Cornish All Around

The last couple of weeks I've been continuing my Cornish culinary kick. Due to a busier than anticipated schedule I've fallen a little bit behind on a couple of dishes but I am confident I'll be allowed to catch up at some point. October probably. I've been looking at my calendar and nearly every weekend through September looks to be booked up with one event or another. Travel and anniversaries and festivals and concerts and whatnot. Ah, first world problems.

I managed to follow through and make Cornish Pasties not once, but twice. I substituted lamb in place of the called for beef because 1) I love lamb, 2) the grocery stores have actually been carrying it of late, and 3) the lamb is, as I've mentioned before, locally grown and processed. The first batch was delicious but the pastry crust to savory filling ratio was a bit off so we correct for this in the second attempt. I wish there were still more in the freezer. I have yet to make the Celery Sauce or Russian Cream so I'll have to rectify that in the near future.

This past Sunday I was back on schedule with the Cornish Fish Pie. This incorporated several similar elements of the previous chicken and parsley pie. Once again the meat and stock were laid in to the bottom of a pie pan along with parsley (a much lesser quantity this time around) and a crust placed on top. After the main baking time had elapsed cream was poured in through a hole in the crust and then the pie was baked for a further few minutes. The recipe calls for white fish. We used cod and I was a bit disappointed to find that after just 20 minutes in the oven the fish had basically disintegrated. No nummy fishy chunks left at all. Still, the soupy creamy fish filling was tasty so I didn't complain to much. For all I know that's what was supposed to happen.

While the fish pie was baking I knocked together the dough for the Cornish Splits. These are little bread rolls with a hint of sugar to them - perfect with the Gooseberry Jam we made last month when while we still had some berries on our plants. I set aside the dough for about 20 minutes until it had risen to about double it's initial size. The rolls turned out quite nicely I think. Not fluffy but firm and delicious. I've been eating them at work for breakfast with a with of cream cheese.

Finally, I was due to make Clotted Cream and Blackberry Ripple Ice this week but as blackberries here are only beginning to ripen and I need to send away for clotted cream I made next week's scheduled Cornish Fairings instead. These were my FAVORITE of the bunch. Instead of the called for golden syrup I used honey. Honey + sugar + butter + flour + powdered ginger = win. The texture was quite similar to a scone and I think that adding a bit of fresh or dried fruit to these would result in something bordering on magic. Maybe fresh blueberries or dried currants.

July 31- Pies n' Cakes

Dinner the second was a quiet affair. Also, this was not the best dinner I've ever made though a valiant effort was certainly put forth.

I had decently optimistic expectations for the Chicken and Parsley Pie. Who doesn't like a good chicken pot pie, right? And this looked like it was just that, but huge.
However, I'm not sure that I am a great fan of the flavours and textures created by combining massive amounts of chicken with massive amounts of parsley. I used Italian parsley and that might or might not have been the culprit. I have rarely if ever cooked with fresh parsley of any variety let alone such a quantity.
Speaking of quantity - the two chickens that this recipe calls for seems a but much. I think one would have been plenty and then I would have had better baking dish choices. As it was I ended up using a pretty typical casserole dish. I just barely was able to fit all my ingredients in to it. I did finally got to use the little blackbird pie funnel we've had sitting in the cupboard for years - BONUS!

Another quick note: what ever quantity of shortcrust pastry these recipes call for - HALVE IT. At the end of the baking time the instructions call for you to heat a decent amount of double cream to a boil, and then remove the pastry rose from the top of the pie in order to our said hot cream in to the pie. This just did not happen. That cream refused to go down my little funnel and cutting the pie open to pour it in was also not an option. Even though I had only added chicken stick up to the half way mark as instructed the chicken itself was juicy and filled so much of the pie that there wasn't really any room within for the cream. It's a real shame as I think it would have made quite a difference in the final outcome. Not that it wasn't still pretty tasty, but I will defiantly do things a bit differently if I ever make this again.

I was also unimpressed by the Cornish Potato Cakes. The were quick and simple to make and blaaaaaaand. A generous pinch of salt? Howsabout a good teaspoon of salt and maybe some pepper.

Lastly, I had a bit of a change in schedule and have postponed making Mrs. Palmer's Russian Cream until later this week.

