Are you like me? Do you like every aspect of the meals that you serve to your family, be then one or be they ten, delicious?
I try hard to make everything I serve on my plate delicious. Now there is only me that doesn't mean that I can't still create delicious foods for myself. I always aim for every main, side and dessert dish to be the tastiest possible.
Favorite Cheesy Potatoes are one of my favorite side dishes. Not in the least because they are very simple to make, but also because they are delicious.
A bit decadent perhaps, but this is the type of dish you want to serve on the side when you main dish is a bit lackluster. You want a side that will shine!
I can promise you that these cheesy potatoes do just that! This is a small batch recipe in that is makes four servings rather than 12. I hope that's okay!
Trust me, they are so rich and so decadent that you won't want to eat more than 1/4 of this recipe, but I promise you that you will enjoy each and every mouthful!
This recipe is a slight variation on my regular recipe for Funeral Potatoes. Funeral Potatoes are a wonderful dish that you will see served at many Potluck suppers here in North America.
I first tasted them about 30 years ago at a Potluck supper at the church I was then attending, Oh my but they were some delicious. I begged the recipe from the maker and have been making them ever since, with the odd variation.
The original recipe used frozen hash brown potatoes, thawed. Today I have chosen to use boiled russet potatoes. For those of you who live in the UK, a russet potato is a type of floury baking potato.
They are usually much larger than regular potatoes and almost oval in shape. They have a nice floury texture when cooked, which makes them ideal for baking and mashing and for recipes such as this one.
I used them in an attempt to cut back on some of the fat in the recipe. Just peel and cut them into 3/4 inch cubes. They are then par-poiled in lightly salted water.
You don't want to boil them completely or they will fall apart and that is not what we want for this. No worries, they will finish cooking in the oven.
Another change I made was to use French Onion Dip rather than cream cheese. This adds a lovely richness to the dish, that is really delicious.
It also adds a nice onion flavor without having to add any onions. Easy peasy. Those are my main changes.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE CHEESY POTATOES
There is really nothing too out of the ordinary needed to make these potatoes. Unless you consider the onion dip as being out of the ordinary.
- Russet potatoes
- condensed soup (undiluted)
- sour cream
- French onion dip
- milk
- cheddar cheese
- seasoning
- crispy salad onions (like French's French fried crispy onions, or in the UK, crispy salad onions
Generally speaking I use strong cheddar cheese, or sharp aged cheddar when I am cooking with cheese. I find it has so much more flavor then the milder cheese, which means you won't need to use as much to get the same flavor impact!
In other words, less is more! It does use tinned condensed soup, but I always have several tins in my larder and to be honest I am not a tinned soup snob.
If you really dislike tinned soups, or if condensed tinned soups are not available where you are, you can substitute a homemade thick cream sauce for it.
Just make a 1/3 cup sized cream sauce, using 1/3 TBS butter, 1/3 TBS flour and 1/3 cup (80ml) of milk. You can also use half stock and half milk if you wish.
Melt the butter, whisk in the flour, cook for a minute, whisk in the milk and cook over moderate heat until the mixture bubbles and thickens. You can season to taste.
HOW TO MAKE CHEESY POTATOES
When I say nothing could be easier than these, I really mean it. If you can open a can or two and stir things together then you can make these!
Basically that is all you do. You par-cook the potatoes and drain them well. Whisk the sour cream, onion dip, soup, seasoning and 2/3 of the cheese together in a bowl and fold in the potatoes.
This mixture then gets spooned into a casserole dish, covered and baked. Once everything is heating through and the cheese is starting to melt, you uncover it and then top it with a bit more cheese and the crispy onions and bake for a tiny bit longer.
Just until it is thoroughly heated through, bubbling away and turning deliciously golden brown. Easy peasy. You do want to let it sit for a few minutes before serving however. Molten cheese can really give a nasty burn.
This is a delicious side dish that goes wonderfully with everything. Poultry, meat, fish, you name it! I have even served it with hotdogs (out of the buns).
In fact you can actually turn it into a delicious main dish by folding in some cubed ham or sliced hotdogs if you want to! Nobody will complain!
Today I served it with some Shake and Bake Chicken wings I had done earlier in the summer and frozen, as well as some green beans. It was utterly delicious.
Of course I have leftovers to enjoy tomorrow, but that has never been a problem for me. I am a girl that loves Octobers, cooler weather, comfort foods and leftovers! Enjoy!
