Today may be America’s National Pie Day and even though they might know how to whip up a delicious pie or five, here at Food Network UK we think the upper crust of British pastries are fabulous enough to triumph over quintessential American creations.
With the UK’s repertoire of gorgeously retro bakes, we think we have what it takes to challenge our friends across the pond at Cooking Channel to a battle of the pies.
I know it’s deeply unseasonal to talk about Halloween in January but I figure that of all months, this is the one most in need of some out of place seasonal stories. January is a real desolate place when it comes to ritual excuses for eating – roll on, Pancake Day, Chinese New Year etc etc – so I hope you’ll forgive me for telling you about a Halloween trip I took last year, simply as it opened my (still just about in their sockets) eyes to something foodish and exciting that’s happening in Arizona.
Beijing Noodle No 9
I don’t know about you, but my childhood memories of Halloween are the stuff of quaint nostalgia. Dipping for apples in cider barrels – the water drenching our wigs; homemade cakes with lurid green icing; tumblers of spider blood (or Tizer); carefully carved pumpkins. It was all very British and moderate. In America by contrast, Halloween is a massive deal – a belligerently glitzy, raucous affair. It’s the country’s second biggest commercial holiday, raking in serious dollars with all the costumes, candy and pumpkin fun – not to mention an awful lot of booze. But it’s even bigger in Las Vegas – and of course it would be, given the city’s status as a playground for adults, each of its illuminated hotels a stage set in its own right.
Where else can you watch a giant singing frog hover above a “lake of dreams”, or stay in a hotel with its own Saw suite? To meander down the Forum walk at Caesar’s Palace, the painted swirl of white fluffy clouds and blue sky floating above you as Joan of Arc, Cat Woman and The Flintstones glide past, seems like the most natural thing in the world.
But as I discovered last Halloween on my visit to the desert city, Vegas isn’t just all about the excesses of gambling, partying and endless halogen buffets these days. Dietarily dubious dining still exists (watch out for the ‘deep fried macaroni balls’ at Country and Western singer Toby Keith’s I Love Bar and Grill – they’re weirdly compulsive), but the last decade has seen Vegas develop into something of a culinary hotspot.
What started when Wolfgang Puck moved in was followed by the likes of Joel Robuchon, Thomas Keller, Paul Bartolotta, Alain Ducasse, Guy Savoy and a healthy smattering of Michelin stars – with Vegas now boasting 13 starred restaurants. Fine dining is a big part of the location’s appeal, but this drive for quality at the high-end restaurants has been matched by an improvement in the less formal eateries – with the opening of restaurants like Beijing Noodle No 9 at Caesar’s Palace.
Here chefs miraculously create strings of perfect hand-pulled noodles in seconds from balls of dough, creating regional Chinese dishes and dim sum amidst glass tanks full of beautiful, iridescent ryukin goldfish. Origin India on Paradise road serves refined, delicious Indian cuisine made from prime ingredients, like Rogan Josh with New Zealand lamb shank and sundried ginger, and intriguing savoury cocktails like the Basil Cumini – a refreshing blend of muddled cumin with basil, cloves, gin and blackcurrant.
Of course, food and drink go hand in hand, and like the cuisine in Vegas, the alcohol has gone up in the world. With more Master Sommeliers than any city in the world (it has 18 – a staggering amount when you consider there are only two in Canada), wine lovers are well looked after, and mixology is big. Mixologists, or ‘bar chefs’ as their known in the U.S, are making drinking a more exciting experience in Vegas – with masterful concoctors like Wynn’s Patricia Richards creating cocktails to match its restaurant menus or savour on their own.
Like the myriad of monsters and zombies, the mixologists came out for Halloween, treating Twitter-savvy guests taking part in the ‘Trick or Tweet’ promotion at Caesar’s Palace to free Halloween cocktails: Corzo Sleepy Hollow fizz, with tequila, lemon and egg white; and Devil’s Punch – a sinful concoction of Bacardi rum, triple sec and raspberry syrup. Ghoulish stuff, but none was more blood-curdling than the foie gras martinis at French Michelin-starred restaurant Andre’s in the Monte Carlo hotel, where liquified foie is served blended with vodka from the restaurant’s extensive spirit collection (it has bottles of cognac from Jacque Hardy’s collection that date back to 1777) and macerated Oregon huckleberries. A decadent tipple indeed, but, a bit like Vegas itself – which epitomises the joys of Bacchanalia – one not for the faint-hearted.
Now, it’s time to book my next holiday. Best place for Pancake Day, anyone?
