I wanted to bake us something sweet for a treat to enjoy with a hot drink today, but I didn't want to make anything that used up too much of my flour, or that made too large an amount of anything.
This is a book that I have had for a number of years. Traditonal Teatime Recipes, by Jane Pettigrew. Its a National Trust Book. I usually find that you can trust their recipes. They are often the same things that they sell in their tea rooms which are attached to their historic properties, and many of the recipes also have a history.
There is no history attached to this recipe. It is mainly touted as a recipe that can be and is meant to be enjoyed with a nice hot cup of Ceylon tea, morning or afternoon. We are truly a nation of tea drinkers and we like to dunk.
We don't drink regular teas or coffees in our home for religious reasons, but we do enjoy hot herbal drinks and rooibos teas.
One thing I liked about this recipe is that it didn't use a lot of flour. There is a quantity of oats mixed in with it. Neither does it use any eggs or milk, just a TBS of powdered milk or coffeemate.
Some of its flavour comes from the use of golden syrup, which can lend a bit of a caramel flavour to things. If you can't find or don't have golden syrup, feel free to use honey. It is only 1 tsp that you will need.
It is quite a crumbly dry dough, but that is how it is supposed to be. You might think you have done nothing wrong. Use your hands to smoosh it up into walnut sized balls. There are nothing like the tools God gave us. They perform so well in situations like this.
Laid out on paper lined baking sheets and lightly pressed with the bottom of a glass, they take a bit longer than normal cookies/biscuits to bake. 20 minutes, but they also bake at a lower temperature.
Leave them on the baking sheets to cool for a few minutes before transferring them to a rack to finish cooling.
And then once cooled, you dip half of the cookie into melted chocolate. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips because that is what I have the most of in this house!
These are perfect dunkers. They are crisp and have almost a shortbread-like buttery texture.
They are not overly sweet . . . just sweet enough I find. The oats add a bit of nuttiness. Overall I would say these are quite moreish!
Abbeys
Yield: 16 cookies
Crisp, oaty and dipped in chocolate. These moreish biscuits/cookies are perfect to enjoy with a hot cuppa!
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
- 100g butter, softened (1/2 cup)
- 100g caster sugar (1/2 cup)
- 1 tsp golden syrup (can use corn syrup)
- 100g self raising flour (14 1/2 TBS)
- 100g porridge oats (1 1/4 cups) (not old fashioned)
- 1/2 TBS full cream milk powder (Coffeemate or similar)
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
You will also need:
- 275g plain or milk chocolate (10 ounces)(I used chocolate chips)
Instructions:
How to cook Abbeys
- Preheat the oven to 150*C/300*F/ gas mark 2. Line two baking sheets with baking paper.
- Cream together the butter, sugar and corn syrup until light and fluffy. Add the remaining ingredients and work together. It will be a bit crumbly but persevere. Shape with the hands into balls the size of a whole walnut. Place onto the prepared baking trays. Press down lightly with the bottom of a glass.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, until pale golden brown. Let sit on the baking trays for a few minutes before lifting out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Melt the chocolate in a narrow but deep container. (Use a cup or a small bowl.) Dip the biscuits into the melted chocolate until they are half covered. Then return to the wire rack or greaseproof paper until the chocolate sets completely.
- These are really nice served with icecream or fluffy desserts as well.
If these have a history at all, I have been quite unable to find it. I guess sometimes things just appear with no history behind them. In any case, you are sure to love these crisp and buttery, oaty cookies!!
Chicken & Ham Pie. If you are like me you carry a whole arsenal of chicken and ham recipes. That is recipes engineered to use leftovers! This is a recipe I meant to share with you yesterday but with all of the upset of my husband's fall and everything, I never got around to it.
Normally I would make a better presentation of it as well, showing you what you can serve on the side, but again with the accident fall, that just didn't get done!
Nevermind, its the pie you are here to see. And this is one heck of a tasty pie!
Its a great example of making something delicious from what you have at hand to use!
I love the crust for this. It uses a fat combination of lard and butter, along with flour, baking powder, onion salt and milk.
Normally I would use all milk, but we are rationing to make our milk last longer and so I used half milk half water, and you know what? It was every bit as delicious as always.
