Just an Update

Yes I am still alive.  Just thought I'd drop that out there.  For those of you on my Facebook friends list, you know that this past couple of weeks has been hectic with the birth of my nephew and his health related problems.  Thankfully, they have all been sorted out, and he's now home with his Mom and Dad, getting to know them, and all of them trying to catch their breaths and recover from the trauma of his birth.

I will get back to blogging on here very soon, I promise.  I have a couple of recipes in mind that I really want to try out, it's more just a case of finding the time and the motivation.  Hang in there guys, I'll be back soon.  I promise!

Creme Caramel.

A few nights back, I decided to try my hand at making Creme Caramel.  I've never had it before, but figured I couldn't go wrong with baked custard and caramel.  I was right.  The custard was light and fluffy, and the caramel topping was to die for!  I wasn't sure that my husband would like it, because he's not much of a one fr desserts, but he tried it and decided that he did.  Score another point for me!

Ingredients.

• 1 cup sugar (for the topping)
• 2 cups fresh whole milk
• 1 vanilla bean
• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• pinch nutmeg (optional)

Heat the oven to 325°F/160°C. Bring a full kettle of water to the boil, and turn off the heat (this is for the water bath later).

Dissolve the sugar for the topping in a saucepan with 1/4 cup/60 ml water, and boil until it turns a dark, fragrant, liquid caramel. Pour into the cake tin and swirl to coat the bottom evenly. Set aside.

Pour the milk into the same saucepan, so that it laps up the caramel on the bottom and sides (this is the most brilliant trick for flavour!) Split the vanilla bean, scrape the seeds into the milk, and add the pod. Heat to the boiling point, turn off the heat, cover, and set aside to infuse 10 minutes. Meanwhile, beat the eggs with the sugar. Add the nutmeg, if using. Once the milk has infused, whisk it into the egg mixture.

Strain the custard over the hardened caramel and set the pan in a larger dish or roasting pan. Pour the boiled water into the bottom pan to come half-way up the sides of the flan. Transfer to the oven and bake until set, 45 minutes to an hour.

Remove the flan from the oven and from the water bath. Run a knife around the outside edge to loosen the flan. Cool completely – even chill, if you like. To serve, flip the flan onto a plate, pour over any caramel remaining in the pan. Serve in wedges.

I loved this, and so did my friends.  It's such an easy thing to make and tastes delicious.  It would be a good dessert to have after a full hot dinner, as it's a cold dessert and will cool and calm the stomach.

Till next time, keep cookin'! 

Creamy Baked Fish

I wasn't going to post this till later today, but figured I should do it now since I seem to be getting some more interest in this blog.  I went hunting for something a little bit different for dinner last night.  I was tired of doing the same old kind of meal, and wanted something a bit different, then I remembered a pie that my Dad used to make, called Fisherman's Pie and it hit me!  Salmon!

Out here on the West Coast of Canada, we get some gorgeous Salmon, and with the abundance of it, the prices are SO reasonable too!  So, now I'd figured out WHAT I wanted to use, it was time to figure out HOW to use it.  Then I ran across a recipe called Creamy Baked Fish.  The recipe calls for Cod, but in my opinion, any fish at all would work well.  I was a little bit worried about the cream content of this recipe, I thought it would be heavy, but in actual fact, though it was rich, it didn't feel too heavy at all.

Ingredients.

• 6 Cod Fillets (Or any fillets of your choice)
• 1 Lemon
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 cup emmental cheese
• 1 cup cream
• 1tbsp Dijon Mustard
• 1/2 cup soft fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp butter melted

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4

Butter a baking dish large enough to hold all of the fish fillets in one layer.

Place the fish into the baking dish, presentation side up. Season well with salt and pepper. Squeeze the juice of the lemon over top.

Sprinkle the grated cheese over all. Whisk the cream and mustard together, pour evenly over top of the fish.

Toss the bread crumbs with the melted butter.

Sprinkle evenly over the fish. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until lightly browned on top and the fish flakes easily with the tines of a fork. 

Serve hot. This goes very well with mashed potatoes or rice.

I served this with roasted potatoes.  I figured they'd do to mop up any remaining sauce and I was right.  The cream and cheese mingled very well, and there was a lovely lemon flavor to the fish that wasn't overpowering at all.  It was an easy meal to prepare, make and eat.  A definite keeper!

Till next time, keep cookin'!

