British/Scottish recipes

[rebeccajo 14]

*double post*

Edited December 16, 2009 by rebeccajo

[lovelyalex 99]

shes not Scottish, but I have been making a lot of Nigella recipes of late

[david'sgirl 134]

Is Heinz 57 the same as HP?

Nope.

Sorry.

Regarding bread - we're as 'broke' as anybody, but we don't buy our bread off the shelf of the bread aisle. We pay a little extra for breads from the deli section of our local grocery. My husband is always experimenting and we really have no trouble finding things he likes. You might try french loaves, italian loves or other 'crusty' things.

Potatoes - after I had decent Irish potatoes, I was looking for a better American alternative. Try golden potatoes - they are flour-y like many varieties in the UK and Ireland.

I'm not sure I'm the best person to give advice about these things because my husband is really not particular. He knew when he came here he was going to have to adapt and he's made the necessary concessions regarding food. He's never been a big complainer over US bread. Or chocolate. Or many of the other things I read that British long for. NOW, that's not to say that he doesn't miss things. He gets REALLY happy when we are in an area where we can pick up British products. He stuffed himself with bacon and sausage when we visited home last spring. And like I said, we brought HP sauce home in the luggage.

After four years, we've ended up with a blend of products or items in our house that are 'similar'. We never have a full meal that is strictly irish or british. Wes 'laid down the gauntlet' when he decided to move here - he stated he couldn't live without HP or Branston, and so we make sure we have those. Everything else - he's flexible on.

I say let your husband do some cooking and watch what he does. Watch how he seasons things. And when you cook, ask him what he likes and doesn't like about the meal and BE HONESTLY PREPARED to hear him and be willing to modify what you can. There are some things you can do easily to remind him of the foods he loves and other things you can't. They live here now and even though we love 'em, we can't baby 'em too much.

I've been getting the yukon gold potatoes and they come out same (or seems so to me anyway) to what he makes at home. I was not a big fan of the bread in Scotland. I thought the wholemeal stuff was about as tasty as cardboard.lol

I've been getting oatmeal bread and I've got a bread machine so I'll experiment a bit.

You lqst line made me laugh. I don't want tp baby him but I suppose I do feel I should spoil him a bit. I mean he is making a pretty big sacrifice coming here so if I can do anything to make it easier I will.

I keep finding imported items but the prices are silly.

[rebeccajo 14]

You lqst line made me laugh. I don't want tp baby him but I suppose I do feel I should spoil him a bit. I mean he is making a pretty big sacrifice coming here so if I can do anything to make it easier I will.

I keep finding imported items but the prices are silly.

You're right of course. I remember feeling particularly 'driven' when Wes first arrived to try and 'import' as much of his life into mine as was possible. We've got his Father's nursing certificate from the Royal Medico Society (1946) hanging on the wall in our house. And two embroidered pictures his Mother had done. All three are still in the same frames that his parents put them into decades ago. There's a photo of his Mother and Father too.

Things were 'different' for us with Wes arriving here. First of all, his parents had passed away twenty years before his move here. And Wes was emptying out the house they all had lived in together. We went through SO MUCH STUFF that carried so many memories. We ended up bringing with us family records - birth, death and marriage certificates; report cards, news clippings, and bibles; and family photographs. We brought some of his Mother's yellowed and fragile cookbooks. We brought all of her Aran sweater patterns. We brought three figurines from the house and the remains of a china service. And several small pairs of hospital bandage scissors - there had to have been at least 100 pairs lying around the house. Wes remembered his Father having them in his pocket when he'd come home from work.

The house was sold by the council. Someone else lives there now. He says it bothers him not because that wasn't the home he spent his childhood in. So what we have left of his life in Northern Ireland are just a few bits and bobs.

Quite a sacrifice.

[Rob and Jill 82]

I've never tried the brown sauce on french toast but he swears it's better than sex.lol

I was going to say Brown sauce over there reminded me of A1 Steak Sauce here...CAMIC said it first...LOL!!

I have to tell you, the beef in Scotland is what threw me off big time. I don't think I can ever eat a hamburger in Scotland again. Roast was OK, and OMG lamb curry was YUM...Lamb is hard to find here though.

Anyone have recipes for a good red pudding?

[scotinmass 588]

Is Heinz 57 the same as HP?

Nope.

Sorry.

Regarding bread - we're as 'broke' as anybody, but we don't buy our bread off the shelf of the bread aisle. We pay a little extra for breads from the deli section of our local grocery. My husband is always experimenting and we really have no trouble finding things he likes. You might try french loaves, italian loves or other 'crusty' things.

Potatoes - after I had decent Irish potatoes, I was looking for a better American alternative. Try golden potatoes - they are flour-y like many varieties in the UK and Ireland.

I'm not sure I'm the best person to give advice about these things because my husband is really not particular. He knew when he came here he was going to have to adapt and he's made the necessary concessions regarding food. He's never been a big complainer over US bread. Or chocolate. Or many of the other things I read that British long for. NOW, that's not to say that he doesn't miss things. He gets REALLY happy when we are in an area where we can pick up British products. He stuffed himself with bacon and sausage when we visited home last spring. And like I said, we brought HP sauce home in the luggage.

After four years, we've ended up with a blend of products or items in our house that are 'similar'. We never have a full meal that is strictly irish or british. Wes 'laid down the gauntlet' when he decided to move here - he stated he couldn't live without HP or Branston, and so we make sure we have those. Everything else - he's flexible on.

