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.
It’s a celebration of English apples, Gressing hall celebrate and so do I with this delicious indulgent apple based baked pudding with sticky figs and lashings of sweet gooey toffee oozing all over the top – not-calorie free but who cares once in a while.
No sugar, no salt but packed full of healthy flavours, just pour on the semi-skimmed or skimmed milk, sweeten it up with a spoon full of honey or maple syrup or bind in natural yogurt.
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!
Boozie ole Christmas cake full of seasonal cheer. Although better made earlier so the alcohol can seep in and mature, its still not to late to make this one. My husband has his with a slice of cheese, a Northern tradition but I like mine just as it is with a nice cup of tea on Christmas eve when the children have gone to bed and Santas mince pie is waiting on the mantle.
Who doesn’t like hummus these days – a smooth and creamy flavoursome Middle Eastern dip, perfect with any bread, splurged in to falafel wraps or if your a foodie diva serve with Ras AL Hanout Lamb.
Falafels are a chickpea fritter from the Middle East often served in wraps with hummus or tahini* or served in a tomato sauce like meatballs. Falafel takeaways are hugely popular in Amsterdam, served in pitta bread with salad and sauce. Find them in Norwich – Moorish, Ruth’s or Falafel and Friends on the market. (All listed on my directory)
Roast chicken has got to be one of the finest comfort foods around, the house smells amazing, you are drawn to the oven to peek inside and the sizzle makes your mouth water. As well as enjoying roast chicken on the occasional Sunday I also like it mid-week with salad, pickles and a few warm Jerusalem Artichokes tossed in olive oil and garlic. Herby chicken is a perfect family dinner you could even cook some diced potatoes, sweet potatoes and parsnips in the tin around the chicken for a complete meal.
My mum used to make me this dish when we came home from London for the weekend after an exhausting week working as a chef. We would walk in and the whole house would smell divine and boy did we have a treat ahead of us – tender slow cooked belly of pork that fell off the bone, covered with tons of the crispiest crackling, all casseroled on a bed of good old English root vegetables, oozing with flavour and all bathed in sauce from heaven. This dish takes less than 15 minutes to prepare but 6 hours of slow cooking in the oven, giving you time to build up an appetite.
Buy half a whole pork belly on the bone, a Two kilo piece cost me £6.20, making the total dish price £2 per person. Harvey’s sell organic, Hazels will get it in for you if not in stock and most local butchers will sell locally reared pork. Ask the butcher to cut the fat of the pork in one piece but keep for making the crackling.