Wales doesn't exactly evoke images of gastronomic heaven, given that our national dishes essentially comprise of cheese on toast, seaweed and fruitcake.
What goes in Wales's favour however, is our itsy bitsy size and a varied landscape: verdent, lush rolling hills (thanks to that lovely rain we all relish), lots of sea, and a bucket load of countryside which enable us to benefit from wonderfully fresh and local food. As a result, we have a range of produce which is becoming rather well known in the UK, including (but certainly not limited to) delicious cheeses, beautiful Angelesy sea salt and the jewel in the crown, succulent, spring lamb.
I think the Welsh food board should employ me as chief marketer after that plug.
With all that in mind, what did I cook for St. David's Day when I returned home from work last night? Welsh rarebit and welshcakes. Not exactly making the most of the amazing produce I so dutifully praised a minute ago. To be honest it was a bit of a last minute decision, only actually realising it was St. David's day the evening before, and having to make do with the very small amount of food in our cupboards. I'm not even sure if the cheese was Welsh! But the thought was there, and I'll make sure I do it properly next time.
I jazzed it up to make it a proper meal, and instead of doing the rarebit on toast, I spread it on pork, and served it with braised cabbage and mash. I thought the pork would go well with the rarebit, especially as I used cider instead beer, and a little more mustard, making for a classic combination. Rarebit, for those who aren't aware, is basically a white cheese sauce.
I won't write the recipe as I attempted that and it turned out terribly! I'm terrible at recipe writing as I usually add my ingredients to taste and don't write them down, which I should. Essentially I made the rarebit by making a roux of butter and flour in a saucepan, added cider gradually to make a smooth sauce, and then somewhere along the way chucked in mustard, worcestershire sauce, cheddar cheese, a little double cream, breadcrumbs and salt and pepper, to make a thick paste, and spread them on grilled pork chops. It's important to make sure the paste is quite thick, hence the addition of the breadcrumbs, because otherwise it'll melt all over the damn place. I served them with creamy mashed potato and braised savoy cabbage à la my nana with some red wine vinegar to make a very hearty and delish St. David's day meal. I finished them with Welsh cakes and ice-cream for dessert, for which I can give you the recipe, and is by the way super easy.
Welsh Cakes
Makes 10...ish.
225g self raising flour
110g butter
1 egg
1 tsp mixed spice (or a combination of cinnamon and nutmeg, as I didn't have any)
85g caster sugar
A handful of sultanas
A little milk
-Rub the softened butter into the flour and mixed spice to make breadcrumbs, then add the sugar, egg and sultanas. Mix together to make a dough, and add a splash of milk if a little dry.
-Role out the pastry until about 5mm think and use one of those wavy cutter things to cut into rounds.
-You'll need to have a heavy, preferably cast iron griddle pan to cook the Welsh cakes (perhaps I should have mentioned that before), if you don't have one, use a frying pan I suppose, but I've never done it that way before, so don't blame me if it messes up. Wipe the pan with a thin layer of butter.
- Heat the pan to a medium heat and place on the Welsh cakes. Cook for about 2-3 minutes on either side until brown, although I like mine burnt, so I leave them there a little longer. Make sure you watch the heat as you want them to cook through evenly.
-Remove from pan and dust with caster sugar, or make a jam sandwich if you like.
-Eat them all at once and watch yourself get fat.
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