Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

street food

Market Experience Food Photography, Oktoberfest and the St Albans Street Finale this weekend!

If today’s news of the giant sinkhole in St Albans hasn’t caught your attention, then I hope this weekend’s St Albans and Harpenden Food Festival activities will!

As I type, there are just two spaces left on our market experience food photography workshop this Saturday – take a look at Stephanie’s site to book if you fancy joining us. If you’ve never visited St Albans before, let me entice you…

Our beautiful city is just 22 minutes by train from London St Pancras.  According to the Guinness Book of Records, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks (situated in the heart of Verulamium Park) is the oldest pub in Britain. We also have more pubs per square mile than anywhere else in the country (woo hoo) and we are incredibly proud to host one of the oldest regular street markets in the UK, dating back to the 9th century.

St Albans

For a real taste of what St Albans has to offer by the way of independent restaurants, cafes, delis, market stalls and street food, then this weekend is by far the best weekend to come and visit.

Here are a few treats to look forward to at the weekend:

Stephanie and Ren’s St Albans Market Experience Food Photography Course

  • Meeting at 9am outside Thompson@Darcy’s
  •  2 Hatfield Road, St Albans, AL1 3RP

Click here for more details – two spaces left (as of today)

stephanie belton

Photo credit: Stephanie Belton

Octoberfest, The Foragers at The Verulam Arms – Saturday 3 October

  • 41 Lower Dagnall Street, St Albans, AL3 4QE
  • 12 noon – midnight

After the workshop, I’ll be heading along to The Verulam Arms to join The Foragers for their annual Okterberfest. The Foragers are promising live ‘Oompah’ music, a special ‘festbier’ from their microbrewery and beers from Munich, as well as their ‘unique brand of wild food with a German twist’ including sausages, homemade stews and sauerkraut. Who’s with me?!

St Albans Street Finale – Sunday 4th October

  • St Peter’s Street, St Albans (head for the city centre)
  • 12pm – 6pm

On Sunday, St Albans high street will be transformed into a street food haven with a pop up village green complete with hay bales and beer from some of our best local pubs. There will also be a Kitchen Garden area with an emphasis on grow your own and locally grown produce, a City Farm, a Family Zone (including a children’s Fairtrade chocolate factory) as well as a cookery theatre and a World Food Zone. See demo times here (page 14).

St Albans Seasonal Salad

Thank you also to everyone who made the St Albans Seasonal Salad (there’s been lots of love on Twitter!) that I created especially for the food festival and the #kidscookalong this year and to Stu McLellan for illustrating it.

St Albans Salad

Happigreetings

As I’m dishing out some local love, I’d also like to thank Glen Cooper for sending me one of his happigreetings by happijar cards, featuring an image created by a local St Albans artist, Mandy Reekie and some inspirational quotes behind the little windows on the front. The really cool thing about these cards is that you can customise them and include your own quotes in each window – think of an advent calendar in a card with eight windows – six on the front and two on the back. Take a look at Glen’s Etsy store here for more versions.

Happiness Jar

If you can’t visit St Albans this weekend, then I hope you can visit the St Albans Christmas Market within the grounds of St Albans Cathedral from Thursday 26th November to Sunday 20th December. Find out more here.  

Seattle-Style Cream Cheese Hot Dogs with a Quick Pickled Cabbage Salad

It’s been a few years since my last visit to Seattle, where my sister lives, which means too long since my first taste of a Seattle Dog – cream cheese adorned hot dogs sold by street vendors around Seattle. A little stand in Pioneer Square called ‘Dog in the Park’ sold me my best-ever Seattle Dog…in case you are ever visiting. The Seattle Dog is often made with a Polish hot dog sausage (bonus) and is usually served with cream cheese, onions, sauerkraut or cabbage and fried potatoes, oh, and mayo or chilli sauce. The cream cheese, in case you are wondering, is spread onto the inside of the toasted hot dog bun. They are not the easiest things to eat (pick up an extra large stash of napkins) but my goodness, as street food goes, they are really good.

Seatle Cream Cheese Hot Dogs

A few little tips to make this recipe extra special: after boiling the hot dogs, split them and griddle them in a hot pan. Also, split the buns and griddle them, too to warm them up a little. You can make the Quick Pickled Cabbage Salad in advance – store in in a jar for up to three days in the fridge.

Sarsons Street Food Recipe

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Cream Cheese Hot Dogs with Pickled Cabbage

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 4

A Seattle-style hot dog, with cream cheese and onions. 

Ingredients

  • 4 good quality hot dogs – all-beef, or Polish sausage preferable
  • 4 hot dog buns
  • 4 tbsp cream cheese
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 medium white onion
  • ½ head of white cabbage
  • 1 medium carrot
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp pickling vinegar, I used Sarsons 
  • 1 tsp mild olive oil
  • 2 tsp caster sugar

Instructions

  1. Bring a pan of water to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, place the hot dogs into the water and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the water, place on a plate and keep to one side.
  2. In the meantime, finely chop the onions. Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the onions to the pan. Cook for ten minutes on the heat, stirring occasionally, and cook until caramelised.
  3. Very finely shred the cabbage and grate the carrot and tip into a large bowl. Sprinkle over the salt and mix well. Set to one side.
  4. Heat a separate frying pan. Split the hot dogs in half lengthways and place them into the frying pan, flat-side down. Gently fry the pre-cooked hot dogs until they are a little browned. Split the hot dog buns in half and gently toast them in the griddle pan, split side down for a few seconds.
  5. Drain some of the liquid away from the salted cabbage and pour in the Sarsons malt vinegar, olive oil and sugar. Mix well.
  6. To assemble the dogs, spread the cream cheese onto the inside of the toasted hot dog bun. Add the griddled hot dogs, sprinkle over some of the caramelised onions and top with the quick pickled cabbage salad.

Cuisine American

What has been your best street food experience ever? I’d love to know!

With thanks to Sarsons for commissioning this recipe. Photo credit: Sarsons #ad