Some Classic Comfort Foods Of UK

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creative

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I just read an interesting thread on comfort foods of US. Whilst we are a smaller country (and in no way is this an attempt to compete), since this seems to be a US based cookery forum I thought you might like to see our list.

In my view it misses out a few, e.g. Steak & Kidney Pie, Lancashire Hotpot and Bakewell tart amongst others.

British comfort food to make your mouth water - Telegraph
 
There is a Pub in Vermont run by two men and their wives who are from Scotland. Poo took me there and the menu is rather small, but that didn't matter because right at the top in big letters was "Bangers and Mashed Potatoes." I just had to order them. They were so good.

You feel like you really in the UK when you walk through the door. I could only wish my first husband was alive. He would have felt right at home. :angel:
 
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Heinz tomato soup, cheese on toast with worcester sauce splashed over it, scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream.( don't ask, just know it is divine, thick, rich cream).............hang on a minute,I'm thinking I'll move back????? :LOL:
 
I just read an interesting thread on comfort foods of US. Whilst we are a smaller country (and in no way is this an attempt to compete), since this seems to be a US based cookery forum I thought you might like to see our list.

In my view it misses out a few, e.g. Steak & Kidney Pie, Lancashire Hotpot and Bakewell tart amongst others.

British comfort food to make your mouth water - Telegraph
Creative, as a one-time resident of Bakewell in Derbyshire, I have to take you up on Bakewell tart. In the town it's called Bakewell PUDDING and woe be-tide you if you call it a tart. It shows you up as an in-comer :LOL:

I have the original recipe if you'd like it. The cook in the boarding school I taught in was the umpteenth great neice cook at the Rutland Hotel who first made it by accident when the landlady of the hotel garbled the instructions for a different sort of tart.

There's a rather nasty version made by the mammoth commercial bakeries which they call Bakewell tart which has flour and nasty artificial almond flavouring in it but it doesn't hold a candle to the real McCoy.
 
Steak & Kidney Pudding

(or Kate and Sidney, as my old Dad used to call it.)

BBC - Food - Recipes : Steak and kidney pudding
(If you don't like kidney you can substitute mushrooms)

Good "rib sticking", winter warming food. We can buy Atora shredded suet in packets in the supermarket but a good butcher should be able to provide some. Suet is the hard white fat on the kidneys and loins of cattle or sheep. Beef suet is best. If you are regular/good customer the butcher may be inclined to process it for you (ie remove the membrane and shred the fat) if given enough notice. I have heard that people substitute or other hard fats for the suet but I think you have to freeze it before grating it up and start cooking before the fat melts. Don't quote me on this as I've never used anything but suet.
 
There is a Pub in Vermont run by two men and their wives who are from Scotland. Poo took me there and the menu is rather small, but that didn't matter because right at the top in big letters was "Bangers and Mashed Potatoes." I just had to order them. They were so good.

You feel like you really in the UK when you walk through the door. I could only wish my first husband was alive. He would have felt right at home. :angel:
Did you ever visit over here when you were married to No1, Addie? IIRC you once said he came from the Lake District. It's beautiful country (if it stops raining) for walking, climbing, afternoon tea, or just sitting watching the boats on Lake Windermere or the sheep on the hillsides. Very relaxing. And Carnforth Station buffet was used as a location set for the 1945 film "Brief Encounter" (a big time weepie). It's been restored by it's current owners who run it as a cafe/restaurant. Trains still run through the station but they are no longer drawn by steam locomotives.
 
More British comfort food

1. Cornish or Devon cream tea = scone, jam and clotted cream + pot of tea. The difference between the Devon and the Cornwall versions is that in the Devon version the cream goes on the scone and then the jam and in the Cornish version the jam goes on the scone first and then the cream. I fail to see why it matters but but get it wrong down there in the south west of England and you're likely to get lynched!

2. Haggis (Scotland) = if you don't already know what goes into this and you are given to squeamishness, I suggest you don't ask. Just eat and enjoy with "neeps" (Swede or rutabaga) and a tot of "the water of life" (Scotch whisky to you and me)

3. Derbyshire/Staffordshire oatcakes = a sort of oatmeal pancake, Fry it in the bacon fat and serve with bacon and eggs or wrap round fingers of cheese and heat in the oven or toast and eat with butter and jam. (There's another sort of oatcake in Scotland which is crisp, like a cracker and is served with the cheese board - don't try frying that one!) Recipe for Derbyshire or Staffordshire oatcakes (I can't tell the difference) follows:-

Staffordshire Oatcakes Recipe - staffordshire.co.uk (If you use the instant yeast you just chuck it in with the other dry ingredients.)
 
