Showing posts with label Traditional. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Traditional. Show all posts
Victoria Scones. I wanted to share this lovely traditional scone recipe with you this morning. It is a be-ro scone recipe coming from a book that was sent to me from a friend.
It is a lovely scones recipe that was originally published in the 1928 Be-Ro recipe book, so, it is a very old recipe. In this newer version of the book it has been updated to use modern methods and ingredients.
Boxty, or Irish Potato Cakes are a very traditional Irish type of bread. Also known as farls, this is a very traditional recipe for potato cakes which uses only a few ingredients. Potatoes, salt, butter and flour.
I have seen other recipes which use all sorts of additional ingredients. Baking powder, soda, buttermilk, sugar, etc. Not this recipe. This recipe for Irish Potato Cakes is about as basic as you can get. I feel it is a very authentic recipe.
I adapted the recipe from a small booklet I have called "The Cooking of Ireland." It is one of the J Salmon series that cover all sorts of topics pertaining to cookery in the British Isles. You can buy them in most bookshops and tourist spots in the UK. I loved them. They are filled with basic, delicious traditional recipes.
There is an old rhyme goes: “Boxty in the griddle, boxty in the pan, if you can’t make boxty, you’ll never get a man”. The rhyme may be somewhat outdated, misogynous even, but it certainly highlights the importance of Boxty (and men) in Irish culture.
I mean, if it makes it into an Irish ditty, it has to be special. Right???
But what exactly is Boxty and what is it's history?
At its very basic, it is simply a potato cake/bread. Baked on a flat griddle pan or stone, traditionally set over an open fire.
The name likely comes from the Irish arán bocht tÃ, meaning “poor-house bread." It could also come from the word for bakehouse, bácús..
Not quite a pancake, not quite a bread, it falls somewhere in between the two. Traditionally made with about 70% potato to 30% flour, it goes together very simply and easily.
Patted out into a rectangular shape and then cut into triangles, it is "baked" on the dry griddle pan until it is well toasted on both sides. It is a dish which dates back to well before the famine times when it was incredibly popular in Ireland. Indeed a part and fabric of Irish culture.
Let it be noted that this is not a "famine" recipe. There were no potatoes worth eating in Ireland during the potato famine. That's why so many Irish were starving to death.
There are actually three kinds of Boxty. Pan, Loaf and Boiled. This recipe I am sharing today is the pan kind, and I have to say it is best served hot, straight off the pan. Hot, buttered with jam or honey, you just can't beat it!
Its important to note that you can not use just ordinary or leftover mashed potatoes in this. They must be boiled potatoes that are then mashed, unadulterated with milk or anything else. You do mash them with a good large knob of butter while they are hot.
Other than the butter, flour and salt are the only two other ingredients. Authentically speaking. These were poor families. They didn't have huge food budgets and the potato was their main source of food.
It only makes sense that the humble potato made it into every bit of their diet. It is the Irish in me, I am sure, which accounts for my diabolical love for potatoes. It is my favorite vegetable. It is my love of potatoes that prevents me from even going on and sticking to a low carb diet.
Carbaholic? Guilty as charged and quite happily so!
You wouldn't think that a few simple ingredients could create something so tasty, but they do. Proof positive that some of the very best things in life are, and come from . . . simple things.
That being said, every house in Ireland will have a different way and manner of making Boxty, and each will claim their own as the best.
And there is nothing wrong with that. Taste is subjective after all.
I am not going to say that versions with leavening in them, or sugar are not authentic. I do think, however, that the more basic you can get with a recipe such as this one, the closer you are getting to the original.
Boxty is a staple in the rich history of the North West of Ireland and can be counted as a colorful piece of the beautiful tapestry which is traditional Irish culture.
To "bake" these I used a flat Pampered Chef Griddle pan, but you can use any large flat non-stick skillet which has a heavy bottom.
A well seasoned iron skillet would also work well.
There is no need to butter it. The Boxty will not stick. No way. No how.
You don't want the pan to be scalding hot, just hot enough to brown the bread thoroughly and begin cooking it through. Once it is browned on the underside, it will need to be flipped over to the other side to brown.
If your pan is too hot, you risk burning your Boxty, whilst leaving it still raw in the middle. A moderate heat is best.
