Sasha Cottman's Blog

My October newsletter out with details of An Italian Count for Christmas. Free copies of Letter from a Rake and a quick and easy breakfast recipe. Special guest this month is the fabulous Bree Wolf!
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Hi everyone,

just dropping by to say hello and to let you know that Book 7 in the Duke of Strathmore series is slated for a February 2019 release.
This will be Caroline Saunders story.
The Ice Queen is up on most sales channels as a pre-order at the moment, and will hit Amazon as soon as the pre-sale dates open.

In the meantime please enjoy my latest release An Italian Count for Christmas which is Book 1 in my new London Lords series.

Here is the blurb for the Ice Queen, enjoy and talk to you all soon!

For Caroline Saunders, beauty is a curse. Everywhere she goes, she is surrounded by men who worship her. But Caroline knows none of them could ever love her just for herself.

She treats her court of suitors with cool disdain, gaining herself the title of the Ice Queen.

After an ugly altercation with an insistent suitor, Caroline decides it is time to escape the crowded ballrooms of London.

With a heart scarred by his parent’s disastrous marriage Julian Palmer, Earl Newhall has been in no particular hurry to take on a wife. But men with titles need heirs.

He reluctantly agrees to allow his aunt to arrange a week-long party at his Derbyshire estate. A handpicked group of eligible young women and their chaperones will be in attendance.

When a sudden heavy snowstorm stops all but one carriage from making the journey to Newhall Castle, Julian decides he should make the best of a bad situation.

However, matters turn from bad to worse when he discovers that it is Caroline Saunders who has arrived wet and freezing cold on his doorstep in the middle of the night.

The Ice Queen is the one woman in all of London society he knows he could never be prevailed upon to marry, let alone love.

But when Newhall Castle becomes Caroline’s only place of sanctuary, Julian quickly discovers that beneath her icy demeanor there beats a passionate heart.

Two stubborn souls come together in this beautiful tale of enemies to lovers.

While the Duke of Strathmore and his family are celebrating Christmas at Strathmore Castle in the chilly climes of Scotland, they are warming themselves each night with a generous cup of eggnog and then later in the evening some mulled wine. Joined by newly weds Lucy and Avery Fox from the Duke's Daughter, the family are sharing good times and lots of love.
To all my friends and lovely readers I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas.

Eggnog- This is a drink which while a staple of North American Christmas celebrations, actually dates back to the middle ages. It crossed the Atlantic with the early settlers from England. The original eggnog recipe included brandy, but during the American Revolution, the enterprising colonists substituted rum. Modern variations of eggnog also include non- alcoholic versions and even custard (great over Christmas pudding).

Eggnog:
Ingredients.8 egg yolks3/4 cup granulated (fine) sugar2 cups whole milk2 cups heavy cream2 teaspoons ground nutmeg1/2 cup bourbon1/2 cup dark rum 
Method.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and the sugar together until mixture is slightly foamy.
Mix the milk and cream in a pot and bring to a simmer. Take it off the heat and mix half of it into the egg and sugar mixture.
Whisk in the rest of the milk and cream mixture and transfer the whole mixture back into the pot and put back on the heat.
Stir and heat until the mixture thickens, but do not let it come to the boil.
Remove the mixture from the heat and add the bourbon, rum and nutmeg.
Serve warm with extra nutmeg on top for garnish.An InLinkz Link-up a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pumpkin Pie - Don't wait til Halloween to enjoy it.

This recipe dates back to 1765, but was still very popular in the Regency period. Susannah Carter published it in her book The Frugal Housewife. It was later published in the United States in 1772 and reprinted in England in 1803. I have adapted parts of it for the modern kitchen. It makes a delicious dessert.

Ingredients.

2 cups of cooked and mashed pumpkin

2 cups of milk

½ cup of Malaga wine (I actually opened a bottle of reserve Muscat, but don’t tell my husband).

7 eggs

1 cup of softened butter

1 tbsp. ground nutmeg,

½ tsp salt (I didn’t bother with this but it’s up to you)

1 cup sugar

You can make your own pie pastry, but these days you can simply buy the shells in the supermarket.

2 X 9” single crust pie shells. (Make sure to get the sweet ones not the savoury).

Method.

You can roast the pumpkin, but after having burnt some the first time, I cut the peeled pumpkin and simply boiled it. Drain the pumpkin and mash it.

