When I was living in Canada prior to moving over here I worked at a Canadian Institution called Tim Hortons. I quite liked my job. I have always loved working with people and with food.
During Strawberry season they used to carry a line of Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish that I totally loved. There is something really wonderful that happens when you combine strawberry filling and puff pastry.
Add a cream cheese filling and you are in taste heaven. End of story!
I was sitting here looking out at the sunshine today and thinking about my time at Timmies this morning and decided to re-create the flavours of their Strawberry Danish for Todd to enjoy.
I think I did a pretty good job . . . ahem . . . maybe these are even better. *blush*
And they only require a few ingredients. One package of all butter puff pastry. I use the all butter one because I don't like to use or eat things like palm oil if I can help it, and well, all butter puff pastry just tastes better!
You simply unroll the pastry and cut it into 8 even rectangles. Then you lightly score a half inch border all around the edge of the rectangles using a sharp knife.
You will also need 1 free range egg yolk, which is divided. 1/2 of it gets used in the filling and 1/2 gets beaten with a bit of water and brushed around the borders you just created. You then press flaked almonds into the borders, just lightly so that they will adhere.
The other half egg yolk gets beaten into some cream cheese, sugar and flavourings. I use pure flavourings. Almond and Vanilla.
This gets spooned into the centre of the pastries. It will be a bit runny, but that's okay. Just don't overfill them and there won't be a problem. You may not need it all, but there shouldn't be a lot leftover.
After that you want to take the best strawberry jam you can buy. ( I confess, I adore Bonne Maman.) Just plunk about two teaspoons down the centre of the pastries. Don't be tempted to over-fill. Hot jam expands.
And that's it. Bang those babies into the oven and let the magic happen . . .
Let that pastry puff up and develop all of it's flaky golden layers . . .
Let those lovely flaked almonds get all golden brown and toasty . . .
Let that rich cream cheese custard bake through . . . . mmmm . . . .
And let that sweet strawberry jam bubble away and get all sticky gooey berry-ish . . .
A flicker of almond icing is the finishing touch . . . it gilds these lilies to perfection!
Yield: Makes 8
Strawberry Almond Cream Cheese Danish
prep time: cook time: total time:
These wonderfully flaky pastries will have your family reaching for seconds. Quick, easy and delicious! If you have all the elements ready and waiting they go together in a flash.
ingredients:
- 1 sheet of all butter puff pastry
- 180g package of cream cheese (4 ounces)
- 45g sugar (1/4 cup)
- 1 free range egg yolk, divided
- 1/4 tsp each pure almond and vanilla extracts
- strawberry jam
- flaked almonds
For the glaze:
- 65g sifted icing sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1 TBS milk
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line a baking tray with baking parchment.
- Whisk together 1/2 of the egg yolk (reserve the remainder), the sugar, cream cheese, vanilla and almond extract until smooth. Set aside.
- Unroll your puff pastry. Cut it into 8 equal sized rectangles. Using the tip of a sharp knife, score lightly about 1/2 inch in around the border of each rectangle, taking care not to cut all the way through. Transfer to the baking sheet.
- Whisk together the remaining egg yolk and an equal amount of water. Brush the 1/2 inch border around each rectangle with the egg wash and sprinkle with the flaked almonds, pressing them on lightly.
- Spoon a portion (about 2 heaped TBS each) of the cream cheese mixture into the centre of each rectangle, spreading it out a bit. Spoon 2 tsp of strawberry jam into the centre of each on top of the cream cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 17 to 20 minutes until puffed and golden brown at the edges. Remove from the oven. Scoop off onto wire rack to cool completely.
- Whisk together the icing sugar, milk, and almond extract until smooth. Flick over top of the pastries. Allow to set before serving.
Created using The Recipes Generator
What more can I say but nummity nummity nummity num num num! Hmmm . . . why oh why do I do this to myself? So very hard to resist!
