Some Favorite British Recipes

I mentioned in an earlier post that we loved British foods, so I thought I would talk a bit more about it. British foods are not difficult to cook; what is difficult is finding the proper ingredients. We have been fortunate in the past to live in cities that have 'British shops'; where we could find the proper foodstuffs. One of our absolute favorites was "The British Gourmet" in Scottsdale, Arizona; oh how I miss that shop. We have found a number of on-line shops that we have ordered from; the biggest difficulty is having to pay the shipping on a case of beans! You may be wondering why I think it is so important that I have 'true' British ingredients? It is the taste for one thing. Let's digress for a minute and I will explain.

The Beans: Heinz Baked Beans in tomato sauce - Perfect for 'Beans on Toast' (Recipe to follow). I don't know exactly what the difference between these beans and the a)Pork and beans or b) baked beans we have in the US; but they just taste different! Maybe our tastebuds were spoiled when we were in London, but Beans on Toast just doesn't taste right with Pork and Beans or Baked beans.

Bangers(Sausage to us here in the US): I have never been a big fan of sausage in the US, there is something about biting down on chunks of fat that is yucky. In all the different places we have eaten in London; the bangers are great. One difference is the texture of British bangers is very smoothe (almost like a pate). Also they tend to put interesting bits of stuff like leeks which add an interesting flavors. British bangers are essential for a good Bangers and Mash, and Toad in the Hole (Recipes to follow). I have found that substituting our sausages is okay, just not the best.

These are just a few of the great recipes I cook on a regular basis; they are quick and easy. But before I get to the recipes, let's chat a bit more about the pubs and eateries that we love to go to; Oh, and I can't forget our favorite English Teas!

During the two times we have been to London, we tried to visit as many different pubs as possible; in all we visited, we had great meals (and a great pint too!). A few of the Pub's we like to visit: The Dickens Pub near Paddington Station, Bag o' Nails near Buckingham Palace, and The Sherlock Holmes Pub near Trafalgar Square. On our last trip to London we stumbled upon a wonderful little cafe on Shaftesbury Avenue, called FRANX. We ate breakfast there every day for 2 weeks; the staff was friendly and fun, and the food was great! If you ever have the chance we highly recommend FRANX! (This is also a very popular take-away for the locals at breakfast and lunchtime; so we recommend you get there early).

On every visit to London we always go to Harrad's. This place is phenomenal, we could spend a week in there easily! Although we have been through every floor of the building (mainly just to study the fascinating architecture), our favorite is the food hall. I have never in my life seen so many different food stuffs from all over Europe and local too. Of course if you plan to buy anything you aren't going to eat while over there, you have to be extremely careful about what you purchase; the US Customs are very picky, and have no difficulty removing anything from your person that they say can't be brought into the US. Of course, when we went through they were extra picky because of Mad cow disease, so even if it was a tin of some kind of meat, they took it away. Oh, and just as a side note: In the times we have been to London, neither of us has ever developed Mad cow disease...........

Teas!

Also our favorite winter or anytime drink. Every time we go to London we stop at 'The Tea House' on Neal Street. Walk into this shop and the scents that assail you are heavenly. The store is crowded with every type of tea and teapot that you could imagine. Especially fun is to go upstairs where they have someone who puts together special blends. They are very nice in the shop, and if they aren't overly busy, will take the time to chat with you.

So what are our favorite teas? Lapsang Souchong is probably our all time favorite; it has a rich smokey taste to it. Russian Caravan, Earl Grey, Lady Grey are a few more that we like. We also like to bring home (or get from mail order), Typhoo, PG Tips, and Yorkshire Gold. Barry's Gold Blend Tea from Ireland,Glengettie Tea from Wales, and Brodies Scottish Breakfast are also excellent teas.

Well, this post could go on forever, I love to chat about London, but I think I will now just give you some recipes; Have fun!

Beans on Toast

This is a simple, warm and satisfying meal if you want something quick and tasty.

Ingredients: Hot Buttered Toast, 2 or 3 strips of cooked crispy bacon (streaky bacon if you are in London), 1 can Heinz Baked Beans in Tomato Sauce heated through.

While the bacon and beans are near the end of their cooking. Toast some thick slices of white bread (one or two per person), and spread with butter. Arrange on plate, cover with bacon and then spoon beans over the top of all. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
Enjoy!

