Nan's Sugar Scones. I think this has to be one of the best, if not the best scone recipe! I adapted this delicious recipe from one in the April issue of Delicious magazine.
These
are delicious! For soft sided scones, place them close together on the
pan, for crisp crusted ones place them on the baking sheet with some
space in between. Adapted from a recipe found in Delicious magazine.
400g self raising flour, plus extra for dusting (3 1/2 cups)
50g caster sugar (1/4 cup)
1 tsp salt
60g cold unsalted butter, cut into bits (1/4 cup)
310ml buttermilk (1 1/3 cup)
the finely grated zest of 2 unwaxed lemons
the juice of one lemon
15 sugar cubes
buttermilk to glaze
Preheat the oven to 230*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Set aside.
Measure
the flour into a bowl. Whisk in the sugar and salt. Drop in the
butter. Rub the butter in with your fingertip until the mixture
resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in the lemon zest. Add most of the
buttermilk, stirring it in with a round bladed knife. Only add the
remaining buttermilk to give you a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured
surface and knead gently 2 or 3 times. Pat or roll out to 1 inch
thickness.
Place
the lemon juice into a bowl. Working with one sugar cube at a time dip
them into the lemon juice, turning to coat, and then push them down
into the centre of each scone.
Bake for 12 to 15
minutes until they are risen and golden brown. Serve warm or cold, on
the day, with some cream and jam. Delicious!
From the moment I saw it, I knew it was something I wanted to bake. A fairly ordinary buttermilk English scones recipe which have lemon soaked sugar cubes pushed into their centers!
The scone dough is fairly simple. It was quite damp, so if you want scones that look more like baking powder biscuits, don't add all of the liquid. I found it very tacky.
I did not want to add too much extra flour to them, so I just patted them out on a well floured surface and used a well floured cutter to cut them out.
Because the dough was kind of tacky they spread a bit . . . the ones in the magazine were straight up and down.
I actually liked them spread out a bit, and soft sided . . .
The lemon soaked sugar cubes melt and end up tasting sort of like lemon curd. It's like magic really!
I love magic in cooking, don't you?
In the magazine they recommended serving them with cream and jam, but I can tell you, they were positively delicious all on their own.
Even the day after. In fact we found them quite, quite moreish!
*Nan's Sugar Scones*
Makes 15 medium scones
Cut into 2 1/2 inch rounds using a sharp round cutter and
using a sharp tapping up and down motion. Do not twist the cutter and
flour the cutter in between cuts.
Place the scones onto the baking
sheet as desired. Gather the trimmings and re-pat and cut until you
have used up all the dough, and placing them on the baking sheet.
Once you have finished this, brush the
scones with a bit more buttermilk.
Hope you will give them a go and let me know what you think!
Bon Appetit!
Bon Appetit!
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.
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Todd just loves his Banger's and Mash. If I want to make him happy, that's all I have to cook up. He could very easily eat them more than once every week!
If you are looking for a delicious way to cook some lovely spring lamb cutlets look no further! I adapted this delicious recipe from a cookery book of mine entitled, "Secrets from a Country Kitchen" by Lucy Young. The original recipe called for studding two 7 chop rack of lamb with garlic and roasting them for about 25 minutes in a hot oven. I didn't have a rack of lamb, but the recipe looked so tasty that I really wanted to try it, and so I did what any good cook does . . . I switched it out for what I did have which was . . .
This is a fresh and simple salad that you will find yourself using a lot over these next few months. I know it feels a bit like Winter here this week, but it won't be too long before temperatures will be soaring and you will be popping out the grills and BBQ season will be upon us!
I know it might not seem like it sometimes, but I do try to eat healthy. All the cake recipes etc. you see on here, I didn't bake them all at the same time. I try to only bake two things a week and those I bake at the weekend. The rest of the week I eat other things. As a type 2 diabetic with diverticulitis and IBS, and severe exema, finding a healthy balance can be really difficult, and a bit of a mine field, if not down right depressing from time to time.
Jelly roll . . . this is a favourite cake of my childhood. We knew we were in for a real treat if we came home from school and a jelly roll was sitting on the counter waiting to be sliced. Also known as a Swiss Roll, I think this is a perennial favourite with a lot of people!
