Dinner and a Miniseries: Pride and Prejudice

Chicken and Parsley Pie is the perfect accompaniment to the five-hour extravaganza that is Pride and Prejudice. Both are scrumptious and oh-so-English. I can't believe it's taken me this long to blog about what is one of my absolute favorite movies ever, even though it's really a miniseries. In fact, I think it's better than the book. (Sorry, Jane!) I first discovered Pride and Prejudice a couple of years after it aired. I was in middle school, I didn't have many friends anyway, so seclusion and five hours of Britishness seemed like a good plan for the weekend. I've watched it at least once a year since then and I've owned it on VHS (six of them!) and DVD (only two). That means I've seen Pride and Prejudice at least a dozen times and it never gets old.

Traditional British Food: Chicken and Mushroom Pie

I finally got to use my pie bird!

This is the second Chicken and Mushroom Pie recipe I've posted.  Is it possible to have too many Chicken and Mushroom Pie recipes?  I think not.  This recipe serves six, so I divided it up into three portions so the pie could be baked fresh every time.  I actually think it was better after the flavors in the filling got to meld in the refrigerator!

Chicken and Mushroom Pie

If you happen to need a pastry recipe:
Short Crust Pastry


Since the original recipe for Chicken and Mushroom Pie came from a lovely little book called Favourite Dorset Recipes, I want to tell you about a new-to-me television show that takes place in Dorset: Escape to River Cottage.  The series is hosted by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who decided to leave life in London for a small farm in Dorset.  I like how honest he is about the realities of growing one's own food and raising livestock.  I like that he admits he's become attached to his pigs, but doesn't lose sight of the reason he bought them in the first place.  He then goes on to make the most wonderful things one could ever imagine from pork--a fitting end for his first year as a small-holder.  I've also read Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Cookbook, which is definitely worth checking out.

Escape to River Cottage isn't available on DVD in the US, but you can download episodes from Amazon.

*****

In other news, my TiVo is now refusing to pause live television and is randomly recording things, even though I turned off the "suggestions" almost as soon as I got it.  I turned it on and it was in the middle of recording something called Swamp People!  So--TiVo is going to get a call today, preferably from Paul because I don't want to deal with them anymore.

And my Netflix subscription is now $23.98.  So, Paul and I have a lot of thinking to do about our entertainment expenses.  Grrr.

Sunday Roast

We had decent (for the time of year) weather Saturday and Sunday. The highs were only in the mid-eighties, which is rather cool compared to the rest of last week when the high temperatures were 99˚ to 101˚.  I thought I would use the relatively cool weather on Sunday to make a roast and, thus, be able to use the leftovers for the rest of the week and not have to turn on the oven in the heat.  Stay tuned for my leftovers recipes.

I started with this June Sunday Dinner menu in Modern Meal Maker:

Roast Rump of Beef

Browned Potatoes

Carrots and Peas

Finger Rolls

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Angel Dainty

Coffee, Tea or Milk

I used my Old English Roast Beef recipe but left out the parsnips and I used two potatoes per person, since I used smaller potatoes.  Rather than make finger rolls, I just made Yorkshire Pudding, since it's made in the same pan as the roast, at the same temperature.

I did leave out the tomato and cucumber salad, because we had a good amount of food already and neither of us likes cucumbers or raw tomatoes.  I also left out the Angel Dainty, a "filled Angel Food Cake with a fresh strawberry gelatine center," because I had a suspicion we wouldn't be hungry for dessert, anyway!  However, if I were making this for guests, I would definitely include dessert and a salad!

The carrots and peas were made on the stovetop while the Yorkshire pudding was baking.  I just trimmed and scraped one carrot per person and cut them into "coins" and boiled them six minutes, then added 1/2 cup frozen peas per person and boiled another two minutes.  I strained the vegetables and put them back in the pan over low heat with 1/2 tablespoon butter per person, 1 teaspoon sugar per person and salt and pepper and stirred until the butter melted.

Thanks to Netflix Watch Instantly, I've managed to get my husband addicted to Sherlock and Downton Abbey, so he's looking forward to this season of Masterpiece Theatre as much as I am.  Paul picked the Sherlock episode "The Great Game" to watch Sunday night to go with our roast beef.

*****

Since the weather was so nice Saturday, we went with friends to Riverfest for fair food, Eddie Money and fireworks.  Turns out I knew more Eddie Money songs than I thought.  The people-watching is always fascinating, as well.  You can see some of the people we saw at the People of Riverfest website.

Very Good Recipes tags: peas, carrots, beef, potato

Tornado Watch Gin and French

Gin and French

I've spent my entire life in Tornado Alley, so tornado warnings are familiar territory.  Wichita isn't the biggest city ever, so when the sirens go off, it's for the entire county, so we have to watch the TV to see if we need to get in the basement.  We've lived here three years so far and haven't had to take shelter yet (knock on wood).  Growing up in Oklahoma City, my mother would refuse to get in the cellar of our 1909 home.  The creepy-crawlies were more terrifying than a tornado!

