Chapter XXV - mamon wellman cooks Easter?

Easter ... and why shepherd's watch thier flocks by night

Quoting a line from a Christmas carol may seem a strange way to commence an Easter food blog, but all will be revealed ..............

The Easter holidays for me growing up, meant one thing. Not chocolate eggs, not hot cross buns, but it meant we were off to Wales! Every Easter holidays, we would pack our bags; well mum would pack our bags and it was time to catch the train back to the land of my fathers. We always went and stayed with my father's side of the family. 

Rather fitting then, that this Easter is the very time my eldest sister is selling her house in Plymouth; the house that has been the family home for over 45 years. And lo and behold, she has just bought a house in Wales. After 45 years, big sis has decided to up sticks and is returning to the valleys. In just a few weeks time then, 336 will no longer be in Wellman's hands. In 1967, after tragically losing my father in a house fire my mother took us to be close to her side of the family and purchased 336. A terraced house on a road that back then was beautifully lined with trees, it had a huge garden that ended up housing our pet (Easter) bunny rabbits etc, a view overlooking the river Plym and cousins I had never met just a few doors down from us. 

That house, houses many, many happy childhood memories. So, in one way it will be sad to see it leave the family. But, Easter is a time for renewal, a time of rebirth. So it is very fitting in so many ways that at Easter time my sister is selling up and moving back to Cymru.

recipe - cheffies hot, but not so cross buns
500 gm bread flour
010 gm instant yeast
150 ml  milk
150 ml  water 
050 gm butter
120 ml honey
002 tsp ground cinnamon
001 tsp ground nutmeg
001 tsp ground ginger
001 tsp ground cloves
100 gm sultanas
100 gm dried cranberries 
050 gm chocolate chunks (large)

recipe - method of preparation
Heat the milk and water with the butter, honey and ground spices over a low heat until just warm to the touch. Sprinkle in the yeast and a handful of the flour and allow to stand in a warm place until it ferments and bubbles. Add the sultanas and mix thoroughly. Add sufficient of the remainder of the flour, while mixing with a wooden spoon to form a thick batter. Then with your hands, add sufficient flour to form a soft dough. 

Turn out onto a floured working surface and knead to a smooth elastic dough. Place into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and set aside in a warm place until the dough doubles in size. Uncover and punch the dough to knock the air out. Turn out onto the bench again and quickly knead while working in the chocolate chunks. 

Roll into a sausage shape and cut into even sized pieces. Shape into buns and place on a lightly oiled and floured tray, allowing at least a 3cm gap between each. Allow to prove again until doubled in size. Place in a pre-heated oven (200C) and bake until cooked and golden brown (approx 15 minutes). Remove and allow to cool slightly, before brushing with some honey, that has been warmed in the microwave

Given that Easter falls on different dates each year, and therefore the so called Easter school holidays didn't always fall at Easter, we probably spent many an actual Easter weekend at 336 before going to Wales. I don't really remember. I do remember mum always bought hot cross buns for the Friday. Never home made, always store bought. There are some great store made one's these days, but I still prefer home made.

I also remember we always had lots of Easter eggs. Mum always bought us one of course, and in those days so did most of your close aunty and uncles. So we always had eggs given to us from the close rellies (as the Kiwis call them) in Plymouth, then when we went to Wales we always got more from our Welsh aunties and uncles too. Is it any wonder then that; my name is Jos Wellman and I am a chocoholic?!?

best easter memory?

That's an easy one. My mother came out to New Zealand one year at Easter time, when I was living in the Bay of Islands. I think it must have been the year after I got married, and she came out to meet the new family (my wife had three kids from a previous marriage). I drove to pick mum up from Auckland airport, but my daughter decided she wanted to come too. So we made it an outing and drove part way down and camped overnight, ready to pick mum up on Easter Monday. We camped next to a beach and woke on Easter Monday early, only to find the sand dunes littered with rabbits hopping everywhere! What a spectacle for a 6 year old girl to experience on such a day!

easter lamb

Apart from that I don't think we had any family traditions at Easter. maybe we had roast lamb on Easter Sunday, who knows? But I suspect if we did, it was more by good luck than design. But coming from Wales and living so many years in Aotearoa (New Zealand) it's little wonder that I have a passion for lamb. Well when I say lamb, I mean all things ovine. Actual lamb for roasting is nice, but I much prefer the stronger flavour of hogget (an ovine over 1 year old) for chops and steaks etc and for stewing and making curries, nothing beats the stronger flavour of mutton (over 2 years old). 

