Steak and Kidney Pie Image Used Under Creative Commons License From foodtolove.co.nz

Citizens, the Imperial Majesty that is TFD wishes his fellow Royals Harry and Meghan Markle every imaginable happiness in their new lives together! To celebrate their nuptial bliss, I am proud to share that most quintessentially British recipe with you for steak and kidney pie!

Steak and kidney pie is a savory pie that is filled principally with a mixture of diced beef, diced kidney (often of beef, lamb, or pork), fried onion, and brown gravy. Steak and kidney pie is a representative dish of British cuisine.

The gravy typically consists of salted beef broth flavored with Worcestershire sauce and black pepper, and thickened with refined flour, beurre manié, or corn starch. The gravy may also contain ale or stout. Hot water crust pastry, puff pastry, and shortcrust pastry are among the pastry crusts prepared for steak and kidney pie.

Among the various vernacular rhyming slang names for steak and kidney pie are Kate and Sidney pie, snake and kiddy pie, and snake and pygmy pie.

As noted on parkersbritishinstitution.com:

Be it steak and kidney or a proper pork pie, the Great British pie is Britian on a plate. As simple as your favourite pies may seem, they have a rich history that traces back to the Neolithic Period, around 9500 BC.

Pie-like dishes have been around since the ancient Egyptians, but the idea of enclosing a filling inside a sort-of-pastry made from flour and oil actually originated in ancient Rome. The first published recipe featured rye dough filled with goat cheese and honey.

The pie we know and love today has its roots in Northern Europe. Back in the day, olive oil was harder to come by and butter or lard were the fats of choice in the colder areas north of the Mediterranean. The use of these solid fats created a pastry that could be rolled and moulded – and so the true pie was born!

The early “pyes” were of course predominately meat pies. In the 12th century, the need for nutritious, satisfying, long-lasting food that was easy to store and carry, particularly at sea, was initially solved by taking livestock along with a butcher or cook. Needless to say, the ships quickly became pretty cramped, so a solution was found – a crust. The hardened pastry containers were not really eaten at first – think of them as disposable medieval Tupperware that kept the meat filling fresh.

Missionaries and explorers spread the meat-based pie dish across the globe. The English Pilgrims of the North American colonies brought the recipes across the ocean with them. The crust of the pie was useful to preserve food during the long winter months in America.

The pie was not actually not very popular in America until the 1800s, and today meat pies have lost their popularity to be replaced with sweet pies. Fruit pies had made their very first appearance in the late 16th century, when Queen Elizabeth I was served the first cherry pie.

Citizens, I am very proud of my particular recipe as it is sumptuous beyond words and totally authentic as well! The eccentric but delicious touch of Gentleman’s Relish (an anchovy and butter spread) adds a hint of umami – trust me, you won’t taste any anchovy in this! 🙂

I also call for the extra steps (rarely if ever done, sadly) of cutting out the cores of the kidneys and leaching them overnight. This prevents any hint of gaminess and “other unwanted flavors”. 😉

Battle on – The Generalissimo

Alberta-Style Ginger Beef Image UsedUnder Creative Commons License From foodparadisetv.com

Citizens, today allow your Leader – the immortal Beloved TFD! – to share with you a unique Chinese fusion recipe from the windswept plains of Alberta, Canada!

Ginger beef is a Canadian Chinese dish made from beef, ginger, and a distinctive sweet sauce.

The ingredients of ginger beef can depend on where it is featured, but the Western Canadian version generally consists of deep fried strips of beef coated in a dark sweet sauce that is reminiscent of other Asian sauces based on vinegar and sugar. It also contains flavors of ginger, garlic, and hot peppers, and is commonly served with a small amount of julienned carrots and onions in the sauce. Ginger beef is derived from the original Geung Ngao Yuk (Chinese: 薑牛肉) dish.

As with many dishes, the invention of ginger beef is claimed by several restaurants and chefs. However, the most widely accepted origin attributes the dish’s development during the mid-1970s by chef George Wong at the Silver Inn in Calgary, Alberta. The dish is now a very important part of culture in Calgary and that part of Canada. A radio segment featuring ginger beef was aired on CBC Radio One programme ‘The Main Ingredient’.

As noted by the excellent writer Rhonda Parkinson on the now-defunct about.com website:

Ginger beef – the ultimate comfort food. The famous dish consisting of marinated beef deep-fried in batter and coated with a sweet and sour sauce is a staple of Alberta Chinese restaurants. However, it is very difficult to trace the origins of this popular recipe. Does the ginger beef that Albertans know and love represent true Chinese cuisine? For that matter, is ginger beef – no matter how it’s prepared – an authentic Chinese dish?

A search through several Chinese cookbooks quickly reveals that the idea of marrying beef with ginger is nothing new. For example, in Ginger East to West, Bruce Cost provides a recipe for “Real Ginger Beef” that is quite different from the typical restaurant version, using a full cup of ginger and two cups of fresh coriander leaves. In Joy of Wokking, Martin Yan has a recipe for “Spicy Ginger Beef” seasoned with five spice powder. Finally, Madame Wong’s Long-Life Chinese Cookbook contains a ginger beef recipe that uses preserved red ginger and red pepper, with a sauce made from chicken stock, cornstarch, hoisin sauce and dark soy sauce.

In fact, ginger beef is based on a northern Chinese dish that is much drier and less sweet than the restaurant version. Although his name is lost to history, it is thought that a Chinese chef working in Calgary came up with the crunchy “Americanized” ginger beef with the sweet sauce that is so popular in Alberta. Even today, it is difficult, although not impossible, to find Alberta-style ginger beef outside the province. But whatever its origins, ginger beef is a great way to introduce people to Chinese food. And, while definitely not a dish for calorie-counters, it has the advantage of containing healthy ingredients such as ginger – thought to help cure colds.

Citizens, my upscale version of this recipe uses leek instead of onion and garnishes the final dish with celery leaves. If you’ve had this in Alberta, I have every confidence you will find my version to be a worthy addition to your recipe repertoire! 😀

Battle on – The Generalissimo