mix of both white and brown sugars. You could also add a bit of lemon juice and zest if you wanted to.

 

You cover the dish with some foil and then bang it into a moderate to hot oven for about 45 minutes  . . .  stirring them once or twice during the bake time. 

 

You could also do this in the microwave if you wanted to and didn't want to have your oven on for that long. 

 

At the end of that time the fruit juices should be released and it should be starting to thicken a bit.  Its important to remember to stir it.  

 

If you are doing this part in the microwave, cover it with cling film and it only needs to be cooked for a fraction of the time. 

 

The important thing is that the fruit will have softened, be hot and the juices beginning to thicken. 

While that is happening you want to put together the crumble topping.  This is the star really . . .  

 

 

I think the topping of any crumble is the part that really brings the whole dessert to life and this one is an amazing mix of beautiful ingredients  . . .   

 

Grated Golden Marzipan . . .  I just grate mine using the large holes of a box grater.

 

There are also ground almonds (almond meal) for a real nuttiness, wholesome oats, flour, sugar and of course some melted butter  . . .

 

You just mix all of that together along with a pinch of salt, until crumbly.  

 

Take the casserole of bubbling fruit out, uncover it and then sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over all. 

 

Pop it back into the oven. You will want to use the oven for this as a microwave won't brown it golden brown like you want it.  

 

But having the oven on for a half hour isn't really much of a problem is it?  Well, it isn't in my house anyways.

 

At the end of that time the fruit will be nicely softened with a thick juice and that topping will be moreishly crisp and golden brown.  

 

Let it sit for 15 minutes or so before spooning out into bowls and serving warm with your favourite toppings.  My husband likes pouring cream or custard with his, whilst I rather enjoy a scoop of vanilla ice cream on mine.  

 

Whatever floats your boat!  enjoy!

 

  

 

I am a really naughty girl really  . . .  I find myself picking off bits of the crumble every time I walk past this.  I chose not to have any because I wanted to be good, but then I ended up picking.  I know  . . . . what am I like!  Bon Appetit! 

 

 

We live in a modern world where everyone is always looking for the next best thing . . . where old fashioned and traditional values are pooh poohed.  

Where people often over-look the simple because they think (mistakenly) that it can't be very good because, well . . .  its just too simple!  It happens in our every day lives, in what we watch on the television and what we read, and unfortunately, also in what we eat. 

Recipes such as this simple Old Fashioned Cup Custard are often  forgotten in the flotsam of trendiness, and its a darn shame really, because this is really, really good. 

 

Not only is it exceedingly tasty, but its also very simple to make.  So simple in fact that a child could do it with a bit of supervision, maybe even a husband! lol 

 

You don't really need any special ingredients to pull it together, or even any out of the ordinary dishes.  There was a time when custard cups were a must have in every kitchen.  

I don't have custard cups, but I do have single sized ramekins. In fact these ones are ramekins that I saved from some chocolate puddings I bought once upon a time from Costco. 

 

This delicious . . .  comforting . . .  wholesome  . . .  quick and easy . . .  simple dessert takes only 3 main ingredients, and a few simple add-ins.  

Eggs . . .  I always use free-range rspca approved large eggs . . .  sugar (not a lot) . . . and milk. I use whole milk, but you can use whatever milk you want. I don't really recommend skim or fat free milk however . . .

 

Other than that you only need some flavourings.  A pinch of salt (because believe it or not salt helps to enhance the sweetness of things) along with some vanilla and a dusting of freshly grated nutmeg on top.  

That's it. Simple.

 

You just beat the eggs together with the sugar, vanilla and salt.  The milk is scalded. 

This is very easy to do in the microwave.  Just pop it into a large glass beaker and heat it for about 2 minutes on high.  

There should only be bubbles which appear around the edges of the milk. You don't want it to boil.

 

This is when you can get a bit fancy if you like.  

