Tea for two and two for tea...

I think "Tea" is on of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted concepts out there. Afternoon tea, High tea, Tea, Dinner - all possibly meaning the same thing - or completely different ones.

So, let's go the panel and get a professionals' view.

AT HOME, HIGH AND FAMILY TEAS.

"At Home" Tea is served upon small tables, the servant before bringing it in seeing that one is placed conveniently near her mistress, who generally dispenses the tea. No plates are given for a tea of this kind, and the servant, or servants, after seeing that all is in readiness, leave the room, the gentlemen of the party doing all the waiting that is necessary.
The tea equipage is usually places upon a silver salver, the hot water is in a small silver or china kettle on a stand, and the cups are small. Thin bread and butter, sandwiches, cake, petits-fours and sometimes fresh fruit are all the eatables given. These are daintily arranged on plates, spread with lace doilies.

High Tea. - In some houses this is a permanent institution, quite taking the place of late dinner, and to many it is a most enjoyable meal, young people preferring it to dinner, it being a movable feast that can be partaken of at hours which will not interfere with tennis, boating, or other amusements. At the usual high tea there are probably to be found one or two small hot dishes, cold chicken, or game, tongue or ham, salads, cakes of various kinds, sometimes cold fruit tarts with cream or custard, and fresh fruit. Any supper dish, however, can be introduced, and much more elaborate meals be served, while sometimes the tea and coffee are relegated to the sideboard. In summer it is not unusual to have everything cold.

Family Teas. - At these meals cake, jam, sardines, potted meats, buttered toast, tea cakes and fruit are often provided, in addition to the tea, coffee, bread and butter. Watercress and radishes are nice in summer.
The hours for family teas may vary in many households, but are generally governed by the time of the dinner that has preceded them, and the kind of supper partaken of afterwards. Where this is of a very light character, such as a glass of wine and a slice of cake, or a more homely glass of beer and bread and cheese, a 6 to 7 o'clock tea would not be too later, and a few savouries or eggs would be needed in addition to the bread and butter and cake so generally found; but where a substantial supper is to follow the tea the latter would be of a very light description, and should be served as early as 4.30 to 6 o'clock.

One fish, Two fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

What a toad-aly hole-some meal.

Well, when my (vegetarian) sister said we wouldn't be able to go to her house for dinner, I turned to my other (non-vegetarian) sister and said "Come to mine."

It was an excuse to make something with gratuitous meat in it. Just for fun. Oh, and lard too.

Not that there's anything wrong with being vegetarian (or vegan or pescatarian or pescapollotarian or whatever) but sometimes meat is fun. Turducken anyone?

So I went with Toad-In-The-Hole - which is not as gratuitous as it could be, but it's still meat in a yorkshire pudding, or as Special-Toad-In-The-Hole has it:- sausages wrapped in ham in a Yorkshire pudding covered in lard.



Mmmm, mmmm

TOAD-IN-THE-HOLE

INGREDIENTS. - 1 lb. of beefsteak (cut up small)
4 oz. of flour
1/2 a pint of milk
egg
salt
dripping

METHOD. - Mix the flour, milk, egg, and a little salt in a smooth batter.
Put in a Yorkshire pudding-tin sufficient dripping to form a thin layer when melted, pour in about a quarter of the batter, and bake until set.
Then add the meat, season it with salt and pepper, pour in the remainder fo the batter, bake quickly until it has risen and set, and then more slowly until sufficiently cooked.
Cut and serve in squares arranged neatly overlapping each other on a hot dish.

TIME. - To bake, about 1 hour. SUFFICIENT for 3 or 4 persons.



