Toad in the Hole

GROUP D: England

England are playing France today so it can only be “Toad in the Hole” as the recipe. Essentially we have a Yorkshire Pudding batter that is cooked in smoked ham wrapped sausages. It really is delicious. I serve it with a red onion gravy, mashed potatoes & veggies.

If you are interested in more English recipes here at Food Devil why not check out my English section which you can find here:

Steak Mushroom & Onion Pies

Finally the search for a suitable meat pie casing has come to an end. I combed many a website for the perfect one but in the end I found a very large muffin baking tray, it worked perfectly. The beauty of this method is that you can buy sheets of frozen pastry (flaky puff pastry) that fit perfectly into each meat pie so that all you need to use is different meat sauces as the pastry is easily available in your freezer. You want to find a pastry that is butter based & not oil/yeast based, this pastry will give the pie a beautiful flaky texture.

Previously I have made a Chicken & Leek Pie during the World Cup Kitchen but this time I wanted to make a more traditional meat pie filling. I went for a Steak Mushroom & Onion Pie. The key when making the meat sauce is: more time the better. In the recipe I say cook it for 2.5 hours but the longer the better. Turn the sauce temperature right down and let the sauce stew away would be the best philosophy. Let the mixture cool completely before you add it into the Pastry casings.

Day 17: Fish & Chips

Day 17
Germany 4 England 1
Argentina 3 Mexico 1

So England are out, but not without giving us one of their true classic dishes. Fish and Chips are enjoyed the length and breath of the country but as always whenever I take over a traditional dish I have a habit of tweaking it with other cuisines and using ingredients that you would not use traditionally.

Here I use a Beer batter that uses a Belgian dark beer (Trap Trip Dubbel). Also when making the batter I separate the egg and whisk up the egg white and fold this in just before you use the batter. This process makes the batter light and fluffy. 

Also when I am making my chips I do them the Belgian way, very simply half way thru the cooking process you want to remove the chips from the oil and dry them completely. You then place them back in to cook, the end result gives you the perfectly cooked chip that is crispy on the outside and perfectly cooked in the inside.

Day 2: Shepherds Pie

Day 2

South Korea 2 Greece 0
Argentina 1 Nigeria 0
England 1 USA 1  

World Cup Kitchen is an English Shepherds Pie 

A Shepherds Pie is very simply minced lamb with a crust of cooked potato. If the pie is made with beef it is called a Cottage Pie.