The Cottage Kitchen

Easter Biscuits: The Cottage Kitchen

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Even though we now live in beautiful British Columbia, Canada, and have embraced the differences in food and culture and all the other things that make this wonderful country different from England, every now and again I like to bring a little bit of ‘the old country’ back into my kitchen.  These buttery, subtly flavoured biscuits (yes, biscuits, not cookies :o), bring back sooo many memories of Easter growing up as a child.  Variations of these would be in EVERY bakery and grocery store in the southwest of England, as I’m sure they still are, and they would come out as dessert most nights around the Easter holidays.

Easter Biscuits
makes 30-35 biscuits

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs, separated
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
¾ tsp cinnamon
4-6 Tbs milk
¾ cup raisins

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • in an electric stand mixer on medium speed, beat the butter for a couple of minutes until smooth.
  • add the sugar and continue beating until fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Stop and scrape the sides down halfway through.
  • mix in the egg yolks and vanilla until incorporated.
  • in a separate bowl whisk together the flour, salt and cinnamon.
  • add the dry ingredients to the butter/sugar/egg mixture and beat on medium speed until incorporated.
  • while the mixer is running on low, pour in the raisins and enough milk to form a fairly soft dough.
  • on a floured surface roll out the dough to ¼″ thickness and cut out biscuits using a 3″ scalloped cookie cutter;  arrange about 2″ apart onto cookie sheets.
  • lightly beat the egg whites until frothy and brush over the tops of the biscuits;  sprinkle a little white sugar over the tops if wanted.
  • bake for 12-15 minutes – they will stay fairly pale in colour.

 Easter Biscuit ingredients.
separate your eggs.
beat the butter until smooth.
after you’ve beaten the sugar into the butter add the egg yolks and vanilla.
in a separate bowl whisk the flour, salt and cinnamon.
mix the dry ingredients into the butter mix and once incorporated add the raisins and milk until….
….a soft dough is formed.
on a floured surface roll out to ¼″ thickness.
cut out the biscuits using a 3″ scalloped cutter, re-rolling the scraps to make about 30-35 biscuits.
place on cookie sheets, brush with slightly beaten egg whites and sprinkle with sugar.
bake for 12-15 minutes, let cool on the sheets for a couple of minutes, transfer to wire racks and…
enjoy with a nice mug of coffee.

Vanilla Extract (ready to use): The Cottage Kitchen

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Hey everyone – I’m back!!!!
Thank you so much for hanging around until I got myself back to my cozy country kitchen.  It’s been a long and difficult 5 weeks away – I’m sad to say that my Dad passed away – one of the most amazing, inspirational men that I’m so proud to be able to say was in my life and who I will miss tremendously.

Needless to say I’m still not 100% sure exactly which time zone my body is in compared to my mind, so I thought I’d start back up with something simple.  While I’ve been away the magic fairies of time have been working hard in my pantry and I now have a wonderful, fragrant bottle of homemade vanilla extract front and centre on my baking shelf.  The longer you leave this the stronger it will get and as you can see from the following photos the colour has intensified over the past 2 months.  For the steps on how to get this started pop on back to my post from January 7 when it first began.

after 2 months it’s ready to use.

Thai Chicken Thighs (slow cooker): The Cottage Kitchen

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I’ve never been a huge fan of cooking with chicken thighs (usually go straight for the breasts) – I don’t now whether it’s having to work around the bone to eat it, or the realization that because of the bone the nice plump chicken thighs that looked so appetizing in the grocery store end up hardly being more than a mouthful by the end of things.  I don’t know….just one of my many little foibles I’m sure.
Today though, I wanted to try a slightly adapted version of Julie Van Rosendaal’s dish from her ‘Dinner with Julie’ website that I came across.  I added some garlic and adjusted the quantities a little, and to our tastes it was delicious – I might add just a little bit more spice next time, possibly some red pepper flakes, but only to satisfy my hubby’s spicy palate even more :o)

Thai Chicken Thighs
3-4 servings

8 skinless chicken thighs
1 ½ cup chunky salsa
⅓ cup smooth peanut butter
3 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs lime juice
1 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp garlic, chopped

  • combine everything in your slow cooker and heat on LOW setting for 5-6 hours.
  • easy peasy!!

Thai Chicken Thighs ingredients.
put everything in the slow cooker and combine thoroughly.
after 5-6 hours the chicken is drop-off-the-bone tender.
serve with some fragrant vegetable rice and enjoy.

