We had the last of the New Years Ham which needed using up today. I contemplated doing scalloped potatoes with ham, but my father doesn't really like scalloped potatoes. (I know! I don't understand it either!)
I have a cookbook entitled The weeknight Dinner Cookbook, by Mary Younkin. It is filled with simple, family friendly recipes. I spied a delicious sounding recipe in it for a Potato and Ham soup that is cooked in the slow cooker, and so I decided to adapt it for my own use.
First of all the original recipe was far too large. It made 10 to 12 servings. We are only four and we did not want to be eating soup forever.
Plus this is a creamy soup and has potatoes in it. I did not think it would lend itself well to freezing. One, potatoes like his don't really freeze well, and two, neither do soups or sauces containing cream. Plus none of us really like the texture of ham after it has been frozen.
It was fairly easy to cut the quantities in half for this. I did keep the cook times the same.Mary did not peel her potatoes for this.
My sister felt that it would probably bother my father and Dan if we left the peels on the potato. She didn't want a soup with potato skins floating around in it. Fair enough. I peeled the potatoes.
I did not have double cream or half and half to use, so I used coffee cream. It has been my experience in the past that you can also use undiluted evaporated milk in the place of both. It works well and you can't really taste that it is canned milk.
Personally, I would have loved to add a can of creamed corn to this. But, nobody (ie. Dan and dad) likes creamed corn. I don't understand that either because I could just eat it from the can with a spoon.
Oh how I am looking forward to corn season next summer! I can't wait! The whole time I was in the UK I longed for a good feed of fresh corn on the cob. The British don't really do corn on the cob well.
For one thing, it is such a damp climate that it doesn't really grow well there. Most of their corn is imported from South America, Africa and the continent. Right away anyone who knows corn will tell you that is a bad idea.
Corn should be eaten as soon as possible after it is picked. The longer you wait to eat it, the more the starch develops in the corn. Can you imagine the time taken to pick it and ship it from those foreign countries? I know!
Secondly, you should never peel corn until you are ready to cook it. Husked corn also stars to degenerate rapidly. I never saw corn un-husked in the grocery shops there. Never. Now you know why I am looking forward to corn on the season this year!
But I digress, and none of that has anything to do with this soup recipe, except to say that I think a can of creamed corn would go nicely in it.
I choose to call it a chowder myself, rather than a soup. A soup which is creamy and has a high potato content to me, is a chowder. Soup or chowder, however you choose to name it, this is one delicious pot of flavours.
It is thick and creamy. This is partially due to the use of the cream, and partially due to the fact that some of the soup gets pureed and stirred back into the soup.
I used my stick blender that Jan bought me for the first time and it worked beautifully. (Thank you Jan!!) Its a Kitchen-Aid and worked a charm. You can also use a regular blender to do this.
If you do need to use a regular blender for this, proceed with caution. Hot liquids and blenders can be very volatile combinations.
The heat from the liquid builds up in the blender and can blow the lid right off. Been there, done that. Not only can you receive some really bad burns from this, but you will be cleaning soup off your ceiling for weeks and months to come. Trust me.
The best way to do puree hot things in a blender is to remove the little cup from the centre of the lid and work in small quantities. Also cover the lid with a tea towel to help protect your hands and hold the lid firmly in place.
I speak thusly from experience, having blown the lid off a blender early on in my cooking journey. Thankfully I only had a mess to clean up and didn't burn myself. Its so much easier and safer to use a stick blender in my humble opinion.
Pureeing some of the liquid with some of the potatoes and ham really helps to thicken this soup. It gives it a nice creamy consistency.
Do be judicious when adding salt. Ham is a very salty ingredient and so you really don't want to be over-doing the salt!
This is a hearty soup with beautiful flavours. You get the creaminess from the cream. Saltyness from the ham. Herbiness from the use of thyme and rosemary, and then lets not forget the garlic and the onion. Both are not only flavourful but very aromatic as well.
Altogether we declared this a lovely soup and one we would make again. Not just because it was delicious, but also because it was very easy to make.
It is delicious served simply with crisp crackers, but those of you who are heartier eaters you may want to serve it with rolls, or hot buttered toast. Also baking powder biscuits would go down really well. I would be tempted also to serve some grated cheese to sprinkle on top.
No matter, this recipe makes for one very tasty hot bowl of soup! Yum yum!!
