London

I thought this cookbook would be very fitting considering in a few days we will be heading off to England. This coffee table type book has lots to reference and is like a culinary best of London. The photography is candid and placed. You feel as though you are getting an inside scoop... a kaleidoscope of life in London through a culinary eye. 

The introduction writes about Culinary History, Contemporary Cuisine, Dining Out, Markets, Flavours of the Neighbourhood and a two page map of a London. The Best of London chapter talks about Afternoon Tea, Tea Merchants and Tea, Delicatessens, Cheesemongers and Cheese, Pubs, Fishmongers and Seafood, Bars and Cocktails and Bakeries. The reference section has a photography location. That is where I came across the shop Book for Cooks. A bookstore dedicated to cookbooks with a café at the back. Sounds like a dream come true for me! You can read more about Books for Cooks by clicking *HERE*. I don't know if I will make a visit there this time around. However it does give me something to look forward to for another time.

The recipes have their own chapters. Starting with Afternoon Tea, Starters, Soups and Salads, then Main Courses and finally Puddings. Recipes are classic... Fish and Chips, Mince Pies, Steak, Mushroom and Ale Pie and Sticky Toffee Puddings while others offer inspiration... Lemon Lavender Drizzle Cake, Asian Grilled Salmon Salad, Spicy Thai Meatballs with Chile-Lemongrass Sauce, Chicken Tikka Masala and Coconut Rice Pudding with Pineapple in Chile Sauce. 

I have made the Cheese and Ham scones which were absolutely mouthwatering. I would share a photo with you however the photo was on my other computer which crashed... the hard drive couldn't coming back up and I lost all my photos and music! That's what happens when you don't back up anything. A lesson learned. 

The Cheese and Ham scones are great anytime. A delicious savoury treat that compliment any mealtime and even in-between. I will share the recipe as printed from the book. Enjoy!  

Cheese and Ham Scones
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1 3/4 cups (9oz/280g) all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of fine sea salt
4 tablespoons (2oz/60g) cold unsalted butter, diced, plus more for serving
3/3 cup (3oz/90g) finely grated mature cheddar cheese
2/3 cup (4oz/125g) finely diced ham
2/3 cup (5 fl oz/160ml) whole milk
1 large egg

*makes 12 scones

1)Preheat oven to 425ºF (220ºC). Lightly oil a baking sheet.

2)Sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt into a bowl. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in the 4 tablespoons butter until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. Alternatively, place the sifted dry ingredients in a food processor, add the 4 tablespoons butter, and pulse 4 to 5 times until the mixture forms coarse crumbs; return to the bowl. Using a fork, stir in the cheese and ham. In a small bowl, beat the milk into the egg, then add to the flour mixture. Stir just until a rough, soft dough forms.

3)Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and lightly knead until it clings together and is soft and puffy, about 1 minute. Gently roll out into a round about 3/4 inch (2cm) thick. Dust a 2 and 1/4 inch (5.5cm) round the biscuit cutter with flour and, using a quick, sharp motion, cut out scones as close together as possible. Gather the scrapes of dough, knead briefly, roll out, and cut additional scones. Place the scones 1 and 1/2 inches (4cm) apart on the prepared baking sheet. 

4)Bake until the scones are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Serve hot or let cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Serve with butter. The scones should be eaten the same day they are baked, or can be frozen for up to 2 weeks in a air tight container. 

*Serve with Darjeeling, Earl Grey or Lapsang Souchong tea.   

Who knows what culinary delights I will enjoy this time while I am in England. Although I do like to expand my palette, something can be said for the familiar. - JW  

My Week In Food

This week was the return of the banana bread. However this was not my usual late night baking but rather a rainy day baking. Rain plus baking equals smiling faces.  

The watercress soup hit the spot! Packed with vitamins this was the best side dish other than the usual salad. 

This was my take on a greek salad, Italian style! Loads of tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, red pepper and mozzarella cheese. All tossed in a homemade herbed dressing. 

Hummus is a staple in our household. Even when I go out to restaurants I eye and order this perfect appetizer for sharing. I roasted the chickpeas before blending everything together. 

And the ever bottomless pan of crumble. This time I made an apple, blueberry and strawberry crumble. Not as sweet as the rhubarb crumble. Probably because I added less sugar however still sweet and tangy and disappeared quite quickly! 

 Well these have been the highlights of another busy week. Only one week to go before I am off on vacation. Have a great weekend! - JW  

Watercress Soup

When I swung by my local grocery store and saw a bunch of watercress I could not believe my eyes. Watercress is very hard to come by in E-town and probably Canada. Watercress is packed with vitamins and minerals. I checked through the majority of my cookbooks and watercress recipes are few and far between. Why isn't there a watercress cookbook? Perhaps recipes are not as abundant for this mighty green. Until I searched on internet and found a glorious site dedicated to watercress. I instantly fell in luv. It has loads of recipes and information regarding watercress and that is where I got the inspiration to make a watercress soup. 

Pictured here is the Classic Watercress Soup recipe I made. It was very tasty! The fresh lemon juice made this soup uplifting. I urge you to visit their site by clicking *here* or visit them at watercress.co.uk   - JW 

* All pictures on this website taken by Jacqueline Williams.*  

Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management of 1901

I know I have featured a smaller version of a Mrs. Beeton's cookbook months ago. At a young age Mrs. Beeton had made a name for herself and this is why this 100 plus year old cookbook never looked younger. 

I received this cookbook as a gift and it has probably seen better days. This edition was published in 1901. The coloured cookery plates are beautiful and well preserved. The black and white engravings are charming. Despite the book being in very good condition the front and back covers (8"x5") are worn and the spine is tattered and loose. Which means handling this book with care is a must. This is a pure collectors book. 