I don't usually bother with cooking dinner when we're under a tornado watch, because the power could go out or we could have to get down in the basement in the middle of cooking!  Nevertheless, tornado watches prompt an extended cocktail hour before heating up leftovers or (horrors!) heating up a heat-em dinner.

Our new favorite cocktail is the Gin and French, which I discovered by watching Mapp & Lucia.  Georgie (Nigel Hawthorne) orders one at the pub in Tilling.  Naturally, I had to do some research.  There are a few variations (with some people even claiming it's just a martini!).  Here's my version:

12 oz glass

ice (a handful or two)

juice from 1/2 lemon

1 jigger gin

1 jigger dry (French) vermouth

5 oz tonic water (typical small bottle is 10 oz, so plan to make two!)

Little cocktail straw (not strictly required, but definitely encouraged)

Put ice in glass, add lemon juice, gin and vermouth.  Top off with tonic water; add straw.  Be prepared for this to hit quick and hard.  It's the F5 of cocktails.

Be sure to save the squeezed-out lemons for candied peel to make fruitcake or Banbury Cakes!

P.S. Here's a link to the official Red Cross spring 2011 storms donation sites.  

A Few of My Favorite Things

This turned into the never-ending blog post.  It's finally finished!

First off--

Saturday was the Second Annual St. George's Day George Sanders Film Festival!  This year's theme was the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible (I'll bet you were wondering how I was going to work that in this year), so I watched Four Men and a Prayer and Rage in Heaven as well as two biblical epics: Samson and Delilah and Solomon and Sheba.  I made true sacrifices in the service of cinema.

In Four Men and a Prayer (1938), George Sanders and his three brothers (David Niven plays one of them) work to clear the name of their dishonorably discharged father (C. Aubrey Smith) with the help of Loretta Young.  There's romance, gun-running and South American revolutions.  What more could the movie-going public desire?  So, it's not the greatest movie ever, but it was pretty entertaining.  (Available on DVD as part of the Ford at Fox Collection.)

Original lobby card from Wikipedia

Rage in Heaven (1941) was a film I'd never heard of until it played on TCM last month, despite the fact that it stars Ingrid Bergman and Robert Montgomery (and George Sanders!) and was based on a book by James Hilton, of Random Harvest fame.  I thought this was a well-done, entertaining, occasionally suspenseful film.  Both Rage in Heaven and Four Men and a Prayer would be good watching on a rainy Sunday afternoon.



Since this film isn't available on DVD, here's a link to watch it online.

Now on to the films I can't really recommend on their own merits.  If you're a big fan of bad movies or you're really really bored, these two biblical epics might be worth the watch.  Maybe.  This comes from a person who watches The Ten Commandments every year.  Admittedly, I only watch the first part before Moses decides he wants to leave the Egyptian court.  After that, it just gets super-unglamorous.  Who wants to watch people wander in the desert?  Anyway, I digress...

French poster from Wikipedia

Samson and Delilah (1950) looks good, but the dialogue leaves a lot to be desired.  I did like Hedy Lamarr's costumes, though.  They'd probably make really fabulous bellydance costumes.  Sanders plays the mad, bad, dangerous-to-know Saran of Gaza.  Here's a clip from TCM.

Unfortunately(?) it's not available on DVD, but you can watch this film online, should you feel in need of cinematic self-flagellation:



I exaggerate a bit.  Samson and Delilah is ten times better than...

Lobby card from Wikipedia

...Solomon and Sheba (1959), starring Yul Brenner as Solomon, Gina Lollobrigida as Sheba and George Sanders as wronged older-brother Adonijah.  Tyrone Power was originally going to play Solomon, but he died halfway through filming after having a heart attack filming Solomon's duel with Adonijah.  Frankly, I doubt this film would have been any better with Tyrone Power instead of Yul Brenner.  Too much is wrong with this movie!  This clip  of the badly-choreographed orientalist "orgy" scene is a good illustration of the general ridiculousness of the entire film.  Warning: it's genuinely cringe-worthy.  Solomon and Sheba is inexplicably on DVD.

Scripture Cake

 Naturally, biblical baking was also required.  The Victorians (those party animals!) thought it great fun to  force bakers to look up bible verses.  For example, here's the ingredient list for Scripture Cake:

1/2 lb Judges 5:25
1/2 lb Jeremiah 6:20
1 tablespoon 1 Samuel 14:25
3 Jeremiah 17:11
1/2 lb 1 Samuel 30:12
1/2 lb Nahum 3:12
2 ounces Numbers 17:8
1 lb 1 Kings 4:22
Season to taste with 2 Chronicles 9:9
pinch of Leviticus 2:13
1 teaspoon Amos 4:5
3 tablespoons Judges 4:19-21
(from Jane Grigson's British Cookery)

I know the ingredient list works with the authorized King James Version (my copy is from the Oxford University Press), but I can't guarantee other translations.  So-- here's my recipe, adapted from Jane Grigson's and from The Great British Book of Baking:

Scripture Cake

This recipe is also available on food.com.

The recipe for mixed spice is here.  If you're not sure what to do with all of it, here's a link to a few recipes.

This cake has a really lovely flavor, but I'd probably replace the figs with another dried fruit next time, but I didn't want to bother with reading through the bible to change the recipe, so do what you like.  I'd even use rum or brandy to soak the dried fruit, but don't tell the fundamentalists.

