Good Ole Brit Recipes - Ginger Nuts (Chewy Ginger Cookies)

So much about being English to me is having a cheeky sense of humour, potty humour, toilet humour, call it what you will. Double Entendres, Sassiness, Sarcasm, or just plain cheeky banter. To me my childish sense of fun is what helps me to crack a smile through trying days when my heart aches for the state of the world and what I really want to do is to just bury my head under the covers and stay away from any type of News.

With tongue firmly in teary cheek behold, my Ginger Nuts (stifling a teary eyed giggle), a simple soft chewy Ginger cookie that will remind you of home.

They won't stop hatred and bigotry in the world, they won't build homes for those that have lost everything, but they do promise a nostalgic childhood flavour that is mighty fine dipped in a hot mug of Tea.

So grab a cosy blanket, a big box of tissues and stuff your face, tomorrow is another day filled with opportunity to do good in the world, to love our neighbours, to offer help to those in need and to try to be better people, don't waste it.

Ok, stepping off soapbox and bid for Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech aside, get in the kitchen and rustle up some of these beauties.

Ginger Nut Cookies - Chewier version of the Brit classic Biscuit

Ingredients

Recipe adapted from: Love Pomegranate house

Makes: 25-30 Inch size cookies

2 1/4 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup Butter
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
1 Tbsp Water
1/4 Cup Molasses
2 Tsp Ground Ginger
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp All Spice
1/4 Tsp Salt

1. In a Large bowl combine Butter and Sugar, then add Water and Egg, finally stir in Molasses.

2. Gradually stir in all of the dry ingredients until completely mixed into a stiff cookie dough.

3. Pop dough in covered bowl in fridge for minimum of 1hr or overnight.

4. Scoop into 1 inch dollops (for want of a better word, hmmm not a food blogger clearly) on a cookie sheet and Bake at 350F for 8 - 10 mins or until top starts to go brown and crack.

8-10 Mins will give you a soft cookie, leave them in longer for a true hard Ginger Nut Biscuit.

This recipe freezes like a dream, so if you make a batch and don't intend on eating them all at once pop them in the Freezer.

I make up the cookie scoops pop them in the freezer on a plate for an hour or so (spacing them out so they won't stick together) until hard then Ziploc bag them and pop in the freezer to enjoy at your leisure.

Super Soup Recipes - Curried Carrot Soup

We had snow here in Edmonton today and since my good buddy Rebecca gave me a large bag of freshly picked Carrots I got busy in the kitchen, and by that I mean I conned the hubby into making me a double batch of this amazing soup.

It's spicy, sweet, an amazing colour and Carrots are so cheap you'll be doubling up and making a giant batch.
 
Serves 4 (decent sized bowls)

2 lbs Carrots (Peeled and Chopped)
2 Tbsp Olive Oil (a couple of glugs)
1 Onion (chopped)
4 Cloves of Garlic
1 Tsp Cumin
3 Tsp Curry Powder
3 1/2 Cups of Vegetable Stock (or Chicken)

** Freezes well.

Method:

1. Chop Onions and Garlic, Heat oil until hot, throw in Garlic until it smells nice and strong (hubby's instructions), add Onion, Cumin and Curry Powder and cook til Onions are soft.

2. Stir in Carrots, and stock.

3. Bring to boil, then simmer until carrots are soft enough to be squished by a spoon.

4. Blitz up in blender then serve with Crusty bread and grated cheese.

5. Put your feet up and enjoy.


Got any Veggie soup recipes I should know about? I love, love, love me some Soup so the more ideas the merrier.

Good Ole Brit Recipes - Flapjack

I cannot stop eating this and as all of my recipes are, it's pretty un-cock-up-able (hmmmm not sure I'll be winning many Scrabble games with that word)

Oh and apparently Flapjack is similar to Granola Squares for my US/Canadian peeps.


Ingredients


225g Runny Honey
225g  Butter/Margarine
350g Cups Rolled Oats (Instant Porrage Oats)
50g Chopped Nuts (Any)
50g Sunflower Seeds/Sesame Seeds
75g Dates/Apricots (both is awesome)
1 Generous handful of Corn Flakes (optional)


Method


1.Preheat oven to 350F
2. Melt Butter into the honey.
3. Pour in dry ingredients.
4. Put Greaseproof paper in a 9 x 12 pan (or whatever you have to hand) and pour in mix pressing down then adding Corn Flakes to the top for some extra crunch
5. Cook for 20-25 mins or until Golden Brown on 350F
6. Leave to cool then pop in fridge until you can cut it into squares. it's pretty crumbly when warm and fresh from the oven but keeping in the fridge helps it stick together.

NOTE: Mix falling apart before spooning into the pan? mixing in a healthy extra squirt of honey helps it stick together more.

Seconds out of the fridge and they're snaffled out!

Since we're talking food, check out these beauties growing in my own garden previously used as a Dandelion and Thistle farm ;)

Anyone not from Canada know what these are?

Fiddleheads , we're letting these grow so don't worry that I'm going to poison myself if I've wrongly identified these gorgeous little things.

