It has become a tradition of mine that every first weekend in November we have everyone from my both sides of the family around for a few fireworks in the back garden. One of the best things about Bonfire Night is the food. You could do a barbecue or a one pot like chilli or pasties, all of which I have done over the years, but growing up we had the same tradition of having fireworks in the garden and we would
always have meat and potato pie or corned beef hash,
always served with red cabbage, pickled onions and pickled beetroot. This year my mum came around to cook the meat and potato pie and my sister brought a corned beef hash. It is really simple to make and a lovely warming meal.
Meat and Potato Pie
In an ovenproof dish, fry
500g Mince and
onion with a sprinkle of
mixed herbs in some oil until the mince is browned and the onions are softened, add
potatoes,
celery and
carrots, seasoned with salt and pepper and cover with
beef stock or gravy, cook for
1hr to 1hr 30 until vegetables are softened, leave to cool.
Make the crust
8oz flour, 4 butter, pinch of salt mixed together with some
water to form a dough, refrigerate.( we did all this the day before)
The next day about an hour before everyone comes roll out the pasty and place it on the top of the meat and potato and glaze the pasty with egg. Put the oven to
220c Cook at this temperature until the crust is a lovely golden brown (about
15 mins) then turn down until ready to serve.
Corned Beef Hash
This is such a simple and cheap recipe. Take 1 tin of
corned beef cut into cubes,
1 onion, 2 carrots, 1 stick of celery (all chopped ) a bay leaf, cover with
beef stock and season with pepper. Cook for
1hr - 1hr 30 in oven at
200c. It the veg will soften and the stock will reduce down, so it should be quite mushy. If you like you can put a crust on it.
Another staple of a bonfire night in Bolton is
Black peas, as far as I know this is just a Bolton tradition, these are basically peas that are black, you have to soak them over night with a little bicarbonate of soda in the water then you rinse them and boil in water until the are mushy, when they are ready stir one tablespoon of treacle in, then serve in a mug or a polystyrene mug with plenty of salt and vinegar. It might sound disgusting but its actually really good.
Of course you must have
treacle toffee, this one was made by my friend Sandra.
And its also customary to have parkin cake, but I'm not keen on that because I find it quite dry so I make my signature bake '
Soft gingerbread cake.' I have been making this cake since I was about 13 and it never fails. You need to make it a few days before you need it because the longer after you make the more stickier and moist it gets.
Soft Gingerbread
Melt together
125g butter,125g golden syrup, 150g dark treacle and
125g granulated sugar then allow to cool.
Sieve together
275g plain flour, half tsp salt, 2tsp ground ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon and
1 level tsp bicarbonate of soda.
Pour contents of pan into flour, mix in
1 beaten egg and
225 ml milk.
Pour into a greased baking tin i have a square silicone tray that i use.
Bake at
160C for an
hour but check after
50 minutes. Insert a skewer into the middle if it comes out dry its done, let it cool then put in a airtight container for a couple of days. Cut to into cubes or slices, it should be very soft with a sticky top...delicious!
I also like to make
Spicy mulled cider
Put
3 x 568ml pear cider, 6 long strips of lemon, 1 cinnamon strip, 1 vanilla pod, 250ml clear apple juice, 2 tbsp caster sugar and 100mls brandy in a large heavy based pan , warm over a gentle heat but do not boil. Turn off the heat and leave to infuse for at least an hour. Reheat slowly and serve with sliced pear.
This year I did this in the slow cooker and it worked really well.
We had fireworks and sparklers and a good time was had by all, apart from Max of course he hid in the bedroom until the fireworks were over but he was quite happy to come down to play with our nephews before and after and loved all the attention.
