100 g of fat (suet, lard, butter), 50 g of candied lemon zest, 50 g of candied orange zest, 100 g of candied cherries, 100 g of almonds, 150 g of raisins, 150 g of sultanas, 100 g of flour, 150 g of breadcrumbs, 100 g of brown sugar, grated zest and juice of 1 lemon, 2 good pinches of cinnamon, cloves and allspice, ¹ teaspoon of salt, juice of 1 orange, 1 cup of milk, 3 eggs, 3 tablespoons of cognac
Finely dice the suet, candied fruit and almonds, and wash raisins; mix the ingredients well in a large bowl. Add flour, breadcrumbs, sugar, lemon zest, spices; stir, pour
in lemon and orange juice, milk, eggs and cognac. Beat the ingredients thoroughly. In a large pot, bring to a boil water in which the pudding will be prepared. Transfer the dough mixture into a well greased pudding basin, cover with waxed paper or tin foil and seal the edges well. Submerge ¼ of the basin into a larger pot of water, cover and cook for 45 hours. When the pudding is done, take it from the water, wrap into tin foil and put in the refrigerator. Before serving, heat it for 23 hours in steam. Serve with brandy butter.
OATCAKE
200 g of medium-coarse oat flour, a good pinch of salt, 2 tablespoons of lard, 23 tablespoons of water (baking soda can be added)
Knead a firm elastic dough from the ingredients. Roll out about 3 mm thick, cut into rather big rounds; cut these rounds into smaller ones or into triangles. Dust them with oat flour, bake on a hot plate or heavy baking tray for about 5 minutes. Do not turn the biscuits while baking. Serve hot with unsalted butter or cottage cheese. SCOTTISH STYLE SIMMERED STUFFED CHICKEN (Howtowdie)
2 cups of breadcrumbs, milk, 1 peeled and chopped onion, 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley, salt, black pepper, 1 broiler-fryer chicken (of about 1.52 kg), 2 tablespoons of butter, 6 peeled sliced onions, 3.5 dl of chicken broth, 2 cloves, 6 black peppercorns, a pinch of ground nutmeg, 1 kg of spinach, chicken liver, 2 tablespoons of double cream
Heat the oven to 250 °C. Prepare stuffing from breadcrumbs, some milk, onions, seasonings and spices. Fill chicken cavity with stuffing, secure with toothpicks. Melt butter in a shallow roasting pan and sauté onion in it. Add chicken to the onion, breast side up, and roast it in an oven for 20 minutes. Turn it several times for even roasting. Add broth and simmer in an oven for 40 minutes at 200 °C. Cook spinach, put aside and keep warm. Take roast chicken from the oven, put in a warm place. Drain off the roasting juice and simmer it for 5 minutes, add chopped livers and the remaining butter. Heat well through but do not boil. Add spices. Chicken is served on a heated tray, with spinach at the edges. Pour sauce over the chicken. POACHER'S POT
1 rabbit (of 1 kg), halved, 2 pigeons, halved, 2 pheasants, halved, 50 g of flour, 2 large onions, sliced, 2 kohlrabi, peeled and cut into cubes, 3 large carrots, sliced, 1 kg of gammon joint, 4 sprigs of sage, 4 sprigs of thyme, 4 sprigs of parsley, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 large Savoy cabbage, outer leaves and hard stalk removed, quartered, 3 dl of red wine
Rub the rabbit and the wild birds all over with the flour. Prepare a mixture of vegetables (onions, carrots, kohlrabi) and spices in a very large pot, place the game on top, add just enough water to cover the meat, bring to a boil and simmer very slowly for 2 to 2.5 hours. Stir occasionally. After 2 hours, add the Savoy cabbage and the red wine. Taste for seasoning. When the ingredients are done, take out gammon from the pot, and carve it into thick slices. Cut the slices in half and put back into the stew to warm through. Simmered meat, vegetables and sauce are served with home-baked bread.