It is a lovely tender and flaky crust, and the onion salt gives it a bit of a savoury flavour that works really well with the fillings.
It is the same crust that I use in my Hamburger & Chicken Pie (Don't knock it til you try it) and it is lovely, with a beautifully flaky texture.
I had leftover chicken from my roast chicken that we had the other day so I used some of that. I also had a package of deli ham slices in the refrigerator that needed using.
Chicken and ham are a very popular pie combination over here, so I thought why not! Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without!
It does use a tin of cream of chicken soup in the fillings also, but no worries if you don't have any.
Make a thick cream sauce, using 2 TBS flour, 2 TBS butter, 240ml/1cup of chicken broth and 240ml/1 cup of milk. It works just as well.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, whisk in the flour, cook for a few minutes, then whisk in the broth and milk. Cook, stirring constantly until it thickens and then cook for a few minutes longer. Taste and adjust the seasoning as desired. Let it cool completely before you use. You don't want to melt the fat in the pastry.
There are three layers of pastry in this. A bottom crust. A middle crust between the chicken and the ham fillings.
A top crust to tuck it all in nicely. Brush it with a bit of milk, if desired and bake.
That pastry is heavenly and the fillings are pretty tasty also. If you have any pastry trimmings, this is what my mom used to do with them.
She would roll them out, spread them with butter, fold in half and then cut into squares. We would enjoy them with soup. Oh so tasty instead of crackers and bread and no waste of anything.
Like I said, normally I would have shown you what to serve with this tasty pie. But today you will have to settle with my recommendations.
My husband likes mashed potatoes with his, with peas and gravy. (He is so British.) You could also have oven chips.
The Canadian in me prefers coleslaw or a salad with mine. Yesterday I had pickled beets, due to a lack of salad ingredients in the house.
Truth be told, this pie would be great even on it's own! Tina stopped by yesterday to pick up her CFM printouts on the BOM I had been doing for her and I gave her two slices to take home for her and Tony's supper.
She was most appreciative and we will have the rest for our dinner today! I don't think anyone will be complaining that it is leftovers!
Chicken & Ham Pie
Yield: 6
This is a simple recipe in which a little bit of meat goes a very long way. The pastry is heavenly and altogether this is quite, quite delicious.
Ingredients:
For the chicken filling:
- 250g cooked chicken, cut into small bits (2 cups)
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 tsp parsley flakes
- 1/2 (295g)tin of condensed cream of chicken soup (10 3/4 ounce tin)
For the ham filling:
- 250g sliced deli ham chopped (about 8 ounces)
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 tsp parsley flakes
- 1/2 (295g)tin of condensed cream of chicken soup (10 3/4 ounce tin)
For the pastry:
- 115g of lard (4 ounces)
- 115g butter (4 ounces)
- 420g plain flour (3 cups)
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp onion salt
- 160ml milk (2/3 cup) (I used half milk, half water)
Instructions:
How to cook Chicken & Ham Pie
- To make the ham filling, mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside.
- To make the chicken filling, mix together all ingredients in a bowl. Set aside.
- To make the pastry, sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl. Stir in the onion salt. Drop in the fats and rub them in with your fingertips until your mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs with a few pea sized bits. Stir in the milk with a fork to form a soft dough. Divide into three bits, with one bit being larger than the other two. This will be the bit you use to line the bottom and sides of the baking dish.
- Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Have ready a 7 by 11 inch rectangular pie baking dish.
- Roll out the largest bit of the pastry on a floured board, using a floured rolling pin, to a size large enough to lie the bottom and sides of the pie dish. It should only be about 1/4 inch thick. Line the dish with this. Spread the ham filling on the bottom of the pastry.
- Roll out another bit of pastry large enough to just cover the ham filling. It should also be 1/4 inch thick. Place on top of the meat. Spread the chicken filling over top.
- Roll out the remaining pastry large enough to cover the chicken filling with a bit of overhang to tuck in the sides. Place over the chicken filling and tuck in the edges all around. Crimp the edges. Brush with a bit of milk and slash to vet the top.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Serve hot and cut into squares. This is delicious!
