Here today is my latest down-sized recipe, my all time favorite recipe for the original All Bran muffins, that my ex mother in law gave to me when I was a very young Bride. It is the best recipe and has stood the test of time.
This down sized version makes six beautiful, low fat, low sugar muffins and lack none of the qualities of the original full sized version which you can find here.
Back in them thar days there was only a few ways that you got recipes to add to your repertoire. This was the olden days before the internet,
If you wanted a recipe, you either got it from the back of a box or a can, at the library, from a magazine, or by word of mouth.
That first year I was married my mother in law gifted me that Christmas with a lovely little handwritten notebook, filled with her favorite recipes.
These were her tried and trues. The recipes she had been cooking for her family with success over a great many years.
Some of them even handed down to her from her own mother. Elizabeth was a fabulous cook. I never had anything to eat at her house that I didn't love. This little book was and is a family treasure.
I am so grateful that I was clear-headed enough to pack it into my suitcase when I flew back to Canada last November. To have lost this would have been a real tragedy.
No doubt about it. It is really old now and actually falling apart. Many of its pages are splattered, faded and torn.
I keep telling myself that I need to copy it over into a new notebook, maybe even five, so that my children can each have one. Somehow it never gets done.
I better do it soon however as the writing in it is fading fast. Elizabeth is 94 years old now and lives not too far from me. I would love to take my daughter Eileen and go to visit her one day. We will see how it goes.
I really love and loved my mother in law. That old saying about people not getting along with their mother's in law is not true in my case. Elizabeth is a sweetheart. I have never heard her say an unkind word about anyone.
Not once. I am sure she would give me a warm welcome. She is still driving and going strong, believe it or not!
So anyways, this muffin recipe was one of the ones in the book. It is a healthy bran muffins recipe in that there are no refined sugars and very little fat.
I love how Elizabeth gave the amount of raisins to be used as "a lot." She loves raisins. Happy to say I do too, and I probably add more than the recommended amount, although . . . being a diabetic now, I do need need to restrain myself somewhat.
I dare say, you could too. They are quite simply fabulous. Tried and true, having withstood the test of time, they are a favorite around here.
These muffins are moist and delicious with a beautiful crumb. Not too sweet, never dry.
Out of all the bran muffins I bake, this is one of my favorite ones. It blows any store baked muffin out of the water. Seriously.
Because there is not a lot of fat in the muffins themselves, you can feel totally justified in enjoying them spread with lashings of butter, and why not.
That butter is sooooo delicious melting down into those lovely little nooks and crannies.
On a side note, I'm not sure why, but whenever I upload photographs to the blog, they always load on backwards, last to first, unless I load them up one at a time. Very time intensive to do that.
Does anyone else have that problem? How do you get around it?
So anyways, if my butter from the photos seems melted and then suddenly coming back together again, that is why. The photos went in backwards.
In any case that does not affect the deliciousness of these muffins. Not in the least.
They are moist and incredibly tasty. It has always amazed me that you can make something so incredibly delicious from a cereal that is so dry and unpalatable. Designed as a, for lack of a better word, natural laxative.
I could not ever sit down and eat a bowl of All Bran to save meself, But I can happily scarf down one or two of these muffins!
Can you believe that I had a really hard time finding a box of All Bran in my little town?? I know! I had to buy two packages of those packs of cereals where you get about 8 different little boxes.
They were quite an unusual mix. All Bran, Raisin Bran, Frosted Flakes, Cornflakes, Special K and Rice Crispies.
I had to buy two packages to get enough All Bran, even for this small batch recipe. Crazy that!
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Original All Bran Muffins (small batch)
Yield: makes 6 muffins
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 45 Min
This is one of the recipes my ex MIL gave me when I was first married back in 1977. We love these muffins, not only are they delicious but they are also low in fat, high in fiber and loaded with lovely sultanas! Small batched now for the empty nesters.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (75g) all bran cereal
- 1/4 cup (60ml) molasses
- 3/4 cup (180ml) milk
- 1 large free range egg yolk, lightly beaten
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 TBS oil
- 1/2 cup (70g) of plain flour
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp mixed spice
- 2 small handfuls of raisins
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a 6 cup muffin tin very well, or line with paper liners.
