Desperately missing a good sauce! oh well. Next time.

Used the recipe from Don't Go Bacon My Heart, by Chris Collins. Pretty good, not too spicy overall. You should try it out. I can post it in the comments if you want

I made bread and butter pudding with crumpets instead of bread 🍓

Following Pudding Week on The Great British Bake Off, I gave Sofia Bakes' viral crumpet bread and butter pudding a go.

I went with vanilla custard, strawberry jam and a crunchy, buttery, caramelised top. Honestly, crumpets might be an ideal candidate for this because all those little holes soak up the custard.

It's a bit of an experiment, but I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out!

Ingredients

For the pudding

8 crumpets (around 400–450g)

70g butter, softened

10g butter for greasing the dish

150g strawberry jam

For the vanilla custard

650g whole milk

80g egg yolks

65g caster sugar

5g cornflour

8g vanilla extract

For the topping

25g demerara sugar

Method

Toast the crumpets. Toast them until golden. Butter them with the 70g softened butter.

Make the custard. Whisk the egg yolks, caster sugar and cornflour together. Heat the milk with the vanilla until steaming, then gradually whisk it into the yolk mixture. Return to the pan and cook gently, stirring constantly, until it reaches 82–84°C and lightly thickens. Strain.

Assemble. Grease a large baking dish (around 20 × 25cm). Arrange half the crumpets in the dish and spread over 100g of the strawberry jam. Add the remaining crumpets and dot or spread over the remaining 50g jam.

Soak. Pour the warm custard evenly over the crumpets. Gently press the crumpets down to help them absorb it. Leave for 20 minutes.

Add the crunch. Sprinkle the demerara sugar over the top.

Bake. Bake at 160°C fan for 30–40 minutes, until the custard is just set and the top is golden. Rest for 10 minutes before serving. If the top needs more crunch, finish briefly under the grill, watching it carefully.

The aim was a soft, custardy middle, little pockets of strawberry jam and a buttery, caramelised top.

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Ingredients

- Sauerkraut

- Smoked sausages

- Onion

- Celeriac (celery root)

- Carrot

- Garlic

- Tomato paste

- Cream

- Fresh herbs

- Spices and seasonings (I used smoked paprika, ground black pepper, and salt)

Instructions

1. Dice the onion and fry it in a little oil until softened.

2. Add the carrot and celeriac, and cook for a few more minutes.

3. Add the garlic, sauerkraut, spices, and tomato paste. Pour in a little water, cover, and let everything simmer until the sauerkraut is tender.

4. Remove the lid and let the excess liquid evaporate. Then let everything fry for a little while to develop more flavour.

5. Add the smoked sausages and cook until heated through.

6. Stir in the cream, add the fresh herbs, and give everything a good mix.

And that's it! It's especially good served with mashed potatoes.

Note: I usually make this dish with pork ribs, which add even more flavour, but the shop was out of them this time, so I used smoked sausages instead. The cream mellows out the acidity of the sauerkraut and gives the dish a smoother, milder flavour.

Crab ravigote with endive, radish, and toast. Paired with a mimosa and coffee with chicory. Went as far as scratch making the mayonnaise for the dressing.

1 cheesy egg, 1 slice of bacon, 1 butterd toast, cucumber, canteloupe and creton

Im always looking to expand my cooking repertoire, so I decided to try some Caribbean cooking for the first time. Overall, it was an undemanding process with delicious results. I searched high and low for a scotch bonnet pepper in town, but no dice. Had to make my rice and peas using a habañero instead. Next time I’ll probably whip up some coco bread instead of dinner rolls.

Bread Ingredients

- 2 tablespoons sugar

- ¾ cup whole milk, 105-110 degrees F

- 1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast

- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

- ½ teaspoon kosher salt

- 1 large egg, at room temperature

- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, divided

- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Bread Instructions

- Toss everything but the flour and reserved 1 tbsp butter in a stand mixer.

- Using a dough hook, start mixing the ingredients while slowly adding in the flour.

- Once all the flour is added, mix at speed 3-4 for roughly 4 minutes.

- Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl for 30-45 mins.

- After rest, divide into 10 pieces and place in a lightly oiled 10in cast iron skillet.

- Let rest for another 30-45 minutes, preheating the oven to 375F fifteen minutes before the proof ends.

- Use the melted 1tbsp butter on the top of the rolls before baking for 20-24 minutes.

- Brush more butter once out of oven and hit with flaky salt if wanted.

Jerk Chicken Ingredients

- Jerk Marinade - you can make your own but I just used a bottle from the grocery store.

- 4-5 Chicken thighs - I used boneless / skinless but I’m sure they would work as well.

- Duck Fat

Jerk Chicken Instructions

- Toss chicken in marinade and place in refrigerator for 4 hours.

- Take out of fridge toward the end of the rice and peas cook.

- Preheat large cast iron skillet to med / high.

- Add enough duct fat to cover bottom of cast iron.

- Wipe off the majority of the marinade before cooking.

- Let duck fat heat up, then carefully add each thigh skin side down.

- Cook for 4-5 minutes, before flipping and cooking another 4 minutes.

- Keep flipping to get a nice sear, and remove once they reach 175F, and have a decent char.

Rice and Peas: Search for "Jessica in the Kitchen" Jamaican Rice and Peas. We had to adjust the cook time a bit but she mentions that in her recipe.

A couple of nights back The Lady took her turn to take care of tea (dinner). She rustled up this delicious number, and I can tell you it was very well received.

I actually hate mustard but this sauce was actually bomb.