Public

In the pub.

I miss the pub. 

When we first moved to the neighborhood we live in now, there was an outlet of a chain Irish pub a few blocks away.  It was more a Gaelic themed TGIMcChilis than a real Irish pub, but the beer selection was good, they had traditional Irish music a couple nights a week, and most importantly for me, they showed the Rugby matches I wanted to see.  For a few weeks twice a year – during the spring and fall international competition windows – we’d spend a weekend morning or two each week surrounded by friends, expats from rugby playing nations, and more than a few other burly former players cheering on their chosen teams.  

Despite the early hour, the pint glasses stacked up on the tables, and as the second or third match of the day came on, the empty plates of Irish or full English breakfast were cleared away to make room for an almost de rigueur serving of fish and chips.  The big international matches are played in February and March, November and December, so those heavy, delicious, beer mopping meals are perfect, the fake fire in the corner felt cozy instead of cheesy, and the camaraderie of a bunch of gigantic weirdos cheering for a sport most Americans know nothing about was … perfect.

The pub closed a couple years ago – before the pandemic.  It’s an office now, although I think there’s still a Claddagh ring frosted onto one of the windows.  Now, I make my game day fish and chips or fry up at home.  I brew my own bitter.  A couple of friends, old teammates or fellow travelers, come by and we stack up in our living room and (more quietly, if no less enthusiastically) cheer on our sides:  Scotland for me, Ireland for my wife, Wales for my college roommate.  Half time comes around and I drop the fish and the chips into the fryer.  It’s good. I’ve gotten good at it.

I still miss the pub.

A Good Bitter

I learned to bake bread because I wasn’t happy with the bread I could get in my neighborhood. Like a lot of the things I’ve learned to cook or make over the years, I learned to brew beer because I couldn’t easily find the sort of beer I like to drink.  I like British style ales, which are malty, caramelly, less carbonated, and (despite the name) far less heavily bittered than the current trends amongst American brewers.

This isn’t really a recipe in that if you don’t already know the basics of brewing, these instructions won’t be that helpful.  I’m including it because some of you out there may know the basics of home brewing and want to give it a go.

7.5 lbs. Maris Otter Pale Malt, crushed
0.5 lbs. Crystal 120 Malt
1 oz East Kent Goldings Hops
1 oz Fuggle Hops
1 sachet SafAle s-04 Dry Ale Yeast

Mash: 60 minutes at 152°F, no mashout
Boil: 60 minutes

1 oz East Kent Goldings at 60 minutes
1 oz Fuggle at 5 minutes

Cool wort to 68°F before pitching yeast

Ferment at 65-70°F for 2 weeks.

Bottle or keg as to your own preference.  If bottling, use about ½ your normal priming sugar for a lower carbonation level once conditioned.

Mushy Peas with Mint Sauce

Mushy peas are apparently sort of a contentious dish.  People either love them or hate them.  I dislike the short cut versions often available in the US – made with simply mashed or pureed fresh green peas.  Traditional mushy peas are made with mature field dried green peas – while the variety used most often in the British Isles (called Marrowfat Peas) are difficult to find here, you can find mature dried green peas at many markets that cater to international communities, particularly Latin American and Asian markets.  The addition of a small amount of baking soda creates the “mushy” texture and a good dose of mint or mint sauce makes them a perfect accompaniment to fish and chips.

1 cup dried whole green peas, soaked overnight

4 cups water
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt
½ cup loosely packed mint leaves
1 tbsp hot water
1 tsp granulated sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
Pinch of salt

Soak the peas overnight.

Drain the soaked peas and add to a pot with 4 cups water, 1 tsp salt, and ½ tsp baking soda.

Bring to a simmer and cook until peas are soft and breaking down, adding extra water as necessary.

Add the mint leaves, water, sugar, and vinegar to a mortar and pestle or container sized for a stick blender.  Mash or process until a coarse puree has formed.

Stir the mint sauce into the mushy peas immediately before serving.  Reserve a little to top individual servings as a garnish.

