A Deliciously Lemony Breakfast Treat

 

I had some French Bread that needed using up today and I fancied some French Toast for breakfast. But I didn't want the same old same old.

 

I thought I might like to stuff it . . . but once again, I didn't want the same old, same old.  Then I spied a tasty jar of lemon curd in my cupboard.  (I usually make my own, but I always have a jar of ready made to hand as well, coz . . . I'm a lemon curd addict!!)

 

I've seen French Toast stuffed with fruit and cheese and ham and all sorts, but I've never seen one stuffed with lemon curd . . . and so I thought I thought why not!!  I'll go for it!

 

And so I did . . . stuff it with lemon curd that is.  And deliciously so . . .

 

I served it up with some fresh Strawberries.

 

It was good . . . very, very goooood!  'Nuff said.



*Lemon Stuffed French Toast*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

A wonderful way to use up stale bread, with a tangy lemon curd filling.  Serve with some golden syrup and fresh berries for a delightful breakfast treat!

One (16 ounce) loaf of french bread, unsliced
295ml of milk (1 1/4 cup)
3 large free range eggs
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp vanilla
pinch salt
a jar of lemon curd
unsalted butter and vegetable oil for cooking

To finish:
Icing sugar to dust
an assortment of fresh berries
golden syrup (optional)



Preheat the oven to 150*C/300*F/ gas mark 2.  Butter a baking sheet.  Set aside.

Cut the bread into  8 equal sized, each about 1 inch thick.  Cut a pocket into each  piece of bread, using a serrated knife, carefully slicing into, but not all the way through.  Spoon about 1 dessertspoon full of lemon curd into the pocket created in each piece of bread.

Whisk together the milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla and salt.  Dunk the stuffed slices of bread into the egg mixture, allowing them to soak it up for several minutes, turning to coat it evenly on both sides.  You want it saturated, but not falling apart.

Warm 1 TBS of butter and 1 TBS of oil together in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.  Cook the slices of stuffed bread in the heated fat until golden brown and lightly crisp on one side, flip over carefully and brown and crisp the other side.  Place them onto the prepared baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while you cook the remainder, using more butter and oil as necessary.

When all the toast is ready, place it onto heated plates and dust lightly with icing sugar.  Serve immediately with some fresh berries and  golden syrup (if desired.)

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The Rise and Rise of British Food

(not on the high street)


Despite Britain’s lingering reputation across the channel for bland, stodgy and overcooked food (French ex-President Jacques Chirac famously stated, ‘one cannot trust people whose cuisine is so bad’) in recent years London has been busy establishing itself as one of the gastronomic capitals of the world.

Not only is London emerging as a city that offers some of the most delicious, diverse and vibrant cuisine all across the globe, but its produce is booming too: in 2010, Britain made approximately 700 different types of cheeses – that’s 100 more than France. That same year, a survey found that Britons spent more time cooking than the French: 50% of Britons said they spent more than half an hour every evening cooking, compared to only 27% of the French.

  
Fish and chips; not our only dish. Image courtesy of LearningLark

While this isn’t a competition between the UK and France, it’s interesting to note that Britain, a country ridiculed for its food for years, has surpassed France, a country celebrated more for its cuisine than any other in the world, in many aspects of both food produce and fine dining.  

As any Londoner will tell you, the capital city is full of fantastic restaurants, trendy bars and quirky cafes, and is one of the best places in the world to find a range of foreign cuisine. Rarely has a country embraced ethnic food as significantly as Britain – to the point where we consider curry one of our national dishes.  

However, despite our apparently insatiable appetites for international food, both traditional and modern British fare is significantly on the rise, and more and more restaurants are popping up over the capital celebrating the best of British.  

If you have guests visiting from another country and want to show them that there is so much more to British food than fish and chips or bangers and mash – or you just fancy reviving your own love for our local delights – have a look at three of our favourite British eateries in London.  

