Mary Berry’s Simple Comforts episode 5 – Yorkshire Coast: Mary heads to the dramatic Yorkshire coastline to celebrate a unique bonfire party, explore the ancient seaport of Whitby and sample some classic, coastal comfort food – fish and chips and ice cream. Mary visits a small smokehouse that has been run by the same family for five generations, where she helps to smoke herring to make their world-renowned kippers.
To end her time in Yorkshire, Mary helps a local community with their unique bonfire for Guy Fawkes Night. Inspired by all she sees, Mary makes a rustic smoked trout pate, followed by a one-pot haddock and shrimp feast.
She also makes some of her favourite warming bonfire food – smoky firecracker drumsticks, posh jacket potatoes and her glorious granny’s sticky ginger cake as the sky comes alive during an epic seaside firework display.
Mary Berry’s Simple Comforts episode 5 – Yorkshire Coast recipes:
Granny’s gingerbread
This delicious, traditional cake is so moreish – when testing this recipe, we couldn’t eat it fast enough! It’s sticky but light in texture, not too dense.
Method
- Preheat the oven 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Line a 30x23x4cm/12x9x1½in traybake tin with baking paper.
- Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and mixed spice in a large bowl.
- Gently heat the butter, treacle, syrup and sugar together in a small saucepan until the butter has just melted. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Pour the butter mixture into the dry ingredients, add the egg and beat with a wooden spoon. Gradually pour in the milk and beat until smooth.
- Pour into the tin and bake for about 35 minutes, or until dark golden and springy to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then remove from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Smoky firecracker chicken drumsticks
Mary Berry creates the perfect smoky chicken drumsticks – dig in with your hands! Perfect for a cold winter day, to enjoy around a bonfire with the children – easy food to eat in the hand.
Method
- Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. Add the chicken, cover and leave to marinate for 30 minutes, or longer if you have time.
- Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Line a large roasting tin with baking paper.
- Transfer the chicken to the roasting tin. Pour over the marinade, brushing it all over the chicken. Roast for 30–40 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through. Check that the chicken is cooked through by making sure the juices run clear with no trace of pink when the thickest part of the meat is pierced with a skewer.
- Serve with blue cheese dip and celery sticks.
Posh jacket potatoes – Mary Berry’s Simple Comforts episode 5
Baked potatoes are surely the ultimate comfort food, great for feeding a crowd. Choose one or more of these lovely fillings to make a change from plain jacket potatoes. Each topping is enough for 4 potatoes, or 8 halves.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Bake the potatoes for about an hour, or until soft in the middle.
- Slice the potatoes in half and scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Stir in the milk and butter. Stir in the pesto or other topping of your choice (see steps 3, 4 and 5) and season with salt and pepper. Spoon the mixture back into the potato skins.
- For the bacon and mushroom topping, fry the bacon until crisp, then add the mushrooms and fry over a high heat for a few minutes.
- For the spring onion and soured cream topping, heat the oil over a high heat and fry the spring onions until soft. Stir into the potato flesh along with the soured cream.
- For the pepper and goats’ cheese topping, cut the roasted peppers into strips and stir into the potato flesh along with the goats’ cheese and basil.
- Transfer the potatoes to a roasting tin. Scatter over the Parmesan (for pesto topping) or cheddar (for bacon and mushroom topping), or dust with paprika (for spring onion topping). Drizzle over a little olive oil and return to the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the topping is golden and the skins are crisp.
- Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve hot.