Celebrate the best of British

Celebrate the best of British

Recipes

Indulge in British food! Seek out in-season fruits and vegetables, quality British meat and some of our country's fabulous cheeses and dairy produce when you are out shopping and use these to create delicious meals at home. What about trying some of our most traditional dishes, such as Shepherd's Pie or Apple Crumble, and giving them a modern twist?!

If you have children, consider involving them in the preparation of the meal - British Food Fortnight is a great opportunity to teach them a few cooking skills as well as an appreciation of the pleasures and health benefits of eating good food.

There are lots of recipe ideas for you to try. Follow the Recipe menu options to find the one that tempts you most!

 
Potato and Leek Soup with Oysters PDF Print E-mail
Recipe Ideas from The Sauce

This month, The Sauce tries The Times recipe for Potato and Leek Soup with Oysters

  • How readily available were the ingredients?
    All the ingredients were in season. I used potatoes from my farm box and purchased all of the other ingredients easily from the local supermarket. I bought British oysters from Waitrose.  I wrongly presumed that the oysters would be very expensive, when in fact they only cost 55 pence an oyster.

  • How easy was it to make and how much time did it take?
    My first impression of the recipe was that it looked a bit fiddly but actually it was quite straightforward, once I had got to grips with the oysters... It took around 40 minutes in total. I didn't have a clue what to do with oysters and have never cooked shellfish before. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Nick Fisher came to my rescue with their Fish book. I managed to prise open a couple of oysters with a small sharp knife but simply couldn't get into the others. I followed another recipe for oyster soup where you steam them open in a small amount of water for 2 minutes. So half of the oysters were cooked and half were raw, as the recipe calls for (my guest  preferred the cooked ones).

  • What was the sum total cost of this meal
    £5.00

  • How many people did it actually feed?
    I halved the recipe and fed 2 people.

  • What did you do with leftovers?
    All the soup was eaten however some oysters were left and thrown away.

  • Is there anything you would have done differently?
    I wouldn't do anything differently but I probably won't cook this again.

  • What did your guests think of the meal?
    This was only given 5 out of 10. The guest who likes oysters felt that it was a waste of good oysters. The other guest, who does not like oysters, loved the soup having picked the molluscs out.

Although the soup wasn't a huge hit, I found making this dispelled my fear of cooking shellfish and made me realise it is quite accessible and reasonably affordable.

Try the recipe yourself and let us know if you agree with The Sauce by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it