Jubilee puddings

It has been a very wonderful and inspiring Jubilee for us Royalists. From the amazing pageant of vessels along the River Thames, via the Jubilee concert showcasing some of our favourite oldies (but maybe not such goodies as they once were), through the dignity of a Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's, and culminating in a carriage procession, a balcony appearance and the inevitable Lancaster/Spitfire/Red Arrows fly-past.

But what to eat? Well that was easy enough. Jubilees deserve street parties so outdoor eating was de rigeur.

Except that the weather let us down and by Saturday it was fairly clear that dodging the showers was going to be the sport of choice.

I was catering for 17 on Sunday but my own children had informed me they would be "going on". Presumably to somewhere where cool, rather than Her Majesty, reigns. I reckoned on 3 puddings and a cheeseboard. Anne brought Nigella's Ice cream cake which pretty much took care of the under 30's.

I had another go at Matthew's lemon tart. I had bought the right tin in the interim and this time it was much better. Not perfect yet but definitely sticky and edible. It needs adjustment in the lemon department I feel. I used 3 not very juicy ones and it wasn't sharp enough for my taste. I didn't pre-bake Dilou's pastry either and it was fine. By the way, Matthew electric oven temperature is for a fan oven. But you probably knew that.

I had also been brainwashed into making Heston Blumenthal's Diamond Jubilee Strawberry Crumble Crunch. Honestly, I am so gullible. But hey, it was easy and it went down well, particularly with yogurt-hating husband, not that I told him what was in it. I omitted the vodka as I'm 5 months on the wagon at present, and I reckon the elderflower cordial was a bit overpowering.


Oh. And my trifle dish was the wrong shape. I liked this quite a lot but I don't think I would bother to make it again. I think it missed a spongey layer but I wouldn't dare tell Heston.

Re the concert. The general verdict amongst my muso friends was that Tom Jones and Shirley Bassey still have it but know their limitations these days. Elton, Cliff and Macca are well past their sell-by date. Personally I think that's because the former have good singing technique which the others don't.


Oh yes. My boss thought Lang Lang was a panda.

Heston's belly

I have been in the wars a bit lately. A nasty bout of eczema, followed by a heavy cold, and then an allergic reaction to the steroid cream prescribed for the eczema has left me feeling more than a little sorry for myself. The tops of my feet and various parts of my hands are home to various infected sores and I am being seen every other day by the Practice Nurse. So you can imagine that cooking at the moment as to be as easy as possible.

This week's Waitrose recipe from Heston Blumenthal looked just the ticket, Slow cooked pork belly.




Here is today's Top Tip. Don't try taking the skin off a piece of meat like this if you've got plasters all over your hands. And if the meat for the recipe has been criss-crossed by the Waitrose butcher it's not going to come off in one piece as the recipe suggests.




After the nine suggested hours the meat was still as tough as old boots so I whacked the oven up to 180 and cooked it for a further hour. It was OK but it was nothing special and I shan't be cooking it this way again. If I want to cook it slowly then I'll do it in the slow-cooker.



The crackling was good though.