Recent surveys show that due to more modern eating trends, traditional British foods are in danger of dying out. Sainsbury's conducted a recent poll and found that teenagers were significantly less interested in traditional dishes than those just a few years older than themselves.
Traditional British foods, the staple diet of our ancesters like potoatoes and pies are know longer popular, and are being replaced by pizza, burgers and kebabs.
So here we have included a couple of traditional recipees that might appeal to your teenagers, so why not give them a try!
TOAD IN THE HOLE
(Serves four)
2-3tbsps sunflower oil or approx 25g hard fat, 6 large sausages, 2-3 cherry tomatoes per portion
For the batter:
110g (4oz) plain flour, 1/2tsp salt, 2 large eggs, well beaten, 300ml (1/2 pint) milk, full cream or semi-skimmed
Sieve the flour and salt into a mixing bowl and make a batter by stirring in the eggs, and making a smooth paste with a little of the milk. Next, beat in the rest of the milk until the mixture resembles unwhipped double cream. At this point leave it to stand for at least 30 minutes, preferably one hour. Preheat oven to 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7.
You can use either a 20x16cm (8x6in) roasting tin or individual round tins, whichever is more practical. Add the fat or oil to the roasting tin (or a little in each roasting tin) and heat in the oven till the fat smokes. Chop each sausage into four and arrange the chunks in the roasting tin/s. Intersperse the sausage pieces with cherry tomatoes. Put in the oven for five minutes, then pour on the batter and and cook for a further 15 minutes. Check to see if the Toad is cooked - smaller tins may be ready at this point, but a larger Toad may take longer. The batter should be crisp and golden. Serve piping hot.
FRUIT CRUMBLE
(Serves six)
700g (1 1/2lb) of fruit - apples, plumsand rhubarb are all good choices. You can also use a mixture of fruit; blackberries and apples is a particular favourite sugar to taste
For the crumble topping:
110g (4oz) plain flour, 1tsp mixed spice, 110g (4oz) butter, 110g (4oz) brown sugar, 50g (2oz) chopped walnuts or almonds
Preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Layer the fruit in an ovenproof dish with sugar (the amount depending on the sharpness of the fruit).
Sieve the flour with the spice. Rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until the mixture is the texture of fine breadcrumbs. (You can also do this in a food processor.) Mix in the sugar and the nuts and sprinkle in a thick even layer over the fruit. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Serve hot with pouring cream or yoghurt.
