Crazy Englishwoman Cooks!

You've made your pastry wreath and now you need something deliciously decadent for dessert. Maybe something chocolatey, with some cranberries for a Christmassy touch. If that's the case, you're going to love this mousse.

The following is enough for six dreamy servings:

3 large egg yolks
Pinch of salt
2/3 cup whole milk
12 oz good quality milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 tsp dark rum
1 1/2 cups chilled whipping cream, divided

Rather than cooking on Christmas Day this year, my in-laws came over on Boxing Day. They are not turkey fans, but luckily I came across this recipe for a very festive-looking pastry wreath. It was very easy to make, but looks quite fancy. We had enough for leftovers the next day, too.



1 large pack puff pastry - 2 crusts (or you could use two packs of Pillsbury crescent roll dough)
250 g mushrooms, cut into large pieces
1 / 3 cup heavy cream)
2 cups cooked chicken, cut into small pieces
1 / 2 cup dried tomatoes, pre-soaked in olive oil,
a pinch of basil
½ cup olives, sliced into large pieces
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp honey
freshly ground black pepper
3 tbs parsley, chopped
4 oz cheese, grated
½ tsp salt
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 400F.
Stew the mushrooms and cream on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until cream is almost over and leave to cool.
Once the mushrooms are cooled, mix all ingredients, except puff pastry and egg white.
Using a sharp knife, cut puff pastry into 4 equal squares and then into triangles - 8 triangles for each crust. (Now you see why you could use crescent roll dough.)
Take 8 triangles and arrange the wide ends in the center in a circle on your baking sheet or dish in which the wreath will be baked.
Take the remaining 8 triangles and line up the wide ends to the wide ends of the first 8 triangles. The points of the second 8 triangles should face the center of the circle.
Spoon the chicken mixture in a circle, where the wide ends meet.
Weave the dough - outside pieces first, tucking the ends of the triangle underneath the chicken mixture.
Weave the inside pieces also, tucking the ends underneath the wreath.
Brush with the egg white.


Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.


There are dozens of possibilities for fillings. A friend has made something similar with taco meat filling before. Steak and kidney instantly came to my mind, with a suet pastry crust. Of course, since I can't get kidney here, I may have to settle for steak and mushroom. For kids, how about cheese and broccoli?

Coming up next: decadent chocolate mousse with candied fruit chutney

And all through the house
Not a creature is stirring...

At least not in the kitchen anyway. We've got leftovers to finish. Luckily not too many since I didn't cook on Christmas Day. Yesterday my in-laws came over so I will be sharing those recipes this week.

Did Santa bring you everything you wanted? I now have a fabulous new knife block, a knife sharpener, stick blender, and chopper, not to mention a book of tapas recipes. I'm a happy chef.

Continuing my holiday cooking adventures, I decided to give my friend Julie a handmade gift for her birthday this past weekend, or, to put it another way, she became an experimental guinea pig as I tried my hand at making biscotti.

I am not much of a biscotti person (give me a Hob-Nob anyday!) but anything designed to be dunked is ok by me.

Now the recipe said it would make 2-3 dozen whereas I only got about a dozen. Lesson learned: next time, make a longer, thinner roll of dough to slice. I think it would result in a great number, and the dough would spread less during cooking, thereby allowing for easier slicing and a prettier biscuit.

Recipe courtesy of Deborah Mele.

Put them in a nice gift box with some tissue paper (being sure to put the prettier ones on top) and voila! Gift!


My apologies and thanks to Julie for being an experiment.

I'm doing a lot of baking for various parties in the run up to Christmas, and cranberries are always a great addition at this time of year. Not only are they wonderfully festive with their bright red hue, they are also little powerhouses of nutrition.

This cake is made all the more delicious by the addition of just one spoonful of Kirsch, a colorless cherry brandy that my husband claims tastes like fire water. Of course, you can leave out the Kirsch if you like, but it really does add something extra to the flavor of the cake.

