Panaculty (also known as panack) is a regional dish from the North East of England that I have grown up with. It's the type of dish that is only known to the people who where born and raised in the North East. I've never discovered another recipe for it and the one that I follow isn't written down anywhere. I learned how to make it by watching my parents.
As far as I know it is traditionally considered a miner's meal. It is cheap to make and very filling. Perfect for a cold winter's day!
This recipe should make enough for four adults.
What you need:
1 large deep baking pan/roasting dish. The dish you use must be metal. Ceramic dishes don't seem to get the same results. I have no idea why this is, but just trust me. Use a metal dish.
Potatoes, washed, peeled and sliced thickly.
1 can of corned beef, sliced.
1 can of mixed vegetables.
4 bacon middle rashers. Rind removed and each rasher cut in half.
1 litre of thick brown gravy. Make this cold to pour into the pan towards the end.
Optional ingredients
4 Pork sausages. My parents put sausages into their panack, but I have never liked them so I choose not to add them to mine.
Method:
Once the corned beef and all the vegetables have been sliced, layer them in the pan in this order:
1. Sprinkle some of the canned mixed vegetables into the bottom of your pan.
2. Place a layer of the potato slices, covering the entire pan.
3. Break up 2-3 slices of the corned beef and spread over the potato layer.
4. Add more mixed vegetables, then another layer of potatoes.
5. Place the slices of bacon in the pan. If you are going to add the pork sausages, add them into this layer. This layer should be approximately about half way up the side of your pan.
6. Continue layering the corned beef, mixed vegetables and potatoes. Finish with a potato layer if possible.
7. Once you have finished all the layers, carefully pour the cold gravy all over. The gravy should only come about three quarters up the side of your pan.
8. Cover the pan completely with alfoil (tin foil) and bake in a pre-heated 150 deg C oven for 1.5 hours.
9. Turn the temperature up to 180 deg C after 1.5 hours. Bake for a further 45 minutes.
10. Remove alfoil (tin foil) and bake to crisp up the top layer of potatoes (usually another 15-20 minutes). Be careful to check the panack regularly at this point as the gravy may dry out.
Serve with some HP sauce and crusty warm bread. Enjoy!
