I almost hesitated to post this. I mean Bacon & Cheese on Toast must be pretty common in most people's kitchens. They may not make it the way I do however, and so here I am.
With one of the most delicious snacks, light lunches, treats that anyone could want to eat! If you like bacon and you like cheese, you are going to simply adore this!
Bacon is one of those things which sets everyone's tastebuds to tingling (unless you are a vegetarian or vegan). And even they have their vegetarian options to enjoy. There is just something about that sweet smokiness that people just love.
Cheese is also a favourite of many people. I have so many cheeses that I love and when you combine any of them with bacon, well, you are singing the song of my heart.
It is the quintessential combination, is bacon and cheese. It exists in many forms. Quiche, flammkuchen, pizza, etc. Many different cultures clearly love this combination.
Its just something that people really love to eat! And I am no exception.
Bacon & Cheese on Toast was a treat my mother would sometimes make us when I was growing up. We always got very excited when she did.
It was always made with what I now call plastic cheese. Processed cheese slices. Bright orange. We didn't mind. This was the cheese of our childhood. It was what it was. We didn't care. We loved it anyways.
I always like to use a nice strong farmhouse cheddar if I can. It has plenty of beautiful flavour. You want something with enough flavour that it won't be swalloped up in the richness of the bacon.
I will let you in on my secret to a really great cheese on toast here. I always like to add a layer of something between the cheese and the toast. An extra flavour booster as it were.
Some days this can be something as simple as a thin schmear of marmite. Marmite gives it a nice salty meaty quality, and you don't need much of it to have an impact. When you are talking marmite less is definitely more.
Other times I will add a schmear of mustard. Dijon is a favourite, but my absolute favourite is a good grainy Dijon. Filled with lots of mustard seeds and texture. Honey Dijon is also very good.
If you can get Honey Cup Mustard you are in for a real treat. It has a lovely punchy heat but also plenty of sweet honey flavour. Goes very well with the saltiness of the bacon.
Today I used a good Mango Chutney. I adore Mango Chutney. Its sweet and tangy and spicy all at the same time. And yes, it goes excellent with cheese.
Lets talk bacon here. I adore bacon, but it has to be good bacon. I don't like bacon that smells like pig. I know. I know. Bacon comes from the pig. True fact that.
But I don't like to smell pig when I am cooking my bacon. Not any more than I want to smell barnyard when I am cooking beef, or burning mittens when I am cooking lamb.
This shouldn't happen with good quality bacon. I like a dry cure smoked bacon. Preferably without nitrates. I like the dry cure bacon because you get far less shrinkage with dry cure bacon.
Have you ever noticed that white residue in the skillet when you are cooking regular bacon? Regular bacon is injected with brine and when you cook it that comes out into the skillet.
When you take something out of something what's left behind is quite naturally smaller. Its physics! Oh that it were that easy when it comes to my hips!
Cured Bacon is made by adding artificial nitrates, usually sodium nitrate. This gets added to the regular salt and brine mixture.
Uncured bacon is left in a more natural state and so tastes more like pork belly itself. This is called green bacon, which does not refer the colour of it, but merely the uncured state.
Dry curing is a common practice used in sausages, hams and other chacuterie. Think salami here and pepperoni, etc. It is a combination of salt curing, air drying and sometimes smoking, all depending on the meat you are dry curing.
You can dry cure a roast before you cook it. Just rub it all over with salt and seasonings and leave it unwrapped and on a rack over a baking sheet in the refrigerator over night or for a day or so. Same with a chicken. This results in a beautiful crisp skin on the chicken and less shrinkage during cooking of the meat.
In the case of bacon, after it has been cured, it is usually also smoked in a smoker. (but not always) There used to be a place down the road from us that did beautiful home-smoked bacon. Oh my but it was lovely.
I don't think I have ever tasted such beautiful bacon since. It almost tempts one to set up your own smoker just so that you can smoke your own bacon and hams, salmon, etc. Mmmm . . . dry smoked salmon. The best.
