Eating Out - By Staying In: A Culinary Canter Through The Cuisines of Twelve Countries

By Keith Taylor

This entertaining and humourous book is laid out in twelve country chapters - each chapter detailing recipes and suggesting menus, from that country, thus effectively giving you a choice of twelve ethnic restaurants to imitate. The countries are: Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Morocco, Greece, Turkey, Goa, India, Thailand, China and North America. Within each chapter are detailed recipes using that country's local ingredients, allowing the choice to construct a one, two or three course ethnic meal - Firstly a soup and starter, then a choice between fish or shellfish in a seafood section. For the main course choice recipes are provided using the following as their dominant ingredient: Beef, Lamb, and Pork (where permitted) Chicken, Game, Offal and a Veggie option. Finally a pudding recipe is offered. Penned by a retired grumpy Old Man as a guide for fellow harassed males allowing them to transport and manufacture their favorite cuisine to their own dining room - instead of traveling miles to find an ethnic restaurant in which to spend a fortune on grub they can easily cook themselves - saving a good few quid and allowing them to do their impression of the late and much lamented Keith Floyd, without worrying about the boys in blue on the way home, also putting them on their bride’s team, providing they clean up after themselves in HER kitchen...

• Language: English
• Publisher: AUK Authors
• Release date: Jul 3, 2014
• ISBN: 9781849891684

Keith Taylor

Keith Taylor is a retired U.S. Navy officer and was a longtime columnist for The Navy Times.

Book preview

enjoy.

Great Britain

To Start:

Cream of Stilton soup

or

Smoked salmon mousse with grated eggs

Seafood:

Poached smoked haddock and poached egg

or

Grilled Lobster

Main Course:

Choose From:

Beef Olives

Pan Hagglety

Medallions of pork loin in cider

Roast Venison with juniper and rosemary

Herbaceous boiled fowl

Chicken Livers on fried bread croutons

Bubble and Squeak

Pudding:

Cranachan with Glayva and raspberries.

They eat to live, we live to eat, how many times has this spurious allegation been cast our way in these Islands? Too many I hear you cry as you rush to defend Grannies recipe for Suet dumplings or Faggots.

We have sustained ourselves sufficiently to resist any further conquest of our peoples since William The Bastard made that rather sneaky attack back in 1066, so there can’t be a lot wrong with our diet. In fact it has remained a complete mystery to me that despite exporting our language to over half the globe that all our former colonies are not full of fish and chip addicts with a discerning palate for a well mushed pea.

In former times the class system in the British Isles had directed that the poor majority should be subservient to the minority rich, which exposed itself in attitudes to food and who should be able to eat what - which made taking a rabbit for the pot a rather hazardous business in the thirteenth century.

The production of Feasts was a sure sign of social progress throughout the ages and even now the remnants of this are manifested in the habit of entertaining friends by having someone else doing the cooking and clearing up and the steady growth of places to eat out. This growth has transformed our rather insular attitude to foreign muck which formerly referred to any thing edible which was not reared or grown within our Islands, when now our leisured classes happily take their ease and refreshment at establishments which cook a huge range of imported ingredients to mimic the diet of their country of origin, and transform the producers of this wonder into celebrities. This now well worn path may now be trod by your good self, but without the tedium and risk of cranking up the motor, with the aid of this little guide – but before you embark on this journey try a few of our countries finest ingredients and give the lie to the We eat to live myth.

Cream Of Stilton Soup

The start of your dining out ( by staying in) should reflect accurately the cuisine you intend to serve, thus stoking up the ambience and anticipation for the rest of the meal – if it does not achieve this then what ever follows will be devalued and have to be out of the top draw to keep the evening on track. This Stilton soup fills the bill admirably and is unmistakably British, so here you go - off to a great start.

Assemble:

A heavy based sauce pan and lid

A wooden spoon

Ingredients:

2oz of unsalted butter

1 medium onion

6oz of Stilton cheese, nice and blue

2oz of plain flour

1 ½pt of chicken or vegetable stock

¼pt of single cream

Salt and a peppermill

A bay leaf

Then you:

• Melt the butter in the saucepan at a moderate heat

• Peel and slice the onion thinly, then sauté (fry) them gently until they are translucent and soft, then crumble into the pan the Stilton. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon until the mixture has gone into a smooth paste.

