Since I will have spent most of Monday sitting around in a hospital having tests of one sort or another, I knew there would not be a lot of time for cooking. In fact, this will probably be a scrambled egg or beans on toast night! I did want to give you something tasty this morning to look at.
I thought of getting something from out of my archives and then I remembered the World Food Cup that I had participated in last June, and the lovely dish I created for that, but never got to share on here.
This was a dish that I felt was a coloured commentary on British cookery, or a "pundit" as it were. My good friend Angie helped me come up with the name for it, and I couldn't think of a better one.
Here in the UK we have some of the best meat in the world . . . and why not show it off. As they say, if you've got it why not flaunt it!
This dish is a wonderful meat fest of gargantuan proportions . . . salt marsh lamb (if you can get it), meaty pork sausages, bacon chops and beautiful British rump steaks . . . all grilled to perfection and placed inside individual "plate-sized" traditional Yorkshire puddings, with a tasty garnish of grilled tomatoes and mushrooms. With true English Roasties on the side as well as some tasty cabbage, leeks and peas, this is a dish truly fit for a king!!!
*Pundit Pudding*
Serves 4
Printable Recipe
The best of England, served up in your very own Yorkshire pudding bowl! Do plan ahead as the batter for the puddings needs to sit out for an hour at room temperature before baking!
4 Lamb chops, trimmed
4 Small rump Steaks
4 small bacon chops
4 thick and meaty Butcher’s pork and leek sausages
Butter, melted
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
2 Large Tomatoes
4 Large Mushrooms
For the Pudding:
2 large free range eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp salt
1/2 pint milk, at room temperature (1 1/3 cup)
140g plain flour (1 cup)
a little oil or dripping
Make sure all your ingredients for the pudding are at room temperature before beginning. Beat your eggs together in a large measuring jug until very light. Whisk in the milk. Sift the flour into a bowl along with the salt. Make a well in the middle and add the wet ingredients all at once, pouring them into the well, and then whisk them in, slowly incorporating the dry mixture from the sides until you have a smooth batter. Now, this is the important bit . . . COVER IT AND LET IT SIT ON THE SIDEBOARD FOR ONE HOUR.
Preheat your oven to 230*C/450*F. Place a small amount of oil or dripping into each of four medium sized pie tins. (You will want ones with a six inch base) Place the tins on two baking trays and then put them into the hot oven to heat up until the fat is hot and sizzling. Remove from the oven and quickly divide the batter amongst each muffin cup, filling them about 2/3 full. (You may not use it all.) Return to the oven and bake for 20 minutes, until well risen, browned and crispy, reducing the oven temperature by 10 degrees every five minutes.
While your puddings are baking cook your meats. Preheat the grill to it’s hottest. Brush the steaks and chops with some melted butter and sprinkle with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the sausages on a rack in a grill pan and grill for about 7 to 8 minutes, turning frequently. Add the lamb chops and the rump steaks. Continue to grill for another 5 to 7 minutes, allowing 3 to 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove to a heated plate and keep warm. Now grill the bacon chops, allowing 3 to 5 minutes per side. Remove to the heated plate and keep warm.
Slice the tomatoes in half and brush each half with some melted butter, along with the mushrooms. Place all beneath the grill and grill for about 5 minutes. Remove from the grill and season to taste.
Remove the crisp and fluffy puddings from the oven and tip out of the pie tins. Place each one on a heated plate, right side up. (So that it looks like a bowl) Place inside each: one lamb chop, one sausage, one bacon chop and one piece of rump steak. Garnish each with half a grilled tomato and a grilled mushroom.
Serve immediately with some crisp roasted potatoes and a green vegetable on the side. (I used lightly sautéed Savoy cabbage and leek mixed with some tender spring peas.)
Bisto Gravy and Brown Sauce are completely optional!
There will also be gravy and an assortment of cooked vegetables on the side and any number of condiments such as Horseradish Sauce, hot English Mustard or Apple Sauce. Popular vegetables are cabbage, brussels sprouts, carrots, swede (rutabaga) and peas!