But I digress. When you are cooking your bacon, do try to leave it a bit flimsy. It will cook further underneath the grill, so you don't want to have it over crisp or burnt. You also don't want to use any of that pre-cooked bacon.
Nasty stuff. Well, in my opinion anyways. And yes, when it comes to food, I can be somewhat opinionated. Sorry about that!
Do try it with that extra schmear of something and let me know what you think! I think it just makes something which is pretty amazing to begin with even more delicious.
This makes a great snack, or light lunch. Its also really nice with a hot bowl of tomato soup. Mmmm . . . now I am wanting some all over again! 😋😋😋
Bacon & Cheese On Toast
Yield: 1
prep time: 10 Mintotal time: 10 Min
This is more of a technique than a recipe, however delicious. You can make as many slices as you wish, but the amounts here are for one delcious serving. Feel free to play with it as you wish.
Ingredients
For one serving:
- 1 thick slice of lightly toasted bread
- 1 TBS of your favourite spread (marmite, mango chutney, grainy mustard, etc.)
- 4-6 TBS of your favourite cheese grated (I like strong cheddar)
- 3 slices of streaky bacon, cooked to semi-crisp
Instructions
- Preheat the grill on your oven to high. Spread your toast on one side with your desired spread. I love mango chutney. But I am also rather fond of grainy mustard. Both go very well with cheese.
- Sprinkle the cheese evenly over top, almost to the edge of the toast, but piling it higher in the centre. (Remember cheese will spread as it melts.)
- Top the bread with your bacon slices.
- Pop under the heated grill until your cheese has melted and your bacon is crisp.
- Cut in half and enjoy!
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!
One cake which I fell totally in love with when I moved to the UK was the Traditional Battenburg Cake. This was not a cake which I had ever heard of prior to moving there.
There really is no end to the varieties of traditional and regional cakes and goodies amongst those fertile green and septred isles! With it's church window appearance, delicious texture and flavours, the Battenburg was one of my favourites.
After the holidays we are firmly entrenched in Winter, and with Covid, this year can be feeling especially depressing to you. We are all stuck in our homes, and our natural freedoms have been somewhat curtailed, and for good reason.
We may find ourselves in need of a "Pick Me Up" maybe more than ever. One thing I really like to do in the Winter months is to plan and prepare a small Tea Party, even if it is just for one or two people.
A Tea Party is one way to perk up your days and bring a bit of sunshine into your life! Are we not all in need of a bit of a lift?
You don't need anything special, or a load of people to attend. Some of the best tea parties of
all happen when there's just two of you, and I have been known to really enjoy an intimate tea party for just one. And why not?
All you need is a table spread with a fine cloth and some tea . . . in a
pot of course, (today we had blackberry and mint and it was
delicious!) and cups and saucers. You also need some delicious foods, although they need not be overly complicated.
The perfect afternoon tea (or High Tea as it is also called) should begin with some delicious savouries . .
. finger sandwiches, sausage rolls, little toasts, savoury pastries . .
. followed with scones (if you wish) and a selection of small fancies and
cakes.
You don't need a lot of sandwiches, only a few different types will do. I think we all have things in our cupboards and larders to make up a few sandwiches. Egg Salad. Ham. Cheese and pickle. Tomato. Cucumber (very traditional). There is no end to the types we can make.
Sausage rolls and tiny turnovers are also very popular. We had some in the freezer leftover from Christmas. Even Deviled Eggs can be quite welcome! I adore Deviled Eggs. You can find my recipe for those here.
For dainties all you need is a selection of a few bits and bobs. I am sure we all still have things leftover from Christmas. Shortbread cookies, squares and the like.
You don't really need a lot of them, one or two per person is quite sufficient. Even fancy chocolates are a treat. Just choose a few bits that really strike your fancy and give you a small bit of pleasure.
Of course the star of any good Tea Table will be a fresh baked cake. You won't get much nicer than a beautiful Battenburg Cake. If you love almond, then this is the cake for you.