It's great for breakfast, too!

*****

Secondly--

I've been given a Liebster Blog award from Kate and I've been tagged by Soapy Mermaid to list ten of my favorite things (besides George Sanders).  I'm going to combine the two and pass the award on to my favorite less-than-300-followers blogs and ask them to list their favorite things, as well (except for Soapy Mermaid, who has already listed her favorites!).

I love...

1. PG Tips... but also Tanqueray.
2. Händel...but also Nine Inch Nails.*
3. Peter Lely...but also Cecil Beaton.
4. peonies...but also dandelions.
5. the library...but also my Kindle.
6. eating outside...but also eating on the couch while watching Battlestar Galactica (damn engineer husband).
7. TCM...but also MSNBC.
8. bad monarchs...but not bad politicians.**
9. spring...but I love autumn more.
10. reading French novels in French...but I love reading English novels in English more!

I'm passing the award onto these fine folks.  Can't wait to see their ten favorites lists!

As My Whimsy Takes Me
Astheroshe
By gum, by golly!
A Cat Among the Pigeons
Honey Hi
Livin' Vintage
Lori Hairston
My Moving Finger Writes
My Pretty Baby Cried She Was a Bird
Pin Tucks and Pin Curls
Practice in Time
Pragmatic Attic
Sailing Over a Cardboard Sea
A Sip of Sarsaparilla
Soapy Mermaid
The Swing of Things
This Old Life
Those Were Very Good Years
Two for Tea
Where the Sidework Ends

If you decide to participate, just leave a comment with a link to your post.  Thanks!

*

**James I of King James Bible fame being one of those bad monarchs.  I studied the Stuarts, so there were lots of bad kings to go around.

Apfelkuchen

Slice of Apfelkuchen

Welcome to the first event in the Viennese Pastry Challenge!  Even though its name translates to "Apple Cake," this Apfelkuchen is a rustic tart with a sweet, lemony shortcrust pastry.  You'll want to use a crunchy, flavorful apple for this recipe--I used Honeycrisp apples for my Apfelkuchen, but you can use whichever variety you want (as long as it's not something tasteless like Red Delicious).  Obviously, you could have Apfelkuchen for dessert or a snack, but I think it works particularly well for breakfast because of the high fruit to pastry ratio.
Apfelkuchen

A few recipe notes:

• I used almonds in my Apfelkuchen, but the original recipe calls for either almonds or walnuts.  It's up to you!
• I bought both my pastry blender and bench scraper from Williams-Sonoma.  Be sure to buy a pastry blender that has sturdy blades or it will be worthless.  Here's a link to the one I have. 
• Be sure to use a high-quality unsalted butter.  Don't use margarine!  Remember that the quality of the ingredients is very important and will affect the taste of the final product.  
• If you only use one organic ingredient for this recipe, make it the lemon, because you will be using the zest, which is where most of the pesticides in conventionally grown lemons reside.  Eeew.
• Wondering what to do with your leftover egg white?  We'll be using it in the next event!  By the way, my wonderful eggs come from Morning Harvest Farm.

First layer of apples

The finished Apfelkuchen

Remember!

Read about the contest here.  If you bake your own Apfelkuchen, please submit your comment (on this post) by 11:59 p.m. CST Monday, January 31, 2011.  Good luck!

Also, "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2011" on Great Performances airs tonight on PBS.

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Gold Diggers of 1933

I posted a video from this film previously (Ginger Rogers's "We're in the Money" number) but I had yet to see the film in its entirety.  I highly recommend it for its fascinating mix of licentiousness (ah, pre-Code Hollywood) and social consciousness (evidently the Warner brothers were FDR supporters*).  In addition, you absolutely have to watch it for the Busby Berkeley production numbers.

Although tame by today's standards, Gold Diggers is risqué in comparison with films that would be forced to adhere to the Hays Code only a year later.  This clip, "Pettin' in the Park," has several code violations including nudity in silhouette (horrors!).  Film trivia alert: the lascivious "baby" is Billy Barty, the unlucky Bible salesman in Foul Play.



Gold Diggers of 1933 is no mere fluff piece.  Although following most of the conventions of musical comedy, the film comments explicitly on the hunger, unemployment and alienation caused by the Great Depression, especially in the "Remember My Forgotten Man" number.


*Special Feature:"FDR's New Deal...Broadway Bound"

Coming Attractions

Here's a quick look at the first two contest recipes!  The contest starts January 1st!

Apfelkuchen

Sachertorte

Also, to get in the mood for our Viennese Pastry Challenge, watch "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2011" on Great Performances Saturday evening on PBS.

Until Saturday!

An invitation to join me in my kitchen adventures...

The holiday season is probably the only time most people even think about Austria--The Sound of Music is usually on TV around Christmas and then PBS airs the annual Vienna Philharmonic New Year's Day Concert.  I, however, have an obsession with Viennese coffeehouses (Kaffeehäuser) and all things Alpine (I blame The Lawrence Welk Show* and, of course, The Sound of Music).  My first Foods of the World purchase was The Cooking of Vienna's Empire, I have a copy of Lilly Joss Reich's sadly-out-of-print The Viennese Pastry Cookbook on order from Amazon and I've checked out  Kaffeehaus and The Classic Art of Viennese Pastry from the library.  On Friday, I bought a springform cake tin.  I'm ready to go!

