Ahh the United Kingdom. For me the thought of the UK evokes images of the Royals, Lush Gardens, Green Pastures, Castles, Pomp and Circumstance, Soccer Madness, and yes food!
Although the Brits used to have a very bad reputation for bland food, that is certainly not the case now. I for one cannot wait to go solely for the wonderful Indian food! Ok so trying to come up with a menu for this week was very difficult. I wanted to cook so many things, classics, modern. So I chose to do several dishes. For lunch we cooked the classic favorite pub food enjoyed by many Brits-Beer Battered Fish and Chips.
We used Fresh Cod, Pale Ale, and Russet Potatoes. We made our frothy batter, delicately dipped our cod filets in and soon they turned to a golden crisp! We prepared our Chips by slicing up our potatoes and keeping them in ice cold water until our oil reached the desired temperature. In they went and the girls could not wait to devour them. We dusted them with some Sea Salt and served everything on Kitchen Paper with a side of good old Malt Vinegar. It was lovely!!! The fish was meaty, mild, and crispy. The chips were savory, salty, and deliciously tangy when dipped in our malt vinegar. What a treat!
We went all out for our UK Dinner. This was by far the most expensive meal we have cooked thus far. We prepared a full English Dinner of Beef Wellington(US Prime Tenderloin wrapped in Puff Pastry) with Fingerling Potatoes in Garlic, Thyme, Rosemary, and Sage, Wild Greens with Walnuts, Balsamic Vinegar and Shaved Parmesan, and an incredible Brandy Peppercorn sauce that was out of this world!!! For dessert we cooked a Scottish Tipsy Laird Trifle. For the kiddos it was non-tipsy!
We Covered the Tenderloin first with Dijon Mustard. The we laid out Prosciutto Di Parma on plastic wrap and gently rolled up the tenderloin so the prosciutto completely covered it. After cooling in the fridge for 30 minutes it was time for the Puff Pastry.
Here is our complete dinner. What a delicious meal!!! The Beef Wellington was so tender you could cut it with a fork. The Brandy Peppercorn sauce with cream, shallots, and fresh thyme was so fantastic! I am going to use that sauce for many dishes that call for proteins not just beef. The potatoes were garlicky goodness and the greens were just the earthiness needed to balance out the heaviness of the main dish. This was definitely a treat!
Here are the links to the recipes we used to cook the UK:
http://britishfood.about.com/od/adrecipes/r/Best-Fish-And-Chips-Recipe.htm
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/the-ultimate-beef-wellington-recipe2.html
http://britishfood.about.com/od/dessert/r/tipsylaird.htm
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