By Rosie Birkett
Posted in Other
Tagged alcohol, American, apples, Arizona, booze, British, buffets, Caesar's Palace, cakes, Cat woman, Chinese New Year, cider, cocktails, costumes, dim sum, gambling, ginger, halloween, holiday, I Love Bar and Grill, Indian, January, Joan of Arc, Joel Robuchon, lamb, Las Vegas, Michelin stars, mixologists, noodles, Pancake Day, pumpkins, Rogan Josh, sommeliers, the Flintstones, Tizer, Toby Keith, Twitter, Wolfgang Puck
Now, December is a notorious month for spending money not only on presents for your nearest and dearest but also a huge amount is spent on food; caviar, beef fillet, shellfish and champagne. Oh sorry please forgive me, I forgot to mention the old Norfolk black turkey as well, which I feel is an overpriced giant chicken with not as much flavour and doesn’t fit in any normal persons oven without a struggle. I’m glad I got the turkey rant off my chest.
Now since everyone is still talking about the credit crunch and recession, I thought that it might be a good idea to give you some sensible tips and advice on how to look after your Christmas food budget. The real secret to this is buying your food in smaller batches instead of just one massive shop that costs hundreds of pounds, as you always end up wasting food or throwing stuff in the bin that has either gone off or nobody can face eating any more. My second tip is buying British seasonal produce as it has to travel less which keeps the costs down. Also try and buy less well known cuts of meat; try bavette of beef for roasting instead of rib or sirloin as it has so much more flavour and is a quarter of the price. Try Lamb shoulder instead of leg, slowly roasted in the oven with beetroots and basted with real ale to keep it moist, makes a wonderful dish. On the fish side if you still want an impressive big fish then try stone bass, which is sustainably farmed and a really good alternative to the non credit crunch line-caught wild bass.
The recipe that I’m doing today is one of my favourites during the cold winter months and is cheap which is always good.
Lamb Stew with Kale, Carrots and Swede. Serves at least 4-6.
500g diced neck of lamb (don’t trim the lamb too much and cut into large dice)
1 litre of lamb stock (vegetable or chicken will do fine)
A good splash of white wine
1 bunch of carrots
1 large swede (that’s the one with yellow flesh)
2 leeks
4 sticks of celery
500g potatoes (use a waxy variety: Charlotte)
1 large bag of curly kale
3 banana shallots
4 cloves of garlic
½ a mild chilli
Small bunch of thyme
Salt and Pepper
1 dessert spoon of flour
A pinch of ground cumin
A good knob of butter
Method.
Dust the diced lamb neck in seasoned flour and seal in a large pan with butter, getting good colour all over. Then remove the meat from the pan and add the chopped shallots, garlic and chilli with a pinch of cumin powder (if you don’t have powder then use seeds). Cook until translucent. Add the sealed meat back into the pan and deglaze with the white wine. This is a really important step as all the flavour of the meat is on the bottom of the pan so really try and get all the sediment off the bottom.
Now, all you have to do is add the leeks, carrots, swede and potatoes, cover with stock and simmer very gently for 1 hour. After 1 hour check the meat is tender and well seasoned then add the kale and chopped thyme. Cook for a further 5 minutes and serve. I think that this stew is better after a day or two so if you have time to do it in advance then it only benefits.
By Gordon Jones
Posted in Other
Tagged ale, bavette of beef, beef, beetroot, British, budget, carrots, caviar, champagne, chicken, christmas, credit crunch, December, fillet, fish, food, Gordon Jones, kale, lab, lamb stew, leg, money, Norfolk black turkey, presents, recession, rib, roasting, Scrooge, seasonal produce, shellfish, shoulder, sirloin, stone bass, swede, tips, turkey, wild bass, winter
December. The season of excess. Chocolate apparently loses the calorific concern we attribute to it the other 11 months of the year; heavy meals twice daily are de rigeur; wine is consumed as if water- yet there is nothing miraculous about the pounding in one’s head when alarms sound the following day; and waistlines become fairly snug.
So why do we do it? What makes us believe we are metabolic gods and goddesses through December? That the effects of this behaviour are make believe, and we are immune to the January paunch and ensuing detox? No, we do it because we want to share in the bonhomie which comes with the Festive month. We eat and drink not to be merry, but because we are merry. It’s a happy time of year.
So what are the most sinful pleasures to embrace in this holy month? Here are my top 10; which is by no means an exhaustive list, given the excesses of the season.
1. Christmas cake. And this definition is not limited to traditional fruit cake- Panettone, Stollen, Pan di Natale, Buche de Noel, Panforte- Europe offers many an alternative to the British classic of dried fruit, butter and brandy. Traditionally prepared at least 5 months before December, and now often available in a supermarket near you in early April. Get in.
2. Glühwein. The idea of taking wine, adding a kilogram of sugar and spice, some other things nice, and heating it to a pleasant 70 degrees makes absolute sense in these cold months. Inexpensive and very easy to make, it is impossible to not feel festive whilst drinking it.