Fish and Chips

When I lived and worked in Washington, DC, a former colleague and I had a small tradition.  If it was raining and cold, we ducked out for fish and chips.  And a pint of course.  There’s something about it, the inherent comfort of crisp, battered fish and soft but crunchy chips, and a nearly but not quite cold pint that is just perfect on a grey day.  

I first encountered two thirds of this perfect combination on a dock in Killarney, Ontario – a little more than an hour’s drive off the Trans-Canada highway – and one of the most beautiful places you’ll ever see.  I was a kid who hated fish, but (at least according to my parents) fish and chips was the only option available that – of course – rainy, summer afternoon.  We each got a little red and white paper basket of fish and fried potatoes handed out the window of an old school bus parked on the dock.  I didn’t know that the place was a northern Ontario institution – the bus is a landmark in its own right.  All I knew was that I liked it.  It was fish … and I hated fish … but I liked it.  After that I was hooked.  So much so that years later, as we were traveling around New Zealand’s South Island, my ex issued a “no more fish and chips” ultimatum after pointing out we’d had at least one meal of fish and chips every day for nearly a week.

This recipe is a straightforward, traditional fish and chips – though the addition of corn starch to the batter might not be strictly traditional, it gives you a much crisper batter crust.  I recommend using shortening, lard, or a combination of shortening and oil for frying both the fish and the chips as a high percentage of saturated fat in the fry medium makes for crispier fries and fish as well.

Battered Fish

2 lbs white flakey fish, such as cod, hake, or haddock
1 cup AP flour
1 cup corn starch
¼ tsp baking soda
12 oz beer
1 egg
1 tsp kosher salt

Portion the fish and dry the surface with a paper towel.  Allow to rest in the refrigerator, uncovered, until ready to fry – this will further dry the surface and help the batter adhere better.

Beat the egg well.

Mix the flour, salt, baking soda, and corn starch.

Add the beer, and egg to the dry ingredients and mix just until a smooth batter has formed.

Allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes.

Set up a fryer or a large, thick bottomed pot and bring the oil and or shortening to 350°F.

Working in batches, dip each piece of fish into the batter, allow excess batter to drip off, then gently lower into the oil.  Fry until golden brown. 

Drain on brown paper or paper towels and serve immediately.

Chips

4 large russet or other appropriate potatoes
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp kosher salt

Peel the potatoes and cut them into large sticks or planks. 

Place the potatoes in a large bowl or other container of very cold water.  This will help prevent browning.

Prepare a large pot of boiling water and add the baking soda to the water.

Working in batches if necessary, cook the potatoes in the soda-spiked water until just barely tender.

Carefully remove the potatoes and place on a sheet pan lined with a rack.

Refrigerate the potatoes on the rack until entirely cool.

Prepare a fryer or a large, thick bottomed pot and bring the oil and or shortening to 350°F.

Working in batches, fry the potatoes until golden brown.

Season with salt and serve immediately.

Tartare Sauce

This is a recipe for tartare sauce.  There’s not a whole lot more to say about it, other than that once I was served tartare sauce with beef tartare and it was a lot better than I expected – owing in part to the amount of available wine and the huge portion of frittes that were served along side, but that’s another story for another time.  This is a simple recipe, but the result is a lot brighter and a lot more flavorful than most commercial sauces.  It only takes a few minutes to make, and it’s completely worth it if you’re serving almost any fried seafood.

½ cup good mayonnaise
1 oz lemon juice
1 tbsp finely chopped dill pickles or cornichons
1 tbsp minced shallot
1 tsp finely minced capers
1 tsp minced dill or fennel leaves
½ tsp Dijon mustard

Mix all ingredients and refrigerate for at least 1 hour for flavors to combine.

Curry Sauce

Being a Rugby fan in the U.S. isn’t always easy.  American clubs don’t get much in the way of television coverage, and international and overseas matches are played at times that make it inconvenient to watch.  That being said, there’s something about rolling into the pub at 6:00 AM on a Sunday in a kilt and a Scotland jersey, sidling up to the bar, ordering a pint and plate of chips and curry and … watching Scotland lose.  Chips and curry sauce are one of the great snack combinations on the planet and I can’t believe I didn’t know about it until I was in my twenties – and I know about it because of the Rugby.  In order to watch a match, I’ve gone to pubs all over San Francisco, DC, North Carolina and Ohio at ungodly hours of the morning and snacked on some tasty chips and curry.

