Mince Beef and Stilton Mini Pies - Recipe

I'm originally from Stilton Cheese country and these mini pies are a reminder of the shires.

When I made my cottage pie I used just half the meat mixture and with the remainder I made these mini pies. Bought shortcrust was used to make the pies on this occasion - and why not! I made one cottage pie and eight mini pies from just 500g of 10% fat Aberdeen Angus mince beef.

Packed full of flavour

To make 8 mini pies all you need is a 12 cup muffin tin - I used a loose base 12 cup individual mini sandwich tin from Lakeland - removing the pies is much easier than using a normal muffin tin.

1. 500g pack of shortcrust pastry.
2. Spray the tray with oil.
3. Roll out the pastry and with the plain side of a 11cm cutter stamp out 8 circles to line the tins. Fill the pastry cases to the top with the cooked mince beef mixture and press down with a spoon.  Top with a cube of Stilton cheese.
4. Roll out the remaining pastry and with the plain side of a 8cm cutter stamp out 8 lids. Beat an egg and brush the underside of the pastry lid with egg and press down on to the edges of the pastry bases. Pinch the edges of the pastry together. Brush the lids with beaten egg and make a large hole in the lids for the steam to escape. Place the tray in the fridge and leave to chill for 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Cook for 40 minutes until golden.

Cottage Pie with Roasted Vine Cherry Tomatoes - Recipe

Comfort food

Easy midweek family meals, made from a few quality ingredients, inexpensive and cooked from scratch - that's why we love cottage pie.

I'm a bit of a cheat when it comes to chopping vegetables into small pieces and use my trusted kitchen gadget. I like the way it effortlessly cuts the vegetables into precise cubes - it doesn't take much to please me. I thought it would be one of those gadgets which remained at the back of the cupboard collecting dust but it does get used on a fairly regular basis. My knife skills aren't the best and when I went on a course at the local college the lecturer always said I cut vegetables like a housewife which used to make me laugh, although he did have a point!

You will need:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion
1 celery stalk
1 carrot
750g lean mince beef
2 tsp plain flour
300ml beef stock
1 tablespoon tomato puree
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
seasoning

For the potato topping:

750g potatoes
30g butter
seasoning
Vine cherry tomatoes

1. Finely chop the onion, celery and carrot. To a large pan add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook the vegetables until the onion becomes translucent and the vegetables begin to soften. Add the mince beef and cook for 5 minutes, add the tomato puree and cook for a couple more minutes, stirring to break up the mince.
2. Stir in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes, add the stock, Worcestershire Sauce, salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to the boil. Cover the pan and simmer for 45 minutes. Pour into a large casserole dish and cool.
3. Cook the potatoes, drain, add the butter to the pan and mash until smooth. Season.
4. Place dollops of potato onto the mince mixture and spread out to the edges. Place the vine cherry tomatoes on top.
5. Preheat the oven to 180oC and cook for 30 minutes until bubbling and brown.

Glazed Gammon Steaks with Pineapple Salsa

Remember Gammon and Pineapple?

This recipe is by those lovely chaps The Hairy Bikers - they make cooking fun and I love their recipes too.

Can you remember gammon, pineapple, egg and peas from the 70's? I used to eat this at the Leicester branch of Berni Inn which served British classic food, I'm surprised pubs still serve this retro classic.

The Hairy Bikers have given this classic a twist and poshed it up, they have glazed the gammon with honey and grain mustard (I used Dijon mustard), the fresh pineapple salsa takes this dish to another level.

No chips this time round but potato wedges, fried egg and of course peas.

The recipe can be found on the BBC Food Website.

Eating Places APlenty Back in the 1970's in Leicester - I have very fond memories of some of these places especially the Pancake House.

Easy Food Recipe: Stilton Beef Burgers

Making your own burgers is really easy and home made are always best. I have always made mine because I like to know exactly what goes into them. For those moments when you crave a burger this freshly made easy food from the kitchen for a stay at home Friday or Saturday evening, is perfect. The melting Stilton Cheese in the burgers is simply delicious.

I like my bacon well done for this recipe but if it looks too well done for you, then simply cook for less time. Left over Stilton Cheese and the uncooked burgers will freeze perfectly.  To take this food to another level I would make the burger buns and the coleslaw but for fast food days Marks and Spencer is my one stop shop.