Dinner by Heston Blumenthal

Now this is the place to take anyone who thinks British food consists of heavy, tasteless food – after an evening at Heston’s Dinner they will be forced to re-asses everything they thought they knew about UK cuisine. Inspired by historic British gastronomy, the menu is just as quirky as you’d expect from Heston Blumenthal. Especially famous here is the meat fruit starter, a chicken liver and foie gras parfait shaped to look like a perfect mandarin, which is based on a hugely popular English dish from the 1500s.  

  
Meat fruit and grilled bread image courtesy of Irene  

Main courses are just as exciting and feature a unique combination of historic dishes with a modernised, Heston-style twist: spiced pigeon with ale and artichokes is another firm favourite, as is roast halibut with admiral’s sauce, shrimps, chicory and capers. Vegetarian mains are just as exceptional, with the braised celery and parmesan, cider apple and smoked walnuts especially delicious. With two Michelin stars to its name among its many, many accolades, a dining experience at Dinner is guaranteed not to disappoint.  

Perkin Reveller

The Perkin Reveller is perfect for those who want a slice of London history with their meal and is another impressive restaurant to take visitors to. With Tower Bridge, the River Thames and the ancient Tower of London on its doorstep – and a restaurant name taken straight from Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales – you can’t really get more traditional British than this.  

The menu is contemporary British with international touches and a strong focus on seasonality; the blackboard changes several times a year depending on which local produce is available. The pork belly, celeriac and apple is consistently popular, and the Cornish fish stew with saffron potatoes is an unusual spin on a wonderfully authentic coastal favourite.  

The herb spelt, roasted roscoff onion, walnut crumb and goat’s cheese will delight both meat-eaters and vegetarians alike, and with its fabulously authentic British décor and sensational views over some of London’s most famous sights, you can be sure that the Perkin Reveller will provide you with a dining experience you won’t forget in hurry.  

 
The view from Perkin Reveller  

Hawksmoor

While there clearly is so much more to British cuisine than roast beef, the fact that our fair isles have the best beef in the world is not usually disputed – not even by the French! Hawksmoor restaurants (there are several in the city) certainly take advantage of this in their menus and offer undeniable proof that the Brits can do steak like the best of them. The doorstop-thick steaks are cooked over charcoal for a superb smoky taste and are considered some of the finest in the capital.  

 
 Hawksmoor breakfast image courtesy of Ewan-M  

However, the Hawksmoor has a lot more to offer than just sublime steak – it’s also especially famous for its all-day breakfast, which features eggs, mushrooms, sausages, black pudding, bacon and the classic Hawksmoor twist… bone marrow. The British lobster with garlic butter is an indulgent feast for two and the grilled free-range chicken is proof that sometimes the simplest recipes can be the best.

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Up-scaled Bangers and Mash for the Toddster

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 eat them more than once every week!



I do think they have lovely sausages over here in the UK. . . well the best quality ones at any rate. The el cheapo ones are just plain nasty . . . but you could say the same thing about cheap sausages anywhere in the world. Full of fat and fillers, they are just horrible. There's no denying it.



But there is nothing tastier or more beautiful than a really good Butcher's sausage. I've said it before and I'll say it again . . . you can tell a good Butcher by the quality of his sausages!! We've got the best here in town, I think. R & J Dodd . . . there, I said it!



I picked up a pound of his lovely Pork and Chive sausages yesterday and I wanted to do something special with them, without destroying Todd's fancy . . . you know the old Banger's and Mash thing.



Anyhoo . . . I took the premise and I ran with it, glazing the sausages in a deliciously sticky sweet, fruity and spicy glaze and pimped the mash up with some chives and buttermilk. I love taking the boundaries of the traditional and stretching them!



Todd thoroughly enjoyed. Mission accomplished. He didn't even miss the Bisto.



*Sticky Bangers with Buttermilk and Chive Mash*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

This ain't yo mama's bangers and mash!