1 ½ cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 medium onion
2 unsalted butter
2 tbsp AP flour
1 tbsp madras curry powder
1 tsp kosher salt

Peel, trim, and dice the onion.

Add the butter to a thick bottomed pan over medium heat. 

As soon as the butter has stopped foaming, add the flour. 

Cook, stirring frequently, until the flour just begins to brown.

Add the curry powder, salt, and onions, and cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the stock and bring to a simmer.

Cook until thickened. 

Taste for seasoning and add additional salt as necessary.

Just a Trifle

I don’t think I’ve ever eaten dessert in a pub.  Unless another pint is dessert.  And another after that.  Part of that is because, as you’ve seen above, I spent a lot of time in the pub before noon.  But as I always sort of feel I’m shortchanging you – the reader – when it comes to the sweet end of things, I decided I needed a pub-appropriate desert to go with this week’s menu.  The most English thing I could come up with, other than a thousand years or rather odd haircuts, was a trifle.  Then, I admit, it got a little more complicated.  I was thinking of it as, well, a trifle.  Something small, something simple, nothing to worry about.  I was thinking, “hey, I know how to make all these components even without a recipe and I can just … screw it up over and over.” 

It took me four tries to get it right, and by right, I mean passably good enough to photograph.  Not because it was difficult, but because I’m a flake and was distracted, and simply kept forgetting ingredients.  The great thing is that the flawed attempts were still delicious – because that’s the wonder of a dessert that’s based on the premise that if you pile a bunch of delicious things together, they will be delicious.

Microwave Sherry-ed Cake

½ cup AP flour
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup whole milk
4 tbsp unsalted butter
½ tsp baking powder
1 oz plus 1 tsp sherry
1-2 tbsp raspberry jam

Cream butter, sugar, and egg together until smooth and light in color.

Add the milk, 1 tsp sherry, flour and baking powder and mix until smooth.

Pour the mixture into a greased, microwave proof container and cook on high until fully cooked – 4-6 minutes depending on your microwave’s power.

Turn out the cake and allow it to cool.

Slice the cake into ½ inch thick slices.

Brush the cake with sherry.

Spread the slices with jam.

Cut the slices into small cubes.

Raspberry “Jelly”

1 packet unflavored gelatin
¼ cup raspberry jam
1 tbsp granulated sugar
¾ cup water

Add 1tbsp of cold water to a bowl and sprinkle the powdered unflavored gelatin on top to “bloom” or hydrate.

Bring ¾ cup of water to a boil in a pan over medium heat.

Add the jam and sugar to the boiling water and stir to dissolve.

Add the hydrated gelatin to the hot water and cook for 5 minutes.

Strain, allow to cool to room temperature, and use immediately.

If the jelly solidifies before using, microwave it for 20-30 seconds and stir to melt completely, then cool slightly and use.

Custard

4 egg yolks
½ cup granulated sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup heavy cream

Prepare a small pot of boiling water

In a heatproof mixing bowl sized to fit on top of the pot , whisk together egg yolks, vanilla, and sugar.

Add in the heavy cream.

Place the bowl over the boiling water and use a whisk or spatula to stir constantly until the mixture is thickened. 

Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely before using.

Crème Chantilly

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp granulated sugar

Using a whisk or a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk the cold whipping cream until soft peaks have formed. 

Sprinkle in the sugar.

Continue to whisk until stiff peaks form.

Final Assembly

Whole raspberries
Mint leaves

Add a handful of raspberries to the bottom of a glass.

Pour in the warm jelly mixture to just barely cover.

Refrigerate for 30 – 60 minutes for the jelly to set.

Spoon or pipe custard into the glasses over the set jelly mixture.

Add jam and sherry coated cake pieces on top of the custard.

Pipe or spoon whipped cream on top.

Level the whipped cream with a cake froster or the back of a knife.

Garnish with raspberries and mint leaves.