Serves: 2

250g best quality lean mince beef
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
50g cubed Stilton cheese
25g fresh breadcrumbs
1 tbsp chopped chives
1 tsp Worcester sauce
pinch chilli powder
1/2 beaten egg
2 rashers smoked back bacon
Mayonnaise
Salad leaves
2 Burger Buns

1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
2. Mix the mince beef, onion, breadcrumbs, chives, Worcester sauce, cubes of Stilton cheese and chilli powder together. Add half the beaten egg to the mixture. Season.
3. Shape into two burgers. Line a tray with clingwrap place the burgers on the lined tray and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
4. Remove the burgers from the cling wrap, grease the tray, place the burgers on the tray.
5. Grease a small tray and place the bacon rashers on.
6. Place both trays in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, turn the bacon over half way through the cooking time.
7. Cut the burger buns in half and toast one side only.
8. Spread mayonnaise over each bun half. Place a layer of salad leaves on the base, top with a cooked burger, take a bacon rasher and place on top of the burger.
9. Serve with potato wedges sprinkled with paprika.

Recipe: Chilli Con Carne - Midweek Meals

We stayed home during the Easter break but escaped every day and ate out, one of our favourite places to stop before we head to Wales is Weobley in Herefordshire. The village is part of the Black and White Villages Heritage Trail, and a gem in the village is The Gables Tea Room, the food here is amazing and it has a unique warmth and cosiness from the moment you open the door, it was bitterly cold on the day we visited and everyone made a beeline to the welcoming log burner.

At some point I had to cook over the holiday and looking through a few of my Waitrose recipes found this quick chilli con carne recipe which is taken from their November 2012 magazine.  The secret ingredient is a piece of dark chocolate added at the end of the cooking time,  it really does make a difference and gives a great depth of flavour to the finished chilli.

Chilli is a great midweek meal and can be served simply with a jacket potato and a serving of rice, well that's how we like ours.

It isn't the most attractive of dishes but served in a fabulous casserole and dressed with either coriander or parsley makes a huge difference to the eye.

Adapted recipe.

Serves: 4

2 tablespoons olive oil, 500g Aberdeen Angus mincebeef, 1 chopped onion, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 red chilli finely chopped, 1½ tsp cumin, 1 tsp mild chilli powder, 1½ tsp dried oregano, 1 tbsp tomato puree, 400g can chopped tomatoes, 400g can organic red kidney beans (rinsed), 1 piece of dark chocolate, parsley leaves to decorate.

1. Heat a tbsp of oil in a large pan and cook half the mincebeef until brown, cook the remaining mincebeef.
2. Cook the onion, chilli and garlic in the pan with the remaining olive oil.  Cook gently until the onion has softened.
3. In a pan dry fry the cumin until the seeds release their flavour, tip into a pestle and mortar and grind to a fine powder.  Add the ground cumin, chilli powder, dried oregano and tomato puree to the pan containing the onion and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Return the mincebeef to the pan, add the chopped tomatoes and 250ml of water.  Bring to the boil, simmer, cover and cook for 45 minutes.
5. Stir in the rinsed beans and the chocolate, season.

Sage Sausage Rolls - Recipe

These well dressed little beauties are filled with good quality sausage meat from my trusted butcher, I then add a grated apple, a few breadcrumbs, chopped sage and parsley.  Decorate with fresh sage leaves.  The recipe is from Delicious Magazine and because I have never found a recipe to upstage this one, I use this time and again!  I use my Stellar Eazistore trays because the sausage rolls don't stick whilst cooking.

Open freeze the uncooked sausage rolls on trays and when frozen pop into ziplock freezer bags ready for cooking - easy!

Rosemary Roast Lamb Chops and Potatoes

Whilst lazily reading the newspaper at my local coffee shop the other week, I came across this recipe from BBC GoodFood in the Daily Mail.  I always look forward to seeing which recipe they have chosen from the GoodFood website because I can then buy the ingredients whilst I'm out shopping and cook the suggested recipe.  I don't know whose job it is to choose recipes from the GoodFood website for the Daily Mail readers but they always pick a winner.  I'm mostly grateful to them because it saves me thinking 'what shall I cook for dinner'.

After my disaaahhhster (disaster) with a previous meal, I thought it only fair I cooked something that looked good, tasted wonderful and is very delicious too.

The recipe is very easy to prepare and make, I used King Edward old potatoes because when roasted they are crunchy on the outside and fluffy within.  The balsamic vinegar drizzled over the roasted meal is a must and takes it to another level. I cut off some rosemary which happily grows in my garden and managed to tear off the last sprig of mint too.