Number Two would have to be FISH AND CHIPS. This delicious dish has been a popular meal with the British since the 19th century. Known as a street food, even small Hamlets can boast of having their own fish and chips shop and it would not be a trip to the seaside without enjoying a feast of fish and chips, wrapped in white paper as you sit on a bench watching the waves and beating off the sea gulls. (They love fish and chips as well.)
The fish, which usually Cod, Haddock or Plaice is dipped in a delicious batter and deep fried. Chips are almost always hand cut and twice fried. You will always be asked if you want salt and vinegar on them and they will lavish them with salt and malt vinegar if the answer is yes. This is the ultimate finger food! When enjoyed in a sit down restaurant you will often have them served with some mushy peas and or coleslaw.
Simple, yes, but proof positive that sometimes simple can be very, very good. You can use oven chips if you wish, but once in a while it doesn't hurt to have a real chip. (In the UK French fries are called Chips.)
Number Four, CLASSIC SHEPHERD'S PIE - The UK is famous for all of their pies, steak and kidney, chicken and mushroom, pork pies, etc. but one of the absolute most comforting of pies is this classic. And its not really even a pie!
This is the perfect family meal and is very easy to make with a rich ground lamb and gravy filling topped with vegetables and a layer of fluffy mashed potatoes. You can top the potatoes with grated cheese if you wish. It is cousin to the also very popular COTTAGE PIE which is made with ground beef.
Both are equally popular and incredibly satisfying. You can also use leftover cooked beef or lamb in the fillings, which is how they were originally planned to be used, as a vehicle for the leftovers from Sunday dinner.
BUBBLE AND SQUEAK is another bonus meal created from the leftovers of Sunday lunch! Traditionally it is a hash made with leftover gravy, potatoes, cabbage, and onions, as well as brussels sprouts during sprout season, but really . . .
You can use whatever combination of cooked vegetables you have to hand . . . carrots, peas, parsnips, beans, swede . . . it doesn't really matter . . .
The name comes from the way it bubbles and squeaks in the pan as it is cooking.
Number six - BANGERS AND MASH - This is so popular that even songs have been written about it. Banger is a term lovingly used to describe sausages and is a term which began during World War ll. This was attributed to the sound that sausages might make when cooked under high heat, a pop and a sizzle.
You will find this tasty dish on offer at most pubs and restaurants in the country. What you get here is a delicious snappy skinned thick pork sausage grilled to perfection and served with a fluffy pile of mashed potatoes and plenty of onion gravy!
Number Seven - TOAD IN THE HOLE - This tasty dish combines grilled sausages and Yorkshire pudding batter. The sausages are partially cooked in a dish and once the fat has been released a pudding batter is poured around them and they are baked until the batter is all puffed and golden brown and the sausages are cooked through,
This is a favorite of one and all and delicious served with Bisto gravy and fluffy mash. The origin of the name 'Toad-in-the-Hole' is quite vague. Most suggestions are that the dish's resemblance to a toad sticking its little head out of a hole provide the dish with its somewhat unusual name.
Number eight - CHICKEN TIKKA MASALA - The British love their curries and Chicken Tikka Masala is a real favorite. Chicken tikka masala is a dish of pan roasted chunks of chicken in a spicy sauce. The sauce is usually creamy, spiced and orange-coloured, from the tomatoes that are in the dish.
It was almost certainly invented in Britain and is among the country's most popular dishes, leading a government minister, Robin Cook, to claim in 2001 that it was a British national dish.
When I went to Culinary school in the UK Chicken Tikka Masala was one of the first dishes we were taught to make.
Number 9 - APPLE CRUMBLE - So popular you could almost call it the National dessert. Usually served warm with cold cream for pouring over top, or warm custard sauce.
When it comes to an apple dessert you can't get much better than an apple crumble. I like the ones with the Oats in the crumble most of all. You can find my recipe for the custard here. This custard is also awfully good served with stewed rhubarb, another British favorite!