Lemon Loaf Cake

This evening, I was looking for something to bake. The urge to make something had hit me again and it had to be satisfied. I came across a recipe for a Lemon Loaf Cake and thought 'Hey, now THAT sounds interesting!' Better still, I had everything I needed except the Lemons. A quick trip to the grocery store got me the Lemons and at 10:45pm, I started mixing the ingredients.

I have to admit, using my electric hand held mixer made this so much easier, I'm terrible at using a spoon to cream sugar and butter together, and the mixer has saved me on many occasions, but in reality, this cake is so simple to put together. It's simply mix, whisk, mix some more, add ingredients, mix again and pour into the cake tin.

There is a glaze that is to be brushed onto the cake when its done baking, after it's cooled down a little bit. Its just a mix of sugar and Lemon Juice, and the sugar doesn't even have to be dissolved. One warning though, its sticky! Oh boy it's sticky!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c. flour, sifted
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/3 c. butter, softened 
• 1 c. sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 tsp. grated lemon rind
• 3 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 c. nuts, coarsely chopped, optional
• Lemon sugar syrup

Sift flour, baking powder and salt onto waxed paper

Combine butter, sugar and eggs in a large bowl. Beat with electric mixer until fluffy and light.

Stir flour mixture into batter, alternating with milk, beating after each addition until batter is smooth.

Stir in lemon rind and juice. Add nuts. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until center springs back when lightly pressed with fingertip. Do not overbake!

Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Loosen cake around edges with knife. Turn onto wire rack placed over waxed paper.

Brush with Lemon Sugar Syrup on top and sides of cake slowly, allowing time for cake to absorb sauce.

Cover loosely with aluminum foil. Let stand 24 hours before cutting. Garnish with lemon slices, if desired.

Lemon Sugar Syrup: combine 3 tablespoons lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar in small bowl. Sugar does not have to be dissolved.

It really is as simple as that. This cake turns out to be wonderfully moist, and refreshing with the lemon zing to it! This is going to be taken on our picnic tomorrow, and I'm already itching to tuck in to the cake!

Till next time, keep cookin'!

Yorkshire Puddings

When it comes to Yorkshire Puddings, there are many differing stories about how to make them. Some people swear that you must use ice water, others say it makes no difference whatsoever. Others say that its essential to let the pudding mix sit for a while after its been made, and there's strong debate as to whether it should sit in the fridge or not too.

When all is said and done though, the recipe is the same, with a few slight variations here and there from person to person. The only thing that needs to be taken into account is that the oven MUST be hot, and the oil in the Pudding tray MUST be hot, to the point it's almost smoking. I can't give you my personal recipe for Yorkshire Puddings because its not an exact science, I've been making them for so long that I don't use measurements anymore. It's all done by eye because I usually make enough batter for two or even three batches at a time. However, a basic recipe should be enough to get you started.

Ingredients.

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 - 4 tbsp milk
• Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine milk and eggs with a fork, don't whisk.

Add enough flour to make an easily pourable yet thick batter and whisk to make a smooth batter.

Pour a little oil (around 2 tbsp) into each cup of a muffin tray and place in the oven.

When the oil is hot and almost smoking, remove tray from oven and pour batter into each cup. I usually fill to 3/4 of the way full in each cup. Do this as fast as possible and place tray back in the oven.

When Yorkshire Puddings are golden brown and risen, remove from oven. If they start to fall, place them back in the oven to crisp them up enough to prevent the walls falling.

Serve and enjoy.

When the puddings are in the oven, try to resist the urge to open the door to check on them. Cool air getting into the oven will reduce the heat and may prevent puddings rising.

Till next time, keep cookin'!

Roasted Vegetables and Feta Cheese on Panini Rolls.

This recipe came from my wonderful Dad. While I was visiting the UK last year, my Dad, and his wife and I, decided to spend a day out on the East Coast of Britain. Rather than pay for overpriced plates of grease, we took sandwiches with us. These he made the day before, and put them in the fridge tightly wrapped in cling wrap (saran wrap for my North American friends.)

Now, you could use any vegetables that you want, so long as they're good for roasting in the oven, but I'll just give the recipe as my Dad made them. They're good with the filling hot as well as cold. Also, you can roast as many or as little of each vegetable as you like, but do bear in mind that once roasted down, there may not be as much filling as you thought there would be.

I absolutely adore these Sandwiches. The vegetables taste fantastic caramelized down, and the sweetness of them contrasts yet blends in extremely well with the saltiness of the Feta Cheese. Added to which, it's vegetables and Olive Oil. Healthy yet yummy!!