• Sieve into the mixture the plain flour again stirring into a paste and allow to cook through for about five minutes.

• Slowly add the stock little at a time stirring all the time until the liquid has a soup like texture.

• Add the bay leaf, salt and a couple of turns of the peppermill. Taste and adjust as you require, then allow to simmer for about half an hour, do not allow the liquid to reduce too much by over heating.

• Just before service add the cream and combine into the liquid with the wooden spoon, reserving a little to pour, in a swirl, directly on top of the soup. I know one or two heavyweights who think nothing of adding a small glass of Port at this final stage; try it in yours for the sake of adventure.

• Serve with any Vera Lynn record at volume ten.

Smoked Salmon Mousse

The preservation of foods which have a season of abundance before scarcity or prohibition has resulted in many preserving techniques allowing the eating of such goodies at future dining dates. One such method has been developed to perfection is the art of smoking over oak sawdust after brining. Such magic is preformed by Neil Robson at the tiny Northumbrian fishing village of Craster, using farmed salmon available all year round.

Assemble:

An electric blender

A soufflé dish or two ramekin dishes

A rubber spatula

Ingredients:

1 large cup full of smoked

s almon pieces

½ a teaspoon full of lemon juice

A large pinch of paprika

½ a cup of whipped cream

3 tablespoon full of

liquid aspic jelly

2 teaspoon of lumpfish roe or caviar if it’s that sort of a night

A hard boiled egg, grated

Then you:

• Place the smoked salmon pieces, lemon juice and paprika into the blender, whiz to a smooth paste then turn into a mixing bowl.

• Whisk the cream into soft peaks that just stand on the end of the whisk and ever so gently fold into the smoked salmon paste until all is uniformly pink. Remember that the gentler you fold the lighter will be the mousse - so take care.

• Now as gently as you added the cream, fold into the mixture the liquid aspic jelly and allow the mixture to stand for half an hour.

• With a piece of butter paper grease the inside of the soufflé or ramekin dishes and then arrange the lumpfish roe as you would wish to see it when you turn it out ( it will be on top)

• With the spatula gently fill your souffle or ramekin dish and add a final drop of aspic to seal, before placing in the fridge for two hours.

• Slowly turn out your mousse on to your serving dish, marveling at your lumpfish design, garnish with quarter of a lemon and some grated hard boiled egg.

• Take to the table wearing green waders and a deerstalker hat covered in flies (artificial).

Poached Smoked Haddock With Poached Egg

As seen in the smoked salmon mousse the art of curing brined fish over smoking oak chips and sawdust has been perfected in these Islands, no finer example exists than that practiced by Swallow’s Fish curers at The Smoke House in the seaside village of Seahouses, from where, if you are lucky you may buy the delicious smoked haddock. (They do mail order) Do not attempt this recipe with dyed fillet of haddock - it will taste hellish.

Assemble:

A large heavy bottomed frying pan

A slotted spoon

A small bowl full of water containing two ice cubes

A black pepper mill

The butter dish

Ingredients:

2 oak smoked fillets of Haddock, they should be golden honey colour 1pt of full cream milk

A knob of butter

2 fresh white milk rolls - dunkie buns

Chopped parsley for garnish

Then you:

• Put the smoked haddock in the pan, skin side down and pour in the milk to just cover the fish, and add a small knob of butter and a twist of the peppermill.

• Put on stove at high heat but make sure it does not boil or Catch

• Watch carefully as the milk begins to simmer – then crack into the milk a fresh egg, when it is starting to set crack another egg and put into the milk, away from the first egg.

• When the first egg has a white skin formed on top of the yolk take it out of the pan with a slotted spoon taking care not to break the yolk and place in the bowl of iced water.

• When the other egg is ready take it out and place carefully in the bowl alongside the first egg.

• Take out the poached fish, with the slotted spoon, and place a fillet per person on a pre-warmed plate, and pour over a couple of tablespoons of the residual milk poaching liquor

• Take an egg from the bowl in the slotted spoon and place on top of the fish, and garnish with some fresh parsley and a turn of black pepper

• Eat with a dunkie, (from the ancient Northumbrian - Dunk - To Dip) the bun, to mop up the juices whilst wearing your oilskins, the nice yellow ones.