Number ten - THE CREAM TEA - You will find "Cream Teas" on offer throughout the UK, but they are truly a speciality of the SouthWest . . . Devon and Cornwall areas. I have seen Welsh Cream Teas as well as Cream Teas being offered in many other areas of the UK. In general nowadays, they are offered in Tearooms EVERYWHERE across the UK wherever someone wants to give an impression of British influence.
Not to be confused with high tea which is more like a meal, Cream teas are meant as a light lunch or snack and usually consist of CLASSIC SCONES, served with jam and clotted cream (a true British delicacy) and hot pots of tea.
This is by no means a complete list, but only the tip of a very delicious iceberg. I came to love many different dishes when I lived in the UK. Every region has their own specialty and all of them are endearingly delicious. These are just a few of the things which wangled their way into my foodie heart!!
There is Sticky Toffee Pudding and Banoffee Pie for instance, but I had to draw the line somewhere. If you ever are lucky enough to travel in the UK these are some of the more traditional culinary delights which await you! Bon Appetit!
When I first moved over here we didn't have a lot of money for going out to eat. Todd was working as a parking lot attendant and I worked in a care home. If we went out to eat at all, it was a very rare treat.
There was a pub within walking distance however (we didn't have a car) that served up pretty tasty meals for pretty cheap prices. You could get a mixed grill for about £2.99, which was an excellent price. Itwas hearty and very tasty. Once you had walked all the way there, you didn't feel too guilty at ordering a hearty meal. You knew you would be burning the calories off on the way home!
This wasn't a meal I had ever heard of before I moved over here to the UK. I had never seen it in Canada, at least not in my experience. We are known for being hearty eaters in the Winter months, but three pieces of meat on a single plate. Its just not done!
A mixed grill is a plate containing a grilled sausage, a grilled chop, a piece of grilled steak, grilled mushrooms and grilled tomatoes, along with the usual chips (fries) and peas. Meaty and incredibly hearty. And quite delicious I have to say.
Traditionally, the mixed grill was cooked over charcoal in the chop houses and grill rooms of our cities here in the UK. If you have a grill don’t be afraid to use it!
Likewise if you have a griddle plate on your cooker, try using it for this dish as well, it will work perfectly! You will be in for a real treat either way, I can assure you!
As always, it's important to use the best quality meats available, and that you can afford. It is so disappointing when you realise-from that first bite-that the meat does not match the amount of effort you’ve put in to preparing the meal!
Cheap and pasty sausages are a definite NO NO! You want something rich and meaty. This is where your local butcher can become your best friend! Our local butcher makes many different kinds of bangers (as they are loving called over here.) Meaty and delicious with skins that snap when you bite into them!
You can tell a good butcher from the quality of the sausages that he produces. A good butcher will have several signature sausages on offer. Over here in the UK, a sausage/banger is much more than a piece of meat. It is a celebration for the mouth!
There really aren't any fixed rules when it comes to the meats you use, but generally speaking it will be steak, chop and sausage . . . but you can also have ham steaks, bacon chops . . . lamb's kidney's are also popular. (Not in this house though. ugh! I am not a kidney fan!)
The important thing is to have fun with this dish. If you are a drinking person, a cold ale would go well with this. An ice cold lager would as well.
The meats needn't be overly large bits. Just go with what's comfortable. I guarantee this tasty pub meal will become a favourite, and something your family will ask for again and again!
4 Lamb chops, trimmed
4 Small rump Steaks
4 thick and meaty Butcher’s sausages
Butter, melted
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
2 Large Tomatoes
Preheat your grill to it’s hottest. Brush the steaks and chops with some melted butter and sprinkle with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Place the sausages on a rack in a grill pan and grill for about 7 to 8 minutes, turning frequently. Add the lamb chops and the rump steaks. Continue to grill for another 5 to 7 minutes, allowing 3 to 5 minutes per side for medium rare. Remove to a heated plate and keep warm.