1 pound good quality butcher's sausages
2 dessert spoons of mango chutney
2 dessert spoons of apricot preserves
2 dessert spoons of grainy Dijon mustard

For the mash:
2 pounds floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
( a maris piper, or a russet type of potato)
2 ounces milk (1/4 cup)
2 ounces butter (1/4 cup)
4 to 6 ounces of buttermilk (1/2 to 3/4 cup)
1 bunch of chives, finely chopped
salt and black pepper

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add about a TBS of oil or less, just enough to coat the pan and allow it to heat up. Add the sausages in one layer, reduce the heat to medium and cook, turning frequently, until nicely browned all over and cooked through, about 20 minutes.

In the meantime place the potatoes into a pot of lightly salted water and bring to the boil. Cook until fork tender and then drain well. Place back into the saucepan and shake over the residual heat of the burner to dry out. Mash well with a potato masher. Beat in the milk, butter and buttermilk until ight and fluffy. Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in the chives. Keep warm.

Stir together the mango chutney, preserves and mustard. Turn up the heat under the pan of sausages. Pour the mango mixture over top. Heat to a boil and cook for about 5 to 10 minutes, until the sausages are lightly glazed and sticky, but not burnt. Remove from the heat.

Divide the sausages and the mash amongst 4 heated plates and serve immediately along with your favourite vegetable. (Todd likes peas and carrots. He's so predictable!)

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Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes and Capers

 

 There are normally only two of us eating in this house and so I normally try to cut recipes in half for us, or create dishes which are simple and make just enough for two.  It's not that hard to do really.   And you can normally multiply up with no problems at all.



I found myself with an abundance of cherry tomatoes on Saturday last and so I decided that I would incorporate them somehow into our supper.   I also had chicken breasts.  Chicken and tomatoes go really well together.   One only need to look at delicious recipes such as Chicken Cacciatore or Chicken Parmesan to see that this is true.



This recipe goes together very quickly so I would suggest you have all of the ingredients ready and hand before you start.  The chicken breasts are cut into two escallopes horizontally which makes for quick cooking . . .



The cherry tomatoes are cut in half as well, for quick cooking.  I saw a really interesting and helpful little video on how to that really quickly the other day.  You can see it here.  It's a slap on the forehead, why didn't I think of that kind of a thing!  (It really does work!)



The tomatoes are quickly frizzed in some olive oil along with some garlic.  You dust the chicken pieces with some flour and salt and pepper and then brown them in the same pan, along with some sage.    It doesn't take very long at all as they are only half as thick as they normally are.

 

A splash of white wine, a few capers . . . .  bubble bubble bubble, a handful of chopped parsley and presto chango, you have tender moist chicken with a delicious sauce of cherry tomatoes and capers, that will please any meat loving man.  The Toddster loves this.  I always serve it with some boiled new potatoes.  It goes down a real treat, and goes together lickety split.  If you are looking for a quick, easy and delicious supper and are feeling a tad bit lazy, this is your perfect meal!  Looks like you slaved all day, but took literally minutes.

 *Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes and Capers*
Serves 2

Printable Recipe  

Quite simply delicious.  Quick to make.

olive oil

2 dloves of garlic, peeled and lightly crushed

150g of cherry tomatoes, halved (Approximately 1 cup)

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, each sliced horizontally
through the middle into two escallopes (4 pieces in total)

plain flour for dusting
salt and black pepper

2 tsp freeze dried crumbled sage leaves (NOT powdered)

3 TBS white wine

2 TBS capers, drained and rinsed (the ones in vinegar)

1 TBS chopped fresh flat leaf parsley 

Heat a splash of olive oil in a large non stick frying pan.   Add the garlic and tomatoes, season lightly and fry over high heat until they are just beginning to pucker a bit.   Scoop the tomatoes out onto a plate and set aside.  Leave in the garlic.

