Nearly Easter!

I'm getting quite excited about the Easter bank holiday weekend now, I'm really looking forward to the break. Rob and I will be going down to his parents holiday caravan for a few days so fingers crossed for good weather!

I'm also very much looking forward to the round-up of the Easter Cake Bake . The entries are coming in thick and fast with some fabulous cakes. There's still time to enter - you have until Easter Monday.

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter.

Let’s Celebrate English Food

3 cheers for Sam at Becks & Posh, who is championing English food in her ‘Fish and Quips’ event in celebration of St George’s Day, England’s national day.

English food has had a hard time over the years and even we as a nation have considered it bland and boring, preferring more exotic cuisines. But I do think that may be changing. British television chefs and food writers are showcasing English food more than ever, and rightly so.

For my part in this great event I give you the traditional and homely ‘Toad in the Hole’.



Toad in the Hole

Ingredients
6-8 good quality sausages
150ml milk
150ml water
2 large eggs
125g plain flour
2 tablespoons beef dripping or other fat
A little salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 220c.

While the oven is heating up make batter by beating together the eggs, milk, water, flour and salt and pepper until smooth.

Next brown the sausages in a frying pan with a little olive oil. While the sausages are browning put about two tablespoons of beef dripping into a roasting tray, then put it into the oven until very hot. Note: beef dripping adds a fantastic taste but you could use lard or oil.

Once the sausages are browned remove the tray with the fat in it from the oven, add in the browned sausages and pour in the batter. Put the tray back in the oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes until the batter is risen, puffy and golden. Serve with Roasted Onion and Thyme Gravy.

Now that is good English food.

Warm Bacon and Scallop Salad

Bacon and scallops are fabulous together. The smokiness of the bacon compliments the sweetness of the tender scallops so well. I had this lunch in the garden yesterday with a glass of orange juice and the sun shining down, and it was just wonderful.



Fry some strips of bacon and then remove them from the pan. Sauté the scallops in the same pan with a little butter and a touch of seasoning just for about 30 seconds to a minute each side over a high heat. Remove them and lay them on a bed of salad leaves with the bacon.

Slosh a little white wine into the pan and stir while it reduces, scraping all the bacon bits with a wooden spoon. When the wine is syrupy drizzle it over the salad.

An Easter Egg for Grown-ups with Good Taste

Do you prefer dark chocolate or milk chocolate? Well it doesn’t matter with Hotel Chocolat's Signature Egg, as you get the best of both worlds with half the shell being dark and the other half milk.

You may recall my previous post about Hotel Chocolat. Having already tried this delicious chocolate I couldn't wait to try their Signature Egg. And they didn't disappoint. The shell is made from exceptionally thick chocolate, and as with all their products, this is real chocolate; the dark chocolate is 72% and the milk 40%.

When you open up the egg the sweet, deep chocolate smell is intoxicating. Close your eyes and breathe it in and you’re in chocolate heaven. Inside are fabulous little eggs that are so pretty and beautifully hand decorated it seems a shame to bite into them. But of course that thought leaves my head almost as soon as it enters it. The chocolate eggs are filled with smooth and creamy champagne and liqueur truffles such as kir royale, bellini and rum. And wow, those are some generously boozy chocolates!

This really is a special egg; perfect for that special someone this Easter.