A Very British Side Dish

While the rage over cauliflower has to do with the trend to eat less carbs, this veggie has always been popular across the pond.

Vegetables with a creamy cheese sauce is nothing new. This cauliflower cheese isn’t either since it’s a staple at British tables. You can get very fancy with it or serve it as is.

I really don’t like to get too fancy with these old recipes, but I do like to think outside the box. Especially when doing a couple of things differently enhances a recipe that’s already great.

Fresh Cauliflower

As always, fresh is best. However here it’s probably necessary because I roast the cauliflower and I couldn’t imagine doing that with frozen that’s thawed. It’s too watery.

Just separate the fresh head of cauliflower into florets–the size is up to you but I’d avoid large and very small so you can keep the cooking time pretty even.

This step can be done more efficiently by roasting the cauliflower in your air fryer if you have one, but if you don’t, your oven is just as good. Times can vary with how deeply colored you want the cauliflower so you’ll have to keep an eye on it. For my taste, the deeper the color, the more flavor you’ll have in the casserole.

Now For The Cheese

To stay traditional, your best choice would be a high-quality cheddar. I do shy away from the extra-extra sharp varieties from personal taste. But a good sharp one will be good here and it doesn’t matter if it’s yellow or white. However the yellow ones do add a pop of color, but it makes no difference to the taste. And the big surprise is I prefer the regular yellow sharp Cracker Barrel one and that’s available everywhere.

The Recipe

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Cauliflower Cheese

A very British side dish

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: British

Keyword: british side dishes, cauliflower cheese, fancy cauliflower side dishes

Servings: 6

Calories: 386kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 1 head fresh cauliflower about 1 1/2 lbs/600 g
• 2 tbs oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Sauce:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 tbs flour
• 10 oz hot milk
• Pinch cayenne pepper optional
• Pinch nutmeg optional
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• 1 tsp salt
• 10 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese divided

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425 F/220 C.
• Separate cauliflower into individual florets of medium size and place in a large bowl. Drizzle the oil over the cauliflower and toss to coat.
• Spread the cauliflower evenly on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15-20 minutes or until the cauliflower is golden. The time is approximate depending on how roasted you want it.
• Place the cauliflower in a 2 qt/2 L baking dish and set aside.
• Turn the oven temperature down to 400 F/200 C
• To make the sauce: melt the butter in a medium saucepan and when it sizzles, whisk in the flour, cayenne (if using), nutmeg (if using), the mustard and salt. Whisk well so there are no lumps. Let this bubble for about a minute to cook the flour.
• Slowly whisk in the hot milk and stir constantly until the mixture bubbles, then continue cooking for 1 minute. Remove from the heat then stir in all but 1/4 cup of the shredded cheese. Stir until cheese is completely melted.
• Pour the cheese sauce over the cauliflower. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and the remaining cheese.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until topping is crisp and golden.

Notes

Sauce may be doubled if you like a lot of sauce.

To roast cauliflower in the air fryer, spray the florets with some oil then air fry for 10-15 minutes (your time may be longer) at 400 F/200 C

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 386kcal | Carbohydrates: 14g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 16g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 1024mg | Potassium: 414mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 787IU | Vitamin C: 46mg | Calcium: 428mg | Iron: 1mg

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British Staples: Meat Pies

High on the list of favorite British foods are their meat pies. They’ve been around forever and are one of the most popular foods there. In fact, there are shops that sell only meat pies. I remember seeing this on one of Mary Berry’s shows. And as she said, they’re not exactly the most healthy choices for dinner. However as she also said every once in a while it’s a good old-fashioned treat to have one.

There are so many varieties of pies, I won’t go into them here. One of the most favorite ones is steak and ale pie. That’s what this steak and beer pie is based upon. I used beer as it imparts a less bitter undertone than does ale and the result was outstanding.

Puff Pastry

Puff pastry is the one that’s used for all the British “steak” pies–there’s lots of them too!

Fortunately you’re not stuck with making your own puff pastry since it can be bought ready made. Here in the US, it comes frozen, but in the UK there are more choices for this product.

The good part here is that this pie is not heavy on pastry. You only cover the top; there’s no bottom crust although I believe some ready-made British meat pies do have a bottom crust. However, I find that a bit much since puff pastry is a bit on the greasy side.

The Filling

If you don’t want to do the pie, you can stop right after making the filling. It’s wonderful served over rice or mashed potatoes. Add a green veg to it and it’s a perfect meal.

I used pre-cut sirloin tips that I get from my online meat place. That saves a lot of work, but you can always use a sirloin steak cut up into small cubes. Chuck would work well too and is very flavorful so it may be a better choice. I had the cut up tips in my freezer. I’m always banging on about using what you have and I did just that.