Season the slices of chicken breast to taste and dredge lightly with flour, patting it into the meat and shaking off any excess.  Heat another splash of olive oil in the pan.   Add the sage and cook for about a minute and then add the chicken slices, presentation side down.   Fry over medium high heat until they are golden and then flip them over and brown the other sides.

Add the wine and return the tomatoes to the pan along with the capers and parsley.  Let it bubble up a bit and evaporates somewhat.   Cover with a lid and set aside off the heat for several minutes before serving.   The juices of the chicken should run clear.   Divide between two heated dinner plates.  I like to serve with boiled and buttered new potatoes. Simple and delicious.

Note - This can easily be doubled or even tripled if you have a pan large enough.   Don't worry about the wine, it bubbles off.  If you really don't want to use it you can use chicken stock, or even water.

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Sunshine Morning Swirls

 

I usually always have puff pastry lurking in my freezer.  It's one of my store cupboard ingredients and it comes in really handy for both sweet and savory bakes.  It makes a lovely topping on a pot pie and it makes beautiful sweet scrolls . . . like these delicious Sunny Morning Scrolls.



I had a jar of lemon curd in the refrigerator that needed using up and we have had such a run of beautiful sunny days recently, I decided to put the two together and came up with these delicious Breakfast pastries.

 

They were very easy to make.  You just unroll your puff pastry and spread it with some lemon curd to the edges . . . easy enough.   Then I chopped some sultana raisins and toasted pecan nuts together in the mini chopper and sprinkled them on top of the lemon curd, prior to rolling it all up in a nice tight roll.



After  that I used a nice sharp knife to cut the roll into 8 thick slices and placed them onto a paper lined baking tray.  Still easy, right?   Smush them down a tiny bit with the palm of your hand and brush them with an egg wash.  (An egg yolk beaten with a bit of water, simple.)   A final sprinkle of crunchy demerara (turbinado) sugar and they were ready to be baked.



In all honesty I am a bit like a child when I have something like this in the oven, watching them puff up as they bake, through the glass in the oven window.  It's like magic.



Once baked I create lemon drizzle icing to drizzle over them, sort of like gilding the lily I suppose.  They would have been quite lovely without it, but with it . . . well . . . see for yourself.  Is that not magnifique???   Are you drooling yet?  I thought so!  Just like little rays of sunshine.  Fresh flavours.  Easy to make.  So delicious!

 

*Sunny Morning Swirls*
Makes 8

Printable Recipe  

I called these sunny morning swirls because  they reminded me of the sun, with their golden lemon curd, sultana and pecan filling rolled up in puff pastry and baked, then glazed with a tangy lemon glaze.  Beautiful breakfast treats!  

1 sheet of ready roll puffed pastry, all butter if you can get it

150g of good quality lemon curd (a generous half cup)

75g of sultana raisins (1/2 cup)

60g of toasted pecans (1/2 cup)

1 egg yolk, beaten with a drop of water
demerara sugar

For the glaze:

65g icing sugar, sifted (1/2 cup)

lemon juice 

  

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.  Set aside. 

Put your pecans and sultanas into a food processor and blitz a couple times until they are coarsely chopped.  Set aside.

Unroll your puffed pastry on a lightly floured surface.   Spread the entire surface with the lemon curd, spreading it out evenly.  Sprinkle the raisin and nut mixture over top.  Roll up tightly from the short end.  Cut into 8 even sliced crosswise.  Place them onto the baking sheet and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand.  Brush each with some of the beaten egg yolk.  Sprinkle evenly  with some demerara sugar.  

Bake in the heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until puffed and golden brown.  Remove from the oven.  Let stand on the baking sheet for about 5  minutes then scoop off onto a wire rack.  Whisk together the glaze ingredients, adding only enough lemon juice to the sugar to make a drizzable mixture.  You may only need about a teaspoon of juice.  Drizzle decoratively over top of the buns.   Serve warm.

