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Lately I have begun to yearn to taste the food of my younger days and have begun to collect recipes from family, friends and anyone who give them to me. As I get the time, I will write pieces to go with them and place them on this page.
A gourmet is just a glutton with brains.
Phillip W Herberman Jr.
Stuffing’s for your Christmas Bird.
Instead buying stuffing ready made or in a packet this year, why not make your own? Try one of the recipes below.
Sage and Onion (enough for a 12lb to 14lb bird)
Ingredients
2½ lb of onions, peeled and chopped
1¼ oz of butter
8 oz of fresh white breadcrumbs (or wholemeal if you prefer)
3 to 4 teaspoons of sage (dried)
2 teaspoons of salt and pepper mixed.
Water
Method
Cook onions in a little water until they are just soft, approximately 20 minutes
Drain off liquid and save.
Add the breadcrumbs, butter, salt and pepper mixture, sage
and mix together. (should be just moist enough to hold together)
Insert the stuffing into the Turkey just before placing it into the oven.
Do not pack the stuffing in tightly as it will expand during cooking.
Why not place your stuffing in a casserole with a lid? add a little of the onion water to prevent it drying out and cook it in the oven until it is cooked right through, about 45 minutes.
By doing this your Turkey will take less time to cook and it will negate any chance of a visit to the hospital with an upset stomach.
If you like your stuffing with a crust, remove the lid from the casserole for the last 15 minutes.
Apricot Stuffing (enough for 12 to 14lb bird)
1½ lb of onions peeled and chopped
6 oz of died apricots, chopped fine
12½ oz of fresh wholemeal bread crumbs
2 oz shredded suet
2 oz butter
1 large lemon
1 small egg, beaten
1 teaspoon of mixed salt and pepper
Method
Fry onions in the butter until soft
When onions cool, add the rest of the ingredients plus the juice and finely grated zest of the lemon and mix well.
Insert the stuffing into the Turkey just before placing it into the oven.
Do not pack the stuffing in tightly as it will expand during cooking.
Why not place your stuffing in a casserole with a lid? and cook it in the oven until it is cooked right through, about 45 minutes.
By doing this your Turkey will take less time to cook and it will negate any chance of a visit to the hospital with an upset stomach.
If you like your stuffing with a crust, remove the lid from the casserole for the last 15 minutes.
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Cooking is a way of giving and making yourself desirable.
Michel Bourdin.
Shepherd’s Pie
Shepherd’s Pie; a meat pie with a mashed potato crust.
In 1791 potatoes were being introduce as an affordable vegetable crop for the poor and at that time the dish was known as a Cottage Pie.
I always thought we had shepherd's pie at home, but since my mum made it with the left over roast, whether it was beef or lamb, I suppose that technically ours could have at times been a Cottage Pie.
Originally the pie dish was lined with mashed potato, the centre filled with chopped up, left over, roast meat, topped with more mashed potato and reheated in the oven.
The name ‘Shepherds Pie’ didn’t come into force until the 1870s and today the pie tends to be made with minced lamb, with added vegetables. While the version that is made with minced beef tends nowadays to be called by the old name of Cottage Pie.
Shepherd’s Pie. (Serves 4/5)
Ingredients
1lb of minced lamb
1 onion
1 carrot
Mushrooms
Stock cube
Small tin chopped tomatoes ( drain off most of the liquid)
Gravy granules
Potatoes
Butter
Milk
Grated cheese
Method
Peel, quarter and boil the potatoes.
Peel and chop onion.
Cut up mushrooms.
Grate carrot.
Place the mince into large pan and dry fry over a low heat breaking up with a wooden spoon as you go, add chopped, mushrooms and grated carrot.
Drain off fat, crumble in a stock cube; add chopped tomatoes and a tablespoon of gravy granules, (To thicken), stir well and pour into a large ovenproof dish.
Drain water from potatoes, mash with a knob of butter and a little milk. Add the grated cheese and then spread the potato mixture over the mince.
