My latest recipe has just been published on the Chef Knives Expert Site. This week I am sharing a delicious recipe for Cheesy Burrito Melts!
This fabulously tasty hot sandwich melt uses simple ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen. Toasty English Muffins, kidney beans, sweet green bell pepper, tomato salsa (you choose how spicy you want it!), some minced spring onion, a few herbs and spices and rich cheddar cheese!
They go together in a flash. You can have them made and on the table in less than half an hour tops. They make a fabulously nutritious lunch which is a great source of protein (something we are all trying to get into our diets these days!) as well as being high in fibre, iron and calcium!
They are great for game nights when you are enjoying the latest match with your family, or for students who are up studying and need something quick and easy. You can bake them in the oven or in a microwave oven! They can also be easily assembled ahead of time and refrigerated, ready to pop into the oven 15 minutes or so before you want to eat! These are quite simply fabulous! You can find the full recipe and instructions on Chef Knives Expert!
Cornbread. I love cornbread, and yet it wasn't something I experienced tasting until I was a grown up. It was not a staple or ever even mentioned in my home when I was growing up. It simply did not exist for me except in novels and stories.
My first experience of it was as an adult and it came in the form of a handwritten recipe my MIL gave to me in a little handwritten notebook of recipes that first year my ex and I were married. Elizabeth celebrated her 92nd birthday in August and though her son and I are no longer married, I still make her delicious corn cake from time to time and enjoy it with happy thoughts of her and all that she taught me about cooking and indeed life. She called it Corn Cake and you can find that tasty recipe here. It is my bench mark for what a good corn bread is.
This recipe I am sharing today comes from this Pillsbury Cookbook, Harvest Time Baking & Cooking, and its fabulously different than the usual.
First of all it has equal amounts of flour and cornmeal. By cornmeal (for the purpose of those from the UK) I am talking about a type of coarse polenta. If you are in North America, I am not talking about cornbread mix or self rising cornmeal. I am talking about good old, plain cornmeal here.
Another difference is that it is sweetened with Maple Syrup. That is unusual in my books . . . very New England . . .
It is studded with raisins and spiced with cinnamon . . . another difference from the regular versions of cornbread.
It smells heavenly when it is baking . . . you cannot beat the airborne scent of cinnamon. Full stop.
That is such an autumnal smell and Autumn is surely here. I saw three sets of geese flying south for the winter this morning . . . it seems very early I think . . . but they were right there up in the sky . . . the sight and sound taking me back to my Canadian childhood.
Cornbread . . . a flavour of autumn along with Maple and flying geese . . . and the smell of cinnamon . . .
We enjoyed it split and buttered with cold butter from the fridge . . . sliced into thin slices and laid atop the cut and dimpled surface . . .
Melting down into those nooks crannies and crevices . . . mingling with the sweet of dried fruit and warm spice . . .
So very delicious . . . the bread crisp edged . . . its crumb soft and crunchy at the same time from the cornmeal. I will always love that about cornbread . . .
The only way it could get any better was if you squirted some liquid honey on top . . . .
And I did . . . very naughty but very nice.
Yield: 9
Maple & Spice Cornbread
This unique and delicious corn bread is spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg and orange peel and sweetened with maple syrup. Studded with raisins, it goes fabulously with ham and eggs!
ingredients:
- 140g plain flour (1 cup)
- 170g cornmeal (1 cup) (not self rising)
- 75g raisins (1/2 cup)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp grated orange peel
- 160ml milk (2/3 cup)
- 120ml maple syrup (1/2 cup)
- 60g butter, melted (1/4 cup)
- 2 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
instructions:
How to cook Maple & Spice Cornbread
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter an 8 or 9 inch square baking tin. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, cornmeal, raisins, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and orange peel together in a bowl. Whisk together the beaten eggs, milk, butter and maple syrup. Make a hollow in the dry ingredients and add the wet all at once. Stir together just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 17 to 22 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Serve warm, cut into squares.
This was so, so, so good! I hope you will bake it and when you do think of geese flying across grey skies, the sound of skittering leaves and the smell of warm cinnamon and hearth and home.
Up tomorrow: Raisin Sour Cream Meringue Pie
I wish you could all smell my house right now! It smells like heaven, all cinnamony and sweet! That's because I have been busy making a Hostess Gift today!