As they say easy peasy, lemon squeasy. You can keep the baked ones warm in a low oven.
Put the kettle on and warm up the tea pot. These go great with a nice hot cuppa. Whatever makes you smile. Irish Breakfast Tea would be nice, but I will settle for a nice fruited blend of herbal infusions, or even a minty tea.
Served up hot from the griddle/oven with plenty of cold butter for spreading and some jam or honey, teatime just doesn't get much better than this. And be generous. This isn't the time to be stingy. Enjoy every mouthful and channel your inner Irish.
May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rain fall soft upon your fields,
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
~An old Irish blessing
Boxty - Irish Potato Cakes
Yield: 12
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 30 Min
A traditional recipe, normally baked on an iron "Griddle" or in a heavy skillet. Ideal served warm with sugar and butter, but we enjoy them with butter and jam. They also go well with a full cooked breakfast.
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (350g) freshly boiled potato,
- mashed with a large knob of butter
- and plenty of salt while still hot (NO milk)
- (about 1 pound peeled and mashed)
- 1 cup (140g) plain flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- After you have mashed your potatoes (smooth as you can) and melted the butter in them. Allow to cool completely.
- Add the flour to the mashed potatoes to make a smooth pliable dough, kneading it in.
- Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle which is 1/2 inch thick. Cut into triangles.
- Heat a dry griddle pan or heavy bottomed skillet over medium low heat.
- Place the potato cakes in it and brown first on one side, and then the other. This should take about 3 minutes per side. Don't be in a hurry. You want them to cook through the middle without burning on the outside.
- Serve warm with butter and jam.
There is nothing more comforting on a cold winter's day than a traditional boiled dinner! This is something which has been very much a Maritime, Eastern Canada and New England tradition for many years.
It may seem a bit old fashioned, but there is a great comfort to be had in the simple cooking of thse very humble ingredients. This is full meal in a pot that has been pleasing families for many years.
I am really excited to share this English Melting Moments recipe with you today. I know I have shared it in the past, but it never hurts to remind you of something delicious does it?
Melting moments . . . ahhh . . . isn't that a wonderful name for a
biscuit/cookie? And, while I am at it, don't you just love the fact
that in Britain a cookie is called a biscuit? Mmm . . . Biscuits.
A good homemade Lasagna recipe should be a part of of every home-cook's repertoire! Its something that is very easy to make, and which most people love to eat. Italian comfort food at its very best.
Its one of those things that can very easily be made up ahead of time and it freezes like a dream. With tender pasta noodles, a deliciously meaty tomato sauce, a rich cheese filling and bechamel topping, this easy lasagna recipe I am sharing today has been a firm favourite in my home for many years.
I think that one of the favourite of all the British Biscuits/cookies (next to Custard Creams and Digestives) has to be the traditional Bourbon Biscuit. Created in 1910 by the iconic British biscuit makers Peek Freans they are today one of the most popular cookies on the market.
Although I had not seen Peek Freans in the UK when I lived there, I was quite familiar with them in Canada. And indeed every Biscuit company in the UK has their own version of these iconic cookies!
There is no more comforting a supper on a cold winter's than a traditional cottage pie. I wanted to share this cottage pie recipe with you today that I have downsized from my original recipe for a simple cottage pie which serves 4-6 people. This version is half that size.
This English classic need not be reserved just for the large family. Why should the smaller family suffer for lack of numbers? I am here to say that you can eat just as well when you are only one or two as you can when you are more.
You can make it with either leftover roast beef, as I have here today, or fresh ground beef, which is also the custom in many homes. It is very similar to its close cousin, the Shepherd's Pie.
You may find yourself asking the question, what is the difference between a cottage pie and a shepherd's pie? Great question.
They are very similar casseroles, but in a cottage pie beef is traditionally used as the meat and in a shepherd's pie the meat is usually lamb. You can use either leftover meat from your Sunday roast or fresh meat, depending on what you have in your kitchen.
This is one of the things I like to make whenever I have leftover roast beef in my refrigerator. It makes a great change from making hash or a pot pie, which are my usual go-to's.
You don't even need to have leftover gravy to make it. I tell you how to make a delicious beef sauce without any gravy, By all means, however, do use gravy if you are lucky enough to have some!