Bangers and Mash

Ingredients: Hot Mashed Potatoes, Onion Gravy, 3 or 4 cooked sausages per person
1)Peel, cook and mash your potatoes (That's easy!)
2)Fry up some sausages (More easy)...Is there a catch? Well sort of.......The Gravy, it does take a bit of time.....(Though you can do what I do and make it up ahead of time for use later!).

Onion Gravy

Ingredients: 2oz butter, 1 finely chopped onion, 1 stock cube (beef or veg, your choice), 300ml hot water, 2Tbs cornflour(cornstarch)blended with a little cold water; salt and pepper to taste.
1)Melt butter in a heavy saucepan. Add finely chopped onion and cook gently until well browned (best at med/low heat), this is what takes the time. The onion should be so very dark brown as to seem almost black, but you must keep stirring while cooking so that the onion and butter don't scorch.(This gives the gravy it's lovely dark brown color and great flavor).
2)Dissolve stock cube in hot water and add to saucepan. Add blended cornstarch and heat, stirring constantly until thickened and smoothe.
Serves 4.
To assemble: Scoop mashed potatoes onto center of plate, pour gravy over mash and then arrange bangers around or on mash.
Enjoy!

Toad in the hole

For this recipe I have two versions: The original British and then my own. I do both of these versions. The greatest difficulty with this recipe is any kind of elevation (affects the yorkshire pudding rise) but it still tastes good.

Ingredients: British version: 1lb sausages fry'd up. Batter: 1c flour, 2 eggs, 1/2c milk (or enough to make a nice thin, smoothe batter), drippings:(can be from cooked sausages).

While sausages are cooking heat oven to 450F (also place an oven proof dish to heat while oven is heating, you want the dish hot). Once the oven is heated, quickly remove pan (close oven door, heat very important in this recipe). Into the pan add the sausages, hot oil and then pour the batter over them. Put back into oven and bake 20 minutes. Reduce the heat in the oven to 350F and bake 10-15 minutes longer. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR WHILE BAKING. The yorkshire pudding will puff up around the sausages and be a lovely golden brown.

Another version (when I don't want sausages): Batter and baking directions are exactly the same.
Ingredients: 1lb steak cut up into 1 inch cubes. 1 medium chopped onion, 2oz sliced mushrooms, 2oz butter, 3Tbs Flour, 2/3c red wine, salt and pepper to taste.

1)Heat oven to 450F with a oven proof dish. While oven is heating make batter as above.
2)Melt butter in fry pan, add steak, brown on all sides. Pour off drippings (I usually pour them off into the oven proof dish so they are nice and sizzly hot (if you don't have enough drippings to equal about 2Tbs, you can also add a little olive or vegetable oil).
3)Once the oven and dish are heated, quickly add the batter to the dish and close the door! Bake same as above: 20 minutes at 450F then lower heat to 350F and bake for 10-15 minutes more. Again....Do not open that oven door while the pudding is baking!
4) While the pudding is baking, to the browned steak. Add onion and sliced mushrooms and continue to saute for about 5 minutes. Add wine and flour to make a sauce. Continue to cook on low for approx. 20 minutes (or about the same time as the batter).If the sauce is a little too thick you can thin it a bit with more wine or water....

To serve: When the pudding is done, pull it out of the oven. The first thing that happens is that the center of the pudding usually sinks. This makes a really nice depression to put the cooked steak in! So scoop the cooked meat with wine you have kept warm into the center of the pudding and serve.
Hope you like it as much as we do.

Cheers!

Pet Stories II

Since it will be April soon and we will be celebrating Easter in just a couple of weeks, I thought I would share a short post on another of our pets. Dustbunny.

One morning one of the administrative assistants (Roberta) which worked in my office asked me if I would be willing to adopt a couple of rabbits. I wasn't really interested in rabbits (or knew anything about them), but when she told me their story, I decided to help.

It seems that Roberta's neighbors down the street had been sold 6 rabbits; these were supposed to be 'eating' rabbits, but it turned out they were dwarf bunnies. When they found out they weren't the right kind of rabbits, they asked Roberta to take them. Roberta couldn't keep them as she had her own menagerie to care for; so she found a number of people to take the rabbits.

I brought 2 of the rabbits home. One was an albino I named 'Snow', the other was a white rabbit which had these darling grey patches on his paws and nose, he looked like he had been rooting around under the bed..... so I named him 'Dustbunny'.
Though both rabbits were kept in a large cage on a shaded porch, we discovered that the heat in Riverside, California was too much for 'Snow'. We lost him within 3 days.

