Fish Finger and Cheese Sandwich

Ask a chef their favourite food they like to eat in their downtime and it's likely to be something 1. easy to heat and 2. easy to eat. Beans on toast, noodles or fish finger sandwiches. That's if they actually get downtime. It's like we regress to childhood when it comes to comfort food.

Chef Ross likes to take fish finger sandwiches to the next level and puts sliced cheddar on top and puts them under the grill to melt the cheese. He put them on the menu at the pub he had and they flew out of the door at lunchtimes. What's not to love?


This particular sandwich refuelled us on Christmas Eve 2017 before the Christmas Day rush.

Don't use fancy bread here - it just wouldn't be right, we're trying to summon greasy spoon caf here. Dirty sandwiches.

Kids favourite

Stuff
4 Slices of sliced white bread
Salted butter
10 Fish fingers
Cheddar cheese sliced - enough to cover 2 slices of the bread
Ketchup (optional)
Tartare sauce (optional)

Things
Grill the fish fingers. When hot arrange cheese on top and put back under the grill to melt.
Butter bread. Slide cheesy fish fingers on top. Spread to ketchup or tartare sauce if you like. Eat like you haven't eaten all day. If you're working in a kitchen it's quite possible you haven't.

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English street food wedding catering near Redditch, Worcestershire

"So what we were thinking was street food...... but English....." said the bride and groom to be when I met them at the beginning of this year. The bride had Malaysian family, while the groom had english - so this was the perfect way to suit both families. The Malaysian contingent would expect having a number of dishes on the table from which they could serve themselves, so this seemed a good way of introducing them to some more english styles of food.

A few years ago we served a thai menu as overlarge canapes - a cross between canapés and finger buffet but served like canapés on individual mini plates by waiting staff as guests stood chatting. The bride and groom to be wanted to go for very much the same kind of idea for this event, but for the guests to be seated at the table.

What was more this was to be served up from an open kitchen - while we do lots of events in houses where the dining area is open plan with the kitchen so you're effectively cooking in front of the guests it is not so common for marquee weddings - but we'll try anything! The guests seemed to love looking over at what was coming to their table.

 "I love the sky in this one!" said Alys - part time chef, part time photography student. This was the real colour of the sky at around 2pm. You can guess what happened next.......

Weddings in tipis - I love them. This was the bar/ lounge/ dancefloor area with a more traditional marquee tacked on to the back for dining. So much more character than just a normal marquee!

As guests arrived we served mulled cider - a great winter warmer!

Open kitchen - almost ready to go........

English street food

If only street food was as popular in this country as it is in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and so on. If it was, I think these dishes might be something street vendors might serve.......

Mini beef wellington with red wine sauce

Beef wellington around midnight the night before.

Beef wellington - before the top - spinach, wild mushrooms and chicken liver pate inside

Chicken in Herefordshire cider and apples - served in individual bread tartlets

With so many different dishes I wanted to serve each on a different style of plate - this one we served in bread tartlets - 1 per person. You butter the bread, mould them into yorkshire pudding tins and bake them. So if you're really hungry at the wedding you can even eat the bowl!

Lancashire hot pot

Bubble and squeak cakes on watercress salad in bamboo boats

Found these bamboo boats for the bubble and squeak above - looked quite good!

Good old english fish (goujons) and chips 

There was also leek and potato pie which we served on mini sur le plate dishes with a heart shaped puff pastry lid - but unfortunately with so much going on we didn't manage to snap that one.

Mini desserts 

After so much food the bride suggested fruit salad which we served in a shotglass

The all time english favourite - sticky toffee pudding with sticky toffee sauce

Mini lemon meringue roulade and  mini chocolate torte

Also in background left were mini wild elderberry (had fun picking those in the rain a couple of days before) and white chocolate cheesecake and mini pecan pie

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The twelve days of Christmas cooking tips - Blog, Facebook & Twitter event: send yours in now!

Christmas. You’ve been round to all of your friends drinks parties, you’ve held yours, and then the family descend on you for the big day itself. Turn the heating up to nursing home level (it gets cold in the UK), move the entire contents of the supermarket shelves into your pantry, let the spirits flow like water, and snooze in front of the TV. But we love it.

Most of us enjoy a cooking good Christmas – but there’s lots of things that can make it easier. After over 3 years of food blogging I thought it would be a good time for a blog event:

SHARE YOUR CHRISTMAS COOKING TIPS

Yes - share your Christmas cooking tips so everyone else can save time on their Christmas cooking too, and have a stress free Christmas lunch!