Mrs. Beeton's Household Management of 1901 is so old what can one really say about this book. The recipes are still feature in cookbooks today. Everything you need to know about the kitchen and household is put into 75 chapters within 1644 pages plus adverts. There is so much to marvel at about this book however this cookbook is not a light read.   

I took these photos with the flash off so if they are a bit fuzzy, I apologise. I wanted to share the lovely coloured plates. They are absolutely stunning! 

The black and white engravings... illustrations add even more charm to this very informative cookbook.

This is, the perfect addition to my cookbook collection. - JW  

Berries Beautiful!

We have all tried our hand at making strawberry jam, ate a slice of strawberry shortcake at a summertime picnic, placed sliced strawberries on top of a salad, marvelled at  strawberry tarts from the bakery and even raised a glass... or two, of strawberry infused Pimms. No matter how you slice them, to me nothing rings in summer like strawberries and raspberries for that matter. I remember many summer days going out to strawberry fields and picking pint after pint. It is a wonder that I made it back home with any strawberries at all! 

This book is only 110 pages and serves up all the classic berry recipes. Apart from the few salad, sandwich, beverage and soup recipe... yes soup! Most of the recipes are for desserts. Oddly enough there is a pizza crust recipe and there are 4-5 different strawberry pizza recipes to try. Recipes have standard and metric measurements.

Whether you pick them yourself, purchase them from a farmer's market or grocery store berries are succulently sweet. And just in case you are curious and want to give it a try I will share the soup recipe with you. Enjoy! - JW 

Strawberry Soup
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4 cups/1 L Fresh strawberries or 4 cups of frozen whole strawberries, partly thawed
1 cup/250 ml orange juice 
2/teaspoons/10ml instant tapioca
1/8 teaspoon/0.5ml all spice
1/8teaspoon/0.5ml cinnamon
1/2 cup/125ml sugar
1 teaspoon/5ml grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon/15ml lemon juice
1 cup/250ml buttermilk

Purée strawberries. Combine purée with orange juice in a saucepan. Remove about 1/4 cup (50ml) of mixture and combine with the tapioca. Add tapioca mixture to purée in saucepan. Add all spice, cinnamon and sugar, and cook and stir until mixture thickens. Remove from heat; and lemon peel, lemon juice and buttermilk. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. Serves 4. 

My Week In Food

This may be a new series of posts I do called My Week In Food. It will be more of a snapshot... a summary... the highlights of what I cooked or baked in a week. Most often than not I do not post everything I create and that goes for my other blog as well, unfortunately. Some weeks are busier inside and outside of the kitchen. My kidlets complain that I take to many photos of the things I cook or bake. I must admit that is true. I take plenty of photos only to narrow it down to one then the rest get deleted. I am a slave to my creations.    

These pancakes started off the Canada Day long weekend. They came with all the trimmings... and by that I mean maple syrup!

Visiting the farmer's market and spending sometime at the Legislature grounds had me making this fast summertime snack, nachos. Or as I like to call them my Canada Day nachos due to the fact I used red and white corn chips. 

I luv salads! Trying new ingredients to make salads fresh and tasty are a must. Pea sprouts are my salads new best friend!

An egg salad sandwich on marble rye was not immune to pea sprouts. They spruced up this otherwise bland sandwich. A lunchtime favourite of mine that is best with watercress. 

A glass of milk is all you need... my late night baking took a break from banana bread. I made chocolate chip cookies instead. 

What to do with that last little bit of mozzarella cheese... make another salad. There are chopped tomatoes, red peppers, cucumbers, red onions, raspberries, pea sprouts and cubes of mozzarella cheese. All tossed in a homemade raspberry vinaigrette dressing. 

 

Bread Matters

Bread does matter and is an everyday staple. I tried making bread a few years back and instead of a nicely risen loaf, something that looked more like a giant tea biscuit laid before me. I was disappointed! Not entirely put off just highly disappointed. It's bread... one of those handed down traditions. The pure measure of independence. Most recently a long standing bakery that I frequently went to closed down. It sent me on a search for another bakery. Bread matters...

Andrew Whitley's book Bread Matters: the State of Modern Bread and a Definitive Guide to Baking Your Own is a technical text book on bread making. This definitive guide is intense with knowledge and information that's enlightening. If you ever dreamt of making bread, I still do, or becoming a full on bread baker this is the book for you. The photography is beautiful  and the hand drawn illustrations charming. One can tell Andrew Whitley is passionate about bread not because this mighty book is 373 pages thick but because he is a professional organic baker, founder of Bread Matters and cofounder of the Real Bread Campaign. You can find out more about these two foundations by clicking *here* 

This is a pleasant cookbook to add to my collection. I do not know how technical I really want to get with my bread making however a better understanding is always appreciated. - JW  

Pea Sprout Salad

This is my salad of the week. Pea sprouts with cherry tomatoes, radishes, raspberries, dried blueberries and grated cheese. The grated cheese I bought was from The Cheesiry, they had a stall at the farmer's market in the french quarter here in E-town. It is a lovely little market full of sauces, breads, cheese and pastries. Plenty of samples to entice you. I bought the Cheesiry's multi pack cheese sampler. You can find more about The Cheesiry by clicking *here* 

The salad dressing was one I had made up using 6 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of raspberry vinegar, a teaspoon of grainy mustard, a tablespoon of summer savoury, a pinch of salt and some pepper. Mix all ingredients together and drizzle over any salad or bread. Very zesty! 

Hope everyone has been keeping cool! - JW