Warming up...

It's quite a lot warmer outside today but I'm still feeling a bit rubbish, so dog walking was a rather slow affair this morning.  Keith the dog had a lovely time nonetheless with lots of running around with other dogs, splashing in the stream and playing ball.  If I find a way of bottling his energy, I will sell it and become rich :-)

Keith pretending to be a statue...

Sometimes he is actually quite sensible (for an 18 month old dog anyway) and settles down nicely...even if it is almost inside the fireplace...

I can't believe that we had that fire going only a few evenings ago but we still get a lot of cold nights and frost in the morning.  Which also means that I still crave comforting food - potatoes, casseroles...that sort of thing.  A lovely but easy and comforting dish I made a little while ago but haven't blogged about until now is this pork tenderloin in a mustard & cream sauce.  It's tasty but doesn't take a lot of time to make and it's great served with potatoes, rice and I guess even pasta would work. 

Pork in mustard cream sauce...

All you have to do is slice the tenderloin into about 1 - 2cm thick slices, season with salt & pepper and spread some mustard on the slices.  Fry gently in a little oil, turning occasionally and adding diced onion and sliced mushrooms (optional) to the pan.  If the meat sticks to the pan a bit too much, just add a splash of water.  Pour in some double cream and adjust the seasoning, adding more mustard to the sauce if needed.  Just keep tasting until it's right for you.  Done!  We had ours with sauteed potatoes and steamed vegetables. I must make this again soon...

On a roll...

When Mr Happy Larder and I first got married, we fulfilled one of our dreams and went to Africa on honeymoon.  We did a safari in a less touristy part of Tanzania and stayed on the beautiful spice island of Zanzibar.  We saw nature at its most beautiful, made fabulous friends and ate stunning food.  It still amazes me how the cooks in camp were able to create the delicious food we ate with hardly any equipment to speak of..  When bread is baked in a hole in the ground, you know you are somewhere quite remote :-)  One of the things we had for breakfast were the most incredible cinnamon rolls we have ever eaten.  In fact, on arrival at the camp the handful of other guests did not mention the wildlife first but these cinnamon rolls - that's saying something.

Well, cut a long story short - ever since that trip I have been trying to find a recipe for something resembling these rolls at least in taste.  EUREKA!  Yesterday, feeling better, I went up and down the internet and stumbled across a recipe that looked straightforward enough to give it a go.  What can I say?  Not only did I make a small batch (I usually make half the quantity when I first try out a new recipe), we loved this so much that I had to make another batch straight after :-)  If you have enjoyed the cinnamon rock cakes recipe, then you will love these (Pigsmightfly, this should go down a treat in your household)!
I amended the recipe slightly and I hope you like what I have done with it.  It just uses slightly less fat and sugar and I left out the cream cheese icing, drizzling mine just lightly with a mix of icing sugar & lemon juice (totally optional - the second batch was made completely without and that was just as nice).  These freeze really well as well - perfect for a little treat later in the week.

I reckon these will also work really well as savory rolls - maybe filled with pesto instead of the butter/sugar/cinnamon mix... mhm, might have to give that a go...

Have a good start to your week!