Favorite Cheesy Potatoes
Yield: 4
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 50 MinTotal time: 55 Min
Potato comfort food at its very best. Quite simply delicious.
Ingredients
- 3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes (1 pound)
- 1/3 of a tin of condensed cream of chicken, mushroom or cheddar cheese soup, undiluted (freeze the remainder for another use)
- 1/3 cup (75g) French onion dip
- 1/4 cup (60ml) whole milk
- 1/3 cup (80g) sour cream
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 cup (115g) grated strong cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 TBS crispy onions, crumbled
- 1 tsp dry parsley flakes, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a small (2 cup) casserole dish. Set aside.
- Cook the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water for about 8 minutes. Drain well and allow to cool slightly.
- Mix the soup, dip, milk, sour cream, 3/4 tsp of parsley flakes, and 2/3 of the cheese together in a bowl. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Fold in the potatoes. Transfer the mixture to your prepared casserole dish. Cover tightly.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Uncover. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top along with the crumbled crispy onions. Return to the oven and bake for a further 15 to 20 minutes. It should be bubbling and golden brown.
- Let stand 5 minutes before spooning out to serve.
Have you ever had one of "Those" days? You know the kind of day I mean. A day where everything you touch turns to dust.
This has been one such day for me. I had a ton of stuff to do and nothing was working out. I found myself in a bit of a funk and was quite unsure as to what to cook for my dinner. I was hungry, but really didn't want to put in a lot of time or effort.
I was really late getting up, which made me late doing everything else. I couldn't get my mind to settle on any one thing.
I found out I had to teach in RS/PH next Sunday and am not really prepared. My kittens knocked a glass of drink all over my floor that I had to clean up (thank goodness it didn't end up on my PC).
I knocked my fruit fly trap off the counter onto the floor and it was full of bugs, so I had to clean that up. Blech. Not my cup of tea.
Tomorrow is bin day so I was trying to get my garbage ready to put out. I have two small boxes of broken glass so decided to condense then into one and ended up with broken glass all over the floor. (Try keeping two nosy kittens out of that!)
My bag of plastics and tins, etc. fell over and half emptied on the floor. I had to pop everything back in and decided to mop the floor because . . . well . . . by then it needed it.
I had someone complain about ads on the page and had to explain to them why they were necessary. I wish that they weren't but it is what it is. The only way I can afford to live in a place of my own is if I make an income, and this blog is it.
I am not some huge conglomeration with a bazillion people working for me. I am just me, and I do all the work here. It is not as fancy, admittedly, as some other people's blogs. There are no videos for instance.
My photos may not even be as good as they are on other people's blogs. But I do my best and I do this every day. I spend hours doing it. Cooking. Photographing. Editing. Writing things up. Answering comments, questions, etc.
There are some expenses which I incur to do this. I pay for a registered domain, which is a necessity. I pay for a program which gives my readers the option to print the recipe. I pay for an e-mail program which means I can send out a newsletter each day to let people know I have posted. I pay for photo storage.
I pay for the cost of the food, and all of my utilities. The internet. Electricity, hot water etc.
In return my readers have access to already tested recipes, and there are almost 5000 of them on here. Admittedly I could have a better index system, but I am working on that.
I work hard developing and testing recipes that work out well and won't fail. (so long as you follow the instructions) And I do it every day.
I respond to all the comments left, not only on here, but also on the Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, etc. If anyone has a question I do my best to get back to them right away, or as soon as I can!
For years and years I did all of this for not much more than the pleasure of doing this. But, through no fault of my own, last autumn I found myself in need of an income, and so I put ads on the page. I have to say I am very grateful for the income that they bring me.
Were it not for them, I would not have a home. They pay my rent. I never worked in jobs where I had a pension plan and I earn a basic state pension. I get no other benefits. I don't have a partner or a husband to help split the cost of living expenses. This blog is it.
People happily pay for recipe magazines, often at a huge cost, and for recipe books. I was astonished at the cost of a recipe magazine these days when I returned to Canada. $15.99 plus tax for many of the better ones.
And they are filled with ads. You might only cook one or two things from out of them as well.
All it costs you to look at my page is your time. Nothing more, nothing less. And you have access to a data base of almost 5,000 recipes.
I personally think its good value, but admittedly I am a bit biased.