Not only is it very easy to make, but it is also incredibly economical. Something we are all aware of these days.
We all want the food we eat to fit within our budgets. That is especially important when you are a smaller family.
You might think that it is much cheaper for two people to eat than it is for four. Simply not true. In fact in many cases it may even cost more, especially if you tend to buy smaller packages of things.
Typically smaller packages cost more than the larger sized versions of the same per ounce/gram. I am not sure why that is.
A good steward of the family budget needs to be able to make wise choices when it comes to the purchase of food. I have found that it is much more budget-savvy to buy the larger sizes, break them down and freeze the excess for a later date.
Being budget-savvy also means making the best use of what you have. Our fore-bearers knew exactly how to do that and dishes like Cottage Pie helped them to do just that.
As I said, you can use either cooked leftover roast in this or fresh hamburger. If you are using fresh minced beef you need to brown it. I find it is easiest to do this when you are sautéing the onions and other aromatics.
An aromatic is a vegetable used in cooking that develop deep and well rounded flavors to a dish when chopped or crushed and then heated and cooked. Aromatics most commonly used tend to be onions, carrots and celery.
Typically these are added at the beginning when you are cooking a dish. This helps them to add as much flavor and aroma as possible.
These are the things which bring others into the kitchen begging and answer to the question, "What's cooking?" These things typically set our tastebuds to tingling in overtime!
For this recipe I have minced leftover cooked roast beef and added it to onions, carrots, swede/rutabaga and celery. This is browned gently in butter, which adds much to the flavors.
Once browned a quantity of flour is added which will thicken the gravy. Make sure you cook it for a few minutes to cook out the flavor of the flour. This is a really important step to take as there is nothing worse than the flavor of raw flour in a sauce.
Once that is done a bit of beef stock is added along with some tomato paste, brown/HP sauce and herbs. You don't need to add the brown sauce, but I find it really adds a special something to the depth of flavor in this gravy.
You can add Worcestershire sauce in its place if that is all you have. It also works beautifully here.
I sometimes like to add a bit of creamed horseradish as well. Not a lot, only a dab. You want just the merest hint of it. Horseradish goes very well with beef.
Meat sauce made, it goes into the bottom of the dish and a layer of vegetables go on top. Typically I use frozen peas and I add them frozen, which not only helps to preserve the color of them somewhat, but also helps to keep them fresher tasting during the longer bake time.
You don't have to use peas. Some people use corn. Some people use both. Some people use a frozen mix of vegetables such as peas, corn, beans, etc. All work well.
The star of the show is the potato thatch which blankets the top of the dish. Creamy, fluffy and delicious, it seals in all the goodness of that rich and meaty base perfectly.
Our typical vision of the ideal English Cottage is one which is covered with a thatched roof of straw. That is why this covering of mashed potatoes is called the "thatch." I love the quaint reasoning behind these English recipes, along with their simplicity.
I like to score a pattern in the thatch which adds to the attractiveness I think. Its not really necessary. You can just pile it on and swirl it, or not. Just make sure it covers the filling all the way to the edges. Typically some of the juices will bubble up through anyways.
I cannot tell a lie, those rich corners where the juices of the gravy bubble through are my favorite bits. I love all of this comfort food casserole really. That rich and meaty filling, the crisp buttery potato thatch, those meaty juiced edges.
Its all pretty good if you ask me! Somehow, no matter what your day has handed you, even the worst day gets tangibly better when a Cottage Pie is on the menu! Today I served it with some coleslaw, but any salad will do, or even a simple slice of buttered brown bread. Enjoy!!
Cottage Pie for Two
Yield: 2
prep time: 15 Mincook time: 45 Mininactive time: 15 Mintotal time: 1 H & 15 M
Simple, delicious, and a family pleasing comfort food. Downsized for two people.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (200g) leftover roast beef, roughly chopped, or browned ground beef
- 1/2 TBS butter
- 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 stick celery, trimmed and chopped
- 1/2 small carrot, peeled and grated
- a 2-inch cube of swede (rutabaga) peeled and grated
- 1/2 TBS tomato paste ( tomato puree)
- 1/2 TBS plain flour
- 1 tsp brown sauce (HP sauce)
- 3/4 cup (200ml) well flavoured beef stock
- 1/4 tsp summer savoury
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup (50g) frozen peas
For the potato thatch:
- 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- warm milk
- a knob of butter
- salt and pepper
- 1 TBS grated cheese (Parmesan or cheddar)
- melted butter to brush (optional
Instructions
- First make the potatoes for the thatch topping.