The recipe is on the BBC GoodFood website. I found the oven timings suggested on their site too short and cooked the potatoes for another 20 minutes.

Chilli Con Carne Meatballs - Jamie's 15 Minute Meals

I challenged myself to make Chilli Con Carne Meatballs from Jamie's 15 Minute Meals, after seeing him on TV effortlessly produce this recipe.

Jamie has a team who do all the prep - I have just me and distractions. Everything started off well and I thought it would be a doddle, but then the washer finished, more washing to put in, next the tumble dryer to fill. Couldn't find the blender, found the blender, struggled to assemble the blender. Where is the bulgur wheat hiding?  I forgot to buy the preserved lemons. Why are there only a few cumin seeds left in the jar? It was all going wrong.......

I wasn't sure about cooking the meatballs for such a short time and cooked these for longer, I thought the quantity of bulgur wheat might not be enough and then cooked too much - I should have trusted Jamie:)

Would you like to know how long all this took me? - I lost the will, and have absolutely no idea.  The photograph tells the story........

Hubby thought the meal was very tasty and he particularly enjoyed the meatballs. He would have liked less bulgur wheat and more meatballs, not the huge plate of bulgur wheat I gave to him, and as for me, I will always prefer traditional chilli con carne.

I plan to cook a few more recipes from the book, perhaps this time I might manage to cook something without so many distractions.

The book - bursting at the seams with tasty healthy recipes, great food styling and photographs, and each recipe gives calorie, fat, sugar and saturated fat details.

Please Note:  This blog post isn't to be taken seriously - ok!

Slow Cooker Recipe: Lamb Cooked in Red Wine

Slow cooker love - simply take a half shoulder of lamb or a leg of lamb joint and brown in a large frying pan.  Add to the slow cooker.  Throw a few quartered red onions into the slow cooker, and you needn't even peel them, because you will be straining all those fabulous slow cooker juices afterwards.  Add a few cloves of crushed garlic, bay leaves, sprigs of thyme and rosemary.  This is herb love too - my pots of herbs have been very kind to me and seemed to thrive on a poor summer, well - it's good to know some things like poor summers.

Deglaze the frying pan with red wine, I used Shiraz but any full bodied red wine is ideal, bring to the boil and add to the lamb. Season with freshly ground salt and pepper.  Cook on high for 5 hours or until falling off the bone, this way you don't need to use any butchery skills but can use two spoons to pull the lamb apart into reasonably sized pieces.  Strain the slow cooker juices over a saucepan, add some redcurrant jelly to sweeten and thicken with a a few instant thickening granules, which are available from most supermarkets.

No photograph of the cooked lamb, because it never looks very photogenic when cooked, but what it lacks in looks it makes up for with taste, it is so delicious.  You can use lamb shanks and these are equally delicious.

Smoked Haddock with Bacon and Leeks

I remember going to a 'posh' restaurant and being served undyed smoked haddock. They served the fish on top of a mound of mashed potato.....I've never forgotten how dull that meal looked.  It's definitely dyed smoked haddock for me every time!

There are a lot of buttery juices after the fish has cooked, I placed my cooked new potatoes and leeks in the tray and turned them in those fabulous juices.  This is a quick and tasty fish dish with only a few ingredients, it was really delicious too.

You will need:

Serves: 4

50g softened butter, 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, few rashers streaky bacon, 4 smoked haddock fillets, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly ground pepper, 2 chopped leeks.

1. Place the butter into a bowl, add the chopped herbs, mix together.
2. Grill the bacon until crispy, drain and set aside.
3. Put the fish fillets onto a foil lined baking tray, grease the foil and spread the herb butter over the fillets.
4. Sprinkle the lemon juice over and season with black pepper.
5. Grill for 6 minutes or until the fish is cooked.
6. Cook the leeks in boiling water, drain. Add to the tray in which the fish has cooked and coat with the buttery juices.
7. Crumble over the reserved bacon.

JAMIE OLIVER'S SLOW ROASTED PORK BELLY

Jamie's recipe for pork belly is my favourite and one I have cooked since his book, Cook With Jamie, was released in 2006.

This is an easy, no fail recipe, and only requires the best pork you can afford. The pork in Jamie's recipe is cooked on a bed of fennel but if you don't want to use the fresh fennel then the pork will still taste fabulous.