The recipe which I am sharing today was adapted from a cookbook by Mary Younkin, entitled "The Weeknight Dinner Cookbook."
I have been keen to try it for a while now. Today was the day. (Tuesday as I write this.)
The flavours and simplicity of the dish really appealed to me.
I have cut the quantities in half as we are a small family and neither one of us is overly fond of leftover chicken on the bone reheated. I find it takes on a flavour that I find quite unappealing.
I had tried another recipe last week, which I did not share with you. It was not the best tasting dish. It was called Halfsies Chicken, and I got the recipe on Food52.
It had looked and sounded very appealing, but in all truth we both did not like it at all. It was far too garlicky and we found the smell was quite repugnant. (Just saying! Don't shoot the messenger!)
This one looked a lot more appealing and I can tell you it smelled a lot more appealing as well.
My refrigerator stunk like that other recipe for days afterwards, not to mention my house. This was very pleasant in contrast.
The recipe requires marinating bone in, skin on chicken thighs overnight, or for at least 6 to 8 hours, in a simple marinade, steeped with Greek flavours . . .
Thinly sliced red onions, thinly sliced garlic . . . along with dried thyme and oregano . . .
are mixed in a zip lock baggie along with some olive oil, lemon juice and red wine vinegar . . . along with some salt and black pepper of course . . .
You just mix together all of those ingredients in a zip lock baggie (or a bowl with a cover) and then pop in the chicken.
I massaged them a bit with the marinade to make sure that all the pieces were well coated.
After that you simply pop the bag into the fridge and forget about it until you are ready to cook it. (I did give the bag a bit of a shake whenever I remembered it.)
Ideally overnight, but you can also put it into marinade early in the day and then cook it that night for supper.
When you are ready to cook it, just remove the chicken from, and discard the marinade . . . pop it onto a baking sheet and roast in a hot oven.
You could also cook it outdoors on the grill, according to your manufacturers instructions.
She recommends cooking it over medium coals, lid down for about half an hour, and then flipping it, and continuing to grill for a further 20 minutes or so (lid down) until the juices run clear.
I think I might try that when the weather warms up a bit. I think it would be really good done on the BBQ and served with some salads when we have people over. Its really yummy and easy too!
We both really enjoyed this chicken. It smelled amazing when it was cooking and looked amazing also! I served it with some veggie rice and mixed vegetables on the side!
Yield: 3 - 4
Greek Chicken
prep time: 24 hourcook time: 1 hourtotal time: 25 hours
Plan ahead as the chicken needs to marinate overnight. The end result is moist and tender pieces of chicken, filled with delicious flavours!
ingredients:
- 6 small free range chicken thighs, bone in, skin on
- 1 small red onion, peeled and very thinly sliced
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and very thinly sliced
- 120ml olive oil (1/2 cup)
- 60ml fresh lemon juice (1/4 cup)
- 30ml red wine vinegar (1/8 cup)
- 1/2 TBS dried oregano
- 3/4 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
To Serve (optional):
- fresh thyme leaves
- fresh chopped flat leaf parsley
- lemon wedges
instructions:
- Have ready a large plastic container with a lid, or a large zip lock baggie. Shake the olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, sliced onions and garlic together in the bag. add the chicken pieces and rub well into the marinade to coat all over. Zip the bag shut and place in the refrigerator overnight.
- When you are ready to cook the chicken, remove it from the refrigerator. Remove the chicken from and discard the marinade.
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F gas mark 6. Line a large baking tray with aluminium foil. Place the chicken pieces on the baking sheet, skin side down.
- Roast for 30 minutes. Flip over so that the skin is now on top. Return to the oven and roast for a further 30 minutes, until golden brown and the chicken juices run clear. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes, Sprinkle with the herb (s) and serve immediately with lemon wedges if desired.
Created using The Recipes Generator
If you are a fan of juicy well flavoured chicken, you can't go wrong with this recipe! Nom nom!