- Put the potatoes in a pot of lightly salted water and
- bring to the boil. Boil for 10 to 15 minutes until soft. Drain well
- and then return the potatoes to the pan. Shake the pan over the residual heat of the burner to dry them out a bit and then mash the potatoes well until smooth with some warm milk, and a knob of butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in the cheese. Set aside and keep warm.
- To make the filling, melt the butter in a skillet. Add the
- onion, celery, carrot and sweet. Cook, stirring frequently over medium low heat until softened and the onion is translucent. Stir in the flour. Slowly stir in the beef stock and bring to the boil.
- Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens. Stir in the tomato puree, brown sauce, and summer savoury. Season to taste with salt and black pepper and then stir in the chopped beef.
- Pour this mixture into the bottom of a buttered 1/2 litre (3 cup) shallow baking dish. Sprinkle the frozen peas over top evenly.
- Spread the mashed potatoes on top tocover. Rough up the potato a bit with a fork. Brush with melted butter.
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Bake the casserole in the heated oven for 45 minutes until the potatoes are golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Let stand 15 minutes prior to serving. Serve hot with your favourite sides.
notes:
If you are using ground beef brown it in the skillet along with the onion, carrot, celery and swede. Proceed with the remaining recipe as directed.
I sometimes like to add a bit of creamed horseradish to either the topping or the filling depending on how I feel.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
One cake which I fell totally in love with when I moved to the UK was the Traditional Battenburg Cake. This was not a cake which I had ever heard of prior to moving there.
There really is no end to the varieties of traditional and regional cakes and goodies amongst those fertile green and septred isles! With it's church window appearance, delicious texture and flavours, the Battenburg was one of my favourites.
After the holidays we are firmly entrenched in Winter, and with Covid, this year can be feeling especially depressing to you. We are all stuck in our homes, and our natural freedoms have been somewhat curtailed, and for good reason.
We may find ourselves in need of a "Pick Me Up" maybe more than ever. One thing I really like to do in the Winter months is to plan and prepare a small Tea Party, even if it is just for one or two people.
A Tea Party is one way to perk up your days and bring a bit of sunshine into your life! Are we not all in need of a bit of a lift?
You don't need anything special, or a load of people to attend. Some of the best tea parties of
all happen when there's just two of you, and I have been known to really enjoy an intimate tea party for just one. And why not?
All you need is a table spread with a fine cloth and some tea . . . in a
pot of course, (today we had blackberry and mint and it was
delicious!) and cups and saucers. You also need some delicious foods, although they need not be overly complicated.
The perfect afternoon tea (or High Tea as it is also called) should begin with some delicious savouries . .
. finger sandwiches, sausage rolls, little toasts, savoury pastries . .
. followed with scones (if you wish) and a selection of small fancies and
cakes.
You don't need a lot of sandwiches, only a few different types will do. I think we all have things in our cupboards and larders to make up a few sandwiches. Egg Salad. Ham. Cheese and pickle. Tomato. Cucumber (very traditional). There is no end to the types we can make.
Sausage rolls and tiny turnovers are also very popular. We had some in the freezer leftover from Christmas. Even Deviled Eggs can be quite welcome! I adore Deviled Eggs. You can find my recipe for those here.
For dainties all you need is a selection of a few bits and bobs. I am sure we all still have things leftover from Christmas. Shortbread cookies, squares and the like.
You don't really need a lot of them, one or two per person is quite sufficient. Even fancy chocolates are a treat. Just choose a few bits that really strike your fancy and give you a small bit of pleasure.
Of course the star of any good Tea Table will be a fresh baked cake. You won't get much nicer than a beautiful Battenburg Cake. If you love almond, then this is the cake for you.
A firm favourite on
the traditional English tea table, this is a very pretty two coloured
sponge cake, put together like a pink and white checker board pattern. I think you may actually be quite surprised as how very easy it is to make one of these delicious cakes!
You only need to create a simple sponge cake batter. The sponge batter is divided in half with one half being coloured pink with a bit of pink food colouring.