But what I've done here is use a different recipe, which oddly enough came with my electric beaters.

special toad in the hole (you can tell it's a modern recipe due to the lack of capitalisation.)

ingredients
175g (6 oz) plain flour
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
200ml (7 floz) milk
200ml (7 floz) water
45ml (3 tbsp) fresh chopped mixed herbs, such as parsley, rosemary and thyme
8 good pork sausages of your choice
8 slices Parma ham
25g (1 oz) lard
15ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
2 red onions, sliced

method
Place the flour, salt, eggs and milk in a large bowl. Using the mixer beat for approx. 1 minutes, until well blended. Then with the beater still running gradually add the water and herbs, until blended. Leave batter to stand for 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 22oC, 425oF, Gas Mark 7. Wrap each sausage in a slice of Parma ham. Place the sausages and lard in a large shallow roasting tin and bake for 10 minutes, until very hot.
Remove the roasting tin from the oven, pour in the batter and bake for 30-40 minutes, until well risen and golden.
Meanwhile heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onions for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until caramelised. Remove the tin from the oven, scatter onions over and serve.

Prep. time 15 mins; Cook time 40 mins
Serves 4 people

I thought it was pretty darn tasty. Also, my first true lard experience which was exciting. Although now I have 225 g of lard in the fridge just waiting for the next experiment.

We swim free today, we won't become mornay...

Don't put all your eggs in one basket

No, they're not dinosaur eggs, they're SCOTCH EGGS. A delicious and disturbingly awesome dish.

Pretty much, Scotch eggs are just protein. Eggs, wrapped in meat and fried (or baked).

Contrary to popular belief (and despite being the butt of a number of English comedians' jokes about the Scottish diet), Scotch Eggs were actually invented by the famous London department store, Fortnum & Mason in 1851 and are still available from them.

Anyway, hat's off to them, because they are scrummy. If you like eggs. And sausage meat. You could probably even use lean meat. Or maybe vegetarian sausages.

SCOTCH EGGS

INGREDIENTS. - 3 hard-boiled eggs
1/2 lb. of sausage meat
1 egg
breadcrumbs
frying-fat
6 croûtes of friend bread

METHOD. - Let the eggs become quite cold, remove the shells, and cover each one completely with sausage-meat.
Coat them carefully with beaten egg and breadcrumbs, and fry in hot fat until nicely browned.
Cut each egg in half, dish them cut side upwards on the croûtes of fried bread besprinkled with chopped parsley, and serve either hot or cold.

TIME. - About 3/4 of an hour. SUFFICIENT for 6 persons.

Or you can bake them in the oven, which is probably the healthier option. Very, very yummy, especially cold. Like a takeaway snack. Of pure protein. But if you look at my last post, I served it with the left over spinach pudding so I got some vegetables as well. Would be great at a picnic.

The Leaning Tower of Salmon

Saucy Señoritas - wink, wink, nudge, nudge

The mystery that is SPANISH SAUCE.

I've had several readers inquire about this (well, 2...) so here it is. It is actually tastier than it appears in this photo. If you look at the photo in the Spinach Pudding post you can see it in the little jug.

Odd as it sounds, I would compare this to a vegetable gravy cross tomato sauce. But it's pretty good.



ESPAGNOLE OR SPANISH SAUCE

INGREDIENTS. -
1 quart of stock
1 oz. of raw lean ham or bacon (obviously omitted if you are vegetarian)
2 oz. of butter
2 oz. of flour
1 carrot
1 onion
1 clove
4 peppercorns
a bouquet garni (parsley, thyme, bay-leaf)
1/2 a gill of tomato pulp (I used instead some tomato paste)
1/2 a gill of sherry (optional)
2 mushrooms

METHOD. - Melt the butter in a stewpan, add the ham, cut into small pieces, fry for a few minutes, and then put in the vegetables slices, the herbs, and spices.
Stir these ingredients over a slow fire for about 5 minutes, then add the flour and brown it carefully.
Add the stock, tomato-pulp, and sherry (if used), stir the sauce until boiling, draw the saucepan to the side of the fire, let it boil slowly for about 1 hour, then skim off the fat, pass the sauce through a tammy-cloth, season, warm up, and serve quickly.

TIME. - About 1 1/2 hours. QUANTITY, about 1 pint.

I'm sure I didn't cook it for that long, and I just passed it through a sieve at the end. Pretty darn lickable though, and my sister ate some of the vegetables that were left in the strainer. She tells me they were good.