What do I do if I want to join in?

Post a blog post with your Christmas cooking tip, or re-post an old one from your archive and include a link to this post by Sunday 13 December - this gives you twelve days (just). We will post all tips received on Monday 14 December and link to your blog, facebook or twitter page so everyone has 10 days to read it before they start on their Christmas meal preparations.

You don’t even have to keep a food blog to enter you can:

1 – Tweet your tip to @Cotswoldfood (yes you can get it into 140 characters)

2 – Leave us a comment on our Face book page here.

3 – Email you entry to: Foodtips@bensonofbroadway.co.uk with:

Your name

A link to your post

Blog Name

Name and URL of Your Christmas cooking tip post

Location: Optional

Photo: If you have a photo to accompany your cooking tip attach that to your email in Jpeg format, 100 KB or less please.

I am based in Tewkesbury on the edge of the Cotswolds – so it would be great to see as many local Christmas cooking tips as possible – if you’re in Gloucestershire or Worcestershire let me know on your entry! I will collect all the names of the entries with a GL or WR postcode and draw 3 at random on the 14th December to win a box of our frangipane and almond mince pies delivered to their door.

This is my entry on The Cotswold Food Year – a tip from my archives, but as it is one of the Christmas cooking tips that could save a life this Christmas I thought it good to pass on! What's your tip?

Ever brought too many clementines at Christmas time? Those two for one offers are so tempting aren't they? @CulinaryTravels suggests making clementine cordial. Can also be made with oranges or satsumas. There's a great recipe here on her blog Culinary travels of a kitchen goddess. I'll definitely be trying this one - your own cordial being much fresher is always a different world than one you can purchase. She suggests mixing the orange cordial with sparkling water or lemonade for a soda style drink or to use it as a mixer for alcoholic drinks such as vodka or whiskey or even to add the cordial to hot water for a winter warmer. Now I wonder which one I'll be trying?

@LynnCherylEde prominent local twitterer and fellow Tewkesbury resident gives us not one but two tips via the delights of twitter.
Firstly - "Um coals to Newcastle springs to mind but yes.Spread mincemeat on large short pastry square, roll up, slice, tray & bake. :) arty pies". That's a great tip for quick & easy homemade mince pies! Would also make a good alternative to Christmas pudding served with brandy sauce or anglaise/ custard.
Secondly - why not exchange the traditional turkey for roast pork. "Take cured pork, score top, slop gorgeous honey on top, pour Guinness over & around & roast. Mmmm" Mmmm indeed. Never thought of the Guinness before - what a combination. And who can resist the crackling? And that's how you get cooking tips into 140 characters.

@HubUK whose website is a hub for recipes, food, cookery, cooking holidays and more gives us a great tip "Get someone else to do it?" Now that explains why I am so busy over Christmas and New Year. But then he continued "I do my roast potatoes in chip pan because of lack of oven space." Good tip there! Planning your oven space before the day makes everything run smoothly, and it just shows you there's always more that one way of cooking something!

DK from the food blog Chef in You gives us the best snickerdoodle cookie recipe ever! The tips are given not only during the step by step instructions but are also at the end of the post (now that's helpful!)- see their post here. I love the idea of ground cardomon in there. They would make great presents, or maybe you could hang them on the Christmas tree too.

@Chefrenee gives us some Fresh Ideas... again via twitter: "What works 4 me is make ahead & freeze what can. Also,prep any spice or dry ingredient & bag 'um w/printed recipe attached.& Keep it simple!" Couldn't agree more! Make it, freeze it and it's ready to go on the day. Just make sure you defrost everything accordingly and it is re-heated to the correct temperature. There's excellent advice on freezing and defrosting food here.

I really like the idea of prepping all the dry ingredients for recipes in advance too - that would make it so easy on the day you make your chosen recipe - a ready mix that you've made yourself!

@simbaeats who has just started an interesting looking blog with a simple mission - let everyone know how great African food can be. I think that will be a very good project. He says via twitter "xmas tip - ditch the turkey - so much more exciting meats!" You're so right. What are you cooking at Christmas?

@FoodieatFifteen (now 75) [check out dinner party photos here btw] says in the comments below: "last year I made alton brown's ham. The only work is just crusting the ham and putting it in the oven. Allows time to be spent with the fam." You mean this one? Crushed ginger cookies on it - I can see why you like it! Cutting down on cooking time on Christmas Day is always a good idea.