CONTEST ALERT!!!

After Christmas, I'm going to start baking my way through The Viennese Pastry Cookbook.  I hope you'll join me!  If you do decide to make one of the recipes, leave a comment on the post for the recipe you chose (and tell me why you chose that particular recipe) and how it turned out (and why).  If you take a photo or write a blog entry, be sure to include a link.  You can sign up for one of the photo-sharing websites for free.  At the end of each month (starting with January), I'll randomly select a "hey-I-tried-that" comment from that month's posts and the person who wrote the selected comment will receive a Viennese-baking-related prize.  The more recipes you try, the more chances to win!  You don't have to have an account to comment, either, just be sure to leave your name!  I don't generally get many comments, so there's a good statistical chance of winning.

Stay tuned for the first baking assignment!

*

Hello, Autumn!

It's finally sweater weather and I couldn't be happier. Plus, there are wonderful things like pears and plums to be eaten.

Speaking of plums, I just had to make a Three Plum Pie. I watched both seasons of Pushing Daisies on Netflix and loved it even though every episode made me hungry! If you like food or the movie Amélie or Tim Burton movies, you'll probably like Pushing Daisies. I highly recommend it.

Exciting news! I've found a way to offer my recipes as PDF downloads! Click here for Three Plum Pie and here for Shortcrust Pastry.

Three Plum Pie

Crust:

9” Double-crust pie shell (See my Shortcrust Pastry recipe.)

Filling:

½ lb red plums

½ lb black plums

¼ lb damsons (Italian prune plums)

zest from ½ an orange

¼ cup sugar

1 tablespoon flour

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon milk

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.

For each plum, cut in half and remove the pit. Slice into approximately ¼” wedges. Place the wedges into a large mixing bowl. Grate the orange zest over the bowl and stir to combine. Next, add the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. Stir to combine and set aside.

Roll out the bottom crust of your pastry and fit to your pie plate. Pour in the plum filling and then roll out the top crust and fit over the filling, crimping the edges. Make six 1” slashes in the top of the crust.

Place the pie plate on a baking sheet and then brush the top of the pie with the milk. Bake for 12 minutes at 450 and then turn the temperature down to 325 and bake a further 40 minutes, or until the crust in nicely browned.

You should definitely have a slice while the pie is hot, but any leftovers can be refrigerated and eaten later.

Adapted from this recipe and this recipe.

Shortcrust Pastry

Adapted from All About Home Baking*

Yields two 9” pie shells (enough for one double-crust pie or two single-crust pies)

1 ¾ cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon table salt

11 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small cubes

1/3 cup (approximately) cold water

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Next, rub in the butter with fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Incorporate a bit of the water at a time until the dough starts to come together. You may not need all the water.

Divide the dough into two equally sized discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least half an hour. If you don’t plan to use the dough within 24 hours, you can freeze it for up to a month.

After the dough has chilled, you can either roll the dough out between two pieces of plastic wrap (adjusting the wrap often enough to prevent it from tearing) or flour your counter and rolling pin and roll the dough out directly on the counter.

.....

In movie news, on October 12th Turner Classic Movies is broadcasting a Simon Templar (a.k.a. The Saint) marathon. George Sanders played Simon Templar five times (his films are on from 10:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CST), but none of the films are available on DVD. Thought I'd give you a heads up in case you were interested. By the way, don't call me between 10:15 and 4:30.

---

* General Foods Corporation, “Calumet Pie Crust,” All About Home Baking (New York: 1933), 101.

Traditional British Food, Part 37: Making Do

Boiled Beef with Carrots and Dumplings really is a cool-weather dish. However, and I'm about to go on a tangent here, I had a large roast that was absolutely unsuitable for roasting. Evidently here in Kansas, a roast isn't a piece of meat that is roasted in the oven but a piece of meat that is pot-roasted. If you remember, my friend Jessica's neighbor asked her and her husband to go in on a side of beef. Paul and I then shared Jessica's take. We then all decided that her neighbors were obviously idiots when it came to ordering cuts of meat (20 pounds of ground beef? Icky minute steaks? A measly two sirloin steaks?!), plus Jessica got stuck with practically all the offal. Also, I am refusing to buy anything else from Yoder meats (which happens to be basically the only processor around here) because their butchering work is crap. We didn't have a single cut of meat that didn't have fat and tendons running through it-- not pleasant to eat medium-rare. So, we made our last roast Friday night and we boiled it until the tendons were no longer a problem. My Boiled Beef with Carrots and Dumplings recipe also took care of some carrots that no one would eat raw (I hate not actually being able to see the carrots in the bag!). Plus, I never posted a good photo back in October, so here's Friday's Boiled Beef with Carrots and Dumplings:

P.S. It's not really that horrible to make in warm weather. The only slaving over the stove you have to do is skimming the stock as it comes to a boil the first time.

