I do these day off dinners. My day to make something more than a rush home from work dinner.
My daughter suggested since it was jk and harry’s Bday to do a English dinner. I did a suto one for her Harry Potter themed 21st birthday. I wanted to try a bit more true.
I went into my old cookbooks. I chatted with a coworker from England, my cousins hubby and the online searches.
I also discovered upon my search thru my Vincent Price cookbook that Boris Karloff was English. I don’t know if I already knew this but obviously forgot.
The challenge for this meal also included some vegetarians. I had a plan!
Here are some pictures and I’ll tell you the menu along with a couple simple and super recipes.
Mushrooms in cream sauce, white toast and Branston pickles
This was so simple and delicious and not a mushroom left.
So easy cucumber mini sandwiches
These are always a must. Go together quick and a hit. You really can use any recipe and be perfect .
Mash, Mushy Peas and Onion Gravy... so good
The potatoes were made in the instapot. Ok, wow! Instspots will be a discussion for another day.
Onion gravy was made using vegetable stock. Besides not using beef stock, mist recipes very similar that I looked through. I bet there is many more to find.
Mushy peas exceeded expectations. Never had them before. Yep , nope, never. The fresh mint and green onions were a hit.
salad with fresh made Stilton cheese dressing!!!!
We love salads. Cold chopped iceberg. I used red onions, sliced fresh apricots, crumble Stilton and chopped Marcona almonds.
Sooooo, I forgot to take a picture of my trifle before we dived in.
Not pretty picture. Man was it divine. Used a traditional recipe found in my Vincent Price cookbook(details further down)
Let’s talk the bangers! I had a package I purchased from the market. Since I had invited my vegetarian friends I wanted to give something else a try. Low and behold they were delicious. Vegan sausages!! Wow! WTH!
I ordered these off Amazon fresh. I could not believe how good they were. Reminded me of breakfast sausage. I hear Whole Foods has the best.
Fyi that coffee drinks is pretty darn good. It was the amazon fresh deal.
So how about a couple great recipes from the night ?😁
Mushy Peas
Two TBS olive oil
One bunch of green onions. White and green parts. Chopped
Handful fresh mint leaves. No stems
One pound frozen peas(petite would be lovely
Two TBS butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
The how to
Hear the olive oil, peas, green onions over medium low. Let steam for ten minutes. Add mint. Combine. Now I use a hand blender to pulse until smooth but you can certainly use a blender or food processor. Add butter and salt and pepper to taste.
Done! Fresh! Aromatic! Delicious!
Second recipe to show is from my Vincent Price cookbooks ok. Yes, the one and only Vincent Price. He was quite the renaissance man.
This book is full of travel pictures and divided by country. Copies of menus from travels and then recipes. I’m going to share the mushroom recipe. I also used the trifle recipe as well from this beautiful book.
Mushrooms in Cream
1 lb mushrooms*
3 Tbs butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 cup heavy cream
*i used Cremini mushrooms. You could use any fresh mushrooms. I like having them in bite size slices
How to
Wipe with a damp cloth the mushrooms. Cut into slices.
In a skillet melt the butter. When the butter finishes foaming, add the mushrooms. Toss them well for one minute to coat thoroughly with butter.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Add cream and simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Presentation
saute 8 bread triangles in butter. Serve the mushrooms in shallow casserole and stand the toast around with points up.
I actually just oven toasted the bread and served butter on the side with branston pickles option.
So there you have it. Our night in England. Happy birthday Harry and jk
We had a blast!
