Sunday Gravy with yeah right: Lancashire Hotpot like me old Gaffer used to make!

Howdy everyone!

We’re back home and back in business.

Canada was incredible. A really great trip. One of the ways you can tell if a place had an impact on you is if you find yourself still remembering and recalling the places you visited days or even weeks later. This one has that potential.

Such a clean city for its size and the fact that there were so many cultures represented and everyone was working together was wonderful. Like a Utopia.

See, there is a chance that all of this can work but it’s just gonna have to be somewhere else besides this idiot dipshit country.

Happy Draft day weekend or some damn thing. I watched some on Thursday, because habitual shit and all. I could basically give a tin kitten shit about the last few rounds.

Who the fuck are these guys until they step on the field on a Sunday?

Got a good recipe for you today. Old school as a motherfucker and it is truly a comforting, filling and rather delicious concoction that should appease the majority of the crowd.

We’re making Lancashire Hotpot today!

Real quick first, I have a notepad app on my phone where I jot down everything. Grocery lists, travel ideas, movie recommendations etc. I also keep ideas for future Sunday Gravy episodes on there. I see something, think “Hey, that shit looks good!” Jot it down and most of the time it makes the cut at some point.

This recipe has been on that list for close to 3 years. Time to fix that fucker today.

What do I know about the county of Lancashire in Northwest England? I know that Tolkien is from there. I also know that at one point there were 4,000 holes in it, which just so happened to be enough holes to fill the Albert Hall!

I know that it’s north of Manchester and that it sits on the Irish Sea, which I recently visited but on t’other side.

Something I DID find out about Lancashire was some very fucked up American history that our fabulously moronic, racist country had done a previously solid job of covering up.

Ever hear the story of the World War 2 “Battle of Bamber Bridge” that took place in a small village of the same name on June 24th-25th of 1943?

Ring a bell?

Fucking of course not because our shithead historians elected to cover it up.

Sound familiar?

So did this battle involve the US going after the 3rd Reich to restore democracy and order to the world?

No.

It involved white US soldiers killing a black US soldier because one of the black soldiers had the outright fucking AUDACITY to go into a pub to get a beer at the end of a days work.

Starting to believe that shit now aren’t you?

NPR has the full story.

Basic details are like this; the locals in Lancashire had no real experience with racism at the time so they treated the black US soldiers who were stationed there as [gasp] friends and allies! The black servicemen in fact were very comfortable with the locals.

All the first soldier dude did was walk into a pub for a beer while wearing his standard issue uni instead of a dress uniform. The US white MPs took offense and started to give him shit when he took a drink of his beer. The locals came to the defense of the man as did several more black soldiers.

Then someone threw a bottle.

Whiteboy pussy MPs were outnumbered so they vowed to return with reinforcements. 

They did. And they also brought a machine gun mounted to a Jeep.

The black soldiers took the time to warn all of the locals to maybe get the fuck off the streets because some SHIT was gonna go down. Spoken in the parlance of the times no doubt.

From the story:

“It’s unclear who fired first.

At least 400 shots rang out in Bamber Bridge that night, ricocheting down Station Street for five hours. Eunice Byers, who at age 106 is the battle’s last surviving witness, recalls watching gunfire outside her window that night.

When the smoke cleared on the morning of June 25, 1943, a Black soldier — Pvt. William Crossland — lay dead in the street.”

Jesus fucking wept.

I never heard this story until doing research on Lancashire for this post.

Yes, I’m almost as pissed at the cover up as I am the story because the story feels EXACTLY like what this country has always been and is trying very hard to return to.

One nice takeaway was how the locals in Lancashire interacted with the black US soldiers and treated them as equal human beings.

I suddenly have a higher opinion of the people and location for our meal today.

Here endeth the lesson.

AWAY WE GO!

Recipe courtesy of Kitchensanctuary.com

Lancashire Hotpot!