.....

While we're on the subject of making do, it seems that Barbara Pym's spinsters spend a lot of time doing just that. I've recently read both Excellent Women and Less than Angels and throughly enjoyed them both with their teas and church jumble sales and anthropology lectures. I plan to read the rest of Pym's novels sometime in the near future.

I've always felt an affinity for novels about spinsters, because I used to feel there was a good chance that I'd end up as one. I can't believe I found someone who puts up with all my eccentricities. Not that Paul is a saint and I prefer it that way. Anyhow, if you're feeling your own affinity toward spinsters, you might check out the Marple page at pbs.org. Right now, The Secret of Chimneys and The Blue Geranium are available online, which is awesome because it means that I don't have worry about being finished with dinner before 8 p.m. on Sundays and sometimes it's nice to watch a movie with breakfast!

Traditional British Food, Part 26: Plough Monday

According to Ronald Hutton's The Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain, before the widespread farming of winter grains in the twentieth century, the spring plowing began immediately after the end of Christmas (Epiphany). By the mid-fifteenth century, the Monday after Twelfth Night became known as "Plough Monday." A ceremonial plow was blessed in church the day before on "Plough Sunday" and the next day the plow was taken through the streets in a procession to collect money for the parish. Naturally, drinking and merry-making followed this parade (124-5).

The English Reformation began the slow decline of Plough Mondays. First, in 1538, Henry VIII forbade that "plough lights" be lit in churches, then Edward VI condemned the "conjuring of ploughs" (125). The ceremonies revived during the reign of Mary only to fall by the wayside during Elizabeth's reign (126). However, a few secularized Plough Monday processions survived into the nineteenth century only to be attacked in the courts. One farmer in 1810 took his case to the Derby Assizes, claiming that when he refused to give them money, the young men pulling the plow plowed up his drive, lawn and a bench, causing twenty pounds' worth of damage (127-8).

Although a few Plough Monday processions were recorded as late as the 1930s, the festival languished until the second wave of "folk revival" during the '60s and '70s brought it back in several English communities (132-3).

The following recipe is for Norfolk Plough Pudding, which, according to Favourite Norfolk Recipes, was traditionally made on Plough Monday. If you like bacon and sausage, you'll love this recipe! Don't worry--it's not as complicated as it looks. There are a lot of steps, but the preparation only takes about half an hour. Just be sure to leave enough time for cooking; this pudding takes four hours to steam. If you need a pudding basin, this is the one I have.




Norfolk Plough Pudding

serves 6-8

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons vegetable shortening or rendered suet
1 pound pork sausage (breakfast sausage, the kind without a casing)
8 slices bacon, chopped
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
chiffonade of 6 sage leaves
2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed

Grease a 1-quart pudding basin and set aside.

For the crust: measure the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and stir to combine. Add the shortening (or suet if you have it) and rub together until mixture resembles coarse sand. Add enough cold water for the dough to come together. Take out 2/3 of the dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface until 1/8-inch thick. Use this dough to line the pudding basin, pressing dough into the curves of the basin and filling any gaps using cold water and extra dough. Trim dough flush with top of basin. Set the remaining dough aside for the lid.

For the filling: use the sausage to line the inside of the basin, pressing it into the dough. Try to get an even thickness on the sides and bottom.

Next, combine the bacon, onion, sage and brown sugar. Add this mixture into the pudding basin, pressing down to get filling to line up with top of basin.

Next, roll out the remaining dough to 1/8-inch thickness and place on top of the pudding basin. Trim and press edges firmly together, using a bit of cold water.

Finally, cover the basin with parchment and aluminum foil (don't forget the pleat) and tie with string (instructional video here). Steam for 4 hours. Don't forget to check the water level and top it off with more boiling water from the kettle!

Adapted from Favourite Norfolk Recipes.

This recipe is also available on food.com.

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Bread and butter pudding did not come about because someone had the idea that bread, butter and rich, sweet custard would make a sensuous and tender pudding. Whoever it was thought of the idea to use up a few slices of leftover bread...It's a wonder we can hold a wooden spoon, our fists are so tightly clenched.
-Nigel Slater, Eating for England

No matter how Bread and Butter Pudding came to be, it's delicious...and it's a good way to use up leftover bread. Honestly, I think leftovers are great.

Bread and Butter Pudding

serves 6

2 tablespoons butter
6 slices white bread, crusts removed
1/3 cup raisins, currants or golden raisins
1 lemon, zest only
1/4 cup light brown sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups milk

Butter a 6-cup capacity baking dish (a 9" square pan, for example).

Butter the bread and then cut into triangles, squares or fingers.

Arrange half the bread in a single layer in the baking sheet. Top with raisins, lemon zest and half the brown sugar. Top with the remaining bread.

Beat together the eggs and milk then pour into the pan. Top with the remaining brown sugar and leave for 30 minutes. (If you need to leave the pudding longer, cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge.).

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake pudding for 35-40 minutes, or until it is set and the top is a golden color. The pudding will puff up like a soufflé, just wait until it deflates to cut into it. Refrigerate any leftovers. You don't even have to heat them up; this pudding is tasty hot or cold.

