Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
21
Unfortunately, for this thread, my Slater cooking in November has been from his other books. We have, however, been planning for the festive season and now have all the dinners worked out from 22/12 to 1/1.
“Rice with cream, almonds and scarlet fruits” is dessert on 1/1. This is his standard rice pudding - cooked on the hob rather than in the oven and served cold with a fruit compote. I’ve raspberries in the freezer (an accidental purchase - I thought the label on the freezer door was for cranberries). I did subsequently correctly buy cranberries and, if there’s any left by this point, they’ll also go in the compote for a bit of sharpness.
I’ll be making his pork terrine, with smoked bacon and cranberries. It’ll be sliced and frozen and will appear as a starter at least once in the period - but it’s an easy pick for a sandwich or lunch with a salad.
Cranberry butterscotch pudding is dessert planned for 28/12
Those all sound good. I love rice pudding so will be making it at some point. I’ve never had terrine of any kind but took note when you mentioned it before. What do type of container do you put yours in? Do you use the marsala or brandy?
If we had thought to broaden this quarter, we could have just said Nigel Slater books & recipes — you should consider nominating the broader grouping for next quarter.
Many of his recipes are available online, and older books via libraries, we just don’t often think of him in the US. Would be interesting as a completely different recipe source.
I feel like Nigella and Ottolenghi also put tons of recipes online, now that I think about it.
2 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
25
Brandy, as that’s the recipe, but I’d happily use marsala or any other fortified wine. It’s only a couple of tablespoons, so it doesnt dominate And it goes into one of Mrs H’s loaf tins to cook in the oven.
4 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
26
I particularly like his first couple - the 30 minute meals ones. And, in the same style, “Eat”. If I have something(s) lurking in the fridge, I can usually find an idea of what to do with it in one of those three.
Have loved reading through this book and finally made “A salad of Brussels sprouts, clementines and russet apple” for a Thanksgiving side dish. The flavors were very good, it was a nice (and different for us) way to enjoy brussels sprouts, though for some reason it got very watery/juicy so I might try to tweak the dressing next time.
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
29
PORK CHOPS, SPINACH POLENTA
Nige would have been proud of me for adapting the recipe to what we had in.
Pork loin steaks instead of chops. Quick cook polenta instead of the real stuff that needs 20 minutes constant stirring. Frozen spinach instead of fresh.
But I think it retains the “essential Nigel” and makes a nice (and quick) dinner
7 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
30
TERRINE OF PORK, SMOKED BACON & CRANBERRIES
This is now cooling and tastes absolutely bloody delicious. I have made it a couple of times before and now prefer it to my long standing Delia Smith recipe for “country pate”. I think it’s the apricots and cranberries that give it the spin. Anyway, once cool, the tin will go in the fridge overnight, with the terrine pressed a little under a bit of weight to firm up. Tomorrow, I’ll slice it with each separated by greaseproof paper before freezing. Several uses in this house. A starter with pickles. With salad for a light lunch. Even on a sandwich - crusty bread all but essential.
I cooked the set of recipes published in the Guardian for Nigel Slaters Christmas Goose
including the lemon-herb potato stuffings , the applesauce accompaniment and (approximately) the gravy, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/nov/28/nigel-slater-christmas-guide-roast-goose-apple-sauce-recipe
All went well, except that carving the goose at the end was a bitch.Next time I cook a goose I will dismember first (we did not have properknives here in Ohio for this task)
I took the goose out when it tested 165F in the thigh (the recipe just said cook for 2 hours. The breast and thigh meat was excellent.
I really liked the applesauce made of 4 cut up baking apples, 3 cloves, one cinnamon stick and the juice of two lemons. I did not peel the apples so the sauce was a lovely pink color and the skins were not evident at all in the finished product. Without sugar this was very refreshing.
Without fortified wine, i made my gravy reduction with some barbera augmented with some balsamic. I also used the wonderful drippings fro the goose and a bit of flour, as well as sauteed veg andof course the goose broth , made with the neck and giblets.
I recommend the potato, sauteed onion (or shallot) herb and lemon stuffing.
I grew up on roast goose with potato stuffing for Christmas dinner, in this case a grated potato stuffing, both by way of my paternal grandmother and her German heritage. A classic combination. I Iike the idea of lemon in it. (Though the last Christmas goose my mother roasted was 30 years ago.)
6 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
35
CRANBERRY BUTTERSCOTCH PUDDING
I love sponge puddings. And never more so than when there’s a sweet/sharp sauce to go with it. The recipe is for six and I’ve always made the full quantity, even though there’s just the two of us. There’s a number of reasons for this. First, is that Slater can be a bit restrained in portion control, so I think you’d feel a bit let down if you were one of six dining at Casa Harters. Second, he describes it as “sticky without being heavy”. Sticky is a very important word in this house when it comes to desserts. And, third, he says it’s good cold - and it is (pudding for breakfast, maybe).
The recipe calls for the dried apricots to be cut into “small pieces”. I’d suggest not cutting them too small or the flavour will get lost - maybe into quarters or sixths.
Recipe is at the bottom of this page
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
36
RICE WITH CREAM, ALMONDS & SCARLET FRUITS
Technically outside of the quarter as we’re not doing this until Saturday. But I can report, with absolute confidence, that it will work at the weekend as it has worked in the past.
Simplicity itself and we make variations throughout the year. The basic recipe (and adaptations) are a Slater standby, regularly appearing in other books and his weekly column in the Observer. It’s a rice pudding, made in a pan on the hob rather than in the oven and served cold. Then a fruit compote, frozen or seasonally fresh, is drizzled over and stirred through.
One of our favourite local restaurants always has something like this on the menu - served warm at this time of year and cold during the hotter months.
Yes, it’s a heavy duty dessert so think of it for after a lightish main course.
And, with that, I think I’m done with Chronicles for another year.
(EDIT: forgot to mention the compote will be a cranberry and raspberry combo, cos we’ve got them in the freezer)
