Weekend Carnivore

Part of the fun of moving to a different country is learning about the food traditions of that country. Since I moved to the United Kingdom in June 1996, I have been introduced to so many British dishes that I never knew existed. Of course, I had heard of British staples such as fish and chips and shepherds pie. It turned out though that they are just the tip of the iceberg that is this nation’s culinary heritage.

I have heard so many times from people back home about how bad they think British food is suppose to be. Let me tell you, that is a total falsehood. If you can’t eat well in the UK then you simply didn’t try.  In London alone, you can get food cooked by some of the finest chef’s in the world.  In just this past week, I have eaten Turkish food, Czech food, Indian food, Chinese food and Middle Eastern food while out and about in the city.

British food treasures aren’t just found in the restaurant scene though. The true richness is found in those passed down family recipes that have been made for generations. British food is wonderful and it should be celebrated. The classic British dishes are often master classes in making filling meals out of inexpensive ingredients.

Pan Haggerty is just such one British recipe. It is one of those recipes that is more of a concept than an exact recipe. Traditionally, it would have a bit of meat and then a whole lot of root vegetables.  From what I have learned since moving here, most families have their own idea of what makes a pan haggerty recipe.

My mother in law, makes a dish that is near enough a classic pan haggerty but it uses bacon.  She never calls it pan haggerty but I was watching a British cookery show and saw them making pan haggerty and thought ‘hey, that is that recipes!’.

My husband has always really enjoyed her recipe but there is no danger of him learning to cook well enough to be the one to pass down the recipe. So, I figured that I would take it upon myself to learn a pan haggerty recipe that I felt was as tasty as my mother in law’s version.  Of course, as we are trying to eat a vegetarian lifestyle most of the time, I wanted to make it a vegetarian pan haggerty recipe.

I tinkered around with bits and bobs of vegetables I had and decided upon making it a carrot, butternut squash and potato vegetarian pan haggerty recipe.  For a while, I was afraid there was going to be too much liquid in the pan but by the end of the cooking period I was left with just the right amount of ultra tasty juices.

I sliced up some freshly baked bread and that was all we needed for a truly lovely and very British meal.

Vegetarian Pan Haggerty

vegetarian pan haggerty recipe

Ingredients:

30 grams butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
200 grams onions, sliced in thin rings
550 grams potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
300 grams carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
50 grams, butternut squash, peeled and sliced thinly
500 ml vegetarian chicken flavoured stock or vegetable stock
100 grams cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:
1. Melt the butter with oil over a medium low heat in a pan that will be safe to go into an oven.
2. Sauté the onions until cooked down and just starting to go golden.
3. Scoop out onions and set aside.
4. In the same pan, layer up the vegetable slices with potatoes, reserved onions, carrots and squash. Repeat the layers making sure to end with a potato layer on top.
5. Add the stock on the pan and cook on a medium high heat and covered for 15 minutes.
6. Take the cover off, reduce the heat and cook uncovered for 10 minutes until most – but not all – of the liquid has reduced.
7. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and put until a pre-heated grill for a few minutes until it is melted and started to go golden brown.
8. Serve

Serves: 4

All this fluke warm weather we have been having in London has gotten me thinking about summer eating.  Hot evenings of eating hearty salads for meals are just around the corner. With those light meals I know we are also going to be craving refreshing desserts.

My husband really enjoys those ice pops you can get in a any number of unnatural colours from the corner store. This year, I thought I would try my hand and learning to make my own healthier versions of those frozen ice pops. Also, with a little imagination I thought I might be able to come up with some interesting varieties to keep the idea fresh throughout the summer.

Not only will they be far better for both of us but they don’t actually require all that much effort or money to produce. The ice pop molds are available at any number of supermarkets at this time of year. I picked my set up at Ikea for just over a pound. Apart from the molds, the cost comes down to whatever you decide to put into your ice pops.

For my first attempt at making my own frozen ice pops I went for a kiwi and lemon ice pop recipe. My mother in law had recently been staying with us and left behind several kiwi fruits. I didn’t want them to go to waste and I was sure I could work them into the recipe. For the lemon, I went with a diet cloudy lemonade.