Anyways, thinking about all of this and my comedy of errors around the house, etc. put me in a bit of a funk, and I was having a hard time settling down to making something to eat.
And then I remembered this recipe. Its simple. It uses store cupboard ingredients. Its quick and easy. Most important of all, its DELICIOUS!
Admittedly it is a far cry from a traditional chili recipe. If you are wanting one of those, I do have some very good ones on here. You can find a recipe for a very tasty baked one here: Chili with a Difference
I also have a great recipe on here for Simple Chili. Then there is The Best Chili Ever, always a winner.
White Bean Turkey Chili. Creamy White Chili. Fireside Skillet Chili. Just to name a few. There is no shortage of chili recipes.
Today I am sharing Quick & Easy Chili. Its quick. If you can open a few cans, you can make this. It uses ground turkey, so a bit healthier than ground beef, although you could certainly use ground beef if you wanted to.
It goes together in next to no time and is a real belly warmer.
Its a bit on the sweet side because of the brown sugar used, but its delicious. You could leave that out entirely if you wanted to, or cut it back. I love it with as it is.
It is just spicy enough. It uses a full TBS of mild Chili powder. Don't make the mistake in the UK of using regular chili powder. The chili powder here in North America is adulterated with lots of things like garlic and oregano. Its not pure and is a heck of a lot milder, so adjust accordingly.
You can dress this up if you wish by adding canned corn or green chilies, peppers, etc. But I can assure you, even at its basic right here, its delicious.
Children love this and so do I. I enjoy mine in a bowl with a grated spicy Tex Mex blend sprinkled on top and some crusty bread to mop up all of that delicious sauce. Enjoy, and thanks for listening.
Quick & Easy Chili
Yield: 4
Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 30 Min
This is a bit sweeter than most chili's but it is incredibly quick to make and quite delicious. It is the perfect choice when you want something on the table pronto that is filling and belly warming.
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 can (15 3/4 oz/ 425g) baked beans with pork
- 1 can (14 1/2 oz/400g) tin of chopped tomatoes, undrained
- 1 can (10 3/4 oz/305g) condensed tomato soup, undiluted
- 1 TBS soft light brown sugar
- 1 TBS mild chili powder (in the UK play it by ear)
To serve:
- Grated cheese (I use a Tex Mex blend)
- crusty bread
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the turkey and the onion. Scramble fry the turkey over medium heat until the turkey is no longer pink and the onion has softened. Drain if necessary.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the saucepan. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Cover and simmer over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until heated through and all of the flavors have melded together.
- Ladle into heated bowls and serve hot with some grated cheese sprinkled on top and crusty bread on the side.
Spice Cake with a Spicy Mocha Frosting. The recipe I am sharing with you today is for a delicious nut studded spice cake with a fabulous old fashioned mocha icing.
I love snack cakes and this is one of the best. Not only is it one of my favorite spice cakes, but it has a ribbon of cream cheese filling running through the middle of it.
Back before I moved over to the UK you used to be able to buy these small recipe magazines put out by Pillsbury, Betty Crocker etc. in the grocery stores. They would be situated near the tils.
Something for you to peruse while you were waiting for your turn to empty your shopping trolley onto the conveyor belt. I could never resist looking at them.
I had collected quite a few through the years. Sadly I lost them all when I moved back to Canada last autumn, save a few of them that I somehow had the forethought to pop into my luggage.
This recipe comes from one entitled Fall Baking by the people who make Gold Medal flour. It was published in 2000, and was always one of my favorite of those little books.
I cut the original recipe in half. The original made a 13 by 9 inch cake. Far too much cake for just me, and in all truth so is an 8-inch square cake. Its a good thing I have some family to share it with!
Spice cake is something I have always loved. Flavored with warm baking spices, it is just a cake I have always enjoyed, in any way shape or form.
Flavored with cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and all spice, some cakes will also use molasses to sweeten them. This cake does not.
Instead it uses brown sugar, which also goes very well with warm baking flavors.
The batter is enriched by the use of sour cream, which produces a lovely, moist cake. I know there are some people who don't like the word moist. I am not one of them.
I embrace moistness. To me moist spells delicious!
What makes this cake a bit unique however is that it has that ribbon of cheesecake running through the middle of it. Oh my goodness.
What's not to fall in love with when you are talking about something like that? Spice cake, moist and spicy . . . cheesecake, rich and decadent. Oh my my . . .
