When I worked in London as a private chef, for various aristocrats/celebrities,in the 80's everyone adored desserts and puddings they had had in their childhood. It seems like things don't change much, HRH Prince William requested his groom's cake be made from English biscuits ( cookies) in milk chocolate, something he had as a child!
Ever popular is fruit crumble here in U.S. I make it with whole wheat flour, brown sugar and either soy-free margarine or unsalted butter...it is almost a shortbread crumb topped poached fruit pudding..tomorrow I am making it with local berries which are now at their best, strawberries and raspberries.
A popular variation in U.S. is to add rolled oats to the topping and it is called a Fruit Crisp.
Savory pies were/are also popular, I have a regular order every Friday for any veggies cooked with cheese and a pastry crust, along with some type of fruited pudding, for a family in Hollywood.
Cornish Pasties ( pron. with a hard A) which were originally made for the Cornish Tin Miners so they had some food when they were in the mine..the pastry was their edible wrapping, although the pastie was wrapped in a piece of cloth that later was used to wipe the miners faces off when it got too hot down in the mine. In those days, they were made the size of a folded dinner plate, these days they are the size of a side plate folded and I make them with cooked vegetables & cheese or nut butter..very popular both sides of the Atlantic.
Also popular are the "rustic" brioche yeasted pastry pies and I usually make them every 2 weeks..roasted or sauteed ripe summer vegetables also either with cheese or nut butter and nutritional yeast, tomorrow I am making a roasted red pepper and vegetable rustic with toasted flax seed and tarragon crust and also including real cheese as the clients can eat dairy.
More popular in France and Italy are the cold or cooler soups, the only one really acceptable for a lot of families used to be Vichysoisse in UK, although I did have a celebrity client in LA who preferred his warmed.
Today I made a wonderful sage and butternut squash soup, blended with coconut milk it is great either warmed or served chilled..the fresh sage adds a mellow depth.
My biggest tip when cooking vegetarian and vegan and making everything taste good is to cook as much ( soups, stews, anything with a liquid base) the day before ( except pies and cakes) and allow the flavors to develop overnight..
it is important that the food has to be cooled quickly before putting in the fridge do not put warm/hot food into a fridge as not only will the dish spoil so will most of the other items in the fridge.
The times to avoid cooking and storing the day before is when the weather is humid...as everything is likely to spoil very easily.
I have a cooling room..where there's no sunlight and fans extracting warm air.
Big tip for summer food preservation is to lower the temperature on your fridges/freezers in hot weather..this is because the air rushing in ( when opening the door) from the kitchen is hotter and that makes the fridge's motor work harder to keep optimum cold, and can take some fridges 30 minutes to cool down by which time your food is spoiling.This will keep your bills down and lower your carbon footprint.
Food prepped so far:
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| the flesh of the roasted butternut squash, in stock with celery, onion & garlic..sage leaves and coconut milk added when it is blended |
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| own grown tomatoes, zucchini, purple onion, garlic, herbs, red wine..the base for the "rustic pie" |
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| added roasted red bell peppers |
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| marinating overnight |
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| the toasted flax seed-tarragon 'brioche" yeast pastry |
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| the pastry allowed to prove for 2 hours, knock back and put in fridge overnight, then bring to room temp before rolling out |
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| extra sweet "Calico" sweet corn for the roasted corn salad on Monday..soaking in clean water after returning from market |
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| these 2 cheese topped vegetable and cheese pies |
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| these 2..carrot cake with fresh peaches, pears and raspberries..a great way to get people to eat their fruit and vegetables..lol |
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| another sourdough this one with sesame seeds and caraway |
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these have proved for 4 hours now they will ferment for another 7 hours at room temp..I used a mix of pastry and bread flour for a lighter crumb        |
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