Adapted from Traditional British Cooking.

.....

In other matters, in case PBS isn't providing you with enough Elizabeth Gaskell, both Wives and Daughters and North and South are currently available on Netflix watch-it-now. Both are very good adaptations and definitely worth the almost nine hours it takes to watch both of them.

Traditional British Food, Part 22: Mincemeat

Have you ever made an obscene quantity of a food almost everyone you know claims to abhor? Personally, I get a perverse satisfaction out of making things that seem horrific, like pease porridge or anything made with chicken livers. I also recently stirred up six quarts of mincemeat. Expect several mincemeat recipes in a few weeks. If you'd like to scare your holiday guests (and perhaps expand their palettes in the process), here's my mincemeat recipe:

1 pound vegetable shortening, frozen then grated butter or shredded suet
1 pound eating apples (Gala, for example), peeled, cored and finely chopped
1 pound chopped dried dates (they come already chopped in 8-ounce boxes)
1 pound dried currants
1 pound raisins
1 pound golden raisins
1 pound golden brown sugar
2 tablespoons mixed spice
zest of 1 lemon
zest of 1 orange
juice of lemon and orange plus brandy to equal 1 quart

Mix everything together in a huge bowl (it makes 6 quarts, remember?) and cover. Leave in a cool place for 3 weeks, adding brandy if needed.

In case you don't have a set of kitchen scales, I just might have some extra mincemeat I could send your way...

.....

Last week, I finished all twenty-two hours and twenty-five minutes of The Pallisers (I started it this summer), which ran on Masterpiece Theatre back in the 1970s. Television technology had advanced quite a bit since The First Churchills. Parts of The Pallisers are even filmed outside. It can be slow in places and there were times when I didn't much feel like watching it, but it turned out to be quite pleasant viewing. Only recommended for die-hard fans of Masterpiece Theatre, 19th century British novels or Parliamentary politics. Keep an eye out for Anthony Andrews and Jeremy Irons (pre-Brideshead, in very similar roles).

Traditional British Food, Part 20: Fawkes-y Food

I know that there are many of my readers who know the historical ins and outs of the Gunpowder Plot, so if your only exposure to Guy Fawkes is through that movie V for Vendetta (I would like to take this time to assert that it is in no way acceptable to blow up a UNESCO World Heritage Site), I direct you to Parliament's overview of the Gunpowder Plot. Since burning effigies was out of the question, Paul and I celebrated the prevention of Jacobean domestic terrorism by (what else?) eating.

Parkin originated in Yorkshire (like Guy Fawkes) and is very closely related to gingerbread, but it has oatmeal in it, because oatmeal was much more readily available in the north of England than wheat flour.

Parkin



3 ounces golden syrup
1 ounce black treacle
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 pound butter (1 stick), if chilled, cut into tablespoons
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place a small saucepan on a kitchen scale and pour in 3 ounces golden syrup followed by 1 ounce treacle (or 3 ounces unsulfured molasses--not blackstrap--and 1 ounce corn syrup). Place the pan over low heat and stir in the brown sugar and butter. While the butter melts, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, oats, and ginger in a large mixing bowl. When the butter has melted (mixture will look like Gloppy the Molasses Monster from Candy Land), pour the mixture over the dry ingredients and combine with a spatula. Add the milk, egg and baking soda and stir until incorporated. Pour batter into a greased 9x13 pan and bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack and then cut into 18 squares. Cake can be left in an airtight container to "mature" for a few days (or you can just go ahead and eat it). Parkin can also be frozen.

Recipe adapted from British Cookery by Jane Grigson.



Cheater's Bangers and Mash

This is a cheater's recipe because you can use jarred caramelized onions, which means that this meal only takes about half an hour. I like Archer Farms Caramelized Onion Burger Topper, or you can make your own with this recipe.

I picked Bangers and Mash as a Bonfire Night recipe because it's homey and nicely suited to cool weather. Plus, I had already made Parkin and wanted something easy.

Serves 2

4 pork sausages*
1/2 cup beef broth
2 tablespoons caramelized onions

1 pound potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon cream

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and, when hot, add the sausages and sear on all sides. Turn the heat down to medium-low, cover the pan, and cook the sausages until they are no longer pink inside (25 to 30 minutes).

While the sausages are cooking, boil the potatoes in salted water until very tender (about 15 to 20 minutes). Drain, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Return the potatoes to the cooking pot and mash them with a fork or potato masher. Add the butter and cream and stir to combine. If needed, add some of the cooking water in small increments. Season potatoes to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and set aside.

When the sausages are ready, remove them to a plate, turn the heat up to high and deglaze the pan with the beef stock. When the beef stock comes to a simmer, stir in the caramelized onions and cook until reduced to your liking. Plate up the potatoes and sausages and cover with gravy. Enjoy!

Adapted from this recipe from BBC Good Food.

*I actually use Archer Farms Bratwursts, because they aren't really brats; they're oversized breakfast sausages, which is perfect. They are, however, very salty, so the gravy doesn't need to be salted.

.....

