Here’s a little something to whet your appetite: 9 British dishes, explained in typical British humour. if you’ve ever wanted to know exactly how to eat English Cream Tea and Clotted Cream, just don’t ask anyone from Cornwall or Devon – you may start a war.
These pickles are one of my favourites, and I made them a fortnight ago. The recipe comes from the same Kansas-farmer grandmother as “The Best Cookies You’ll Ever Make,” and they are one of my comfort foods. There are hundreds of “bread and butter” pickle recipes out there in cyberland, so I’ll describe their taste: Sweet with a savoury aftertaste and sometimes just the opposite (think sweet & sour sauce), perfect for hamburgers, sandwiches, tuna salad or straight-up! They’re easy to make, and what I love most about them besides their taste is that fact that I know exactly what’s in them – no chemicals I can’t identify, preservatives that I can’t pronounce, or ingredients that are undeclared.
4 large cucumbers, thinly sliced (not too thinly)
2-4 small onions (shallots), thinly sliced
1 sweet red pepper, diced or thinly sliced
2½ C. vinegar
2½ C. sugar
7 tsp. salt
4 tsp. Mustard seeds
½ tsp. Turmeric
Combine all, bring to boil, stirring & lathing frequently. Simmer about 20 minutes (depending on how crunchy you want them). Pack into clean, hot jars, cleaning the rims of the jars off if necessary, and then seal at once. To Seal, screw the lid on tightly, place in a sink ½ full with hot water, and let soak; the jars will seal themselves with vacuum within a few minutes.
This recipe makes 5 average-sized (pint, or 1/2-litre) jars.
Advice online can be a dodgy business; one person’s goat is another person’s pet, junk vs. treasure, and all that. As with anything, it should be taken with a pinch of salt. Or in cyber world terms, with a bit of personal research tossed into the recipe.
Pictured here are a set of spoons I use regularly, made from olive tree wood. Now if you’re like me, you’ve had wooden spoons or other utensils over the years that, after a lot of wear, tear, washing and drying, they start to look splintery, dry, and even cracked; a good curry or dish of black rice can stain the wood next to permanently. Just doing a Google-Image search for “recycling wooden spoons” gives you ideas galore; but it also tells me that there are a lot of wooden spoons out there that have been used beyond their prime, and most chances are they were never cared for to keep them in their prime.
There are websites that recommend either a mineral oil or a beeswax rub for wooden spoons, as vegetable-based oils can go rancid. I don’t know about you, but a) I’m too pragmatic to go out and spend money on another oil just for that purpose, and b) if I have so many wooden spoons that one sits unused long enough to go rancid, then I should recycle it into a crafty bit anyway. The label attached to these olive-wood spoons recommended a periodic rub-down with olive oil. Olive is not technically a vegetable, but a fruit; and if you’re using a high-quality oil, chances are it won’t be going rancid any time this decade…
To give the spoons a treatment, this is what I do: After using, wash the spoon and let it air-dry thoroughly; I usually leave it in the drying stand overnight. Before putting it away, take a paper towel and a drop or two of olive oil (you may need more, depending on how thirsty your wood is), and rub it into the entire utensil – top to bottom, sides, and if it’s a fork like the one shown, fold the paper towel between the tines. Take a fresh paper towel and give the utensil a good rub to remove any excess oil. If your utensils have already begun to splinter or are stained, you can smooth them down again with a piece of fine sandpaper before washing them.
That may seem like a presumptuous title; after all, everyone thinks their cookies are the best, right? But I have yet to come across another recipe that evokes the responses this one does: I made them this week, and after one bite a guest asked if I would give his wife the recipe! I’ve had people groaning with pleasure after the first bite, and they’re seriously addictive, as light as air, and melt-on-your-tongue delicious.