Place in the oven and cook at gas mark 5, 375ºF, 190ºC, for 15 – 20 minutes.
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All's well that ends with a good meal.
Arnold Lobel.
Mince and Tatties
Can you remember the cartoons and the annuals that were, and still are, produced by “The Sunday Post” newspaper? If you can then you, like me, will have loved “Oor Wullie” the young lad with the bucket and the catch phrase “jings” and his moan of “I nivver get ony fun roond here”. If you enjoyed “Oor Wullie” you will have enjoyed and had a good laugh at the antics of the “Broons, an extended Scottish family made up of Maw, Paw, Granpaw, Hen, Daphne, Joe, Maggie, Horace, The Twins and The Bairn, plus at various times, a gaggle of friends, relations and neighbours.
Having followed their adventures you will no doubt be aware that both “Oor Wullie” and “The Broons” all liked nothing better than a braw plate of mince and tatties and so did we at home in county Durham. (Only we pronounced the Tatties as Tate-ies). Now, I have no idea whether the recipe came from “The Sunday Post”, a long forgotten Scottish ancestor, or simply was an existing Northeast recipe, but having checked the recipe against those from north of the border they are almost identical.
So here is the northeast version of that Scottish favourite, Mince and Tatties. (Mince and Tate-ies).
Fred Watson.
Mince And Tatties
Ingredients
1lb of mince
2 onions
1 ounce of butter
2 carrots
1 ounce of plain flour
Beef stock
Method
Peel and chop your onions
Melt butter in a saucepan, add chopped onions and cook until soft.
Add mince to onions, separate into pieces and brown.
Slice up your carrots and add to the pan.
Add the flour and mix well.
Pour in enough beef stock to cover the mince
(You can use a stock cube to make the stock)
Cook until tender (about an hour)
If too thick add a bit of water.
Serve with a few peas and potatoes that have been mashed with a little butter and milk.
Eat and enjoy.
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Cheese - milk's leap towards imortality.
Clifton Fadiman.
Cheese and Onion Pie
Take some Cheddar cheese and a couple of onions and you have the makings of a great pie.
Cheddar Cheese
Cheddar cheese has been made in England since at least 1170. But the recipe for the cheese is much older than that and it is thought to have been brought over from France by the Romans and then adapted here.
Tradition has it that true Cheddar cheese should be made within 30 miles of Wells Cathedral. However, today many countries in the world produce their own versions of Cheddar Cheese.
Onions
Remains of what were probably wild onions have been found amongst other food remains in Bronze Age settlements dating back to 5000BC.
However, the cultivation of onions probably took place in 3000BC in Egypt (workers on the pyramids may have eaten radishes and onions)
Athletes in ancient Greece ate onions to lighten the balance of the blood.
Gladiators in Rome were given a rub down with onions as they were said to tone up the muscles.
Onions were so valued in the middle-ages that at one time they were used to pay for goods and services.
In later times the properties of onions were thought to be so great that the doctors of the day used them as remedies for all types of ailment.
Fred Watson.
After that mini history lesson I’ll get down to the nitty gritty and give to what you really came for; the recipe.Cheese and Onion Pie.
Ingredients
12oz of short crust pastry
2 large onions chopped
8oz of cheddar cheese, grated. or (mature cheddar cheese if you prefer a stronger flavour).
1oz of butter
2 tablespoons of milk
Some pepper.
Method
Roll out two thirds of your pastry and line a 10inch pie tin with it
Roll out the rest to make pie lid
Mix your grated cheese with the chopped onion
Add a little pepper to season and a little milk to moisten
Place mixture into the pastry
Brush edge of pastry with water
fit lid, trim to size and crimp edges with a fork
Brush lid with milk to glaze and make a couple of small slits in the top
Preheat oven to 425° F, 220° C, Gas 7
Place in the oven and cook for 30 to 35 minutes
Leave until just warm before eating
Will serve 4 people.
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