The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook (3 page)

Unsalted butter for greasing mold

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

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cup cold water

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cup boiling water

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cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons lemon juice

4 drops hot sauce

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teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 cups poached salmon, flaked into minute pieces

2 tablespoons capers, drained

1 cup whipped cream

1. Grease a 6-cup fish mold with butter.
   
2. Soften the gelatin in cold water. Add the
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   cup boiling water and stir well, making sure to thoroughly dissolve gelatin.
   
3. Let cool thoroughly, then stir in mayonnaise, lemon juice, hot sauce, paprika, and sea salt. Mix well. Fold in the salmon bits and capers. Add the whipped cream and continue folding until everything is well combined.
   
4. Pour the mousse into the mold, then cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator overnight.
   
5. Unmold the mousse onto a large plate and serve.
   

Although it would be difficult to get some of these ingredients in England back in the early 1900s, try serving this dish with sliced avocados, celery sticks, olives, and baguette slices.

This French recipe, enjoyed frequently by those visiting the Breton coast, would be a fancy, yet easy-to-make appetizer that the Countess of Grantham would offer when Matthew Crawley and his mother first visit, as it is sure to please even those whom she has yet to really know.

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cup light Bacardi rum

1 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 large onions, peeled and sliced into rings

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

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teaspoon cayenne pepper

8 cups mussels, cleaned and debearded

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs fresh thyme

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

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cup heavy cream

Thyme for garnish

1. In a small bowl, mix together rum and wine and set aside.
   
2. Melt butter over medium-low heat in a large saucepan. Add onions, celery, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Stir occasionally until the onions are transparent.
   
3. Place mussels in pan and stir. Once the mussels begin to release their juice, pour the wine-rum mixture over them. Stir in bay leaves and thyme, then add kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cook for an additional 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
   
4. Once the mussels have opened, add 2 large tablespoons of the cream into the sauce. Pour mussels and sauce into bowls, then add another tablespoon of cream and thyme for garnish.
   

To clean your mussels, be sure to discard any mussels that are broken or open. Before cooking, soak your mussels in water for 20–25 minutes. To remove the mussels’s beard, hold the mussel in one hand, then cover the other hand with a dishcloth. Grasp the beard with the dishcloth and yank towards the hinge edge of the mussel,
not
towards the opening end of the mussel. Place debearded mussels in another bowl of clean, cold, water and use a firm brush to scrub off any remaining sand or attachments on mussels.

It was typical in Edwardian times to serve Chablis along with mussel hors d’oeuvres. As many a night at Downton Abbey could erupt thanks to the “hot” tempers of its inhabitants, and as this is a spicier mussel appetizer than The Countess of Grantham’s
Moules En Sauce
(see recipe in this chapter), it’s no wonder that wine would serve as both the drink of choice and one of the main ingredients in this spicy dish.

1 cup white wine

1 cup tomato-and-clam juice cocktail

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes in garlic and olive oil

4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

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teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 pound mussels, cleaned and debearded

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. In a large pot, combine wine, tomato-and-clam juice cocktail, diced tomatoes, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil and add mussels.
   
2. Cover and continue to boil for 6–8 minutes or until all the mussels have opened. Discard any closed mussels.
   
3. Remove mussels from liquid and keep warm. Pour off liquid, leaving only about 2 cups. Do not discard garlic if possible. Boil the 2 cups until it reduces to about 1
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   cups.
   
4. Stir in butter until butter has melted and sauce has thickened. Serve mussels with sauce. Also try serving with sourdough bread to soak up extra sauce.
   

In seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France, the bourgeoisie — the middle class — were far stricter about manners than the nobility. As there was no king standing nearby to enforce the rules of etiquette, the bourgeoisie saw it as up to them to impose and dictate the rules of civility, which means that they could be considered even worse snobs than their more prestigious counterparts.

With another reliable hors d’oeuvres standby, the Countess of Grantham would be sure to wow even the cynical Matthew Crawley with this simple, yet nonetheless delicious treat. After all, if the hostess of Downton could offer such a decadent treat as a mere appetizer, Matthew Crawley would quickly become aware that he is entering a whole other world — one with impeccable food to go with those impeccable manners.

2 dozen fingerling potatoes, washed and halved lengthwise

1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons pink Himalayan sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

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teaspoon thyme

1 cup crème fraîche

1 (3-ounce) jar high-quality caviar (such as Osetra caviar)

Fresh chives, minced, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
   
2. In a large bowl, toss potatoes with
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   cup of the olive oil, the rosemary, pink Himalayan sea salt, and pepper.
   
3. Coat a small pan with remaining olive oil. Place potatoes in pan cut-side down. Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 45 minutes–1 hour or until potatoes are tender on the inside and golden on the outside.
   
4. Let the potatoes cool slightly, then place on a serving platter.
   
5. In a small bowl, stir thyme into crème fraîche.
   
6. Spread each potato with a
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   teaspoon of crème fraîche mix and a
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   teaspoon of caviar. Garnish with chives.
   

For a different taste, try replacing the black caviar with red caviar. While not quite as expensive and subsequently not as fancy, this will provide your guests with an unusual flavor that they are likely not used to tasting at fancy Edwardian dinner parties.