25 Forbidden British Kitchen Shortcuts That Make Cheap Dinners Taste Like They Took All Day

25 British Kitchen Shortcuts

These are individual flavor- and time-saving tricks, not one combined recipe. Quantities are included where the subtitles give them.

1. Atora suet dumplings Mix 8 oz self-raising flour, 4 oz Atora suet, a pinch of salt, and just enough cold water to make a soft, sticky dough. With floured hands, shape walnut-sized balls and place them on top of a bubbling stew. Cover and cook for 20 minutes without lifting the lid. The dumplings should puff up, with gravy-soaked undersides.

2. Marmite in savory dishes Stir 1 teaspoon Marmite into beef stew, cottage-pie mince, vegetable soup, or gravy. It dissolves into the dish and adds savory depth without making it taste overtly of Marmite.

3. Use residual oven heat After taking out a Sunday roast, put rice pudding into the switched-off oven and let the residual heat cook it while the family eats and washes up. For the pudding, use 2 oz pudding rice, 1 pint milk, a spoonful of sugar, a knob of butter, and grated nutmeg. The same idea was used for casseroles, beans, baked apples, or stock.

4. Anchovies in meat dishes Mash 2–3 anchovy fillets, or 1 teaspoon anchovy paste, into the fat at the start of a lamb stew, beef casserole, or gravy. Alternatively, push pieces of anchovy and garlic into small cuts in a lamb joint before roasting. The anchovy melts away and boosts savory flavor without making the dish taste fishy.

5. Mushroom ketchup Add a few drops—or about 1 teaspoon—to gravy, stews, soups, or pies for concentrated savory flavor. The traditional homemade method described is to salt field mushrooms until they release their liquid, then boil that liquid with spices such as allspice, cloves, and mace before bottling.

6. Save the jelly beneath roast dripping After a roast, leave the fat and meat juices in a bowl in the larder overnight. The fat sets on top; scrape out the dark jelly beneath and stir a spoonful into gravy, soup, or mince. It can also be spread on bread with dripping and salt.

7. Pearl barley to thicken soup or stew Add a small handful to Scotch broth, beef stew, hot pot, vegetable soup, or stock. As it simmers, the barley releases starch and swells, thickening the liquid and making the meal go further.

8. Hay-box cooking Use a sturdy wooden box or tea chest packed with hay, straw, blankets, or crumpled newspaper, leaving a hollow for a stew pot. Bring stew, soup, or porridge to a rolling boil on the stove for about 10 minutes. Clamp on the lid, place the pot in the insulated hollow, pack more material around it, close the box, and leave it for hours. The method was also used for dried beans and tough cuts of meat.

9. Red currant jelly in gravy Stir a heaped teaspoon into hot gravy at the end for sweetness, tartness, gloss, and a little body. Bramble jelly or blackcurrant jam can be used instead.

10. HP sauce in the pot Stir 1 tablespoon into beef stew, baked beans, mince, shepherd’s pie, or sausage gravy. It adds sweet, sour, fruity, and savory notes.

11. Cornflake-coated chicken Put two good handfuls of cornflakes in a paper bag and crush them with a rolling pin to coarse-gravel size. Season with salt and pepper; curry powder or paprika is optional. Dip chicken pieces in beaten egg or evaporated milk, shake them in the crumbs, and bake on a greased tray for 40 minutes. Fish fillets and pork chops can be coated the same way.

12. Half-lard, half-margarine pastry Combine 4 oz plain flour, 1 oz lard, 1 oz margarine or butter, a pinch of salt, and a few spoonfuls of ice-cold water. Rub the fats into the flour quickly with cold fingertips, bring together, and rest in the larder for 30 minutes before rolling out. The lard helps make it flaky; margarine or butter adds flavor and color.

13. Cider-boiled gammon Put a smoked gammon joint in a pan with a bottle of cider and enough water to cover it. Add an onion studded with cloves and a bay leaf, then simmer. Save the cooking liquid to flavor pea soup or lentil soup the next day. Ginger ale or a splash of apple juice was suggested as an alternative where cider was unavailable.

14. HP sauce in stew A spoonful stirred into stew, baked beans, mince, shepherd’s pie, or sausage gravy helps balance and deepen the flavor.

15. Golden syrup glaze Boil a gammon joint or bacon joint until nearly done. Remove the skin, score the fat in diamonds, then brush with golden syrup mixed with a spoonful of mustard. Roast in a hot oven for 20 minutes. For carrots, boil and drain them, then toss with butter and 1 teaspoon golden syrup. Sausages can also be brushed with syrup and mustard for their final 10 minutes in the oven.

16. Dried soup mix in meatloaf Mix a packet of dried onion or oxtail soup into 1 lb mince, with 1 egg and a handful of breadcrumbs. Shape into a loaf and bake for 1 hour. The powder was also added to casseroles or stews that needed extra seasoning and thickness.

17. Strong cold tea in stew Add ½ cup strong, cold tea with the stock to beef stew or braised beef and onions. Leftover tea was also used to soak dried fruit overnight for bara brith and fruit loaves.

18. Semolina on roast potatoes Peel and cut potatoes into large chunks. Boil for about 8 minutes, until the edges start to soften; drain, cover, and shake the pan firmly to rough up the surfaces. Add 1 tablespoon semolina and shake gently once more. Roast in a tin of smoking-hot dripping. The rough potato surface and semolina help make a crunchy coating while the centers stay fluffy.

19. Flour meat in a paper bag Put 2 tablespoons flour, salt, pepper, and optional mustard powder or curry powder into a paper bag. Add the stewing meat, fold the bag over twice, and shake hard for 10 seconds. The evenly coated meat is then ready to brown in hot fat before stewing.

20. Pax O stuffing as a topping or coating For a crisp topping, mix ½ packet dry Pax O with a knob of melted margarine or a spoonful of dripping. Scatter over fish pie, cauliflower cheese, or baked sausages for the final 20 minutes in the oven. Alternatively, dip pork, chicken, or fish in beaten egg, press into dry Pax O, and fry or bake.

21. A pinch of curry powder in non-curry dishes Add ½ teaspoon to cottage-pie mince, or a pinch to lentil soup or the flour used to coat stewing beef. It adds warmth and complexity without making the dish taste distinctly of curry. Minced leftover lamb with onion and a pinch of curry powder can be made into rissoles.

22. Bicarbonate for faster-browned onions Soften onions in a little dripping, then add a tiny pinch of bicarbonate—barely ⅛ teaspoon for a large pan. The subtitles say the onions can turn jammy and brown in about 10 minutes. Avoid using too much: it can make them mushy and soapy-tasting.

23. Mustard powder in cheese sauce Whisk ½ teaspoon mustard powder into white sauce just before adding the cheese. It enhances the cheese flavor and helps keep the sauce smooth. Use it for macaroni cheese, cauliflower cheese, Welsh rarebit, or cheese-and-onion pie.

24. Worcestershire sauce Add a few shakes to cheese on toast before grilling, or stir about 1 tablespoon into cottage-pie mince. A splash can also go into tomato soup or baked beans.

25. Bacon rinds in soup and stew Add 3–4 bacon rinds at the beginning of cooking pea soup, lentils, or vegetable stew. Let them simmer in the pot to add smoky flavor and richness, then fish them out before serving.

Presenter and References

The presenter is not named in the subtitles. The channel is Once Upon A British Time. References mentioned include the Ministry of Food wartime leaflets, Mrs. Beeton and Georgian/Victorian cookbooks, Jane Austen’s household in connection with mushroom ketchup, and the Bisto company’s explanation of its name.