This is the tastiest belly pork ever, it is coated in a mixture of bashed up fennel seeds and salt and after an hour or so a bottle of white wine is added to the roasting tin. Long slow cooking is also the secret to perfect belly pork and not one to be rushed, as with all good things!

I always score the pork myself because invariably the meat has never been scored very well, even though I always buy it from the butcher. We have a huge meat knife hidden away in the cupboard, which is a bit scary, but it makes easy work of scoring meat.

You will fall in love with this recipe, just as I have, and your kitchen will be full of the most beautiful aroma's. I know once tried there will be no turning back.....


Here is the original recipe, for the two of us I mostly buy a 1.5kg joint because I like to have some leftovers.

Serves: 6-8

2kg pork belly on the bone, 2 tablespoons fennel seeds, sea salt and black pepper. 4 fennel bulbs, each cut into sixths, herby tops removed and reserved, small bunch fresh thyme leaves picked, 5 unpeeled cloves of garlic, olive oil, bottle of white wine

1. Preheat the oven to its maximum temperature. Score the skin of the pork.
2. In a pestle and mortar bash up the fennel seeds with a tablespoon of salt until you have a powder, then massage into the scores of the skin.
3. In a roasting tin toss the fresh fennel with the thyme, garlic, a good splash of oil and some salt and pepper. Place the pork belly into the preheated oven. After 10 minutes turn the oven down to 170°C/325°F/Gas 3 and roast the pork for a further hour.
4. When the hour is up, take the tray out of the oven, pour away any excess fat, add the white wine and pop back in the oven for another hour.
5. Remove the fennel and keep warm whilst you put the pork back in for a final hour until the skin is golden and crisp and the meat is melt in the mouth tender. If the wine evaporates during the cooking time, add a splash more wine or water to loosen and make a light gravy.
6. Let the pork rest for 10 minutes. Carve into large chunks and serve with gravy and the fennel.

Delicious!

SMOTHERED PORK CHOPS WITH MUSTARD & THYME BUTTER. NIGEL SLATER'S - A GRATIN OF SPRING GREENS & ROASTED WALNUTS

A couple of postings ago I put out a request to ask if any of my readers would kindly email Nigel Slater's recipe for the above to me, well success, June promptly replied and sent the recipe across to me. Thank you June.

The first recipe is from a favourite cookery writer of mine, Diana Henry and comes from her recipe book Cook Simple.

It's basically an all-in-one recipe with just a few ingredients to make a delicious main meal. Potatoes, onion, an eating apple, Tamworth free range pork chops (yes, of the Tamworth two fame - can you remember the two pigs that escaped on their way to the abattoir, way back in 1998!) and dry white wine.

Nigel's Spring Green Gratin was served alongside, and this unlikely pairing was a match made in heaven!


For the Spring Green Gratin:

You will need: 500ml whole milk, 1 small onion, 2 cloves, 1 bay leaf, 6 peppercorns, 500g spring greens, 60g walnut halves, 25g butter, 25g plain flour, 100g grated Parmesan cheese.

1. Add the onion spiked with cloves, bay leaf and peppercorns to the milk, bring to the boil and then leave to infuse for at least 15 minutes.
2. Trim the spring greens, shred into wide strips then dunk into a large pot of boiling water and remove after 30 seconds and drain.
3. Toast the walnut halves in a dry frying pan until they smell warm and nutty.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas 4.
5. Make the sauce by melting the butter, adding the flour and cooking for 3-4 minutes until pale biscuit coloured. Pour in the strained warm milk, stir until it thickens over a moderate heat. Simmer over a low heat for approximately 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the walnuts and half the Parmesan then season.
6. Put the greens in a medium size gratin dish, pour over the sauce and top with the rest of the cheese.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 35 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the crust is golden.

Not a looker this one, but extremely delicious.

SIMPLE LAMB CURRY

Here in the West Midlands, we got off fairly lightly with the snowfall at the beginning of the week. I know others had a significant amount of snow and it brought lots of things to a grinding halt. The children loved it though, and it was definitely the right sort of snow to build snowmen and have lots of fun.

Curry is always good to eat when the weather is cold and brings with it lots of comfort.

This recipe is by James Martin and was taken from THE COLLECTION - ISNB 978-1-84533-350-8 - Page 146. I found a link to the recipe on the UKTV Food website. Simple this curry recipe may be, but it was totally delicious.