You can infuse the scalded milk with flavours . . .  orange zest, lemon rinds, whole sweet spices, ginger . . . sweet soft herbs . . . lavender . . .  the world is your oyster.  

Just add them to the scalded milk and let them infuse for about 15 minutes. 

 

Some popular combinations would be . . .  lavender and lemon  . . .  basil and lemon . . .  lemon verbena . . . orange and rosemary . . .  ginger and cloves . . .  really whatever you have and want to create.  

Or you can just keep it simple with the vanilla and nutmeg.  Don't every underestimate the power of simple. 

If you have infused the milk, you will need to strain it into the beaten egg and sugar mixture.  The important thing is that you whisk the mixture constantly, so that the eggs don't cook or scramble.

 

Stain it again into your desired baking vessels . . .  and that's it. 

Pop them into a roasting tin, fill it up halfway up the sides of your ramekins with hot water, pop those babies into the oven and bake.

 

Half an hour later you will be rewarded with a beautiful dessert that is great on it's own, or with some fresh fruit/berries scattered on top . . . warm or cold.  

Wobbly, comforting and quite delicious.

 

 

 

We are huge fans of Turkey Burgers in our home.  In fact I would go so far as to say that we actually like them far more than we like regular burgers. We especially enjoyed this version that I cooked recently on our Space Grill. We sure are enjoying the beautiful weather and are taking advantage of this grill whenever we can.  It will be winter soon enough! 

 

Another reason we have been using it a lot (aside from the weather) is that is it just so darned easy to sue and to clean.  I could never get Todd to start up our old BBQ. He did not enjoy all the faff involved. This one, I just flip it out and turn it on.The patented automatic fold-down drip-tray means NO MESS, Perfect for all home types from small units to luxury homes, 3 separate individual ignition burners means fast starting. 

It has multiple cooking plates with reversible flat / grill designs. Open flame grill plate option included for healthy cooking. The sleek modern design that adds value to your home. It folds away in seconds, saves room and reduces clutter.  Composed of chef-grade, stainless steel  it is also rust resistant for longevity. The lid also doubles as a splash-back to protect your home. No other BBQ can do all of this! When you are done using it, just let it cook, clean the burner plates/grills, wipe out the fold down drip tray, and fold it all back, neat and tidy in wait for the next time. We love it!  You can find out more about it here.

 

These are really delicious turkey burgers.  I saw a lot of recipes floating around that used apple and spring onions to flavour the burgers.  I expanded on that a bit by using some grated honey crisp apple, minced red onion,  along with some  finely grated orange zest for plenty of flavour.

 

I only used the ends of the apple in the actual burgers, the rest of it was sliced thinly and grilled along with the burgers.  I shaped the burgers and then chilled them for several hours so that they really took in the flavours and firmed up nicely.

 

They grilled up lovely. When the burgers were almost done, I brushed the apple sliced with some honey mustard and popped them onto the grill plate.    I didn't want them to get soggy, but preferred them to retain some of their natural crispness.

 

I thought the grill lines would look lovely and enhance their flavours a bit. The honey mustard also added a bit of a tang to work with the sweetness of the apple. 

 

Once I had them the way I wanted them, I popped them onto the grilled burgers and piled on the grated cheddar, leaving it just long enough to melt down over those apple slices and the burgers.  Oh boy  . . . were we in for a real treat!

 

These were fabulous served on toasted brioche buns along with  some baby rocket leaves, which added a peppery touch.  (Baby Arugula if you live in North America.)  Altogether these were pretty wonderful!  I served them with some coleslaw for a really tasty supper!

 

 

  

I wonder how much longer we are going to blessed with this fabulous grilling weather!  It hasn't been quite as hot this week, but we still haven't had a lot of rain and its been really quite pleasant sitting out in the garden . . .  cooking, eating and reading.  I hope it keeps up for a while longer!!  In any case, if you are looking for a deliciously different turkey burger this weekend, look no further. You are going to love these.  I guarantee!  They're splendiferously tasty! Bon Appetit and Happy Weekend!