I made a cheese and pickle sandwich for lunch today with white bread, butter, Branston pickle, and cheddar cheese. And also a salad and half of an avocado with kewpie.
13 Likes
Sounded perfectly British till you got to this point. 
2 Likes
Perhaps I should have used salad cream rather than the kewpie 
3 Likes
With apologies to herself for my interpretation, Mary Berryâs Beef and Ale Stew with Horseradish Suet Dumplings.
This is a good and deceivingly simple stew with not at all difficult rolled and spiraled dumplings, layered with horseradish cream and parsley.
Canât say that it will become a Fall âgo toâ, but deeply satisfying and fun to make. DH commented on the flavor and texture of the beef, and I found the dumplings tremendously interesting: light and with a zesty kick .
10 Likes
That looks delicious! Will have to try out those dumplings.
Iâm claiming this is a Cornish pasty, or at least a derivative. Except no swedes, no potatoes, and thereâs the curry.
l
#colonies
Iâll try again.
11 Likes
Thank you!! I was smitten with this story/recipe ("about Bikers Bon Bons) when it was first published many years ago, but I never made them.
Not sure why I associated it with British, but Christmas and movies in London go together. Okay, Scrooge.
The poem does not appear to be British in origin.
2 Likes
Somewhere in HO is a discussion with John @Harters about my adventure making Branston pickle at home. Came out great and Iâm down to just three pints so Iâm going to have to make some more. Now is the time.
Mrs Harters is a big fan of salad cream. You can take the girl out of Salford, but you canât take the Salford out of the girl. I canât stand the stuff nyself.
2 Likes
Dave, yes I certainly recall a previous discussion about Branston. There are a number of recipes online. I tried one a few years back and wasnt that keen. So we stick to the original. Itâs a surprisingly recent creation - 1922. Prior to that the âbig nameâ in the UK was Pan Yan pickle. It regularly cropped up in my research for my Great War food book.
I do regularly make a pickle thatâs similar-ish to Branston. I have the recipe on a scrap of paper so have no idea where it came from. And Iâve had for ages - so long that the ingredient list is in Imperial measurements. On the scrap itâs called âChristmas chutneyâ (but itâs more pickle than chutney) and is perfect with the Christmas cold food - leftover turkey and ham. Or with a pork pie or sausage roll. Iâve just made a batch so it will be nicely matured by the festive season - and thereâs still time if anyone wants to try it.
10oz pitted ready to eat prunes
10oz pitted dates
10oz ready to eat apricots
1lb onion
1pt cider vinegar
1tsp ground ginger
2oz salt
2tsp ground allspice
1lb demerara sugar
Chop the fruits and onion. You want smallish pieces, 0.5cm or thereabouts. Put some nice music on and chop by hand - a processor is going to be too brutal. Itâs a therapeutic process. Put everything in the pan and bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Give it a periodic stir. Itâs ready when itâs thickened - probably an hour, maybe a bit longer. Makes about 1 litre. I use Kilner jars for storage but use whatever you usually use. This is not a pickle that needs to be kept in the fridge, even when opened. Iâm currently finishing off the 2018 vintage and itâs happily sat in the cupboard.
5 Likes
I stream Netflix or Prime Video but the process is the same. There are so many things that small electric appliances overdo. To grossly misquote Archimedes, give me a knife, a mandolin, and a mortar & pestle and I will move the world. To further misquote L. Frank Baum, donât look behind the curtain at my stick blender. grin
ETA: The fingertip I sliced off recently in a mandolin misstep is nearly healed.
While nothing but the provided blade guard is foolproof, if that, using your palm/heel of hand rather than fingers as pusher is a lot less likely to end in unintended protein in the end product.
1 Like
Move slowly when using a mandolin, or use cut resistant safety glove.
1 Like
I sliced off my fingertip many years ago by using a cutter. The sensation of the finger tip is is never the same. I hope you will recover fully.
sigh I have a blade guard. Wasnât using it. I have cut resistant gloves. Wasnât wearing them.
On the other hand (ha!), my mother loaded up the dishpan in 1968 when my chore was to do the dishes. Major knife cut, stitches, and no feeling in that fingertip anyway. grin Add to that three years as a science lab aide assistant in junior high (the only way to tell the difference between hot and cold glassware is by burning yourself) and my fingertips are not very useful. Except my thumbs. I can still feel a thousandth of an inch discontinuity with those.
1 Like
You raise a bright red flag. Blades of any kind NEVER go in a dishpan unattended. I have few kitchen rules, but put the fear of God into all who enter to stay away from my sink/dishpan.
2 Likes
Question: can you make chicken tikka masala ahead and freeze it? More importantly, can I? grin
I think they look terrific! I always add swede and potato. But I confess that I also make a brown gravy to go with them because thatâs the way husbandâs Montana childhood pasties were servedâŚat Woolworthâs lunch counter in Butte. So, shoot me. Mine are definitely derivative. Brit-American.
1 Like
The recipe uses dried apricots. Sorry for not being clearer. The dates are also the ready to eat dried variety.
I wonder if this is why it was called Christmas chutney - dried fruits are very in evidence in a lot of British Christmas cooking.
1 Like