But what makes these cookies so special to me personally is the story behind them: My paternal grandmother, Mary Mae Herring-Higbee, was a Kansas farmer’s wife; she crossed the prairies with her parents in a covered wagon around 1902 as a baby, and they settled in the wild prairies of Kansas, where she met my grandfather and set up house. She lost seven or eight children before my father came along when she was 40, and he remained an only child. She was a no-nonsense pioneer, a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in a town so small that if you were driving through it at 10 miles an hour and sneezed, you’d miss it (really). These were her cookies. When she was baking these even the air was edible they smelled so good, and I burnt my tongue on several occasions because I couldn’t wait for them to cool to take the first one.
Being the simple farmer’s wife she was however, she figured everyone knew how to make these so she never wrote the recipe down, and took it to the grave with her. One day as a teenager I determined to figure out the recipe before it faded from my memory, and spent all day trying to find the secret ingredient and combination that makes them melt on the tongue. I was at the end of my rope, batches of failed (but very good) cookies up to my eyeballs, when in walked my brother, hands stuffed into his pockets. “Watchyadoin’?” When I told him, he casually tasted a cookie and said, “You don’t have any applesauce in ’em” and walked to his room. I didn’t know whether to strangle him or hug him.
So without further ado:
1 tsp. baking soda + 2 Tbs. hot water; disolve soda in water
1 tsp. baking powder
1 C. melted butter (or oil of choice)
¾ C. brown sugar
¾ C. white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. each of vanilla & almond extracts
2 C. + flour*
1 C. raisins (light or dark)*
~1 C. chocolate chips*
3/4 can (average size) apple sauce – should be added until it lightens the dough colour & texture; not drippy, but light and viscous.
Drop onto a baking sheet by the spoonful, far enough apart (they will spread a bit while baking). Bake @ 190°C for 10 minutes, or until glazed light brown. While they’re still hot remove to a cooling rack with a spatula that’s large enough for the cookie – they’re especially soft while warm.
Makes 2 1/2 dozen palm-sized cookies.
* If you toss the raisins and chocolate chips in the flour before adding to the liquid ingredients, it prevents them from sinking to the bottom during the baking process.
This traditional Swiss recipe got its dubious name most likely during the cholera epidemics of the early 19th century; unwilling to leave the house, they used what they had on hand, packing it into a pie and baking it. An educated guess is that, especially up in the Alps where technology was slow to come and even slower to be accepted, people were baking these either in their stone or clay bread ovens. The apples add a nice contrast to the leeks and ham, and a good cheese makes all the difference in the world! Raclette cheese is recommended for the reason that it’s quite a creamy melting cheese, but any good-quality cheese will work as well – Appenzeller, Gruyere, Emmentaler, etc.
1 large onion, finely diced
300 gr. Leeks (3-4 stalks), halved lengthwise and ringed
60 gr. Ham, finely chopped
Nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste
250 gr. (6-8 med.) potatoes, boiled, chopped
2 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
150 Raclette cheese, or any good cheese, grated or diced
butter and flour for the baking form
500 gr. Pie crust dough (enough for a bottom and top crust)
1 egg yolk for brushing the top dough
Traditional Method:
Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F) Prepare the vegetables. Saute the ham, adding spices to taste, then add the onion and leek, then add the chopped potatoes and apples; stir well, remove from heat. Just before pouring the mixture into the prepared bottom crust, mix the grated cheese into the pan well.
Butter and flour your chosen baking form (round, or casserole), and then lay the bottom crust in. Pour in the mixture, spreading out and topping with the top crust. Pinch the edges together, slice away any extra dough, and puncture the top dough with a knife or fork to allow steam to escape. Brush with the egg yolk, and bake for ~35-45 minutes.
My Method:
Preheat the oven. Instead of sauteeing the vegetables before baking, I prepare the vegetables as described in the ingredients list, then toss them together with the grated cheese and spices before pouring it all into the prepared bottom crust. I add a wee bit of milk, but it’s not really necessary. Top with the top crust, pinch it together and trim away the extra dough, then bake as above. In the boiling of the potatoes, I also added a few carrots to add a bit of colour; I boiled them with the potatoes, and chopped them both to large bite-sized bits once they were cool enough to handle.
