Honey Garlic Chops

 

No doubt about it my husband is a chop man.  He does love his pork chops so very much.   I can take or leave meat for the most part except for a good chop, I do love those, but Todd, he loves a good chop, and I like to accomodate him whenever I can.

Tomato Lasagne

  

Oh, I do love a good lasagne.   Oftimes we will sto ourselves from making it as it can be a somewhat complicated dish, but this simple lasagne can be whiped u any time and what I love most about it is the simplicity of flavours.   A simple tomato sauce, layered with bechamel and cheese . . .  amongst sheets of pasta, and baked until golden.   It is so good.   And it is the simplicity of the flavours which make it even more delicious.

Lemon Curd Muffins

I think one of my very most favourite ingredients to work with has to be lemon curd.  Well, actually one of my very favourite things to eat is Lemon Curd.  I could eat it right out of the jar with a spoon.  Yes . . .  I am a glutton!

Lemon and Ginger Split Seconds

Lemon and Ginger are one of those flavours that go together just like peas and carrots.  I would say jam and peanut butter, but that is not a combination they seem to like over here in the UK.  The Toddster says we might as well eat fish and custard as eat peanut butter with jam.  I guess it's a cultural thing!

Winter Fruit Salad

 

Even though it's Winter and it's cold . . . I still find myself longing for the salad days of summer . . . there are some days when stodge just doesn't cut the mustard. I want lettuce, and I want it now!  

Sadly there is a bit of a shortage of lettuce (and other veg) just at the moment with all of the bad weather they have had in Spain.  Thankfully I was able to get a lovely head of Cos lettuce to make this.  Whew!

 

I love fresh salads made with lovely fresh tomatoes and other salad vegetables, but in truth . . . the tomatoes at this time of year are decidedly anemic looking and tasting! There is no salvaging them!!

 

Instead, I choose to use fresh fruit. It adds beautiful colour, texture and flavours to my salad. eating apples and pears . . . the fruits of winter . . . along with some sweetly chewy dried cranberries, little jewels of colour . . .

Tossed together with some lovely cos (Romaine) lettuce . . . crisp and crunchy and slightly bitter . . . just perfect with the sweetness of the fruit . . .

Crunchy salty roasted cashew nuts . . . Creamy sweet nutty emmenthal cheese . . .
And a sweet and sour lemon and poppy seed dressing . . . homemade of course! 

 You get the tartness of the lemon combined with the sweetness of sugar . . . a little bite from some grated onion and the crunch of poppy seeds.

Oh, my . . . this is some good, and does the trick. I am happy . . . for now . . .

*Winter Fruit Salad with a Lemon and Poppy Seed Dressing*
Serves 6 to 8
Printable Recipe

A perfect blend of crunchy cos lettuce, sweet apples, pears and cranberries, salty cashew nuts and nutty emmenthal cheese, swathed in a tangy lemon and poppy seed dressing. Delicious!

1 pound of cos lettuce hearts, washed, dried and torn into bits
(Romaine lettuce, 16 ounces)
6 ounces emmenthal cheese, shaved with a vegetable peeler (Swiss cheese)
150g of roasted salted cashew nuts (1 cup)
75g of sweetened dried cranberries (1/2 cup)
1 large eating apple, washed, cored and thinly sliced
1 large ripe pear, washed, cored and thinly sliced

For the Dressing:
95g of white sugar (1/2 cup)
125ml fresh lemon juice (1/2 cup)
2 tsp finely grated onion
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
150ml of salad oil (2/3 cup)
1 TBS poppy seeds
(This will make more dressing than you need, but you can store it in the refrigerator and
use it for other salads.)

To make the dressing, shake all of the dressing ingredients together in a large jar until emulsified. Set aside.

Toss the lettuce, cheese, nuts, cranberries, apple slices and pear slices together in a bowl. Divide amongst chilled serving plates. Give the dressing a good shake again and drizzle some of the dressing over the salads. Pass remaining dressing so that people can top it up as need be on their own salads.

Note - You can use an equivalent of artificial sweetener in the dressing if you like, or honey which works quite well.

Bon Appetit!

Anzac Biscuits/Cookies

 

We have an Elder serving us here in the Chester Ward area at the moment from Australia. Elder Van Dyken.  As you know I love to feed the missionaries and help them out whenever I can.   Last Friday Elder Van Dyken and Elder Allen were sweet enough to bring us a meal because they knew that Todd might not be feeling well after his procedure on Thursday, and so I thought I would do something for them in return.  I was always taught that you never give back a dish empty and so I decided to bake them some Azac Biscuits (cookies) in honor of Australia day which is on the 26th of January.  (Today as you read this.)