This is my favourite roast lamb recipe. Roasted with hints of garlic, fresh thyme and lemon. With what many might consider an unusual ingredient; anchovies. They have been used "for ever" however to enhance the flavour of meats; if not directly like the Italians do, then indirectly like we have in the UK with the addtion of Lea & Perrins.  They will not leave a fishy taste, but act as a flavour enhancer to the lamb

recipe - easter roast lamb with lemon and mint sauce
001 pc leg of lamb (Welsh or NZ) 
003 pc garlic cloves 
006 pc sprigs of thyme
002 pc lemon 
004 pc anchovy fillets 
001 pc mint bunch
            olive oil
            honey
            maldon sea salt 

recipe - method of preparation
Pre-heat an oven to 180 - 200C. 

Cut the unpeeled garlic cloves in half (lengthways) and break the thyme sprigs into small lengths. Using a small, narrow bladed knife make a small incision into the lamb leg and insert a half garlic clove and a good piece of thyme (folded in half in needed) and repeat all over the lamb leg, evenly spacing the incisions.

Grate the lemon zest, chop the anchovies and combine with a drizzle of olive oil and a good helping of sea salt. Rub all over the lamb leg and allow to sit and infuse for approx 20 minutes. Place into a roasting tray and cook for 75 minutes until cooked and pink (if you have to be a barbarian and have it thoroughly cooked, roast for an hour and  a half at least). When cooked, remove from the oven, place on a clean tray or plate, cover with tin foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes before carving (allowing the meat tendons to relax and making for a more tender and juicier joint)

While the oven pre-heats and the lamb is marinating, you can make the lemon mint sauce. Juice the lemons, and sweeten to taste with the honey. Add the chopped or shredded mint leaves and allow to infuse while the lamb is roasting. 


cottage pie?
Always a favourite at 336 was mum's cottage pie. But circumstances this week forces me to write my recipe for shepherds pie. Circumstances? Well first it is Easter and traditionally that means lamb! Also my adopted sister in Australia posted a pic of her shepherds pie on Facebook, on further investigation (from myself) it turns out she has always made it with minced beef. Needless to say I pointed out to her that shepherds looked after sheep not cows!

Cottage pie = minced beef  Shepherd's pie = minced lamb


recipe - cheffies shepherd's pie 
500 gm minced lamb
001 pc  onion
001 tsp chopped rosemary
001 tsp chopped oregano  
001 tsp chopped thyme
001 tin chopped tomatoes

001 cup frozen peas
002 kg desiree potatoes 
250 gm butter
200 gm grated cheddar 

recipe - method of preparation
Pre-heat oven to 180C. Wash the potatoes well and bake until softened. Remove, cut in half and scoop out the flesh. Mash thoroughly with the butter, adding a little warmed milk or cream if required or desired. Taste and season. 

Warm a few tbs of olive oil in a large pan and add the minced lamb, gently fry until the meat starts to separate and lightly colours, add the onion and the herbs and cook gently for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and peas and cook for another 5-10 minutes until most of the moisture has cooked away. Pour into an earthen ware dish. 

Cover with the mashed potato and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake at 180C for approx 40 minutes. Place under a hot grill until the cheese has really gratineed and is a deep golden colour. 

chapter XXV - mamon wellman cooks 05

toad in the hole

Another great British dish where sausages are the centre of attention, has that most unusual of names "toad in the hole". There are lots of stories as to how the dish got its name, but all are just theories, the real reason has been lost in time. 

So what is it? Browned sausages, baked in the oven while encased in a Yorkshire pudding batter. Or as in the case of this first photo, taking the previous dish of banger's and mash and combining it with the toad in the hole dish. In this instance the yorkshire pudding is cooked separately from the 'bangers' etc, and used as an edible 'bowl' to serve them in. 

Toad in the hole in our household would always be served with a rich, rich, thick beef gravy regardless as to whether the sausage was beef or pork, and with always a bottle of Heinz tomato ketchup at hand. Often served just as a meal unto itself or sometimes with peas (we Brits love our peas) and mashed potatoes with copious amounts of butter. 

recipe - toad in the hole a la mamon

008 pc   sausages of choice

002 cup flour 

006 pc   eggs  

001 cup milk

recipe - method of preparation

Place some oil or lard into a roasting tray, (that is just big enough to hold the sausages) and place into the oven to pre-heat at 200C.  

Combine the eggs and milk thoroughly with a whisk, add the flour and combine to form a batter. The batter should be thick, but easily pourable. Add more milk if required to thin down. 

Remove the roasting tray from the oven and pour in the batter. As soon as all the batter is poured in, carefully place in the sausages. Return to the hot oven and bake for approx 45 minutes until the batter is fully cooked and crisp, Remove, and serve with a rich gravy. 

                                                                                                                                           

recipe - cheffie's toad in the hole

008 pc   cumberland sausages

002 cup flour 

010 pc   eggs  

300 ml   milk
150 gm  lard 

recipe - method of preparation

Place the lard or 150ml of vegetable oil into a roasting tray, (that is just big enough to hold the sausages) and place into the oven to pre-heat at 200C. It is essential the oil is very hot before pouring in the batter, it needs to sizzle immediately or the batter will not rise around the edges properly. Lightly brown the sausages all over in a frying pan, remove and set aside (do not cook them) 

Combine the eggs and milk thoroughly with a whisk, add enough flour to form a batter, that has the consistency of cream (use more milk or water if required)

Remove the roasting tray from the oven and pour in the batter (test the oil's heat by pouring just a little in to ensure it sizzles and bubbles, if not place back into the oven to continue to heat). As soon as all the batter is poured in, carefully place in the sausages. Return to the hot oven and bake for approx 45 minutes until the batter is fully cooked and crisp, 

Remove, and serve with a rich, meaty, thickened gravy. 

note : For a good onion gravy, I prefer to finely slice three onions, sweat them down with a 50gm butter, sprinkle in 50gm of flour and then slowly add sufficient stock (strong and beefy) and simmer for 15 minutes. If need be add a spoonful or two of bovril to enhance the flavour. 

next week - mum's liver and onions ....... 

chapter XXV - mamon wellman cooks 03

cauliflower cheese

For years, I would often refer to a female student as mon petite choux fleur. Then one she decided one day to Google it and of course realised I was calling her "my little cauliflower", she half heartedly protested the next day, but insisted I did not stop!

A recent addition (15th century) to our diets, the humble cauliflower, that beauty of the cabbage family was a popular item in the Wellman household. In French it is known as 'choux fleur' (cabbage flower) and it is from this choux pastry gets its name, as the chef that created profiteroles thought they looked like tight head cabbages or cauliflowers.

Chefs of late seemed to have re-discovered what a wonder cauliflowers are, rather than just as neat under or overcooked florets, they now slice it paper thin and serve it raw, or there is the current fad of making a creamy puree with it and serving it with scallops. My mother was waaaaaaay ahead of them and often cooked and served it as a puree with our Sunday roast. Although my mother's version also included the green outer leaves, that gave it bejewelled look.

But hearing that we had cauliflower cheese for tea (dinner) was always welcome sound. Mind you we probably didn't need to be told as that familiar aroma permeated, nay, invaded the air. It was a dish that my mother adored all her life, and was one of the last dishes I ever cooked for her; although, she was very ill and did only eat a few mouthfuls, served as always, as she liked it, with thick slices of bread and butter

recipe - cauliflower cheese a la mamon

001 pc  cauliflower

050 gm  flour

750 ml   milk

002 cup grated cheddar 

recipe - method

Place a large pot of salted water onto boil and pre-heat the oven to 180C. Remove any green outer leaves and any thick core from the cauliflower, break or cut into florets. Place into the rapidly boiling water and simmer until softened, remove from heat and drain in a colander. 

Mix the flour with some of the milk, and heat the remaining milk. Add the flour and milk mix, and stir over a medium heat until thickened sauce is achieved. Cook gently for five minutes and then beat in 2/3's of the cheese (a good mature cheddar is best). Taste and season with salt and pepper

Place the cauliflower into a lightly buttered shallow dish, pour over the cheese sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese and bake for approx 30 minutes until bubbling and a lovely golden brown. 

                                                                                                                                           

recipe - cheffie's cauliflower cheese

001 pc  cauliflower

060 gm  butter

050 gm  flour

750 ml   milk

002 cup grated cheddar 
001 cup cream cheese
002 tbs  creme fraiche
002 tbs  chopped chives or parsley
              breadcrumbs

recipe - method

Place a large pot of salted water onto boil and pre-heat the oven to 180C. 

Remove any green outer leaves and any thick core from the cauliflower, break or cut into florets. Place into the rapidly boiling water and simmer until softened, remove from heat and drain in a colander, allow to drain well and steam dry. 

Melt the butter over a low to medium heat and add the flour, combine with a wooden spoon and allow to cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring almost constantly so there is no browning. Gradually add the milk, add in small amounts and stir or beat to combine until a smooth, glossy sauce is achieved. Cook gently for five minutes and then beat in 2/3's of the cheese (a good mature cheddar is best) and the cream cheese. Taste and season with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg. Beat in the creme fraiche and chopped herb. 

Place the well drained and dried cauliflower into a lightly buttered shallow dish, pour over the cheese sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese and bake for approx 30 minutes until bubbling and a lovely golden brown. 

next week - mum's stew and dumplings ....... 

chapter XXV - mamon wellman cooks 02

on toast
A staple dish of my childhood was ....... on toast. Mind you it wasn't always just on toast. All of the culinary delights below was just as good when served on a crisp slice of fried bread! Breakfast, lunch, dinner or supper, one could always rely on "on toast". The KISS philosophy of mum's cusine (Keep it S Simple), belies the fact that most of these dishes can be awesome when executed well with great ingredients. 

We didn't get an actual toaster until I was well into my teens, until then like most households we made the toast under the grill part of the oven. Which in our house was an electric one. I was always fascinated by the eye level gas grill that some people had, and always thought how much better the toast tasted from these gas grills. 

But be warned, if you took your eye off for a second the toast would go from lovely golden brown to black and charred. How many times did we all hear that familiar sound, of toast being scraped outside on the back lawn? 

The great part about toasting this way is that if you prefer you can always just toast your bread on one side. Which I used to love if it was just thin or sandwich slice bread, which invariably was, because thin sliced bread went further on a tight budget than toast bread. You had a lovely crisp, toasted side while the other was soft and warm; especially good when it was done with crumpets. 

crumpets

Talking of crumpets. A special childhood treat was gathering around the fire, crumpets and butter at the ready, skewering the said crumpets onto a roasting fork and toasting them before the fire. Even if it was an electric bar fire. I seem to remember them taking for ever to toast, and us having to constantly change hands as they got too hot, but it was oh so worth the wait. 

Somewhere along the way in the 60's the name crumpet, became a colloquial term for a young person of the female persuasion. 

on toast - eggs

There was fried eggs, scrambled eggs or poached eggs. The latter always seemed extra special for some reason. Not just any poached eggs, but the type one did in a mould over a pot of boiling water, so not so much poached as "steamed eggs en cocotte" 

From time to time the mum would jazz up the scrambled eggs by adding a little grated cheddar into the mixture. Nothing like a pile of scrambled eggs with Heinz ketchup to cheer a child up (namely me). The trouble was of course, the toast under the mound of scrambled eggs always ended up soggy.

