All these fancy foreign reciepes tut tut. They are all designed for foreign winters and not the damp cold miserable winters served up by Blighty.
As much as I like Tartiflette the inclusion of rebluchon cheese makes it far from everyday cooking. The English version would be Pan Haggerty which is all done on the hob with slices of spuds layered with onions salt & pepper and cheddard cheese repeat layers and then pour over stock to half cover spuds and simmer on hob for about an hour. Sprinkle top with cheese and place uder hot grill.
Sausages shallots and bacon in cider is ideal to serve wih the Pan Haggery. Cook sausages in a pint or so of good cider – ideally something cloudy that gives you the shudders when drank – until reduced down to a third. Meanwhile cook a sliced onion, plenty of streaky smoked bacon and peeled whole shallots in a heavy frying pan – twoards end of browning add a clove of garlic and herbs of choice. Once browned nicely add some flour and stir and fry for a minute and then add some mustard. Add sausages and cider and stir. Add seasoning/liquid to get desired taste and thickness of gravy.
Split pea and hock of ham soup in a slow cooker is amazing to come in from the cold and dark and smell all ready to go!
Keeping in British a good toad in the whole with some decent greens and gravy is to die for on a hot night.
And given my all round sausage love I’d recommend sausages and veg like onions peppers courgettes with plenty of spices and a splash of wine roasted in the oven.
And obviously don’t forget your heavy sticky puddings to ensure you stay welded to the chair by the fire for the duration of the evening. Any crumble with custard does this with ease and if this is insufficient to weld you to a chair then seconds with extra custard always finishes the job.
I’ve not made an Apple Charlotte for a long time and had forgotten how good they taste on a cold winters evening.