Ingredients.

• Sweet Potato
• Red Onion
• Garlic
• Red Pepper
• Green Pepper
• Panini Rolls
  

Preheat oven to 350F

Roughly slice the vegetables and put them into a bowl. Leave the garlic in whole cloves.

Drizzle lightly with Olive Oil, and toss to ensure vegetables are all coated. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place the vegetables onto a roasting pan, and place them in the oven.

Roast vegetables till they're soft and caramelized. Cooking times may vary depending on what vegetables you use. Allow to cool slightly.

Slice the Panini Rolls open, and drizzle a little Olive Oil on the inside of both halves.

There are a few ways you can prepare the filling. You can leave the vegetables as they are, and layer them on the Panini roll, you can coarsely mash them if you like a smooth puree with some chunks in it, or you can place in a food processor and blend till completely smooth.

Crumble the Feta cheese on top, place the top of the Panini Roll on top and enjoy!

If you're making these in Advance, wrap tightly in Cling wrap and place in the fridge. They can be made a day or so in advance and will keep well in the fridge for a few days so long as they're wrapped.

Till next time, keep cookin'!

Slow Cooker Cheese Stuffed Meatballs.

Thank you Paula Deen, you are my hero!

I have been toying with the idea of Cheese Stuffed Meatballs for a while, so when I came across this recipe on her website, I was eager to try it. It's basically meatballs stuffed with Mozzarella Cheese, cooked in the slow cooker, and you can choose whichever sauce you'd like to go along with it. Obviously, meatballs suggest Spaghetti, and so I used 2 jars of our usual tomato based sauce. They were fantastic! They held their shape, didn't crumble on me, they didn't shrink at all and tasted wonderful. The tomato sauce, because it was cooked over a period of 5 hours, slowly simmered down, but oh my god! The tomato taste was SO intense! Just wonderful!

Ingredients.

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 lb. ground pork
• 4 tablespoons fresh parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups Italian dry bread crumbs
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 4 oz. fresh mozzarella, divided into 12 pieces
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 jars of your favorite red sauce
• 2 pounds spaghetti, cooked al dente

In a large mixing bowl combine ground beef, ground pork, parmesan, eggs, salt, pepper, garlic, basil, parsley and dried oregano.

Add bread crumbs 1/2 cup at a time until mixture is not to wet and can be formed into balls easily.

Form mixture into 12 balls using your thumb to press a hole in the center. Insert a piece of the fresh mozzarella into the hole and close the hole by pushing the meatball mixture around it to secure the mozzarella inside each ball.

Heat a large saute pan over medium heat and drizzle olive oil into it. Add meatballs and cook until just browned.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer meatballs into a slow cooker. Pour red sauce over the meatballs and cook on LOW for approximately 5 hours.

Serve the stuffed meatballs and sauce over spaghetti.

While it seems to be a lot of preparation work, it's well worth it, and besides, squishing all those ingredients around into the meat mixture is a great way of working out any stress or frustrations lol.

Till next time, keep cookin'!

Apple crumble with Cinnamon.

Last night for Dessert I made an Apple Crumble with Cinnamon. This truly is a dessert from my childhood, during those dark wet winter nights. There was something very comforting about sticking a spoon into a bowl of hot Apple Crumble, with a generous dollop of Vanilla Ice cream slowly melting to one side. My mom never used Cinnamon though, because my Dad wasn't a fan of it, which is why I was a tad apprehensive about using it in mine. However, I needn't have worried. It. Was. Fabulous! The cinnamon really added something to the flavor of the Apples, bringing out their tartness, while there was just a hint of lemon flavor, from the juice I used to keep the apples from turning brown. I served this with a dollop of frozen Yogurt, but again, your personal preferences decide what to serve it with.

Ingredients.

• 6 apples (I used Granny Smiths. They hold their shape well)
• 6 tablespoons sugar (I used 4 tablespoons of white, and 2 tablespoons of brown sugar)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons butter

For the Crumble Topping.

• 4 teaspoons butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup rolled oats

I also added a teaspoon of Cinnamon to the crumble.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Peel and slice apples into greased baking dish.

Combine sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over apples. Dot with two teaspoons of the butter.

Blend the remaining four teaspoons of butter into brown sugar.

Mix and add flour and rolled oats.

Spoon mixture over apples.

