Notes about Recipes in this book

• Shepherd's pie or cottage pie

  • FJT on February 25, 2020

    This has been my go-to shepherd’s pie recipe for years. I’m not a huge fan of cinnamon but here it really works.

  • veronicafrance on January 18, 2023

    I made this with beef mince rather than lamb. It's definitely a cut above your bog-standard cottage pie. The reduced red wine adds depth and richness to the sauce, and the hint of cinnamon is interesting too. Worth the small extra effort.

• Baked pork, prune and apple meatballs

  • Pamsy on February 02, 2020

    Very light texture meatballs probably due to the inclusion of suet (which I reduced by 25gr and replaced with breadcrumbs). Apples and prunes worked well. Next time increase the nutmeg and cinnamon to half a teaspoon as using a pinch the flavour didn't come through. Used the Bowlers Meatball Cookbook method of oven baking rather than frying. Served with mash and carrots and gravy. We both thought these were excellent.

• Individual roast beef with bitter onions

  • Pamsy on February 02, 2020

    I love this method of roasting beef, it's so quick and easy. Basically you cut the 900gr piece of sirloin into 4 quarters and roast individually. The Bitter Onions are a great accompaniment.

• Rabbit leg casserole with marjoram and mustard

  • AgusiaH on May 05, 2014

    Lovely recipe! I cooked it on the stove for 2 hrs in big pan, instead of putting in the oven. I used rosemary instead of marjoram, 3 garlic cloves and some maizena to quickly thicken the sauce.

• Apricot and almond pudding

  • FJT on June 06, 2021

    This is a proper pudding; the sort of thing my Mum might have served us at Sunday lunch after a roast. Very nostalgic. I'd have been quite happy with the stewed apricots on their own, but was very glad I made the whole thing.

• Rhubarb tart

  • veronicafrance on May 21, 2021

    Note 1: read the recipe carefully -- I didn't notice the two different oven temperatures and baked the rhubarb at 220C, so it was overcooked. Note 2: normally I would have used my own recipe for sweet pastry, but Gary was a professional chef so I thought I'd try his. The proportion of butter was a little surprising ... even after an hour in the fridge it was tricky to roll and handle, and while blind-baking it *oozed* butter, so I had to overcook it. Note 3: the crème pat. Normally I would make this with plain flour and boil to thicken, but again, let's follow the pro, with his egg yolks and small amount of cornflour.Don't let it boil, he says. So I didn't, and even after 2 hours in the fridge it was pouring consistency. Continued in my next note!

  • veronicafrance on May 21, 2021

    Continued: Reheat, make up a paste of more cornflour and milk, whisk it in, cook some more ... return to the fridge. Waste of time.It was clearly pointless pouring this liquid custard into the tart case, so I arranged the rhubarb in the case on its own (oops -- not enough of it!) and served it with the custard poured over. So half the morning spent making rhubarb and custard! However, an experiment with the leftover custard demonstrated that if you ignore Gary's instructions and bring it to a simmer, beating thoroughly, it will thicken, at least if you've added twice the amount of cornflour specified. I will not be making this again.

• Bread and butter pudding

  • veronicafrance on March 22, 2021

    Classic Gary Rhodes: take a homely, everyday dish and turn it into something refined. He uses only yolks in the custard, and bakes the dish covered with foil in a bain marie before removing the foil, sprinkling with sugar, and grilling to caramelise. A delicious creamy centre, smooth custard, and a crisp top. Really perfect. Mine was enhanced by using a brioche-style fruit loaf I baked a few days ago. I'll stick to this method from now on.

• Parkin

  • veronicafrance on November 01, 2021

    Because you can't buy oatmeal in France I made this using oat bran and it was not a great success ... it tastes like parkin but is too dry when it should be squidgy. I think I'll grind up porridge oats if I try it again. Not rating it as I didn't stick to the recipe.

• Shortbread biscuits

  • veronicafrance on January 07, 2025

    I hadn’t made shortbread for decades, so I carefully followed the recipe, resulting in “dough” that was clearly impossible to roll out. It was like crumble mix. Rather than overworking it trying to get it to hold together, I ended up tipping it into the tin, and compressing it with my hands, before smoothing the surface by rolling it with a small glass. I put it in the oven and after 15 minutes realised I hadn’t scored it, making it impossible to cut neat pieces, so I whipped it out and quickly cut it into squares before putting it back. With all that, I thought it was going to be a disaster, but it’s turned out pretty well. I may have slightly over baked it. Note to self: try Regula Ysewijn’s recipe next time.