Favorite English Recipes

 RHYS BOWEN:  So I am now in Cornwall, staying at John's sister's house--or rather on SIL's estate as it's rather grand. 

One of the things I do in Cornwall is to eat favorite foods I've been craving in the US.

Cornish pasties! We have to go to our favorite Oggi Oggi bakery on our first day and have a pasty.

Fish and Chips--fresh from the ocean. Yum

And of course in Cornwall: Clotted Cream.  This is cream from Jersey cows who give particularly rich milk. The cream is par-boiled until it becomes as thick and rich as butter. And a lovely yellow color. Then it is spread on warm scones with homemade strawberry jam.  Result: heaven.

Here is the scone recipe I use. (My publicist sent out copies to all the influencers)

I'll post a photo when I've had my first cream tea!

Rhys Celebrates a Release

 
RHYS:  Saturday was apparently National Paperback book day (who knew there was such a thing?), and it was appropriate for me as this week I celebrate the release of the paperback edition of THE LAST MRS. SUMMERS.

The book came out in hardcover last year, with little fanfare, of course, as there was no book tour and only a couple of Zoom events. But it managed to reach #10 on USA Today list, and most recently won the Agatha Award for best historical mystery.  I should be happy--right?

But now, as I look at the paperback, I'm feeling a great sense of loss and nostalgia. Because, you see, the book takes place in Cornwall (a homage to Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca) and this marks the second summer in a row that I have not been able to be in England, staying with relatives in Cornwall and enjoying the magical surroundings.

Usually we fly to England and get straight on a train in Paddington Station, heading for Truro. There we pick up a car and negotiate those scary Cornish lanes (hardly ever wide enough for two vehicles to pass) until we reach my sister-in-law's manor house.

 It's at the end of a half-mile drive, with a river at the bottom of its land. There we just feel all tension slip away. We are outside the real world. We can walk through woodlands, sit on lawns, sip a Pimms, eat a cream tea. Absolute heaven!

But we still don't feel comfortable traveling to England (where case rates are rising alarmingly) and my brother-in-law is very ill, making a visit not wise at this time. So I think I'm going to re-read my own book to remind myself about all the things I love about Cornwall.

Number one is the coastline--little fishing villages nestled between cliffs. Sandy coves to swim in. A feeling of fairy-tale.

Number two is the people. To say they are nice is an understatement. They call you 'my lovey'. Time has no meaning. I was once rushing to catch a ferry when an old man, sitting on the dock, looked up at me. "You don't need to run, my lovey," he said, "He won't be going yet. He's still having his dinner."

And number three is the food. We indulge in all the things we avoid all year: Cornish pasties come first and we have to have one on the first day, from the Oggi Oggi Pasty shop in Falmouth. Then cream teas--plenty of those too with Cornish clotted cream and homemade jam. Oh, and the clotted cream is used to make ice-creams too.  I once took a group of hiking friends to Cornwall. They were super-fit ladies, who watched their diets. I warned them they may have to bend those diets a little. They tried Cornish ice cream once and thereafter it was a main point of every day to find a new ice cream shop!  And lastly fish and chips, made with local fresh fish.

I'm sighing as I'm writing this. I'll be reliving through my photos and going back to read Mrs. Summers again.

So dear Reds, what are you missing most about not traveling? What's the first place you'll go to when we can move freely again?

Comfort Food from Home

RHYS BOWEN:  I've lived in California for a large part of my life but I suppose part of me still looks upon Britain as home. So it's not surprising that when I go back to the old country one of the things I look forward to is the comfort food of my childhood, those quintessentially British dishes that meant home for me.

During my stay in England this summer I certainly indulged in cream teas (made with real Cornish clotted cream), fish and chips (made with fish that didn't taste like cardboard),  full English breakfast (so sinful but sooooo good) and the other English breakfasts that I like: poached haddock with a poached egg on top or kippers. But I think my absolute favorite is Cornish pasties.

These are half-moon shaped pastries with meat and vegetables inside a short crust dough. They have a thick edging of rolled dough around the outside and the origin of this was that they were the meal that Cornish housewives made for their miner husbands when they were down the tin mines. These men had no chance to come to the surface or wash their hands so they would hold the pasty by its rim and then discard that part when they had finished the good stuff.  Today you can find pasties with curried chicken, cheese and onion and all kinds of fancy fillings but I still like the traditional steak ones best.

Here is the recipe I was given that works really well:

Cornish Pasties Recipe

 Half a pound of good quality steak, sliced wafer thin
Carrots, turnip, potatoes all sliced very thinly
1 big onion chopped finely
small amount of beef bouillon

short crust pastry.
Pre-heat oven to 425
roll out pastry dough into circles about 8 inches diameter.
 on one half place thin layer of potato, carrot, turnip, onion and then top with thin slices of meat. Sprinkle some bouillon over it. Fold dough in half to make a pasty shape.  Crimp and seal the edges.
Bake  on baking sheet at 425 about 40 minutes or until it turns golden.
(The steam of cooking vegetables keeps the meat moist)

So what is your favorite comfort food when you go home?