World Recipes

English Sausage Rolls

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine
1 dash poultry seasoning
3 tablespoons cold water
1/2 pound ground sausage

Mix together flour, margarine and water to form soft dough ball. Roll on floured surface. Cut into strips, 6 x 3 inches long. Season sausage meat if using unseasoned meat, and roll into small ovals. Place each in one pastry strip. Roll up, seal with water. Place on greased cookie sheet, seam side up, one inch apart. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes.

Serve warm with mustard.

English Mincemeat Pies

8 (2 1/2-inch) pie shells (small pies
    can be made in patty pans)
1 1/2 cups mincemeat

Mincemeat Filling (yields 3 quarts)
1/2 pound beef suet, chopped fine
4 cups seedless raisins
2 cups dried currants
1 cup coarsely chopped almonds
1/2 cup coarsely chopped candied citron
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried figs
1/2 cup coarsely chopped candied orange peel
1/4 cup coarsely chopped candied lemon peel
4 cups coarsely chopped, peeled and cored cooking apples
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
2 1/2 cups brandy
1 cup dry sherry

Combine the suet, raisins, currants, almonds, citron, figs, orange peel, lemon peel, apples, sugar, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, and cloves in a large mixing bowl and stir them together thoroughly.

Pour in the brandy and the sherry and stir with a large spoon until all the ingredients are moist.

Cover the bowl and set the ingredients aside in a cool place (do not refrigerate) for at least 3 weeks. Check the mixture each week and replenish the absorbed liquor with more brandy and sherry, using about 1/4 cup each time.

*Any unused mixture will keep for a long time if stored in sterilized jars.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Place about 3 tablespoons of mincemeat into each pastry shell and cover with sheet of pastry, crimping the edges with a fork.

Place the stuffed pies on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Sprinkle top with castor sugar while hot.

Let pies cool, then remove from tins and serve with whipped cream or Brandy Butter. Small pies can be eaten warm, on their own.

English Beef Steak Pie

1 pound boneless round steak, trimmed
6 to 8 russet potatoes, pealed and cubed
1 large onion, sliced and separated
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup water
1 pie crust (to cover top of pie)

In a deep glass baking dish (either round or square, Corning or glass), layer meat, potato and onion, sprinkling flour over each layer. Salt and pepper each layer. Pour water slowly over layers and top with rolled out crust. Roll edges of crust under around the edge and flute to seal edges to pan. Vent with knife several times. Bake at 350 degrees F for about one hour until water bubbles and gravy have formed. Pierce with a cake tester through vents for doneness of potatoes.

Serve with a green salad.

Yorkshire Pudding

This is properly served with rare roast beef. It can also be used as a hot dessert and served with warm maple syrup. This must be eaten as soon as it is removed from the oven while crisp.

1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1 large egg (at room temperature)
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large bowl, place the flour. Make a well in the middle and break the egg into it, then beat. Slowly add all the milk and water and beat to a smooth consistency. Place a little of the shortening in each hole of a 12-hole popover tin (about 1/2 teaspoon in each) and put the tin in the oven for 2 minutes so the shortening melts.

Remove the tin from the oven and place it over a low flame on top of the stove. Distribute the batter in each popover hole. As you pour in the batter, it will sizzle. Put popover tin in the hot oven and bake about 15 to 20 minutes. The popovers will rise dramatically and be crisp and brown on the top. Serve immediately.

Bread and Butter Pudding

Butter for greasing
5 slices white bread, crusts removed,
    thinly spread with butter
1/2 cup raisins
2 pieces lemon rind
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 medium eggs (at room temperature)
2 cups milk
1 tablespoon brown sugar
8 ounces heavy cream, lightly whipped

Thoroughly grease a 6-cup round ovenproof souffle dish. Lay a slice of buttered bread, butter side up, in the base of the dish, sprinkle on a few of the raisins, and repeat until bread and raisins are used up, reserving enough raisins to sprinkle on the top. Slide the 2 pieces of lemon rind down into the dish on opposite sides from each other. Place the white sugar in a mixing bowl, break in the eggs, and beat for 1 minute with a balloon whisk or electric hand mixer. Add milk and mix well. Pour over the bread and push the bread down so that it gets soaked, then sprinkle the brown sugar on top.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and after 5 minutes of preheating, place the pudding in. Bake for 30 minutes until the dessert has risen well and the top is crusty and golden brown.

Serve immediately with whipped cream.

Whiskey Fog

2 cups chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoon Irish or Scotch whiskey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup coarsely crushed crisp macaroons

Beat whipping cream, sugar, whiskey and vanilla extract in chilled bowl until stiff. Fold in macaroons. Spoon into dessert dishes. Sprinkle with additional crushed macaroons if desired.

Yields 8 servings.

Whiskey Cream Pie

4 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 pound graham crackers, finely crushed
8 ounces heavy cream
1 large egg (at room temperature)
1/3 cup runny honey
2 tablespoons Scotch whiskey
3 tablespoons peeled, sliced almonds

In a medium-size heavy saucepan, melt butter over low heat; remove from heat, then add maple syrup and crumbs. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Press mixture into a 10-inch glass flan dish, making sure you press well into the corners and the crust is evenly dispersed. Set in the freezer compartment for a few minutes while making the filling.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the cream until stiff. Thoroughly wash and dry the beaters. Separate the white of the egg from the yolk and place the white in a small bowl. Whisk the white until soft peaks form and you can tip the bowl upside down without the white falling out. Stir whiskey and honey into the cream with a metal spoon. Fold in the egg white and pour the mixture over the chilled graham cracker crust. Spread almonds on a baking sheet and place under the broiler for a few minutes, turning to brown them. When they are cool, sprinkle them over the pie and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Trout with Bacon (Brythyll a Chig Moch, Wales)

Serve this with carrots and peas as the English do.

12 slices bacon
6 drawn whole trout (about 5 ounces each)
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly-ground pepper
Minced parsley

Arrange bacon in single layer in broiler pan. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes; drain. Sprinkle inside of fish with 2 tablespoons parsley, salt and pepper. arrange fish in single layer on bacon in pan. Cover and cook until fish flakes easily with fork, about 20 minutes. Split fish down center along backbone; remove as many bones as possible.

Serve each fish with 2 bacon slices. Garnish with parsley.

Yields 6 servings.