A firm favourite on
the traditional English tea table, this is a very pretty two coloured
sponge cake, put together like a pink and white checker board pattern. I think you may actually be quite surprised as how very easy it is to make one of these delicious cakes!
You only need to create a simple sponge cake batter. The sponge batter is divided in half with one half being coloured pink with a bit of pink food colouring.
These get baked in the same tin. If you like you can separate the two batters with a strip of aluminium foil, or bake them separately in small loaf tins. .
Personally, I never have a problem baking them both in the same cake tin however.
They stay largely separate and you will be trimming the edges once the
cake has cooled, so it is very easy to separate the two colours.
Once cooled each colour is separated, trimmed and cut into two long strips. These strips are then sandwiched together in a checkerboard pattern, using seedless raspbery jelly and vanilla buttercream as a glue.
Its quite simply really. If your cake is completely cold you only need a good and sharp serrated knife to do the job. Just cut and trim as needed.
You don't have to put jam and butter cream between each layer if you don't want to, although that is traditional. On this day I did jam one way and buttercream the other way. Feel free to use a good quality store brand if that is what you have.
Raspberry jam and butter cream are traditional, but do feel free to use something else if you are not fond. This is all about creating a pretty cake that everyone will enjoy.
Once you have your checkerboard created you will need to brush the whole cake in more jam and then wrap it in a thin layer of marzipan. The marzipan gets rolled out very thinly on a layer of granulated sugar, which helps to prevent it from sticking to the cutting board/counter and adds a delightful crunch.
If you are really feeling keen and industrious you can stretch this a bit and make a Hazelnut Battenburg Cake. This is a wonderful riff on the traditional, composed of a chocolate hazelnut batter layered with the white cake.
As you can see this is also very pretty. The layers are sandwiched together with chocolate hazelnut spread. I use nutella.
It is incredibly moreish. Especially if you enjoy chocolate!
When cut into slices this is a beautiful cake. I think it is really quite amazing looking. It is very impressive and not all that difficult.
It does require a little bit of
patience, but it's well worth any effort taken. It may take a bit of
practice to get the marzipan as tight as you would like it, but do
persevere as it is most beautiful when done
If you are looking for a mighty fine cake to serve at your teatime table, then this is the one to choose. Pretty and delicious. What more could you want??? Nom! Nom!
Yield: 6
Battenburg Cake
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 45 Mintotal time: 55 Min
This is a traditional cake that has appearing in British cookery books for over two centuries. The finished cake resembles somewhat a church stained glass window. This is a real treat for almond lovers and not as hard to make as it would seem!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 3/4 cup (175g) butter, softened
- 1 cup minus 2 TBS (175g) caster sugar
- 3 large free range eggs, beaten
- 1 1/4 cups (175g) self raising flour
- a little red food colouring
You will also need:
- 2/3 pound (275g) of natural almond paste (marzipan)
- warmed seedless raspberry jam (about 3 TBS)
- vanilla buttercream icing (about 3 TBS)
- granulated sugar to dust
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter a 7-inch square cake tin and line with parchment paper.
- Cream the butter together with the sugar until very light and fluffy.
- Add the lightly beaten eggs and the flour, a little at a time, beating until smooth.
- Divide the cake batter in half, placing each half in a different bowl.
- Tint one half with a bit of red food colouring to give you a pink batter.
- Spoon the pink batter into the left hand side of the tin, and the normal colour into the other side. Smooth the top gently.
- Bake in the oven for about 30 to 35 minutes or until firm when lightly pressed in the centre.
- Carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before proceeding.
- When the cake is completely cool, trim the edges of the cake and then divide it equally into 4 long sections, with two being pink and two being white.
- Using a little of the butter cream and some of the warmed raspberry jam, place one of each colour on the bottom and the remaining two on top. alternating the colours to give you a chequer board pattern and having some butter cream and jam between each. You will not need much, only just enough to make them adhere to the other.