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE SPICE CAKE WITH SPICY MOCHA FROSTING
Simple ordinary ingredients most of us always have in our homes, that's what!
For the cake:
- all purpose flour
- brown sugar
- sour cream
- chopped toasted walnuts
- butter
- water
- warm baking spices (cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg and ginger)
- baking soda and baking powder
- salt
- egg (1)
The filling uses equally simple ingredients and only three of them:
- cream cheese
- sugar
- egg yolk
And then the frosting is simple as well:
- icing sugar
- butter
- cocoa powder
- hot water
- cinnamon
- instant coffee
You see, nothing complicated there in the least.
HOW TO MAKE SPICE CAKE WITH A SPICY MOCHA FROSTING
Again, this is a very simple cake to make. You want to make the cheesecake filling before you start the cake. This is easily done by whisking them all together until smooth.
Likewise the cake batter is also very easy to make. Once more, you simply whisk everything together until smooth.
I do like to use toasted nuts in all of my bakes. This isn't really necessary, but I like the extra nuttiness that results from toasting them. Again a simple thing, spread on a baking sheet in a single layer, in a moderate oven for about 8 minutes. Let them cool before using.
I often do a whole bag at a time, keeping them in an airtight container in the freezer so they don't go rancid. Ready to take out and use whenever I need toasted nuts.
Once you have the filling and the cake batter done, it is a simple matter of layering them in a prepared baking tin. I used an 8-inch square tin which was buttered and lined with baking paper.
You may wonder why I always line my tins if I am buttering them anyways. Its simple really. It helps me to be able to safely lift the baked cake out of the tin when it is done.
This is a matter of practicality when you are talking about smaller 8-inch cakes and bakes such as brownies and other bars. Also, if you don't want the grid marks on the top of your cakes and bakes, being able to lift them out prevents that.
Layering the cake layers and cheesecake layers is probably the most complicated part of this recipe, but even that is easy to do.
Just spoon and spread half of the cake batter in the prepped pan. Dot the cheesecake filling over top and then spread it as evenly as you can over the cake batter. This is quite easy if you use the back of a metal spoon.
Finally the remaining cake batter is spread over top of the cheesecake layer. Again, done in dollops and spread with the back of a spoon.
That's it just bake and then let it cool. If you frost the cake before it is completely cold, the frosting will melt.
The frosting is as easy as measuring everything into a bowl and whipping it all together until it is smooth and light and fluffy. Spread that on the top of the cake and you are done!
This really is a lovely cake. Moist and delicious and filled with Autumn flavors, all spicy and warm. I loved the mocha frosting, but then again my favorite chocolate bar is the coffee crisp bar. I may not drink coffee, but I do enjoy eating it.
Altogether this is a fabulous snack cake. If you are not fond of mocha, then just leave out the coffee in the frosting. It will still be a really tasty cake. I really hope that you will be inspired to bake it and that when you do, you enjoy it as much as I have!
Spice Cake with a Spicy Mocha Frosting
Yield: 9
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 40 MinTotal time: 55 Min
A small batch recipe for a snacking spice cake that has a ribbon of cream cheese running through it and a lush mocha cinnamon frosting on top. Delicious!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 cup (140g) of all purpose plain flour
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (60g) dairy sour cream
- 1/4 cup (28g) chopped toasted walnuts
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter, softened
- 1/4 cup (60ml) water
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp ground allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 1 large free range egg
For the cheesecake filling:
- 1/2 package (4 ounces) cream cheese, softened
- 3 TBS sugar
- 1 large free range egg yolk
For the mocha spice frosting:
- 1 cup (130g) sifted icing sugar
- 2 TBS butter, softened
- 1 TBS cocoa powder, sifted (not drink mix)
- 1 TBS hot water
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp instant coffee (dry)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter an 8-inch square cake tin and line with baking paper.
- Make the cream cheese filling by popping all of the ingredients into a bowl and beating together until smooth.
- Make the cake batter by combining all of the cake ingredients in a bowl and beating with an electric whisk until smooth, stopping to scrape the bowl occasionally.
- Spread half of the cake batter in the tin. Dollop the cream cheese filling over top and then spread it out as well as you can in an even layer. Finish with the remaining cake batter, spreading it evenly over top as much as possible.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly touched.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then lift out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the cake is cooled, measure all of the frosting ingredients into a bowl and beat together with an electric whisk until smooth and spreadable. Spread this mixture over top of the cake.