These get baked in the same tin. If you like you can separate the two batters with a strip of aluminium foil, or bake them separately in small loaf tins. .
Personally, I never have a problem baking them both in the same cake tin however.
They stay largely separate and you will be trimming the edges once the
cake has cooled, so it is very easy to separate the two colours.
Once cooled each colour is separated, trimmed and cut into two long strips. These strips are then sandwiched together in a checkerboard pattern, using seedless raspbery jelly and vanilla buttercream as a glue.
Its quite simply really. If your cake is completely cold you only need a good and sharp serrated knife to do the job. Just cut and trim as needed.
You don't have to put jam and butter cream between each layer if you don't want to, although that is traditional. On this day I did jam one way and buttercream the other way. Feel free to use a good quality store brand if that is what you have.
Raspberry jam and butter cream are traditional, but do feel free to use something else if you are not fond. This is all about creating a pretty cake that everyone will enjoy.
Once you have your checkerboard created you will need to brush the whole cake in more jam and then wrap it in a thin layer of marzipan. The marzipan gets rolled out very thinly on a layer of granulated sugar, which helps to prevent it from sticking to the cutting board/counter and adds a delightful crunch.
If you are really feeling keen and industrious you can stretch this a bit and make a Hazelnut Battenburg Cake. This is a wonderful riff on the traditional, composed of a chocolate hazelnut batter layered with the white cake.
As you can see this is also very pretty. The layers are sandwiched together with chocolate hazelnut spread. I use nutella.
It is incredibly moreish. Especially if you enjoy chocolate!
When cut into slices this is a beautiful cake. I think it is really quite amazing looking. It is very impressive and not all that difficult.
It does require a little bit of
patience, but it's well worth any effort taken. It may take a bit of
practice to get the marzipan as tight as you would like it, but do
persevere as it is most beautiful when done
If you are looking for a mighty fine cake to serve at your teatime table, then this is the one to choose. Pretty and delicious. What more could you want??? Nom! Nom!
Yield: 6
Battenburg Cake
prep time: 10 Mincook time: 45 Mintotal time: 55 Min
This is a traditional cake that has appearing in British cookery books for over two centuries. The finished cake resembles somewhat a church stained glass window. This is a real treat for almond lovers and not as hard to make as it would seem!
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 3/4 cup (175g) butter, softened
- 1 cup minus 2 TBS (175g) caster sugar
- 3 large free range eggs, beaten
- 1 1/4 cups (175g) self raising flour
- a little red food colouring
You will also need:
- 2/3 pound (275g) of natural almond paste (marzipan)
- warmed seedless raspberry jam (about 3 TBS)
- vanilla buttercream icing (about 3 TBS)
- granulated sugar to dust
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter a 7-inch square cake tin and line with parchment paper.
- Cream the butter together with the sugar until very light and fluffy.
- Add the lightly beaten eggs and the flour, a little at a time, beating until smooth.
- Divide the cake batter in half, placing each half in a different bowl.
- Tint one half with a bit of red food colouring to give you a pink batter.
- Spoon the pink batter into the left hand side of the tin, and the normal colour into the other side. Smooth the top gently.
- Bake in the oven for about 30 to 35 minutes or until firm when lightly pressed in the centre.
- Carefully turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before proceeding.
- When the cake is completely cool, trim the edges of the cake and then divide it equally into 4 long sections, with two being pink and two being white.
- Using a little of the butter cream and some of the warmed raspberry jam, place one of each colour on the bottom and the remaining two on top. alternating the colours to give you a chequer board pattern and having some butter cream and jam between each. You will not need much, only just enough to make them adhere to the other.
- Dust the counter top with some granulated sugar and then roll out the marzipan on top. You need to roll it thinly into an oblong roughly the length of the cake and large enough to roll around the cake.
- Spread with a thin layer of jam and then place the sponge checkerboard on top. Roll the marzipan around the cake and seal with a bit more jam.
- Trim the edges neatly at each end. Place onto a plate with the "seam" underneath and lightly mark the top in the traditional criss cross pattern.
notes:
Make Your Own Self Raising Flour:
You can make your own self raising flour by adding 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 tsp of salt to every cup of plain flour.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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