As the cool of autumn collapses into the cold of winter, as the late afternoon sunshine burnishes the remaining stubborn leaves on the tree tops to a gorgeous glowy copper, a world is created where the cosy comfort of an apple crumble is simply divine. While I adore a good crumble with spring and summer fruit, there is nothing quite like the simplicity of the humble apple at this time of year, and apple crumble feels like the crisp white shirt of the crumble world: elementary, yet classic, with hidden depths. You can, of course, use any apple your heart…
Category: <span>EATING</span>
Custard in its most simple form is a mixture of eggs and milk, gently heated so that the eggs can provide the necessary thickening. Possibly around since Ancient Rome, but certainly finding its groove in the Middle Ages, the word “custard” is thought to come from the French word “croustade” meaning pastry crust, because custard was frequently baked into tarts. But custard has a variety of guises. Freeze it and you have ice cream. Put it in a crust with savory flavorings and you have a quiche. It serves as the base for creme brûlée, chocolate pudding, flan, and creme…
Kedgeree is a dish swiped from Indian culture during the days of the British Raj. It appears to be derived from an Indian dish, khichri, which was made with onions, rice and lentils. In England, in its purest form, kedgeree is a curried rice combined with smoked haddock and egg and it became quite the breakfast item for the upper classes in the Victorian Age. Think of our friends at Downton Abbey enjoying an early morning gallop through the dewey countryside, returning to a chafing dish of Kedgeree whipped up by dear Mrs Patmore, to be devoured alongside deviled kidneys,…
It just ain’t an English Christmas without mince pies. And these mince pies are really, really, easy. Why? How? Well, because these mince pies are made with store bought pastry and a jar of store bought mincemeat. To be fair, I don’t think I have ever made my own mincemeat, but I generally do make my own pastry. However, I recently discovered that Trader Joe’s frozen pie crust is delicious — which is a huge compliment coming from someone who is not, as a rule, a huge pastry fan. With sweet desserts I will generally make a sweetened pastry crust…
Terry’s Chocolate Orange is a British Christmas staple thanks to a decades old, ingenious marketing campaign suggesting it as a perfect stocking stuffer — perhaps a play on the traditional orange often given at Christmas. Its storied roots go all the way back to York, England in the 1700’s where a confectioners shop sold candied lemon and orange peel. In the 1820’s Joseph Terry joined the company and introduced marmalades and chocolate and then, in the 1930’s, he got wildly creative and the classic Chocolate Orange was born. For as long as I can remember, their slogan has been “tap…
Cranberry sauce seems to be one of those things that everybody loves to hate. Not me. For me, it’s one of my favourite parts of Christmas dinner, in part, I suppose, because I never have it at any other time of the year. And while I’m certainly not above eating canned sauce if I’m a guest in someone else’s home —which means I’m not cooking, so a small sacrifice to pay in my estimation! — when I am the host, I will always make my own. (On a side note, I read somewhere recently that some people just take the…
This is (not) Shepherd’s Pie because it’s actually Cottage Pie! And the difference, you ask? Well, the difference is that Shepherd’s Pie is made with ground lamb and Cottage Pie is made with ground beef. I make mine with ground beef and yet somehow I started calling it Shepherd’s Pie, despite the fact that I’m sure we called it Cottage Pie growing up. I have no idea at which point along the way I made such an egregious error, especially as I have never once made it with ground lamb, but, in my defense, I did read somewhere that the…
Many, many moons ago, in the town of Eccles, Lancashire, an annual party was held to celebrate the construction of the church around which the town had grown. A right old knees up it was, with lots of food, drink, and Eccles cakes. Over time, the parties became a little, well, out of hand, as parties are wont to do sometimes.
Then along came Oliver Cromwell – pious puritan and crown usurper. Rumour has it that he deemed the Eccles’ parties as too pagan and Eccles’ cakes as too rich and sinful. Anyone caught eating one would be, well – thrown in jail!
As a kid, Heinz Oxtail Soup was one of my favourite things to eat. It’s been a long time since I’ve had it (it’s unavailable in the US) — and it probably wouldn’t taste nearly as good as I remember it anyway — but I have never forgotten that sense of comfort it provided. And so, feeling a bit nostalgic, I decided to have a go at making my own — a version more suited to my grown up self. It’s not the simplest or quickest of recipes as it needs to be made over a couple of days (hence weekend…
When the skies are grey, when the world, despite so many bodies crushed together, feels like a vast and lonely place, when life feels irreparably off kilter, rice pudding can always be relied upon to set everything to rights. Rice pudding is British nursery food at its very best. As a child I would visit my grandparents in Wales each summer with my family and this is one dessert that I always remember my Nana making. As an adult, and without her recipe, I attempted to make my own. Nana baked hers so that’s where I too, began. The only…