Grilled Lobster

There’s no easy way to the perfection of this classic - The Lobster gets it! No gain without pain as the Royal Marines tell you at Lympstone. If you are at all squeamish, close this chapter and ring for a take-away, if not and you want to experience one of natures finest flavours read on

Assemble:

A grill pan

A small hammer

A set of nutcrackers

A large sharp cook’s knife

Two lobster pickers*

A very small saucepan

Ingredients:

2 live lobsters, about 500g each - any smaller and they’re illegal

About 150g of unsalted butter

Some sprigs of fresh tarragon

A fresh lemon

Lobster for Tea?

Then you:

• It’s your choice how to execute the lobster, I know he is one of God’s creatures and will have a mummy somewhere but grin and bear it, because ambrosia, the food of the Gods, is about to come your way - and either. Take a small screwdriver, the type for mending three pin plugs, and place it between the eyes of the lobster and give it a firm tap to pierce the shell, watch for the tail flip as it expires.

or

• Wrap the lobster in a plastic bag and bang it in the freezer two hours before you want to cook, remind you of Captain Oates?

or

• Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil grab the lobster firmly by the tail and immerse into the water wearing an oven glove - quick wiggle, - and remove after no more than two minutes. Remember if you apply heat to protein it hardens, and for this dish you want to grill your lobster when it is as moist as can be.

• Now the evil deed is done twist the claws from the body, and remove the head from the tail with a clockwise turn holding the lobster in your right hand then wash the top of the tail free from all the gunge. Place he tail, body side down, and position your sharp kitchen knife along the centre of the tail lengthways and give it a good thump to split the lobster in half. You will see a black,vein like thread going from top to bottom (literally), this is the digestive tract and should be removed and discarded.

• Now turn the grill up to just below its maximum.

• Place the butter in the saucepan and place over a low heat in order to just melt the butter.

• Line the base of the grill pan with tin foil to make its cleaning easier.

• Crack the lobster’s claws with light blows from the hammer on each section and place on grill with the clean two halves of the tail, flesh side up.

• Place under the grill for three minutes then turn over only the claws and grill for a further three minutes

• Chop the tarragon and sprinkle over the lobster and grill for a further minute.

• Place on the warmed plate in your own inimitable style pour over flesh and claws only the clear liquid butter from the saucepan leaving the white milk solids.

• Serve wearing World Cup 1966 or 2003 tee shirt depending on your affiliation.

Beef Olives

This is a most satisfying way to present beef and allows you to stamp your own little mark by varying the stuffing; in this recipe I am using easy sage and onion with just a hint of lemon zest.

Assemble:

A wooden meat mallet

A heavy based large frying pan.

A mixing bowl

A slotted spoon

Half a dozen or so toothpicks

A fine sieve

Ingredients:

2 neat slices of good, bluish rump steak about 6oz. each

A packet of Paxo sage and onion stuffing (well its no good reinventing the wheel is it?)

A lemon and its zest

A good knob of quality beef dripping

1/2 pt of beef stock or a decent stock cube dissolved in 1/2 pt of warm water with a teaspoon of vinegar and a pinch of sugar.

1 fresh egg beaten in a cup

2 tablespoons of double cream

A little seasoned plain flour (That’s plain flour with a bit of salt and pepper added)

A fresh bay (laurel) leaf

Salt and a peppermill

Then you:

• Place the steak on a wooden chopping board, cover with cling film, dip your Christmas mallet into cold water and flatten the steak out to a uniform thickness of about 3 cms. (If you hit meat with a dry mallet it will split and break) Now trim the hammered steak into two rectangles of about 12cms. X 10 cms.

• Put about 12 grams of sage and onion stuffing into the bowl moisten with a little of the stock, fold in the egg that you have beaten in a cup, drift the grater on the fine side over the lemon to just lightly colour the top of the stuffing and knead into a dough .