Instead I bumped up the making of Cherry Bumpers. These were my favorite items of the evening. Local Rainier cherries with crushed almonds and almost essence inside a little pastry purse. Nothing about that isn't yummy. They were easy to make and a delicious little treat. I *might* have accidentally splashed in a bit more of the almond essence than I had meant to but I think it might have made them all the better. That cherry-almond combination is one of my all time favorite flavours/scents.

Alrighty folks, I'm posting the menu for the next dinner.

And dear friends, if in the coming weeks/months the menu strikes your fancy and you'd like to partake of the meal and/or like to assist in the making of it, all you need do is RSVP in the comments and we'll make it a party. That's right. We want YOU to come to dinner!

I'll start prep around 3 in the afternoon and aim to eat between 6-8pm.

I'm also posting the upcoming meals below so mark your calendar.

Sunday, July 31st

Chicken and Parsley Pie
2 chickens, meat cut off and divided in to neat joints and skinned
use bones and skin to make stock, for use in pie
salt, pepper, and nutmeg
flour for dusting
1 large bunch of parsley picked off stems, chopped
4 shallots, finely chopped
100g/3 ½ oz cooked ham or bacon, cut in dice
250ml/8 ½ fl oz chicken stock
2 quantities shortcrust pastry (pg 13 FC)
250 ml/8 ½ fl oz double cream

Cornish Potato Cakes
2-3 floury potatoes, total weight 1 lb 2 oz
boiled in skins and cooled but not chilled
60g/2 ½ oz beef suet
60g/2 ½ oz plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
generous pinch of salt

Mrs. Palmer’s Russian Cream
500ml/a8fl oz full-fat milk
2 eggs, separated
100g/3 ½ oz caster sugar
drops of vanilla essence or a little lemon zest
1 packet of powdered gelatine


Upcoming meals:

August 7
Cornish Pasties
Celery Sauce over Sliced Turkey
My Lady's Shortcake

August 14
Cornish Fish Pie
Cornish Splits
Clotted Cream and Blackberry Ripple Ice

August 21
Bacon and Spinach Pie
Bubble and Squeak Soup
Kathleen's Cornish Fairings

August 28
Roast Goose with Sage and Onion Stuffing
Saffron Cakes

Premier Dinner - The Aftermath

All in all things went splendidly.

Despite summer selecting yesterday to finally arrive with a vengeance and my kitchen subsequently being a sauna, I can report that our first Farmhouse Nummy dinner was a success.

The day got off to a lazy start. I'd just finished a 5 week run in a show at a local theatre the night before and been out until the wee hours so my energy was a bit tapped out. Jeremy was brewing a batch of Worthington White Shield and we had a couple of friends over to help.

I started prep at about 3pm but was in no hurry. I figured I would start with the Raspberry Cream dessert first and then let it chill for a couple of hours. I quickly realized that I didn't have enough raspberries but luckily there's a farm a mile and a half north of our home that sells them. I also stopped by our local market to pick up a bottle of wine to help lubricate the culinary senses. I prepared the raspberry purée and then ran in to a bit of a hitch.

The recipe calls for Double Cream but I can't get it. Double Cream is 48% milk fat and the highest milk fat content I can readily get in the States is Heavy Whipping Cream at 36%. I'm going to need to attempt to make it in the future because there are many instances where 36% is just not going to cut it. The case in point is that Heavy Whipping Cream will not reach the desired fluffy and stiff consistency with the raspberry purée added. Adding more whipping cream did not rectify the issue. I placed the raspberry cream in the freezer for about 30 minutes which did help to thicken it a little bit (the heat in the kitchen did not do me any favours) but in the end it turned out to be a gloopy yogurt consistency. The result was totally delicious but not exactly what I was aiming for. Sort of like a cross between kefir and ice cream.

Next up I prepared Franklin's Potatoes. Simple, easy, and a perfect pairing with the main course. Milk is first boiled and infused with the cloves and shallots and then those vegetables and spices are strained out leaving the milk infused with their flavour. Fresh bread crumbs are added to the milk which is then heated again. In the mean time I boiled the 2 lbs of medium sized yukon gold potatoes for about 15 minutes and then rinsed them in cold water to cool. I removed their skins and then sliced them in to thin rounds (think scalloped potatoes).

I arranged the slices in a casserole dish alternating with layers of the breadcrumb milk (start with the milk on the bottom first and end with potatoes and a light layer of dry breadcrumbs on top) and then pop it in the oven. It was done in about 30 minutes - half the time the recipe recommended.