I think I have mentioned my good friend Leona before on here. It was back on the 22nd of November, in 1981 that I met Leona at a Bingo game on the base my then husband had just been posted to. (London, Ontario in Canada) I was heavily pregnant with my middle son at the time, and Leona was one of the first people I met along with a great gal named Debbie, who just happened to live down the street from me. I will never forget that night because Debbie said if I went into labor she would watch my other three children until my sister arrived to take over. Little did any of us know but the very next night I went into labor and the rest is history.
I was recently send a lovely piece of kit from the people at Filofax. One of their lovely Saffiano Wrap Tablet Cases in Pear, along with a filofax easel for use with the Tablet Case. I have to tell you this is going to completely revolutionize my shopping and cooking!
We had the Sister Missionaries over for supper one night last week. I cooked turkey burgers for them and they were just thrilled. These are the simplest and juiciest turkey burgers ever! Why are they so juicy? Because of the secret ingredient . . . and to find out what it is read on . . .
Bowl eating has definitely become somewhat of a trend in the recent couple of years. You can call them power bowls or health bowls, Buddah bowls, etc. but there is something quite inspiring about eating out of a bowl.
Bowls are not just for soup or cereal anymore! It's like bowls have now become the hot new plates!
I created a healthy Spring Veggie Bowl for my lunch yesterday and I have to say I quite, quite enjoyed it.
I am not sure it would have brought me quite the same enjoyment had it been served on a plate, but eating this from a bowl was incredibly tasty and left me feeling very much like I was doing something good for myself.
Filled with spring vegetables . . . English peas, asparagus, purple sprouting broccoli and chard . . . each vegetable quickly cooked until crispy tender with very little use of any fat.
I used an olive oil cooking spray and a non stick pan . . . if you are afraid that the veggies will burn or stick before they are crispy tender, you can add a splash of water, which works very well, with just a touch of seasoning.
I used whole wheat pasta . . . which is a low GI carb.
Our bodies need healthy carbs. That is where we get our energy from.
There is a light dressing on the pasta . . . for a bit of extra flavour, and I topped it with some coarsely grated Parmesan cheese and chopped toasted walnuts.
Walnuts are a superfood, and so is chard and broccoli. Altogether this makes for a very colourful, quite delicious and healthy bowl full of food!
*Spring Veggie Bowls*
Serves 2
Here's to good health and Bon Appetit!
If you are looking for a delicious and quick weeknight supper that is a bit of a doddle to make and something your entire family will love, look no further. You've hit the jackpot with this one! This tasty entree ticks all the boxes!
We are terribly fond of chicken here in The English Kitchen. I think it is the one protein that we eat the most of and we probably have it at least twice a week.
We may have a red meat once a week, or probably even less than that . . . and we always have fish at least once as well . . . but chicken, well, it's a real mainstay in our kitchen.
More often than not, I will serve Chicken Breasts. Chicken was not something we had very often when I was growing up.
More often than not, I will serve Chicken Breasts. Chicken was not something we had very often when I was growing up.
Occasionally my mother would do a Roast Chicken as a treat . . . and every once in a Blue Moon she would cook Maryland Fried Chicken, which we loved. It was Chicken Breasts, dipped in egg and cracker crumbs and then fried.
When that was on the menu, we knew were in for a real treat! Chicken used to be a lot more expensive in the olden days.
Nowadays it's fairly affordable, depending on which type you buy. If you are not bothered as to it's source or the ethics of responsible rearing, well then you could probably eat chicken every night of the week, coz that kind of chicken is cheap as chips.
Nowadays it's fairly affordable, depending on which type you buy. If you are not bothered as to it's source or the ethics of responsible rearing, well then you could probably eat chicken every night of the week, coz that kind of chicken is cheap as chips.
I am a bit more bothered about these things. My husband worked on a Battery Chicken Egg Farm in Germany when he as younger for a short time and it was more than he could stomach . . .
I have a real heart for animal cruelty and so I don't have a stomach for eating any kind of meat that's not raised according to high standards of animal welfare . . . so we eat chicken about two or three times a week, and it's always free range.
I know if I had a large family to feed it might be different, but for now it's just us two here, and I can afford to pay a bit more. I know not everyone has that option.
I know if I had a large family to feed it might be different, but for now it's just us two here, and I can afford to pay a bit more. I know not everyone has that option.
I love chicken breasts because they are like a blank canvas just waiting to be written upon.