In other news, I have book and DVD recommendations:

I just finished the eighth Stephanie Plum novel and have laughed my way through all eight (laughing-out-loud, don't read in front of others because they'll think I'm crazy). Stephanie Plum is a layed-off lingerie buyer who, out of desperation, becomes a very incompetent bounty hunter. The books are quick-paced light reading that I wholeheartedly recommend. The first book in the series is One for the Money by Janet Evanovich. Paul is even reading them now.

I also just finished watching the first season of Lark Rise to Candleford from Netflix. Part Little House on the Prairie, part Anne of Green Gables, the series is sweet and wholesome without being preachy or saccharine. Plus, for all of you who love Pride and Prejudice, Julia Sawalha (Lydia Bennet) plays the local postmistress. Great to watch while knitting.

Traditional British Food, Part 4: Our Daily Bread

English White Bread

This recipe is a combination of this cottage loaf recipe and split pan bread from this book about "the breads of the world and how to bake them at home." The first recipe sounded like the most appealing combination of ingredients, but I wanted to bake the bread in a loaf pan, because the shape of a traditional cottage loaf is a little unwieldy and I wanted bread that was easy to put into the toaster (of which Paul is totally ashamed because it brands a Hello Kitty onto one side of the bread, but, hey, it's already lasted over 5 years).

4 cups white bread flour*
2 teaspoons salt
3/4 cup milk
3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

• Sift flour and salt into a large mixing bowl.
• Heat the milk and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until a thermometer reads 100-110 degrees fahrenheit.
• Stir the sugar and yeast into the flour/salt mixture, make a well in the center and pour in the heated milk and water. (If you're unsure whether your yeast is still alive, you'll want to change this method so you can bloom your yeast.)
  
• Use a wooden spoon to stir the dough. Don't worry about the mixture not being very cohesive. The kneading will take care of that.
• Knead the dough for 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface. You're trying to get it to feel like a baby's bottom and all that. Shape it into a ball.
  
• Grease a large bowl (or a stockpot works well, too) with butter paper**, roll the dough around to cover all surfaces with butter grease, cover the dough with a clean (obviously) kitchen towel. When the dough has doubled in size, the first rising is complete. This step will take anywhere from 1 1/2 hours (warm room, or the front porch in my case) to 8 hours or more (refrigerator).
• After the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and knead for another minute on a lightly floured surface. Shape the dough into a rough loaf and place it, seam side down, into a greased 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2 1/2" loaf pan. Cover with the kitchen towel you used before and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled (anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour).
• After this second rising, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Make a vertical slash down the center of the bread with a razor blade (or very sharp knife). Dust the top of the loaf with flour and let it sit 10-15 minutes.
• Bake the loaf in the center of the oven at 450 degrees for 15 minutes and then turn the temperature down to 400 and keep baking for another 20 to 25 minutes or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
• Be sure to cool the loaf completely on a wire rack.
  

I made this bread yesterday afternoon and, while it may seem complicated, it's the easiest bread recipe I've tried. I think it would be a good recipe for someone making their first loaf of homemade bread.

Not only is it easy, it makes a really satisfying bread. It tastes just like white bread ought to taste, plus it has a moist, dense crumb and a chewy crust. I took the bread out of the oven last night around 7:20, Paul and I went to the 7:50 showing of Star Trek (which was so much fun, definitely recommended, worth the $9 to see it in the theatre, child Spock so cute wanted to take him home), then came home and nibbled on some homemade bread. Oh, and we also turned in our keys to the apartment and said good-bye for good. It was a great evening.

*When I use the bread machine, I weigh out 1 pound of all-purpose flour instead of bread flour, because it bakes more evenly for some reason.

**Save all of your butter wrappers. They're perfect for greasing. Plus, you get more use out of them before you throw them away.

P.S. This made me laugh.



Plus, the original series episodes are available online here.

College Hill and Quiche-tastrophe

I am terribly excited because we're finally moving into our College Hill duplex! It's Tudor style, built in 1925 and only half a mile away from Watermark Books and Il Vicino. Living here, I like Wichita a lot more. I also hope that our protracted move (we took possession the fourteenth and the moving van doesn't come until the second) will help excuse my absence from the blog (although that's rather the norm). My goal is to post at least once a week from now on. Here's a picture of the only part of the living room that's currently habitable:

This is the place where I'm doing the most reading. In fact, I just finished Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford, so I can now rent the movie from Netflix, because I missed it on Masterpiece Theatre. Plus, I like to read books before I see the movie so I can create my own version in my head before I'm influeced by someone else's vision. Anyway, it's a pleasant little book and I'm interested to see how it works on film.

I had to take the above photo with the flash on because it is positively dreary outside. We had absolutely horrible weather yesterday (flooding and tornadoes), but today it's just misting and moisting.* The good news is that the weather is so much cooler now. Last week, we had highs in the 80s (which I think is too hot) and today the high is only 61 (which I think is great).

Another thing I think is great is caviar, but I've had a horrible time finding it here. I happened to be at the Dillon's Marketplace in between taking loads of books to the duplex and I was perusing the import food section and found caviar on the Kosher aisle for only $5. Naturally, I was intrigued and bought it. It's really rather tasty. We had it for my birthday with Lingue di Suocera (mother-in-law's tongues) aglio olio (photo below). Paul and I ate in front of the TV while watching Netflixed Star Trek: The Next Generation. I have to say it was all quite enjoyable.