Taco Seasoning: The Cottage Kitchen

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If you’re anything like me, no matter how organised you are or would like to think you are, once in a while you start making something for dinner only to discover that, oops!!!…. you’re missing that one ingredient that will make all the difference as to whether you carry on with what you’d planned or if the take-out menus come out of the drawer.  Mine tends to be taco seasoning for some reason – although I can go from one extreme to another by either having no packets on hand or about half a dozen (what can I say, I’m a sucker for bulk buying!). 

So after searching the ‘world wide web’ and finding, oh, about a GAZILLION different links for taco seasoning, I looked at my spice shelf to see what I had on hand and came up with the following concoction.  Hubby especially likes quite spicy foods so I went a little heavier on the cayenne and red pepper flakes that other people might like, but it’s a good base to be able to add or subtract to your own personal preference.

Taco Seasoning
produces just over a cup in quantity

2 Tbs cumin
2 Tbs chili powder
2 Tbs sea salt
2 Tbs ground black pepper
2 Tbs onion powder
4 tsp paprika
2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp oregano

  • place all of the spices into a bowl and blend well.
  • use 1 Tablespoon of seasoning to 1 Pound of meat as a guide, but adjust to your own personal preference.

 Taco Seasoning ingredients
place all the spices in a bowl (some are buried underneath!)….
….and blend together well.
store in a screw top jar or a Ziploc bag – I’m giving some away as gifts so I divided the mixture into small (125ml) jars.
ready for Taco Tuesdays….or any other day when the urge takes you!!!

Rocky Road Krispies: The Cottage Kitchen

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I’m having a bit of a peanut craving today for some reason.  Peanut butter on toast for breakfast and nibbling throughout the morning on some peanuts that I have in a jar on the counter, so I thought I’d make a sweet treat to incorporate that creamy delicious goodness.

Rocky Road Krispies
makes 16 squares (at least)

⅔ cup chocolate chips (whichever your favourite is)
1 cup smooth peanut butter
½ cup mini marshmallows
½ cup pecans, chopped
2 cups rice krispie cereal

  • spray an 8″ x 8″ glass dish with cooking spray and set aside.
  • combine the mini marshmallows, pecans and rice krispie cereal in a large bowl.
  • in a microwavable bowl mix the chocolate chips and peanut butter, and in 30 seconds intervals microwave for about 1.5 – 2 minutes until the chocolate has melted;  stir to blend.
  • pour the chocolate/peanut mixture over the contents of the large bowl and mix thoroughly.
  • transfer the mixture to the prepared glass dish, press down evenly and refrigerate for an hour or longer.
  • once set, cut into 16 or more squares depending on how big you want to eat them :o)

 Rocky Road Krispies ingredients.
combine the marshmallows, pecans and rice krispie cereal in a large bowl and set aside.
mix the chocolate chips and peanut butter in a microwavable bowl….
….and microwave until the chocolate is melted – about 1.5 to 2 minutes.
pour the mixture over the contents of the large bowl.
mix everything together well.
press evenly into the prepared dish and refrigerate – I popped a few extra marshmallows and pecans on the top just to look pretty :o)
once it’s set (about an hour or so), cut into squares as big or small as you like.
enjoy!!!

Roasted Chickpeas: The Cottage Kitchen

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If you were to venture into my kitchen at the moment you would see an array of jars on the counter with ‘snacky’ little treats inside, waiting to be nibbled throughout the day – okay, technically they’re there because I’ve been meaning to make my granola bars for the last couple of days but haven’t got around to them yet, but with the jars being so front-and-centre on the counter they’ve become my go-to treats.  Who can resist grabbing a small handful of roasted pumpkins seeds, or pecans, or chocolate chips, or peanuts, or juicy plump raisins, or…..well you get the picture.  Needless to say I’ve been having snack attacks, so I thought I would make something to go alongside all the other treats in an empty jar that I just happened to have hanging around :o)

Roast Chickpeas
makes about 2-2 ½ cups

2 cans (15oz) chickpeas
1 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp mesquite seasoning
½ tsp salt
⅛ tsp garlic powder
⅛ tsp onion powder
⅛ tsp ground cumin
1/16 tsp cayenne pepper
1/16 tsp black pepper

  • preheat the oven to 425 F, and set aside a large baking tray covered lightly with cooking spray.
  • drain the chickpeas in a colander and rinse thoroughly under cold water.
  • lay the chickpeas out onto kitchen towel or a clean tea towel and using another tea towel pat gently until dry.
  • transfer the dry chickpeas to your prepared baking tray and bake for 10 minutes.
  • remove the tray from the oven and shake well:  return and bake for another 10 minutes.
  • remove again and drizzle of the olive oil and sprinkle evenly with all of the spices.
  • using a spoon mix thoroughly to ensure that all the chickpeas are coated with oil and spices.
  • return to the oven and bake for a further 10-20 minutes, shaking the tray half way through, until the chickpeas are browned and slightly crunchy.
  • store in a sealed jar – out on your counter for easy nibbling if possible!!!!