- Dust the counter top with some granulated sugar and then roll out the marzipan on top. You need to roll it thinly into an oblong roughly the length of the cake and large enough to roll around the cake.
- Spread with a thin layer of jam and then place the sponge checkerboard on top. Roll the marzipan around the cake and seal with a bit more jam.
- Trim the edges neatly at each end. Place onto a plate with the "seam" underneath and lightly mark the top in the traditional criss cross pattern.
notes:
Make Your Own Self Raising Flour:
You can make your own self raising flour by adding 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt to every cup of plain flour.
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!
One thing I really love about the Winter months is that it is comfort food season. You cannot get much more comforting than a delicious plate of Toad in the Hole with plenty of mash, veg and gravy!
Toad in the Hole is a very British dish, and very much beloved by one and all. It consists of sausages baked in Yorkshire pudding batter, usually served with onion gravy
and vegetables. You can dress it by adding herbs to the batter or
onions, etc. but basically it is just sausages and a pudding batter
baked together.
Simple. Today I have added to the appeal by wrapping strips of streaky bacon around the sausages before baking.
One thing I always loved about British Cuisine was their inventiveness in giving fun names to favorite dishes. Bubble and Squeak. Spotted Dick. Jam Roly Poly. Toenail Pudding. Sometimes they can sound a bit unappealing, but that is all a part of the fun of these names.
As unappealing as they sound, they are all incredibly delicious. They are a part and parcel and woven tightly into the fabric of British cuisine, being much beloved by its people. You cannot help but love them also.
This British family staple has been served on British Tables since the 18th century. It began as a delicious and inventive way of stretching and getting the most of what was a very precious commodity in that day. Meat.
During the Industrial revolution, which began mid-century, the working class worked incredibly hard jobs for a very meagre amount of pay. While their bosses became richer and richer off of the backs of the poor, the working poor needed to be incredibly inventive in making their resources stretch.
And nobody was truly exempt from having to work. Everyone in the family was expected to chip in and work for a wage, contributing their earnings to the wage pot to help and keep the family going.
Necessities such as shelter, clothing and food were the most important things, even more important than play and pleasure. Providing even these simple necessities of life often involved long and back breaking hours of labor.
And even then it was barely enough, all pooled together in the pot, to help to keep the family going. Pennies were pinched, and pinched and pinched some more.
It was often a necessity for families to stretch any bits of meat acquired by combining them with cheaper and more filling ingredients. In other words bulking them out with starches and such to help to fill the bellies for less.
Recipes such as this and other batter pudding dishes were very popular ways to do just that. When served with some potatoes and a cheap and tasty gravy on the side, these dishes were destined to become family favorites, to be handed down through the generations.
Dishes which we still love today. One thing is for certain, despite its very humble origins, this is a dish which has withstood the test of time. You cannot beat dishes like this. Humble, filling and delicious all rolled into one.
I doubt very much they could have afforded to splurge on two different meats such as bacon and sausage being served together, but you never know. In any case, it is a most delicious combination and a real favorite.
I like to use a good butcher's sausage. I don't like the really thick ones for this, although you certainly can use them if that's what you have. I prefer thinner ones. I get the best quality sausages my money can buy.
I like my sausages richly flavored and meaty. I don't like sausages which contain a lot of nasty fillers and preservatives. They have a really pasty texture which I find quite unpalatable. You really go get what you pay for and I highly recommend using good sausages.
Likewise bacon. I prefer the dry cure bacon. It just cooks up nicer with a much lower water content. If you can get nitrate free, do buy that! Its much healthier for you.
These are simply wrapped and placed in an oiled baking dish. You can bake them while you are making up the batter.
There is nothing out of the ordinary about the batter. It is simply flour, salt, eggs, milk and water. Beaten together and then poured around the partially baked sausages in the baking dish. I also like to add a goodly amount of pepper for seasoning.
Baked in the oven until the pudding is well risen and crisp and the sausages are perfectly golden brown and done through. You can't get much better than this.