For any American readers, in the UK lemonade means a carbonated drink such as Sprite. However, the cloudy version is much closer in taste to what Americans think of as lemonade. The only difference is that it is carbonated. However, I am sure this kiwi and lemon ice pop recipe would work with non-carbonated lemonade too.

It really couldn’t be much easier to make these kiwi and lemon ice pops and the great thing is that a total of three ingredients goes into the recipe. I can’t even begin to think how many chemicals go into the ones we had been buying!

I am looking forward to a summer of trying out new ice pop varieties. I am sure the possibilities are endless. I am even thinking of “adult” cocktail varieties that could be done.  There is some ginger wine in my fridge that is begging to be used.

Kiwi and Lemon Ice Pops

Kiwi and Lemon Ice Pop Recipe

Ingredients:

80 grams kiwi flesh
1 tablespoon runny honey
1 cup cloudy lemonade

Directions:

1. Purée the kiwi flesh. You can use a traditional blender or a stick blender to do this. I went with the stick blender.
2. Stir in the honey.
3. Pour in the cloudy lemonade and mix everything together until well combined.
4. Pour into the ice pop molds and freeze overnight.

Makes: 6 ice pops

The weather in London this past week has been dangerously close to being summery. Honestly, we have gotten to go outside without our coats on and everything! We don’t even always get to do that in the actual summer months.

This past weekend, I had a friend that was performing a stand up comedy show at a pub in Camden.  So, I figured I would take advantage of the freakish weather and take a stroll through the market before his show. Of course any visit to Camden Market for me means a trip back to the wonderful food stalls in the west yard of Camden Locke Market. It was good to see that so many of the places I had seen on previous visits were still running strong. Also, there were a number of new places that had popped up to seriously tempt my tastebuds.

Frustratingly, I couldn’t allow myself to indulge too much because I knew I would be eating at my friend’s show but I couldn’t let myself leave that food yard without trying something.  Just when I was having trouble deciding what should be my treat I walked around a corner and came face to face with Jaz & Jul’s Organic Hot Chocolate stand.

Organic hot chocolate in Camden Market

Normally, hot chocolate would be enough on its own to get my attention but this time it was watching the woman on the stall preparing the iced hot chocolate that got me going.  On the warm day it seemed like a perfect indulgence.  What I particularly found interesting was the wide variety of unusual flavours of chocolate they offered.

Hot chocolate varieties

All of them sounded really good and I was highly tempted to try the orange with cardamom and cloves because that just sounded wonderful. However, my eye kept being drawn to the bottom of that list to the caramel with a hint of lime variety. That was a combination I hadn’t heard of before and so decided that was they way I was going to go.

I placed my order for an iced chocolate and was very pleasantly served by either Jaz or Jul (not sure which) and I am happy to report that I was offered a choice of soy milk instead of cows milk. It is always nice when people make it easy to make vegan choices. I am not a vegan but I do have lactose intolerances. So, even on that side of things it is nice when the option to not have real dairy is so easily taken.  I did end up taking the lactose risk though and went for real milk.

Iced chocolate being served

I watched as she scooped chocolate powder out of the various containers on the stall and mixed everything together with cold milk and ice cubes. She asked if I wanted whipped cream on top and honestly couldn’t imagine somebody not wanting extra goodness on top of all that milky chocolate. At last, the iced chocolate was mine to drink.

iced hot chocolate drink

I am pleased to report that it was a really tasty drink that was perfect for the warm weather. The caramel and lime flavouring came in the form of flavour crystals that were mixed in with the chocolate. I imagine that had I gone for the hot chocolate option they would have melted more and given a more intense flavour. In the iced variety, they were more like little candy crystals that you could chew on as you were drinking. The lime felt like more than just a hint but that isn’t a complaint at all because I found it to be a really nice combination with the caramel.

I certainly recommend giving Jaz & Jul’s a try when you are next in Camden market but you can also order their mixtures from their website. I am certain I will be making another purchase in the future but next time I will go for the hot chocolate just to see the difference. Plus, it is unlikely that we will have nice weather two outings in a row. This is England after all.