Delicious indeed!!

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Coconut, Lime and Blueberry Scones

Generally speaking at the weekend I like to bake the Toddster a delicious teatime treat.  Something that I know he will enjoy and that I wouldn't normally bake for him.  He's very fond of scones . . . the problem is so am I.   What to do about that??  I don't know.  I bake em anyways, even if they do get in my mouth.

 

This is a simple recipe, using ordinary things and my most favourite ingredient of all fresh blueberries.  So good for you with their vitamins and anti-oxidents!    Once the dough is made for these you just pat it into a round, place it on the baking sheet and then cut it into wedges, pushing them apart gently for baking.  So good.

 

They bake like a dream and there is no faffing about with cutting them into rounds etc,  all the dough gets used up, so there's no waste.  No tough scones from having to re-roll and cut, etc.



These puff up really nicely, and are stogged full of lovely coconut and lime flavours which go really well with the blueberries.

 

These are beautiful served with a nice cuppa and some blueberry jam . . .  but lemon curd is my chosen poison, and I eat it whenever I can.   I know . . . I'm repeating myself here, but blueberries and lemon are such perfect partners!



Just look at that crisp  coconut and sugar gilding  the top of these delicious bakes!  So good!



And all those blueberries.   So tasty!  Nice.  Nice.



The delicate crunch of coconut and sugar, the sweetness of blueberries, the tang of lime.   What's not to like about these??

 

*Coconut, Lime and Blueberry Scones*

Makes 8

Printable Recipe    

These are delightfully full of the lovely flavours of lime and coconut, not to mention sweet blueberries.  I call dips on the big one!  

225g self raising flour (1 1/2 cups plus 2 TBS)

1 tsp cream of tartar

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 TBS caster sugar

50g of chilled butter (3 1/2 TBS, scant 1/4 cup)

the finely grated zest and juice of one lime

75g fresh blueberries (about 1/2 cup)

25g dessicated coconut (scant cup)

3 TBS tinned milk or cream

4 TBS milk

plain flour for dusting

to finish:

1 medium egg yolk beaten with a drop of water

1 TBS dessicated coconut

1 TBS granulated sugar 

Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.  LIne a baking tray with baking paper.  Set aside.  

Sift the flour into a bowl along with the cream of tartar, soda and a pinch of salt.  Cut the butter into small cubes and drop it into the flour mixture.  Rub it into the dry ingredients, using your fingertips until it resembles fine bread crumbs.   Stir in the coconut, lime zest and blueberries.    

Whisk together the milks and juice of the lime.  Pour this into the flour mixture and stir with a round bladed knife just to combine.  Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly, just to bring the dough together.   Shape into an 8 inch round about 1 1/2 inch thick.   Place onto the baking tray.  Brush the top with the egg yolk.   Mix the coconut and sugar for the finishing together and sprinkle over the top.  Using a very sharp knife, cut into 8 wedges.   Gently push apart on the baking sheet, leaving space between each.    

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes until risen and golden brown.  Serve warm and split along with some blueberry jam or lemon curd and cream (If desired)   Delicious!  

These were the perfect excuse to crack open this new tea from Tetley . . . Biscuit flavoured Tea.   I don't drink tea myself, but I did have a good whiff of this and it definitely smelled a lot like a biscuit.  Very sweet and vanilla-ee biscuit-ee . . . I have a friend who does drink tea and she had a cup and declared it gorgeous.   Who am I to quibble.

Want to enjoy one of life’s simple pleasures of biscuit-tea dunking but without the calorie concerns or biscuit crumbs left floating in your cup? Well look no further. One of the UK’s most famous tea brands is launching the first-ever biscuit flavoured tea. Those clever Tea Folk at Tetley have devised a new brew that not only tastes like your favourite biscuit but it’s also been created to save you having to do any dunking at all.

  

Well let’s look at the stats!