Cover with foil and bake at 350F for 15mins.

Uncover and bake until crust is golden and apples are tender (around 35 minutes.)

This can be served right out of the oven, or you can allow it to cool a little bit before serving. I served it right away with frozen yogurt and was glad I did. The crust was crunchy on top and a little gooey underneath, while the apples held their shape well and tasted divine! This one is a definite keeper!

Till next time, keep cookin'!

Homemade Butter

I used to use Margarine instead of butter when it came to baking. My mother always used Margarine and so I figured that I'd be fine. Unfortunately, most of my baking came out wrong. It didn't taste right, or whatever I'd made had all the texture of a rock. I just couldn't for the life of me figure where I was going wrong.

Then I came across a recipe that called for Butter, and everyone stated that it HAD to be butter. No substitutions. 'Yikes!' I thought, 'the hubby won't like this with the cost of butter these days!' Vaguely, I remembered that somewhere I'd seen a post by someone who had made their own butter at home, and suddenly Google Search became my best friend! I was astounded by how easy all the various posts made it seem. I mean heck, its one ingredient! How hard can it be??

As stated, making your own butter uses one single ingredient - Cream. BUT - And this is key - it should be heavy whipping cream, or for those of you in the UK, Double cream. The higher the fat content, the more butter you'll get, and lets face it, why buy a small carton of half and half cream to get a piddling little amount of butter? It wouldn't be worth it. There are two ways to make butter, an easy way, and a hard way. Nonetheless, it adds up to the same result.

The hard way.

Empty a carton of cream into a clean Mason jar with a screw lid. Screw the lid on tight and shake. Shake it and shake it till the buttermilk separates from the butter. This will take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes depending on how well you shake it. Keep shaking, even when the cream is thick and doesn't seem to be doing anything, trust me it is! Eventually, you'll hear a 'sploosh' sound and you'll have bits of butter floating around in the buttermilk. Take off the lid, and drain the buttermilk off. You can keep this and use it for pancakes, or even as a treat for the lucky family cat, or, you can do what I do, and tip it down the drain.

Place the butter into a bowl, and with the back of a wooden spoon, press it against the sides of the bowl to squeeze out the buttermilk remaining in the butter. This is important. The buttermilk left in the butter will turn it rancid so it needs to be squeezed out. Tip a little bit of Ice water into the bowl, mix it with the butter, and squeeze again. Keep doing this till the water runs clear. It may take a few goes but hang in there, it'll be worth it.

When the water runs clear, place the butter into an airtight container, and store in the fridge, ready to be used for all your baking/cooking.

The easy way.

This is exactly the same as the hard way, except you empty the carton of cream into a food processor or into a bowl and use an electric hand-held mixer. This is MUCH easier than shaking a Mason Jar! An added bonus is that it doesn't take as long. If you're using a hand-held mixer, mix the cream on the highest speed till the cream reaches the stiff peak stage, then turn the speed down to the lowest speed. The butter and buttermilk separates very fast, and if you're still using the highest speed on your mixer, you run the risk of involuntarily decorating both yourself, and your kitchen, with bits of flying butter and buttermilk. And yes I AM talking from personal experience LOL! Once separated, the method is exactly the same as the hard way - rinse and repeat till the water runs clear.

If you so desire, you can add a little bit of salt to the butter, I'd recommend no more than a quarter teaspoon for a small carton of cream, but this is personal preference. Add it after you've squeezed the buttermilk out, mix it in well, then place in an airtight container and store in the fridge.

Till next time, keep cookin'!

Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Like most people I know, chocolate chip cookies always go down well in our house. The husband loves them, I love them, and so do most of my friends. I decided to try this recipe out, and while the husband and my friends loved them, I wasn't too keen on them. They were more of a crunchy style cookie and I prefer soft and chewy cookies. Then again, it might be that I missed some crucial step of the recipe somewhere along the way lol. So, without further ado:


Ingredients.

• 2 sticks unsalted butter
• 2 1/4 cups bread flour
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Melt the butter in a heavy-bottom medium saucepan over low heat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.

Pour the melted butter into a large bowl. Add the sugar and brown sugar. Cream the butter and sugars on medium speed. Add the egg, yolk, 2 tablespoons milk and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.