I say let your husband do some cooking and watch what he does. Watch how he seasons things. And when you cook, ask him what he likes and doesn't like about the meal and BE HONESTLY PREPARED to hear him and be willing to modify what you can. There are some things you can do easily to remind him of the foods he loves and other things you can't. They live here now and even though we love 'em, we can't baby 'em too much.

I've been getting the yukon gold potatoes and they come out same (or seems so to me anyway) to what he makes at home. I was not a big fan of the bread in Scotland. I thought the wholemeal stuff was about as tasty as cardboard.lol

I've been getting oatmeal bread and I've got a bread machine so I'll experiment a bit.

You lqst line made me laugh. I don't want tp baby him but I suppose I do feel I should spoil him a bit. I mean he is making a pretty big sacrifice coming here so if I can do anything to make it easier I will.

I keep finding imported items but the prices are silly.

You don't like our real bread cos your taste buds have been destroyed by that stodgy sweet stuff that you call bread and we'd call cake!

[david'sgirl 134]

You don't like our real bread cos your taste buds have been destroyed by that stodgy sweet stuff that you call bread and we'd call cake!

I have been buying the heartier stuff just for you! You choose the bread next time sweetie. Btw sounds like my A1 steak sauce is like brown sauce. We'll have to test it out on some french toast.

[Rob and Jill 82]

I was asking my fiance about that last night. He said brown sauce is more of a Southern Scotland thing and that the Southerners put it on everything. The thought of A-1 on french toast is horrid...Powdered sugar and maple syrup please!!! Although I can see where it would be delicious on Texas Toast. MMMMMM.

[NickyMcMillan 0]

I was asking my fiance about that last night. He said brown sauce is more of a Southern Scotland thing and that the Southerners put it on everything. The thought of A-1 on french toast is horrid...Powdered sugar and maple syrup please!!! Although I can see where it would be delicious on Texas Toast. MMMMMM.

Nah, everybody does it. One of my favourite scottish meals is to get a fried pizza sandwich layered with brown sauce. Meet plenty brits here in Chicago, who all put brown sauce on everything.

Whilst I still crave certain Scottish foods, you learn to adjust. Though I still haven't really found a bread I like. The bread here with the HF corn syrup is disgusting. We make our own.

I have learned to make my own Yorkshire puddings. Taste better than anything you buy in stores back home. So simple too.

Edited December 18, 2009 by NickyMcMillan

[nickandkayte 0]

I highly reccomend Delia's Christmas book. Fantastic food and snacks for the winter, and I am trying my first one tomorrow night...Just goto find some Creme Fraiche and Filo pastry somewhere!

[rebeccajo 14]

I was asking my fiance about that last night. He said brown sauce is more of a Southern Scotland thing and that the Southerners put it on everything. The thought of A-1 on french toast is horrid...Powdered sugar and maple syrup please!!! Although I can see where it would be delicious on Texas Toast. MMMMMM.

Brown Sauce a southern Scotland thing? You mean like HP Brown Sauce?

I've never been to Scotland. But I've seen HP on the tables of restaurants at every other location in the UK I've been, including restaurants in Heathrow, Gatwick, and Belfast.

[david'sgirl 134]

I highly reccomend Delia's Christmas book. Fantastic food and snacks for the winter, and I am trying my first one tomorrow night...Just goto find some Creme Fraiche and Filo pastry somewhere!

Who is the author?

Most shops have frozen filo pastry you just thaw it. Crme friache is harder to find but you could make it.

Brown Sauce a southern Scotland thing? You mean like HP Brown Sauce?

I've never been to Scotland. But I've seen HP on the tables of restaurants at every other location in the UK I've been, including restaurants in Heathrow, Gatwick, and Belfast.

Yeah same stuff. He is from West Lothian so I dont believe it is south.My geography is terrible but pretty sure it's East.

[rebeccajo 14]

Yeah same stuff. He is from West Lothian so I dont believe it is south.My geography is terrible but pretty sure it's East.

LOL. I think your man is taking the piss with you!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Sauce

The original recipe for HP Sauce was invented and developed by Frederick Gibson Garton, a grocer from Nottingham. He registered the name H.P. Sauce in 1896. Garton called the sauce HP because he had heard that a restaurant in the Houses of Parliament had begun serving it. For many years the bottle labels have carried a picture of the Houses of Parliament. Garton sold the recipe and HP brand for the sum of £150 and the settlement of some unpaid bills to Edwin Samson Moore. Moore, the founder of the Midlands Vinegar Company (the forerunner of HP Foods) subsequently launched HP Sauce in 1903. Some stories suggest that the name HP was derived from the name Harry Palmer.[2]

[david'sgirl 134]

LOL. I think your man is taking the piss with you!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Sauce

The original recipe for HP Sauce was invented and developed by Frederick Gibson Garton, a grocer from Nottingham. He registered the name H.P. Sauce in 1896. Garton called the sauce HP because he had heard that a restaurant in the Houses of Parliament had begun serving it. For many years the bottle labels have carried a picture of the Houses of Parliament. Garton sold the recipe and HP brand for the sum of £150 and the settlement of some unpaid bills to Edwin Samson Moore. Moore, the founder of the Midlands Vinegar Company (the forerunner of HP Foods) subsequently launched HP Sauce in 1903. Some stories suggest that the name HP was derived from the name Harry Palmer.[2]

Why? I know what the stuff is. We use it on burgers and steaks but they use it on everything. It's good on chips.

[rebeccajo 14]

Why? I know what the stuff is. We use it on burgers and steaks but they use it on everything. It's good on chips.

Well, maybe I misunderstood your earlier post about it being a "Southern Scotland" thing.

All I'm trying to say is (as far as I know) it's widely slathered all about the UK on everything.

Edited December 21, 2009 by rebeccajo