Category Archives: Food
Fine food and film
Number 5,761 reason why Britain is so cool: The Lounge at Odeon, the new London luxury cinema experience for the over-18 crowd.
With leather seats that fully recline and no more than 50 seats per screen, it’s a spacious way to enjoy a movie. But they also offer a full menu of finger foods, fork-and-knife fare including red mullet and prawn risotto, venison chili and lasagne, and desserts as well as a cocktail menu, all delivered directly to your seat by dedicated wait staff.
It’s a novel way to enjoy the big screen (and certainly beats oversalted popcorn and gloppy nachos). I would certainly check it out if I were in London this weekend …
Speaking of weekends, have a wonderful one and happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Americans enjoy a bank holiday on Monday)! I’ll see you back here on Tuesday.
A simple posset
The last time we were in England for Christmas, I tasted my first posset.
That’s posset, not possum. This is England, people, not Kentucky.
And so this time of year, I always think about posset, this simple dessert made from citrus fruit, sugar, cream and sometimes eggs, which traces back to the 16th century. It’s easily made in minutes and will brighten up the darkest of winter days.
The following is a very simple recipe for lemon posset, courtesy of the BBC and chef James Martin:
Ingredients
600ml/1 pint 1fl oz double cream
150g/5oz caster sugar
2 large lemons, zest and juice only
1. Place the double cream and the sugar into a large pan over a low heat and bring to the boil slowly. Boil for three minutes, then remove from the heat and allow to cool.
2. Add the lemon juice and zest and whisk well.
3. Pour the lemon cream mixture into six large serving glasses and refrigerate for three hours.
Pork crackling, part deux
You asked, “Why exactly would a hairdryer be used to prepare roast pork?”
Well, as a post-holiday gift to you, I’ll tell you the secret.
Shhh… lean in. Are you leaning in? Really?
Okay, so in order to make really good pork crackling, you need to get the pork as dry as possible.
According to Gastronomy Domine, after scoring the skin with a craft knife (we purchased a box cutter just for this occasion. We really are very crafty) and rubbing salt into the skin, the site recommends that you “take a hairdryer to the skin of the meat until it’s absolutely bone dry. Wrap your joint in a teatowel and refrigerate it overnight. (The atmosphere in your fridge is extremely dry, and this will help any more moisture to evaporate.)”
In short, that is why my husband went all Ken Paves on our pork.
We got some other tips here and used a little poetic license as far as the heat and timing was concerned.
But that is how we ended up with the crispiest pork rind west of the English Channel.
In praise of pig skin
Happy 2012! I hope you had a good New Year’s!
We had some friends over on New Year’s Day for a very big lunch. The main course? Pork tenderloin with crackling. It was no easy feat to find a butcher willing to sell such a piece of pork with the skin still on it. This is California, after all. The butcher asked repeatedly if we really wanted the skin still on it. He would be happy to remove it. It was really no trouble.
But no. We wanted the skin and it stayed. My husband prepped the pork the night before in some way that involved the hair dryer. I didn’t ask. Sometimes you have to leave Brits to their own devices. Sometimes you’re better off not knowing.
Photo credit: Felicity Cloake
What I do know: after the pig spent some time roasting in the oven the next day, it was simply gorgeous and my apologies that I had forgotten to take a photo. The skin had transformed into this thick, crunchy, melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness that was indeed cracking good crackling. Blistered, buttery bliss. The crack cocaine of the pig world. We don’t eat like this every day, of course, but once a year, on New Year’s? Hell yeah!
And served with stuffing, roast potatoes, mashed carrots and swede (translation: rutabaga), red cabbage and apples, Yorkshire pudding (yeah, I know it’s not the usual accompaniment, but sometimes it’s just what is required), as well as a pavlova with fresh raspberries for dessert, we ushered in the new year with our bellies full and happy, thankful for everything that we have.