Slowly incorporate the flour mixture until thoroughly combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Chill the dough, then scoop onto parchment-lined baking sheets, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake for 14 minutes or until golden brown, checking the cookies after 5 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet for even browning. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

I used Milk Chocolate chips because I'm not a fan of semi sweet chocolate, and dark chocolate makes me ill. As stated above, these cookies came out more like a biscuit than a cookie and were just a little too crunchy for my liking. However, the husband loved them, and so did my friends, so I would definitely be willing to make them again.

Till next time, keep cookin'!

Cream Scones.

As a Brit living in Canada, I sometimes find it a little hard to get hold of things that I enjoy easily. And at others, I just enjoy making it myself. Scones were always a part of my youth. I remember my mom making them. As a child, I would stand and watch, fascinated as she measured out the ingredients using a tablespoon (never a scale!) and mixed them all together. With the little bits of leftover dough, myself and my younger sister would sit at the table and play for hours, making little animal shapes and whatever took our fancy.


This cream scone recipe is a classic one, and was incredibly easy to make!

Ingredients.

• 2 cups all purpose flour.
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, chilled
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Egg Wash

• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon water.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet; set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

With a pastry blender or knife, cut chilled butter into small 1/2-inch size cubes and stir into flour mixture.

In a small bowl, stir together the cream, egg, and vanilla extract.

Pour cream mixture into flour mixture and stir to combine.

Stir in raisins if desired.

Lightly flour works surface and hands. Pat dough to a 1/2-inch thickness. Using a 2 1/2-inch round biscuit cutter or glass cut out rounds and place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet. Gather scraps and repeat until dough is used.

In a small bowl, stir egg and 1 teaspoon of water together.

Lightly brush top of scones with egg wash mixture.

Bake 13-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Let stand 1 minute then transfer scones to cooling surface.

Split open a scone or two, spread with your favorite filling, and enjoy!

These scones baked up beautifully and were soft and fluffy inside. The recipe states that it makes 14 scones, but I found that I only got 9. So I doubled up the recipe and made another batch. The husband started eating them for Breakfast before he went to work in the morning and by all accounts loved them, which pleasantly surprised me but pleased me too. I may open his mind to new possibilities yet!

Till next time, keep cookin'!

Cheesy Garlic Pull Aparts.

This recipe was one I found via Pillsbury on Facebook. It didn't seem hard and so I decided to try it as an appetizer on my birthday for my husband and best friend.

I have to say, it was DIVINE! And of course, if you're like we are, and love cheese and garlic, you don't have to stick to the amounts of cheese and garlic that's stated in the recipe.

Ingredients.

• 3 Tablespoons Butter
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 12oz can pillsbury biscuit dough. Use your favourite!
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, part skim milk
• 2 tablespoon Parmesan Cheese, grated.

Heat oven to 425.

Melt butter in small bowl. Stir garlic, parsley and garlic powder into butter. (I added an extra clove of Garlic and left out the garlic powder, because we didn't have any at hand.) Pour butter mixture into a pie pan.

Cut biscuits into 4 sections each or as little or as many as you like. Place in pan. Top with both cheeses.

Bake for 10-15 minutes until biscuits are cooked through.

Invert upside down onto a plate. Note that you may need to use a knife run around the edges to loosen any cheese that is stuck to the sides of the pie pan.

*Notes - I actually used Strong Cheddar cheese and Garlic Harvati cheese on top of mine, and I used WAY more than the recipe calls for, but again, we're cheese freaks here in this house, and the entire thing disappeared in moments! Do be warned, once you've inverted it onto a plate, let it cool for a few minutes, the melted cheese is very hot, as can be attested to with a couple of burnt fingers lol. I also replaced the dried parsley with Italian Seasoning. It was yummy!

Till next time, Keep cookin'!

Start of something new.

I figured it was time for me to start something like this blog. Recently I've been trying out a lot of new Recipes, and rather than have bookmarks to recipes everywhere, or bits of paper lying around, I could keep a blog of the recipes that I've tried, and intend to try out, along with a record of how well they go down.

I consider myself an o.k kind of cook. I'm certainly no Giada De Laurentiis, or anyone like that, but I do enjoy trying out new recipes, something that can be hard at times with a somewhat fussy husband. He knows what he likes and that's that. However, our closest friend Andy, is far easier to cook for, and he's always willing to try out new things, and so in a way, he has become my human guinea pig. Don't be alarmed though! He's still alive and well, and I haven't poisoned him yet lol!

So for now, I shall post a couple of recipes that we have tried recently, and more posts will follow as and when we try out different things.

So for now, keep cookin'!