En Guete!
Prep: 30 minutes / Bake: 45 minutes / Total: 75 minutes
The following recipe is translated (by me) from the recent edition of “Landliebe”, a Swiss country-living magazine. It’s my favourite magazine, and as soon as I saw this recipe I had to try it! My lemons are now in the end of the curing phase, and almost ready to use! Looking forward to it, and when I find and try a good recipe to use them in, I’ll post it here. The sky’s the limit, really – you can use these in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Polynesian, Caribbean, or South American cuisine, to name a few. The trick to doing this according to the proportions of the recipe is finding the right-sized jar; too roomy, and you’ll need a lot more lemon juice to cover the lemons (I topped mine up with lemon and lime juice).
The peeling of these is soft and edible. Finely chopped, it adds flavour to any meat or vegetable. Usually additional salt is unnecessary.
4 lemons – untreated
Wash in hot water, and then lay in a vat of cold water for ONE WEEK, changing the water daily.
After 1 week, slice into the lemon peeling in diagonals around each lemon, so that it goes deep but remains whole. Press together lightly, and in each opening sprinkle: 1/4 tsp. Coarse-grained salt
Layer the lemons into a canning jar, then add:
1 lemon’s juice
1 Tbs. Coarse-grained salt
1 whole clove
1 bay leaf
1 black peppercorn
With the ball of your hand, press the lemons together and seal the jar. Place in a cool, dark place for 3 weeks.
They are good for 1 year kept in a cool place, even when the jar is opened occasionally.
I’m not sure where this recipe originated; I’ve had it in my collection for years, and have tweaked it to the following recipe. I use Amaretto in anything I can get away with it – from cookies to chicken, cakes to marinades. Here’s a bit of trivia for you: Did you know that most commerical Amaretto is not made from actual almonds, but the almond’s relative – apricot pits?
Copycat Amaretto3/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Stir the sugars into the boiling water in a heat-proof glass bowl, and keep stirring until the sugars are dissolved.
1/2 cup corn syrup (if you use clear corn syrup or dark, it doesn’t matter – just adjust the food colouring*)
1 1/2 cups Vodka (I use 80-proof, and the least expensive I can find as it’s a purely alcoholic base)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. almond extract
Stir in the corn syrup and then the vodka and flavorings and stir.
Store in a sealed bottle – I use a a swing bottle, or a formerly “real” Amaretto bottle. I would avoid cork bottles, as the fumes from the alcohol tend to eat into the cork after awhile.
* If you want an authentic colour, add food colouring to get that golden-brown colour: 2-3 drops of yellow plus 1-2 drops of blue = green, and then 5-6 drops of red will get you to brown.
I once stopped at the green phase, and served it as “Froschlikoer” – “Frog Liqueur,” and made labels with frogs on them! Unfortunately I don’t have any photos of that phase of cheekiness…
UP NEXT TIME: Copycat Vanilla Extract, and Almond Extract
If you’re like me, you don’t always have the exact ingredients available. There are some things that I simply don’t bother purchasing, like buttermilk, when I can make it myself in the shake of a lamb’s tail. Here is a short list of ingredients and their substitutes, to keep on hand for your next baking spree.
1 tsp. BAKING POWDER = ½ tsp. cream of tarter + ¼ tsp. baking soda
1 C. BUTTERMILK = 1 tsp. lemon juice or vinegar + enough milk to measure 1 C.
1 C. CAKE FLOUR = 7/8 C. all–purpose flour
1 Tbs. CORNSTARCH = 2 Tbs. all–purpose flour
¾ C. CRACKER CRUMBS = 1 C. bread crumbs
1 C. DARK CORN SYRUP = ¾ C. light corn syrup + ¼ C. molasses
1 GARLIC CLOVE, minced = 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. GARLIC SALT = 1/8 tsp. garlic powder + 7/8 tsp. salt