Slow Cooker Potato & Ham Chowder
Yield: 4
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 6 Hourtotal time: 6 H & 10 M
This delicious creamy soup is perfect for a cold winter's day and a great way to use up the last of your New Year's Ham.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
- 1/2 pound cooked ham, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch chunks (about 1 1/2 cups)
- 1/2 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- 3 cups (720ml) chicken stock
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
- 1/4 tsp ground rosemary
- salt to taste
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup (120ml) half and half or heavy cream
Optional Toppings:
- minced chives
- finely chopped flat leaf parsley
Instructions
- Combine the potatoes, ham, onion, garlic, chicken stock, salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary in a slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on high (3 to 4 hours) or low (6 - 8 hours.)
- When the potatoes are fork tender, scoop out about 2 cups (480g) of the potatoes and ham into a blender, or a tall measuring cup. Blitz until smooth and creamy in the blender, or with a stick blender in the cup.
- Return the blended mixture to the slow cooker along with the cream. Reduce to low and keep warm for up to one hour.
- Scoop into heated bowls to serve, along with suggested garnishes as desired.
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.
Cheesy Taco Puffs are a simple hot sandwich which my children would have absolutely loved when they were growing up. These quick and easy hot sandwiches contain all of the flavours of their favourite tacos, except the taco filling is stuffed into a biscuit dough pouch/pocket.
My children were always happy campers when tacos were on the menu. I was happy as well because tacos were something which was quick and easy to make.
In my opinion these are even better than Tacos. Probably because they are like little puffy pies and as those who know me well should know by now, if it is in a crust I am all over it.
These almost remind me of the pizza pops my youngest son used to love eating. Oh boy. Did you have a fussy eater when you were bringing your children up?
I raised five children, three boys and two girls. They each had their likes and dislikes when it came to food. I never liked to force them to eat anything they didn't truly like. I had been forced to eat things when I was a child and I just have never thought that was the right thing to do.
If you don't like what is being served, then have a peanut butter sandwich or something like that. I have actually been physically sick by being forced to eat something I didn't like. Not everybody is going to like everything.
With me it was a texture thing. I have never outgrown it. There are certain textures in things which trigger my gag reflex big time, even now. That is why I would never force my children to eat anything.
My youngest son was extremely fussy. He had not only his own dislikes, but took on board all of his brother's and sister's dislikes as well. I used to really worry about him getting enough proper nutrition.
He was, admittedly a bit of a spoilted brat, but he was my spoilt brat. He went through periods of times where he would only eat things that were white. Bread. Rice, etc.
Even his toast had to be a certain colour, not too dark, not too light and he did not want butter on it at all. He went through another period of time where all he would eat was hotdogs . . . until he made himself sick of them.
He really loved Pizza Pockets, and he loved Toaster Strudels. I learned to make my own so that it wasn't too expensive.
Gradually he grew out of it and he now eats everything pretty much, as far as I know. I am pretty sure he would have loved these. I really hope that one day I get to make them for my grandsons. Fingers crossed!
The filling for them is pretty simple. Extra lean ground beef, browned together with onions, garlic and a mix of seasonings. I have kept them as Tex Mex as I can in fitting with taco flavours.
You could probably use a package of taco seasoning instead if you wanted to, but I like to make my own seasonings. That way I can control the salt and the spice.
It also means that there are no nasty preservatives or additives in these. No MSG or other things you can't pronounce. If you can't pronounce it, you shouldn't be eating it. Just my opinion.
The meat filling for these is incredibly delicious. Flavoured with onion and garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, paprika, salt and black pepper. You could use smoked paprika if you wanted to give them an extra little kick
The crust is simply a homemade biscuit/scone type of dough. It is tender and flaky and works beautifully in these. You could use refrigerated biscuits if you wanted to, but again, these have no preservatives or un-pronounceable ingredients.
That's how I like it. Trust me, the homemade dough is way better and its not really all that difficult to make!
In addition to the meat filling, there is a generous amount of cheese. I have used strong cheddar here, undyed. I like the flavour of strong cheddar cheese. It is creamy and packs a bit of a flavour punch without going over the top.
You could use a Mexican cheese if you wished to, like a Jack cheese. You could even use a Pepper Jack if you were wanting to add more heat. That would be really delicious I think.
In fact, if you really wanted to, you could add some chopped roasted green chilies to the filling. Those would be an excellent addition in my opinion.
These are excellent served as hot sandwiches, or even served at room temperature, which makes them perfect for stuffing into lunch boxes. They are flaky, spicy and cheesy. In short delicious. I really hope you will want to give them a go!