recipe - cheffies extra creamy scrambled eggs with smoked salmon
004 pc eggs (large) 
025 gm butter
1/2  tbs cream
1/2  tbs mascarpone
001 tsp chopped chives
             smoked salmon

recipe - method of preparation
Crack the eggs into a thick bottom pan and add the butter in small knobs (do not pre season or whisk the eggs, they will break down during cooking). Place over a low to medium heat and continuously stir with a rubber spatula, until the eggs have broken down, the butter has melted through and the eggs have cooked to a soft baveuse (approx 6 minutes). Remove from the heat and stir in cream and mascarpone, stir through the chopped chives and smoked salmon cut into thin strips. Taste and season. Because of its more fluid texture, it is best served in a bowl, with the toast on the side. 

Serve with slices of toasted fruit bread and a chimmichurri sauce

note - this is an unusual recipe and method. It does take a little extra time than usual, but produces a wonderfully light, extra creamy textured eggs. 

on toast - beans or spaghetti
Hard to believe, but this was a staple on the menu of just about every Joe Bloggs Cafe'. It was and I guess still is, a firm favourite of the British public. Another one in Mum's culinary repertoire that used to get jazzed up with some grated cheese added to the beans or tinned spaghetti as it was heating up.

on toast - cheese
Then there was cheese on toast. The great thing about learning and perfecting this culinary basic ;-) is that it serves as a basis for all the above. Cheese on toast with a fried egg on it, or whatever type of eggs were your favourite.

We would fully toast one side of the bread, then came the tricky bit of only partially toasting the other side, so that when it went back under the grill with the sliced cheese on it wouldn't burn the edges. Oh, always sliced cheese for some reason, never grated. Out it came from under the grill all toasted and bubbling and served cut in half (never diagonally, that was for posh people) and served with ketchup or HP or Daddie's brown sauce.

Of course being of Welsh extraction, you would think it would be Welsh Rarebit, but mum preferred to keep it simple and easy. Mind you, who can forget the Toast Toppers that were all the rage in the early 70's when they came onto the market? Essentially, Welsh Rarebit in a can!

recipe - cheffies welsh rarebit
025 gm butter
025 gm flour (plain)
100 ml  beer
200 gm grated cheddar
001 pc  egg yolk
001 tsp mustard
001 tbs lea and perrins sauce
004 pc  thick bread slices

recipe - method of preparation
Melt the butter over a low heat and add the flour, allowing to cook gently for 2-3 minutes. Add the beer and stir vigorously to combine and make an extra thick sauce. Beat in the cheese until it melts and combines with the mixture

Remove from the heat and beat in the egg yolk, mustard and lea and perrins. Seasom with salt, pepper and a little cayenne pepper (or chilli flakes)

Lightly toast the bread, generously spread with the mixture and place back under the grill for 3-4 minutes until bubbled and lightly browned

notes -  Use a fairly light tatsing beer, one that is not too bitter
              For a Buck rarebit, serve with a poached egg on top
              In place of the sliced bread, use thick slices of ciabatta, crumpets etc

next week - mum's cauliflower cheese ....... 

chapter XXV - mamon wellman cooks 01

Happy Mother's Day, Mum xox

There is of course no better time to commence a series of blogs about Mamon Wellman's (nee Prowse) culinary prowess, than just before Mother's Day. At which each year, she always received our home made card from us kids and tea and toast in bed. Home made cards, that she squirreled away and kept. Mum was the ultimate sentimental hoarder. 

No recipes this week, instead just some of my food related memories of the great lady .......

Sweet Fanny Adams more than Fanny Craddock
I have already alluded to the fact my mother, was not exactly what you would call a home cook. Never big into the home baking of biscuits and cakes and the likes, or into spending hours in the kitchen. Our meals growing up, were simple meat and two veg, a philosophy mum held all her life. But we always had a choice at dinner time, "like it or lump it" was one of mum's favourite sayings! 