Normally I would bake a few things sweet/wise for the weekend, but I am trying to make my flour last a bit longer until I know I can get more. I had to bake us a loaf of bread yesterday as well as we had run out. I hope you are all doing well! We can do this! I know we can! 👍👍👍
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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We were supposed to have the Missionary Sisters over for dinner this week. Unfortunately because of the Corona Virus our plans changed, and we were not able to have them.
That made me a bit sad as we had not had the missionaries over for dinner for a while and I had been really looking forward to seeing them, but better safe than sorry.
I had bought in a medium sized free range corn fed organic chicken as a treat.
I found a recipe on the BBC Good Food Site, and then added my own twist to it.
We like Roast Chicken in this house.
We always enjoy it on the first day, and then I use the leftovers to make sandwiches or a casserole, and the bones for soup.
A roasting chicken is always a good economy. At least that's my opinion. Just buy the best chicken you can afford to buy and then cook it properly.
Your reward will be at least three decent meals out of it. Our chicken today was nice and plump.
Garlic, thyme and lemon work with chicken to form a trinity of delicious
flavours.
In this instance, the chicken itself is filled with lemon halves and sprigs of thyme, and then roasted on a bed of vegetables and garlic. I also add some butter to the cavity along with some seasoning.
The outside of the chicken is rubbed well with more butter and then seasoned generously with salt and pepper.
Just plunk it into the oven and leave it to roast for about an hour and a half, and you will have a nicely roasted bird.
You can make a really delicious gravy from the drippings, once you have strained out the roasted vegetables.
The roasted vegetables actually add quite a bit of flavour into the mix.
And the flavours of the chicken itself are greatly enhanced with the lemon and thyme that is inside.
I think the butter I add inside, also helps to keep it moist.
We are pretty boring when it comes to what we serve our chicken with. Its always the same. But its what we enjoy.
Mashed potatoes, stuffing, swede (turnips), carrots and peas. Simple. You can't get much better than this!
My favorite stuffing is Mary Berry's Sage and Onion Stuffing recipe. It is fabulously delicious and so simple to make. Perfectly Creamy Mashed Potatoes are what I always make. You just can't go wrong.
Classic Roast Chicken & Gravy
Yield: 4
Nothing is more comforting than a delicious dinner of Roast Chicken and vegetables. Crisp skin on the outside, and succulent, flavourful, tender and juicy meat on the inside. This is my way of achieving just that. Lemon and Garlic bring out the best in chicken. The three just go together like peas and carrots!
Ingredients:
- 1 medium sized roasting chicken, about 1 1/2 kg in weight (about 3 pounds)
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 stick celery, roughly chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, bruised
- 1 unwaxed lemon, halved
- 4 TBS butter
- olive oil
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- Sea Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
For the gravy:
- 1 TBS plain flour
- 250ml chicken stock (1 generous cup)
Instructions:
How to cook Classic Roast Chicken & Gravy
- Pre-heat the oven to 190*C/375*F/gas mark 5. Scatter the chopped vegetables and garlic in the bottom of a roasting tin with sides, large enough to hold the chicken.
- Season the chicken well inside with salt and pepper. Put the lemon halves, 1 TBS of butter and the thyme into the cavity of the chicken. Place the whole chicken on top of the vegetables and garlic in the roasting pan. Rub the remaining butter over the breast and legs. Dust the whole thing with some salt and pepper and drizzle with some olive oil. Place in the heated oven.
- Roast, uncovered and undisturbed, for approximately 1 hour and 25 minutes, or until the juices run clear when pierced with a fork.
- Remove from the oven, carefully remove the chicken from the pan to a serving platter, loosely tent, and let it sit to rest for about 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
- While the chicken is resting make the gravy. Strain the juices from the roasting tin to a saucepan and place over a low flame, then stir in the 1 TBS of flour. Allow it to cook and sizzle until it turns a light golden brown. Gradually whisk in the chicken stock, whisking constantly until you have a thickened sauce. Simmer for 2 minutes to cook out any flour taste. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired.
- Slice the chicken and serve hot with your favourite vegetables on the side and the gravy for spooning over top.