Yield: Makes 6
Cheesy Taco Puffs
These simple to make little puffs are fabulously tasty on their own or served with soup or a salad, or even stuffed into lunch boxes.
prep time: 15 Mincook time: 20 Mintotal time: 35 Min
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1 TBS sugar
- 1/2 cup (110g) white vegetable shortening such as Crisco or Trex (UK)
- 2/3 cup (180ml) milk
For the filling:
- 1 pound (450g)extra lean ground steak
- 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 fat cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 TBS mild chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 2 cups (245g) grated medium to strong cheddar cheese
You will also need:
- fresh milk to brush on top
- sesame seed to sprinkle
- flour to dust the counter for rolling
Instructions
- Make the filling first so that you can cool it before stuffing the pockets.
- Spray a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray and heat over medium high heat. Add the ground steak, garlic, and minced onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion begins to soften. Add all of the herbs and spices along with a few tablespoons of water to moisten.
- Cook, stirring, until the beef is no longer pink and is beginning to brown. Set aside to cool completely while you make the biscuit dough.
- Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Stir in the sugar and salt. Drop in the shortening and cut it in with a pastry blender or two round bladed knives until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.
- Using a fork, stir in enough of the milk to give you a soft dough that isn't overly sticky.
- Dust a flat surface with some flour. Tip the dough onto it and knead a few times. Roll out to 1/4 inch thickness. Using a floured cutter, cut into 12 6-inch rounds, gathering any scraps and re-rolling out the dough as required.
- Preheat the oven to 400*F/200*C/ gas mark 6. Line a large baking sheet with some baking paper.
- Place six of the dough rounds onto the lined baking sheet. Top each with 1/6 of the meat mixture and then divide the cheese between all six rounds, placing it on top of the meat. Leave a small border all the way around.
- Brush the border of each with a bit of milk. Top with the remaining six rounds (you may have to stretch them a tiny bit)and crimp shut with a fork.
- Brush the tops with a bit of milk and sprinkle with some sesame seeds. Cut a tiny vent into the top of each with a pair of kitchen scissors.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot or at room temperature.
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!
London Particular is a delicious Split Pea Soup! The name comes from the famous fogs of London back in Dickensian times, which came to be known as London Particulars or Pea Soup Fogs.
Fogs which were so thick that you could scarce see your hand in front of your face. They would be blinding and very heard to breathe in.
Cinnamon Roll Muffins. Have you ever had three words set your taste buds to tingling more? I hope not, because these are really good muffins.
They embody all the flavours of your favourite cinnamon rolls, except they are muffins, not a yeast bread. I am of the school that cinnamon flavoured anything is good. It doesn't really matter too much what it is and these are OMG good!
I have posted these before as a full sized recipe. If you are wanting more than just six muffins you may want to click over to here.
The challenge for me at the moment, with all of the changes I have had to overgo in my life, is to present you with fresh content. Its not that I don't want to, but I am very limited at the moment as to what I can and cannot do. Until I am in my own place, I will very much have to try to take a bit of a different route.
I am going to attempt to small batch as many recipes as I can for now. My family just don't want or need me cooking full batch things and it is a waste. I think I am a bit in the way.
So I hope you will bear with me as I go through this transition. I am really hoping it won't be for very long and that I will soon have a place of my own. I have my fingers crossed as I really rely on this page to help to support me. At the moment it is my only source of income.
Telling you this is not designed to make any of you feel sorry for me. I do not want that. I just want you to all bear with me until things can get as back to normal as possible. There will be fresh content for sure.
There just may be a few hiccups along the way. I think as well I am going to have to possibly give up my job writing on Home Chef. I don't think it will be possible for me to continue it as I was and its not fair to them. I am a bit sad about that. Loss of income is loss of income . . . but it can't be helped and I need to be realistic.
Anyways, these muffins are excellent. I just adore the smell of anything cinnamon baking, don't you? To me it smells like home sweet home.
However, with there only being me, baking a full batch of muffins is not practical. As well, these don't actually freeze all that well. I would rather bake them fresh as and when.
This recipe makes six muffins.They are well sized and gorgeously flavoured with plenty of a nutty cinnamon streusel which is stirred throughout the muffins themselves and scattered on top.
I don't think anything smells better than cinnamon goods when they are baking. To me they smell like "Home Sweet Home."
You might be a bit concerned about them sticking to the pan, but if you butter your pan really well, that shouldn't be an issue. I also like to use a quality non-stick pan.
You could also use muffin papers if you wanted to. To be honest however, I like to bake my muffins without them if I can.