They take to so many different flavours and styles of cooking . . . and as long as you don't overcook them, they make a pretty good basis for a delicious supper.
Today I cooked them a la Cordon Bleu. I know . . . which interestingly enough is not to be confused with the French Cooking School of the same name.
Today I cooked them a la Cordon Bleu. I know . . . which interestingly enough is not to be confused with the French Cooking School of the same name.
Cordon Bleu actually originated in Switzerland . . . and was done using veal cutlets, stuffed with cheese and ham.
Chicken Cordon Bleu is, I believe . . . an American invention. Cordon Bleu merely means Blue Ribbon . . . and this is my blue ribbon chicken!
I broke all the rules of course. But I think I have made it better. I rolled the ham around the cheese, a good Swiss Emmenthal in this case, and then I cut a pocket into the chicken breast and stuffed it inside.
I broke all the rules of course. But I think I have made it better. I rolled the ham around the cheese, a good Swiss Emmenthal in this case, and then I cut a pocket into the chicken breast and stuffed it inside.
No risk of the cheese oozing out because it's inside the ham. I also happen to believe that if you can cut through the fibres of a chicken breast like that . . . you are going to have one very tender chicken breast.
I could be wrong, don't quote me on that . . . I only know for sure that it seems to work.
That was the only rule I broke though. I then floured, egged and crumbed it as per normal, or pané (pan-aaaa) as it was called in Culinary School.
That was the only rule I broke though. I then floured, egged and crumbed it as per normal, or pané (pan-aaaa) as it was called in Culinary School.
I added butter to the crumbs ahead of time so that I wouldn't have to fry them, and then I baked them for a few minutes at a high temperature, and then finished them off at a lower temperature.
The end result . . . perfectly cooked Chicken Cordon Bleu . . . crisply crumbed on the outside, moist and tender on the insides and chock full of oozing cheese and ham.
In short. Fabulous. But don't take my word for it.
The end result . . . perfectly cooked Chicken Cordon Bleu . . . crisply crumbed on the outside, moist and tender on the insides and chock full of oozing cheese and ham.
In short. Fabulous. But don't take my word for it.
Try them out yourself and see if I'm not telling the truth. ☺
*Simple Chicken Cordon Bleu*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe
A traditionally complicated dish, simplified. Delicious and quite easy really!
25 buttery round crackers
4 slices of sourdough bread
6 TBS butter, melted
8 thin slices of deli ham
8 ounces of emmenthaler cheese, grated (about 2 cups, Swiss)
4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I like to use free range chicken)
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 large free range eggs
2 TBS Dijon mustard
100g of plain flour (about 1 cup)
Preheat the oven 225*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Have ready a large baking tray with a lip. Stir together about 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of black pepper in a small bowl.
Put the crackers into a food processor and blitz until they are coarsely ground. Dump into a bowl. Do the same with the bread, dumping it into the same bowl. Pour the melted butter over all and toss together. Spread the crumb mixture out over the baking tray. Bake them in the hot oven, stirring them from time to time, until golden brown. This can take anywhere between 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and place in a shallow bowl. Set the tray aside.
Wash your chicken breasts, pat dry and then cut a deep pocket in the thickest part of the breast, with a sharp knife, making an opening of about 3 inches, sliding the knife carefully inside to create the cavity without cutting through the meat to the back or the bottom. Lay your slices of ham out on a board. Top each slice with 1/8th of the grated cheese (about 1/4 cup), then roll the ham tightly around it to cover the cheese completely. Stuff two of these ham rolls in each cavity of the chicken.
Beat the eggs, together with the mustard, in a shallow bowl. Place the flour in another shallow bowl. You should have three shallow bowls laid out. Place them in this order: Flour, Eggs and then finally bread crumbs. Season each chicken breast all over with some of the salt and pepper mix. Roll each in the flour, then dip into the egg to coat, finally rolling each in the toasted crumbs, pressing the crumbs on to help them adhere. Place them onto a clean baking sheet, when done, leaving a bit of space between each. (At this point you could refrigerate them until you are ready to bake them if you wished.)
Place them into the heated oven and bake for 10 minutes at the higher temperature. Reduce the oven heat to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6, and bake for a further 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown and the chicken juices run clear when it is pierced with a fork. Transfer to a platter and tent with foil. Allow to rest for five minutes before serving.