- Warm the milk along with the molasses in the microwave on high for one minute. Measure the all bran into a bowl and pour the warm milk mixture over all. Mix together and then allow to sit for 15 minutes before proceeding.
- At the end of that time, beat in the egg yolk, oil and vanilla. Whisk together the flour, salt, soda and mixed spice. Add all at once to the wet mixture and mix together just to combine. Lumps are ok. Stir in the raisins.
- Spoon into the prepared muffin cups, filling them 2/3 full.
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until well risen and the tops spring back when lightly touched. Serve warm with butter for spreading.
This Homemade Poppy Seed Dressing is a real favorite in my house and something which I have been enjoying for years. Its sweet and slightly tangy and goes very well on all sorts of salads, but I really love it on a Spinach Salad.
Especially if there is some fruit involved, and or chicken. It goes very well with both.
Our local superstore sells salad kits. They are not cheap really, but when you are a single person, the cost of buying all of the ingredients separately can be a bit exorbitant. It makes sense to buy a kit.
They have had a few new ones available recently and I decided to pick one up the other day. At $6.99 it wasn't really cheap, but when I weighed out the cost of buying everything to make one from scratch, it suddenly got cheaper.
It was a medium sized salad and ideally would serve me for several meals. With a medium salad, I think you are allowed to pick up two dressings to serve with it, or maybe one. I can't remember.
In any case I forgot totally to pick up the dressing altogether. Blah. That's me.
I decided to make my own dressing. When we were growing up my mom always made our salad dressing from scratch. There was never any bottled salad dressings in our refrigerator.
She had learned how to make a very simple vinaigrette dressing when we lived in Germany. My father was just talking about that the other day and how good it was. Maybe I will make some on my sister's birthday, but I digress.
There were no bottled dressings in our house, and no variety. We got the vinaigrette she made, each and every time. We didn't mind. It was delicious.
This of course changed as she got older. Often she would buy prepared dressings, and of course we would buy some every time we came home to visit. Usually because the bottled dressing in her refrigerator were quite suspect, meaning we never know how long they had been in the fridge.
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
Most of them would still be there from our previous visit. She wouldn't throw it out because it was "ours" and we had bought it.
If you were to take a bird's eye peek at some of those visits, you would see us three kids gathered around the fridge opening jars and smelling them. We never knew how long anything had been in her refrigerator.
My sister still has tins of salmon in her basement from mom's collection that expired in 1995. I kid you not. They aren't bulging or anything, but she's afraid to open them. I don't blame her.
I don't like waste myself, but I am not adverse to throwing things out that are out of date or just plain old. With careful planning, that doesn't happen very often.
Anyways, back to the salad I bought at the store and the dressing I forgot to pick up. They have been putting out a few different salads lately.
On the day I was there I had a difficult time making up my mind. There were quite a few to choose from. Some were of the Caesar salad variety, and whilst they are good, I wasn't in the mood.
I hummed and hawed in my mind about this one. Spinach, with red onion and a variety of fruits.
There was a nice large amount of baby spinach leaves. I love baby spinach and am always trying to increase my iron intake. Spinach is loaded with iron.
There was walnuts and chopped red onion, along with a nice variety of fruit.
Mostly berries. Blackberries, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries. There were also mandarin oranges. I wasn't so sure about them.
I finally decided to just go for it, and popped it into my cart. I felt I could toast the walnuts at home. Nuts should always be toasted. Especially for in a salad.
Toasting improves their flavor and crunch considerably. I did forget the dressing however and so made my own.
I did cut my usual amounts in half because there is only one of me and I knew I would not use it all if I made the full amount. It makes about 1 1/2 cups.
