Snacks

10 recipes

Cheese Straws

Cheese Straws

Cheese straws are the simplest of cold appetizers: store-bought puff pastry brushed with egg wash, lavished with grated cheese, dusted with paprika, cut into strips, twisted for visual interest, and crisped in a hot oven. The result is a crackle-crispy pastry ribbon with the savory flavor of cheese and the subtle heat of paprika. The key to success is using store-bought puff pastry (which saves enormous time) with proper thickness rolling, ensuring even cheese coverage, and twisting each straw to ensure even baking. These are best served still warm from the oven; cold cheese straws become limp and uninteresting.

36 minutes Serves24
Cornish Pasty

Cornish Pasty

Shortcrust pastry uses a mix of lard and butter for the right sturdy-but-flaky texture; chilled, rested for 30 minutes, rolled to 4 mm thick, and cut into 22 cm discs (a small plate works as a guide). Filling: beef skirt (cut into 5 mm cubes, never minced), potato (5 mm dice), swede (5 mm dice) and onion (5 mm dice), seasoned generously with salt and pepper. The filling is piled on half of each pastry disc, leaving a 1 cm border. The pastry is folded over; edges are crimped firmly with thumb-and-forefinger pressed-and-twisted rope crimps along the curved edge. Egg-washed; baked at 200°C for 15 min, then 180°C for 35-40 min until deep golden.

2 hours 5 minutes Serves4
Ploughman's Pickle

Ploughman's Pickle

Vegetables, swede, carrot, gherkins, onion, cauliflower, dice into small (4 mm) cubes. Dates chop finely. A pickling base of malt vinegar, dark brown sugar, black treacle, salt, mustard powder, ground cloves and allspice brings to a simmer. The diced vegetables join; everything simmers for 45-60 minutes until the liquid reduces by half and the vegetables are tender but still distinct. Cornflour-and-water slurry thickens the syrup to a glossy chutney consistency. Spooned hot into sterilised jars; sealed; cooled. Matures 2-4 weeks before opening, the flavours develop dramatically with rest.

2 hours Serves10
Pork Pie

Pork Pie

Pork shoulder (uncured, fatty) and a small amount of bacon are chopped into 5 mm dice (not minced, the texture is key). Mixed with white pepper, mace, sage, salt and a touch of anchovy paste for umami. The hot-water-crust pastry: flour is mixed with hot water-and-lard mixture, kneaded warm into a pliable dough. Two-thirds of the dough lines a tall round tin (or is moulded freestanding around a glass jar); the filling is packed in tight; a lid of remaining dough is laid over the top with a 1 cm steam hole punched. Baked at 200°C for 30 min, then 160°C for another 60-75 min. Left to cool. A rich pork stock (made from trotters or with gelatin sheets) is poured through the steam hole while the pie is still warm. Refrigerated overnight to set the jelly. Sliced and eaten cold.

3 hours 15 minutes Serves6