• Spread the stuffing evenly over the surface of the steaks, and from the narrower end roll up tightly and secure with a toothpick at both ends to ensure the rolls stays a roll, then roll the rolls over seasoned flour, coating them all over. (As Mr. Royce was heard to observe - That’s a hell of a lot of Rolls)

• Put the pan on the heat, put in the beef dripping and raise to a high heat so the surface of the melted dripping is just moving.

• Put in the beef olives and brown all over by rolling them or turning with the tongs, make sure they are all evenly dark brown.

• Take from the pan with the tongs and leave to rest on a plate.

• Now take the pan with the hot dripping and add the stock slowly stirring as you go until it is all blended together in the pan, bring to the boil and add a bay leaf, and reduce by half.

• Lower the heat to a simmer and add the cream blending slowly, when absorbed re introduce the rested beef olives to the pan and cook through, turning occasionally

• Lift out to the warmed plates with the slotted spoon, discard the bay leaf, spoon the sauce over and serve wearing John Bull waistcoat dragging your bulldog on a leash.

Pan Hagglety

Its sad that many of our traditional cuts of meat are being ignored by our local supermarket butchers, this recipe uses one of the forgotten cuts of lamb or better still Mutton if you can find a farmers market. Traditionalists will say this is not Pan Haggerty – your dead right its not, it is Pan HAGGELETY, my Grannie told me!

Assemble:

Heavy based frying pan

An oven proof casserole dish and lid

Small Frying pan

Cheese grater

Ingredients:

4 back collop chop – in other words four neck chops

4 slices of thick cut

unsmoked back bacon

Butter

2 large potatoes

2 large white onions

Lump of cheddar cheese for grating

1/4 pint of meat stock or a teaspoon full of Bovril dissolved in 1/4 pint of warm water

Then you:

• Pat the chops dry with kitchen roll, if you want to be fancy use a sharp knife to remove the neck bones from the centre of the chops - I wouldn’t do this as the bone marrow melts through in the cooking.

• Melt the butter in the frying pan and fry the chops over a high heat, turning often, until they are sealed and a deep golden brown. Take out and rest on a warm plate. Cook the bacon rashers in the same pan until just turning crisp and reserve with the cooked chops.

• Wash and peel the potatoes then skin the onions and cut them into 1/8th inch slices, reserving them in separate piles.

• Butter round the casserole dish, and cover the base with a layer of potatoes, grate over a little cheese and then put a layer of onions ( as whole a slice as you can), pinch of salt and twist from the peppermill now add the browned chops, another twist of the peppermill, and layer as before, potato then cheese then onion. Now put the back bacon on top and layer as before, ending up with the final cheese layer a little thicker than in the internal layers. Pour in the stock, and place a butter paper on top of the final layer and put on the lid

• Place in a moderate oven, about 200, and bake for 40 minutes then, take off the lid using oven gloves, remove the paper and finish off under the grill until the cheese turns golden brown.

• If you have not de-boned before cooking remember the bones before you call the orthodontist!

• Serve at once, half each onto warmed plates with a bottle of Newcastle Brown ale each, shouting Howay the Toon( Optional).

Medallions Of Pork In Cider

Somerset has long been highly regarded for the delicate pork it rears, almost as famous as its apples so it seemed natural they would end up on the same plate together, it’s also a great excuse to have a slurp of Henry Westons Premium cider at 8.5% - don’t forget to put some in the recipe!

Assemble:

A heavy based frying pan

A small frying pan

An apple corer – another thing for Christmas!

Ingredients:

A pork loin fillet trimmed, from your favourite breed

2 tablespoons of sunflower oil

½ oz butter

5 shallots

A sour cooking apple

A bottle of Henry Weston’s

Premium cider

Half a pint of stock

A knob of kneaded butter – that is butter mashed up with some plain flour to form a firm ball

Some fresh parsley and sage

A spoon full of runny honey

Then you:

• Put the pork fillet on a chopping board and give it a roll to make as neat a circular tube as you can. Now slice diagonally 1/2 inch medallions until you get to the end discarding the first and the last piece or cook them if you are frugal but make sure to put them on your plate!

• Season some plain flour and gently sieve over all the medallions turning to ensure they all get their fair share - not too much.

• Core the apple, it’s great feeling, and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

• Peel the shallots and finely slice and combine with the apple, tear up