English Recipes & British Food

English and British Recipes & Cuisine

admin — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 18:32:27 +0000

Britain, over all these years, has been able to retain its culture and traditions to the fullest. No wonder traditional dishes have had to compete with many other dishes. Whatever might be the case, British people have managed to maintain their culinary poise as gracefully as ever. British possess elegant cooking traditions incomparable to the rest of the world. The British cuisine has emerged with the cultural influences of many local and hybrid recipes. The place has a dominant Anglo-Indian flavor. For the fact that India has been under the British rule for years, British cuisine also adopted the use of strong spices in their food.

Whether it is the full breakfast or the Sunday roast, Britain has an imperial way of enjoying every meal. British cuisine can be observed as various regional cuisines. As Britain is a collection of different traditions and cultures comprising of England, Scotland and Wales, it truly reflects in their culinary art as well. 19th century brought a great change in British cooking methods. Increased influence of the Mediterranean and central European cuisines took dominant place in the British cuisine. British cuisine is very similar to Irish cuisine.
Let us first focus on British cuisine region-wise. English cuisine has been greatly influenced by North America, India and China. Scottish cuisine, although closely related to English cuisine, has some great typical local flavors. Scottish food and beverages have made their mark world wide. Scotland has great influence of Italian food as well. Welsh Cuisine has an overriding English taste. Fish and chips are the way of life for millions in the United Kingdom. It is the most popular food item in U.K. The fish is deep fried and served with finger chips. These finger chips resemble the French fries. The potatoes are cut in slabs unlike the French fries. In fact, this is an economical meal for all kinds of people. British culinary culture has impacted cooking style in Finland, Norway and other colder regions as well.

The Sunday Roast is one of the primary traditional dishes in Britain. The Sunday roast, as the name suggests, is a holiday meal. It consists of roasted meat, vegetables, gravy and roasted potatoes. The Sunday roast is a popular dish in Ireland as well. Irish cuisine is rich in potatoes and cabbage. Full breakfast is another traditional meal of Britain. Very unlike the name, this meal is served not just for breakfast but any time during the day. It consists of bacon and eggs. These are vegetarian alternatives to this meal. It consists of sausages, black pudding, bakes beans, mushrooms and tomatoes. British people are fond of fried and heavy breakfast. Fast food like pizzas and ham burgers are common.

Shepherd’s Pie Video

admin — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 00:03:49 +0000

Shepher’s Pie is a classic British recipe and this video surely captures the essence of this English dish.

English Style Raspberry Pudding

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:27:22 +0000

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3 cups raspberries
6 slices bread
1 cup whipped cream
1 tablespoon water
Directions
Combine the sugar, water, and raspberries in a saucepan. Over medium heat, cook by stirring the mixture gently as to avoid damaging the raspberries. When the mixture is dissolved, put it aside to let it cool. Line the slices of bread in a 1 quart bowl. Pour the raspberry mixture over the bread, and place remaining of bread as the last layer. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place a weight on top of the bowl before refrigerating.Leave it overnight. To serve, remove plastic wrap, and invert onto a plate with whipped cream on the side.

Toad in the Hole

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 11:40:46 +0000

Ingredients
8 links pork sausage
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Pour oil into a baking dish. Arrange sausages over the baking dish. Bake for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, eggs, and half of the milk in a medium bowl. When it is smooth, gradually mix in the rest of the milk. Sprinkle salt and pepper for seasoning. Remove the baked sausages from the oven. Pour batter over the sausages until 3/4 covered. Place it back into the oven, bake for 35 minutes.

English Teacakes

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 06:06:57 +0000

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 cup raisins
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg white
1/2 cup raisins
2 tablespoons white sugar
Directions
In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, cream shortening, butter and sugar .When the butter and sugar has mixed well, Add the egg. Gradually pour milk into the mixture. When mixture is smooth, stir in the dry ingredients combined. Add raisins. Cover with plastic wrap, refrigerating it for about 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar into a shallow bowl or saucer. Roll dough into balls. Dip the upper side with egg white and cover it with sugar. Grease cookie sheets. Place balls 2 inches apart, sugar side. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, cookies should be golden brown. Cool on cookie sheets before transferring to a wire rack.

English Muffins

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 01:29:11 +0000

Ingredients
1 cup milk
6 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup melted shortening
1 package active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
Directions
Slowly warm the milk in a small saucepan for 10 minutes. Dilute sugar into the milk. Set aside until lukewarm. Prepare yeast by diluting in warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the milk, yeast mixture, shortening and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add salt and rest of flour, or enough to make soft dough. Knead. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise. Punch down. Roll out to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut rounds with cookie cutter. Sprinkle waxed paper with cornmeal and set the rounds on this to rise. Sprinkle the muffin tops with remaining cornmeal. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes. Heat the griddle. Grease before cooking muffins on griddle. Flip to the other side after 10 minutes. Allow to cool and place in plastic bags for storage. Cut split and toast muffins. Spread butter and jam.

Spice Cookies

admin — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 01:16:29 +0000

Ingredients
1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup dried currants
1 cup milk, or as needed
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease some cookie sheets. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter, white sugar, eggs, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. In another bowl, sift the flour and baking soda. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Stir in currants. Add milk gradually until the flour mixture blends with the butter mix. Use a spoon to place the mix onto cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven or until golden brown. Cool it on a wire rack. Serve immediately or keep in a cookie jar in a cool dry place.

Mushy Peas

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:31:12 +0000

Ingredients
1 package frozen green peas
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Boil water over medium-high heat. Sprinkle a dash of salt to the boiling water. Add peas and leave to cook for 5 minutes. Once tender, drain and blend the peas using a blender. Stir cream and butter. Add salt and pepper to peas. Serve as a side dish.

Sausage Rolls

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:20:35 +0000

Ingredients
16 ounce pork sausage meat
1 package puff pastry sheets
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Thaw the puff pastry sheets and cut the sheets into a dozen squares. Brush each square with mustard. Divide sausage into 12 pieces, Place a sausage on each square. Roll the pastry to seal the sausage and use egg as an adhesive. Place your pastry onto a baking sheet, and glaze the top with the remaining egg. Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven. The sausage rolls are ready when they are golden brown.

Beef with Wild Mushrooms

admin — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 06:36:50 +0000

Ingredients
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Fresh thyme
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 pounds beef steak
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup beef stock
9 ounces red wine
9 ounces wild mushrooms
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Cut beef steak into cubes. In a pan combine red wine, onion, garlic, and thyme over medium heat. Bring to a boil, and cook until liquid is reduced by about a quarter. Put aside to cool.Meanwhile, melt butter in a pan cook beef until brown on all sides. Remove beef, and stir into cooled wine mixture. Put aside to prepare sauce.Lower the temperature. Sprinkle flour into pan. Cook slowly until flour is browned. Next, stir in beef stock. Allow the mixture to come to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste and let it simmer for 10 minutes.Stir in beef and wine mixture. Cook for another 40 to 45 minutes. Lay mushrooms on top of beef. Cover, and simmer for about 10 more minutes. Transfer beef and mushrooms to a serving dish. Taste sauce, and adjust seasonings. Simmer until sauce has thicken. Finally pour the sauce over the meat and mushrooms.