The Recipe

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Steak & Beer Pie

Beefy pie that satisfies

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Course: Main, Main Course

Cuisine: British

Keyword: british meat pies, steak pie, traditional british steak pie

Servings: 4

Calories: 504kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 2 lbs beef sirloin tips cut in 1-inch/2.5 cm cubes
• 1 small onion sliced
• 8 oz fresh mushrooms sliced
• 1 cup beer
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tbs oil
• 4 tbs flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbs Gravy Master optional

Crust:

• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry thawed
• 1 beaten egg yolk

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Heat a large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tbs of the oil and the mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms, shaking or stirring frequently until they begin to brown. Add the onion and cook for about 2 minutes or until they turn translucent. Remove mushrooms and onions to a plate.
• Add the remaining 1 tbs of oil and pat the meat dry with paper towels. When the oil is hot, add the meat to the pan to brown. You may have to do this in shifts--don't overcrowd the pan as the meat won't brown if you do. Remove the meat to a plate.
• Return the pan to the heat and deglaze with the beer, scraping up all the bits at the bottom of the pan.
• Add the stock, soy sauce, thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.
• Add the meat, mushrooms and onions back to the pan. Bring to boil, cover and reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour or until meat is tender.
• Mix the flour and water so there are no lumps. Stir into the meat mixture continuing to stir until liquid is thickened and it bubbles. If the liquid seems too light, add the Gravy Master.
• Preheat the oven to 425F/220C. Place the meat in a 1.5 quart/1.5 liter round baking dish or pie pan.
• Cut an 8-inch/20 cm circle of the puff pastry. For a nice effect, score the pastry with diagonal lines, being careful not to cut through the pastry (nice but not necessary).
• Place the pastry circle on top of the meat and brush with beaten egg yolk.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crust is puffed and golden brown.

Nutrition

Serving: -1serving | Calories: 504kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 32g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 18g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 1131mg | Potassium: 416mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 73IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 3mg

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Banoffee Pie Is Britain’s Favorite

If you’ve never tasted banoffee pie, you’re in for a real treat.

This is, hands down, Britain’s favorite dessert. The Brits call dessert “pudding,” which is confusing to many Americans. Now your “pud” as they say, can actually be a custard or American-style pudding but it can also be a cake, pastry or this banoffee pie.

This is an easy dessert to make too. You can eliminate making the toffee if you have some dulce de leche on hand because essentially that’s what you’re making. You can also use that canned whipped cream–the real stuff–if you put it on each piece as you serve it. Therefore I consider this banoffee pie to be one of the easiest desserts you can make! And another great thing is that it’s perfect to use up those bananas that may be getting a bit ripe.

Use Digestives For Authentic Taste

While graham crackers are an adequate substitute for genuine digestive biscuits, the digestives are more authentic and taste better.

Most larger food store carry digestive biscuits. First, don’t be fooled by the name. The English call cookies biscuits and the term “digestive” is another curious thing. Actually that comes from the fact that they have quite a bit of baking soda in the recipe. Since baking soda was alway thought to aid digestion, hence the curious name. Anyway, if your store has them, they’ll be with the imported cookies. Make sure to get the plain ones as they do chocolate covered ones as well–they are fantastic so buy some to eat but they can’t be used for the crust.

Digestives like graham crackers have some redeeming value in that they are whole grain and have a bit of fiber.

Whipped Cream With Moxie

Unless you have a heavy cream with 40 percent plus butterfat, you’ll have to stabilize whipped cream if you want it to hold up in the long haul–that is if you want it to remain all whippy after a few hours. That’s not a problem in Europe where creams have a higher percentage of fat, but in the States real heavy cream is only about 36 percent butterfat.

Many people use the cream cheese method to stabilize the cream. To be honest, I’ve never had much success doing it that way and I can always taste the cream cheese. Not that it’s a bad thing, but personally, I want cream to taste like, well, cream.

What I took to using was a fantastic product called Instant Clear Jel. It imparts no flavor to the cream and it works like a charm. I mix it with the sugar or confectioners/icing sugar I use to sweeten the cream. About a scant half tablespoon per 16 ounces/475 ml is what I use and that seems to be just right. However, you must keep a sharp eye because once the peaks form, it can quickly become dense and unspreadable. Underbeating is highly recommended here–been there, done that.