The boys had completed their brewing session by this time and so while the potatoes baked Jeremy and I got cracking on the main course of Lamb Steaks with Quince. I cooked up shallots, garlic, and a fresh picked sprig of rosemary with a little olive oil while Jeremy fried the lamb steaks in a little butter. We purchased a lamb shank from our local meat market (lambykin raised near Brownsville about 20 miles away) and they kindly cut us 4 lovely steaks with enough left over to make a shepherd's pie.

With the steaks fried to perfection and set aside the shallots and garlic went in to the frying pan with home made chicken stock. Cream was added and then the quince jelly. We weren't able to make the jelly from scratch but the stuff we found at the store is quite tasty. A splash of lemon juice and a dash of salt and pepper and the sauce was complete.

And that was it. We sat down with our friends to what I feel fairly comfortable saying was one of the nummiest dinners I've ever had - let alone made. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come. I can live with that. I should probably start working out a bit more often though if I'm going to keep this up for the next year...

July 24 to August 29

First up - CORNWALL

This past May Jeremy and I returned to the UK and got to spend a short (very short) time in this amazing place. We climbed the unending stairs of Tintagel, explored glorious sea caves, marveled at sapphire coves, and somehow negotiated the narrow winding streets of pretty and white washed Port Isaac. Between the long hikes up and down sea cliffs and castle mottes and standing against the brisk Atlantic wind we worked up healthy appetites. These were sated in pasty shops and the odd pub or three.

Here at home I am looking forward to Cornish Fish Pie, Saffron Cakes, and Roast Goose with Sage and Onion Stuffing, just to name a few of the dishes being planned for the next several weeks.

I've also skipped ahead a bit and made Gooseberry Jelly and Elderflower Cordial as the berries are currently ripe in my backyard and the Elderberry bushes are nearly done flowering.

Today's inaugural dinner menu is as follows:

Lamb Steaks with Quince
a little olive oil
8 shallots
4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
sprig of rosemary
25g/1oz butter
4 leg steaks, each weighing about 150-200g/5 ½ -7oz
200ml/7fl oz light stock, chicken or beef
60ml/2 ½ fl oz double cream
40g/1 ½ oz quince jelly or paste - if very stiff, soften in warm water
salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice

Franklin’s Potatoes
500ml/18 fl oz milk
2 shallots, peeled and cut in quarters
8 whole cloves
50g/2 oz fine white breadcrumbs
+25g/1 oz for finishing the dish
salt, pepper
a little mace and a pinch of chilli
1-2 tablespoons single cream (optional)
900g/2lb medium new potatoes
butter for greasing

Raspberry Cream
350g/12oz raspberries
70g/2 ½ oz caster sugar
2 tablespoons brandy
250ml/8 ½ fl oz double cream
mint sprigs

The gist

In 2009 I traveled to the UK. This was neither the first nor the last time and as my husband Jeremy and I had done our sight-seeing through English Heritage (which we love greatly) for our previous trip, we thought we should try something different this time around: we purchased memberships from The National Trust.

If you’ve visited the England and been to Wells or York or any of the multitude of fantastic historic and scenic cities you’ve probably passed the flowering hanging basket clad facades of the National Trust gift shops. Though they do sell a lot of the same sort of high street touristy souvenirs you’d expect, there are also treasures to be found within. We found ours in a discounted cookbook.

Farmhouse Cookery by Laura Mason and published by The National Trust retails for around £12.99 but we found it on sale for half that. It made it an easy impulse buy and my husband and I have been enjoying it ever since. The book separates its recipes to correspond with 12 regions in the United Kingdom. Some of these regions fall within county lines, others country lines, and a few are distinguished by districts and culture.

My challenge to is to get through every recipe within this book by August first of 2012. In order to accomplish this I shall need to create every dish, dessert, condiment, and beverage the book describes.

Initially I thought 12 regions should correspond to 12 months. However, as a large number of recipes are dependent on seasonal fruits, vegetables, nuts, and meats being available, it makes more sense to use the regions as tentative guidelines and then move many recipes around within our projected timeline depending on availability of ingredients. I shall endeavor to source these ingredients as locally as possible and make from scratch anything not readily available.

I know this sort of thing has been done before with more famous cookbooks and one may have resulted in a movie that was half enjoyable and half ghastly (you can work out which was which) but let’s forget that and concentrate on how totally fabulous real British country cooking is. And don’t even start with me on that whole, “English food is awful,” because it simply is not true. If you don’t believe me, just wait. I’ll show you.