*Simple Chicken Cordon Bleu*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe
A traditionally complicated dish, simplified. Delicious and quite easy really!
25 buttery round crackers
4 slices of sourdough bread
6 TBS butter, melted
8 thin slices of deli ham
8 ounces of emmenthaler cheese, grated (about 2 cups, Swiss)
4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I like to use free range chicken)
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 large free range eggs
2 TBS Dijon mustard
100g of plain flour (about 1 cup)
Preheat the oven 225*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Have ready a large baking tray with a lip. Stir together about 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of black pepper in a small bowl.
Put the crackers into a food processor and blitz until they are coarsely ground. Dump into a bowl. Do the same with the bread, dumping it into the same bowl. Pour the melted butter over all and toss together. Spread the crumb mixture out over the baking tray. Bake them in the hot oven, stirring them from time to time, until golden brown. This can take anywhere between 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and place in a shallow bowl. Set the tray aside.
Wash your chicken breasts, pat dry and then cut a deep pocket in the thickest part of the breast, with a sharp knife, making an opening of about 3 inches, sliding the knife carefully inside to create the cavity without cutting through the meat to the back or the bottom. Lay your slices of ham out on a board. Top each slice with 1/8th of the grated cheese (about 1/4 cup), then roll the ham tightly around it to cover the cheese completely. Stuff two of these ham rolls in each cavity of the chicken.
Beat the eggs, together with the mustard, in a shallow bowl. Place the flour in another shallow bowl. You should have three shallow bowls laid out. Place them in this order: Flour, Eggs and then finally bread crumbs. Season each chicken breast all over with some of the salt and pepper mix. Roll each in the flour, then dip into the egg to coat, finally rolling each in the toasted crumbs, pressing the crumbs on to help them adhere. Place them onto a clean baking sheet, when done, leaving a bit of space between each. (At this point you could refrigerate them until you are ready to bake them if you wished.)
Place them into the heated oven and bake for 10 minutes at the higher temperature. Reduce the oven heat to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6, and bake for a further 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown and the chicken juices run clear when it is pierced with a fork. Transfer to a platter and tent with foil. Allow to rest for five minutes before serving.
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.
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
We had the Sisters for a tea appointment the other night. It was the day after transfers and there was a new Sister in town. It was nice meeting her for the first time and spending some time together with both the girls. It is always a bit sad to say goodbye to the Missionaries when they leave, but it is also nice to meet the new ones. Such nice young people they are and I like to treat them extra special, and I especially love to feed them as you know!
It's a good thing this recipe only makes two scones because if it made any more than that I would be in deep, deep trouble! These are fabulous!
I found the recipe over on a page called Dessert for Two and it looked like it would be something we might enjoy and so I went for it!
On looking a bit closer at the recipe I could see that it was a riff on a delicious scone recipe from Wolfgang Puck, albeit of a much smaller quantity and with a Maple Glaze added.
On looking a bit closer at the recipe I could see that it was a riff on a delicious scone recipe from Wolfgang Puck, albeit of a much smaller quantity and with a Maple Glaze added.
There really IS nothing new under the sun, only new ways of doing things!
I didn't do anything different, I just made them and baked them and then we devoured them.
I have done the hard work of converting the measurements to UK measurements and that is how I made them, using UK measurements, so that I could be sure that they worked, and they did. So that was my addition to the recipe.
You really have to bake these. They are quite simply amazingly fabulous. You can thank me later. ;-)
*Small Batch Maple Glazed Black Pepper Scones*
Makes 2 very large scones
Whisk together the egg yolk and cream. Pour this
over the flour mixture and then mix together with a fork to make a
shaggy type of dough. Don't overmix, but all of the ingredients should
be well incorporated.
Using your hands, divide the dough in half and
shape into two mounds on the baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in
between to spread. (I would leave 4 inches)
Mmmm . . . gorgeous served warm, and pretty damn good served cold. These babies are huge so my husband and I shared one the first day and then had the second one the day after cold. Scrumdiddlyumptious!
Bon Appetit!
I finally got rid of all the roast beef today by making this delicious casserole. It's very similar to a Pastitsio, which is a Greek Casserole using ground beef. My version has a delicious meat filling between two layers of pasta, with a cheese bechamel topping.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons