Food Of The British Isles

 St.David's Day , popular with the Welsh was last Sunday.It makes for a feast all sorts of great Welsh food, Welsh rarebit and  Bara Brith, a tea infused bread. Britain, from England to Scotland to Wales have given the world s interesting food over the centuries form Yorkshire pudding to toad in the hole

Here's the question. What is your favorite British food.It could be something as simple as fish and chips or clotted cream and jam on scones. Mine has always been fish and chips but I am partial to Yorkshire pudding with a good roast beef gravy.

Let us know what yours is and f you drink it with a strong cup of Typhoo tea.

Celebrating STC's Birthday

 Today is Samuel Taylor Coleridge 's birthday, the amazing author of Kubla Khan and Frost At Midnight. He would have loved a cream tea, complete with scones and jams along with a good joint of lamb. 
There is cake

He may have enjoyed chocolate which was just coming into recipes at the time. Carrot cake?

Possibly. Carrot cake is a spice cake, a sweet Coleridge certainly would have enjoyed during his life time. He may have been put off with the creamy cheese frosting since most spice cakes of his time were soaked in Madeira.  Still he would have enjoyed these.

Celebrate this great poet today with a slice of cake or scones laden with clotted cream. ENjoy his rich  array of poems and critiques. Enjoy his birthday.

It;s Berry Season

 The one aspect of June is that it's berry season. Strawberries, blueberries and blackberries are in full bloom right now.They can be turned into all sorts of sweet and savory treats.use them in baking. Use them in even barbecuing.Ir's your harvest.

Scones are an easy bake and there;s nothing better than a berry rich scone.Keep in mind that strawberries are water dense fruit and baking with them can lead to a soggy crumb. It's best to slice them and let them drain out  on paper towels for a few hours before using. You'll have a crisper crumb for baked goods and a thicker frosting.Can you make a strawberry croissant? Yes  but it's usually stuffing. Make it with a cream filling. You can have a creme anglaise or a simple whipped cream one put into the croissants right before serving. Another treat is berry butter, made with all three berries or just one or two.It's just taking a half cup of strawberries and a half cup of any other and then mixing them with a half cup of butter. Shape intoa log and chill in wax paper. Add rounds to pancakes and French toast for a fruity and fun bite.Fruit butter is also good on plain or raisin bagels and of course croissants. Another use of the  berries can be boiled down into a syrup. These make for a great natural soda ,especially if you use Soda Stream for the soda.It's just boiling them down with sugar and water into a simple syrup and then straining.

One of the best recipes for fruit is making tasty vinaigrettes. A strawberry vinaigrette is perfect for a grilled chicken salad. Add some creamy feta and almonds to the greens for a very delicious summer salad. Blueberries also make a great vinaigrette.It;s just taking the fruit and mixing it with lemon juice along with olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Again this is a great with a grilled chicken salad or even a julienned  ham salad. Blackberry dressing is another tasty berry perfect for a dressing. Use good olive oil along with apple cider vinegar. It''s even more delicious with chunks of blackberry in it. Use it for a steak salad with a mix of different greens. Berries are a mouth watering addition to any barbecue marinade One of the best is a blackberry one thickened with ketchup and zinged up with vinegar.You can add Dijon mustard and sriracha for heat if you want.everything is cooked up and then the berry mash is strained out. It can be brushed on the meat before grilling. Strawberry glaze is perfect for chicken.Combine fresh , pureed strawberries with honey sugar and balsamic vinegar in a saucepan.Add some garlic and rosemary and cook until thick. You can brush it on before grilling or save it as a dipping sauce for legs and wings.

It's berry season! Take advantage of the harvest and create something sweet or savory!Strawberries, blueberries and blackberries are perfect ingredients to any recipe right now!

Celebrating Coleridge.

 Today  is Samuel Taylor Coleridge's birthday.Unfortunatelt there's no cream tea and freshly baked scones to celebrate.As much as he probably loved them- he would have loved this brownie 

 cake, two lucious layers of browning with a fudge butter cream icing. A slice of this and a good cup of Earl Grey is the perfect birthday dessert.

Happy birthday to all those writers and poets out there! May your special day be as weet as this came

It's Coleridge's Birthday!!!

 Celebrate this amazing poet , Samual Taylor Colerdige born this October 21st in Ottery, St Mary's East Devon, England  Celebrate the foods he would have enjoyed, namely clotted cream and jam on scones,a good tea, possibly a good beef roast dinner with all the trimmings and that frothy treat syllabub.

As for me, I'm celebrating with these all American cupcakes.

Your Own Coffee Shop Treats

 One of the best things about fall was heading to our favorite coffee shops and getting a coffee and a baked treat.Yet now with the pandemic, it's still kind of hard to get a favorite sweet and relax . However scones, muffins and doughnuts can easily be baked in your kitchen. What's even better is you can tailor them to your tastes.

Scones may sound fancy but they're not.Scones are just a variety of Scottish flatbreads called bannocks. They were first cooked in a large mound and then scored to create triangular pieces. Even today the recipe is easy and simple enough for the most novice home baker. They can be either sweet or savory. The basic recipe calls for flour, sugar, butter, heavy cream or butter milk and eggs. Baking powder is mixed in to give the scones lift along with salt which lifts the flavor. You can add vanilla if you want for a sweeter , dessert taste. The best tasting ones however, have grated frozen butter which will create pockets and a moist, crumbly inside,The best part are the add ins. Think chocolate chips and cinnamon for a sweet combo or orange and blueberries for a healthier bite. Scones can actually  be turned into a main course with the addition of ham, cheddar and scallions Just reduce the amount of sugar added and, of course, omit the vanilla. Top with flaky sea salt. Another savory idea is adding different herbs to the dough. Try garlic, rosemary , parsley and basil. These are perfect with a hot soup or chicken or ham salad.

Our favorite coffee shops are also known for their muffins and doughnuts. Muffins have been around since the early 1700's and are one of the easiest baking recipes. They're a type of quick bread, made primarily of melted butter, sugar, eggs, and milk mixed with the dry ingredients of flour,baking powder, salt and spices. Again these can have tasty variations such as chocolate chips and pecans  along with cinnamon and nutmeg. Fruit studded muffins make for a nice snack. Blueberry muffins are the most popular but you can also use strawberries and raisins too.Banana muffins are also a nice treat with coffee or tea. Keep in mind muffin recipes are fluid. You can sub in maple syrup or honey for sugar along with whole wheat and almond flour for refined white. Doughnuts rank right up there with muffins as the perfect coffee go with.Many home bakers are turned off by the fact of frying them , remember you can use an air fryer to bake them. Remember to use yeast in them for flufflier ones. You can also use premade biscuit dough too. Cake doughnuts have an easy recipe that 's your basic vanilla cake one. They're made with flour , eggs, vegetable oil ,brown sugar, and baking powder for lift. Decorate them with an easy to make glaze of confectioner's sugar , milk and vanilla.

You can still have coffee house treats with your cup of joe or tea. All it takes is some time in the kitchen and creativity. They'll be even better tasting , fresh from your oven.

Still Celebrating St Patrick's Day

Even though we're all shuttered in right now, we can still celebrate St Patrick's Day. It's just having some ingenuity and imagination. A party is what we need right now so go to it.

It may be a little late for some foods but you can try tomorrow. There is corned beef and cabbage, an Irish-American dish that's easy to make. If you're busy with the kids, think a crockpot one ,flavored with beer. You can also make this for weekends for a festive change up from the usual. You can also grill it if you have your barbecue ready, Use a dry rub of cinnamon, mustard seed, ginger and cloves along with ginger and dill. You can also brine it in dark beer for a marinade. This is sweetened and spiced with brown sugar, pickling spices and onions along with garlic and cold water. If you've already had your corned beef and cabbage, then start tomorrow with corned beef hash. The kids will like this, especially with scrambled eggs. Just chop the meat and saute it with some onions and potatoes .  Create some nests in the hash for making eggs sunnyside up. As for the cabbage, try the traditional bubble and squeak which is frying up the greens with potatoes in butter. Serve with crispy bacon or even eggs for a different kind of brunch and lunch.

Irish soda bread is another must have for the day. Since everyone is inside , baking is easy and a great past time.It's a simple make, thanks to the recipe not using yeast,It's baking soda that gives the loaf its' rise. The recipe also uses buttermilk and egg too and is sweetened with raisins or currents. Think about turning  any leftovers into a tasty bread pudding. This is  a rich decadent bake, complete with heavy cream and eight eggs. You can also add cinnamon and cardamon for more flavor along with  freshly squeezed orange juice and zest. More raisins or other fruit such as blueberries can be mixed in. Any good bread pudding deserves a topping and you can top this one with a store bought or homemade caramel topping.. Once you've mastered the bread you can move on to Irish soda bread muffins and scones. The muffin recipe has some slight modification. Baking powder is added in this recipe to give the muffins some rise along with the addition of carraway seeds. Sugar is dusted on top for sweetness.  You can also make the scone version and serve them warm from the oven. There are even Irish soda bread cookies .It's the same recipe save with only using one egg. They sort of look like flat little scones and I guess you could put some butter on them.

We may be quarantined. Yet we deserve a party with good  food. Create a St Paddy's one with traditional tasty foods.

October A Month of Cooking

Now that it's October and the weather is cooler, Its time to start making reals meals and real desserts. - none of this grilled or iced stuff.It's also time for Octoberfests both in Germany and America. The month also brings Halloween parties and treats along with a celebratory tea for Samuel Taylor Coleridge's birthday.

Octoberfest is big ,especially in the German  .neighborhoods. Many restaurants such as Bahr's in New Jersey's Atlantic Highlands offers a full menu complete with rouladen and potato pancakes. It's easy to recreate any German dish. Rouladen is one of the most delicious to make. It's simply rolled flank steak that's stuffed with pickles and onions although some family recipes  sub in creamed spinach. This last is a fantastic pairing with the beef, each flavor complementing each other.Potato pancakes are another yummy October fest treat.They are labor intensive to make,especially with grating the potatoes but so worth it. Serve it with homemade apple sauce which brings up the other October activity - apple picking. This is definitely the month and the season for it. Remember there are several different types of apples. They're not all the same. Use the correct one for the recipe you want and your pies and fritters along with applesauce will turn out perfect. Apples can also be used in many German dishes too, such as roast pork..They are sliced and usually placed with onions around the roast to infuse flavor. Apple butter and apple sauce can also be used as glazes for these roasts as well as for pork chops.

Many Coleridge fans along, with most English majors, know that the third week of the month, October 21st is is the great poet's birthday. Some celebrate with a Devonshire cream tea, since he was born in the scenic county of Devonshire. Cream teas are a  wonderful combination of clotted cream, scones and jam. It's traditional for the last to be strawberry. Scones are split and one half is slathered with clotted cream,a cooked cream from Devon while the other half is covered with the strawberry jam.They're 'washed down with straight , sweetened or unsweetened black tea. Milk and cream aren't added  because they'll take away from the clotted cream. If  the cream is hard to come by (it can be bought on Amazon) then blend freshly whipped cream with sour cream and a tablespoon of confectioner's sugar.The month ends with Halloween where there's all sort of sweets and treats.This is where home chefs and bakers can explore their creative side with creating dishes such as Monster Meat Loaf or Spider Burgers - basically cooked , and split hot dogs served on a hamburger buns.Then there is Bones and Blood, breadsticks baked in the shape of bones and dipped into marinara sauce. End with Yeti cupcakes that are iced with vanilla icing and shredded coconuts. Candy eyes and fangs are added for the finishing touches.

It's October, a month of fun and feasting.It's also a time for making delicious dinners and tantalizing desserts. Celebrate the festivities with gusto.

Summer Theme Parties

It is summer and the time for all sorts of parties.To make them more memorable think theme . Nothing is more entertaining and fun than a party with a set theme You don't have to go all out as with Sean Combs and his all white Hamptons party but you can have something similar on a smaller scale.

Ever since the arrival of Downton Abbey, teas have become almost de rigueur  for theme parties. These are still fun and the food can be a nice change from sloppy barbecues. Think watercress and chicken salad  sandwiches along with jam and butter ones too.Scones dripping with clotted cream are a must.as well A variety of teas can be served from  the fruity Lady Grey to soothing chamomile or mint, Wimbledon will be starting soon and you can serve their signature dishes, strawberries and cream washed down with champagne. Another Masterpiece classic Poldark has been retooled and revamped for a new generation. Winston Graham's classic romance adventure takes place in Cornwall, where rum was smuggled  freely and drunk freely. Have a Sunday night watching party (it's on PBS  stations at nine on that day) with what else rum and  Cornish pasties. If you're in the New York City area you can buy this last  from the famed Myers of Keswick on Hudson Street. If not it's a simple recipe  of  pastry filled with any kind of chopped meat, usually beef mixed with  potatoes. . You can also make a stargazey pie, a seafood variation of shepherd's pie, toppedwith pilchards staring up at the sky, hence the name,. Have a dessert of blackberries and clotted cream. Both are as Cornish as the  region's broad accent and tin mines.

