PRAWN COCKTAIL

This is a classic and for me never loses its appeal.  It's a perfect starter and so easy to make too!

INGREDIENTS
Little Gem Lettuce  / Iceberg Lettuce
Cooked Prawns

Marie Rose Sauce
4 Parts Mayonnaise
1 Part Tomato Ketchup
Tabasco

Garnish
Paprika
Lemon

METHOD
Shred the lettuce and place in the bottom of chilled glasses.  Toss the cooked prawns in the Marie Rose sauce and pile on top of the lettuce.  Dust with a little paprika.  Serve with a lemon wedge balanced on the side of the glass.  Traditionally this is also served with brown bread and butter, with the crusts removed and cut into triangles

NOTE If you use frozen prawns make sure you defrost them thoroughly and drain off any liquid before mixing with the Marie Rose sauce.

You can also use the prawn mixture to serve with melon as alternative starter, see 3 Melon Starters

EGGY BREAD / FRENCH TOAST / ROLL UPS

We never really had French Toast in our house, or "Eggy Bread" as we call it over here.  I remember seeing it for the first time in Kramer v Kramer.  I have since become quite fond of it though, not necessarily for breakfast but for when I crave something sweet and don't want to go to the trouble of making pancakes.. I find the taste is quite similar.  It's also a great way of using up stale bread.

Plain French Toast is just bread dipped both sides in beaten egg thinned with a little milk (or water if you've no milk in), then fried in butter until golden brown.  It's up to you what you do with it thereafter.   You can make it savoury or sweet...

INGREDIENTS
2 Slices of Bread
1 Egg
2 Dessert Spoons Milk
1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract (optional)
Knob of Butter
Drop of Vegetable Oil (this stops the butter from burning)

METHOD
Soak the bread slices in the eggy mixture for 5 minutes a side
Heat the butter and oil in a frying pan
Fry the egg-soaked bread until golden on both sides

VARIATION - ROLL UPS
Cut the crusts off the bread slices
With a rolling pin flatten the bread slices
Spread filling of your choice
Roll up the bread as tightly as you can into a sausage shape
Soak in the egg mixture on all sides
Cook as above

SERVING IDEAS
Savoury
Serve on it's own or with bacon

Make a sandwich with..
     Cheese
     Cheese and Ham
     Cheese and Tomato
     Cheese and Onion
Press sandwich together to help it hold, soak in the egg mixture, fry on both sides

Tip.. finely grate the cheese and mix with a little mayonnaise to make a spread

Make roll ups filled with any savoury filling as above

Sweet
After cooking dredge with..
     Sugar
     Sugar and a little Lemon Juice
     Icing Sugar
     Cinnamon Sugar (a little cinnamon mixed with sugar)
     Golden Syrup
     Maple Syrup

Or top with Marmalade!  A favourite of mine, acquired during my time at boarding school, is fried bread and marmalade… trust me it's delicious!  Topping Eggy Bread with Marmalade is pretty good too.

Make roll ups filled with..
     Peanut Butter
     Nutella / Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
     Jam
     Lemon Curd
     Thinly sliced Banana*
     Thinly sliced Strawberries*

*Don't overfill with fruit or have the slices too thick or you'll have trouble rolling them up. When you put them into the egg mixture to soak, put the side with the join at the bottom so that it soaks up the egg mixture first.. it helps to seal the join.

After cooking dredge with any of the above toppings, sugar, syrup etc.
If desired top with Cream / Crème fraîche / Yoghurt

Filling the Roll Up with Strawberry Jam and dredging in Sugar after cooking tastes remarkably like a Jam Doughnut!  You can also cut the Roll Ups into bite sized portions so that you can eat them with your fingers.

Enjoy!

BRADBURY'S OLD FASHIONED LEMONADE

This recipe was given to me by my Mother-in-Law Shirley & it was given to her in about 1950 by the Grandmother of a family friend.  Therefore I would imagine this recipe must date back to to the early 1900's.  It's really easy to make & yields a large amount of concentrate so have some sterilised bottles ready to decant it.  It may sound like a lot of sugar but you only need a very small amount for each glass.  I just dilute it with cold water but you could use sparkling water for a fizzy lemonade, a much better alternative to canned pop & it tastes great!

INGREDIENTS
Sugar Syrup:
4lbs White Sugar
3 Pints Water

3 Lemons

3 Oranges

1oz Citric Acid

1oz Tartaric Acid

1oz / A Pinch of Epsom Salts 

Dilution: 2 tablespoons to a glass of water

Note:

This is the original recipe but I tend to leave out the Epsom Salts.  Epsom salts have a laxative effect and I think they may have been added to the lemonade to make an old fashioned 'tonic' or 'liver cleanse'.

Try and use organic unwaxed fruit and I also tend to use only lemons and if the fruit is quite small increase the quantity.  Tartaric acid and Citric acid can be bought from your Chemist / Pharmacy.

METHOD

Peel the rind of the fruit (with a vegetable peeler) and place into a large bowl or similar vessel.  Squeeze the juice of all the fruit and add to the rind. Don't worry about pips etc. as the mixture will be strained later.  Add the Citric and Tartaric Acid (& Epsom Salts, optional).

Place the sugar and water into a large pan and bring to the boil slowly, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.  Leave to cool slightly then pour the syrup onto the fruit mixture.  Cover and leave to stand for a few hours, preferably overnight.  Pass the mixture through a fine sieve and bottle.

Dilute the concentrate to taste with either still or sparkling water.