• The team at Tetley believes that as many as three quarters of their tea drinkers enjoy a biscuit with their brew
• There are 36 million cups of Tetley drunk every day
• So that’s 27 million biscuits dunked per day
• There are 54 calories in the average biscuit
• So without the need for that cheeky biscuit, the new Tetley Biscuit Flavoured Tea provides a saving of 1.4 billion calories
• That’s enough calories to run 561,000 London marathons!  

And what if we focus just on the crumbs?

• Based on 36 million cups of Tetley drunk a day and 27 million biscuits a day dunked
• And if the average biscuit is dunked three times and drops 8 crumbs per dunk
• That’s 216 million crumbs saved a day through no dunking
• And if the average crumb is 2 mm big, that’s enough crumbs, if put on top of each other, to reach the height of 50 Mount Everests
• Now that’s lot of crumbs saved from being lost at the bottom of a cup of tea

Surely those stats alone are worth giving up the dunks for?

 

Tetley Marketing Director, Amy Holdsworth said:  "We know that the average Tetley drinker loves dunkin' a nice biscuit in their cuppa.   That's why we came up with the idea of combining the two.  Who doesn't like their life to be that little bit easier?

Who indeed? 

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Gingerbread, White Chocolate Chip and Raspberry Jam Sandwich Cookies

 

I have to say . . . I am awfully fond of the flavours of gingerbread . . . those warm baking spices . . .  ginger, cinnamon, cloves . . . and molasses, thick and sweet.   Oh so good.



I'm also awfully fond of jam, I admit . . . but then you already knew that.    It doesn't matter which kind, I'm not overly fussed, although I do quite like strawberry and raspberry jams . . .  raspberry jam in particular has a great affinity for gingerbread flavours.   Trust me.  Tis true.

 

And when that gingerbread comes in the form of big SOFT sugary cookies, stogged full of white chocolate chips . . . and layered together in pairs with raspberry jam . . .  well, I am also pretty AWFULLY fond of that!



I cannot think of anyone that wouldn't fall in love with these delightfully delicious cookies.   These are truly what I would call "Moreish."  Scrummy even . . .  not to belabor a point.



Add to the mix a nice glass of ice cold milk and . . .  well . . .  it's just heavenly bliss.  There is no other way to describe the experience.   Winners all round.  If you love gingerbread, and you love jam, and you love white chocolate and cookies and milk . . .  you will positively ADORE these tasty little babies.  I'd stake my reputation on that.  I really would.  Make sure you bring your appetites.  These are hefty little delights!

 

*Gingerbread, White Chocolate Chip and Jam Sandwich Cookies*
Makes 12 large double cookies

Printable Recipe   

Yes, you HAVE died and gone to Heaven.   Soft gingerbread cookies, filled with white chocolate chips and sandwiched together with raspberry jam.  What's not to like?

170g of butter at room temperature (3/4 cup, or 6 ounces in weight)

190g of granulated sugar (1 cup)

1 medium free range egg, plus 1 egg yolk

30ml of dark treacle, combined with 30ml of golden syrup  (1/4 cup molasses)

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

325g of plain flour (2 1/4 cups)

265g of white chocolate chips (1 1/2 cups)
additional granulated sugar for rolling

raspberry jam for fillng

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.   Line several large baking sheets with baking paper set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs and egg yolk to combine.  Beat in the treacle mixture.  Sift the flour, spices, soda and salt together.   Stir this into the wet mixture until aough comes together.  Stir in chocolate chips.   

Roll into 2 inch in diameter balls.  Roll the balls in granulated sugar.  Place at least 2 to 3 inches apart on the baking sheets.    Bake in the preheated oven for 11 minutes, until the edges are turning golden brown. Allow to stand on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before scooping onto wire racks to finish cooling completely. 

Once they are completely cold, sandwich together in pairs with raspberry jam.   Delicious.

Store in an airtight container.

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