My pleasure at being included in a lunch get-together of the local trailing spouses was quickly diminished by the french person who said that I didn't need to bring anything along as I was British eek (There are a few different nationalities, and everyone is supposed to bring a dish from their country). So now I have to take something really good along to prove them wrong. I've managed to convince others before with my mince pies and roast dinners. This time I need to make something savoury (the sweet dishes were already taken) and cold that we can eat next to the pool.
Please, oh please, you Britnet culinary experts, help me wow them with the best of British!
Chelle,
I've been in the same situation in the past and resort to my old favourite.
Apple Pie.
Yes, the peeps here assume that apple pie is American, but sadly, it's not. It's totally, all Brit.
Apple, the word, was an old English word for *any* fwoot.
The French, created some of the best sauces in the world to hide poor quality meat (do you know the story behind steak au poiuvre?).
British food stands on it's own in it's own right, without the need for masking sauces, sadly, the invention of canning killed what good had been done.
The French poached all the good English chefs to work in France (for Royalty) and the rest is history...
And France is where we want to end up one day, I love the place.
So, if you want my groovy apple pie recipe, I'll gladly post it or you...
Mange Tout!
:smile:
Chelle,
How about making up a large platter with a mixture of things like, sausage rolls, cheese straws, thin slices of flan etc on it. You can make it really pretty by adding some decorative veggies etc. Slices of ham rolled and filled with cream cheese and chives could be added too.
I usually make quiche on occasions like this, but that is French. So you could maybe just make an egg and cheese flan?
Or you could do some kind of meat in aspic? That's savoury and cold!
I don't know if this has been any help, but good luck with whatever you do! smile
Lightly poach some asparagus tips in chicken stock,roast some chicken tenders with honey and rosemary,wrap these two items in thinly sliced(have the deli counter at your supermarket do this for you) proscuito ham,arrange on a circular platter with a honey mustard dip.Dont worry about the froggie,I have worked with a lot of French chefs and they are good but not great.Relax and have a wonderfull lunch.
Regards
Captmar
What a cheek! Check out Delia http//www.deliaonline.com/ the recipes of the day, look good there is a Lemon Souflee things that looks intresting.
You could look up something here.
http//www.hwatson.force9.co.uk/cookbook/cookbook.htm
There are lots of savoury recipes in the starter/snacks section that should help you out.
Thanks for all the help and encouragement. I would love to make the apple pie, Andrew, but as a lot of other people have opted to bring something sweet, I'm stuck with savoury. Wouldn't mind seeing your recipe for apple pie tho, so next time I'll grab the sweet option smile .
I'm leaning towards your idea, Mel - at least then if I screw up one of the recipes, I'll have something else to fall back on. Do you have a recipe for cheese straws - I seem to remember that they're really easy to make. I was also thinking of taking along some egg & cress sandwiches - don't know whether I can find cress here... Doesn't sound that exciting, but it's definitely British.
Thanks for the web addresses too - they've givne me some good ideas smile
I'll let you know how it goes.
How about Coronation Chicken?
It was made for the Queen's Coronation so is very apt for this year! And it is so simple to make!
And of course you can have it cold (or even heat it up if you really wanted to do so).
You can put it in sandwiches, or make a big dish and serve it with salad leaves and some nice rustic bread. I haven't met anyone who hasn't liked it!
There are plenty of variations of it (you can check on-line), but I always use chopped cooked chicken (I prefer chicken breasts), mayonnaise with curry powder or curry paste mixed in (to taste - but not too strong!), sliced almonds, chopped apple, some seedless green grapes (halved), a stick of chopped celery. Then you add a teaspoon or two of mango chutney - but if you can't get it you can use apricot jam it just adds a little sweetness to the curry flavour.
You just stir up all the ingredients carefully and chill in the fridge. If you make it the day before then the flavours develop. wink
I remember making coronation chicken ages ago and yes, it is very easy to make and very tasty.
Depending on how far in advance your lunch is you could always grow your own cress. Its very quick and easy if you can get the seeds. If you have time someone from the UK could send a packet over for you.
My mother-in-law makes little pastry cases in advance and freezes them for when she needs them. She puts different fillings in them. Salmon, creamcheese flavoured fillings. They always work really well.
Hello again,
Couldn't resist doing a search on yahoo for "Coronation chicken". The recipes are certainly varied, but a nice idea was for Cheese scones filled with Coronation chicken salad (I do prefer my salad recipe though!). It does seem a nice way to serve it. Or you could use cold cooked rice too. You will find it on
http//www.foodtv.com (look it up under the recipe search)
Hope this helps! I wish I could join you! What a pity you can't get Elderflower cordial (unless you have an IKEA nearby), but it would be nice to have something English to drink with it!
Here is a cheese straw recipe. I haven't tried this particular one, as I use the "one in my head" which is a guestimate one!
This one looks easy to make though, and I would probably doctor it up with little cayenne and paprika.
http//appetizer.allrecipes.com/recipes/print_fullpage_scale.asp?id=494&servings=12&metric=0
You can grate your own cheese instead of buying the ready shredded, it would be cheaper that way.
You could always do sausage rolls...or scotch eggs, I did post a scotch egg recipe (I think) on here somewhere...
Scotch Eggs always raise an eyebrow!
Andrew
smile
Well, I had my lunch with the other trailing spouses yesterday, and had a great time. I finally made the coronation chicken in cheese scones (thanks Dawn!), and everyone loved it! Even the froggie, who took some home for her other half. Now, I'm just hoping that she didn't do it to stroke my ego! Also tried making the cheese straws - what a disaster grin . Guess I'm not that good in the kitchen. Thanks for all your help. We plan on getting together more often, so I'll have plenty of chances to try out the other recipes.
I'm so pleased that it was a success, Chelle!
What did the Froggie bring?
We have some French friends (Beatrice is Godmother to my daughter. Well, I don't care what the reputation is for French cooking - every time we have eaten a meal which they've cooked and they are serving meat, we always have to get them to put our servings in the microwave to cook a bit longer. I can't bear almost raw meat! lol
Yeah, I really enjoyed myself, and it was so interesting to chat with the others - we ended up sitting around the pool for 6 hours, and now I'm just a tad sun burned ouch.
The froggie brought a quiche, and it was really good. In fact everything was so good that I'm way behind on my goals this week. Oops! Oh well, I've been very good today, and I'm off to my gym class in a while.