A few thoughts on food from across the pond

Menu:

-Main Course-
Toad in a hole
Mashed Potatoes
Minted peas

-Dessert-
Spotted Dick!
*snicker*

-Late night snack-
Indigestion Remedy


I was looking forward to the UK dinner party Christopher and I were having with friends but

I have to admit, although I generally like to try new foods, I had some reservations about this menu.

• For starters, British food has less sodium than American foods- I like salt.
  
• Second, I don't really like peas and questioned whether or not mint would be a good accompaniment for them. (The thought of peas covered in toothpaste came to mind.)
  
• Also, I've never made these dishes before, I had reservations as to whether or not I could get them to turn out since I hadn't any idea what they should taste like. (If you've ever eaten American food made by natives at a resort in the Caribbean you know exactly what I am talking about.)
  
• Lastly, while all good desserts contain fat- I usually prefer mine in the form of butter, egg yolks, or vegetable oil. Instead, spotted dick contains a form of fat called suet- the structural fat surrounding the kidney of a cow. I had doubts as to whether this belonged in a sweet dessert.
  
• Now that I've completely turned you off to English food I am going to bring you back to why I ended up absolutely loving it!

• Toad in a hole- OMG! Such a simple dish to make, it looked amazing, and is an ultimate comfort food! The American notion that all comfort foods have to be drenched in cheese (pizza, nachos, macaroni and cheese, mozzarella sticks) is a lie straight from Uncle Sam himself. Toad-in-a-hole is a dish of tender sausages baked in an amazing delicate, eggy, toasted, bread-like batter. Top it off with some onion gravy and....wowza! Or shall I say, it was bloody marvelous! Besides, I didn't miss the salt and my heart will probably thank me for it later anyways.

• The mashed peas with mint were amazing...not amazing looking but certainly amazing tasting- be generous with the butter. Fresh mint is the perfect accompaniment for peas! I never really like eating warm peas but I've made peas several times since because the mint balances the flavors and makes them much more enjoyable to eat.

• As for the lovely Spotted Dick- this was a recipe our guests brought over. Partly because I was afraid of the suet and partly because I thought I might contract and STD from making it. It is a hearty, steamed fruit pudding served with custard. It tasted great and the suet didn't surprisingly didn't give it an off taste. What a deliciously satisfying end to a wonderful meal. What wonderful friends for bringing this tasty end to an awesome meal! Thank you for sharing a bit about your country with me. My taste buds were happy to take a vacation to the U.K. and look forward to going back for another visit sometime soon.

• Our guests were right about the selection for the final course- Indigestion Remedy. This was the one side effect the wonderful meal. Our stomachs simply aren't used to suet and we all sat around the table with a shot full of the thick pink liquid to remedy our stomachs.

Here is the recipe we used for Toad-In-a-Hole. My notes are in green.
Enjoy!

Toad-In-a-Hole Recipe from Nigella Lawson

(Nigella is a way famous UK Food Network personality. In addition to making great food, she is also known for being a little seductive. She can best be described as the UK equivalent to what Giada De Laurentis is here on the Food Network in America)

Ingredients

350ml full-fat milk

4 eggs

pinch salt

250g plain flour

400g good pork sausages- 6 in number (Irish, Cumberland, or Lincolnshire sausage are typically used. We opted to buy pork meat and used a seasoning recipe online to make Cumberland sausages since we could not find anything comparable in the super markets here)

1 x 15ml tablespoon goose fat, vegetable shortening or oil (1 Tablespoon)

4 sprigs fresh thyme, plus more for serving if wished

1 x round roasting tin approx. 28cm diameter, or small rectangular roasting tin approx. 30 x 20cm (I used a 9 by 13 casserole dish)

* we used a digital scale to weigh the flour in grams and used a Pyrex measuring cup to get the milk readings in ml.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7 (about 425 degrees) Whisk the milk and eggs together with the salt, then whisk in the flour, beating to make a smooth batter. I find this way round makes for a lighter batter.
2. Press the sausage meat out of its casing (you may need to nick the skin with a knife), half a sausage at a time, rolling it in your hands to form a ball and then squash gently to make a little, fat patty. You should get 12 patties from the 6 sausages.
3. Heat the fat or oil in a heavy-based, flame-safe roasting tin on the hob and brown the patties for about 1 minute each side: you need do no more than make them look enticingly brown.
4. With the patties and oil still hot, pour in the batter and quickly drop in the sprigs of thyme. Absolutely immediately put into the oven for about 40 minutes or until the edges of the batter have risen and turned golden, and the eggy middle has set.
5. Serve immediately, scattered with a thyme sprig or two or just a few leaves and with gravy if you feel you can only properly enjoy Yorkshire pud when it’s sauce-sogged.

Onion Gravy from Jamie Oliver

2 large red onions, peeled and sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 2 knobs of butter
• 6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 level tablespoon
good-quality vegetable stock powder or 1 vegetable stock cube (I used chicken broth)

For the onion gravy, simply fry off your onions and garlic in the butter on a medium heat for about 5 minutes until they go sweet and translucent. You could add a little thyme or rosemary if you like. Add the balsamic vinegar and allow it to cook down by half. At this point, I do cheat a little and add a stock cube or powder. You can get some good ones in the supermarkets now that aren't full of rubbish. Sprinkle this in and add a little water. Allow to simmer and you'll have a really tasty onion gravy.