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and pour into the prepared pastry shells. (Do this carefully as you may have some mix left over and don’t want to overfill the shell).

Bake for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Garnish with pecans and whipped cream.

Pumpkin Pie

This recipe dates back to 1765, but was still very popular in the Regency period. Susannah Carter published it in her book The Frugal Housewife. It was later published in the United States in 1772 and reprinted in England in 1803. I have adapted parts of it for the modern kitchen. It makes a delicious dessert.

Ingredients.

2 cups of cooked and mashed pumpkin

2 cups of milk

½ cup of Malaga wine (I actually opened a bottle of reserve Muscat, but don’t tell my husband).

7 eggs

1 cup of softened butter

1 tbsp. ground nutmeg,

½ tsp salt (I didn’t bother with this but it’s up to you)

1 cup sugar

You can make your own pie pastry, but these days you can simply buy the shells in the supermarket.

2 X 9” single crust pie shells. (Make sure to get the sweet ones not the savoury).

Method.

You can roast the pumpkin, but after having burnt some the first time, I cut the peeled pumpkin and simply boiled it. Drain the pumpkin and mash it.

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.

Mix all the ingredients together in a large mixing bowl and pour into the prepared pastry shells. (Do this carefully as you may have some mix left over and don’t want to overfill the shell).

Bake for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Garnish with pecans and whipped cream.


The spectre of her desire to return to India still loomed over him. She had to want to stay with him in England  - Letter from a Rake British India Chicken Curry

Now this is a very mild Indian curry, which would suggest that the early British settlers in India didn’t take to the spicy food that well. The feedback from my family the first time I cooked this recipe was that it bordered on bland. The next time I cooked I added curry powder which seemed to do the trick.


2 kilos of chicken pieces. (I used skinless chicken legs)

2 onions

1 lemon

2 tbsp butter

1tsp turmeric (if you want some spice then add 1 ½ tsp of curry powder).

100 ml of thickened cream

2tsp ginger power or dried ginger

I added 2 sliced carrots to add some vegetables.

 

Method: Put the chicken pieces in a large pot and cover with 1 litre of water. Bring to boil, before simmering for 5 minutes. Strain off the liquid (keep about 400ml) then set the chicken pieces aside.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan, add the onions and fry for about 5 minutes, then add the chicken pieces.

Sprinkle the turmeric and ginger over the top and mix in well. Cook for another 5 minutes.

Add the 400ml of chicken stock, cover and cook at a simmer for 30 minutes.

Take the pan off the heat and add the cream and lemon juice. Bring the mix back to a simmer for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and serve with rice. (I used basmati rice which is great with curries).

‘This is Paris, you need to stuff your face with macarons until you cannot breathe.’

The Duke’s Daughter
 
Macarons. Those sweet, mouth-watering confections are France’s gift to the world.

Macarons are often mentioned as having been first invented in the eighteenth century, but they actually date back to the fifteen century, arriving in France from Italy. Catherine de Medici is rumoured to have brought Italian cooks with her when she married Henry II of France.

It was however, only in the mid nineteenth century that the tradition of putting sweet filling in between two almond macarons was first established, and this was most definitely something which belongs to France.

The flavour of fillings in the modern macaron spans the spectrum from the traditional chocolate, though salted caramel and onto the elegant delicacy of green tea. In the recipe below we make chocolate filling, but you can use any seasonal fruit to make the jam or even cream.

How to make French Macarons

Ingredients

4 large egg whites

1/3 cup of caster sugar

1 ½ cups of icing sugar

1 cup almond meal

Pinch of salt

Chocolate filling (you can use jam, cream or any other sweet filling).

Method.

Heat the oven to 150C.

Mix caster sugar and egg whites with an electric beater until stiff.

Sift the icing sugar and almond meal. Add the pinch of salt.

Fold this dry mixture into the egg and caster sugar mix with a spatula until it is smooth. Take care not to over mix this, you don’t want it to be over runny.

Using piping bag, pipe the mix onto non- stick paper lined baking trays. Before putting the trays into the oven, give them a tap on the bench to prevent your macarons from cracking.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

To fill your macarons (you can eat them without filling but I love the sweet taste in the middle of them).

100g chocolate and 30g cream.

