From 21st September to 6th October it is British Food Fortnight so what better reason than to celebrate all that is good about British food? I have been coming to Spain for over 20 years and have lived here for 10 of those. I love Spanish food; what a great idea tapas are and I have often featured recipes to make some like tortilla and potato croquettes. However, there is something very comforting in meals that you have grown up with and nothing in the world beats a good old Sunday Roast. Below are a few recipes which remind me of when I grew up in England.
Ok, so Spaghetti Bolognese is originally from Italy, but as children we thought it was very English. Sausages are also very English, or so I thought until I lived in Spain! The Spanish actually love sausage and the layer recipe works well with English sausage or chorizo.
Buen Apetito
Chicken and Mushroom Pie
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 the peeled mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add seasoning and flour and stir until all flour absorbed. Add the milk and stir until smooth. 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.
Beef Cobbler
Scones
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. Roll out on a flour surface and cut into rounds 1cm thick. Put mince into a shallow oven-proof dish. Arrange scones around the top and glaze scones with egg to help brown. Bake for 15 -20 minutes.
Spaghetti Bolognese
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.
Sausage Potato Layer
Butter suitable dish and peel and thinly slice the potatoes, sausage and onion. Take pips out of peppers and slice. Layer half the potatoes in dish and season. Sprinkle peppers, onions and sausage and then top with the remaining potato slices. Pour over the cream and sprinkle with cheese. Bake in oven 180º for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender.
Apple and Raisin Parcels
Peel, core and chop the apples and toss in the lemon juice to prevent discolouring. Place 2 tbsp of cold water, the rum, sugar and spices into a pan. Stir in apples and cook gently for 5 minutes. Stir in raisins and allow to cool. Roll out pastry and cut into squares. Place a spoonful of the apple mixture in the centre of the square and bring the corners up to the middle and pinch together. Cook in oven 200º for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.