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 pound or so lamb – not too lean 

2 brown onions peeled and sliced thinly

1 heaped tbsp plain flour

2 cups beef or vegetable stock

2 bay leaves

½ tsp salt

½ tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 medium-sized carrots peeled and cut into chunks

1 pound potatoes peeled and sliced to ¼ inch thick

1 tbsp melted butter for brushing

¼ tsp dried thyme

Any good Lancashire hotpot starts with lamb. This dish is very similar to a Shepherd’s Pie and we’ve already had the “Shepherd’s Pie vs Cottage Pie” talk.

Traditional recipes call for mutton but I figured a good lamb steak would do the trick.

Acquired from my regular meat store.

Starts out simple enough. Cube the meat up into bite sized pieces.

Don’t discard the fat! This isn’t a very fatty cut of lamb and we’ll need all of the fat.

Heat up a pan and in go the butter and oil.

We’re going to brown the lamb. Season with salt and pepper while you’re browning it.

While the lamb is browning, slice the onions.

Slice, slice not chop, chop.

This would also be a good time to measure out your beef stock and get the Worcestershire sauce ready.

You can see where this is heading, can’t you?

When the meat has been browned, remove it from the skillet and dump those onions into the same skillet with the meat juices and everything.

Holy fucking shit that smells incredible.

When the onions have turned a lovely golden color, add the meat back to the skillet along with the flour.

Just sprinkle the flour over the top of everything.

Stir in the flour well to fully coat the meat, then add in the Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves and the beef stock.

This will simmer on medium/medium-low for 30 minutes. Right here in the stovetop is fine for this step.

After 30 minutes you will notice the gravy starting to tighten up.

Turn off the flame and make sure your oven is pre-heated to 325.

Now peel and chop up the carrots.

Get them in the skillet already!

We’re doing this now so the carrots don’t turn to an orange mushy blob in the finished pie.

This whole thing is going to finish cooking in the oven so break out your best casserole and get this shit in there.

Let’s get after them potatoes. Peel and slice please.

Start working from the outside and layer the potatoes towards the center of the dish. Like this here.

Baste with the butter and sprinkle on the dried thyme.

It’s gonna go down like this; cover the casserole with a lid or foil and bake for 1 hour. Then turn up the oven temp to 400, remove the lid and cook for thirty additional minutes. That’s supposed to get the top of the potatoes a little crispy.

I really like this application of the potato slices rather than just glopping on some goddamn mashed potatoes. Gives it character and shit.

When the pie is done we remove the lid.

Hell yes. Let me at that shit.

Patience though! Remember this fucker has been cooking for 2 goddamn hours.

After a ten minute cooling rest, plate it up.

You can make a side salad and it would pair up just fine. Get yourself a nice glass of red or a lovely pint as well.

Want a closer look?

You really want this right now.

The potatoes really make this dish. Instead of the standard shepherd’s pie with the mashed potatoes, these keep their character and can even get a little crispy on top while being a soft/creamy potato bite inside. The gravy is lovely, but honestly it could be gussied up a bit with some red wine, or maybe a Guinness(!) and some savories but I went traditional.

If there are any folks out there who are still lamb averse – why? – you could chunk up a beef chuck roast and would be happy with the results. Keep the fatty bits!

This is deeply hearty and satisfying and outright delicious. Perfect for a cool weather day.

You have my permission to make this one.

Today’s positive holidays via A Bit of Good News:

“On April 27, International Marconi Day, International Sculpture Day, World Design Day, World Healing Day, World Tai Chi and Qigong Day, World Tapir Day, World Veterinary Day, National Day of Puppetry, National Devil Dog Day, National Go Birding Day, National Gummi Bear Day, National Pool Opening Day, National Prime Rib Day, National Tell a Story Day, Marine Mammal Rescue Day and Save the Frogs Day.”

Your mission should you choose to accept it is a slab of prime rib followed by a package of Devil Dogs.

I’m assuming the holiday references these…

As opposed to the pre-teens that the Marines creepily recruit.

Back when I was running a deli on the Jersey Shore I had a buddy who would have 2 packages of Devil Dogs and 2 Yoo-Hoos for breakfast fairly regularly.

Yeah, that’s the same reaction I had at the time.

I truly appreciate you good folks. Truly do.

What say we do this again next Sunday, cool?

Be well folks.

As always…