Slice the tomatoes in half and brush each half with some melted butter, along with theonions and mushrooms (if using). Place all beneath the grill and grill for about 5 minutes. Remove from the grill and season to taste.
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: theenglishkitchen@mail.com
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Tomorrow is Saint Patrick's Day and I thought I would gather as many of my Irish related recipes in one spot as possible so as to make it easy for you to find them. This is by no means all of them, but I do think that I am giving you a nice variety of them to choose from!
I suppose there are not too many people who cannot claim to have at least a small portion of Irish DNA in themselves, which gives most of us much to celebrate when it comes to Saint Patrick's Day. I had my DNA done several years ago with the end result that I was 27% Irish.
I would have to say that the Irish are some of the most wonderful and humble people you could ever want to know. Living in the UK, I was blessed to be able to call a few Irish people friends. You could not ask for a better friend. They are the cream of the crop.
Their food is also incredibly humble, what I would call country cooking. Straightforward and without pretense, homey fare based on unsophisticated yet delicious raw ingredients. That is what I love most about it. It is simple and wholesome food.
Aside from fresh seafood and shellfish, which you can enjoy in abundance in Ireland, dried fruit and potatoes figure massively in Irish cooking. A goodly portion of their breads, cakes and desserts make fabulous use of this. You won't see any of the shellfish on here as I am allergic to shellfish and typical Irish seafood is just not easy to come by here in Canada.
I do hope that you will enjoy the examples of recipes I have shared with you however. I know that I certainly have!
BREADS & SCONES
WHITE IRISH SODA BREAD (NON-FRUITED) - Quick, easy and very delicious, this is the white bread version of a non-yeasted Irish quick bread. You will see some versions containing dried fruit and you are certainly welcome to add some. Having said that, it is pretty tasty just on its own. I enjoy it sliced and spread with butter and jam or with soups, or stews for mopping up all that delicious gravy.
TRADITIONAL IRISH SODA BREAD - A simple classic bread in Irish households. This yeast free whole meal bread is perfect served with soups and stews, salads, etc. Its also pretty delicious served sliced and spread with butter and jam, marmalade and honey.
SMALL BATCH IRISH SODA BREAD - This is a small batch version of the traditional Irish soda bread, made for the smaller family to enjoy without having a lot of waste or leftovers. Every bit as delicious as the full batch.
BOXTY - This delicious potato bread/potato cakes is also known as Potato Farls. This is a very simple recipe and very authentic in its simplicity. Composed of only three ingredients. Potatoes, flour and salt. These are traditionally cooked on the stove top in a flat surfaced griddle pan. At one time they would have been baked on a grill pan over an open fire.
IRISH SODA BREAD MUFFINS - Small individual soda breads baked in a muffin tin. Loaded with plenty of dried currants and caraway seed. These are fabulously easy to make a incredibly tasty! Again, quick and easy to make, bake and eat!
IRISH TEA BRACK - A non yeasted heavily fruity bread. You begin the night before by soaking a quantity of dried fruit in Irish breakfast tea overnight. The next morning you add the remaining ingredients and bake. This is heavy, yet beautifully fruited bread that is fabulous thinly sliced, spread with butter and served up with copious amounts of hot tea.
TRADITIONAL IRISH BARMBRACK - A fruity yeasted bread that is traditionally enjoyed sliced and buttered. This makes for a fabulous tea time treat, or even a breakfast treat. Its delicious any time you choose to enjoy it.
IRISH HONEY SCONES - These lovely scones are filled with the nuttiness of whole wheat and are gently sweetened with honey. They are simple, but don't let that simplicity fool you into thinking these are nothing special.
SOUPS, STEWS & MAIN DISHES
BALNAMOON SKINK - A delicate Irish version of a delicate soup made with fresh vegetables, enriched and lightly thickened with a mixture of cream and egg. This makes great use of the early Spring Vegetables and is light enough that although satisfying, it leaves you with room for the main course.