We enjoy it with a huge pile of fluffy mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are the quintessential comfort food side. Light and fluffy, they are perfect for creating a little bowl to hold some of the delicious gravy that is also a must with this dish.
You can use gravy powder of course, or an envelope of gravy mix and most British do. But, making your own homemade gravy is also a very simple thing to do.
To make a lush onion gravy, you need to peel and thinly slice several large onions. Melt some butter, about 2 TBS in a skillet and then as soon as it begins to foam add the onions. I like to add some seasoning and a touch of sugar.
This helps the onions to brown very nicely. You do not really need a lot. Just a pinch will do, or you can leave it out altogether if you wish.
Once your onions have softened and are golden brown you need to sprinkle them with some flour. This depends on the amount of gravy you want. For two cups of gravy I add 2 TBS of flour.
You can use stock reconstituted from stock cubes or a good quality of broth from containers. Either will work well. For 2 cups of gravy you will need 2 cups or 480 ml of stock.
A bit of salt and pepper to season and you have a very nice gravy, which is delicious. Ready to spoon over your mashed potatoes and your Toad in the Hole.
And that is it! All you need now is some vegetables on the side. As you can see here today I cooked peas and carrots, but any vegetable will go well. I sometimes like to serve this with greens such cabbage or Brussels Sprouts.
You just serve this with whatever vegetable your family fancies. I guarantee you will receive no complaints from the peanut gallery. This is sure to become a firm favorite with the family or I will eat my hat!
Bacon & Sausage Toad in the Hole
Yield: 4
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 50 Mintotal time: 1 Hour
A delicious family favourite. Bacon wrapped sausages baked in a Yorkshire pudding batter until crisp and delicious. Fabulous served with mashed potatoes and hot gravy.
Ingredients
- 12 well flavoured sausages
- 12 slices of smoked streaky dry cure bacon
- 1 cup (140g) plain all-purpose flour, sifted
- pinch salt
- 2 large free range eggs, beaten
- 2/3 cup (160ml) semi skimmed milk
- 2/3 cup (160ml) water
- coarsely ground black pepper
To serve:
- Hot onion gravy
- Fluffy mashed potatoes
- Cooked vegetables
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Have ready a 9 by 13 inch casserole dish which you have sprayed with low fat cooking spray.
- Wrap each sausage tightly in a slice of bacon and arrange in the prepared dish. Place in the oven and roast for 15 minutes, until just beginning to brown.
- While the sausages are cooking, sift the flour into a bowl along with a pinch of salt. Make a well in the center. mix the milk and water together. Drop the beaten eggs into the center of the flour and then gradually beat in half of the milk/water mixture with a wooden spoon.
- Beat for 2 minutes until smooth, then gradually whisk in the remaining milk/water mixture until you have a smooth batter which has the consistency of cream. Season with coarsely ground black pepper.
- Remove the sausages from the oven and quickly pour the batter around them. Return to the oven and bake for a further 30 to 35 minutes until the batter is well risen and golden brown.
- Serve hot straight from the oven as above with your favorite accompaniments. Yum!
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!
This is one of my absolute all time favourite chicken casseroles. Not
only is is a great way to use up stale bread, but you can also use up
leftover cooked chicken or even turkey, or you can cook chicken specifically just to
use in it.
This is a recipe which I adapted from an Amish Cookery book I had many moons ago.
You know how that goes. Eventually the recipe becomes your own and it
is no different with this! Its now so much my own that it only vaguely
resembles the original.
I love recipes like this. They may seem a bit old fashioned, but they are always delicious and you don't really need to buy in anything special to make them. Most of the time you will have everything you need right in the house to make them.
I usually poach chicken to use in this recipe. You can also use leftover cooked roast chicken or the leftovers from a rotisserie chicken.
Poaching chicken is very easy to do. I usually poach a whole package of chicken breasts at a time.
Just take a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and place them into a saucepan large enough to hold them. Cover with either cold water or cold chicken broth, or a combination of the two.