1 C. HALF & HALF CREAM = 1 Tbs. melted butter + enough whole milk =1 C.
1 C. HONEY = 1 ¼ C. sugar + ¼ C. liquid
1 tsp. LEMON JUICE = ¼ tsp. cider vinegar
1 tsp. LEMON PEEL = ½ tsp. lemon extract
1 C. LIGHT CORN SYRUP = 1 C. sugar + 1 C. liquid
1 C. MOLASSES = 1 C. honey
1 ONION (SMALL), CHOPPED = 1 tsp. onion powder or 1 Tbs. dried minced onion
1 Tbs. PREPARED MUSTARD = ½ tsp. ground mustard + 2 tsp. vinegar
1 UNSWEETENED CHOCOLATE SQUARE (1 oz.) = 3 Tbs. cocoa + 1 Tbs. shortening or oil
1 SEMISWEET CHOCOLATE SQUARE (1 oz.) = 3 Tbs. semisweet chocolate chips or 1 square (1 oz.) unsweetened chocolate + 1 Tbs. sugar
1 SQUARE CHOCOLATE = 3 Tbs. cocoa + 1 Tbs. shortening
1 C. SOUR CREAM = 1 C. plain yogurt
1 C. SUGAR = 1 C. packed brown sugar or 2 C. sifted confectioners sugar
2 tsp. TAPIOCA = 1 Tbs. all–purpose flour
1 C. TOMATO JUICE = ½ C. tomato sauce + ½ C. water
2 C. TOMATO SAUCE = ¾ C. tomato paste + 1 C. water
1 C. WHOLE MILK = ½ C. evaporated milk + ½ C. water
1 tsp. DRIED ORANGE PEEL = 1 tsp. fresh grated. 2 tsp. dried orange peel equals 1 tsp. orange extract
° BAKING POWDER doesn’t last forever. If you are not sure how old yours is, just drop a generous pinch into a little warm water. If it fizzles or bubbles it is still good. If it sinks to the bottom of the glass, toss it out, it’s past its prime.
For those of us living in every other country on the planet except the USA, we have a wide variety of international products available to us, though there are still a few American products that have either not been successful outside of the US, or for which we’ve at length found a better solution. This is one such product: Bisquick. If you’re unfamiliar with it, it’s a pre-mix for baking everything from plain bisquits to pie doughs to crumbles, both sweet and savoury varieties as it’s a neutral mixture. It was discovered in the 1930s when a sales exec from General Mills was in a train’s dining car, complimented the chef on his biscuits, and the chef unwittingly gave the recipe away – which was then patented and produced by General Mills and the Betty Crocker label. For me the greatest advantage of making it myself is that I know EXACTLY what’s in it – no chemicals, no preservatives other than the natural ingredients of salt compounds. So without further ado, here’s that train chef’s recipe:
Perfect, fluffy homemade biscuits that melt in your mouth fresh from the oven!
4 C. flour
1/2 C. + 2 Tbs. (250 gr.) nonfat dry milk
2 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 Tbs. salt
1 C. shortening
Combine flour, milk, baking powder & salt. Cut in shortening with a couple forks until the mixture is fine and “packable”, like wet sand. Store in tightly closed container in cool place.
Uses for this recipe can be googled. Here’s the easiest, and one I made this past week:
1½ C. Clone Baking Mix
1/3 C. milk in a bowl
Mix, knead lightly on floured board. Roll ½” thick; cut & place on ungreased baking sheet. If you are in a hurry or don’t like kneading, you can increase the milk to ½ C. for drop biscuits & simply drop the dough by heaping tablespoons onto a baking sheet.
Bake 10 minutes at 230°C (450°F).
Options: Add grated cheese, chopped herbs, or a tablespoon or two of Ranch dressing powder (or any powder mix – soup, dressing, sauce, etc.).
CuppaNatter 