3. Oysters. ‘Tis also the Oyster season, and traditionally these beauties are consumed on Christmas Eve in France. Practically offering negative kilojoules, make sure you balance with a good serving of cake.
4. The addition of alcohol to already perfectly good foods- The flaming of puddings, glazing of hams, dousing of cakes- more than 40% proof is required, therefore enhancing festivities and in all of these cases, taste.
5. Christmas specific condiments. When else is it appropriate to make a sauce out of bread? Eat alcoholic butter with pudding? Buy a jar of goose fat to add to anything and everything worth roasting?
6. Excessive consumption of cold meats. Eat too much Ham/Turkey/Goose on Christmas day? No you didn’t, because there are still 5 kilograms of meat which need to be consumed! In the next 2 days if possible. Ham and eggs for breakfast? Ham sandwich for lunch? Anyone for ham salad for supper? Get your mustard/ jar of cranberry sauce at the ready.
7. Work time eating habits gone awry. Breakfast. Coffee and mince pies at 10. Secret Santa and a tipple at 11. Lunch out with a bottle of wine at 12.30. Tiptoeing back to the office at 4 to log off and meet everyone at the pub for “a quick one”. Burger king and whatever consumable you received from your Secret Santa on the tube home at 11pm.
8. Bubbles for Breakfast. Christmas morning means a glass of champagne before 12, usually accompanied by some form of saturated fat in the form of breakfast. Or perhaps just to offer an early warning to the body of the onslaught to follow.
9. The inappropriateness of a full Christmas lunch in 30 degree heat. For anyone who has celebrated in a warmer climate, you will know the sheer absurdity of persevering through a menu designed for the depths of winter. It has to be endured to be believed.
10. The relief that December is just one month. Getting to the end of Christmas Day, feeling so far beyond sated that the thought of eating another thing, ever, is overwhelming; and mentally putting those skinny jeans in the bottom drawer until early Feb. And then realising that January is an awful month of detox misery, so right now the most logical thing to do is embrace the last of December, knowing that it is contained in what will soon be the previous year, and calling for another slice of Christmas pudding. With extra brandy butter, please.
By CMH
Posted in Other
Tagged alcohol, brandy butter, British, Buche de Noel, Burger King, cake, calories, champagne, chocolate, christmas, Christmas cake, Christmas eve, classic, coffee, cold meat, December, detox, Europe, festive, France, fruit, Gluhwein, goose, goose fat, ham, January, merry, metabolic, mince pies, oysters, Pan di Natale, panettone, Panforte, puddings, roasting, santa, season, secret santa, stollen, traditional, turkey, water, wine, winter
Gravy
Since originating from a typo or mis-read, gravy has most certainly upped its importance in both the Christmas meal and in the more regular British occurrence of the Sunday roast. In fact some might be so bold as to say that the gravy is the centrepiece of the meal; the item that is integral to tying the meal together and yet so often goes without compliment or notice. That is of course, unless there is not enough or, God forbid, it is unpalatable.
There is much argument as to how to make a good gravy. Some practices include making the majority of the gravy in advance, adding the juice from the cooked meat at the last minute, thus helping to alleviate the last minute rush to get the meal on the table. Some prefer their gravy to be of a thicker consistency, some thinner. Some are happy to use instant gravy granules either as a base or as the entirety, and others scorn under their breath at the thought.
My personal preference is that made in the tray that the meat was cooked in, using all the beautifully dark crusted parts of the meat that have stubbornly stuck to the tray as the base. Alcohol is a must and shallots or onions make a delicious addition. Depending on the meat being used there are all sorts of other additions that can be made – with red meats a redcurrant jelly or blackcurrant jam compliments the base with a sweetness, along with a generous pour of port or red wine. With birds (and pork) the paler of alcohols such as sherry and white wine make a subtler, lighter gravy which also benefits from being cooked with the browned off giblets of the bird.
One thing to bear in mind, however, is that some chefs (those that balk at the idea of instant gravy) may object to the use of the term ‘gravy’. You may be better off calling it sauce!
A few tips:
Ensure that you skim off the fat in the juices of the meat before using it. This does not need to be precise, but too much fat will make for an unpleasant gravy.
If you are concerned that there is not enough to go around eek it out with the water you have used to cook the vegetables.
The thickness of the gravy is easily adjusted with the use of a roux – butter and flour cooked together over a gentle heat to form a paste. This is then added to the gravy in small amounts and whisked in while still on the heat.
A recipe:
By Keren Rae
Posted in Other
Tagged alcohol, birds, blackcurrant jam, British, centrepiece, christmas, fat, granules, gravy, juice, onions, pork, port, red meats, red wine, redcurrant jelly, roux, shallots, sherry, Sunday roast, white wine
Food Network Twitter
Italian Recipe Calendar