MY DEAR friend Tom Hartman gave me a fine and
suitable book for Christmas: A Calendar of Saints, by James Bentley, who was born in Lancashire, curiously enough, as you will see later. I was delighted to find my own patron saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, has her feast-day on 3 Jan- uary. She was a brave lady who defied King Childeric of the Franks when he besieged Paris, and saved the population by sailing out of the city and returning with boatloads of corn for the starving populace. She then took on Attila the Hun and his hordes and by the power of prayer turned them away. King Clovis the Frank was so impressed he became a Christian, and interred her body in a great church in the middle of Paris. An excellent patron saint to have, I feel.
I spent the New Year's holiday in Lan- cashire at Barbon, in the house of the amazing John Martin Robinson, better known for his historical pursuits than his domesticity. But he couldn't be a better host and dealt with ten of us with the ease of one brought up by Mrs Beeton. On my feast- day we sat down to lunch with more guests, a good 16 in total, and were given an enormous Lancashire hotpot which I think John must have started in the middle of the night. I have not had this dish, the English cousin of Irish stew, you might say, for years. Very good it is, too — perfect for large quantities of people.
Lancashire hotpot
2lbs of best end of neck lamb chops 6 lamb's kidneys llb onions, thinly sliced 2lbs potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced dripping or butter salt, pepper
hot vegetable or lamb stock, about 1/2 pint
This amount will do for six, but you can multiply at will and, if you hate kidneys, And finally, in the event of an armed raid, no heroics. Treat them like any other customer. Simply stand around in groups discussing last night until he gets bored and wanders off.' replace them with mushrooms; but the kid- neys give a good flavour.
Grease a deep earthenware casserole. Line the bottom with about a third of the potatoes and onions and chops and slices of kidney, season well with salt and pepper. Repeat the layering and seasoning, ending up with a beautifully arranged layer of overlapping potatoes. Pour in the liquid, which should come about halfway up the pot. Melt some butter and generously brush the top of the potatoes. Cover and bake in a hot oven, Gas 7, 425F, 220C, for 30 minutes, then reduce the heat to Gas 1, 275F, 140C and cook for a further 2 hours; remove the lid and cook for another l/2 hour so that the potato topping is nice and browned. If you use an Aga, as John did, do your own thing.
The dear departed Michael Smith had a daintier version of this robust dish, but you need 6 individual oven pots able to contain 15 fluid oz each. However, I suppose you could bung the whole lot into the usual pot.
6 4oz-potatoes, peeled and finely sliced 2 whole lamb fillets, trimmed and skinned 2 tablespoons olive or soya oil, for frying 24 button onions, skinned 2 inner stalks of celery, finely chopped 24 button mushrooms
1 oz pearl barley '/4 pint dry white wine mixed with 3/4 pint chicken stock
butter salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to Gas 3, 325F, 170C. Cut each fillet into 12 discs. Heat a little oil to smoking point. Quickly fry the lamb in small batches to seal and colour the meat. Place four pieces in each pot. Brown the onions over a fairly fierce heat, adding a splash more oil if necessary. Divide between the pots and do the same with the celery, mushrooms and pearl barley. Sea- son each pot with a little salt and pepper. Pour over enough of the wine and stock to cover and arrange the potatoes neatly in overlapping circles. Dot with butter, cover and bake for 11/2 hours. Remove the lids and raise the temperature to Gas 5, 375F, 190C, and cook for a further 20 to 30 min- utes until the potatoes are golden brown. If you use this receipt in only one pot, revert to the oven timings of the first one.
Say you were thinking of having baked apples after this country repast, stuff them with some left-over mincemeat or dried fruits soaked in Calvados (does wonders) and sprinkle with crumbled macaroons. Cook in a well buttered dish and serve with this White Chocolate Creme Anglaise: Com- bine 2 oz of caster sugar, a pinch of salt, 5 egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in a saucepan. Scald 8 oz of single cream and whisk into the mixture over a low heat until thickened (about 8 minutes). Remove from heat. Add vanilla to taste and 5 oz of white chocolate in small pieces. Stir until melted, sieve and chill until required.
Jennifer Paterson
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