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It’s British Food Fortnight from 22nd September so what better reason than to try a few British recipes? But what is a true British recipe? Is it a traditional Stew, A Curry, Fish and Chips or Spaghetti Bolognese? For me, British food always makes me think of mash and gravy, but my children were raised on Spag Bol and Curry as well as a good old Pie. To cover all the basics, I have added a few recipes for you to try which I think are classic British fare including my husband’s favourite, Cheese and Potato Pie for our veggie readers.
Buen Apetito
Chicken and Vegetable Pie
The puff pastry hides a creamy chicken filling and a great way of using up left-over vegetables.
250g puff pastry
1 egg
2 cloves garlic
1 onion
60g butter
2tbsp plain flour
284 ml milk
350g cooked chicken
Cooked vegetables
Seasoning
Preheat the oven to 200º. Melt the butter in a saucepan and gently fry the chopped onion and crushed garlic. Add the chicken pieces and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add seasoning and flour and stir until all flour absorbed. Add the milk and stir until smooth and add any cooked vegetables and stir in. Remove from heat. Roll out the pastry and place in dish, add chicken mixture and cover with pastry lid and coat with egg. Cook in oven for 35 minutes or until golden brown.
Spaghetti Bolognese
450g ripe tomatoes (or tinned)
25g olive oil
1 small onion
1 clove garlic
1 stick of celery
1 large carrot
225g minced beef
150ml dry red wine
150ml beef stock
450g spaghetti
1 tbsp tomato puree
Plunge tomatoes in a bowl of boiling water for 1 minute, then straight into a bowl of cold water. Remove skins and chop roughly. Chop and fry the onions until golden brown then add mince and fry until brown. Crush garlic and chop celery and carrot and add to frying pan. Add wine, stock, seasoning, tomato puree and tomatoes and simmer for one hour. Cook spaghetti in salted boiling water for 8-10 minutes then drain and serve with the sauce.
Sausage Hotpot
1 onion
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tin baked bean
1 tin chopped tomato
3 tsp mixed herbs
1 pkt vegetarian/normal sausages
Fry the sausages until brown. Remove from heat and chop into small chunks. Fry the chopped onions in oil until brown. Add the beans, tomatoes and herbs and bring to the boil. Add the sausage chunks to the bean mixture and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with crusty bread.
Mince Cobbler
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion
1 clove garlic
2 carrots
450g minced beef
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tbsp flour
300ml beef stock
1 bay leaf
1 tsp Worcester sauce
Scones
225g self-raising flour
1 tsp dried herbs
50g butter
150ml milk
1 egg
Chop and fry onions, carrots and garlic in olive oil. Add mince and fry until brown. Stir in flour, stock, bay leaf and tomato puree. Add seasoning and Worcester sauce. Simmer for 20 minutes and then remove bay leaf.
For the scones, mix flour with the herbs and seasoning. Rub in butter and add milk to make soft dough. Rollout on a flour surface and cut into rounds 1cm thick. Put mince into a shallow over proof dish. Arrange scones around the top and glaze scones with egg to help brown. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Fish Cakes
350g salmon
175g haddock
300ml milk
3 bay leaves
450g potatoes
25g butter
1 tbsp tarragon and dill
Pinch of nutmeg
50g flour
2 eggs
75g breadcrumbs
2 tbsp sunflower oil
Put the fish in a pan with the milk and bay leaves. Bring to boil and simmer until flaky. Peel and chop potatoes. Cook in boiling water until tender. Drain and mash with butter. Mix in herbs and nutmeg. Skin fish and break into large flakes. Mix with mash and shape into patties (makes around 8). Coat each one first with flour then egg and finally dip in breadcrumbs. Cook fishcakes for 3 minutes on each side in oil until golden.
Cheese and Potato Pie
1 onion
1kg white potatoes
100g cheese of your choice (add more if preferred)
Salt and pepper
2 knobs of butter
Peel and cut up the potatoes, boil and then simmer until tender as you would for mash. In the meantime, melt one of the knobs of butter and sauté the chopped onions until transparent. Strain the potatoes and mash with the other knob of butter, season with salt and pepper. Mash grated cheese in and stir and when fully mixed add cooked onions. Finally transfer into an oven proof dish and brown in the oven or under the grill.
Chicken Tikka Masala
250/350g chicken breasts
2 garlic cloves
2.5cm fresh ginger or ground ginger
400g can chopped tomatoes
4 tbsp natural yogurt
1 onion
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp masala curry paste
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp plain flour
50ml water
3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
Chop chicken into cubes, peel and chop garlic and ginger. Put tomatoes, garlic, ginger and yogurt into a blender until smooth. Peel and chop onions and heat oil in a pan and fry onions for 3-4 minutes until light brown. Stir in curry paste and fry for a further 1 minute stirring once or twice. Add the tomato mixture and chicken to pan and mix together. Season. Mix the flour and water together and add to the pan while taking pan off the heat. Return to heat and boil stirring constantly. Simmer for 15 minutes and then add coriander and serve.
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