Sunday Tea and Potted Beef

I have spoken of learning to cook at  my mothers heel in the kitchen on a Sunday morning to deal with cooking the Sunday roast and also doing the baking for the week.  This is how I learned to cook for the best part.

Also on a Sunday we had Sunday tea which quite frequently was had around 5pm and usually consisted of some of my mum's home made milk buns with either egg, tinned salmon or potted beef on (potted beef was affectionately known in our family as potted donkey).  Never a full bun but a half a bun served open sandwich style.  Quite frequently we would have jelly and fruit or jelly and ice cream for pudding.  Then there would be pastries like sausage rolls, lemon or jam tarts, and coconut cheesecakes and then finished off with a wedge of sponge.  Delicious and mum was an expert cook so the food always had a lot of flavour and her pastry was to die for we were incredibly spoiled in this respect.

Oh for the traditions of the past.  I would in some instances like to get back to this. I like to have a proper Sunday dinner but I do yearn for a proper Sunday afternoon tea and in the next few weeks I am going to attempt to reintroduce this to my household.

As part of that and in the hope that I can bring this back into being a part of our everyday living, I have managed to locate another recipe for potted beef which again is an old recipe which I want to try out.  It is slightly different to the previous recipe I posted.

You will need:

1lb stewing steak cut into 1/2 inch cubes

!/4 pint of beefstock

1 clove

1 blade of Mace

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2oz melted butter

Fresh Bay leaves to decorate (optional)

To prepare you will need to do the following:

Put the meat into a casserole dish with the beef stock, clove, mace and salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and cook in the oven at 180 degrees C/350 degrees F or Gas Mark 4 for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the meat is tender.

Remove the clove ad the mace and drain off the stock setting the stock to one side.

Mince the meat twice or place it in a blender or a food processer and blend for several minutes or until smooth.  Add half the melted butter and enough of the reserved stock to moisten the meat.

Press the mixture into small pots and cover with the remaining melted butter.  Store in the refrigerator and eat within a few days.  Serve garnished with fresh bay leaves.  Do not waste any remaining beef stock use it up in soup or gravy.

So this Saturday, I am going to have a go at this potted beef recipe in order that it is ready for Sunday tea. According to the recipe it makes about 12oz which should be ideal for a Sunday afternoon tea although it is not reserved for tea alone.  Potted beef is also good for a pack up especially if served with sliced tomato on and it can be served in numerous other ways as well. I shall also make cake!

It will be a small start but I am going to get there eventually.

Do you have any fond memories of Sunday Dinner or Sunday night tea.

Would love to hear from you.

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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