Final Downton Dinner this Season

My friends and I gathered with much anticipation for the last episode of this exciting saga. We were both eager and sad knowing this would be the last until the release of season five.

From the previews we knew this would be an episode of revealing information and celebration. We chose to do it up right as best we could. Our meal was a smoked salmon quiche, with artichoke hearts, goat cheese and dill. We started off the evening with a blended white wine from Conundrum vineyards in Rutherford CA. We moved on to a Prosecco, a sparkling wine from Italy. Our dessert was fresh fruit marinated in port wine and sugar wrapped in a crepe. What a way to finish the season!

The recipes did not come from the Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook. The dessert was on the back of the crepe bag. Yes, they were store bought. Sometimes you just have to take a few shortcuts. The quiche is a combination of a recipe and my imagination.

This has been a lot of fun both planning and cooking around a central theme. To watch a show of this type and be able to discuss immediately the ins and outs of the progressions of the lives involved. We have enjoyed watching the fashions change both as the years pass and the social demands dictate. It has been somewhat of a refresher course on the history of the early 20th century.

Planning a meal is a wonderful way to have friends and family around, but to have a focus, something to be discussed at least part of the time, helps liven up the conversation. Whether your focus is a book or TV program or a cookbook based on a TV program, you are inspired to ponder new things and bring fresh discussion to the gathering -- not just the same old same old on what is happening around you. Think about this the next time you invite friends over.

Smoked Salmon Quiche with Goat Cheese and Dill

1 9-in. piecrust

3 eggs

1 cup half and half

1 can artichoke hearts, chopped

4 oz. smoked salmon, flaked

1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles

1 tablespoon fresh dill, divided

2 tablespoons fresh chopped green onion, divided

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper

1/8 tsp Tabasco hot sauce

   

Bake piecrust in 400-degree oven for 10 minutes and allow to cool while preparing rest of quiche. Be sure to press edges to pan and prick with fork so crust will not draw in while baking. Use baking beads or other device to help hold crust shape. This pre-bake step will help insure a crisp crust bottom.

Combine eggs, half and half, salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce beat until eggs are completely blended. Sprinkle the flaked salmon in cooled crust, add artichoke hearts, crumble goat cheese, half of the fresh dill and chopped green onions.

Pour egg mixture over other ingredients and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Check during baking time and if the crust starts to get to brown protect with foil or other device. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack 10 to 15 minutes. This is important so crust will not sweat and be soggy. Sprinkle with remaining dill and green onion. The quiche can be eaten at room temperature if desired, so it makes a great bake-ahead dish.

The recipe for the fruit crepe was on the back of the prepared crepe package. I used strawberries, raspberries and dewberries I happen to have in my freezer.  By the way, just for you information, strawberries will not continue to ripen after picked. If you buy some that are still white or green at the tops around the stem they will stay that way. Some fruits do continue to ripen you just have to know which ones.

I hope you have enjoyed sharing this little adventure with my friends and me and I will be back on my regular food adventure quest next time. I can be reached at PatsChat@livingston.net.

Downton Abbey Dinner with Staff

As I announced last week, we will be eating with the staff this week. With all the activities going on around this big house I am amazed they could all sit down for a meal. Of course it was a much simpler meal, but Mr. Carson always observes protocol and sees that proper standards are upheld.

This is a sit-down service with everything on the table and passed around to each person. Choosing from the designated staff section of the Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook we prepared Bangers and Mash (page 194) as our main entree. We choose a celery and toasted walnut salad with Pecorino cheese (page 208) as a side and finished with a Treacle Tart (page 232). We couldn’t resist adding Bluebell Homemade Vanilla to the tart.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with the term “banger,” that means sausage. The recipe called for beef sausage. We tried to be true the English version, but I am not fond of beef sausage and will not use that if I ever make this again. During World War II, because of the lack of farm meat and rationing the sausages were stuffed with cereal and water and had tendency to hiss and pop when cooked over fires in the trenches; thus the name banger. This dish is popular today and can be found in many local pubs.  Of course, the “mash” is mashed potatoes. This is just another version of Shepard's pie without the lamb. Using mashed potatoes as a topping for a casserole can come in very handy for many meat and vegetable dishes.

From reading the cookbook, potatoes were a main ingredient in the staff diet. I am assuming there was a kitchen garden nearby. We have never seen or heard anyone talking about working a garden, but I feel certain there was one and potatoes were a main staple. The only garden talk has been about growing roses and the Dowager Countess seems to have the lock on that production. Today, we talk about being locavores, these people really put it to the test. What they didn’t grow on the place, local tradespeople delivered to the back door.

Dressing for Walnut and Celery Salad

2 small shallots, minced

2 Tbsp sherry vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)

2 tsp fresh lemon juice (best with fresh juice)

1 Tbsp walnut oil, optional

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Whisk all ingredients together and pour on salad right before severing.

Treacle Tart (Cockney slang for “sweetheart”)

Pastry

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp kosher salt

2 1/2 tsp sugar

1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes

6 tsp ice water

Thoroughly mix flour, salt, and sugar, cut in butter with pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water one tablespoon at a time just until mixture clumps together. Divide into two parts, form two separate disks. Wrap separately with a little flour and chill for at least 90 minutes.  This a very delicate pastry, handle with care.

Filling

1 1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1 cup golden syrup (1 part sugar to 1 part water)

2 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix lemon zest, oats and ginger set aside. Mix syrup and lemon juice and set aside.

Remove one pastry disk from refrigerator; allow to set for 10 minutes. Roll gently and place into 9” pie plate. Place half of oat mixture in prepared pie crust, pour all of the lemon syrup mixture on top of oats, then add the rest of the oat mixture. Roll out the rest of the pastry and cut into strips to form a lattice topping. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Can be served hot or cold. Top with whipped cream.

This was a little scary for me with so little in the filling but it worked with a good topping. Remember those Ritz cracker pies? This has been a fun journey to share with friends. Next week we plan to have tea Crawley style.

Lets us hear from you about this adventure. I can be reached at PatsChat@livingston.net.