Of course you can look to America for  theme ideas. Have a Saturday night hoedown, complete with  barbecue, Coca Cola cake and a variety of mayo based salads. Guests can also bring their own favorite picnic dishes  for a down home pot luck get together. New England clambakes are another great way of celebrating.It's  not only clams but also lobster and clams along with mussels steamed on rockweed or seaweed.  True clambakes also have sausages and corn on the cob. Other sides are potatoes, carrots and onions. Remember to include a coffee pot full of melted butter for the seafood  and veggies. A similar shindig is the Wisconsin fish boil. This is a tad more laborious than a clambake but it's essentially any white fish cooked with onions and  potatoes in  heavily salted water. The fish oil floats to the top where it's set aflame similar to crepes Suzette. Melted butter is dribbled on the fish and veggies afterward. It is usually served with cole slaw followed by cherry or blueberry pie.If this is too much then think  drive in  movie. Invite friends over to see a classic or celebrate a birthday with a favorite flick.  Have dogs and burgers along with butter drenched popcorn and malteds (you can make this last a bit naughty by adding a shot of vodka, or bourbon). Have boxes of Juniors Mints Red Vines and Good N Plenty for dessert.

It's summer! Celebrate with parties, full of good fun and good food! Try an English tea or a New England clambake  - whatever you want  for a warm weather get together!

Warm And Yummy Breads

There 's nothing like a hot roll or bun on a cold morning. Even better is when they come straight from your oven or toaster oven. Making these warm and yummy treats is easy. All you have
The dough is usually premade and it just takes a few minutes to bake. After that get out the hot coffee and butter and enjoy a special breakfast.

Pilsbury is the granddaddy of all frozen buns and rolls. They still make their popular ready to heat cinnamon rolls , this time with the extra kick of Cinnabon cinnamon. If you want to make them more decadent , add some raisins or even almond slivers before baking, You can also add little pats of butter for a moister , buttery taste. You can also take frozen biscuits and brush them with a mix if melted butter , cinnamon and sugar to get a lighter version. A fun breakfast treat is making monkey bread using these too.. Coat with cinnamon and sugar and bake together in a ring.

If you want from scratch rolls and buns, then use the classic Bisquick. With this you can create anything form hot muffins to scones. Even better is that the recipes allows you to add fruit such as dried cranberries, cherries and raisins. It also allows you to regulate the size of the bun. You can make super ones or tiny ones , depending on your family’s tastes. Flavorings can also be tempered to suit what everyone likes. Any Bisquick product is easy to whip up. Biscuits only take fifteen minutes to make and five minutes to bake.
A hot roll or bun is the perfect antidote to a frozen morning. There’s nothing like its’ fresh taste and warm, melting texture .It ‘s a nice way to chase away. those AM chills.

Downton Dining

The PBS smash "Downton Abbey " has fans and foodies desiring true English fare. Anglophiles and those who just love a good soap opera are even creating Sunday night parties revolving around British country fare and high teas. Fine china along with toad in the hole, clotted cream and scones are being nibbled as the second season of this fascinating drama unfolds.


The manor is divided into two sections ,upstairs and down. If you identitfy with Lord and Lady Grantham, the manor's owners then you may want to think about a lovely tea . Even though the show is sown at 9 PM in most areas you can still serve an elegant tea (which is usually served at 4 PM). Small finger sandiwches are a must. These can have a variety of fillings such as the traditional cucumber and watercress to chicken salad. You can also make pastes using devilled chicken or ham mixed with mayonnaise . Scones are another tea favorite. If you can't buy them, then make your own. They are easy to whip up and bake and you can make different flavors to suit your guests' tastes. Remember that since this is an English tea have good strong British kinds. Early Grey and Lady Grey are strong and flavorful.Typhoo tea is another favorite. This is a British import and can be hard to come by.

