Thursday, November 21, 2013

English Food





The menu for the BPYC book club was so great, I asked Kaarina for the recipes. Her theme was 'English Food'. While it is true Britain's national dish is now officially 'curry', we had more traditional and lighter fare. I've never had an Eton Mess before (pictured above).  Kaarina served hers in a beautiful glass ice bucket that made the dessert look especially festive.


Copied and pasted Kaarina's response verbatim for future reference.

Thanks K!

.....


For the salmon:

I won't bother with the poaching business again. Lot simpler to bake it. Brush filets with EVOO, S&P and bake (skin down so you can leave the skin in the pan) at 400 for about 15 minutes. Make sure it's still a bit pink inside because it will continue to cook off heat. Cut into serving pieces and pour on parsley sauce. Garnish with parsley. Serve extra sauce in a gravy bowl.
 
The following Parsley Sauce recipe is the one I used. Be patient whisking it — it takes a while to thicken. But it does. Do not add more flour. (I didn't use mace or cream because I didn't have any.)  


If you do want to poach, here's a brilliant court boullion (I threw mine down the sink. Arghhhh!!!) I used black peppercorns, 'cause I didn't have any white ones.


Salad
I tossed one bunch of watercress with two cucumbers and half cup chopped parsley. Cut the cukes in half lengthwise, take out the seeds with a teaspoon and slice into half moons. Dressing: Olive oil, white wine vinegar, bit of honey, Dijon, S&P, one peeled and slightly smashed whole garlic clove. Remove garlic before dressing salad.


Eton Mess

There's tons of recipes on the Brit food sites. The TorSun one is the closest to what I did because I think less is more with fresh raspberries or whipped cream. I did not use a raspberry liquor but I did add a titch of vanilla to the cream. Quick dessert if you get store-bought meringues; however, you only need sugar and egg whites so they're cheap and easy to make a few days ahead.


Take a look at this one, too — with 0% Greek yogurt, it's practically guilt free if you don't count sugar! This is may be the recipe I followed for the meringues, tho who knows. I looked at so many of them.



Stilton

Alex Farms — Ask for Farmhouse Stilton. Apparently, there's a big demand for it for Christmas, so stock up soon. (About $29 a pound.) Give it more than 3 HOURS before serving. What we had was not running off the plate yet. Of course, the club house is cooler than most kitchens.
It's made from raw milk, there's only one dairy that still makes it, called Stichelton Dairy. Stiltons come from Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire counties.   



Port

Vintages has 10-year-old Tawny Port on sale $29.95, down from $34.95 until Dec. 1. Should be better than the general listing Taylor Fladgate Late Bottled Vintage Port I served Tuesday.

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