The Recipe

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Banoffee Pie

One taste of this banoffee pie and you’ll know why it’s Britain’s favorite dessert

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Chilling Time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: British

Keyword: banana desserts, British dessert recipes, caramel pecan rolls, dulce de leche, Favorite desserts

Servings: 8

Calories: 539kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

Base:

• 1 1/2 cups digestive/graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tbs butter melted

Toffee Filling:

• 3 tbs butter
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 14 oz can condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• -OR-
• 1 can prepared dulce de leche

Topping:

• 3 small bananas sliced
• 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream—see NOTES
• 2 oz melted dark chocolate

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Mix the base ingredients and press into a 8-in/20cm springform pan that has been lined with parchment on the bottom.
• If you make the filling, heat the butter and sugar in a saucepan over low heat and stir until combined. Add the condensed milk and bring to a boil, stirring for 2-3 minutes. Be careful not to overcook this or it will become gritty with a fudge-like texture (although it will still taste good). Stir in the vanilla and pour into the prepared pan. Alternatively, you may use prepared dulce de leche if you want to eliminate this step.Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Place the sliced bananas on top of the toffee filling. Whip the cream until peaks form (I advise stabilizing the whipped cream). Spread whipped cream on top of the bananas.
• Drizzle with melted chocolate and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Notes

In a pinch you can substitute whipped topping, but it will not taste as good. Likewise, canned whipped cream, such as Reddi-Whip, may be added at the time you serve the pie. However, I highly recommend using real whipped cream and stabilizing the cream either using the cream cheese method or using instant clear jel and my preferred method is the clear jel.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 539kcal | Carbohydrates: 60g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 91mg | Sodium: 231mg | Potassium: 451mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 46g | Vitamin A: 970IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 184mg | Iron: 2mg

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Fish and chips is a British staple and their original “fast food.”

Fish and chips is another fond memory of my childhood.

Friday nights in my house were always fish nights–and that’s strange because we weren’t Catholic. My mother said that by the time Friday rolled around, she was tired of meat and wanted the meal to be completely different. We rotated different fish each Friday and cooking methods. Mainly my mom baked or broiled, but once a month, she’d do her fish and chips. Need I say my house was popular on Fridays with my friends who all wanted a sleepover, and oh yeah–my mom’s fish and chips!

Unlike in Britain, we in the US don’t have a corner “chippy” (Brit slang for a fish & chip shop) to run down to so we have to make it at home. Not to worry–it’s stupidly easy to make! All you need is flour, beer and a few condiments you have on the shelf, and of course, the fish.

In England, it’s made with several different white fishes–skate, which happens to be my favorite–is one of them and so is cod. Here in the States where we can’t get some varieties they do in UK, we tend to use cod. Cod fillet runs a little thicker and it’s a firm fish which makes it perfect for batter dipping and frying.

My mother said years ago, the chippies would serve you up your order-to-go in newspaper. Some places may still do that for tourists, but any time I went to a chippy in UK, it was served up in parchment paper.

And the way they eat chips, aka French Fries, is with malt vinegar. That’s old style. I’m sure the standard condiment there now is tomato sauce (what they call ketchup) just like it is here. I however, prefer tartar sauce–and my recipe is also stupidly easy.

If you have an electric deep fryer, this is a wiz to make, but you don’t need one. A dutch oven with a wire basket will do just fine. Don’t have a wire basket? That’s OK too–just use a skimmer or slotted spoon to remove the fish.

The traditional chips are much like our steak fries and they are made from scratch. I don’t bother with this–I use frozen. Regular straight cut. When anyone asks me why I don’t make my own, it reminds me of the answer Ralph Kramden gave the mambo teacher in that episode of the Honeymooners when the teacher asked why the men didn’t do little polite things for their wives–“Why we don’t do it? Why we don’t do it….because it’s too much trouble, that’s why we don’t do it.”  And that pretty much is MY answer about the chips. Buying them all nicely cut and ready to go is just so easy!

To stop the fish and the chips from getting soggy if you have to fry in batches, place them on a wire cooling rack set in a large baking sheet. Don’t use paper towels–the heat will make steam and that’s why it’ll be soggy.

The oil you use is pretty much useless for anything else after making the fried fish. You can use it probably once more to make another batch, but that’ll be it for the oil.

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Fish and Chips

Fish and chips is a British staple and their original “fast food.”

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time8 minutes mins

Total Time23 minutes mins

Course: Comfort Foods, Everyday Meals, Seafood

Cuisine: British

Keyword: fish and chips

Servings: 4

Calories: 289kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 1 lb cod fillet cut into 4 serving-sized pieces
• 1/4 cup flour
• oil for frying--NOT OLIVE OIL

BATTER

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 8 oz beer see NOTES
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Instructions

• Whisk together all batter ingredients in a medium bowl; let the batter sit for 15-30 minutes.
• If using a dutch oven to deep fry, you need about 2-inches of oil in the pan.
• Heat oil to 375 degrees F
• Dust the fish portions with the 1/4 cup flour.
• Dip each fish portion in the batter, letting excess run off.
• Place fish in hot oil. Fry for 8 minutes, turning fish over half way through the frying time.
• Remove with slotted spoon and place on a cooling rack set in a large baking sheet, then place in a 200 degree F oven to keep warm while either frying another batch of fish or the french fries.
• For french fries--heat oil to 375 degrees F. Place potatoes in hot oil and fry for 3-4 minutes.
• Serve with tartar sauce (recipe in NOTES)

Notes

You may need more beer. The batter should be the consistency of a thicker pancake batter.