The downstairs group ate pretty well too. The story takes place in Yorkshire where there is plenty of beef and cheese. Yorkshire pudding is the county's most famous dish and it's easy to make.It is basically a buttery popover that is eaten with roast beef and gravy.The batter is a mix of milk, eggs and flour along with the addition of the roast's drippings to give it flavor.Rhubarb is also popular  there and is found in several desserts. Since it's really not the season you can serve thich oat bread toast or Parkin laden with butter and rhubarb strawberry preserves. There are also pikelets, a flat crumpets that are split open and then toasted. They  can be served with another Yorkshire specialty, Wensleydale cheese. This last is a variation of blue cheese .If you have neither, then think English muffins seved warm with crunbled blue cheese on top.

Downton Abbey has captured America's hearts and palates. Whoever you like best, the complicated aristocracy  or the loveswept staff, enjoy their foods. Have tea or somehting heartier for more of a taste of England!

Scones:Savory And Sweet

Even though the holidays are over you can still bake. However turn away from all the cookies and think outside the cookie ja. Think scones. These English tea staples are not just for afternoon get togethers,washed down with a variety of teas. They can be made with a variety of different ingredients to accompany different dishes.

Melissa Clark explored the world of sweet and savory scones in yesterday's A Good Appetite column in The New York Times Dining section. She has experimented with both sweet and savory. Scones are not that tricky to make. The basic recipe is not unlike that of a biscuit.Instead of rounds however the dough is shaped into a pizza like round and then baked.It's then cut into wedges and served with butte, jam and/or clotted cream. Ms. Clark though has other ideas. She puts caramelized onions and caramel in hers. Such savory scones would go well sopping up a tasty beef stew or hearty vegetable soup, She also recommends another twist, with cheddar and jalapeno which would go well at the bottom of a chili bowl.

For those who like sweet scones, there are scores of recipes you can get from the Internet. Even the basic recipe can be tweaked with different additions.Most English recipes for them call for a handful of raisins or dried currants. You can also add dried cranberries for a different tang. Other toss in candied ginger for both spice and sugar. There are also pumpkin and blueberry scones as well. Lemon scones with a simple glaze icing are also popular and easy to bake.  For decadence stir in a few dark chocolate chips.


Scones are a wonderful addition to any winter meal. Have them warm with butter at a Sunday brunch or accompanying a thick, hearty stew. They're easy to make and bake. Bes tof all you can create different varieties , both savory and sweet.

An English Tea Food Elegance At Its’ Best

There’s nothing like a proper English tea. It has all the feel of a Merchant Ivory or Masterpiece Theater period piece. There’s something inherently elegant about sipping a fine Darjeeling or Earl Gray out of bone china. The sandwiches and sweets are perfect, delicate yet satisfying. It’s not hard to recreate one. Even for us Yank foodies who love fast food and messy dishes.

There are actually three kinds of tea to consider. The first is the cream tea. This is where tea scones and jam are only served. For a more substantial fare there is light tea which has sweets added to the menu and then there is the full tea which adds savories and a dessert (possibly a light trifle or small cakes). Savories usually mean small sandwiches , usually watercress or egg salad. Most English hotels serve the last , and cater to American tastes. The entire tea idea started during the Victorian era when Anna Maria Stanhope, Duchess of Bedford and one of Queen Victoria’s ladies in waiting felt a “sinking feeling around four in the afternoon. Borrowing from the Continental idea of having tea she arranged for the drink to be served with small sandwiches and cakes. This helped sustain her and her guests until the main meal which was probably served at seven or eight. Hence a British tradition was born.

Creating a full British tea is easy to do in this former colony. You can serve any kind of tea and have with it light sandwiches and scones. Supermarkets sell smaller loaves or what’s known as party loaves . These can be filled with cucumber, watercress, and cream cheese. You could put an American spin on them and use deviled ham or chicken as fillings too. Scones can be bought or made. The question is acquiring the clotted cream to go with them. Luckily it can be bought in any major city or on the Internet. As for having small cakes think cupcakes dusted with powdered sugar as opposed to being topped with a large mound of frosting.

An English tea is an elegant way of getting together with friends. It symbolizes timely elegance with delicate food. It's wonderful to indulge your foodie side while being civilized at the same time.