Ingredient: salt
Bagels
A bagel is the only bread product boiled first before baking, giving them their characteristic shinny appearance, warm doughy bite and crunchy crust. Packaged bagels are more like dense rolls than their authentic cousins. I used to live round the corner from Brick Lane in London where they’ve been making fresh bagels for over 100 …
Venison Pie
I am seeing venison more and more on the shelves, Norwich market nearly always stocks it and farm shops often have a stock in their freezers. It’s a similar price to beef and cheaper cuts offer tender, quality and rich tasty dishes making it perfect for old fashioned pies and casseroles.
Fish & Chips
What better way to celebrate than with home-made fish and chips, a perfect treat. I’ll be eating mine in newspaper.
My nana used to make the best fish and chips I was round there every Tuesday after college for her special battered haddock with heaps of chips and ketchup – so British it’s almost unbelievable to think they are an Italian invention.
I’ve made this recipe for two but its easily doubled and don’t forget the mushy peas.
Christmas Pudding
Christmas pudding needs time to mature and October is the perfect time to make it. It’s a really simple process and not daunting at all – it’s as simple as weighing, mixing and steaming. The result is a magnificent beast of a pudding oozing with rich plump fruit, deep in colour and as moist as the richest pudding you could ever imagine.
I’ve been making my own Christmas pud for over 15 years first for my customers then for my family and this recipe has stuck with me for the last 6 years of teaching and probably for the next 50. It uses stout and even though I wouldn’t entertain a glass of stout it adds a real depth to the pudding worth its weight in gastronomic tinsel!
Beer Bread
Beer Bread is so simple to make, no kneading, no proving only bush, bash, bosh and bake! It’s also incredibly tasty, with that slight yeasty tang, beer aroma and soft and slightly doughy bread taste with a great crust.