 Roasted Chickpeas ingredients.
these are the spices that I used but of course mix things up a bit using whatever you have and like.
drain and rinse the chickpeas.
lay out on some kitchen towel and dry thoroughly.
transfer to your prepared baking tray and begin the baking.
once you’ve baked them for about 20 minutes, sprinkle over the olive oil and spices and mix thoroughly with a spoon.
once they’ve baked long enough to become browned and slightly crunchy, let them cool down in the baking tray and then store in a sealed jar.

Red Enchilada Sauce: The Cottage Kitchen

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Whenever I make my chicken enchiladas I don’t usually put much of a sauce over them apart from possibly salsa and grated cheese, but the other day while watching an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (a huge source of cooking inspiration for me, and who doesn’t love Guy Fieri :o), there was a chef making what looked like a fabulous enchilada sauce to ladle over his burritos.  There were a few ingredients (spices mostly) that I didn’t want to put into my sauce – mainly because I didn’t have them and apart from this one sauce would probably never use them again, so didn’t want the expense of buying them.  I also didn’t want my sauce to be too overly spicy especially when I knew that I was going to be making some beef and bean burritos tonight using some of my recent taco seasoning which has a decided ‘kick’ to it – didn’t want to be blowing off the top of our heads with a double dose!!!

Red Enchilada Sauce
approx 3 cups

3 Tbs vegetable oil
1 Tbs flour
2 Tbs chili powder
1 cup vegetable stock
1 can (15oz) tomato sauce
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp salt

  • heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium to high heat.
  • stir in the flour and heat for 1 minute.
  • add the chili powder and mix to incorporate.
  • pour in the vegetable stock and tomato sauce and mix until everything is blended.
  • add the oregano, cumin and salt:  reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes until sauce has thickened up.
  • If you want thinner sauce add a little more vegetable stock until you have the consistency that you desire.

 Red Enchilada Sauce ingredients
heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan and whisk in the flour.
add the chili powder.
pour in the vegetable stock and can of tomato sauce.
add the oregano, cumin and salt and whisk in well.
reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes until….
…the sauce has thickened to your personal preference – we like it a little thicker, but if you prefer a thinner consistency just add a little more vegetable stock.

Pancakes: The Cottage Kitchen

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Whether you call it Pancake Day, Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Tuesday, Fat Tuesday, Malasada Day or anything else, in many households today is the day that pancakes will make an appearance (of course they may already be a regular addition to your meal plans, but even so, today especially calls out for them :o)

I have fabulous memories of being a child, coming home from school and standing next to my Mum at the stove while she made batch after batch of the more traditional English pancakes – thin and crepe like – sprinkled with sugar and lemon juice, and eaten straight off the plate while standing waiting for the next one to be ready.  Eventually my brother, Dad, Mum and I would all be stood there playfully arguing who’s turn it was to devour the next piping hot disc of goodness.  Since moving to Canada though, I have to admit that my taste has changed slightly.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, I would be the first in line if Mum was here making her production line of large, lacy pancakes, but if I’m making them myself I’m much more inclined to have the batter thicker so that I can get those smaller, fluffy circles of deliciousness bubbling away in my skillet.

Whichever way you like to make them I hope you enjoy a plate full of pancakes tonight…

Pancakes
makes approx 8 pancakes (4″ diam)

¾ cup milk
2 Tbs white vinegar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbs sugar
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 egg
2 Tbs butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
cooking spray
banana and honey (to garnish)

  • combine the milk and white vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to ‘sour’ slightly.
  • in a separate bowl mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt:  set aside.
  • to the milk mixture add the egg, melted butter and vanilla extract, and whisk to combine.
  • pour the flour mix over the wet mix and whisk thoroughly until all the lumps are gone.
  • let the batter stand for about 10 minutes to thicken up.  DON’T whisk it again before pouring.
  • heat a large skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray.
  • using a ¼ cup measure, pour the batter into the heated skillet to form 3 or 4 pancakes, depending on the size of your skillet.
  • watch the pancakes closely, and once you begin to see bubbles forming on the surface flip them and brown the other side.
  • serve them with your favourite toppings.  Today I went for sliced banana and local honey….yummy!!!

