Elegant, Economical British Dishes Presented by Elaine Lemm on Video

Delicious, Economical British Classics Presented by Elaine Lemm

Here are three classic British recipes presented in video form by Elaine Lemm on about.com: the Cornish Pasty (a favorite in my family for four generations, which I made for English-Speaking Union parties at my house many times); Bakewell Tart (invented in Bakewell, England), an elegant dessert, the taste of which  reminds me of Danish pastry; and Irish Colcannon–a vitamin-rich, green-and-white dish that could serve as an economical meal, which contains three vegetables.

Italian Easter Pie: Torta di Pasqua

Torta di Pascua

Puff pastry or pie dough, enough to line and cover an 11-inch pie-plate

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 lbs. of ricotta cheese, well-strained to remove all liquid (setting the ricotta cheese in a strainer over a bowl overnight is best)

1/2 lb. mild or hot Italian sausage, sliced and lightly fried in olive oil

8 to 10 slices of prosciutto ham, coarsely chopped

1/2 lb. of diced mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons of chopped or dried parsley

Freshly ground pepper, and salt, to taste

One egg-yolk and one tablespoon of water for glaze

Prepare your pastry. Beat the eggs into the ricotta cheese, and add the rest of the ingredients. Roll out the pastry or pie dough, and line the pie-pan with one-half of it. Pour filling into the dough-lined pan, and lay the rest of your dough on top of it, sealing, trimming, and crimping the edges. Brush the top with an egg-yolk mixed with a tablespoon of water. Make pretty slits in the top of the crust, and bake in a moderately hot 350* oven for forty-five minutes to an hour, until the top of Easter Pie is golden. Serve Torta di Pasqua either warm or at room temperature. This recipe serves 8 people.

~~Copyright M-J de Mesterton

U.S. and U.K. Equivalents in Cooking (Cookery) Terminology

By Guest Author, Gwydion (Dyfed Lloyd Evans)

US and UK Cookery Terms

In designing, writing and constructing a recipe website I have come across a large number of differences in terms of language uses between British and American cookery terms.

Of course, the units are different (whether in terms of cups, imperial units or metric) but the terms used for certain foods and for many cookery terms and ingredients also differ. This can make interpreting American recipes (if you’re British) or interpreting British recipes (if you’re American) difficult. This glossary provides a conversion for these terms (going from UK to US in this instance).

UK Term	US Term
aubergine	eggplant
bap	hamburger bun
baking sheet/baking tray	cooking sheet
barbecue	grill or outdoor grill
beetroot	beet
biscuit (sweet)	cookie
biscuit (savoury)	cracker
broad bean	fava/lima bean
cake mixture	cake batter
cake tin	tube pan
casserole	dutch oven/casserole
caster sugar	superfine granulated
chicory	endive
chickpeas	garbanzo beans
chilli	chili
chips	french fries
chocolate/sweets	candy
chocolate, plain	semisweet/bittersweet/unsweetened
cling film	plastic wrap
cooker	stove
cornflour	cornstarch
corn on the cob	ears sweetcorn
courgette	zucchini
cream, double	heavy or whipping cream
cream, single	light cream or half-and-half
crisps	potato chips
filo pastry	phyllo
fish slice	spatula
flaked almonds	slivered almonds
flour, light plain	cake flour
flour, plain	all-purpose flour
fool	creamy fruit dessert
French bean	green bean
frying pan	skillet
glacé	candied
golden syrup	use light corn syrup or 50% molasses, 50% water
grated	shredded
green pepper	bell pepper/sweet pepper
grill (verb)	broil
hob	range
ice/icing	frost/frosting
icing sugar	confectioners sugar, powdered sugar
jam	jelly
jelly (in the UK, a jelly is also a strained set jam that does not have fruit bits in it)	jello
Jerusalem artichokes	sunchokes
joint (of meat)	roast
ketchup	catchup
kitchen towels	kitchen paper, paper towels
kipper	smoked herring
lettuce (loose-leaved)	Boston lettuce
mangetout	snow peas
mince/minced meat	ground (meat) or hamburger meat
milk (skimmed)	skim milk
milk, semi-skimmed	2% milkfat
pear, conference	bosc pear
pine kernels	pine nuts
pips	seeds
pitta	pita
prawns	shrimp
pudding	dessert
rasher (of bacon)	slice
rind	peel
rocket	arugula
semolina	cream of wheat
sieve	sift
sorbet	sherbet
spring onion	scallion
stock	broth, stock
stock cube	bouillon cube
stoned	seeded or pitted
sultanas	golden raisins
swede	turnip/rutabaga
Swiss roll	jelly roll
Tabasco sauce	hot-pepper sauce
tea towel	kitchen towel
tin (baking/roasting/loaf/cake)	pan
treacle	molasses
tomato passata	tomato sauce (slightly thicker than passata)
tomato puree	tomato paste
vanilla pod	vanilla bean
wholemeal	whole-wheat
yellow courgette	yellow straight neck squash

