Best of Britain

By Meredith Hines-Dochterman/The Gazette

Great Britain's 2008 Summer Olympic Games medal haul totaled 47, placing the country fourth behind the United States, China and Russia.

As the host country for this year's Games, hometown pride is on the line when the Olympics begin Friday, but we're not just talking about the medals.

England wants to defend its food.

We tend to think of English cuisine as dull. Traditional dishes like fish and chips, boiled potatoes and shepherd's pie fill the stomach, but they don't necessarily excite the palate.

The London Games Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games released its food vision in 2009, detailing the commitment to delivering a “tastier, healthier, greener Games.”

“While sport will take center stage, the ‘Olympic experience' that people will take away will be built and influenced by a multitude of other factors. And one of the biggest will be food and drink,” the report states.

The vision calls for using the transformational power of the Olympic Games to celebrate and promote a variety of regional foods. A sample spectator menu includes porridge and maple syrup made with United Kingdom oats and milk; thin crust stone baked pizza with spicy pepperoni, spicy beef, and basil and oregano; and pole and line caught tuna and sweet potato British salad.

“We have gone to great lengths to find top quality, tasty food that celebrates the best of Britain,” London Games Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Chief Executive Paul Deighton said in a news release.

Plum Bread and Butter Pudding

• 8 dark red plums

  1 cup of sugar, plus a bit to spoon into the plums

  1/2 loaf of coarse stale bread

  Softened butter

  1 1/2 cups heavy cream

  1/2 cup of whole milk

  4 large eggs

  1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste

  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash the plums and cut in half. Remove the stones and then place them into a baking dish, skin side down. Place approximately 1/2 teaspoon of sugar into the center of each. Bake in the heated oven for 15 minutes or so, just until the juices begin to run. Remove from the oven and set aside. Turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees.

  Trim the crusts off the bread. Cut the bread into 1-inch wide strips. Butter them on both sides generously. Lightly butter a 6-by-8 inch glass baking dish.

  Whisk together eggs and sugar, whisking until the sugar is almost dissolved. Whisk milk and cream together with the vanilla paste. Slowly whisk in the egg mixture, whisking until you have a nice creamy custard-like solution. Set aside.

  Place the bread into the baking dish, by placing three strips across, almost upright, but not quite. Place a plum half on each. Place another three strips in front of the plums. Place another three plum halves on each. Repeat until all the bread strips and plum halves have been used. You also can cut several strips into smaller pieces and tuck them in all the way around the pudding, kind of like a frame.

  Pour the custard slowly onto the bread in the pudding, in and around the plums. Allow the bread to absorb the custard, before pouring on more. Add custard until the bread can't absorb any more. Drizzle any plum juices over top and then place into the oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until sides of the pudding are set and the top is nicely puffed and lightly browned. The center should still be a bit jiggly. Remove from oven and allow to cool to warm.

  Cut into slabs to serve.

  Source: The English Kitchen (theenglishkitchen.blogspot.com)

  Proper British Scones

  2 cups flour

  1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

  2 1/2 teaspoons sugar

  1/2 teaspoon sea salt

  4 1/2 tablespoons butter (cold)

  2/3 cup milk (plus 1 tablespoon for egg wash)

  1 egg yolk

  Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

  Mix together flour, baking powder, sugar and sea salt.

  Drop in the butter in tiny cubes and work with fingers until no butter is larger than a pea. Add the milk and mix briefly, just enough to bind the wet with the dry. Do NOT overmix.

  Drop onto a well-floured board and knead very quickly, only 3 to 4 times.

  Pat into a circle about 1 inch thick and cut out scones with a small glass or cookie cutter. Knead together remaining dough and cut out more scones until all the dough has been used.

  Beat the egg yolk lightly with 1 tablespoon of milk and brush the tops of the scones with mixture.

  Bake on baking sheet lined with parchment paper for 13 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

  Source: Accomplished Young Lady (accomplishedyounglady.com)

  Slow Cooker Beef Curry

  4 tablespoons sunflower oil

  12 ounces beef braising steak, cut into 1-inch pieces

  2 onions, finely chopped

  4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

  2 chillies, finely chopped, plus extra to taste

  1 inch piece fresh root ginger

  4 teaspoons ground cumin

  4 teaspoons ground coriander

  2 teaspoons ground turmeric

  2 14-ounce cans chopped tomatoes

  2 teaspoons garam masala

  7 ounces natural yogurt

  Small handful fresh chopped coriander

  Heat half of the oil in a frying pan and fry beef pieces for 4 to 5 minutes, or until browned all over. (You may need to brown the meat in batches.) Tip the browned meat into the slow cooker.

  Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan and fry the onions for five minutes, then add the garlic, chili and ginger and fry for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add the spices and fry for another minute, then tip the mixture into the slow cooker.

  Add the chopped tomatoes to the slow cooker, then fill one of the empty cans with water and add the water to the slow cooker.

  Stir everything together, pressing down so that everything is covered in liquid and cook for 8 to 10 hours on low.

  About 30 minutes before serving, stir in the garam masala and yogurt and season to taste with salt and a little more chili. Cook for 30 minutes more, then stir in the coriander.

  Source: BBC-Food (Bbc.co.uk/food)