Sunday, August 30, 2009

Sunday Lunch: Ploughman's lunch - including my new love, Branston pickle

Photo: Andrew Gale

1. Bread; 2. Dark stout; 3. pickled vegetables (including onion, cauliflower, pickle); 4. boiled egg; 5. salad and cheese plate (mushroom, eggplant, onion, lettuce, tomato, rubicon red cheese); 6. Soft drink (I can't drink stout!); 7. Branston pickle; 8. Egg Mayonnaise; 9. Cold sliced beef cheek; 10. Beetroot

So, it's the last Sunday in winter *hooray!* but unfortunately it does spell the end of Sunday Roasts for the season. Instead I decided on a whim to make a "Ploughman's Lunch", despite no actual evidence of any sort of ploughing activity on behalf of either Food Critic Andrew or myself. So according to Wikipedia, a "Ploughman's" is a "cold snack or meal originating in the United Kingdom, comprising at a minimum of cheese (usually a thick piece of Cheddar, Stilton, or other local cheese), pickle (called "relish" outside the UK), such as that made by Branston, breadbap), and butter. It is often accompanied by a green salad; other common additions are half an apple, celery, pâté, crisps, diced hard boiled egg or beetroot." And have a look at these Ploughman's.



Now, I'd never actually tried Branston Pickle before, and to tell you the truth, I didn't think I would like it at all. But it was the Best thing ever! l think I am in love. So is Food Critic Andrew. I can see us fighting over the last teaspoon full!

Anyway, you can see from the picture, I couldn't decide whether to use a baguette of a fresh loaf - so I bought both. We ended up using the loaf, so next time I'll just make/buy one of those. There always is far too much bread in our house! So basically it really just is another version of anti pesto. Let's call it "Anglo pesto", in deference to it's traditional roots... This is definitely something I'll make again - nice and simple. And this of course explains why my fridge is rapidly starting to overflow with condiments. I am thinking of renaming it "The Condimenteria".

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