We are now living in a new world. I'm not sure I like it. I hope we don't have to live like this for too long, but they are saying it will most likely be at least three months for those who are elderly and with underlying health problems, which would be us. 😲
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
One of my favourite things to eat has always been the original Lemon Puff Biscuits/Cookies that you can get in the shops. I love lemon anything anyways, but . . .
there is just something totally irresistable and moreish about these treats . . . with their flaky cookie/cracker-like pastry . . . and that yummy lemon filling.
I could eat a whole pack of them myself. Trust me, I don't, but I could! I just find them that yummy!
I found myself craving them today. You know how that goes.
Sometimes you just crave something that you haven't had for a while. I haven't seen any in the shops the last while to be honest.
I did have a packet of ready rolled all butter Puff Pastry in the freezer though, and I got to thinking to myself today, why couldn't I just use that? Why indeed!
What's the point in having things like that in the freezer if you aren't going to use them every now and then!
I cut it into 1 by 3 inch rectangles . . . I can't tell you how many I got exactly because I didn't count them.
Some have um . . . disappeared in the interim between my baking and filling them, and my sitting down to write this.
Both my husband and myself have been picking at them.
So much for him saying he doesn't like lemon. Pah! Methinks he likes it well enough!
The ones you buy in the shops are glazed with something and so I glazed mine with a mix of egg white, caster (fine) sugar and lemon juice.
This was prior to sprinkling them with a touch of demerara sugar for crunch, and then baking them in a hot oven. This worked beautifully.
They came out lovely and light and perfectly golden brown with a lovely crunchy sheen/topping.
It was very easy to split them in half and fill them with a lush lemon flavoured buttercream. Do wait for them to cool completely before you do this.
You don't want the butter cream to melt, which is inevitable if you split them and add it too soon.
I wanted to be a bit generous with the filling. Go big or go home is my motto!
You almost can't see it here because it is quite a pale buttery colour, but believe me when I say that it is there . . . .
Oh boy . . . that combination of crisp sweetly crunchy puff pastry and that rich lemon buttercream are a beautiful combination.
Simply beautiful . . .moreishly, addictively, flaky, buttery . . . beautiful.
Such a beautiful thing to enjoy on a day such as this when you just want to put all that is happening in the world out of your mind.
You just want to sit back with a hot cuppa and a breath of something slightly indulgent and sweet . . .
And these do fit the bill perfectly! Just look at all of those flakey layers . . . .
And that wonderfully rich and indulgent buttercream filling . . . it just melts in your mouth.
They went perfectly with my cup of herbal tea . . . today it was mint . . . a lovely pick-me-up.
Of course days like this call for even more of an indulgence so I enjoyed my tea in my Susan Branch Bluebird Mug. I hardly ever use the mug.
Its so beautiful and I am afraid of breaking it, but then again what is the point of having something beautiful and never using it. Why indeed!
Lemon Puff Biscuits
Yield: Makes quite a few
I was craving my old favourite Lemon Puffs, and decided to make my own. If anything I think these are even better.
Ingredients:
For the pastry
- 1 sheet of ready roll all butter puff pastry
- 1 large free range egg white
- 2 tsp caster sugar (fine granulated)
- the juice of 1/2 lemon
- demerara sugar for sprinkling (turbinado)
For the filling:
- 100g butter, softened (8 TBS)
- 200g icing sugar, sifted (1 1/2 cups)
- the finely grated zest of one unwaxed lemon
- the juice of 1/2 lemon
Instructions:
How to cook Lemon Puff Biscuits
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Line several baking sheets with baking paper. Set aside.
- Unroll your puff pastry. Cut it into rectangles roughly 1 inch by 3 inches in size. Place them onto the baking sheets, leaving some space in between each.
- Lightly whisk together the egg white, sugar and lemon juice. You don't want it to turn foamy. Using a pastry brush, brush some of this on top of each piece of pastry, then sprinkle each with some of the demerara sugar.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown. Don't let it burn, so keep an eye on it.
- Scoop off onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the filling, beat together all of the ingredients until smooth. Take care not to add too much lemon juice, you want a thick spreadable mixture.
- Split the baked pastries in half through the middle. Spread a portion of the filling onto the bottoms of each one and top with the top pastry bit, sugared side up.
- Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
Hot Mint Tea, Bluebirds, Susan Branch and Lemon Puffs . . . it truly doesn't get much better than this!
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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