Main Courses
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Turkey Breast with Ham and Asparagus
This recipe combines three great flavours from the region - turkey, asparagus and ham.
4 pieces of turkey breast (skinned)
Flour
1oz butter
¼ pint of cream
Sage (chopped)
2oz cooked ham (chopped)
2 to 3 asparagus spears per person (cooked)
Seasoning
Season turkey breasts and coat in the flour. Saute the turkey in a pan with the butter - adding the chopping sage and cream. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Place the cooked chopped ham and asparagus spears over the turkey - cover and heat for a few more minutes.
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Huntingdon Fidget Pie
This old-fashioned pie was originally made around harvest time to feed the hungry workers.
½lb shortcrust pastry
8oz bacon (chopped)
2 onions (chopped)
8oz cooking apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
¼ pint of stock
2 tablespoons of sugar
A little milk
Seasoning
Layer the chopped bacon, onions and sliced cooking apples into a greased dish. Sprinkle each layer with some seasoning and sugar, then cover with stock. Roll out pastry and cover the filling - brushing the top with milk. Bake at 190C (gas mark 5) for 20 minutes, then for a further hour at 180C (gas mark 4).
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Cambridgeshire Crocked Eels
Ely is noted for its eels - still caught in the River Great Ouse, and once part of the local staple diet.
2lbs of eels
2oz of butter
1 medium onion (chopped)
1 dessertspoon of parsley (chopped)
Seasoning
Skin, clean and cut the eels into 2 inch pieces. Place in a stone jar - adding the butter, chopped onion, parsley and seasoning. Cover loosely. Put the jar in a saucepan of cold water. Bring to the boil and cook until the eels are tender - about 1½ hours. Serve with home-made bread.
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Jugged Hare
A classic dish from the East of England - the hare originally cooked in a tall jug set in a deep pan of water.
1 hare (jointed)
4 rashers of bacon (chopped)
2 onions (chopped)
1 carrot (chopped)
1 stick of celery (chopped)
6 cloves
1 teaspoon of allspice
1 tablespoon of flour
Rind and juice of 1 orange
1½ to 2 pints of stock
Blood from the hare
Beurre Manie
1 large glass of port
1 dessertspoon of redcurrant jelly
Seasoning
Lightly flour the hare joints, and place into a large casserole pot. Add in the chopped bacon, carrots, onions and celery - together with the cloves, spices, orange rind/juice, seasoning and
enough stock to cover the meat. Cover pot and cook in a slow oven - 160C (gas mark 3) for 3½ hours. Once tender, remove hare, vegetables and bacon from pot - and keep this hot in a serving dish. Discard cloves. Strain the liquid from the pot - and thicken it with beurre manie until it is the consistency of thin cream. Stir in the hare blood, the glass of port and redcurrant jelly to the pot. Pour back over the hare and reheat gently. The sauce should be smooth and rich.
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Suffolk Pork Casserole
Home to the second largest number of pigs in the country - pork is the prime meat of the region.
2lbs lean pork pieces
6 spring onions (chopped)
6 courgettes (sliced)
¼lb button mushrooms (sliced)
1 sprig of tarragon
1 glass of water
½ glass of white wine
2oz butter
1 tablespoon of oil
Seasoning
Using a flameproof casserole dish - saute the pork pieces and chopped spring onions in the butter and oil mixture. Add in the sliced courgettes, button mushrooms and herbs - stir well, then pour over the white wine and water. Add seasoning. Cover and simmer over a gentle heat for about 2 hours.
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Mussels and Onion Stew
A real seafood treat - this dish uses mussels caught fresh off our coastline.
4½lb of mussels (washed and cleaned)
¼ pint of dry white wine
1oz butter
2 large onions (chopped)
1oz plain flour
½ pint of milk
2 tablespoons of single cream
Using a saucepan - bring the dry white wine to the boil. Add in the mussels, cover and cook for about
3 to 4 minutes (or until they open). Remove mussels from their shells, discarding any unopened ones. Fry the chopped onions in the butter, stirring in the plain flour, milk and remaining mussel cooking liquid. Let this boil, then simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Return mussels to mixture, along with single cream. Reheat and serve.
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Bedfordshire Vension in Beer
This heart-warming dish combines two regional flavours - prime vension from the deer of
Woburn Abbey and 'real' ale.
3lb of vension (diced)
1 pint of bitter beer
½ pint of beef stock
2oz of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of black treacle
1 head of celery (chopped)
1oz of butter
1 tablespoon of oil
Seasoning
Preheat oven to 180C (gas mark 4). Using a pan, brown the celery in the oil and butter. Place vension in a casserole dish and pour over the celery. In the same pan - dissolve the black treacle and sugar in the beer. Add stock and seasoning and bring to the boil. Pour over the meat, cover and cook for at least 2 hours.