These rise nice and tall in the tin, with beautifully puffed domes/tops. The tops of muffins are my favourite part. I will need to get me a muffin top pan.
I had one in the UK and it worked beautifully at giving me my favourite part of the muffin. Muffin tops are fun to eat, maybe not so fun to wear. I get that.
These are the perfect weekend muffin for when you want to indulge a little bit, without going too far over the top. They have a lovely buttery batter, and that cinnamon nut streusel is to die for.
Not to mention the cream cheese drizzle on the top. That is to die for too.
Its like a frilly petticoat adoring your favourite dress. I remember those days. Oh boy, at the age of 65 they are long gone, my days of petticoats and favourite dresses.
Youth is surely wasted on the young. That is a phrase I never quite understood until I got old.
In any case, I do hope that you will all stick with me. I promise you in the end it will be worth it. And in the meantime, I hope you will enjoy bakes such as these small batch Cinnamon Roll Muffins.
In the end, I truly hope that this blog will become even better than it has been in the past. It is my hope to keep it going for many years to come. Please God, don't let that man have taken everything from me. At least that is my hope.
Cinnamon Roll Muffins (small batch)
Yield: Makes 6
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 15 Mintotal time: 25 Min
There is only one word to describe these and that is wow. Prepare to fall in love.
Ingredients
For the streusel filling and topping:
- 1/2 cup (75g) loosely packed soft light brown sugar
- 1/2 TBS ground cinnamon
- 3/5 cup (90g) toasted pecans, chopped
- 1 1/2 TBS melted butter
For the muffin batter:
- 1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 sp salt
- 1/8 (23g) cup sugar
- 1 1/2 TBS butter, melted and cooled
- 1 large free range egg yolk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
For the glaze:
- 1/2 cup (65g) icing sugar sifted
- 1/8 tsp vanilla
- 2 TBS cream cheese
- 1/2 TBS milk, or to thin
Instructions
- Make the filling by combining the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Blend together with your fingers, breaking down any lumps. Stir in the pecans and butter. Combine well and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a 6-cup non-stick muffin tin really, really well. Set aside.
- For the muffins, measure the dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk together to combine. Stir together the wet ingredients. Add all at once to the dry ingredients and stir together just to combine. Gently fold in half of the cinnamon mixture. Divide this mixture between the prepared muffin cups, filling them about 2/3 full. Top each with a portion of the remaining cinnamon mixture.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until well risen and the tops spring back when lightly touched. A toothpick inserted in the centre will also come out clean. Cool slightly and then whisk together all of the glaze ingredients until smooth. Drizzle over the tops of the muffins decoratively.
- Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. If any are stuck (If you have buttered properly, they shouldn't be stuck) then you can gently release by running a round bladed knife around the edges.
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.
My father grew up in the Saguenay/Lac St Jean region of Quebec in a town near Chicoutami called Bagotville. It is now called Ville de la Baie.
Situated on the banks of the Baie des Ha! Ha!, it is an area of great beauty. Growing up we visited the area several times to visit my Grandmaman and our French Aunt's, Uncles and cousins. We could not speak French, and they could not speak English, but we all spoke the language of love.
I remember my grandmother making this Toutiere for us once when we visited. It was delicious, and is very regional, differing a great deal from the other traditional tourtiere I shared with you last week.
Yesterday I thought long and hard about what recipe I wanted to begin 2021 with. That's a great responsability you know, being the first recipe in one of probably at least 365 choices! (The rate at which I blog anyways!)
I had a box of Mint Chocolates that needed using up and I had seen a recipe online for After Eight Brownies. Actually I saw it here. I felt it was a bit vague however much I liked the concept.
I don't trust recipes that are somewhat vague, especially when you are talking baking and the use of expensive ingredients. I decided to go with my old and trustworthy brownie recipe and just adapt it to the use of the mint chocolates.
I have been baking that brownie recipe for years and years. It is tried and true and incredibly trustworthy, even with adaptations to add ons/ins.
They always turn out rich and fudgy. They are the perfect consistency for a brownie. When I worked at the Manor, the Mr requested a pan of them at least once a month.
The staff never minded either. The smell of them baking always brought a few of them in the kitchen to investigate and a sneaky bite or two later on after they had cooled.
True confession here. I did not use After Eights. I actually used a box of Ganong Mint Patties because that is what I had. Worked perfectly.
I cut the mint patties into eights and used half the box to stir into the batter before baking. They were a lot thicker than After Eights, but worked well.
