Dad was a dab hand at Yorkshire pudding - he didn't add vinegar though and always insisted on the mixture 'standing' for a good hour before cooking. Sadly, and despite his sterling efforts, I'm not a great fan of batter in any form, nor pastry. Rationing ensured a very bland and filling diet which encompassed excise salt, batter, pastry and bread, which is where the aversion comes from.
The vinegar negates the need to "stand" the mixture. The pan you cook it in needs to be seriously hot, otherwise all you end up with is a big fat pancake (with sausages in it) - still edible though, particularly with a little Worcester Sauce (or Henderson's Relish) in the gravy... ...mmm, gravy! Mrs Bones despairs of my love of things farinaceous - she is in constant battle with pies, pasties, batters, puddings and bread for control of my fluctuating waistline. She's a sucker for a good T in the H though (stop sniggering at the back there!)...
A good universal gravy for roasts: In a big mug or small bowl, add sliced garlic(1 or 2 cloves), rosemary and thyme (leaves only) and parsley (chopped), a couple of tsps. plain flour, half a glass of decent red wine and coarse ground black pepper. Leave to infuse for as long as possible - at least an hour - stir again and then add to the pan juices with a little water or veg cooking fluid and bring to the boil - reduce and simmer for a couple of minutes until the flour has cooked. Herbs and wine colour can be amended according to taste.
Anyone got a good recipe for Macaroni and Cheese? Been wanting it for a while, the canned stuff isn't too great, but I've been to friends and relatives houses, and theirs have been pretty good
Macaroni cheese. To serve 3 hungry people. First catch and kill your macaroni - just joshing, any good quality dry pasta will be fine, about 9 or 10 ounces. Cook in a large pan of slightly salted water for about 10 minutes - or 'al dente'. Sauce - in an even larger saucepan, melt 2 ounces of butter (not hot, just melted) and add 2 ounces of plain flour - stir to make a smooth roux and cook for a couple of minutes (low heat) and stirring all the time. Over a low heat, gradually add a pint of milk to combine with the roux, stirring all the time - if the sauce is too thick you can add a little more milk. Then add a good dollop of English mustard and a little white pepper, keep stirring - to this you should add about 8 ounces of extra mature cheddar and 4 ounces of gruyere (both cheeses should be grated) - stir until melted. All this needs to done on a lowish heat, so as not to produce lumps or burnt bits. Sauce done. Drain the pasta when cooked and add to the sauce and stir - decant into an ovenproof dish. Top with a layer of breadcrumbs and more cheddar cheese. Some flash this under the grill to crisp up the topping - I prefer to whack it in the oven on a moderate heat until the topping is crisp and it ensures everything is hot. Serve with a mixed salad or a mix of cooked vegetables; broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, carrots, etc.
Of the old school, me - although I don't actually weigh anything, all done by experience and taste - but not a lot of help to refer to everything as 'a dollop' (only Jaime Oliver can get away with that!!) An ounce is 28.3 grams and a pint is .568 litres.
It makes me laugh to hear recipes on telly in metric then to do a mental calc into Imperial, especially with fats and sugar. 500gms of butter seems far less than 1/2 a pound, is this why the obesity rates are soaring? Or just why I'm putting on weight?
I made this the other day - delicious. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/tartetatin_80584 I'm also very pleased to have rediscovered my skills at deep frying - home made chips in sunflower oil. Yum!
I reckon about a 7 out of 10. I banged the oven door closed when removing the roast veg and they collapsed. The beef was delightfully rare and tender, £4.00 a kilo from Tesco, not the £4.44 a kilo Asda stuff. Get down there for your Sunday joint.
On the Yorkshire pudding issue, my mother always made a thick batter which had to stand for at least an hour. It was then thinned down using water, a method used by all our aunts, cousins, etc. I was surprised when I saw no water being used when they were being made by TV cooks. Yorkshire pudding is a starter, served with plenty of gravy. There is also an old saying, them as 'as maist pudden as maist mate (translation supplied at a small charge). So if you wanted a large serving of meat you had to eat a large one of pudding, this filled you up so that you wouldn't be able to eat much meat. Geoff Smith once said that a Yorkshire man was a Scot with the generosity squeezed out.
I am trying "Gentleman's Relish" (no, not that - grow up!) for the first time. Jesus O'Riley, is it meant to taste like that?
Fairly fishy - anchovy based and not one one of my favourites - you have to try everything once, even country dancing!
Just chalk it up to experience and don't bother again - hopefully the rest of your Christmas food will be much better
Can't stop now, it's paid for! I have persevered with a few dabs on toast which I then covered with Laughing Cow, much better. I'm going to try it with some scrambled eggs on white toast which is apparently "quite the very thing" but with a Bertie Wooster accent.
