Traditional English Cooking

TRADITIONAL LANCASHIRE HOT POT

INGREDIENTS

2 lb middle neck of lamb (or other meat if non available)
4 lambs kidneys, cored skinned and chopped (optional)
20 fl oz hot water with 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (pronounced "Wustershire!)
2 lb potatoes cut into 3/4 inch thick slices
3/4 lb onions
1 bayleaf
A sprig of thyme
Tablespoon flour
Butter
Fat or oil for frying
Salt and pepper

In a large frying pan brown the pieces of meat in smoking hot fat ot oil, a few at a time. When they are nicely browned remove them to a casserloe or pot. Brown the kidneys and tuck them in amongst the meat.

Next fry the onions, adding more fat if necessary, until they are golden brown. Stir in the flour to soak up the juices and add the hot water with Worcestershire sauce little by little, stirrring well until it blends to a smooth liquid. season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Pour the liquid over the meat in the pot, add the bayleaf and thyme and arrange the potato slices on top so that they overlap like tiles on a roof. Season again, add a few dabs of butter to the top, cover with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven at 325° Fahrenheit (Gas #3, 170°C) for 1 1/2 hours. Remove the lid and cook for an additional 50 minutes.

To add the finishing touch, brush the potatoes with a little more butter at the end of cooking and finish off under the grill (broiler). Alternatively, increase the oven heat for the last fifteen minutes of cooking.

Wrap in blankets, take to the races and enjoy!

This tasty and warming dish is a tradition in the County of Lancashire. The name is handed down through the generations from a time when the dish was baked in the oven at home and wrapped up in several layers of blankets to keep it hot. It then provided a warm meal for a day at the races.

If you want more of a flavour of this tradition, it is possible to visit the races on several of our tours - our web page "from the press" helps you imagine the scene as you try cooking this dish at home. Local people usually accompany the dish with pickled red cabbage!