I would have more food to show, but I've had a quiche-tastrophe. In attempting to blind-bake my crust, I neglected to put the tart pan (which has a removable bottom) on a baking sheet. In the attempt to get it into the oven, it fell and I ended up with dried lima beans (my pie weights) everywhere, including down under the coils of the 400-degree oven. The whole apartment smelled like an ash tray and I haven't used the oven since. Yesterday, I was packing my baking sheets (which I keep in the drawer under the oven) and discovered that the drawer was full of lima beans. I didn't think that after I swept what felt like thousands of them off the floor that any could have escaped my notice. How did they even get in there?

I hope to have more photos of the duplex up soon and I'm also looking forward to us not running around like crazy people so I can use my new kitchen (I did make yogurt today, though).

*
One misty, moisty morning,
When cloudy was the weather,
There I met an old man
All clothed in leather

All clothed in leather,
With a cap under his chin.
How do you do?
And how do you do?
And how do you do again? (from Secret Rhyme Origins)

In which our unfortunate heroine meets with the loss of a dear friend

The above photo shows pork chops (from the west-side Farmers Market) that have been sautéed and then finished in the oven and glazed with a white-wine reduction (Côtes de porc poêlées) and paired with Haricots vert au maître d'hôtel and Asparagus vinaigrette. All recipes are from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The only change I made to any of the recipes was to use Dijon mustard instead of dried mustard in the vinaigrette. I used to think that I hated mustard, but it turns out that Dijon in things is good. I still don't want to eat it just spread on a sandwich or sausages or something. That's too much for me. Also, yellow mustard is still yucky. I don't want to even smell it. So there.

Next, we have a Chicken, Mushroom, and Bacon pie from Nigella Express that I have altered. (I should have taken the photo the night before because the crusts didn't collapse on me. Oh, well.) I still haven't caved and bought garlic-infused oil, so I just use olive oil and then throw in garlic a little later. Also, the recipe calls for the pies to be topped with all-butter puff pastry. I don't know where to get anything but Pepperidge Farm in Wichita and that is made with partially hydrogenated vegetable shortening. There isn't even any butter in it. So, I just made a 10-inch pâte brisée and got enough dough to top 4 pies. That's another thing. The recipe says it makes 2 individual-serving pies, but the filling is enough for four people (even enough for four Pauls!). Since there are only two of us, I have a really nifty (if I do say so myself) method for leftovers. Instead of baking the pies in ramekins, I put the filling in 2-cup Pyrex containers. It's great because the Pyrex can go in the oven and in the refrigerator or freezer. Plus, they have lids, so the extra two servings can just go into the refrigerator for next time and then I can get them out, replace the lids with pie dough and pop them in the oven. The first meal from the recipe isn't exactly express (even if you don't count making the pie crust yourself--Tyson doesn't do a very good job of cleaning up chicken thighs before they get to the customer) but the second meal is really easy.

Evidently, research is currently being conducted on whether we should follow a diet similar to the traditional diets of the homelands of our ancestors. This would be terribly easy for pastry-fanatic me. Britons will put anything in a pie: apples, mincemeat, chicken, steak and kidneys, four-and-twenty blackbirds... It would definitely be more difficult to determine what Paul's ancestral diet ought to be. Spanish/German fusion cuisine, anyone?

According to Foodtimeline.org, sugar cookies originated in Arab cuisine and were introduced to Spain by the Moors. They were then introduced to the rest of Europe. Evidently what we think of as a sugar cookie is most closely related to the English "Jumble," appearing in print as early as 1615. I guess if we ate like our ancestors, both Paul and I would get to eat sugar cookies. Happy thought, indeed! The sugar cookie pictured below is from How to Be a Domestic Goddess and it is shaped like a fleur-de-lis because that is the only cookie cutter I have.
Unfortunately, in the making of the sugar cookies, I broke my bottle of vanilla extract. Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla, to be exact. Oh, the agony! Thankfully it was only the $10 bottle, not the $19 bottle, and it was in its box (yes, I kept it in its original box) when I dropped it, so glass didn't go everywhere. While it was hemorrhaging its life force on my tile, I was in absolute agony. "No No No NO NOOOO!!!" I wailed. These may be the last baked goods for a while, at least until Paul lifts his embargo on a new bottle and stops insisting I use the cheap stuff instead.

Among other tragedies, WGN is no longer showing Star Trek: The Next Generation on Tuesday nights (they've moved it to midnight and I am not staying up for it), so our TV watching has been diminished even further. We're now watching episodes of the original series on the internet in front of Paul's computer. We're canceling our cable because all we watch together is Castle and Lie to Me and I watch Masterpiece Theatre and Gossip Girl (don't judge me) by myself. Get this: everything we watch on TV we can watch for free on the internet. Plus, we have Netflix and the public library has a pretty respectable movie collection, so I don't think we'll even miss broadcast television, especially since we get our news from the BBC and The New York Times, anyway. Yippee for saving $12 per month!