sallysimmons

Shepherd's Pie is always a good recipe because you don't need any special English ingredients. (Tip: put a layer of raw onions on top of the meat before you put the mashed potato on top. It adds so much!)

Or a pie or pasty would be another good idea - cornish pasty, meat and potato pie etc. I don't have recipes for any of this because I'm a veggie but if you google 'british recipes,' I bet you'll find a lot of ideas.

I made Homity Pie for my husband recently and now he is hooked.

I don't know how to make trifle, but what about a good old pudding like sticky toffee pudding?

GoldCoastMag

Trifle is the easiest of desserts, all you need is some sponge cake or fingers if you can find them, make jelly (jello) and pour it over the cake in a largish bowl or individual ones, put it in the fridge to set.

Make some pouring custard, we could buy "birds" in the local supermarket but if not some cornflour, vanilla, and a little yellow colouring cooked with about a pint of milk and let it cool so it doesnt melt the jelly when you pour a layer over to cover it.

Once it is refrigerated and completely cool, you can decorate it adding a layer of cream or by piping cream on top. Chocolate can be shaved with a potato peeler or grated and sprinkled and vwalla!

fulwood

thanks thus far for the responses..

Beedubya

Well that will be the best you will getting in supermarkets here so better get used to it LOL!!

(p.s. my grand-kids make that shake it up pancake mix all the time in Australia)

Beedubya

Wow that looks absolutely delicious!!!!!

But I'm 2 weeks into Weight Watchers, so it is a BIG no no LOL!!

dontheturner

Shame on You! Should have soaked the sponges in Sherry first. - Mind I have used Amaretto, or Cherry Brandy, if there's only adults to consume it..
Take Care. Don

between two worlds

With all due respect Goldcoast, NO jelly should be in real trifle!!! And the sponge cake should be soaked in SHERRY...

my mother makes the most wonderful trifle every Christmas, don't know the recipe but I do know the sponge cake is soaked in sherry, and there is fresh cream as well as the custard.

Of course I know some Brits do like it with jelly, don't mean to offend!
but IMO this is a bastardization of the real thing....and not just because I don't like jelly!

First recipe that came up when I googled sherry trifle is below, looks great and not too hard!

http://www.suite101.com/content/trad...-recipe-a76688

As for the main dish, I think shepherd's pie is an excellent suggestion, and easy.

I wonder if any British cheeses are available locally to serve at the end of the meal with crackers...

Tina

GoldCoastMag

Tipsy Trifle totally

curleytops

Here's something quick & easy if anyone fancies a sweet treat, hubby's Jam Pudding:

4 oz. self raising flour
2 oz. sugar
2 oz. vegetable suet (we use the lite stuff)
1 egg
4-6 Tablespoons milk
4 Tablespoons jam, your choice (T & L golden syrup is good too)

Mix dry ingredients along with egg & sufficient milk to make a sticky mixture. Spoon jam or syrup into 2-Pt. microwave safe pudding dish, pour above mixture on top. Microwave on high power 5 minutes (750 watt oven, 30 seconds less for more powerful unit). Check with knife or toothpick - pudding is done when it comes out clean. Place a dinner plate on top of the pudding dish & flip, leave dish for approx. 1 minute before removing - careful this is hot!! Serve with hot custard - its yummy!

charleygirl

Oh Curlytops, that sound great, my husband brought back so suet from the UK, I am going to make this tonight!
Thanks.

Beedubya

HUBBY???!!

Don't tell me you got married already and we didn't get an invitation to the wedding?

jasper123

goldcoastmag,
You are Brilliant!!!! thanks for the trifle recipe, just saying to Mum the other day ------ remember those trifles you used to make when I was a kid --- she says yes but nobody makes them anymore, they just buy those individual ones in the store, ---- now I can surprise her and make a really good one with a little cream on top and shaved chocolate too Hmmmmm
Now to make this dream desert compleat and really give us a dose of the oldie days we must have some (now I dont know how to spell this but it sounds like Bloomaunge) used to love that dished up with the trifle, heaven
do you know goldcoast how to make that, I think it used to be sold in packets and you just made it with hot milk --- like custard,
Rodney.
PS are you a Chef?

DDL

FWIW, here's some ideas. I know that when we lived in the States, my husband just loved it whenever I would TRY to cook British for him, so I'm happy to share my thoughts/ideas/pictures. I think it's a beautiful thing for you to want to do this for your brother.

I'm not sure if the Facebook [public] links will work, so if they don't, please at least give me an "A" for effort.



FULL ENGLISH
If you can get your hands on some proper bacon, sausages and baked beans from a local British shop (Amazon sells Heinz baked beans), a Full English is about the easiest British meal you could make - and what better to go with a bracing cup of builder's, eh? My husband used to love it when I cooked this for him when we lived in the States. Now, of course, we can just go to the tearoom around the corner at Runnymede and order one for £4 - and no washing up for me!


GAMMON, EGG & CHIPS
I know you can't get Gammon over there, but I used to just buy a nice, thick piece of what they called ham steak as a substitute. I would use frozen 'steak fries' because they were the closest thing I could find to a proper chip.


CORNISH PASTIES
I used to make him 'Cornish' Pasties, as well. Dead easy (using prepared pie crust) , but the prep is a bit time consuming. Step-by-step tutorial pics (from my very own kitchen!) here

Just delicious and you don't really need a 'recipe' per se. As long as you know the ingredients (I used rutabaga in lieu of swede) you can just gauge the amounts and stuff your pasty as much or as little as you like. Secret is to chop everything up as small as possible for quick cooking within the pastry shell.


SCOTCH EGGS
A bit fidly as well, but very, very tasty! I used Delia's recipe but obviously they're all about the same. Step-by-step tutorial pics (from my very own kitchen!) here. I think I had the oil a tad too high and they browned more than I wanted, but they were still really good.


VICTORIA SPONGE
Wouldn't this be a nice birthday cake for your brother? Again, I used Delia's recipe, and step-by-step tutorial pics (from my very own kitchen!) here.


'AS TIME GOES BY' CUSTARD TART
My British expat friend Barbara used to run a tearoom in Connecticut (and later a British food shop in Orlando). This is the recipe she used in her tearoom. I made it once. Very easy and very, very tasty:SHEPHERD'S OR COTTAGE PIE
Another recipe from a different British expat friend of mine who lives in Arizona. I have not personally tried this recipe. I used to cheat and buy the Coleman's Cottage (or Shepherd's) Pie mix from Publix (you can also buy from Amazon) and always used that for my pies - with great success. But this recipe sounds good.

Don't know how easy it is for you to find mince lamb where you live, so a Cottage Pie might prove easiest. (It would certainly be cheaper - I always found lamb to be quite expensive in the states.)Hopefully, these ideas will jump-start your own menu planning. Let us know what you end up fixing for what will be a very special birthday meal.

sallysimmons

Almost the perfect recipe, but a layer of raw onion spread over the meat before laying the mash on top will elevate it to another level.

Got this tip from Keith Richards' book - the last person you would think would know about cooking

Beedubya

That must be blancmange you are talking about.

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/sains...wder_105g.html