 Pancake ingredients.
add the white vinegar to the milk and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
mix all the dry ingredients together.
add the egg, melted butter and vanilla to the ‘soured’ milk.
add the flour mix to the wet mix…
…and whisk to remove any lumps.
drop ¼ cup measures into your prepared skillet.
when you start to see lots of bubbles on the surface you know that they’re ready to flip.
perfect!!!!
I sliced a banana and poured a little wildflower honey over mine today – scrumptious.
make sure you leave the batter for about 10 minutes before you pour it, and DON’T whisk it – that way your pancakes will come out light and fluffy :o)

Easy Peasy Pie Crust: The Cottage Kitchen

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I’ve always been a little daunted at making pie crust.  There are so many things that can go wrong and having had a few of those disasters in the past my go-to method now is either to find someone who’s willing to make it for me or as is more likely, buy them pre-made and already rolled out from the freezer section of our local grocery store – soooo much easier and less stressful for me.

However, saying that, tonight I wanted to use up a block of Camembert cheese that I had in the fridge and I have a wonderful recipe for a cheese, tomato and ham pie that is delicious.  Alas, I have no pie crusts in the freezer, but I remembered coming across this simple recipe by DoctorRoux on the Tasty Kitchen website and thought I would give it a try.  It worked perfectly!!!!  Flaky and light – hard to believe that it’s only 4 ingredients!!!

Easy Peasy Pie Crust

makes a 9 inch pie bottom

1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp salt
⅓ cup vegetable oil
2 ½ Tbs milk

  • put the flour in the centre of a 9 inch pie plate and make a ‘well’ in the centre (I have a glass Pyrex one, but whatever you have will be fine)
  • pour into the ‘well’ the salt, vegetable oil and milk.
  • with a fork, mix everything together until it’s all incorporated and forms a clumpy, crumbling texture.
  • using your fingers, press the ‘dough’ into the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate.
  • refrigerate until ready to use – there’s no need to bake before assembling your pie.

 Pie Crust ingredients
put the flour into the pie plate and make a well in the centre; into the well, pour the salt, vegetable oil and milk
mix with a fork until everything is incorporated
using your fingers press the ‘dough’ around the bottom and sides of the pie plate
refrigerate until you’re ready to use.

Cheese, Tomato & Ham Pie: The Cottage Kitchen

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I can’t remember where I originally found this recipe.  I’ve had it in my recipe binder for probably going on 15 years or more now, written on a scrap piece of paper from a ‘penguin’ notepad.  There aren’t even any quantities or measurements for the ingredients because I know that over the years the amounts have really depended on: A) the size of the pie crust that I bought (I’ve never had much success until now at making my own pie crust :o), and B) the amount of the other ingredients that I just happened to have in the fridge.  So I’m going to give you the recipe as I made it today, but I’m sure that the next time I make it, it will probably turn out to be slightly different :o)

Cheese, Tomato & Ham Pie
makes 1 x 9 inch pie

1 ‘Easy Peasy’ Pie Crust (or any pie crust that you prefer)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
½ cup grated cheese (I used a Tex Mex blend today)
6-8 ripe medium tomatoes
1x125g block Camembert cheese
4 slices deli ham (your preference)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp chives, chopped

  • preheat the oven to 375 degrees F, and place a baking tray inside to heat up (this will help the bottom of the pie to cook evenly)
  • using either the ‘Easy Peasy Pie Crust’ or your own line a 9 inch pie plate with it.
  • slice the tomatoes, Camembert and ham into pieces around the same size:  set aside.
  • using the back of a teaspoon spread the Dijon mustard evenly over the pie crust.
  • sprinkle the grated cheese evenly across the bottom of the pie.
  • using a circle pattern, alternate the tomatoes, Camembert and ham until the whole pie has been covered: fill in any gaps with the leftovers.
  • brush the whole pie with the olive oil and sprinkle with the chopped chives.
  • place the pie plate directly onto the hot baking tray and bake for 30-35 minutes.
  • let the pie cool, and firm up slightly, for 10 minutes before slicing and enjoying.

 Cheese, Tomato & Ham Pie ingredients
slice the tomatoes, Camembert and ham (in the last photo)
spread the Dijon mustard evenly across the bottom
sprinkle with the grated cheese
alternate the cheese, tomatoes and ham in a circular pattern until….
….everything is covered and all the gaps are filled
brush the olive oil over the top and sprinkle with the chopped chives
once baked, let the pie cool down for about 10 minutes so that it’s easier to slice
we had ours tonight with a salad and a baked potato (couldn’t resist a dollop of sour cream on top :o)