No matter what the situation, we always came home from school to a hot, cooked meal. If we asked what was dinner as soon as we walked in the door, the reply from her was usually the same "thit and treacle" :-)

I say no matter what, because times would have been tough for my mother, bringing up three kids as a widow in the UK in the 60' and 70's. There was no massive government hand outs as there are now. Just how tight things were I did not fully realise, did not find out until much later in life.As kids we didn't take much notice when mum said she wasn't hungry, was feeling poorly etc as the reason she wan't eating. We didn't take it under our radar when we got home that things were missing (had been sold off). Mum provided, she always ensured we were warm, clothed and fed. We never went hungry. 

I grew up knowing we were loved, I grew up with the most happiest of childhoods. Mum was a shining jewel, and loved by all who has the honour to come into contact with her. God bless her ........ she never batted an eyelid when our friends invited themselves to stay. Even when in my teenage years, she would wake up to fine spare bodies asleep in the lounge or on a few occasions, asleep in the bath! (you know who you are!)

mum's favourites
She didn't like anything fancy, taking her out for a meal later in life one could almost lay one's life on the line and bet she would have steak and chips. The steak always (to my horror) well done. It could be as dry as the Sahara Desert, as charred as coal and she would love it. Her other great culinary joy was good old fashioned fish and chips, the other great stand by if we ever went out.

Later in her life, she loved nothing more than a trip to the seaside, an hour or so in a penny arcade and a fish and chip dinner, with a nice cup of tea and some bread and butter. I am pictured hear with Mum, in the last year of her life, on one such trip to Looe, Cornwall. I had returned on holiday from New Zealand where I had recently had all my hair shaved off for a cancer charity and it was a cold, cold winter's day. We are pictured outside the local fish shop, and just to turn the childhood tables on her, I had just bought her a bucket and spade, plus a net to go fishing.

But for some reason; maybe the howling gale and lashing rain or maybe just her fraility, she declined and wanted to go to the pub instead!

what mum cooked
The following few months of chapters will mostly feature dishes mum would frequently serve to us as kids. Mostly just dishes I remember, many for no particular reason and no attached memories. In subsequent chapters, I will not only describe dishes and memories attached to them, but also give notes on the main ingredients and then give both mum's recipe for them and then follow it with my refined version of each. But lets just kick off with some basics ......

cheese and biscuits

If ever there was a plate of food that my mother would happily devour any time of the day, whatever the circumstance, whether well or poorly, was cheese and biscuits. Mum loved cheese. Is it any wonder then that I turned out to be a cheeseaholic and my sister's son ended up working on the Wallace & Gromit series?

Cheddar was the staple, accompanied by Jacob Cream Crackers, with either pickled onions, branston pickle or pickled beetroot. But she loved most cheeses (within reason) and unusually for a plain eater loved blue cheeses. I remember going shopping with her as a child, going into Woolworth's and standing there gobsmacked at all the cheeses on offer, as mum ordered her quarter pound of delicious crumbly textured cheddar.

When I was staying with for her towards the end of her life, more often than not we would share a supper consisting of a slab of cheese (never grated or sliced thin), two pickled onions, a packet of crisps and a nice cuppa.

bangers and mash

Good ole bangers and mash, what more could a kid wish for, for dinner, when they come home from school wet and cold during the winter? Quick, easy, tasty and filling. Which is why probably it always seemed to be the signature dish of every scout troop in the UK, well it was when I was growing up. 

I have very fond memories of peeling spuds for the mash and a big pot of baked beans simmering away ready for when we had all cooked out own sausages over the open fire. There is nothing like, nothing more satisfying than hearing the sizzle of sausages, no better aroma than a banger cooking over an open fire. Sometimes we even cooked them impaled on a stick and sat there holding them in the flames (I bet health and safety wouldn't allow the cubs to do that these days)


hamburgers

Nothing special here, apart from it holding special memories for me as one of my favourite 'home cooked' meals. No flash burger bun, no pickle, tomato, lettuce or special sauce. The bun was a crispy crust bread roll, the meat pattie was either freshly made by out local butcher down the road or Cap'n Bird's Eye frozen ones and essentially that was it. It was simply good honest food, cooked and served with love and a firm favourite.

next week - mum's passion with "on toast" .......