Week 22: The United Kingdom

Jean loves all things British; so much that her college major was English--which happens to be the national language of Great Britain!

Things we love about the UK: First and foremost, Robert Pattinson. Ok, fine. "We" don't love him. Jean does.

But then there is gin, Freddy Mercury, scones, clotted cream, lemon curd, finger sandwiches, tea, teatime in general, trifle, shepherd's pie, London, IPA, Brown Ale, other ale, Bushmills whiskey (Northern Ireland is part of the UK. It totally counts), Mr. Darcy, Jane Austen, Harry Potter, Ben Sherman, Wagamama, Anglophiles, the tube, minding the gap, the gap, British accents, umbrellas, giant hats at weddings, Prince William, The Clash, Dame Julie Andrews, King Arthur, Merlin, Erasure, Alan Rickman, Colin Firth, Imperialism, Monty Python, Bowie, Muse, Def Leppard, english cucumbers, fish & chips, the BBC, tweed, John Oliver, pasties, Sunday Roast (see below), Yorkshire Puddings (see below) calling things puddings that are in no way puddings (see below), Wellies, J.R.R. Tolkien, Professor Steven Hawking, Big Ben and Parliament, the monarchy, use of the Pound instead of the Euro, the invention of tennis, Debrett's, the Pump Room, taking a turn about the room (it's so refreshing), take-away instead of take-out, butlers, Sir Isaac Newton, Sir Sean Connery, Sir David Attenborough , 007, Wham!, Rupert Giles, Spike and Drusilla, Carlisle Cullen, dandyism, kilts (Scotland is part of the UK), scotch, scotch tape, Ewan McGregor, monocles and top hats, and Shakespeare.

Did anyone mention Robert Pattinson and the fact that Jean is a dirty old woman?

Anyway... We decided to do a Sunday Roast for our UK experience. This is typically roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and some kind of vegetable (we did brussels sprouts) served on (you guessed it) Sunday.

Yorkshire Puddings

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• Equal quantity of milk
  
• Equal quantity of flour
• Pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp Sunday Roast pan drippings

Instructions:

Visit Pike Place Market and purchase a Popover Pan at Sur la Table for this very specific occasion.

Whisk to combine milk and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Add the pinch of salt. Walk away for 10 minutes. Maybe enjoy a cocktail while you wait.

Sift the flour into the mixture and whisk together until creamy. No lumps, Mrs. Bennett, NO LUMPS!

Walk away for another 30 minutes or so. Maybe you need a refill on that cocktail.

Grease the popover pan with a small bit of pan drippings from the roast (or vegetable oil). Heat in the oven at about 450 until the fat is smoking.

Add 1 tbsps cold water to the batter and give it another good whisk. Fill the popover pan to one third of each section return quickly to the oven. Don't dawdle! Bake until golden brown, approx 20 minutes. Enjoy!











Idaho Potatoes - UK Style!

1. Par-boil the potatoes in gently boiling salted water for about 8 minutes. Stop cooking before they're cooked right through.

2. Leave to cool completely, then scratch roughly with a fork and season with a little fine salt.
3. Roast them along with the, um, roast. Baste or turn the potatoes as soon as they go into the pan so they have a light coating of oil from the start.

4. Roast for the last 45 minutes of the roast's cooking time, turning at least once. If they look like they could use a bit more browning leave them in after the roast has come out to rest, while you increase the heat for the Yorkshire pudding.

Roast Beef

We talked to the butcher and got a nice roast. The preparation was straightforward, just a simple rubbing of kosher salt and black pepper. Then into a 450F oven for 30 minutes, then drop the temperature to 325F until the thermometer reads 120F (rare and mooing). Give it at least 20 minutes to rest before slicing.

Put it all together and enjoy with a nice home brewed Brown Ale.