Mince pie love
It’s nearly Christmas Day and in the frenzied rush up to Christmas, I’ve still not had one mince pie.
I was quite vocal about my dislike for the dried-fruit disaster better known as Christmas pudding, but mince pies takes some of the same elements, pairs them with pie dough and becomes magic.
I’m partial to the “exceedingly good” Mr. Kipling mince pies, available at Cost Plus, heated and eaten a la mode (but that’s an American thing. I don’t believe any self-respecting Brit would put ice cream on pie. Dessert is always served with cream).
Better yet, screw the warm pie crust top off (like a little hat), put a dollop of cream on it and then put the pie hat back on, before biting into the sheer bliss of Christmas. You’re welcome, America.
Fruitcake – a lovely thing? Whaa?
Delicious dessert or gag-inducing punchline? Take your pick. Photograph: Tastyart Ltd / Rob White/Getty Images
In the U.S., fruitcake is the Christmas punchline. It’s probably the most re-gifted holiday item on the planet, which then becomes a doorstop, paperweight or overall novelty item to whip out and threaten holiday guests with who overstay their welcome (and if necessary, it can also be used in deadly combat).
And so it is always a surprise to me at how much Brits love it. It’s better known as Christmas cake or Christmas pudding – always chockful of nuts, dried fruits and alcohol. It’s actually a welcome sight in the UK – a confection to be greeted with open arms rather than the sign of the cross.
It was, after all, the Brits who penned the famed, “Oh, bring us some figgy pudding and bring some right here!”
The beauty of a digestive
My husband brought some Cadbury chocolate digestives (graham crackery, chocolate-dipped sweet meal biscuits) home from Cost Plus this weekend and I wasn’t going to have one. I’m trying to curb the excess, at least in the run up to the full fledged eatathon that is the holiday season. I’m consciously scaling back a bit, before I strap on the feedbag and get down, in true American fashion.
But then somewhere in the midst of deciding not to, I ate one.
Jamie Oliver under the tree
Not sure if you caught Jamie Oliver making the rounds on morning TV last week but the Naked Chef was everywhere. My favorite appearance was his cooking segment with Anderson Cooper on “Anderson.”
Jamie’s latest books, “Meals in Minutes” (in the US) and “Great Britain” (in the UK) are on my wishlist for Christmas (although I’m considering holding out for the American release to save me from added hassle of converting measurements) and I am not alone. The British media is already betting that he will make the Christmas bestseller’s list.
I think that’s what you call talking turkey.
Cheese straw success
This weekend, I did my favorite kind of baking: cheese straws. Simple. Quick. Delicious.
Now I’ve blogged before about my un-Martha-esque (or un-Nigella-esque, or un-Gordon-esque, or un-Jamie-esque) comfort level in the kitchen, but thanks to the invention of frozen puff pastry, cheese straws are one item that I can make in a mad dash, while simultaneously juggling a half a dozen other tasks.
1. Defrost puff pastry from freezer. I like the ready-to-roll puff pastry from Trader Joe’s.
2. Roll out pastry.
3. Slice in long strips.
4. Sprinkle with shredded cheddar (or whatever cheese you fancy) and ground black pepper.
5. Bake.
6. Take out of the oven after 10 minutes or so or when they look golden brown.
7. Serve and feel like Martha, Nigella, Jamie or whoever is your favorite celebrity (or non-celebrity) chef, as the cheese straws are scoffed up in minutes.
Lunch for one (anglophile)
A few weeks ago, I blogged about my search for the right bento box – and found one that fit the bill. Not only was it a good lunch solution but it doubled as a London double decker bus.
So, what about British lunch bags, I could hear you ask. How about this?
You know how I feel about union jack items – LOVE THEM. This little insulated neoprene lunch bag by Dabba Walla is machine washable, stain resistant and perfect for holding your your little (or big) anglophile’s lunch (ie. cheese ploughman’s, scotch eggs, crisps, pudding, etc.).
BRITRISH.COM 