We moved to Colorado about 6 months later.
Dave built a lovely large hutch with a little house for Dustbunny. We also had 2 dogs at the time, Fritz (German Shorthair Pointer) and Shilo (Golden Retriever). Shilo and Dustbunny got on fine; Shilo was an extremely mellow animal. She would lay down in the yard and Dustbunny would hop around her, or lay next to her. Fritz and Dustbunny on the other hand, had a healthy respect for each other, with Fritz mostly staying about 2 feet away from Dustbunny. We would let Dustbunny run around the yard for bits of time when the weather was nice and we were out there watching him and the dogs.

If Fritz got too close the rabbit; he would start to thump. We learned quickly that this was Dustbunny's 1st warning, his 2nd warning was to start growling. His third and last warning was to lunge at you with his paws (and sharp claws) scrabbling, as if he was going to scratch you. He never hurt us or the dogs, but he did look fierce.

In the winter we would fill his hutch with hay, so he could stay warm.Half the time we would find him squished between the hay and the top of his hutch, covered with snow.He would have this contrary, grouchy look on his face; he looked so cute, we had a hard time NOT laughing. If the temperatures dipped too low at night, Dustbunny and the dogs would come inside and spend the night. During these times Dustbunny would be very grouchy, as his 'indoor' cage was much smaller. He would chew on the bars and rattle them, letting us know he wanted out. We would let him out for a bit and he would either sit next to Dave on the couch or would run around the room. If Fritz got to nosy (and close), Dustbunny would start thumping. It is amazing how loud they are when they thump. When this happened, we knew it was time for Dustbunny to be put back in his cage. We didn't know exactly what would happen if Dustbunny and Fritz were left alone together, and we never wanted to find out.

We had Dustbunny for 2.5 years, until we moved to Florida. We found a good home for him with a 10 year old boy down the street. We hope he had a good long life; cause he was such a little sweetheart.
I will have to try and find some photographs of him to share.

Pet Stories I

So I thought we would spend the next few posts, with fun stories about the pets we have had over the years. Animals have such interesting and unique personalities.
I think I will start with Herbie.

Herbie was a long hair, teddy bear hamster. He had a lovely Habitrail system that he loved to zip around in. He was a great little guy; he never bit us, but sometimes he would poop in your hand. We also had one of those clear plastic running/exercise balls for him. We would set him on the floor and he would run all over the place. He used to love bumping into us from behind. Usually we weren't surprised, because those balls make a lot of noise on a linoleum floor.

We originally purchased Herbie in Virginia. When he was about 3 years old we moved to California. I drove across country with Herbie riding 'shotgun' in the passenger seat of my CJ7. The trip was fairly uneventful until we hit Texas. It was summer, so it was very hot. About halfway through Texas I happened to glance over and there was Herbie on his back, unconsious. I immediately took the nearest exit and pulled off the road. He wasn't responding, though I could see he was still breathing.
In a panic that he was suffering from heat stroke and might die; I opened a bottle of water and practically doused him with it. I then soaked a bandana and wrapped him in it. Holding him for about 15 minutes he finally opened his eyes and started trying to get out of the bandana. He sat in my hand, glaring at me and then proceeded to start grooming himself. I am sure he was wondering why I had tried to drown him. After that we got back on the road and I made sure that the soaked bandana was draped over his cage when the temperature started to rise.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful until we got to the Agricultural station in California. They asked me the typical questions about fruits, vegetables and plants. I claimed that I had nothing except my Hamster, Herbie. The agent asked to see him. When I showed him the cage, he told me that Gerbils were not allowed to be brought into the state. I argued that it was a hamster, not a gerbil. The agent argued that it was a gerbil. I was getting irritated, so I pulled Herbie out of the cage, turned his bum to the agent and said....."Do you see a tail?".

Well of course hamsters have a tail, a very short tail, not the long tails that gerbils have. The agent still thought he was a gerbil, because he had never seen a hamster with long hair berfore. He made me wait while he went into the building, returning shortly with a book and another agent. They both looked at Herbie, who by this time was probably trying to figure out why everyone was so interested in his bum. They compared him to a picture of a gerbil in the book, and finally agreed that Herbie was not a gerbil and that we could continue on into California. With relief I continued driving into Barstow and then Los Angeles, I didn't know what I was going to do if they had tried to take him away from me.