If you think you can use it and wanted to make the full recipe, here are the amounts: 3/4 cup of mayonnaise, 1/4 cup each of sugar, milk and white wine vinegar, 2 TBS poppy seeds, 1/2 tsp dry mustard powder, salt and black pepper to taste.
That's it. Just whisk it all together and keep it in the refrigerator.
I keep it in a jar and then give it a shake before I use it. Its really delicious with its creamy milk and mayonnaise base.
Sugar and white wine vinegar give it is sweet tang. You can adjust the levels of these according to your taste. I like a pretty even balance, but you may enjoy it more sweet, or maybe more tangy.
Its a matter of personal preference I guess. Its really nice drizzled over chicken or grilled fish as well, especially salmon.
Its a very pretty dressing and quite popular with the girls. Its a bit dangerous to serve at a luncheon however. I remember the Missus when I worked at the Manor, was always careful that we didn't serve anything at a luncheon for the ladies that might stick in their teeth.
Nobody likes to get caught with egg on their face as it were, and little bits of black caught between your teeth are not that nice. Its not like you are going to clean your teeth at the table with a toothpick.
Haha can you imagine a bunch of really wealthy people sitting around a dining table picking their teeth with toothpicks, etc.?
A luncheon with the Queen and various heads of state all picking their teeth. Wouldn't happen. I bet that she is really careful not to serve anything that could be embarrassing either.
In any case this was a really delicious salad, and made all the more so for the dressing. Any salad is only as good as its dressing and this one spells winner winner!
Whether you make the full amount of the smaller amount, one thing is certain. You are going to enjoy it. Bon appetit!
Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing
Yield: makes about 2/3 cup
Prep time: 5 MinTotal time: 5 Min
This creamy dressing is excellent on salads in the summer time. Sweet and tangy at the same time, it goes very well with poultry and fruit!
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup (66g)of good quality mayonnaise
- 3 TBS sugar
- 3 TBS white wine vinegar
- 3 TBS whole milk
- 1/4 tsp dry mustard powder
- 1 TBS poppy seeds
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl, then chill in the refrigerator until you need to use it, giving it a quick whisk just before you serve.
- Excellent on grilled poultry and fruit salads, with spinach, nuts, etc. Also excellent with grilled fish.
White Chicken Chili for Two. We have had a few really chilly days here in the Maritimes, with dark cloudy skies and drizzle and much cooler temperatures. Its been soup weather.
I am a huge fan of Tex-Mex Flavors. I have a real love of all of it, tacos, chili, enchiladas, etc. It all pleases me beyond belief.
I came across this White Chicken Chili for Two recipe in a book I bought recently entitled 5-ingredient Cooking for Two by Robin Donovan. As soon as I saw it, I bookmarked it to make at some point.
But you know me, I cannot leave well enough alone. Her basic recipe sounded very delicious, but I wanted to put my own stamp on it and so that's what I did.
I didn't really change an awful lot. I added a few more seasonings, and some corn. The end result was a hearty soup which was not only delicious, but pretty healthy as well.
Not quite as robust as a meaty red chili, but incredibly tasty and I confess, I like this one a whole lot more, probably because it uses chicken instead of ground beef. And I do prefer chicken over beef most of the time.
When I was in the local grocery shop on Saturday morning I lucked in and was able to get a large package of free range boneless, skinless chicken thighs, marked down by 30% if you used them that day.
I couldn't lose! I brought them home and poached the lot to use in recipes over these next few days. Normally I poach chicken breasts, but chicken thighs have so much more flavor, I couldn't lose.
Its very easy to poach chicken and the end result is very handy to have to use in recipes such as this one. I simply popped the chicken into a large saucepan and covered it with some cold water.
I added some peppercorns and a bit of salt to the water, along with a broken bay leaf, an onion, a piece of carrot and a stick of celery which still had some leaves attached.
Normally I wouldn't go to that much trouble when poaching chicken, but I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and make myself some chicken stock to use in the chili recipe at the same time.
