The Traditional Sunday Lunch

It’s the top of the British dinner charts, the tradition which is at the heart of British cooking. It's the food which brings families across the country together on Sundays. It is, of course, roast beef. Served with crispy roast potatoes with fluffy insides, golden Yorkshire pudding and gravy made with the beef juices it is the ultimate Sunday lunch.


For the very best use rib of beef. It is more expensive but it really is worth it. Rub the beef with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add to a roasting tin with a quartered red onion for the gravy (you can also add chopped carrots and celery) then put into your oven at 240c, for 20 minutes (15 minutes if the rib weighs 1.5kg or less). After this time turn the oven down to 190 and cook for a further half hour per kilo. These timings will give rare beef, which is how I like it, but cook for longer if you prefer.

For your roast potatoes cut them into the size you want. I like them quite large so tend to just half the potatoes if they’re medium sized. Par-boil them in salted water then drain and shake them up a bit to rough up the edges. This will help to make them crispy when they roast. Make sure the fat you use to cook your potatoes in is very hot before you add the potatoes. Just add it to a roasting tin and heat it in the oven while they are par-boiling. Beef dripping is great to roast potatoes in, making them really tasty. I tend to use the healthier olive oil for every day roast potatoes but I keep beef dripping in the fridge for a Sunday roast like this. When you add the potatoes turn them in the fat then cook until they are crisp and golden, turning during cooking. They'll take about an hour, but once the beef is cooked and you've taken it out of the oven you'll probably want to turn the heat up to crisp the potatoes up.

Peel and quarter parsnips lengthways and add them to the fat in which the potatoes are cooking, turning in the fat as you did with the potatoes and again turning during cooking. They don’t take as long as the potatoes so add them when the potatoes are about half-way cooked.

Mix up the Yorkshire pudding batter by beating 4 eggs then adding 225g flour, 300ml milk and a pinch of salt and beating until smooth. Leave to rest. I reckon this amount will make up 6-8 puddings, depending on the size of the tin you use, so half the amount if necessary.

Once the beef is cooked leave it to rest for 10 minutes at the very minimum and up to half hour. Cover it with foil to keep it warm.

While the beef is resting cook the Yorkshire puddings and make the gravy. Add some fat from your roast potato tray to the tray in which you’re going to cook the Yorkshire puddings. Turn the oven up to 220 and put the tray in the oven to get the fat hot, then add the batter and put in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until they are risen and golden. Don’t open the oven door until they are ready or they may collapse.

Make the gravy with the juices left in the roasting tray and the onion (and carrot and celery if you've used it). Put the tray on the hob and remove most of the fat except for about a tablespoon, then add a tablespoon of flour and stir well whilst cooking. Once it looks like a sludgy mess add beef stock and a slosh of madeira, red wine or port. Simmer to reduce.

And there you have it, the traditional British Sunday lunch.

Sweet Winter Vegetable Soup

Well it may not be quite winter but it's certainly starting to feel like it. This will warm you up.



Ingredients
2 red onions
2 tomatoes
1 red pepper
1 carrot
1 parsnip
1 large field mushroom
1 potato
1 crushed garlic clove
1 litre vegetable stock

Chop the onion and sauté in olive oil for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes longer. Chop the rest of the vegetables and add them - add the tomatoes last as you don’t want their juice to come out too soon. Sauté the vegetables until they start to soften and colour, then season and add the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil and simmer until the vegetables are cooked through, then blend. You may need to add water to thin the soup down a little.

Can You Keep A Secret?

Lately I’ve been having a little indulgence of an evening. Not every evening. Oh no, that wouldn’t be right. Too often would spoil it; it wouldn’t be as special then. No, this is something for every now and then. A delicious little treat just for me when the night draws in and I turn the lights down low.

In actual fact it started back in the summer. One of my good friends bought me this little something for my birthday. She saw it and thought of me. Oh how well she knows me!

I thought it was one of those one-off special editions, so imagine my delight when I saw it on the shelves the other week. I just had to have it.

So, are you ready to hear what it is? OK.

May I present to you - Marks & Spencer Chocolate Ruby. ‘An opulent red fortified wine infused with natural chocolate essence'.



Oh my, this is good. It smells wonderful; I love to inhale it deeply. And better yet, it tastes every bit as good as it smells. It’s sweet, chocolaty, deep and warming. Perfect for after dinner.

A small glass is enough as a little goes a long way, and it will keep for up to a month, so you can push the cork top back in and put it away like a hidden treasure until the next time.

The label on the back of the bottle tells you all you need to know ‘An opulent ruby red dessert wine with luscious berry notes layered with natural chocolate flavouring creating the perfect marriage of food and wine’. Who can resist a description like that?

I wanted to share my secret with you so that you can have a little of this indulgence too. But shhhh.....don’t tell anyone.....some things are best kept to yourself.

Chicken and White Wine Casserole

I made this earlier today before going shopping and to the cinema with my Mum. All I had to do when I got back was reheat it and, as with all casseroles, it tastes even better reheated.

The chicken falls off the bone and is surrounded by wine-rich juices. A lovely dish to come home to.



Put a little olive oil in a casserole dish and add chicken thighs and legs with the skin on and bone in. Fry over a medium heat and remove the chicken once it's turned golden.

Roughly chop 4 large shallots, 1 leek and 2 large carrots and sauté in the same pan. You may need to remove a little of the chicken fat if there is too much in the pan. Add two finely chopped garlic cloves and sauté until the vegetables soften and start to take on a little colour.

Add a tablespoon of flour and stir well, then add half a bottle of good white wine and half a litre of chicken stock. Season well and add a bay leaf and a little dried thyme (about half a teaspoon). Bring to the boil then cover and put in the oven at 160 for an hour and a half to two hours.