Basic Chicken Stock &Chicken Noodle Soup

  

I have been making my own chicken stock for as long as I can remember.   Whenever we have the bones left from a roasted chicken I put them into a container in the freezer (if I am not going to use them right away).  That way I have them at the ready to use to make a delicious stock and then soup whenever I need them.  You can also use raw chicken backs and necks to make a stock, but there is a little bit more faffing required as you need to skim the broth frequently to remove any scum which rises to the top.  I prefer to use the bones leftover from a roast chicken myself.

Dijon Chicken & Dumpling Casserole

 

Here I am today with part two of yesterday back to the basics post with a delicious idea of what to do with your roast chicken leftovers.  In all truth we eat a lot of chicken in this house and I have about a bazillion ways of dealing with it  I am truly the Queen of Leftovers!

Basic Roast Chicken

 

I don't think there is  dish on earth that exemplifies home sweet home any better than a delicious roasted chicken.   We love it in this house and we don't have it near often enough.  Not only is it delicious, but its also economical as you are sure, with careful planning, to get at least three meals for your family from any good sized chicken.

Small Batch Chocolate Chip Muffins

 

I really, really like muffins.   I really, really, REALLY like chocolate chip muffins, and not the double chocolate chip muffins, but the yellow buttery cake type of chocolate chip muffins. 

 

This is an EXCELLENT recipe for those.  It might look like a very basic muffin, and it is.  Simple ingredients.  

Simple to put together  . . . but that is where simple ends because this muffin is anything  but simple when it comes to taste.

 

Moist and buttery and stogged full of chocolate chips, this is the most delicious chocolate chip muffin you could ever want to eat.  

So delicious its dangerous, but no worries there because it only makes six muffins.

 

Just enough for a small family like us, just the two of us.   

You can double it if you wish, but if you are looking for a small batch recipe, that only makes a half a dozen muffins and is tremendously delicious . . . this IS the one for you!

 

I can't believe I am telling you this, but  . . .  true confessions here.  I baked them this morning and have eaten two already.  

These are dangerously good and now you know why I only bake six at a time.   I cannot be trusted with any more than that.  The simple truth.

 

*Small Batch Chocolate Chip Muffins*

Makes 6 medium muffins 

(or 12 mini muffins)

Printable Recipe 

This is a really, really good chocolate chip muffin.   You can double the recipe quite successfully if you want more, but six muffins are just right for us.  They also freeze very well.  Just thaw for about 25 seconds in the microwave.  

140g plain flour (1 cup)

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

85g of butter (1/3 cup)

100g sugar (1/2 cup)

1 large free range egg

1 tsp vanilla

120g sour cream or yogurt (1/2 cup)

90g semi sweet chocolate chips (1/2 cup) 

  

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Line a six cup muffin tray with paper liners, or butter really well.  Set aside. 

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.  Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.   Add to the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream,mixing just to combine.  Stir in the chocolate chips.  Divide the batter between the muffin cups, filling 2/3 full.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until well risen and golden brown.  (9 to 12 minutes for mini muffins)  Remove to a wire rack and cool.  Delicious served fresh and slightly warm.

 

 

  

If you don't run right into the kitchen today and bake these I am warning you, you will be missing out on something really, really special.   Bon appetit!

Lemon, Fruit and Nut Breakfast Scrolls

 

There are a few things I always keep on hand.  One is a jar of Lemon Curd (I also make my own, but having a jar of ready made is a great store cupboard ingredient.)  Another is frozen all butter puff pastry.   The Lemon curd comes in handy for all sorts and the puff pastry is great for making impromptu tarts, or topping pies and one of my favourite things . . .  for making these fabulously tasty breakfast pastries!

Coconut, Cardamom, Vanilla and Honey Rice Pudding

It doesn't take much to mak the Toddster incredibly happy.   He's a simple man with simple tastes.   Rice pudding does it for him every time.  I am one of those cooks who can't leave well enough alone however  . . .  and today I just about outdid myself with this lovely version of rice pudding I created just for him.  I had been sent a lovely jar of Manuka Honey a while back and I decided that it would be perfect for both sweetening and flavouring this delicious dessert.

Perfect Granola

 

I have been making my own granola since the mid 1980's.  My next door neighbor used to make her own granola and she taught me how to make my own.  I've been a huge fan ever since. 

Bacon BBQ Chicken

 

I hesitate to post this as  a recipe, but it is just so darned simple and just so delicious that I cannot resist sharing it with you. 

Stove Top Spaghetti

 

Invariably, if you are like me, the beginning of the week finds me wondering what I can do with the leftovers from the weekend roast dinner.  

I do often make a hash or pot pies, and sometimes sandwiches . . .  but every so often I like to shake things up a bit and do something different.

