The Great British Menu

It was my intention to post something at the weekend, however, like millions of others I found myself having difficulty getting home from foreign climes and ended up on an arduous bus journey from Budapest to Paris, before getting to London on the Eurostar finally! There is no place like home.

On the bus were representatives from many European countries. Towards the end of the journey I found myself in animated discussion with a Belgian and a fellow Brit (and offal fan) about the merits and downfalls of different European cuisine and an embarrassingly (for a self proclaimed foodie) clichéd summary on what culinary offering each European country was famous for.

France, Foie Gras, Snails, Coquille St Jacques, Croque Monsieur, and so it continues... Of course for Italy we denoted pasta, risotto, pizza and gelato etc etc...as their national offerings.  Now, I know any Italian reading this, would want to retaliate with “Inna your faaacea, you feesh and cheep eating engleesh....” or is that just my friend Fabio? Though they would have a point. I don’t like stereotypes as much as the next foodie, but we are all guilty of it..

And so we went on, the Belgian asked me what I knew of Belgian cuisine and of course I replied (clichés aplenty) “Moules Frites, Beer, Chocolate..” He enthused for a while on the diverse regional cuisine Belgium offers – I will have to try it some time! He retaliated with England being famous for Fish and Chips and of course Roast Beef and Yorkshire Puddings. He couldn’t think of anything else. Who can, outside of our little island’s shores? Annoying.

This got me thinking. Belgium is so small that I wasn’t even sure it could have regions let alone regional cuisine!  How ignorant of me.  Is that why the whole world thinks that the tiny Island I live on can only offer two things – Roast Beef and Fish and Chips?  I am fortunate enough through travel, passion, my job and friends to be able to decipher between regional French, Italian and Spanish cuisine, generally speaking…but I am not even sure people on our Island even know how lucky we are.

As an English girl, passionate about food and her country – I thought it was about time we promote our wonderful offerings and what better time than now with St George’s Day fast approaching.

I am sure most of you have long since left home and headed for the big cities, where the streets were paved with gold..and have managed to "get about a bit" on the food stakes. But, what is the first thing that you fancy or that you ask your family to cook for you when you head back home for a visit?  There will be a difference I am sure depending on where you lived as to what your answer is.

I was fortunate enough to be brought up in East Yorkshire (amazing fresh, local produce aplenty - before it was trendy and when it was just normal), born in Hull to be precise.  Don’t even start with the jokes/insults as I have heard all of them.  Aside from my Mum’s amazing home cooking, there is something I missed that only those from Hull or within a 30 mile radius of Hull will understand. A pattie. Not the Jamaican variety but Hull’s very finest blend of mashed potato and sage, coated in batter and fried until crisp and golden on the outside and served with a dollop of homemade (not the bright green tinned variety) mushy peas. There are few (but still enough) Fish & Chip shops in the East Yorkshire area that can fulfil this desire – but the ones that remain, can take me back to family days out by the sea, suppers form the Village Fish & Chip Shop or a Saturday lunch on my sister’s farm sat on the hay bails.

I would like to think that over the years, my fancy London ways and my lucky travelling lifestyle which enables me to dine out at the most amazing places, I have developed a sophisticated palette, of which would perhaps rival AA Gill, but I have to say that this is my favourite guilty pleasure..outside of our house.

What is yours? Did it stir any memories? I would be interested to hear what your favourite English guilty pleasure is, especially if it’s close to where you were from originally.

I am sure though, that Pattie should not be published as Britain’s finest, not when right now I am tasting the most fantastic Yorkshire Rhubarb, English Rocket, Cauliflower (another favourite of mine) and my idea of food heaven, Crab and not to mention new season Lamb. Yum! The list goes on.

What is a quintessentially British dish to you? I ask you to consider this and if not on St George’s Day then perhaps over the weekend make something that makes you feel at home or if you are at home then proud to be English! If you are reading this from foreign shores, I would love to know what food makes you lay back and think of England...

My guess would be Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding, by now fellow English, you have probably all been walking though some Eastern country and had “Roast Beef! Roast Beef” called out to you? Well my next recipe won’t be this... I don’t want to release my favourite secret to you just now, which as I already said to you, my fail safe Yorkshire Puddings, that time will come my fairyites, I just need to trust you all a bit more ;-)

So until then, have a go at this. It’s based on a couple more famous than Richard & Judy, our very own English pea and ham. Rather than their usual outing as the thick, glutinous comfort soup for winter, try this gorgeous spring pairing.

Ham Hock Terrine with Pea Mousse – Serves 4

Ham Hock Terrine
Put a 1-1.5kg ham hock in a large heavy bottomed saucepan and cover with water, bringing to the boil for 10 minutes. Skim off any scum that comes to the surface in this time. Remove the ham and pour the water away and clean the pan.

To that pan add a handful of fresh thyme leaves, 1 tbsp of black peppercorns, 3 bay leaves (fresh or dried) and 1 tbsp of coriander seeds. Add the ham and cover with cold water, bring to a simmer and simmer for 3 hours. Remove form the heat.  If time allows, let the ham cool in the liquid. This will heighten its succulence! Yummy.

Once cooled, lift out the ham hock and set aside and retain the stock..