SMOKED HADDOCK (Finnan haddy)
700 g of smoked haddock fillet, skinless, 7 dl of water, 1 bay leaf, 100 g of cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, 1 glass of white wine
Boil fish fillet in water with a bay leaf. Drain the water, let fish cool, then mash. Prepare separately a mixture of flour fried in butter, add 4 dl of broth to make a smooth sauce. Put mashed fish into the sauce, add white wine, place the mixture in individual serving dishes, top with cheese and roast. Serve the sauce with pea purée. To make Scottish style pea purée the following is needed: 200 g of dried peas, 50 g of butter, salt and pepper. Soak peas in cold water for at least 12 hours. Drain off the water and boil the peas in 1.5 l of fresh water. Boil for 3 hours, stirring occasionally to avoid peas sticking to the bottom of the pan or burning. Add water as needed. When peas are cooked to a mush, add butter, season with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly until the pea mixture is really smooth.
SHORTBREAD
85 g of sugar, 85 g of powdered sugar, 280 g of butter, 450 g of flour
Heat the oven to 140 °C. Mix butter, both sugar types in a large bowl, add sifted flour and the other ingredients and knead into a somewhat stiff dough. Sprinkle the board with flour, roll the dough out to a thickness of 1.5 cm, cut it into circles or squares, prick with a fork, place on a rack. Bake in the oven for 3040 minutes until the pastry is light brown and crispy. Sprinkle with sugar when still hot. WELSH RAREBIT (Caws pobi)
24 slices of bread slices, 1¹ cups of grated cheddar cheese, 2 tablespoons of milk or beer, 30 g of butter, 1 tablespoon of mustard, pepper
Toast sliced bread, place it on a rack and butter toast slices. Grate cheese, mix it well with milk, stir in mustard and add pepper. Stir thoroughly until the mixture becomes thick. Place portions of the mixture on the pieces of toast, pressing slightly to adhere, bake until cheese is golden brown. Serve these delicious slices with morning coffee. WELSH SOUP (Cawl)
2 l of water, 350 g of beef shank, 2 large onions, chopped, 2 large carrots, sliced, 1 rutabaga, sliced, salt, pepper, 4 potatoes, peeled and quartered, 2 leeks, sliced, 1 small head of cabbage, 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley
Place beef shank in boiling water, add spices and cook for 1.5 hours. Let cool overnight. Lift meat out and cut it into small cubes. Skim fat from the surface of stock, return stock to heat, and bring to a boil. Add onions, carrots, rutabaga, salt and pepper. Simmer for 1 hour. Add potatoes and simmer until tender, 1520 minutes. Then stir in leeks, cabbage, parsley and reserved meat. Simmer until vegetables are tender.
RABBIT PIE (Pastai gwningen)
Sheet or puff pastry, 1 rabbit, 250 g of beef steak, 120 g of streaky bacon or ham, 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley, nutmeg, pepper, salt, stock
Soak the rabbit in salted water for 1.5 hours, cut it into small slices and place in a baking pan. Add bacon and beef steak, both cut into thin slices, sprinkle with parsley, pepper and nutmeg. Cover with the pastry and bake in a moderate oven for 1.5 hours.
SNOWDON PUDDING (Pwdin Eryri)
Named after Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales.
100 g of fine suet, 3 eggs, 4 tablespoons of corn flour, 75 g of brown sugar, 100 g of breadcrumbs, 50 g of raisins, 2 tablespoons of lemon marmalade, grated zest of 1 lemon, a pinch of salt
Combine suet, breadcrumbs, corn flour and salt, add the lemon zest. Sprinkle the bottom of a buttered basin with raisins (dont use all of them). Beat separately eggs and marmalade, add the remaining raisins, and stir the batter in the flour mixture. Pour the mixture into the dish, cover with pleated greaseproof paper and tin foil, seal the edges well. Place the basin in a saucepan of boiling water and steam for 1.5 hours. When the pudding is done, turn it out on the plate and serve hot with English cream.