Wigan Athletic F.C. ~ Jewell Ruby Murray

Introduction: Paul Jewell (born 28 September 1964) is a former English footballer and manager.

In June 2001, Jewell returned to Wigan Athletic as manager, he had played for them making 137 league appearances and scoring 35 goals. In the 2002–03 season the club won the Division Two championship. They were near the top of Division One throughout the 2003–04 and then on the final day of the 2004–05 Championship season, Jewell’s Athletic side clinched promotion to the Premiership bringing top flight football to the Lancashire town for the first time.

On the final day of the 2006–07 season, Jewell steered Wigan safe from relegation after a win against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on 13 May 2007. A day later, Jewell resigned as Wigan manager. Shame.

My grandfather used to put dried prawns in with his beef dishes but I have only just found a supplier for them so I have never tried them.

Preparation time: 20mins

Cooking time: 2 hours

Home kit: large shallow casserole, medium bowl and a pestle and mortar.

Away kit: 4 plates, 4 spoons (curry should be eaten with a spoon)

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 lb. stewing beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
• A thumb of ginger
• ½ a bulb of garlic
• ¾ pint of water
• 10 tablespoons (160 ml) vegetable oil
• 10 cardamom pods
• 2 bay leaves
• 10 whole black pepper corns
• 1 inch cinnamon stick
• 1 large onion
• 1 tsp. coriander seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 5 tsp. bright red paprika
• 2 tsp. hot chilli powder
• A generous pinch of salt (for grinding)
• 2 tbsp. tomato puree
• Freshly ground black pepper

Method: Preheat the oven to 180^oC

First half

Put the coriander and cumin seeds into the pestle and mortar with the pinch of salt and do a little grind.

Heat the oil in the casserole over a medium flame. Brown the meat in batches and set aside in the bowl. Do a little grind…

Add the cardamom, bay leaves, pepper corns and cinnamon into the same oil. Stir once. After a few seconds tip in the onion, fry them until golden brown and caramelized. This is important to the taste and will take about 5 mins. Do a little grind…

Now add the ginger and garlic and fry for a further 30 seconds. Add the newly ground coriander and cumin along with the paprika and chilli. Roast these in the oil for a further 30 seconds. Now return the meat and scooch it about in the spices carefully coating each piece.

Second half

The spices will have stuck a bit at this point so pour in the water (careful it will sizzle) and use a wooden spoon to sloosh them off the bottom of the pan. Add the tomato puree and mix that in too. Bring to the boil and stick the casserole in the oven and leave to fester for 2 hours.

Full time results

Serve with pure white boiled basmati rice to contrast with the deep red of the gravy.

N.B. If you turn down the oven temp to 170^oC you can leave this in the oven for an entire visit to your local stadium and it’ll be none the worse for wear.  Though you might need someone else to prepare the rice for you.

Southampton F.C. ~ Currie McMenemy

Introduction: Lawrence “Lawrie” McMenemy MBE (born Gateshead, 26 July 1936) is a retired English football coach, best known for his spell as manager of Southampton Football Club.  He was on the Newcastle payroll but never played for the first team. Lawrie McMenemy is rated in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the twenty most successful managers in post-war English football.

His 12 years at Southampton put both him and the club on the map by guiding Southampton to FA Cup victory with a 1-0 win over Manchester United in 1976. They were runners-up in the League Cup in 1979 and the First Division in 1983-84. He persuaded Kevin Keegan, the then England captain, to join Southampton in 1980 after two years in the Bundesliga.

He is an ex-Coldstream Guardsman.

Blimey I’ve not cooked this in a while. I think the last time was for that great kickball aficionado David “Rodders” Carr.

Preparation time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 1 match

Home kit: large shallow casserole and a boiled kettle

Away kit: 4-6 plates, knives and spoons

Serves: 4-6 (well it should but often gets completely scoffed)

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Neck or leg of lamb cut into 1 inch cubes
• 4 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 large onion
• 4 cardamom pods, bruised
• 4 green chillies, chopped
• 2 red chillies, chopped (torn up if dried)
• 1 thumb fresh ginger, grated
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp. ground coriander
• 2 tbsp. Paprika (Spanish is best, Rodders bought me some)
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• Some hot water
• 1 tsp. tamarind paste or juice of 1 lemon
• Some salt
• A handful of fresh coriander leaves

Method: Preheat the oven to 180^oC

First half

Fry the onion and cardamom pods in the casserole dish over a medium heat until the onion begins to brown. Reduce the heat and add the red and green chillies, ginger, garlic, coriander, paprika, turmeric and fry them for a minute. Add the meat and fry until the pieces are evenly browned, about another 5 mins.

Second half

Add a little hot water, the tamarind paste or lemon juice and place in the oven for 1¾ hours.

Or reduce the heat to 140^oC and you can leave it for as long as you like, say a trip to the kickball and back again.

Full time results

Serve with plain boiled rice and dahl which you can pick up from the Indian on the way home from the match. Eat with a spoon, curries are always eaten with a spoon in our family.