Aren't they gorgeous looking? Fiddleheads taste like a cross between Asparagus, Artichoke and are bean like in shape, they are the new shoot of the Ostrich Fern and are de-licious, yum yum.

Before you eat anything in your garden please do make sure you are 100% certain it's what you think it is, it's no good saying I told you to do it when you're stomach's being pumped right! ;)

Good Ole Fashioned Brit Recipes - 'rUStiC' Chocolate Brownies

These are a favourite in our house, no messy melting Chocolate, no poncey ingredients, just everything to hand in your cupboards kinda baking, right up my street. I swear no matter how I manage to misread the recipe, not follow the instructions etc it still seems to work and they taste spot on every time. So without further ado I present to you (Drumroll please)

 

Rustic Chocolate Brownies

Makes 24 small cupcake size Brownies

1 Cup Granulated Sugar

3/4 Cup Cubed Butter

3/4 Cup Cocoa Powder

2 Eggs

1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract (Essence/Artificial stuff is fine)

1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour

1/4 Tsp Baking Powder

Bag of Mini Rolos/ Mint thins

Method:

Preheat Oven to 350F (160C)

1. Shove Sugar, Butter and Cocoa in a saucepan on Low heat stirring often until melted, take off heat.

2. Beat Eggs one at a time (I always forget this so beating together works fine) add Vanilla Extract then pour into Cocoa mixture.

3. Mix Flour and Baking Powder together then add to Brownie Mix.

Don't fret if you throw the Baking Powder and Flour straight into the Cocoa mixture, I do it all the time and it still works :) this Recipe is pretty fool proof even for the Cooking illiterate like my good self!

4. Spoon into small (not tiny though) cupcake cases and bake for 10 mins.

5. When fresh from the oven and still hot, pop a Rolo/Hersheys Kiss/Mint thin chunk in each one.

Thinking that my cooking is a little haphazard?, messy?, unruly? we have a catch-all word in our house that covers all errors, anything slightly skewiff, wonky, not quite like the photo in the instructions, we call it Rustic, it's delightfully homespun and handbodged but I love that word and now that I've introduced you to it, feel free to embrace it, grab hold of it with both hands and use it lavishly, at any opportunity to add a flourish, to your cock-ups.

Hmmmmm Rustic rustic rustic :)

Good Ole Fashioned Brit Recipes - Mince Pies

Photo: www.bbcgoodfood.com

Presents wrapped, crafting/Dining table returned to its spotless condition of some 6 weeks ago, I've even ironed a table cloth (shock horror) and set the table for tomorrow, all that's left to do now is to scoff a ton of these beauties and rest my tired bones.

Courtesy of the amazing BBC Good Food Website here is our favourite Deep Filled Mince Pie recipe, we have a family recipe we used to make, but to be honest this one is so good, we even passed it on to my Mum who is a top Xmas cook.

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/863652/deepfilled-mince-pies

Note: We changed up the 100g of Icing Sugar for 100g of Granulated Sugar and added a splash of milk to help bind the Pastry, it gave the Mince Pies a really tasty Shortbread style crust that is way better than any I've ever tasted before. 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays or whatever you say in your house, oh and tomorrow it's a Blog Birthday for me, one year can't believe it.

Good Ole Brit Recipes - Queen of Puddings

Man I love me some Dessert and this is such a wintery pudding, sponge base, Strawberry Jam, and Meringue topping, this is so yummy and chances are you'll have everything in your cupboards to make it right now. It's a recipe my Mum used to make and I can't get enough of it so I hope some of you enjoy it too.

Ingredients

2 oz + 1 Tsp Butter
1 oz Sugar + 1 oz Sugar (one for base, one for topping)
4 oz White Breadcrumbs
1pt Milk
2 Eggs Separated
3 Tbsp Strawberry Jam (We use way more than this though so go nuts!)
Grated rind of 2 Lemons

1. Heat oven to 350F or 180C and grease Medium sized dish with the tsp of Butter
2. Place Butter, Sugar (1oz) & Lemon Rind in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy, then stir in the Breadcrumbs.
3. Pour Milk into a a small saucepan and bring to just under boiling point, pour over breadcrumb mix stirring with a spoon, put aside to cool for 10 mins.
4. Beat egg yolks then spoon into the breadcrumb mix little by little, pour mixture into the greased dish and cook for 35 -45 mins or until firm to the touch (This is the base of the pudding)
5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool, when cooled, spread Strawberry Jam over it and put to one side.
6. Reduce oven temp to very cool 275F or 140C
7. In mixing bowl beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, add 1 Tbsp Caster Sugar and continue to beat until stiff and glossy, then with a metal spoon gently fold in the remainder of the 1 oz Sugar.
8. Spread the meringue mix over the top of the cooled base and return to oven for 20-25 mins or until the Meringue sets and is golden brown.