- Cut into squares to serve. Delicious!
Cinnamon and Jam Biscuits. I am almost embarrassed to show you this simple recipe today, but what the heck, when have I ever let embarrassment stop me from sharing with you? Never, that's when. Why start now.
I had seen a few recipes like this on the world wide web, and I had a tin of refrigerated biscuits about to expire so I thought why now. I will give them a go!
Plus I got up much later this morning than I usually do. Combine that with the General Conference of my church and the time that takes to watch . . . and you find me, a person who was looking to make something not only delicious, but quick and easy to eat.
So I decided to make these Cinnamon and Jam Biscuits which promised to deliver on all counts. Quick to make. Easy to prepare. Delicious to eat.
I was not disappointed. They were quick to make. Incredibly quick. They were easy to make. Very easy.
And yes, they were delicious. So much so that I wish I had a houseful of people to help me eat them up. Alas I have only two kittens and these kittens don't eat things like this . . . sigh . . . its a tough job but somebody has to do it.
All kidding aside, I didn't eat all of these. I am very fortunate that I live in a neighborhood with some elderly people who are always only too happy to enjoy the abundance from my table that I can't possibly use up myself.
And I am always only too happy to share with them. Its a win/win situation. So back to the Biscuits.
These really are very easy to make. So much so that you probably won't even break into a sweat making them. If you can open a biscuit can, melt some butter, dip and roll then you can very easily make these tasty delights.
You do need a can of refrigerated biscuits, the buttermilk ones if you can possibly get them. They break up into 10 biscuits. Alternately you can make some biscuit dough from scratch, and I have an excellent recipe to do just that here.
Just make the dough and then cut it into round biscuits and then proceed as per this recipe.
And on another note here I am referring to biscuits here as in North American biscuits (scones) not British biscuits (cookies)! Not the same thing at all!
The biscuits for this recipe get rolled first in melted butter. Just the tops and the edges. You then roll the tops and edges into Cinnamon sugar and place them onto a baking sheet.
You actually don't need to butter or line the baking sheet, but I always do, just in case. When sugar is involved, I always line.
Once you have done this, you take the end of a wooden spoon handle or a thimble and press a deep hole into the centre of each biscuit. Not all the way through, but about 2/3 of the way through to the bottom.
A portion of jam then gets spooned into the hole. Just a teaspoon. Don't be tempted to use any more than that. Experience has taught me through the years that hot jam expands exponentially and you don't want that mess.
This is truly a case where less IS more. Trust me on this.
Today I used my sister's homemade strawberry jam, but you can use any kind of jam you enjoy. You can even use lemon curd. Lovely, just so you know!
Don't let the simplicity of these biscuits, whether you use a refrigerated biscuit or make your biscuits from scratch, fool you into thinking that they are not something special. They are indeed very special.
Simple and quick, with only a few ingredients, but still a wonderful way to let the ones around you know that you love them enough to want to bake them something special to eat.
These are not something to be embarrassed of serving, but instead something that shows you care. After all it is really the simple things in life which bring us the most pleasure, and I can assure you that these will bring plenty of pleasure.
From that beautiful buttery cinnamon sugar crust to that sweet dimple of jam in the center, these are something you and your whole family will enjoy.
Food does not have to be complicated to taste good. These simple treats are proof positive of that fact. Light, fluffy, spicy, sweet. In short, scrumptiously tasty!
All of the content you see here on this page, both photography and written, are the sole property of The English Kitchen, Marie Rayner. 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
Easy Cinnamon & Jam Biscuits
Yield: makes 10 biscuits
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 30 Min
A snap to make using refrigerated buttermilk biscuits, sugar, cinnamon and your favorite jam.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup (60g) butter melted
- 1 tube refrigerated buttermilk biscuits, separated into 10 biscuits
- 10 tsp your favorite jam
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375*F/ 190*C/ gas mark 5. Line a baking sheet with some parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place the sugar and cinnamon into a bowl and mix well together.
- Place the melted butter in another bowl.
- Dip the tops and sides of each biscuit into the melted butter and then roll the sides and tops in the cinnamon sugar. Place well apart on the baking sheet.
- Using the end of a wooden spoon or a thimble make a deep indentation in the center of each biscuit. Place a teaspoon of sugar into each.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown and puffed up. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before eating. (Jam is very hot)
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