Hull City A.F.C. ~ Tiger prawns

Introduction: Hull City AFC was founded in 1904, they traditionally play in black and amber striped shirts, hence their nickname The Tigers. The club’s mascot is Roary the Tiger. He is not a prawn.

The owner, Assem Allam, has asked to change the club’s name to Hull Tigers but this has not been accepted by The FA yet (Mar 2014).  There is some dissention among Hull City supporters who believe that Assem does not understand what a kickball club’s name means in terms of history and tradition.  Understandable, Hull is a city not a brand.

I really like this recipe, it has beer!

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 5 mins probably less

Home kit: large mixing bowl, large frying pan or wok, small bowl for the dusting flour

Away kit: 1serving plate, kitchen roll

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 bottle Tiger beer (330ml)
• 200g plain flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 12 raw tiger prawns
• another 200g plain flour, for dusting
• hot sweet chilli dipping sauce

Method: Carefully heat the oil to 190^oC

First half

Pour the beer into the bowl and sift the first 200g flour, salt, and paprika into it. Whisk until the batter is light and frothy man.  Put the second 200g flour into the dusting bowl.

Second half

Heat at least 2 inches of oil in the frying pan or wok. When the oil reaches frying temperature coat the prawns with flour, shake off any excess and dip into the batter. Carefully drop them into the hot oil three at a time to avoid tiger prawn clump.

When they are brown, this will take less than a minute, scootch them about a bit to make sure they are brown all over, fry for another minute. Drain on the kitchen paper on the serving plate.

Full time result

Serve hot with sweet chilli dipping sauce.

Hull City A.F.C. ~ Waggy and Chillo con carne

Introduction: Waggy and Chillo are the nicknames of Ken Wagstaff and Chris Chilton. The Hull City AFC goal scoring machine of the late sixties. Ken delivered 197 goals in 434 appearances, while Chris scored 222 goals in 477 appearances. They are both now in their 70’s.

A Chris Chilton quote;

“I’ve just been through a knee operation so that’s two metal hips and a metal knee now,” he said. “They’re just about keeping me together thankfully.

“Waggy, on the other hand, has barely got a scratch on him. That must tell you something about how we played the game!”

And one from Ken;

“I don’t know why the people of Hull took to me so much,” he said. “Maybe it is because of all the goals.

“There was excitement. When we attacked the whole crowd stood up because they expected us to score.”

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cooking time: kickball match (90 mins – 2 hours)

Home kit: oven proof casserole

Away kit: 4 plates, knives and forks

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lb. ground steak or chuck steak cut into bite sized chunks.
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 green pepper, seeded and chopped into bite sized chunks (Sheils prefers red AND green)
• 5 cloves of garlic, skinned and crushed
• 1 tin tomatoes
• 1 tin kidney beans with chilli sauce
• 7 red chillies
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 1 tbsp. ground cumin
• Large pinch of salt
• 1 square dark chocolate (not the whole bar Jules Hargreaves!)

Method: Preheat the oven to 170^oC

First half

Heat the oil in the casserole and bung in the onions to cook for a few minutes until soft, not caramelized. Then add the green pepper and the garlic, fry for a couple mins and add the beef. Continue frying until the beef is browned. Stir in the tomatoes, chillies, paprika and cumin. Bring to the boil, bung in the kidney beans and large pinch of salt.

Second half

Then into the oven for between 1½ to 2 hours. And, as the waggo on the tail of this recipe stir in the square of dark chocolate.

Full time results

Serve with baked potatoes and Cheese Bruce.

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.