The next recipe from English Food will be roast lamb. Not as popular as it was as a roast meat these days, but easy to come by. Jane Grigson in her wisdom gives us a list: 'Things to go with Roast Lamb'. I thought I'd give the list in full. Hopefully as I cook through the
Lamb & Mutton section of the
Meat, Poultry & Game chapter, I'll try them all. Some I'll have to as they are also offical recipes, others I have inadvertantly tried as parts of other dishes and such. Anyways, here's the list:
Redcurrant or medlar jelly (winter)
Laverbread, heated with orange and lemon juice
Young
peas and young potatoes cooked with mint
Asparagus
French beans
Spinach
Cauliflower
Purple sprouting broccoli
Chestnuts and Brussels sprouts
Chestnut puree
Roast potatoes
Mutton and lamb in oil-on-canvas form
Ah, roast lamb!! It's not that popular here in the U.S., but I love it, especially with peas & new potatoes. When peas were in season earlier in the summer I ate them almost every day, cooked with spring onions & a little butter, & lots of apple mint. Potatoes &/or peas cooked with mint are definitely my version of Proust's madeleine - takes me right back to my Cheshire childhood!
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the new blog. We have a couple of amazing cookbook stores here in NY - Kitchen Arts & Letters, & Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks. Definitely worth checking out, & they both have plenty of English books, including some very rare stuff. Kitchen A & L has a website, & you can order stuff, but I'm not sure about Bonnie S. - I think she's a little more idiosyncratic. She's a real Village character.
I stumbled across your blog a couple of weeks ago and have now read every single entry. I think my partner hates you now.
ReplyDeleteGood work.
As for roast lamb, it's my go to meat when I want to impress people without doing much work. 'English Food' has been on my Amazon wish list for eons, but for some reason I always end up buying something else when feeding my cookbook obsession (no pun intended). I'm looking forward to seeing what Griggers does with her lamb.
You've left me with something of a conundrum, though. Clearly the book is worth buying, but your blog is so comprehensive (and entertaining) that I could just refer to you rather than parting with my cash.
You've read every comment!? Even the terrible ones at the start? Blimey.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely buy the book too. She is such a great writer and I try not to use her words too much. Each chapter starts with an essay on the chapter's suject. They are so good. If you get the book you see the one I haven't done, and think how the hekkins I am going to do them...
Thanks for thinking that my blog is comparable though.
onemorefoldedsunset: thanks for the book advice. I am planning to buy at least one new old book (!) every month so I shall definitely check out those stores (I'm assuming they do mail order). It is amazing how useful GoogleBooks has been, though its nothing compared to the real thing...
ReplyDeleteIf you are looking to buy new books then I can't recommend Paul Hollywood's '100 Great Breads' enough. I'm ploughing through it at a ridiculous rate (three loaves so far this week). It's really great if you want to get into baking your own bread. I'm treating it in the same way you're approaching Griggers, I will cook every bread (even the dodgier sounding ones), but I'm not documenting my efforts formally.
ReplyDeleteI also just got my grubby little mits on 'A Century of British Cooking' by Marguerite Patten. Perhaps a little redundant considering your tome.
Allegra McEvedy's books are good too. Her fillet of beef cooked in a tea towel on an open fire looks bonkers, but I'm desperate for an occasion special enough to try it.
I shall check those out, thanks Beth. The Century of British Cooking sounds especially good.
ReplyDeleteI haven't made bread in ages. I've been meaning to get hold of Elizabeth Davids Yeast and Bread Cookery,but your suggestion might pip her's to the post.
Cheers!