The remainder of them (16 in total) I laid out in rows across the top of the baked brownies. Four rows of four, making sixteen.
Then once they had softened I spread them out a bit with the back of a spoon. I could have just left them sitting there I suppose. That might have been pretty
But I wanted to have a white and chocolate swirled topping to look at when they were totally done. I thought it would be really pretty.
I also thought it would showcase the dark chocolate drizzle that I was planning on flicking over them in the end. So you got a mix of mint, milk and dark. Perfect!
Perfectly gliding the promise of deep, dark, chocolate fudgy goodness. I just adore my Brownie recipe. It is perfect in every way.
Did I ever tell you about my experience in attending a cooking show in London. I was contacted when I was still living down in Kent and asked would I like to attend the taping of a new cooking show in London at the Channel four studios.
Overall I thought it would be a good experience and it was. I got a true picture of how they actually put together a cooking show.
They actually filmed it quite differently than what one would suppose. First they did the middle and then the beginning and finally the end. They had signs to show the audiance when to ooh and ahh and when to clap, laugh, etc.
It was really interesting. They had the Tanner Brothers (chef's from Kent) and Paul Rankin (the Irish Chef) in attendance. There was a celebrity guest as well, Vanessa Phelps. I had brought some of my Parsnip and Apple Soup and Paul Rankin declared it delicious in his Irish accent.
Anyways, part of the show was a Brownie bake-off between the chef's. I have to be honest here. They had no idea of what a proper brownie should be like. Their Brownies were gooey sludge.
You should be able to pick up a good brownie in your hands to hold it. You shouldn't need a spoon to hold or eat them. Their Brownies were grossly under-cooked. But who am I to say . . .
Anyways, I could have taught them a thing or two about what a real Brownie should be like. They had no clue. Myself, I am always open to learning new things.
I was quite pleased however that my soup was deemed delicious. I have had other opportunities to do television through the years. I did do a screen test for a show once upon a time, but nothing ever came of any of it.
I think I just don't fit the mold of who or what they want people to see. Too ordinary. Too fat. Too old. I have noticed by and far that most people you see on these shows are much younger.
Most people of a certain age never get a look in these days. I am okay however with things just as they are. Maybe it is that people of a certain age don't really want to put up with all of the nonsense that goes along with something like that.
I can't be bothered at any rate! People are always saying to me you should go on the GBBO. No thank you! I cook for pleasure and nothing else. To please myself and my loved ones.
And these Brownies certainly fit that bill on all counts. They are moist. They are delicious. You can pick them up in your hand. You will enjoy them.
And if you don't . . . well, I guess we all have different tastes. Happy New Year. I sure hope that 2021 is a lot better year for all of us!
After Eight Brownies
Yield: 16
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 45 Mintotal time: 55 Min
Moist and delicious with full on chocolate flavour, these are everything a good brownie should be, with the delicious addition of After Eight Chocolate Mints.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240g) butter
- 1 cup (140g) plain all-purpose flour
- 4 ounces (115g) good quality bitter chocolate
- 4 large free range eggs
- 2 cups (190g) sugar
- 1 TBS vanilla essence (YES 1TBS)
- Pinch salt
- 1 package After Eight chocolates, divided
- melted dark chocolate to drizzle
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180*C/350*F. Grease and line an 8 inch square glass baking dish. (I like to leave an overhang so that I can lift the brownies out when they are completely cold for cutting.)
- Melt the butter along with the chocolate over low heat in a large pot.
- Allow to cool, then stir in the sugar, eggs (one at a time) vanilla, flour and salt, mixing with a wooden spoon and being careful not to over mix, no more than 50 strokes!
- Break half of the After Eight into bits and fold into the brownie batter.
- Pour batter evenly into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out a little wet if you want fudgy brownies. Bake until it comes out cleaner if you want cake type brownies, about 40 to 45 minutes for the fudgy ones.
- Place pieces of the remaining mint patties on top and return to the oven for a minute to melt. Remove from the oven and spread out a bit with the back of a spoon.
- Melt the dark chocolate and drizzle over top. (You will literally only need about 2 TBS)
- Let cool completely before cutting into squares. Store in an airtight container.
I stored the baked brownies in my mother's old square tupperware container. Well, I guess it is my sister's now. I sure envy her having all of these things of my mom's.
There are so many happy memories tied up in them. The number of times my mom made date squares or feather squares and then stored them in this container. So much joy for our family and good eating.
You just can't beat these old things. They truly were meant to last a lifetime and beyond!
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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