You can add some salt and peppercorns if you wish. Just bring to the boil then simmer them, covered for about 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the size and amount of them.
Turn the burner off and leave them covered in the stock to cool down just until you can comfortably touch them with your hands. Remove from the stock, shred and use as you would for any recipe requiring cooked chicken. Don't forget to reserve the stock for use in this particular recipe.
The meat always comes out tender and juicy and filled with flavour. You can cook lots at one time and then just freeze it in lots containing two cups. I just double bag it in zip lock freezer bags.
Make sure you label it with the contents and date. Then you will always have cooked chicken on tap and ready to use. You can break it apart very easily from frozen, or thaw it out on the defrost cycle of your microwave oven.
Another thing I like to do when I am using celery is to destring it. I trim both ends and then catch the strings with the end of my knife and pull them towards me. You can just throw the strings away.
Celery strings can sometimes be really tough and chewy. Removing them takes away that problem. It doesn't take long. Lots of people don't like stringly celery. I don't like stringy celery. This way you get all of the flavour without any of the nuisance!
I use the whole loaf bread, crusts and all. Best is a rustic type of loaf, more like homemade bread. It is sturdier and holds up better. No need to dry it.
Just tear it into rough crumbs. You don't want them to be fine at all. You want some texture and substance.
I only ever use butter for cooking. I never use margarine, although I am sure that you could if you really wanted to. I prefer the flavour of butter and I like that it is an all natural product.
I really don't want to fill my body with artificial fats and chemicals. Butter all the way here! I also think butter has a flavour that nothing else really comes close to. That's me. I am a butter fiend!
You only want to add enough chicken stock to the bread to moisten it, so that it is not overly dry. You do NOT want it to be soggy in any way!
The original recipe was very plain. It had no onion, or herbs. I like onion and I like herbs. I also love stuffing, so my adaptions included ways to make it taste more like stuffing.
The original also didn't include celery or any stock. It was basically
just stewed chicken mixed with bread and a ton of butter, with some
celery seed and seasoning. It was very good. (Think of a whole pound
of butter. Yikes! No wonder it was considered tasty!)
Cutting the amount of butter back and adding some aromatics took nothing away from the original. Its a bit healthier and I love the flavours of the celery and onion, plus the herbs.
Not only that, but the butter you do use is infused with the
flavours of celery and onion so it really tastes better with less. Know
what I mean? You can't go wrong!
Whatever . . . stale bread, butter softened celery and onion, a
variety of herbs, seasoning and tender poached chicken mixed with a tiny
bit of stock and baked to give you one very delicious and simple
entree.
This is really very, very good. Especially if you serve it with a bit of gravy and some vegetables on the side. We like tiny boiled potatoes with ours, but mash would also be great!
Leave it to the Amish to create something incredibly delicious out of next to nothing!
Amish Chicken and Stuffing Casserole
Yield: 4 - 6
prep time: 15 Mincook time: 45 Mintotal time: 1 Hour
This is a fabulously tasty and easy bake. Just throw it together and pop it into the oven. I like to serve it with gravy, potatoes and vegetables on the side.
Ingredients
- 3 large chicken breast filets, poached in chicken stock and cooled (Reserve the stock)
- 1 medium loaf of sturdy stale white bread
- 1/2 cup (125g) of butter (1/2 cup)
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 stalks celery, washed, trimmed and chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp coarse black pepper
- 1/2 tsp celery seed
- 1/2 tsp each of dried parsley, crumbled sage, thyme and summer savory if you have it
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a large shallow casserole. Set aside.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the onion and celery and cook over medium low heat until softened. Stir in the salt, pepper, celery seed and herbs. Set aside.
- Crumble the bread into a large bowl. Shred the chicken coarsely and add to the bread. Pour the butter mixture over all and toss together. Add only enough leftover stock so that your mixture is not totally dry. You don't want it soggy.
- Pile into the prepared baking dish. Cover tightly with greased foil and bake in the preheated oven for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. Delicious!
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.
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