Tag: pubs

BAKING TIPS: Pub grub – puds edition

by granebakes

Pubs are opening up (hurrah!) so I thought I’d share some of the classic pub puds.

In addition to the lemon meringue pies I’ve talked about before, other favourites were: 

Treacle Tart 

A pastry base topped woith a mixtire of breadcrumbs , melted butter and golden syrup with beaten egg folded in and baked in a medium-hot oven. 

Apple Pie 

Either with a pastry lid or open. Place sliced apples with a topping of buttered bread crumbs and brown sugar on your base. Always to be served with custard – Birds of course! 

Parting Thought – Bake Off 

I have enjoyed the repeats of Nigel Slater on the TV. The programme I DO NOT watch is the Professional s Bake Off. This is the type of cooking definitely not my style; having to produce dozens of pastries all exactly the same is what nightmares are made of, fiddly and faddy. 

Fortunately anyone I have ever worked for and with has wanted the home baked approach – not too perfect in appearance but high on taste and content! 

With all this distancing I have had difficulty in sharing with neighbours. Not everything survives being chucked out of the window and I’m running low on small plastic boxes. Luckily my daughter sent me some in a recent goody box – thank you dear XX 

There is a birthday on the Lawns next week so I’m making a chocolate and cherry cake; I’ll leave a bag on the front step to be collected. 

I’m leaving for now with this quote from Nigel Havers: 

“Old Age is like the Corona Virus. No-one wants to get it but you can’t choose”. 

Stay Safe everyone 

Love and Hugs 

Gran E xxxx  

BAKING TIPS: Pub grub

by granebakes

Well, here we are in July, after spending June clearing away birthday cards and spring cleaning. I hope I don’t become anti-social with all this isolation – but no, we will enjoy and appreciate going out and being with friends and family rather than chatting at the window! 

My baking recently has been past favourites – banana and nut loaf, peanut cookies, seedy oaty bakes – all of which you have recipes for. My current diet is soups and poached salmon or chicken, not really of interest to you.  

So, I’ve made a trawl through my old books and come across a notebook from the 1970’s pub-cooking era. This reminded me of how I became such an alcoholic cook (most going into the food of course). I really enjoyed these days, hard work though it was!

Chicken Liver Pate 

This was a real popular item, made using sherry. For those who haven’t cooked livers before, my preparation tip; put them all in a colander, rinse well under the clod tap before cutting in half and trim all the pipey odd bits from the inside using a pair of scissors. 

Anyway, after cleaning and trimming a tub of livers put them into a large frying pan with

  • finely chopped shallots (preferred) or white onion,
  • a slug of oil
  • and a large (James Martin sized) knob of butter.

Cook these slowly before adding in your sherry (Fino or Amontillado) until the mix is bubbling.

Season well with salt and pepper before stirring in a teaspoon of Dijon or Wholegrain Mustard.

Leave to cool then tip into your blender or food processor, pulse until reaching your preferred consistency. Pour this into a dish or individual ramekins and top with melted butter; store in the fridge until required. 

Added flavourings you may wish to consider include pureed garlic or herbs (thyme is good); for texture maybe chopped cooked crispy bacon. 

Easy Meaty Favourites  

Spread your thick pork sausages with onions, garlic and cider in a roasting tin and cover with foil. Cook slowly in a medium hot oven – really tasty! 

Chicken pieces with white wine and herbs works equally well, as do pork chops with apple, sage and onions in lager. 

Large meat balls or patties with tomatoes (tinned or big over ripe fresh ones) with red onion , red wine and basil was another favourite. 

All these were good pub grub alongside the trusty meat pies of course.

Enid’s Sliced Spuds or “Chips with Everything”  

A former boss of mine recently reminded me of my dislike of serving chips with everything. As an alternative I’d cook up large dishes of sliced potatoes and onions with either stock and herbs or milk and cheese. No fancy names, just Enid’s Sliced Potatoes.