One other note before I give you the recipe. I used a 9x13 inch cake tin. However, as you can see from the photos, this resulted in a rather flat cake. I would recommend using a round, springform cake tin. Mine is heavily dented following one too many drops on the kitchen floor. (Memo to self: buy new cake tin.)


Cranberry Kirsch Cake
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened enough to be beaten into the mix
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs Kirsch
1 tsp of salt
2 tbs of milk
2 cups flour
2 1/2 cups cranberries

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan or (my preference) a 10" springform pan.
Beat eggs and sugar together for 5-7 minutes. Add butter, vanilla, and Kirsch. Beat for 2 minutes. Add the milk and salt and mix for another 30 seconds.
Stir in flour and fold in cranberries. Pour into pan.
Bake 45-50 minutes for a 9x13, or a little over an hour for the springform. Cool completely on a wire rack before serving.



Put your feet up from the Christmas rush, pour yourself a glass of wine, and enjoy a slice of this heavenly cake.

It's the party season and you suddenly realize that it's 3pm and you need to make something by 6 to take with you. Of course, there are also a dozen other things you need to get done. It's ok to cheat a little.

Hello Betty Crocker!

These ginger lemon cookies were made using a simple Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix and a few additions.

1	pouch sugar cookie mix
1/2	cup butter
1/4	cup combined corn syrup and molasses
1	tbs ground ginger
1 1/4	tsp ground cinnamon
3/4	tsp ground cloves (You can use a little more if you like, but I've had a few bad experiences with cloves in recipes).
1	egg

1	cup powdered sugar
4	teaspoons lemon juice
1/4	cup finely chopped crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 375F. Mix the sugar cookie mix, butter, molasses mix, spices, and egg. Drop spoonfuls on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Leave to cool.

Mix lemon juice and icing sugar. Use to glaze cookies, then sprinkle with crystallized ginger.

Simple, spicy, and fancy.

Plus they were a hit.

I've had house guests for the past two weeks and so have had little time to cook, much less to post, but now I'm getting back into the swing of things. So here's a blueberry pie that I made last weekend - the recipe is from a recent issue of A Taste of Home. I had saved bags of freshly picked blueberries in my freezer so it was a chance to taste a little of summer.

I was a little unsure about the inclusion of mint in the recipe - would it be too overpowering? As it happens, the answer is no. The mint gives the fruit a nice little lift, and just a hint of something different.

Blueberry Pie

Pastry for double-crust pie.
4 oz low fat cream cheese
1/2 cup icing sugar
3 tbs lemon juice
1 egg
1/2 cup plus 1 tbs sugar
2 tbs flour
1 tbs cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water
6 cups blueberries
1 tsp dried mint

Line a 9 inch pie plate with pastry. Cover the pastry with a double layer of foil and bake at 450F for 8 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 5 more minutes.

Cool on a wire rack, and reduce the stove temperature to 375F.

Beat together the cream cheese, icing sugar, and 1 tbs lemon juice. Mix in the egg yolk until it is blended in. Spread on the pastry crust.

Meanwhile, mix 1/2 cup sugar, the flour, and cornstarch in a large pan. Stir in the water until smooth. Add 2 cups blueberries. Bring to a boil and cook for a couple of minutes until it has thickened. Take off the heat and stir in the remaining lemon juice and berries, along with the mint.

Pour blueberry mix over the cream cheese.



Roll out the other half of the pastry and cut out whatever shapes you want to decorate it with. As you can see, I chose stars, but you can use a holiday-themed cutout, something decorative...whatever you like. Arrange the pastry shapes over the blueberry mix, being sure to leave the center uncovered.

Brush the pastry shapes with egg white and sprinkle with the 1 tbs sugar.

Bake at 375F for about 40 minutes.

The recipe said to refrigerate leftovers. As if there would be leftovers of this! We didn't even waste time taking pictures of the cooked pie.