And Aidan Brooks - read his comment below - I knew someone would say that!

Thanks everyone and enjoy your Christmas cooking!

Edit

Make your Christmas cooking easy by blanching your vegetables - see kitchen tip #55 here.

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Where can I find local food and produce cheaper than the supernarket?

Yes - local food can be not just better tasting, better quality but it can also be cheaper than the supermarket, and you know exactly where your food has come from - you can often see it in the fields!

There are 523 (that's 2 more in the last 4 days!) local outlets cheaper than the supermarket on the Big Barn website. You can use their map to find the one nearest you.

I have found this map really useful in the last few years - so I am only telling you about it now rather belatedly. It is how I have found a number of local farm shops like the Meadows at Home Farm (which I now go to at least once a week), Donnington trout farm, Hayles fruit farm, Simon Weaver's cheese, The Cheeseworks in Cheltenham and Old Farm (which I still need to visit). It also points out all the local farmers markets - I found the Gloucester one from that where I once picked up some free range duck from Madgetts Farm for a last minute booking.

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Bookmarked Recipes #53

Here’s this week's round up of Bookmarked Recipes and this week we have some more great recipes from some more great bloggers. This week’s round up is being hosted by James at The Cotswold Food Year


You're wondering what to eat for lunch? You're wondering what to eat for dinner? Don't worry - we've got it taken care of at Bookmarked Recipes this week.



Lunch City Girl (who likes to blog anon) of City Girl Lifestyle finds a great way to chill out on a hot day with this Cucumber watermelon cooler which her husband bookmarked from My Spicy Kitchen. And as yesterday was Mother's Day in the US, Canada and Australia, it would have made a great addition to your Mother's Day celebrations.



Ning at Heart and Hearth has been baking, and shares her easy beer bread from an original recipe from Dog Hill Kitchen. Easy because it contains no yeast, so there's no need to knead - how good is that! You may remember this from a previous Bookmarked Recipes. It's been on my to-make list ever since then. With 2 recommendations now it has to be good! With such wonderful bread, you need the perfect accompaniment. Something like this hot artichoke dip from Patsy at Family, Friends and Food. The recipe, originally from Sweetnicks, was ideal for the monthly Bunko night, and luckily her sons are good at stirring, if they could just remember whose turn it was to stir..... Dinner


Shhh! Can you keep a secret? The secret of the Secret-Secret Geography Club. This time Kindra of The Meal Planner turned the club's attention on the cooking of France and made this decadent dish of Coq au vin. She wanted a recipe that would knock her guests socks off, and found one by Emeril Lagasse on the Food Network. The only problem being, when her guests came to go home they realised they didn't have any socks left.....
P.S. I also know from Foodie at 15 that a Dutch Oven in the US is what we call a casserole dish in the UK. You guys have some funny words.



For dessert you might try making this rhubarb jelly which I found from Keiko at Nordljus and made from the rhubarb growing in my garden. She sets the jelly on top of pistachio mousse, but back on the Cotswold Food Year, I set it in a container and diced it as a garnish for my rhubarb crumble tart. If you adjusted amount of sugar you could use any fruit instead of the rhubarb. Except kiwi of course - the acid content is too high for the gelatine. Thanks everyone for your submissions!!! It's always exciting to see what people have been making and recreating as well as meeting some new bloggers. Next week’s round up will be hosted by Divya at Dil Se…



That's it for this week. Remember if you want to take part here's all you have to do....



1. Pick a recipe from a book/magazine/blog/website/tv show and make it. (Note you can only submit 1 recipe per week)

2. Blog about it - include where you got the recipe in your blog post (including a link to their website if possible) - include a link to this post or this blog in your blog post - include the logo (see above) for Bookmarked Recipes in your blog post - include a photo of your recreation on your blog post

3. Email bookmarkedrecipes[AT]gmail[DOT]com with the following information: - Your name - The name of your blog - The URL of your blog - The permalink for your entry - A photo of your entry - A note of where you got your recipe from

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1001 Kitchen tips #46 - Which one is non-dairy/ vegan/ no nuts etc.

With such a busy Saturday with food going to so many different places I knew mixing up the normal chocolate tarts and the one no dairy version would be easy to do. Mistakes like this after you have worked so hard to make everything perfect are the worst.

So to make sure it didn't happen, I made the one no dairy choclate tart in a round tin, and the others in my normal fluted tins - that way, there was no mistaking it.

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