I brought it to the boil, then reduced it to a simmer and cooked it, covered, over low heat for about 20 minutes. Then I took the pan off the heat and let it cool down, with the chicken in it, for about 20 minutes longer.
At that point, I removed the chicken from the saucepan, and strained out any other solids from the broth, returning it to the saucepan and boiling it down until I had the exact amount of stock that I needed.
You don't need to go to all that trouble if you don't want to save the stock. You can just use a bullion cube or a can/container of chicken stock.
The chicken was very tender and easy to hand shred. Hand shredding allows you to separate any bits you don't want to eat, bits of skin, fat, etc. and discard them. It also makes for some very nicely sized bits of chicken.
I used three for this recipe and have plenty more to use another day. My tastebuds are tingling just thinking about it!
You do need salsa verde/green salsa for this recipe. Its not that hard to find in North America, and I am happy to say that it had already become readily available in the UK before I left to come back to Canada last Autumn.
I had been able to get it on Amazon, and also at Waitrose. I adore salsa verde. The brand I bought was Gran Luchito. You can also get it online at MexGrocer.
In order for it to be a true white chili you do need to use the salsa verde. It has a lovely mildish flavor with a tiny bit of a zip. Its made with tomatillos, not tomatoes, and green chilies.
You also need to use white beans. I used one can of white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed.
Everything for this white chicken chili basically gets put into a saucepan and heated together. There is no frying of anything, etc. Like I said I added a few bits.
First of all I added some frozen corn. I like corn in my white chili. It adds a tiny bit of color and some protein. This is a soup which is filled with protein. Chicken, white beans, corn.
I also added some additional seasonings. I did not use salt at all actually. My stock was plenty salty enough. I did add ground black pepper and the ground cumin suggested in the original recipe.
I added some onion and garlic powders. I felt they would give it an additional flavor boost. I was right.
Such a simple addition, but such wonderful flavors. Simple really.
That's basically the changes I made. You just bring it to the boil, and then simmer it for a time so that the flavors have a chance to meld and ripen.
I scattered some grated cheddar cheese over the top to serve and added a dollop of sour cream. I thought about baking some corn bread to have on the side, but decided to go simple with just crackers.
Oh boy but this was some delicious. Hearty and light at the same time! The flavors were WOW!
So delicious in fact that I am quite looking forward to having the second serving today for my lunch. Not only is this incredibly delicious and simple to make, but it is also relatively low in fat and fairly healthy.
Low in carbs, high in protein, low in fat . . . until you add the cheese and sour cream that is, not to mention the crackers on the side.
I felt that I could enjoy a bit of cheese and sour cream on it however as it was incredibly low in fat and sugars. A tiny bit of indulgence on what was otherwise a delicious and healthy meal!
You can totally freeze the leftovers if you want. Pop it into a thick zip lock baggie and freeze it flat on a baking sheet. You can store it in your freezer for up to 3 months that way.
This is going to be a favorite in my kitchen and I think you are going to like it as well. At least I hope that you will! If you love Tex-Mex, you are really going to love this!
White Chicken Chili for Two
Yield: 2
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 25 Min
This is a delicious light version of a chili, which I actually prefer over the heartier beef version. Its actually quite healthy in comparison, but lacks none of the zest and flavor. I love it with a dollop of sour cream and some grated cheddar sprinkled over top.
Ingredients
- 2 cups (480ml) chicken stock
- 2 cups (about 500g) salsa verde
- 1 (15-oz/425g) tin of white beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup (about 80g) frozen corn
- 3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs poached and shredded
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- salt and black pepper to taste
To serve:
- Dairy sour cream
- grated cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Combine the stock, salsa, drained beans, chicken, corn, cumin, and garlic and onion powders in a saucepan.
- Gently heat over medium heat just to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and leave to simmer on low for about 10 to 15 minutes so that the flavors can meld properly, and the chili is piping hot.
- Serve divided between two bowls. Top each with a quantity of cheese and a dollop of sour cream to serve.
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