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Creative, as a one-time resident of Bakewell in Derbyshire, I have to take you up on Bakewell tart. In the town it's called Bakewell PUDDING and woe be-tide you if you call it a tart. It shows you up as an in-comer :LOL:

I have the original recipe if you'd like it. The cook in the boarding school I taught in was the umpteenth great neice cook at the Rutland Hotel who first made it by accident when the landlady of the hotel garbled the instructions for a different sort of tart.

There's a rather nasty version made by the mammoth commercial bakeries which they call Bakewell tart which has flour and nasty artificial almond flavouring in it but it doesn't hold a candle to the real McCoy.
Ooops - sorry for that then. It must a popular misconception then, since I have never heard it referred to as Bakewell Pudding!

I wouldn't mind having the original recipe. (What I know of this e.g. frangipane etc ranks as one of my fav desserts). :yum:
 
When we first came to France I was in need of suet to make our 1st Christmas puddings / mincemeat but, alas, no Atora!! I went to the local Abattoir and explained what I needed and duly fetched it a couple of days later. Not using it here for cooking they said I could have it Gratuit et bon noel!! ( Free and happy christmas you strange deranged foreign woman) I added those last bits. Anyway, I had this whole lump of hard kidney fat so I rendered it down in water in the oven on a very low heat for a long slow time, let it cool overnight, skimmed off the now smooth fat and, yes, MC froze it in manageable sizes. Holding it in a butter paper so as not to add my skin to the product and working quickly I grated what I needed on my trusty cheese grater. Forked in a little flour to stop it reforming into another lump and 'Hey Presto' it worked very well..........................I now send my friends shopping for Atora when they visit the UK. I am not perfect OK?
 
Did you ever visit over here when you were married to No1, Addie? IIRC you once said he came from the Lake District. It's beautiful country (if it stops raining) for walking, climbing, afternoon tea, or just sitting watching the boats on Lake Windermere or the sheep on the hillsides. Very relaxing. And Carnforth Station buffet was used as a location set for the 1945 film "Brief Encounter" (a big time weepie). It's been restored by it's current owners who run it as a cafe/restaurant. Trains still run through the station but they are no longer drawn by steam locomotives.

No. But he took my youngest daughter when she was in the fifth grade. I would sell the blood of my firstborn to see the country side and villages of the UK. :angel:
 
Oops!, I should have mentioned Haggis shouldn't I? It is a 'given' for us of course along with Stornoway Black pudding. Every Burns night ( January 23rd) we have a Ceilidh here at home and treat our French and british friends alike to this traditional meal. We also manage to imbibe a bit of the water of life as well of course.
 
Ooops - sorry for that then. It must a popular misconception then, since I have never heard it referred to as Bakewell Pudding!

I wouldn't mind having the original recipe. (What I know of this e.g. frangipane etc ranks as one of my fav desserts). :yum:
Ok, Creative. I'll look it out later and post it here
 
When we first came to France I was in need of suet to make our 1st Christmas puddings / mincemeat but, alas, no Atora!! I went to the local Abattoir and explained what I needed and duly fetched it a couple of days later. Not using it here for cooking they said I could have it Gratuit et bon noel!! ( Free and happy Christmas you strange deranged foreign woman) I added those last bits. Anyway, I had this whole lump of hard kidney fat so I rendered it down in water in the oven on a very low heat for a long slow time, let it cool overnight, skimmed off the now smooth fat and, yes, MC froze it in manageable sizes. Holding it in a butter paper so as not to add my skin to the product and working quickly I grated what I needed on my trusty cheese grater. Forked in a little flour to stop it reforming into another lump and 'Hey Presto' it worked very well..........................I now send my friends shopping for Atora when they visit the UK. I am not perfect OK?

Whenever I buy a rib roast, I always ask my butcher for a strip of beef suet. He give me a nice long strip from the side of the cow. One side is kind of dirty, so I use my cheese slicer to clean it off. Then wash the strip in cold water. I use it to wrap my rib roast. The melted fat makes for a great Yorkshire Pudding when the roast is done along with keeping the roast moist. No charge either. It would only be sold and go back to the waste meat processing company. :angel:
 
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Heinz tomato soup, cheese on toast with worcester sauce splashed over it, scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream.( don't ask, just know it is divine, thick, rich cream).............hang on a minute,I'm thinking I'll move back????? :LOL:
I don't use much tinned soup but I always keep a can of Heinz Cream of Tomato soup in for moments of crisis. There's nothing like a mug of it when you're feeling rattled and stressed - Chicken soup for the gentiles. :LOL:
 
When we first came to France I was in need of suet to make our 1st Christmas puddings / mincemeat but, alas, no Atora!! I went to the local Abattoir and explained what I needed and duly fetched it a couple of days later. Not using it here for cooking they said I could have it Gratuit et bon noel!! ( Free and happy christmas you strange deranged foreign woman) I added those last bits. Anyway, I had this whole lump of hard kidney fat so I rendered it down in water in the oven on a very low heat for a long slow time, let it cool overnight, skimmed off the now smooth fat and, yes, MC froze it in manageable sizes. Holding it in a butter paper so as not to add my skin to the product and working quickly I grated what I needed on my trusty cheese grater. Forked in a little flour to stop it reforming into another lump and 'Hey Presto' it worked very well..........................I now send my friends shopping for Atora when they visit the UK. I am not perfect OK?
Why go to all the bother if you have access to Tescos:LOL:
 
Here are some comfort foods that we relished in our circle trip through England back in 1997: We stayed almost exclusively at B & B's and the English breakfasts were beyond compare. Broiled tomatoes, lime marmalade, thick cut bacon, and I loved the potent English breakfast tea.