Best served piping hot, yum yum

I'm happy to brag that I am NOT the cook in the RM household so if some of this does not make sense let me know and I'll consult the Chef (not Chief Bottle Washer ;)

Good Ole British Recipes - Sticky Toffee Pudding

(photo and recipe from BBC Good Food website)

Finally got to give this recipe a try during the hubsters last 4 days off (he has an awesome shift) that's not to say I cooked Oh no! he is the kitchen whizz, I am just Chief taster and bottle wash!

Ingredients

. 200g Medjool dried dates, stoned and chopped.

250ml black tea (not too strong)

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

85g unsalted butter , softened

175g self-raising flour

1 tsp mixed spice

175g golden caster sugar

2 eggs beaten

FOR THE TOFFEE SAUCE

• 100g light muscovado sugar
• 100g unsalted butter
• 142ml carton double cream

How to

1. Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Put the dates and tea in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook for 3-4 minutes to soften the dates. Stir in the bicarbonate of soda.
2. Beat the butter and caster sugar together with electric beaters until pale and creamy, then beat in the egg, flour and mixed spice. Fold in the date mixture and pour into a buttered ovenproof dish or brownie tin. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is just firm to touch.
3. Meanwhile, make the sauce by putting the sugar, butter and cream in a pan over a low heat and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Cook until the sauce is a lovely toffee colour. You're not going to want to add Custard to this, it's too nice, just a scoop of good Vanilla ice cream.

It was amazing, not at all heavy and I'd definitely badger the hubby into making this again, we grown ups ate the Dessert and Noah ate the Dates, he's convinced that they are full of Chocolate bless him.

If you love to cook, or like me just eating in general, check out the recipes on BBC Good Food I've yet to be disappointed with anything we've tried from there and many have become classics in our house.

Stay tuned people, refashion coming up including a Tutorial and some Denim projects including how to make those Denim roses.

Good Ole Brit Recipes #2 - Easy Peasy Chocolate Fudge

Not the best photo I'll admit but this fudge is so easy, and takes longer to eat than it does to make it. It's almost too simple, thankfully tracking down some good non Hersheys (ick ick ick ) Chocolate here is the hardest part or I would literally be the size of a Whale :)


Ingredients

4 1/2 x 100g Bars of Cadburys Dairy Milk (or another really good Chocolate, cocoa content doesn't matter as much as flavour does, oh and no I haven't tried it with White Chocolate yet)
1 x 14oz can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter
A generous handful of Skor Pieces/Maltesers/Crunchie/Whoppers (optional toppings, now I'm dreaming of them all at once!)


Method

1. add all ingredients to a metal bowl over a large bowl of hot water, keep stirring until melted.
2. Add Greaseproof paper to a pan and whilst still warm pour into an 8x8 pan.
3. Sprinkle over your warm fudge mix and pop in the fridge to set.
4. Cut into 1 inch chunks and eat, nom nom nom

Yep that's it, yumminess is just 4 easy steps away.

It may seem like my Craftiness has taken a nosedive but I have some new projects to share soon, again cloaked in mystery in case I am struck by lightning :)

Good Ole Brit Recipes - The Humble Trifle

Yum yum yum, a weekend dinner with my family would not have been the same without my beloved Trifle, so yummy, so fattening, and moving over the pond to snowy (and recently rainy yuck yuck) Canada there are some foods I like to eat when I'm feeling a little homesick. A few serving spoonfuls of this, a quick bit of UK Z-List celeb gossip on the internet and I'm back to my cheeky, chirpy self again.

Without further ado, get your printer primed and get ready to whip up this yummy take on an old family fave and remember, this doesn't need to set so don't get too hung up on Measurements, the fun's in the eating and not the prep.

Serves: 4 very hungry navvies!

Ingredients: 
1 x tin of Thick Devonshire/Ambrosia custard (or make your own, I like to cheat)
1 x small tub/carton of Double/Whipping Cream
3 x Meringue Nests
1 x small punnet of Strawberries/Raspberries (Frozen would work too)
1 x Swiss roll enough vanilla/Chocolate cake to fill the bottom of your 8 inch serving bowl.

Can't get Swiss roll where you are? take a Vanilla/Chocolate cake, slice it into pieces and spread jam on it.

Yep that's it, no Jelly in this one, I have a weird thing about mixing dairy and Jelly, so no Jelly and ice cream for me as a kid.

Method (if you can call it that)

1. Take the Swiss roll/cake and fill the bottom of the bowl making sure that you pack as much in as possible, you don't want to see any of the bowl peeking through.

2. Tip the fruit in on top of the cake, saving one to garnish, if you like.

3. Crumble up 2 of the Meringue nests on top of the fruit in the bowl.

4. In a separate bowl/food mixer take the cream and mix it until it's thick then lightly fold in the tin of Custard.

5. Pour the creamy Custard yumminess over the cakey, fruity meringue goodness.

6. Crumble up the last Meringue nest and sprinkle it over the top, grated Chocolate is great too, slice up Strawberry and plonk it in the middle.

7. Shove it in the fridge until you're ready to eat.

That's it, although some food needs to be pored over, thoroughly prepped and all that great stuff, this is not one of those foods, it's a quick and dirty Dessert that will have you sneaking down to the fridge at night to get another fix.