LONDON TOWN
"Alrighttt?" We're in England!๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ๐๐ปโ๏ธ๐ฌ๐ง
We made it to England! ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ After a short visit to London to meet up with Jacksonโs family, we made our way to the little seaside town of Walberswick. Walberswick is a charming and quaint English coastal village with a couple of great pubs and a rocky beach. We also visited the nearby town of Southwold with its colorful beach huts lining the shore.
Weโve been taking nice long walks and getting our fair share of fish & chips and cider. I also got my first proper Sunday roast with the best sticky toffee pudding Iโve ever had!
Later this week, Iโll say goodbye to Jackson and his family and meet up with my family back in London. We are going to the ABBA Voyage show, which weโve been dying to see since it came out! Itโs a live band with ABBA member holograms performing. Our friend, Adam, has attended the show twice and told us itโs a blast!
We donโt talk much about English food in the States, but I love the comfort of the meals and traditionsโฆSunday roast, having a midday โcuppa tea,โ a full English breakfast, and trekking through farmland to the pub.
So in honor of our trip, we thought this week would be the perfect time to showcase some of our favorite English recipes:)
I love the idea of having a roast meal every week. Sunday roast typically consists of roasted meat, potatoes, vegetables, gravy, and other accompaniments (like Yorkshire pudding, yum). This recipe keeps it simple with roasted chicken, veggies, and crispy potatoes, but feel free to add your favorite sides. Itโs a perfect dinner if you want to make something simple, but delicious and foolproof for guests.
Watch this vid if you only want to make some crispy pub potatoes :)
Shepherdโs pie is one of my all-time favorite English meals. When the weather starts to turn colder, one of the first things I always make is Shepherdโs Pie. Itโs easy, super comforting, and makes for great leftovers. This recipe has all of the flavors of a classic shepherdโs pie but with a few healthy swaps.
England is also known for their amazing Indian restaurants. On this trip, we will be dining at Dishoom, one of the most popular Indian restaurants in the UK. One of my favorite Indian dishes is tandoori chicken. These chicken skewers are marinated in yogurt and Indian spices and then grilled to perfection. They are served with cucumber yogurt sauce and warm naan (store-bought or make them yourself with The Pantry Naan recipe).
I have been really into making jacket potatoes (British baked potatoes) this year. My two favorite ways to make them are the tuna and corn version and the traditional baked beans and cheddar version. You can really get creative with these and add any toppings you like (I usually top them with Trader Joeโs sweet & hot jalapeรฑos for a kick).
I made the classic bean version for the first time in the video below.
By the way, finding British Heinz beans can be tough, but according to the internet, it makes a big difference.
Eaton Mess has been a staple dessert in our family for as long as we can remember. The recipe first came from an Ina Garten cookbook, and because of its extreme simplicity our Mom who is a self-professed โhorrible dessert makerโ latched on to it. From then on, and with a few tweaks, itโs been the go-to dessert for any dinner party at her house. We never knew about its English roots, until we had a dinner guest from England who said they often had it in school growing up. Thatโs when it finally clicked that it was called โEaton Messโ as in the college, and not โEatinโ Messโ lol.
Our English friends were telling us about drinks that they order at the pub. They sounded so good to us that we did a taste test of all three - Lager & Black, Snakebite, and the Snakebite & Black. Hereโs how it wentโฆ
THANKS FOR READING!
Cheers ๐ฅ
Hil & Nat
Donโt forget you can access the entire recipe library with all your favs here.