Whichever side of the Atlantic you’re from, this guide should, hopefully, make it easier for you to understand recipes from across the waters.

About the Author

Dyfed Lloyd Evans runs the Celtnet Recipes site as well as the Celtnet Articles Repository. His quest for recipes has led him all over the world and he has redacted and converted recipes from many languages and cultures, both ancient and modern.

Article Source: Celtnet Articles Author: gwydion

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M-J’s Elegant Apple Pie

September 7, 2008 by Publisher

Photos of M-J’s Elegant Apple Pie Copyright Elegant Survival, 2008 and 2009

M-J’s Elegant Apple Pie Recipe

• 4 cups of white flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1 stick of salted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• ¾ cup of chilled lard (“manteca”)
• 7 Fuji apples–cored, peeled, and thinly sliced (reserve peels and cores)
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 1/4 cup light-brown sugar (or more, according to your to your taste)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup of cold water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar
• 1 additional half stick of butter
• An extra 2 tablespoons of sugar, either white or brown
• One cup of water
• DIRECTIONS

• 1. Make the dough: put one stick of cold butter into a large mixing bowl, together with the 3/4 cup of chilled lard and a teaspoon of salt. Add flour gradually, working it into the butter and lard. Add approximately 3/4 cup of cold water, then cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough forms small pea-shaped balls, and when formed into a large mound, it holds together. Sometimes less cold water is required–believe it or not, the amount needed to make a pie dough with this recipe depends upon the moon.’s current phase. Mix this by hand, since machine will create a tough pie crust. I use an old-fashioned wire potato masher and a wooden spoon. When the dough sticks together but doesn’t stick to your hands, shape it into 2 balls, wrap each in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• 2. Put all of your apple peelings and cores into a saucepan on the stove with a cup of water and two tablespoons of sugar, and boil until the liquid becomes syrup. Strain liquid from solids and reserve it. The peelings can then be eaten or ground into applesauce–it’s important not to waste any edible part of your apples.
• 3. Assemble the pie: heat your oven to 425°F. Roll out one ball of dough into a 12-inch round about 1/8-inch thick, on a lightly floured surface. Fit the dough into a 9 or10-inch pie pan. Place one layer of apple slices into the dough-lined pan. Cover them with two tablespoons of cornstarch and a quarter-cup of brown sugar. Repeat this process with apples, sugars and cinnamon. Distribute the half-stick of butter on top of the apples after slicing it into bits. Add your apple syrup over the top of the pie. Alternatively, I sometimes skip the step of creating syrup from my apple peelings, and just use some apple juice concentrate (found in grocery frozen juice section).
• Roll out the second ball of dough for the top crust. Brush the edges of the bottom crust with water or milk, and lay the top crust down, pressing the edges together to form a tight seal. Use your imagination to pierce or slice a design into the top of the pie to allow steam to escape. Bake for ten minutes at 425*F, then lower your oven heat to 350* and bake for another hour. Let the apple pie cool for a minimum of two hours before serving.
• Elegant Apple Pie Recipe Copyright M-J de Mesterton 2008

Copyright M-J de Mesterton

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