TBK cooks- British Food

 

                   From my 2017 Recipe Calendar and 2018 on line recipe book

My regular readers ( 26,000 now - wow thank you all- we only started this Blog in January 2022 ) will know that I rarely cook British food. Since I moved here to Palawan in April 2022 I mostly cook Phillipino food- if you missed that Blog its here: ( https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2022/08/tbk-cooks-filipino-food.html). I also love cooking Malaysian and Cambodian food - to find out more click here: ( https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2022/07/tbk-cooks-from-cambodia.html  ) and Indian and Pakistani food, which you can read about here: ( https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2021/09/tbk-cooks-his-favourite-recipe-butter.html) 

  Saying goodbye to one of my favourite Pinoy waitresses at the Novotel in Dubai 

In fact I have not been to the UK for over 12 years now as I was working in the Middle East for 11 years ( 2010 - 2021) and then when they closed the Philippines to foreigners I stayed in Dubai in UAE and Muscat and Salalah in Oman until they reopened the borders in March 2022 and I retired to Palawan.

     Roast Turkey with Cranberry sauce on the Valentines day buffet in Dubai

However occasionally I get a strong desire to eat good old British food like Roast Turkey with all the trimmings, Roast Beef and Yorkshire pudding, Steak with Hollandaise sauce, Fish and Chips and recently Lamb Chops! 

My 2017 recipe from the excellent Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce Cook book by Paul Hartley

I love Lamb although it is not very popular here in the Philippines ( they eat Pork and Chicken- Baboy and Manok) and therefore difficult to find. However I have now found a shop near me in Puerto Princesa ( Puerto Deli - https://www.facebook.com/puertodeliPH ) that sells frozen Australian Lamb chops.

So equipped with my Lamb, which I defrosted , and Recipes around the world on line cookery book ( Recipes around the world ) I set about making a traditional British lunch for my Pinoy friends Luis, Arjen, Frythy and Jhoanna! The problem was with having a 4 month old Labrador puppy I cannot go out so I rely on people shopping for me ! I had asked Kevin to bring me some Capsicum, Mint and Eggplant when he came for lunch the day before but he forgot as he was busy at University!  Another problem I have had to overcome buying food here in the Philippines is that whilst they think they speak English it's actually American so Aubergine becomes Eggplant and Red Pepper becomes Red Capsicum!

I hate long queues at checkouts and it happens every time I go shopping here in Puerto Princesa

While Frythy looked after Chester and cleaned the house I went to SM Mall to collect my camera and get the Capsicum and eggplant and some potatoes. All went well until I got to the checkout ( 10.30 am and the Mall only opens at 10 am so it should have been quiet). There were long queues at the three open checkouts and , as usual , they were all people buying for Sari Sari stores with trolley loads of goods. As usual the priority lane was occupied by someone who was not pregnant or Senior or disabled but buying for her sari sari store, and as usual there were no express lanes ( baskets/ cash. under 10 items ) open and no supervisors in sight . After 15 minutes in the queue and not having moved any nearer the front I left my purchases ( the third time at SM, 5 times at Robinsons and twice at NCC) and walked out. So my guests did not get the capsicum or mint sauce or mashed potatoes.

                 The United Kingdom page from my 2017 Recipe book

I just made it home for 11am when my guests were due but luckily I was on BT and they were on PT ( British Time and Phillipino Time) so I managed to fry the eggplant and the Lamb chops and make a Pinoy dish of Battered prawns and sweet and sour sauce before they arrived. I had laid the table before I left so just had to cook and serve the food. Frythy had Volleyball practice in Siscican and is shy so he asked if I could give him money for food and transport home instead of eating with us. Arjen turned up late and did not want to eat, and Jhoanna was late and then spent an hour cooking Chester's liver and preparing the prawns for my next Pinoy cooking session. So lunch for 4 became lunch for Luis and I! Kevin messaged to say he had finished college so I invited him over but he was too shy to turn up as well. In the end Luis delivered his session on how to use the camera and shoot a vlog in the dining room and then when Jhoanna had cleaned the kitchen we moved in there to make a short video of Chester eating while Jhoanna had her lunch in the Dining room. I gave her the leftovers for her boyfriend and sister and paid her for the shopping  and then she went home. 

You can read more about Lea & Perrins and the last time I cooked this dish properly in this blog:https://thebritishkabayan.blogspot.com/2021/11/tbk-cooks-worcestershire-sauce-with.html

After we ate Luis showed me how to film and edit a vlog- we decided to film a simple TBK cooks- for Chester!

             The first vlog I watched Luis edit- TBK cooks for Chester!

The following week I also cooked some British recipes from my 2014 Recipe book which was typed by Jeboy and Patrick many years ago, As its 5 years since my last recipe book , and as the 2014 one is falling to pieces Chester and I are going to prepare a new Pinoy Recipe book in 2023 containing my favourite Pinoy dishes.

                 The cover of my 2014 Recipe book taken in Awali, Bahrain

First I made a cold tomato soup which my brother, Andrew , gave me the recipe for many years ago:

             My cold tomato soup and my even older recipe book from 1976

To make the soup you will need:

Ingredients

2 tins tomatoes

3 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon Worcester sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon of sugar

Salt and Pepper

500gm Natural low fat Yogurt

Method:

Place all the ingredients except the yogurt in a bowl and blend. Then add the yogurt. Blend. Chill. Serve – simple eh?! 

To keep up with my Vegetarian healthy eating theme I also made a recipe that I got in 1980 from my then girlfriend Annie- Ratatouille:

      The Ratatouille and another favourite from my 2014 recipe book- Tuna Rice

Annie’s Ratatouille (Serves 6)

Ingredients

2 large aubergine ( eggplant)  cut into half inch slices 

1 lb. /454 grams courgette ( zucchini)  cut into half inch slices

Sea salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

8 oz / 227 grams onions

Freshly ground Pepper

2 finely chopped cloves of garlic

3 green peppers- sliced

1 lb /454 grams tomatoes, skinned and sliced

1 tablespoon of crushed coriander seeds

1 tablespoon of chopped Basil

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

 Method ( or procedure as they say in the Philippines) 

Put aubergine and courgette in a colander and sprinkle with the salt and leave for 40 minutes for the salt to draw out the excess moisture. Dry off with paper towels.

Drying the Aubergine / Eggplant slices on Kitchen towels

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the sliced onions and peppers and cook for 5 minutes until the onions are soft and clear. Add the aubergine, courgette and garlic and cover the pan then simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and coriander seeds and season with salt and pepper. Cover again and cook for 45 minutes over a gentle heat, checking occasionally that the vegetables do not stick to the pan bottom. Check the seasoning and sprinkle with Basil and Parsley.

Well I hope you enjoyed my recipes from the UK and we will back with more TBK cooks from around the world in the months ahead

         Until then- Ingat palagi