Bring the cream to the boil and pour it over the chocolate, wait a minute before stirring the ingredients together. Allow the mixture to cool before piping onto the macarons.

Enjoy!

For most people during the Regency/Georgian period fancy desserts were not usual. Simple dishes such as baked fruit pies or spiced fruit were more the norm.
This is a lovely recipe which is easy to make and gives you a terrific toffee finish. Serve the pears with cream or ice cream if you like.
Ingredients

1 ripe pear per person.
2 tbs of brown sugar
sprinkling of cinnamon sugar
sprinkling of nutmeg
1 tbs butter

Method

Cut the pears in half and core them. Lay the pears down on their cut side and then score across the back with a knife (don't cut all the way through).
Heat your oven to 180C/375F.

Dob the butter on the scored side of the pears. Mix the nutmeg, cinnamon and brown sugar together and sprinkle over the pears.
Put the pears flat side down in a baking dish and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Easy.

Having seen the recent episode of Outlander where the boar hunt goes horribly wrong, I decided not to go boar hunting and so this is really a mushroom pie (without wild boar). You could of course put in any meat, including chicken or beef.
This recipe comes from Rules restaurant in London which is the oldest restaurant in the English capital, having been open since the late 18th century. They do serve wild boar and musroom pie if you fancy to make a booking and try this delicacy. In the tradition of Outlander, wash it down with a large dram of whisky.
Ingredients

·         2 tbsp olive oil

·         1 medium onion, diced

·         250g thinly sliced mushrooms

·         100g button mushrooms, quartered

·         1 1/2 cups vegetable stock

·         1/4 cup soy sauce

·         1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

·         1 medium carrot, diced

·         2 tbsp plain flour

·         1/2 tsp thyme


          1 sheet of frozen puff pastry

·         1 egg

·         1 tablespoon water

 
Method

1.      Preheat oven to 180C/375F.

2.      Heat olive oil in a frypan, add onion and mushrooms. Sauté until well browned. Add the carrot and vegetable stock and stir.

3.      Simmer 8-10 minutes until carrots are just tender.

4.      Stir in soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Sprinkle frying pan with the flour and stir it in. Simmer and stir until sauce is thickened which will take a couple of minutes. Remove from heat and stir in thyme.

5.      Pour contents of the frypan into pie plate and top with pastry sheet.

6.      Brush pastry with lightly beaten egg and water mixture. 

7.      Bake 40 mins or until pastry is golden brown.

This lemon cheesecake recipe dates all the way back to Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy, published in 1747. 

Ingredients

2 lemons

12 eggs (12 egg yolks and 6 egg whites will be used in the custard part of the recipe)

225 g brown caster sugar (I used raw caster sugar instead).

6 tablespoons of cream (save a little for serving with the lemon cheese cake).

225g butter

Shortcrust pastry sheets (or, you can make it, see below).

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/374F.

Grate the lemon zest. Put the zest and the juice of 1 lemon into a mixing bowl. Add the caster sugar and mix with a wooden spoon.

Beat the egg yolks and add them to the mix.

Beat the egg whites until they are frothy. This must have been a hard task in the 18th century when it would have to have been done by hand! Fortunately I could reach for my trusty electric beater. Add the frothy egg whites to the rest of the cheesecake mix.

Combine the butter and cream and over a low heat, until the butter is melted. Add the butter and cream to the rest of the cake mix and beat it for a minute.

Pour combined mixtures into a medium sized saucepan and heat over a medium heat, stirring until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. This takes about 8 minutes on my stovetop.

Place the pastry sheet over a flan pan (or pie dish), making sure the pastry covers the sides of the pan (there is quite a lot of custard mix).

Take the mix off the heat and pour over the pastry base. You may have some left, so feel free to pour this into a bowl and eat it before anyone else notices.

Bake the lemon cheese cake for 30 mins or until the filling has set. In my oven it takes about 35 minutes. Cool and serve with cream.

Shortcrust pastry (if you want to make from scratch)

1 egg yolk

225 g chilled butter

1 1/3 cups of plain flour

Method

Process flour and butter in a food processor. Add the egg yolk and 2 tsps. of cold water.

Once mix is worked through, take it out of the bowl and knead it on a board. Roll into a ball and let rest in the fridge for 30 mins. Then roll out flat when preparing to use it in the pie.