Some my favorites:

Bangers and mash - We tried this at Stratford-Upon-Avon. Heavenly!

Bubble and squeak - A great breakfast treat made with leftover potatoes, cabbage, pork/bacon, and any other left-over veggies. Fried up fairly flat in a pan with the texture of compacted hash browns.

Colcannon - A simple but delicious Irish dish made with potatoes, (what else?) cabbage, onions, and lots of butter. The Brits, Scots, and Irish know what to do with these simple ingredients.

Traditional fish and chips made with cod and thick-cut potatoes and lots of malt vinegar.

Creamed English peas and potatoes.

English Trifle - One of the world's truly greatest desserts!

English candy - Can I get an 'amen' on some of the popular candies that can be found at any of the rest stops on the motor-ways?

Finally, anyone who says England doesn't have a fine cuisine needs to get his/her head examined. English food hit my sweet spot about as perfectly as anything I have ever eaten anywhere.
 
Will somebody please tell me how to make that Scotch Egg like in the picture? The only ones I've seen are with a hard boiled egg in the middle. The one in the picture has me drooling with that luscious runny yolk.

Speaking of the Lake District, it's one of the most beautiful places in the world and I'll remember it always. We stayed in a lovely little cottage there and visited Beatrix Potter's house, something I had dreamed of since childhood. I highly recommend renting the movie "Miss Potter" ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUjUv11pbyk
 
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Bangers and mash - We tried this at Stratford-Upon-Avon. Heavenly!

I have always found proper English bangers too fluffy in texture. If using real sausage instead it is a great (and simple) dish.
Traditional fish and chips made with cod and thick-cut potatoes and lots of malt vinegar.

Cod. Some places has tried to get too fancy with it. And serve it in newsprint.

English candy - Can I get an 'amen' on some of the popular candies that can be found at any of the rest stops on the motor-ways?

I used to be sure to get a bag of wine gums for the flight home. I have never seen them here and they seem to taste best at flight level 350.

Finally, anyone who says England doesn't have a fine cuisine needs to get his/her head examined. English food hit my sweet spot about as perfectly as anything I have ever eaten anywhere.

I particularly loved the Sunday roasts in the country. Big hunk of roasted meet and some root vegetables served with peas.

I do miss making trips to Jolly Ol'.
 
I've travelled to the UK many times on business over the years and really developed a fondness for the foods. I would consider many of the items on the list above to be "pub grub" and I've tried most them at one time or another.

Cornish Pasties and the many tasty variants are probably my favorite. Several years ago I spent an entire summer working in the little village of Evesham (in Worcestershire) and the one thing I looked forward to every day was knocking off for lunch and walking across the street to the pasty shop. I would gather up my treat and head over to the park to enjoy it while sitting on a bench overlooking the ruins of an old abbey. Sometimes I would sit by the river and watch the swans. Good times.

One other thing that always struck me as "comfort food" in the UK was curry. I spent many a night at some backwater little curry house, where the food was usually divine.
 
Here are some comfort foods that we relished in our circle trip through England back in 1997: We stayed almost exclusively at B & B's and the English breakfasts were beyond compare. Broiled tomatoes, lime marmalade, thick cut bacon, and I loved the potent English breakfast tea.

Some my favorites:

Bangers and mash - We tried this at Stratford-Upon-Avon. Heavenly!

Bubble and squeak - A great breakfast treat made with leftover potatoes, cabbage, pork/bacon, and any other left-over veggies. Fried up fairly flat in a pan with the texture of compacted hash browns.

Colcannon - A simple but delicious Irish dish made with potatoes, (what else?) cabbage, onions, and lots of butter. The Brits, Scots, and Irish know what to do with these simple ingredients.

Traditional fish and chips made with cod and thick-cut potatoes and lots of malt vinegar.

Creamed English peas and potatoes.

English Trifle - One of the world's truly greatest desserts!

English candy - Can I get an 'amen' on some of the popular candies that can be found at any of the rest stops on the motor-ways?

Finally, anyone who says England doesn't have a fine cuisine needs to get his/her head examined. English food hit my sweet spot about as perfectly as anything I have ever eaten anywhere.
Yes! Bubble and squeak! And how did they miss out English Trifle?
 
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