SMALL BATCH IRISH STEW - A delicious lamb stew for the smaller family. Cubes of lamb are layered in a casserole with onions, carrots and seasonings, then topped with wedges of potato and covered with stock. Cover tightly, pop into the oven and then let the oven do the work. Quite simply delicious.
IRISH STEAK AND GUINNESS STEW - A hearty stew made with lean cubes of stewing steak, carrots, parsnips, turnips and onions, cooked in a delicious Guinness gravy until deliciously fork tender. Plan ahead as this takes a good 2 1/2 to 3 hours to cook, but then again the best things in life are worth waiting for.
IRISH HUNTER'S PIE - Buttery mash lines a pie dish that is filled with chunks of simmered lamb. The juices of the lamb are then made into a gravy which is poured through the top of the pie to moisten the filling, with any excess being served on the side. Simple vegetables accompany this tasty dish.
BOILED BACON AND CABBAGE - There is nothing out of the ordinary here . . . it's just simple imgredients . . . cured pork, a few vegetables, water . . . pepper. Cabbage.Simple ingredients put together in a simple way with extraordinarily delicious results! I made a mustard sauce to serve with it, and boiled new potatoes . . . but a parsley sauce is just as delicious.
CORNED BEEF WITH PARSLEY SAUCE - Tender slices of juicy perfectly cooked corned beef, served thinly sliced with a variety of fresh and tasty vegetables on the side and a deliciously lush and creamy parsley sauce!
DUBLIN CODDLE - A Coddle is a traditional Irish dish usually associated with the city of Dublin. Hearty and delicious it is a stew-type of dish created with good pork sausages, salty bacon, pearl barley, onions, potatoes and herbs.
POTATOES
CRUSHED NEW POTATO COLCANNON - There is something pretty wonderful that happens when you combine cabbage and potatoes and Ireland. Humble ingredients put together in a most delicious way, this is considered haute cuisine in many multiple Michelin star restaurants. In short this is a beautiful side dish well deserving to be served on any table!
TRADITIONAL IRISH CHAMP - Mashed potatoes with warm milk, spring onions and butter beaten into them. It's so tasty. The Irish know how to do potatoes and do them well!
PUDDINGS AND CAKES
IRISH WHISKEY AND GINGER CAKE - A dense and moist cake chock full of lovely ginger flavor! With the consistency of a pound cake, this cake is studded with plenty of candied ginger and loads of ginger flavor that really shines through.
IRISH MARMALADE CAKE - A sweet and moist marmalade flavored loaf studded throughout with sticky sweet sultanas. A delight when sliced, buttered and enjoyed with a nice refreshing hot drink.
IRISH BOILED FRUITCAKE - A plain cake, beautifully moist and stuffed with loads of fruit. Dried Currants and sultana raisins are boiled in a mixture of golden syrup and tea. A few other simple ingredients are added prior to baking in the oven to create a delicious moist and fruity cake that is a great keeper, and quite simply delicious.
IRISH BLAEBERRY PUDDING - A sweet blueberry/blaeberry/billberry fruity filling is topped with a light and delicious cake batter then baked to perfection. Delicious served warm and spooned out into bowls with a topping of cream, custard or ice cream.
IRISH APPLE CAKE - A delicious apple cake with a cake/scone base, topped with plenty of sliced apples. A topping of crumble is sprinkled on top prior to baking to perfection. Delicious served warm and sliced in wedges, along with lashings of warm custard.
BERRY BUTTERMILK COBBLER - Frozen fruit baked into a buttermilk batter, served up warm, with a simple custard flavored with Irish Cream. Not only is this simple to make, but also very quick. You can have everything ready to mix together ahead of time and just do the final mixing at the last minute so that it can bake while you are enjoying your main course.
FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE WITH A BAILEY'S CHOCOLATE SAUCE - You will want to make the cake for this the day before. It needs several hours in the refrigerator to set up properly for cutting. (I like to leave it overnight.) It's rich and delicious. Top with a scoop of really good Vanilla ice cream and a spoonful of Bailey's Chocolate sauce for the perfect finish.
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: theenglishkitchen@mail.com
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