This week I had a craving for spaghetti.  I know my husband hates  dislikes pasta intensely, but this pasta loving heart of mine just has to fill the craving from time to time.  

I remembered something which I used to make when my kids were growing up that they always liked.  Stove Top Spaghetti dinner.  And I do confess . . . I always enjoyed it too.

I often used leftover roast beef or pork in this, but you could brown some ground beef and turkey in equal amounts and use that instead.   

I don't think there would be any complaints either way.

 

It's a delicious way of disguising leftovers in such a way that the people you are serving it to forget completely that its leftovers they are eating!  

You get to use up everything.  They enjoy it.  Its win/win all around!

You get a delicious sauce that the pasta actually cooks in, giving it even more flavour, chock full of lovely chunks of roasted meat . . .  with only one cooking dish to wash at the end of it.  

Of course slathering it with lots of cheese and serving it with garlic bread also adds to the curb  appeal of this economical time saving meal. 

My weekdays are always super busy and if I don't have to spend a lot of time putting together supper, then that's always a bonus!   A salad on the side makes this complete.

*Stove Top Spaghetti*
Serves 4

Printable Recipe

I created this to use up leftover roast beef, but you can use browned ground beef, or turkey if you wanted to instead.Makes a little go a long way and it's delicious! 

335ml of beef stock (1 1/2 cups)
1 small jar of marinara sauce (1 1/2 cups)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt and black pepper to taste
splash of hot pepper sauce
1 bay leaf
1/2 pound of uncooked spaghetti noodles, broken into bits
1 cup chopped leftover roast beef or browned ground beef or turkey
 a handful of grated mixed mozzarella and cheddar cheese
finely grated Parmesan cheese

Put the beef broth and spaghetti sauce in a large skillet ong with the seasonings and the broken spaghetti.  Stir to coat the pasta well.

Bring to the boil, then reduce  to a simmer, cover and cook on low for about 15 minutes, stirring a couple of times.  Stir in the cooked meat and cover again.

 

Let it cook for a further 5 minutes or so to heat through, adding a further 110ml (1/2 cup) of water if need be. Remove the pan from the stove.

Cover with the cheeses.  Place lid on for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese and serve.

I am one very happy camper when I get to feed both my lust for pasta and my passion for preventing waste!   When I can do both at the same time, I am an ULTRA happy camper.  Bon Appetit!

Sticky Maple Bangers with Irish Champ

 

Bangers and Mash have to be Todd's favourite meal of all time.   He is a meat and potatoes man through and through.  If both are on the menu then he is a very happy camper.  He hasn't been feeling the greatest lately.  Very, very tired.  He is a very thin man to begin with and it is a struggle to keep the weight on for him.  (I wish!)  In any case I decided to make him a comfort meal consisting of Sticky Maple and Mustard Glazed Bangers with Irish Champ! 

Pear and Hazelnut Frangipane Cakelettes

I have a confession to make.

I am one of those obnoxious people that walk around the grocery shops, tut tutting and taking note of things that look delicious, all the while telling myself that I could quite easily make them at home . . . not only cheaper but somehow tastier too.

Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake for One

 

One of the most popular and favourite desserts here in the UK has to be Sticky Toffee Pudding Cake.  I can't think of anyone that wouldn't swoon at being presented with a nice bowl of Stocky Toffee Pudding slathered with lashings of cream.  

It is just heaven in a bowl.   I first tried it when we were up in the Lake District.  You could buy it readymade in the chiller cabinets at the shops.  It is a Lake District original and considered to be a modern classic!

 

 And so, so, sooooo popular. Small wonder.  A sticky moist date filled cake topped with a sticky caramel topping.  What's not to like?   

Only about a bazillion calories, but who's counting!  Quite dangerous to have around . . . 

 It presents a bit of a conundrum . . .

 

First . . . its fabulously delicious, but its only big enough for one, meaning that there isn't a ton of it hanging around tempting you to keep digging in.  

Which means that I can make this just for my husband and I don't have to eat something which I really shouldn't be eating . . . 

 

But . . . .  it takes less than two minutes all together to have it sitting on your plate waiting for you to dig in.  

So . . . you are never more than two minutes away from eating sticky toffee pudding . . .

 

Hence the dilemma . . . but hey.  My husband  doesn't mine not ever being two minutes away from sticky toffee pudding and I can certainly exercise a little bit of willpower.

 

You will either hate me or love me for this.  The choice is yours.  

I tend to think that it might be a little bit of both, but hey, I have big shoulders.  Enjoy!

 

*Sticky Date Pudding for One*

Serves 1 generously

Printable Recipe  

I saw a recipe for a honey mug cake and the wheels in my brain started turning and this is what I came up with.  This is an "Oh My Goodness!" cake.  Wowsa!  This is dangerous. 

For the cake:

2 TBS butter, melted

2 TBS Date Syrup

1 medium free range egg

3 TBS light soft brown sugar

few drops vanilla

4 TBS self raising flour

For the sticky toffee sauce:

1 tsp butter

2 TBS soft dark brown sugar

1 TBS cream

few drops vanilla

To serve:  (If you dare)

pouring cream

 

Have ready a large mug/ramekin.  Whisk  the vanilla, melted butter and date syrup together to combine fully in the mug. Whisk in the brown sugar and the egg.  Whisk in the flour until smooth.  Place in the microwave and cook on high for 1 minute to 1 1/2 minutes.  Watch it.  This timing depends on the strength of your microwave.  Mine took 1 1/2 minutes. 

Take out and set side while you do the sauce.   Melt the butter in a small bowl then whisk in the cream, vanilla and dark brown sugar.  Microwave for about 3 seconds and whisk again. It should be smooth and not gritty.  Place the mug/ramekin with the cake onto a small plate. Pour the sticky toffee sauce over your warm cake and serve with or without cream for pouring.   I dug a little hole into the centre and poured some cream into there.  Oh my word, this was so very good.

 

I really can't wait for you to try this.  If you love sticky date cake with sticky toffee sauce, then you are in for a real treat in . . .  less than two minutes.   I bought my date syrup from Amazon. (UK) (US) (CAN)  

You can also make your own using this recipe. It works a charm and is essentially the same thing as the stuff you buy. You get a lovely date flavour and moistness without any chunks.   Bon Appetit!

French Canadian Salmon Pie

 

For those of you who don't know, my father is a French Canadian, bred and born in the Saguenay Region of Quebec where he lived until he joined the Canadian Military way back when.  My childhood was embroidered with the traditional foods of my mother's English/German ancestry and my father's French traditions.  

 

Some of the French dishes may have been slightly adapted to my mother's tastes and skills in translation, but I believe at the very essence they stayed the same.

Cabbage with Pancetta and Cream

 I love winter food . . . comfort food, warming and filling.   Indoor food.   Foods like earthy root vegetables and potatoes . . . leeks and cabbage.   

Cabbage is a real favourite around here, and I'm not picky about the variety either.   I love all types, although in all honesty I really had only ever eaten red or white cabbage prior to moving here to the UK.   

I was incredibly naieve as to the many delicious varieties of this fabulous member of the Brassica family.

 

We just adore red cabbage, gently spiced . . . sweet and sour almost . . . it's absolutely lovely with pork and turkey . . . another favourite meal of ours is simply sauteed white cabbage stirred together with rice or noodles.   

Simply fabulous.   You can't get much better than that.

Sauteed, boiled . . . pickled, steamed . . . stewed and even raw.  Cabbage is a favourite winter food in the Rayner household, full stop.

Most people make the mistake of overcooking their cabbage, and don't get me wrong . . . there is a perfect time for that . . . think stuffed cabbage here, or baked with sausage, Trou style.    

In a dish like that you want the cabbage meltingly soft . . . almost butter soft . . . but you would never use a Savoy for that . . . only a green or a white.

This recipe is the perfect way to showcase the brilliant green and earthy, jewel-like Savoy variety. 

  Quickly blanched, sliced and then stirred together with some sauteed pancetta with it's lovely salt and pepper flavours, beautifully herby Sage . . . and rich cream.   

Each ingredient bringing out the very best of this beautifully humble vegetable.

I could eat a whole plate of nothing but this . . . but it does go particularly well with roasted chicken and potatoes.   

Do cook extra potatoes so that you can enjoy the leftovers of both the cabbage the potatoes stirred together and fried in butter for a simple hash the next day.

Delicious.

 

*Cabbage with Pancetta and Cream*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Cabbage and bacon are a marriage made in heaven . . . add some cream and you have bliss.   Perfect side dish for roast chicken and potatoes.

1 large bay leaf
1 savoy cabbage (about 3 pounds)
2 TBS unsalted butter
1 TBS extra virgin olive oil
100g chopped pancetta (about 1/2 cup)
half a dozen sage leaves, thinly sliced
4 TBS creme fraiche or double cream
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil.  Add the bay leaf, broken in half.   Cut the cabbage into quarters and blanch it in the boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes.  Drain well and set aside.  Allow to cool until you can touch it with your hands.  Cut out the cores and discard.  Cut the remainder of the cabbage into thick slices, crosswise.

Heat the butter and olive oil together in a large skillet.   Once the butter begins to foam add the pancetta and sage.   Cook and stir over high heat for about a minute.   Add the cabbage along with some salt and cook, stirring occasionally for several minutes, until heated through.  Add the cream and heat through, stirring to combine completely.   Season to taste with some more salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Serve immediately.