Whenever we are invited to someones house for a meal I like to bring a Hostess Gift along as a thank you! We are going to our friend's Tina and Tony's for lunch today and so I thought I would make something special for them to enjoy.
The last time we went I took along a loaf of my Irish Tea Brack. Oh, I know I could bring some After 8 Mints or some such, but I think a homemade gift is so much more personal!
I was going through my Big Blue Binder and this recipe for Pecan Crunch Snack Mix caught my eye and I happened to have everything in the house to make it. For those of you who don't know my Big Blue Binder is a recipe binder that I have been collecting recipes in throughout my life, since I was a small girl.
It is bulging with recipes gleaned from magazines, family and friends throughout the years and it has travelled all around the world with me. It is filled with the best of the best, and this is one of those recipes!
A few are clippings, but most are handwritten. I used to have beautiful handwriting. Not so much anymore. I have gotten out of practise. This is one of the hand written ones!
I have not noted the source of the recipe, but strongly suspect it was taken from an add for Shreddies breakfast cereal!
It makes for the perfect snack mixture and Hostess Gift. Sweet and salty . . .
Crisp and crunchy . . . with plenty of sugared pecans, toasted cereal and sweet stick dried cranberries . . .
And throughout the scent and flavour of cinnamon and honey . . . tantalisingly rich and wonderful . . .
It makes enough for two jars to give away and a small container to keep and is as easy as stirring together some cereal, nuts, cinnamon and cranberries . . .
and cooking a sweet concoction to toss them with, prior to spreading it all out on a baking sheet and toasting it in the oven for about half an hour. Easy Peasy!
Yield: 6 1/2 cups
Pecan Crunch Snack Mix
One from my big blue binder. I am sure I copied it from an ad in a magazine for Shreddies cereal. Delicious addictive! This makes great hostess gifts as well.
ingredients:
- 520g shreddies cereal (4 cups)
- 120g coarsely broken pecan nuts
- 50g dried cranberries (1/2 cup)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 50g soft light brown sugar (1/2 cup packed)
- 60g butter (1/4 cup)
- 60ml corn syrup, golden syrup or honey (1/4 cup)
- 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
instructions:
How to cook Pecan Crunch Snack Mix
- Preheat the oven to 120*C/250*F/ gas mark 2. Butter a large baking sheet with a rim really well. Measure the cereal, pecans and cinnamon into a bowl and toss together.
- Combine the butter, brown sugar and golden syrup in a medium saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly over medium high heat. Once it comes to the boil. allow it to boil for 2 minutes without stirring. Take off heat and stir in the bicarbonate of soda. It will foam up. Pour this over the cereal mixture in the bowl and toss to coat using a spoon. (The mixture will be very hot so don't touch it with your hands!!) Spread out on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, stirring it every 8 to 10 minutes until crisp and lightly coated. Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
This is so good I am glad that I am giving most of it away. Its far too dangerous to have around for very long! I hope that Tina and Tony enjoy it!
Up Tomorrow: Maple & Spice Corn Bread
If you are a North American who grew up in the sixties and seventies you would have had to live under a rock not to know who the Brady Bunch were!
It was a very popular half hour sitcom on the television! It was about a two widowers with children (her 3 daughters, him 3 sons) who married and became the Brady Bunch!
One episode that really sticks out in my memories was the one where Bobby Brady was doing an impression of Humphrey Bogart whilst saying Pork Chops & Applesauce.
Entitled "The Personality Kid," I believe it is probably the one episode which sticks out in most people's memories.
When I think of Pork Chops and Applesauce, I always think of this particular show and I always think of my mom who was tickled pink with it and used to like to repeat the phrase in Humphrey Bogart's voice as well when we were having pork chops and apple chops for supper! I guess it became a bit of a family tradition!
With fresh Bramley Apples coming into the shops at the moment, there is no time like the present to make a couple of batches of delicious apple sauce! Bramley Apples are the UK's favourite cooking apple.
Large and green and stout with flattened ends, green in colour with a red flush, these apples are perfect for making apple sauce, pies, crumbles, etc. I don't think they are readily available anywhere else in the world, so you will have to make do with whatever your favourite cooking apple is!
Apple sauce is such an easy make and you can do up batches and freeze it in containers for use over the winter. You just can't beat a batch of fresh apple sauce to serve along with your pork chops.
This apple sauce is not as sweet as the applesauce you might want to eat for dessert. It is slightly tart and rich from the addition of some butter.
You just put peeled and sliced apples into a saucepan along with some sugar and butter and cook over low heat until they break down.
Bramley apples are actually quite fluffy when they break down which makes them perfect for this sauce.
I don't mash it when done, I just beat it up with a fork. Perfection!
Bramley Apple Sauce
Yield: 6
Perfect in every way. Slightly tart with just a hint of sweetness. The perfect condiment to go with pork.
ingredients:
- 3 Bramley apples, peeled cored and sliced (or the equivalent of another cooking apple)
- 50g caster sugar (1/4 cup)
- 50g butter (3 1/2 TBS)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
instructions:
How to cook Bramley Apple Sauce
- Tip all of the ingredients into a pan. Cover with a lid. Cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, or until the apples are very soft and have broken down. Beat with a fork. Serve immediately or tip into a bowl, cover and chill until needed.
The chops themselves are also very easy to make. It is an old, old recipe that I copied out of one of my mother's recipe books many years ago.
It was a little paper back book containing recipes for cooking meats. I can still see the cover in my head, but the name escapes me. I must be getting old!
These chops always turn out tender and delicious. It is a very simple way to cook them and is really more of a technique than a recipe.
Bone in loin pork chops are dusted with some herbs and seasonings. I like to slash the fatty edge with some kitchen scissors.
This simple trick prevents them from curling up when they are cooking.
I then lay them on a buttered baking sheet and sprinkle some bread crumbs over top and dot with butter.
The original author used to pour water or stock around them in the baking dish, but I have always used apple juice.
It imparts a slight apple flavour to the sweet succulence of pork that is quite delicious!
You could use pineapple instead if you wanted to. The acid from the fruit juice helps to tenderise the meat.
That's my story anyways and I'm sticking to it. Sometimes I flip them over and repeat the treatment on the other side halfway through the cooking. Sometimes I don't.
They always come out delicious no matter what. Pork Chops and Applesauce! Why not cook some today!
Yield: variable
Oven Baked Breaded Pork Chops
This is more of a method than a recipe. It is the way I have been doing my breaded pork chops for years and years. They always end up tender and moist. The crumbs on the bottom don't alway stick, but they do meld into the juices to make a lucious sauce and the crumbs on the top always stay put. All in all they are truly delicious.
ingredients:
- 1 bone in pork chop per person
- salt, pepper, dried sage and onion granules
- 2 TBS of fine dry bread crumbs per chop
- butter to dot
- apple juice
instructions:
How to cook Oven Baked Breaded Pork Chops
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Cut the fatty edge of the chop (s) with some kitchen scissors at 1/3 inch intervals and place it/them onto a baking sheet with a raised edge, which you have lined with foil and buttered. the size of baking sheet depeds on how many chops you are cooking. Obviously if you are only cooking one or two you will want a smaller baking tray.
- Dust the top surface of each chop with some salt, pepper, sage (rubbed between your fingertips) and onion granules to taste. Then sprinkle a tablespoon of bread crumbs evenly over top of each one. Dot with butter. Pour apple juice into the baking tray evenly around the chops, trying not to disturb the crumbs on top.
- Place the tray into the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, checking to make sure the apple juice does not boil dry in the pan. Once the crumbs have begun to brown on top, remove the pan from the oven.
- Carefully turn each chop over without disturbing the crumb topping and repeat the process for seasoning and crumbing on the underside. If you need more juice in the pan, once again pour it around the chops.
- Return the pan to the oven and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, until nicely browned on top and the juices have thickened into a bit of a sauce. Check every 5 to 6 minutes or so to make sure the pan is not going dry and top up with more juice if need be. Serve hot with some of the pan juices spooned over top. Fabulous!
My husband loves pork chops. He was in heaven. I served these with the apple sauce, baked potatoes, green beans, carrots and cauliflower cheese. Yes, he is a bit spoiled, but why not! He's always most appreciative!
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