Traditional English Lunch

[ducphat30]

There are 17 homesick English persons coming for lunch next Wednesday and I was hoping to brighten their days with a taste of home. Looking for suggestions, I am in Chicago so all types of staples will be relatively easy to come by.

Thanks in advanced for the help.

Ducphat30

[jackal10]

So much to choose from

Roast beef with yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, boiled cabbage and carrots Always popular, Treacle tart with custard to follow.

Steak and kidney pudding

Fish and chips

Apparently the most popular meal is now Chicken Tikka

A little more up market 1st September marks the start of the pheasent season,

[SBonner]

Dessert is always popular: rice pudding, summer pudding, sticky toffee pudding... you get the idea and lots of Champagne

[kitwilliams]

What's the weather like? Is it still too warm for dishes such as Bangers & Mash or Toad in the Hole? Mmmmm. Mushy peas. Parsnip Pie, which has made parsnip lovers of everyone I've ever fed it to, is posted on recipe gullet. It's a great side dish. Salmon and Leeks. Cauliflower Cheese.

Meringues with cream or ice cream or fruit is something I always love. But a steamed Sticky Toffee Pudding would be my favorite dessert. With custard sauce as well as the toffee sauce! Or Rhubarb Crumble.

Pimm's before lunch. Port after!

[racheld]

I've been sitting reading Nigella's How to Eat during Friday night TV. Lots of roasts and lamb and several nice porky entries, with bitter salads, many rhubarb variations, jellies and tarts and puddings and baked chicken with as many sauces as there are herbs. Wonderful fish dishes, crepes with salmon, glorious spreads of bagels and cheeses and lox and olives and tomatoes. And lots of "green only" salads with the tomatoes left to their own devices, whole, with a knife for slicing when needed. Roasted root vegetables, tossed simply with a little oil and salt, and served room temperature if you wish.

And one of her recipes for Sticky Chocolate Pudding is almost exactly that of the "Dirty Cake" recipe which all of us young housewives in the US South used to make all the time, with its layer stirred together in the bottom of a pan, then sugar and cocoa sifted over, hot water poured on, then the whole thing baked, with the layer rising magically through the water to form a lovely shiny cake floating on a rich creamy chocolate sauce, perfect with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

It's probably the easiest dessert there is, and can be doubled and baked in a VERY large cake pan to serve all those guests.

Any kind of poached fruit, with wine or plain vanilla poaching liquid, served with cream poured over.

I used to cater Queen's Birthday celebration every year for a lovely young couple stationed here at our Army post; they invited all the officers and their wives, and we always had lovely sandwiches and quiches and tarts and sausage rolls. She always included a huge sponge cake with the Union Jack arranged in berries on top, with slashes of whipped cream.

How I miss those dear friends!! I wish the Queen could know what a great impression they made during their time here, and what excellent ambassadors they were.

[MobyP]

I'm with Jack. If you buy a forerib of beef, and find a simple yorkshire pud recipe (and they're all simple), you'll make your friends very happy indeed.

[jackal10]

In fact that's what I'm having this Sunday. I'm entertaining some of my MBA students, to congratulate them on submitting their thesises. Decent piece of beef (3 or 4 ribs from a local farm), cooked rare (57C). Decent claret (proabaly some of the 1990 Château Haut Batailley) to go with.

Consomme

Roast forerib with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes parsnips etc; garden runner beans; horseradish

Blackberry and apple pie;

Stilton

Champagne (although Pimms is a good idea)

Claret

Port

Edited September 3, 2005 by jackal10 (log)

[Andy Lynes]

Nothing better than a roast to remind the Brits of home, no matter what the weather. I'd say a chicken would do equally as well as the beef, or roast pork and crackling, you could still serve the Yorkshires. Make a decent gravy with the cooking juices and stock, but thicken it with Bisto (use less then they say to on the packet, otherwise you'll end up with tasteless glop). There's some nice recipes for side dishes here which will add a bit of elan to the proceedings.

Some sort of crumble, probably apple, with custard made with Bird's custard powder is an absolute must. Then you all have to flop in front of the tele and argue about who's going to do the washing up, or it just won't be a truly authentic experience.

[erica graham]

I say definately the beef- don't forget colemans mustard & for ultimate authenticity burning horseradish cream !!

We get the most sighs when we serve very alcohloic sherry trifle as retro pud (no Jelly though) or Eton Mess!! Then of course Stilton and port!

Sorry- got to go shopping for Sundau lunch now!!

[battleofthebulge]

Trifle is a must have! As Erica says, no Jello, but made with fresh raspberries and lots of creamy custard. Oh and Pale Cream sherry to soak the sponge!

http://www.recipelink.com/ch/2002/december...tdesserts3.html

Sarah

[ruthcooks]

Potted Shrimp for an appetizer. It always impresses the heck out of anyone I've served it to, and is so very easy.

[Carlovski]

Don't forget the numbers.... Some of these suggestions might not be too easy for 17 guests.

That's going to have to be a hefty piece of beef - unless you get really traditional and make everyone fil up on yorkshire pudding beforehand.

Maybe a buffet style lunch instead?

Coronation chicken, poached salmon, sausage rolls, sandwiches.

And the trifle of course!

[Andy Lynes]

Very good point - roast for 17 people could be tricky without an industrial sized stove! You could do a whole stuffed loin of pork and maybe roast the potatoes the day before and re-heat them and cook the yorkshires while the roast is resting.

[ducphat30]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

We ended up starting them off with a salad of bitter greens with a hazelnut and melfor vinaigrette.

The main was a whole roasted sirloin of beef, cooked very slowly. We roasted potatoes off in the drippings, and what was left used to make Yorkshire puddings. We served them with some simple haricot vert, baby carrots and a red wine pan reduction.

Dessert was a berry trifle with creme anglaise and a good dousing of cream sherry.

The group was very happy, to say the least.

Logistics were not a problem, as I run a professional kitchen here in the US and really wanted the guests to have something that would make them feel good for one afternoon.

Again, thank you for all of your help.

ducphat30