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.
Scrambled Heuvos Rancheros Bowls. I wanted to make us something Tex-Mex the other day for our brunch/supper. (More often than not we eat our big meal of the day at noon.)
I quite like Tex-Mex flavours.
Cooking Tex Mex can be somewhat of a challenge over here in the UK, because we can't always get the right ingredients. Its getting better though, thank goodness.
Its improved vastly since Tomasina Miers won Master Chef. She is a huge proponent of Mexican and Tex Mex Flavours and has inspired Brits to want to try them also.
If we could get canned chopped green chilies or green enchilada sauce I would be one very happy camper! Oh how I miss the canned green chilies.
I tend to just buy the jalapenos and roast them myself. Much more work than simply opening a tin I have to say and I am not sure they are quite the same.
I had some leftover cooked potato. So I chopped these up along with some onion and fried them in a bit of oil, seasoning them with salt, pepper and mild chili powder until golden brown.
They smelled delicious when they were frying. Oh, I do so love a fried potato.
I heated some cooked pinto beans with some salsa in the microwave.
You could use a small tin of refried beans in their place if you wanted to.
Then I scrambled some eggs along with some cheddar, green Tabasco sauce and milk. Delicious!
If you haven't tried the Green Tabasco Sauce, you really need to. I would not be without it now.
I also warmed some tortillas in my favourite way of doing so. I just hold them over the flame of a gas burner until the bubble and turn golden brown.
I had all of my other ingredients ready to go, or mise en place as it is called in restaurants.
Once everything was heated and cooked, I was set to go and go I did . . .
So easy . . .
Each bowl got a layer of browned potatoes, topped with some of the beans, and finally the scrambled eggs.
I sprinkled cheese over top, which melted perfectly from the heat of the eggs . . .
A scattering of crumbled back bacon, some spring onions and a nice splash of green Tabasco sauce and we were good to go!
Yield: 2
Scrambled Huevos Rancheros Bowls
prep time: cook time: total time:
Tex Mex Flavours served in individual bowls along with your favourite accompaniments! Makes a great breakfast or even a light supper.
ingredients:
- 2 tsp light olive oil
- 175g cooked potato cut into cubes (1 1/2 cups)
- 1 small onion, peeled and diced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- black pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp mild chili powder
- 1 small can of pinto beans (250g/7 1/2 ounces), drained and rinsed
- 90g grated strong cheddar cheese (3/4 cup, divided)
- 120ml tomato salsa (1/2 cup)
- 2 corn or flour tortillas (heated)
- 1 spring onion, trimmed washed and thinly sliced
- 1/2 TBS butter
- 3 large free range eggs, beaten with a fork
- 1 TBS milk
- 1 tsp green Tabasco sauce
Optional accompaniments:
- cooked bacon or sausage, crumbled
- chopped or grilled fresh tomatoes
- green or red hot sauce
- salsa as desired
instructions:
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over moderate heat. Add the potatoes and onions. Season with salt, pepper and chili powder, and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown. Remove and keep warm.
- Heat the pinto beans in the microwave along with the tomato salsa. Keep warm.
- Wipe out the skillet. Beat the egg together with 1/3 of the cheese, the milk and the green Tabasco sauce. Heat the butter in the skillet until it begins to foam. Tip in the egg mixture. 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 them, neither do you want to under cook them. You just want to cook them until they all pull together into soft creamy lumps, not dry curds. This should take several minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Bear in mind that they will continue to cook as they sit.)
- Scoop the cooked potato mixture into two heated pasta bowls or serving plates. Top each with a portion of beans. Divide the hot scrambled eggs between the bowls. Top with cheese, then spring onions.
- Serve immediately with your hot tortillas and any desired accompaniments.
Created using The Recipes Generator
This was simple, hearty and delicious. I served some extra salsa on the side and I had grilled some tomatoes that we ate along with them as well. Yummy yummy!