Next, soak 2 and half gelatine leaves in cold water to soften.

Sieve the ham stock into a clean bowl, and measure 300ml into a measuring jug.

In a separate bowl, add 75g of finely chopped gherkins. Next, remove the skin of the ham and then flake in the hock flesh and season with salt (I use Maldon Sea Salt) & black pepper.

Add a generous handful of freshly chopped parsley. Mix all ingredients well.

Rinse the soaked gelatine well and squeeze dry. Add the gelatine to the measured stock until dissolved. You may find you need to heat gently, but do not boil under any circumstances as this will prevent the gelatine from doing its magic.

Line a 1.5 litre terrine (or rectangular cake tin) with a double layer of cling film. Add the ham mixture and pour over the stock mixture, gently shake the mixture to ensure you have the stock running all the way through the ham mixture. Cover loosely with cling film and flatten with a milk carton or similar heavy object to keep flat.

Chill until set (if you are short of time put it in the freezer for 30 minutes to give it a kick start) if not overnight is ideal, but you should find it sets after 5 hours.

Pea Mousse
Start by soaking 2 and a half gelatine leaves in cold water to soften.

Cook 300g of fresh shelled peas with a generous pinch of sugar and one of salt in boiling water for 4 minutes. Drain the peas, keeping the cooking water. Place the peas, soaked gelatine and 180ml of the cooking water into a blender and puree until smooth.

Pass the pea puree though a fine sieve into a very clean bowl.

Chill and stir form time to time until almost set. Remove from the fridge and stir in 250ml of half whipped double cream. Finally add the juice of half a lemon. Taste and season accordingly with sugar and salt. Chill until ready to serve.

To serve – remove the terrine from the mould and place a thick slice ion the centre of your (white!) plate. On each side place two neat “tournedos” of the mousse.

Finally, I sprinkle the plate with pea shoots and serve with a simple dressing of 200ml of rapeseed oil (I use Farrington’s Mellow Yellow), the juice and zest of a lemon, 1tbsp of caster sugar and you can add fresh mint OR tarragon if you like either of them, but its fine as it is.

Serve with chunks of fresh crusty bread and butter.

This is English Garden dining at its best! Enjoy and let me know how it works out for you..

Sunday Bloody Sunday

Less talk and more action, this blog has been a long time coming! I am always told that I should do something with my “talent” and sometimes that refers to my ability to string a few sentences together and more often than not it refers to my kitchen skills...

A day of new beginnings. A new blog, and my gorgeous other half planted a mini kitchen garden to add the fundamental base and inspiration for our spring and summer dining. There is something smug about offering up your family and friends a culinary delight which has been locally sourced from your back garden..nothing tastes better.

We had the Woods over last night, usually ends with a full recycling bin of “empites” (and on one occasion me with a trip to the osteopath). The hangover today was earned by my fair share of two bottles of champagne, two lovely bottles of french rouge and a half bottle of white wine..and then there was the best part of a bottle of sambucca.

So a good place to start would be my perfect hangover cure. This is not the kind of cure for a morning where you may have responsibilities, like your job or the care of a small child. But for me, a Sunday afternoon with no responsibility other than to deliver a post alcohol OTT evening, Sunday Roast.

I have spent years perfecting the perfect Bloody Mary and though many have winced at its ingredients, I am yet to meet a person who loves bloody marys to not love this one.

The Kitchen Fairy Bloody Mary

50ml good Vodka. My favourite is Grey Goose, though I tend to use a less expensive vodka as its always lost in the heat of this, but use a good quality vodka none the less as the acidity of the tomatoes will show up a poor quality vodka.

200ml Tomato Juice again the qulity does matter...
Half a teaspoon of Celery Salt
50ml Worcestershire sauce
6 drops of Tobasco Sauce
A teapsoon of Horseradish Sauce (this is the wince-factor ingredient but trust me!)
25ml sherry
A squeeze of lime
A stick of celery & wedge of lime for garnish
Black Pepper

Pour the vodka into a highball glass on ice. Add all the remaining ingredients (multiply for multiple bloody marys) into a large jug. I really do think this bloody mary formula is totally subjective and you may want to add more of one item and less of another and on different days this recipe will slightly vary for me too...however, this is pretty much as good as it gets! Stir well and pour onto the vodka. You can also use a cocktail shaker...

Finish with the garnish/stirring stick of celery and enjoy! Every ingredient above is vital to its success, so please try not to cut corners. I am an all or nothing kind of girl as I am sure will transpire on here. So, if you don’t have everything to hand for your emergency post alcohol indulgence, then stick to the Berocca and painkillers!

My hangover tends to disappear into the bottom of the glass...My other half thinks its a purely psychological cure, but I assure you there is no psychology or coincidence involved here, I assure you!

This enabled me to make a fabulous roast dinner today, accompanied by my infamous oven roof scraping yorkshire puddings. I will contemplate delivering the secret to my success of these amazing towers of eggy delight from my motherland, another time. It depends how nicely you ask...

I am not setting the tone by starting off with a cocktail, I could have mentioned the cakes I baked, or the feast I cooked last night for the Woods..but this will come. Let me know how the bloody mary works out for you. Whether its this week or some time in the future.