Herbie's life in California was fairly uneventful. We had a huge kitchen nook area, so my husband made Herbie a really nice shelf with sides the length and width of Herbie's Habitrail and we suspended it from the ceiling using macrame cords that I made. This way Herbie wasn't bothered by the 2 puppies we had gotten (Those stories in the next post!).

Herbie lived comfortably for 2 more years. People have told me that hamsters only live a year or two. But Herbie lived 5 years. Near the end, he started to look like a little old man. His fur had started to turn grey and he was getting a bit bald on top. He also started getting grouchier, and didn't want to be held. I made a deal with Herbie; I would tap on his little sky house and he would climb up there and wait, munching on a treat, while I cleaned the rest of his cage.

I was out of town on a business trip when Herbie peacefully passed away. My husband called me in the evening to break the news to me. He said that Herbie had gone peacefully and most probably happy. His cheeks were full of food and my husband found him with his little head hanging over the food dish. We think his little heart just gave out.

Herbie loved his munchies!

Spring?

So much for Spring! Just this past weekend with the temperatures so warm, we were sorting through our seeds to see what we were going to plant this year. Because of the weather here, we don't normally start planting until May (We have a very short growing season).
But we were lulled into a false sense of 'Spring'.....

I know the saying 'March roars in like a lion and goes out like a lamb' has it's origins in the fact that the constellations of Leo and Aries travel our skies through the beginning and ending of March.......However, right now it seems that March is trying to go out with a roar!
We have had such beautiful weather this month, highs in the 60's and yes, also our spring winds (20 to 30 mile an hour).

So what happened to Spring?

We are now expecting 7 to 10 inches of snow, with highs in the 20's and low's in the 9's, today, tonight and tomorrow!
The Iris's were just starting to peek out of the earth and with the snow finally melted in our yard, small patches of green are beginning to show....
Very unfair.
We are ready for spring!

On Cooking

Portabello Market London, England

I Love to cook! It was always a dream of mine, to one day go to le Cordon Bleu, Paris France. Why? Good question. Growing up before the advent of the food network on TV and the multitude of cooking shows, Julia Child was the reigning queen of the culinary arts! There was nothing that inspired me more than to see a French Chef with their multitude of gleaming copper pans and those lovely huge stoves and ovens! And those lovely dishes they created; creamy sauces and beautiful presentations.

So what happened? Well, I am not made of money for one thing.....But for the most part it was The reality shows that killed the dream. Oh, I still love to cook, but the idea of having a ‘chef’ yelling at me because I didn’t do one thing or the other right, just didn’t appeal to me. So I just practice my new recipes on my husband first. He is absolutely great about it. Even when he doesn’t exactly like what I have made, he eats it and then just asks that I never make it again…..That’s easy.

So what are my favorite foods to cook? Many are French, but I also love to make English, Mediterranean, Italian, Welsh, Scottish, Irish, Indian, Oriental, Mexican, Spanish and German dishes. I will try almost anything new, but I do also have limits. I do not like anything that could be considered entrails, or internal organs. So if a recipe calls for it; such as English Steak and Kidney pie; my version is either Steak and Mushroom or Steak and Sausage pie. You might mention that sausage has some stuff in it; that’s okay, as long as it is so mushed up I can’t tell!

I have cookbooks that I have collected from countries around the world; and I love each and every one of them!

Some of my cookbooks are just fun. I have a Sherlock Holmes Victorian English Cookbook, Mrs. Beetons book of Household Management, a multitude of English Tea Cookbooks, Winnie the Pooh cookies and cake book, and of course le Cordon Bleu cookbook.

If you don’t really cook; or are just starting out, there is one book that I think everyone should own; that is ‘The Joy of Cooking’. This is a cooking bible; I am actually on my second copy having worn the first one out. There isn’t much this cookbook is missing; of course there are some things they could have left out, like how to skin a squirrel. However, overall, this is one of the best cookbooks I have ever found.

There are a lot of people that think English cooking is bland; but that just isn’t true. We have been to London twice and love to eat in local pubs. The English have some wonderful curries, and dishes from fancy to simple that are just good fun to eat. Some of our favorites that I cook a lot are; Toad-in-the-hole, Beans on Toast, Bangers and Mash, Anything Curry, Steak and Something Pie just to name a few. The Irish, Scottish and Welsh have some wonderful dishes too. Once in awhile I will share a recipe or two that we love.