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.
This fabulous "small-batch" slow cooker meal is big on flavour but very light on prep and it destined to become a family favourite.
(Don't worry if there are more than two of you, you can easily double or triple the quantities with no problem and it will be cooked in the same amount of time, no problem!)
I have relied heavily on Mediterranean flavours for inspiration here . . .
Fresh green baby spinach leaves . . . briny tangy feta cheese . . . fresh lemon . . . oregano . . . onions & garlic . . .
There is a minimum of prep involved . . .
you just need to soften the onion and garlic in the microwave . . . takes as long as it takes. It all depends on the strength of your oven.
I have used one pouch of the ready cooked long grain rice you can buy at the shops.
I always have several of them in my larder. They are so handy for quickly thrown together meals.
You can use brown rice or regular . . . this gets stirred together in a slow cooker along with the onion and garlic mixture, and a bit of dried oregano.
You could use fresh oregano, but I don't see the point when something is going to be cooking for four or five hours in a crock pot . . .
I have the 1.5 litre Andrew James oval slow cooker. It works perfectly in this. Any smaller sized one will work if you are cooking for two.
Don't be tempted to use freshly made or leftover rice.
It will turn mushy and blow out in the slow cooking process.
Packed, pre-cooked rice IS necessary. It really is.
You nestle 4 smallish boneless skinless chicken thighs down into the rice in the slow cooker.
I season them generously first with some salt and pepper.
That's it . . . pop the lid on and let this cook on low for 4 to 5 hours, just until the chicken is cooked through and tender.
At that point you will remove the chicken and shred . . . with two forks. Does a perfect job does two forks.
While you are shredding the chicken, stir fresh baby spinach leaves, some feta cheese and single cream into the rice and pop the lid on just to wilt the spinach leaves and melt the cheese . . .
Give it all a good stir and then stir in the shredded chicken, lemon zest and lemon juice for a lovely citrussy but not tart, with bold bright fresh flavour notes!
Taste and adjust the seasoning and them pile it onto a nice little platter for serving. You sprinkle some more crumbled feta cheese on top and dinner is served!
Voila! Like magic.
Yield: 2
Lemony Chicken & Rice
prep time: cook time: 5 hourtotal time: 5 hours
This is a smaller batch slow cooker recipe for two, but can easily be doubled to feed more and cooked in a larger crockpot. Tender lemony chicken with lemon, oregano, feta cheese, spinach and cream. What's not to like? Oh yes, only one pot to clean when done.
ingredients:
- 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp vegetable oil
- 2 small cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1 (250g) pouch already cooked long grain rice (2 cups)
- 4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (small to medium in size), trimmed and any fat discarded
- 60g fresh baby spinach leaves (2 cups)
- 85g crumbled feta cheese (3 ounces)
- 60ml single cream (1/4 cup half and half)
- 1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
- 1 TBS fresh lemon juice
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
instructions:
- Place the onion, garlic and oil in a small microwavable container. Cook in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until the onion has softened. (Time will vary according to the strength of your microwave.) Remove from the microwave and stir in the oregano. Transfer to a small crock pot. Stir in the rice. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Tuck them down into the rice. Cover and cook on low, until the chicken is tender, 4 to 5 hours.
- Remove the chicken to a cutting board. Cover with a small piece of foil and let cool for a few minutes. In the meantime stir the spinach, 2/3 of the feta cheese and the cream into the slow cooker, stirring to combine all well. Shred the chicken with two forks and stir the chicken meat back into the slow cooker. Cover and let sit until everything is heated through, Stir in the lemon zest and lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning as required.
- Spoon out onto a small heated platter. Sprinkle with the remaining feta cheese and serve immediately.
Created using The Recipes Generator
This really is so so SO delicious . . . fresh, colourful and easy peasy lemon squeasy!!! You are going to love it! I double-dog-dare you not to!
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@aol.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons