Hello and Happy Easter! It's Sunday and I will be having my family over for Easter Dinner later today, but in the meantime I am sharing with you my weekly Meals of the Week post! The one where I share all of the main meals and applicable recipes that I have enjoyed over the past seven days! That's a whole lot of tastiness going on. I also share menu suggestions as to what you can enjoy with them!
As a person who lives on their own, with just a couple of cats for company, cooking can sometimes be quite a challenge. It can become repetitive or you can be tempted to want to eat out of boxes, cans or the like. I am determined not to be that person and to that end I have challenged myself to cook myself a delicious meal every day.
Sometimes I do eat out with family, with the exception of my Wednesday meals at a local eatery with my dad, these are also homemade meals and I also like to share recipes for these as well.
This week I did happen to eat out twice with family at restaurants. I have provided a "like" option so that you can prepare these meals at home. I also had pizza at my sister's on Friday night. Homemade of course.
These are some of my favorite posts to do. They not only help me to check back on how I have been eating throughout the week, but I also love sharing the recipes and menus with you, hoping that you will be inspired to want to cook some of them for yourselves.
Whether you are a singleton learning to circumnavigate having to cook on a much smaller scale, or a couple of empty nesters, or even just a person who loves to cook and eat, I hope that you will find this round up of recipes helpful and inspiring!
SUNDAY, March 24th - Sweet and Sour Glazed Smoked Pork Chops
Usually on Sunday's I go to my sister's for supper. I was in too much pain from my arthritis knees to do so and so this week I stayed home, making myself a simple supper of Sweet and Sour Glazed Smoked Pork Chops. I had picked up the Chops last week at the grocery store. This was a delicious combination of smokiness with a lush and tangy sweet and sour glaze.
I enjoyed with some mixed vegetables, Brussel's Sprouts and Clapshot, which is a Scottish dish of mashed potatoes, turnips, butter and chives. This was all really nice together.
MONDAY, March 25th - Pasta E Piselli
.jpg "Frank and Potato Bake")
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
- 3/4 pound (340g) Yukon gold potatoes
- 3/4 cup (180ml) heavy cream
- 3/4 tsp good Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup (40g) grated Gruyere cheese
- 1/3 cup (40g) grated sharp white cheddar cheese
- 1 TBS freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1/2 TBS minced fresh chives to garnish
The potato really is my favorite vegetable and I cannot think of a tastier dish to set beside any protein. In fact I could eat a whole plate of potatoes and nothing else quite happily. Here are a few other favorites of mine that you might also enjoy!
PAPRIKA BROWNED POTATOES - This is a fabulous recipe for using up cold leftover potatoes. In fact I often cook/boil extra potatoes just so that I can make these delicious fried potatoes. They have a lovely color from the use of paprika and taste heavenly.
SLOW ROASTED GREEK POTATOES - This is is one of my favorite ways of preparing potatoes. They always end up melt in the mouth tender, with beautiful flavors and burnished golden edges. They also basically cook themselves. Its true. With a tiny bit of basic prep, you pop then into a slow oven and let the oven do all the work! I love recipes that cook themselves.
Sheet Pan Au Gratin Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3/4 pound (340g) Yukon gold potatoes
- 3/4 cup (180ml) heavy cream
- 3/4 tsp good Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/3 cup (40g) grated Gruyere cheese
- 1/3 cup (40g) grated sharp white cheddar cheese
- 1 TBS freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1/2 TBS minced fresh chives to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 450*F/ 230*C/ gas mark 7. Butter a 7 1/2 by 10-inch baking tray (with a lip) really well. Alternately, line it with a thick layer of aluminum foil and butter the foil really well, or use nonstick cooking spray. (I chose the latter for easier clean up.)
- Scrub your potatoes really well. Peel and then cut into 1/8 inch thick slices. (Put into cold water as you slice them so they don't turn brown.)
- Heat the cream gently together with the garlic, thyme, Dijon mustard and a pinch each of salt and black pepper. Bring to a simmer and then remove from the heat and leave to infuse while you move on with the recipe.
- Grate all of your cheeses and combine together.
- Begin layering your potatoes in a single layer, and using half of them, onto the prepared baking sheet, overlapping slightly. Season lightly with some salt and pepper. Sprinkle with half of the cheese.
- Repeat this with the remaining potatoes and cheese.
- Spoon the cream mixture evenly over top of the potatoes, making sure you get all of the edges and the middle. Don't worry it will seep down to the bottom.
- Spray another sheet of aluminum foil with some nonstick cooking spray and then cover the potatoes, securing all around the edges, and trying as much as possible to keep the foil from touching the top of the potatoes. Place onto another baking tray.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for a further 15 to 20 minutes, until the top is golden brown and crusted. The potatoes should be tender when pierced with the tip of a sharp knife.
- Sprinkle with the chives and serve immediately.
If you are looking for a very simple, classic dessert to make at the weekend, you can't really go wrong with this classic bread and butter pudding recipe. This recipe has been pleasing people for many, many years. It has always been a favorite in my home, and has always been a favorite school dinner dessert as well.
This is a traditional English dessert recipe, very basic. Fragrant, and rich, with plenty of crispy butter bits on top, toasty and crunchy . . . and a wobbly souffle like custard base.
- 4 slices of bread from a small loaf (I used sour dough)
- softened butter to spread
- 2 TBS finely chopped candied peel or ginger
- 2 TBS dried currants
- 2 TBS granulated sugar
- the finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
- 2 medium free range eggs (or one large free range egg and 1 large free range egg yolk)
- 2/3 cup (135ml) whole milk
- 1/4 cup (30ml) heavy cream
- nutmeg to grate over top
I am no stranger to bread pudding of any kind. I quite simply adore it. If you are like me, there will not be a bread pudding that you don't fall in love with. Here are some other favorite versions that you might also enjoy!
CHOCOLATE BOX BREAD PUDDING FOR TWO - You could easily make this for more people. What you have here is a lush bread pudding made from stale croissants, with the added treat of some fudge bits and a few chocolate caramel barrels. A sprinkle of demerara sugar on top gives them a crisp sugary topping. Delicious served warm with some cream drizzled over top.
.JPG "Sweet Almond Bread Pudding with Blackberry Sauce")
SWEET ALMOND BREAD PUDDING WITH BLACKBERRY SAUCE - Another small batch recipe which uses stale brioche. This has a lovely rich custard, with just the right amount of wobble, as well as lovely almond flavors and the crunch of flaked almonds on top. That blackberry sauce is to die for. You could also double this recipe to feed more if you wish.
Bread & Butter Pudding
Ingredients
- 4 slices of bread from a small loaf (I used sour dough)
- softened butter to spread
- 2 TBS finely chopped candied peel or ginger
- 2 TBS dried currants
- 2 TBS granulated sugar
- the finely grated zest of 1/2 lemon
- 2 medium free range eggs (or one large free range egg and 1 large free range egg yolk)
- 2/3 cup (135ml) whole milk
- 1/4 cup (30ml) heavy cream
- nutmeg to grate over top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a deep baking or pie dish, about 5 by 7 inches in size, really well.
- Butter each slice of bread really well and then cut in half crosswise. If the bread slices are really large you can cut them in half yet again into quarters, leaving the crusts on.
- Arrange half of the bread over the base of the dish. Sprinkle the candied peel and half of the currants over top. Cover with the remainder of the bread and then the remaining currants.
- Whisk the eggs, milk and cream together in a jug along with the sugar, thoroughly combining them well. (Sometimes it is helpful to whisk the eggs first and then whisk everything else into them.)
- Pour the whole lot over the bread in the pan, smooshing the bread down a bit to make sure it gets covered as much as possible. (It won't stay down and will bounce back up, don't worry, hat's normal. You just want some of the custard to soak into the top layer as well.)
- Grate a light dusting of nutmeg over top of the pudding. Bake the pudding on the center shelf of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown and crusty in places. It will look really puffed up, but will sink as it cools.
- Leave to cool for 5 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
Social Icons