DO NOT USE OLIVE OIL FOR DEEP FRYING. THE SMOKE POINT IS TOO LOW. Canola, Peanut or vegetable oil is best.

Tartar Sauce
Mix together:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tbs sweet relish
1 tbs instant onion -OR- 2 tbs finely chopped fresh onion.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 289kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 646mg | Potassium: 525mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 45IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 3mg

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This is one of the foods of my youth. It brings back such fond memories.

If we had roast beef (or beef “joint” as the Brits call it) for Sunday dinner, a Yorkshire pudding was always on the menu as were roast potatoes and brussels sprouts. My mother was British so we grew up with many traditional foods. This was one of them. My mother used to make the Yorkshire pudding aka “yorkie,” in an old deep-dish Pyrex pie pan. I can still see it clear as day–even though I might not remember what I had for lunch today, but the pie plate I remember LOL.

As I understand it, the origin of a Yorkshire pudding goes back to the days of old English country inns where they’d roast the beef on a hook in a hearth over an open flame and have a pan below the roast with a flour/milk mixture that caught the drippings and this was served with the roasted beef. How accurate this story is, I don’t know, but it’s one that’s often told.

What a Yorkshire pudding really is amounts to a big popover that falls in the center.  The center will fall almost immediately when it comes out of the oven. However, the high sides remain. Here’s what it looks like before taken out of the oven:

Traditionally, beef drippings are used as the fat, but you can use oil–but NOT olive oil because of the high heat involved in making the pudding. The best choice if you use oil would be peanut, canola or safflower oil. Don’t use butter either. It will burn. If you’re really lucky and have rendered duck fat on hand, it can be made with that. Don’t skimp on the fat, but don’t overdo it either. You need a fat to make this, however too much will spoil it and the pudding won’t set up right.

The recipe is actually a formula–and a simple one. I’ve seen recipes on the net for this and it’s just unbelievable how a simple dish has been made complicated. I’ve seen ones with too much fat, too much flour, too many eggs, you name it. I’ve also seen ones that advise refrigerating the batter–NO, NO, and NO again. Don’t let this come near refrigeration!! Just let it sit for 30-60 minutes–and that’s the key to a GOOD Yorkie.

The formula is based on how many eggs you use. I really don’t know anyone who makes it with one egg though–it wouldn’t be big enough. Anywhere from 2-4 eggs is the usual. Your pan is also important. You need one with high enough sides so the batter can “hold” the side and rise. I often make one that contains 2 eggs and I use a 8-inch cast iron skillet which produces perfect results and makes 4 normal servings. I do advise using cast iron skillets to make Yorkshire pudding. They conduct heat VERY well and you don’t have to worry about thermal shock the way you do with glass or ceramic. Metal pie pans and metal baking dishes will suffice too.

In the pudding above, I used some fresh chives. You can also use a pinch of thyme or any herb that suits your fancy. It’s not necessary because it tastes so good just plain! It also is great served alone for a light lunch, brunch or dinner!

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Yorkshire Pudding

Yorkshire pudding is a long-time British tradition with a Sunday roast beef. Make it plain or make it fancy.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Brunch, Comfort Foods, side dishes

Cuisine: American

Keyword: yorkshire pudding

Servings: 4 varies

Calories: 314kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

FOR EACH EGG USE:

• 1/3 cup flour lightly spooned into the measuring cup
• 1/3 cup whole milk
• 1 tbsp beef drippings rendered duck fat or oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh herbs -OR- 1/8 tsp dried herbs optional

Instructions

• Beat egg(s) with a wire whisk until light and fluffy
• Whisk in milk
• Whisk in flour and salt until no lumps remain.
• Let the batter sit for at least 30 minutes (don't refrigerate)
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F
• Place appropriate amount of whatever fat you're using in an appropriate-sized skillet or pan (see NOTES)
• Place pan with fat in preheated oven. Let the pan/fat heat for about 5-7 minutes or until the fat is very hot and almost at the smoke point (you'll have to keep an eye on this, but I find it's ready in 5 minutes with drippings or duck fat)
• Pour the batter into the hot pan and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the sides have puffed and are a nice golden brown.
• The center will fall almost immediately after being removed from the oven--this is normal!
• Serve immediately.

Notes

I HIGHLY recommend using cast iron skillets
For a 2-egg batter, use a 8 or 9-inch skillet. It's better to use the smaller.
For a 3-egg batter, use a 10-inch skillet
For a 4-egg batter, use a 12-inch skillet.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 314kcal | Carbohydrates: 36g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 21mg | Sodium: 617mg | Potassium: 152mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 132IU | Calcium: 92mg | Iron: 2mg

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