Tottenham Hotspur F.C. ~ Bill Nicholbuns

Introduction: William Edward “Bill” Nicholson OBE (26 January 1919 – 23 October 2004) player, coach, manager and scout who had a 36-year association with Spurs.

He joined the Spurs ground staff in 1936 and signed as a professional there when he was eighteen. Then he joined the Durham Light infantry at the outbreak of the second world war becoming a Sergeant Instructor where he learned training and man management techniques. He returned to Tottenham Hotspur in 1946 to play 314 games and scoring six goals. He was a key part of the “push and run” team that won the 1950-51 league championship. 

He managed Tottenham Hotspur from 1958 to 1974, leading them to the first League/FA cup double of the twentieth century in 59/60, the first British team to win the European Cup in 1963, winning the first all London FA Cup final against Chelsea, the League Cup again in 1971 and 73 and UEFA Cup in 1972.  Does this make him the most important figure in Spurs history?

And so to the recipe…  There are two ways of preparing these buns, the American way is to put them directly onto the baking sheet, the Swedish way is to put them into bun cases on the baking tray.  You can choose case/no case.  It’s up to you but this is mostly the Swedish approach.

Preparation time: 30 mins

Rising time: 90 mins

Cooking time: 6-8 mins

Home kit: large mixing bowl, cling film, baking sheet, tea towel

Away kit: Cake stand

Serves: a kickball team

Ingredients

• one sachet of dried yeast
• 175g butter (75g for the dough, 100g for the filling)
• 250ml milk
• 150g granulated sugar (50g for the dough, 100g for the filling and a bit extra for sprinkling)
• a pinch salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 500g flour
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• Some water

Method: the oven needs pre-heating in extra time

First half

Put the yeast in a bowl and stir in a few tablespoons of milk. Melt 75g of butter and pour in the milk, now add 50g of the granulated sugar, salt, cardamom and flour. Knead the dough for 10-15mins.  Cover the bowl with cling film and let the dough rise at room temperature for half an hour.

Second half

Roll out the dough to about 3mm thick and 30cm wide. Spread the rest of the room-temperature butter on top. Make a mixture of the rest of the sugar and the cinnamon and sprinkle it over the dough.

Roll the dough lengthwise to make a Swiss roll affair, cut the roll into about 25 slices. Place them with the cut edge facing up into bun cases on the baking sheet and let them rise under a tea towel for about an hour or until the buns have doubled in size.

Extra time: preheat the oven to 250^oC

Beat together the egg and 2 tablespoons of water, brush the mixture carefully over the buns and sprinkle sugar on top to finish.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 6-8mins. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Full time results

Arrange on cake stand and scoff with afternoon tea or coffee at half time.

Aston Villa F.C. ~ Billy (Walker) Balti

Introduction: This recipe is named after William Henry “Billy” Walker, considered by many to be the greatest ever Aston Villa player. He was born in Wednesbury, Staffordshire and joined Villa in 1914 where he stayed for the rest of his playing career, retiring in 1934. He played for the club 478 time scoring 214 goals, he is still their all time top goal scorer. He played for England 18 times scoring 9 goals.

This recipe is from the Balti Triangle. Birmingham became Britain’s Balti capital following its arrival in the city in the 1970’s courtesy of the city’s Pakistani and Kashmiri communities. A Balti curry is traditionally cooked over a high flame with spiced fresh meat and/or vegetables then cooked again with extra spices and served in the round-bottomed balti dish.

You will find it easier to make the curry if you get all the spices ready beforehand. Do not attempt this recipe if pleasantly light headed. Kickballers, know your limits!

Preparation time: 30 mins

Cooking time: 40 mins

Home kit: a large ovenproof casserole

Away kit: 4 balti dishes, naan bread and spoons

Serves: 4 as a starter

Dry Ingredients

• ½ tsp. mustard seeds, crushed
• 1 tsp. Garam Masala
• 4 dried curry leaves, crushed
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground cloves
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• 1 tsp. nigella seeds
• 4 cardamom pods, bruised

Other ingredients

• 1 tbsp. groundnut oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped
• 1 thumb fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
• 5 green chillies, chopped
• Bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 2 large chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 250 ml vegetable or chicken stock
• 1 tsp. tomato purée
• Generous pinch of salt
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 large tomato, sliced

Method: preheat the oven to 180^oC

First half

Heat the oil in the casserole over a medium heat, when it is hot but not smoking, add the lightly crushed mustard seeds, cook for 30 seconds only, beware they may pop and spit out of the pan. Add the chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes until soft but not coloured. Then add all the spices plus the garlic and ginger. Cook for another couple of minutes, taking care to ensure the spices don’t burn.

Add the chicken and sugar stirring briskly to make sure all the chicken is coated in the spices and fry for 5 minutes , continue stirring to make sure nothing catches and burns.

Second half

Add the stock, the tomato purée, the pinch of salt and the bay leaf, bring to the boil and pop in the preheated oven. Cook for 25 minutes until the chicken is tender. Remove from the oven, add the fresh coriander and tomato, stir and set aside to continue cooking while you warm up the naan bread.

Full time result

Serve piping hot in Balti dishes with naan bread and Aston Spumante on the side.