On cooking, there are only really two rules I have: 1) NEVER try a new recipe for the first time when you are expecting company, and 2) Have fun while you are cooking. Cooking should never be a chore. Oh and for those of you that think you have no time? That it is quicker and easier to just open a jar of this and a can of that? It may take you a bit of time the first few times that you make something from scratch; but believe me there are a lot of great dishes out there that once you are comfortable making them, don’t take much longer than opening and heating that jar of stuff………

So in closing this post, I will share a recipe with you that you can cook all day in the crock pot and pour over noodles. It is excellent!

I apologize that I don’t remember where I found this recipe, I think it might have been a magazine (maybe Better Homes? Or a cooking magazine) hopefully, they won’t get mad as I share this:

Cabernet braised beef short ribs

2 lbs beef short ribs trimmed and cut into cubes

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 1/2 cups beef broth

1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon or other dry red wine

2 Tbs Tomato Paste

1 cup sliced carrots

6 cloves off garlic sliced (you can remove these before you eat if you want)

1 medium size onion cut into wedges

2- 6" Rosemary sprigs or 2 tsp dried Rosemary (I have done either one of these)

1 Tbs Flour

Hot cooked Noodles (Your choice: I use the wide egg noodles)

Set up crock pot and turn to high to start warming up. Heat a large skillet; spray with cooking spray (saves calories). Add ribs and sprinkle with Salt and Pepper. Cook for 8 minutes, browning on all sides. Add broth, scrape to loosen brown bits on bottom of pan (Good Stuff). Pour meat and broth into crock pot. Add wine, tomato paste, carrots, garlic, Rosemary and onion. Keep crock pot on high until contents very hot then you can either turn it down to low and let it cook for 6 to 7 hours, or keep it on high and cook for approx. 3 hours. When done, you can either just add the flour to thicken the sauce a bit, or you can scoop out all of the meat into a dish and run the sauce through a sieve, then add the flour to the sauce. Either way is good. Then add the sauce to the meat and ladle over noodles. Excellent with a side salad and some fresh french bread with real butter.

In all the times I have cooked this; though short ribs are a 'cheap' cut of meat.....The meat absolutely falls apart when its done.

I hope you enjoy!

Bon Appetit!

Our Cat

Shall we start this blog out with a story about our cat? (She has been in big trouble this morning.....)
Gato (yes I know that is the 'male' form for 'cat'......)will be 16 years old this July. She was a feral kitten that adopted us while we were living in Phoenix, Arizona.
Here is a bit of her story...........

Gato was a tiny little thing when we first came in contact with her. We were not cat people, so we basically ignored her when she was wandering around our apartment complex. We had a golden retriever named Shilo that lived with us during this time. While taking Shilo for walks in the evening, Gato would tag along. Several times Gato ended up in our apartment by hiding under Shilo's long coat. I would shut the door, turn around and there she was.....Then 'scoot' I would shoo her out the door.

This routine went on for about a month; until one day as we were walking from the parking area to our apartment, we saw some children swinging something around.......To our horror it was the kitten...and they were swinging her around by her back legs.We were angry, not only because these children were being cruel, but to our dismay, their parents were standing by watching!
We immediately grabbed the kitten and brought her into the apartment.
So began our journey into being owned by a cat.

Gato is for the most part a great cat. She doesn't shred furniture or curtains. She doesn't climb on the furniture too much; and usually just the table to see what is going on.
Gato likes her cat food; but she loves people food. I have tried over the years to disuade her by giving her bits of buffalo wings (very hot), green chili and stuff spiced with jalepenos, she eats it all. I don't know if she has 1) no taste buds, 2) strong stomach from growing up in Phoenix Arizona, or 3) just loves hot (spicy) foods.

Gato talks a lot; she loves to hold conversations with us. She also lets us know when she is angry or upset. She hates it when we are in different areas of the house. She likes her people nearby so she can share laps or see when we go into the kitchen.

So to end this post; we return to my earlier observation. Gato was in big trouble this morning. We left early to run to the W****** in the next town. But before we left I made sure to clean Gato's litter box. Gato is adament that her litter box remain clean......So we come home an hour later and she has unceremoniously pee'd on the floor and Dave's hunting boots on the back porch not 12 inches from her litter box! Not good. No excuse. Clean litter box and fresh litter; what ticked her off? She know's she's in bad graces right now and is trying to be very lovey and cute. Ah well, it's cleaned up and she knows she better be good the rest of the day.
Have a great day.

Just Starting Out!

Under construction............:)