James says to use fresh tomatoes, even in the summer most of our tomatoes are unfortunately tasteless. I replaced these with half a large tin of chopped tomatoes, at least this way you get some tomato flavour.

Chilli powder - now how much, or how little! In the recipe it says one tablespoon of chilli powder - in this house we definitely aren't brave enough for that amount. I'm presuming he means mild chilli powder, still sounds quite a lot to me though. Perhaps some of you have used this amount of mild chilli powder in other recipes and can let me know if you think this sounds about right. Unfortunately, I didn't make a note of how much chilli powder I used, but I mostly use an organic hot chilli powder from Waitrose and am guessing I would have used half a teaspoon.

Coconut powder is a store cupboard essential, I never use canned coconut milk. It works out far better value as you can measure out the powder and then add water to make up the same amount as you would buy in a can. You can buy this at most Tesco Supermarkets.

I've never had takeaway but always make my own curry, for no other reason than I love roasting the spices and smelling the curry as it is cooking.

This recipe is for four people, but if there are only the two of you, make the full amount in the recipe and freeze the rest for a rainy day.

NOTE: I have added lots of new links and recommended blogs to my list on the right hand side of the page. Some you may have come across, and others may be new to you. Please pop over and check some of them out.

ROAST FILLET OF PORK WITH CRANBERRY AND MADEIRA GRAVY

On a very cold and frosty New Year's Eve, we went to a 'bit of a do' at a local 2 AA Rosette Award Hotel, where they were having a buffet and disco. I know we are all affected by the credit crunch, but the food wasn't great. I'm now thinking I should have stayed at home and cooked this meal on New Year's Eve instead of New Year's Day!!!

Pork fillet can be quite a dry meat because it is so lean but this was the perfect way to cook the fillets, swathed in a bandage of streaky bacon and filled with a mushroom and Parmesan cheese stuffing.

This made a perfect roast, the pork can be prepared the day before, sit happily in the fridge and cooked the next day. The roast cooks in just an hour, carves neatly (when my husband does the carving!) and any leftovers can be served with a salad the next day, which is exactly how we ate it. I know it's too late now to be thinking about buffets etc. but this is definitely a winner for the salad plate.


The stuffing could be made chunkier by not cutting the mushrooms as small as I did, but I had a new kitchen toy a few months ago and got a bit carried away!!

To make the roast you simply flatten two pork fillets, fill with the mushroom stuffing and wrap in streaky bacon.

I'm not sure whether the pork looks dry in the photograph, but it wasn't - promise.

Nearly forgot to say, I served the pork with potato dauphinoise, carrot batons and roasted cauliflower. I didn't make the cranberry and Madeira gravy because unfortunately I forgot to buy the cranberry juice. I made a brandy and mushroom sauce instead, which went surprising well with the meal.

I bought 450g of pork fillet and cut it into two pieces width ways. This was enough for two people with leftovers.

To make my potato dauphinoise, which is a lower in fat version of this classic, simply make in the usual way but to 900g of potatoes I use 300ml of half-fat creme fraiche mixed with 200ml of semi-skimmed milk, 50g Gruyere cheese or a reduced-fat Cheddar cheese coarsely grated and 15g unsalted butter.

Mary Berry is a prolific author of cookery books and you can visit her website here.

MARY BERRY'S CHRISTMAS COLLECTION

ISBN 0755315626 - Page 93

Serves: 6

You will need: 2 pork fillets of equal length, each about 450g in weight (trimmed of all fat), 10-12 long streaky bacon rashers, salt and ground black pepper.

For the stuffing: 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil, 1 finely chopped medium onion, 225g chopped chestnut mushrooms, 40g freshly grated Parmesan, 25g fresh white breadcrumbs, 3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves, 1 egg yolk.

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/Fan 200°C/Gas 7.
2. Make the stuffing. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the chopped onion and fry for a few minutes over a low heat until tender. Add the chopped mushrooms to the onion, and cook over a high heat to drive off any liquid from the mushrooms. When the pan is completely dry, take off the heat and add all the remaining stuffing ingredients and season. Set to one side to cool.
3. Split the pork fillets length ways halfway through (but not entirely in half), open out and cover with clingfilm. Beat out to flat. Stretch the bacon rashers with the back of a knife, and arrange overlapping on a chopping board.
4. Put one of the fillets on to the bacon, season with black pepper and spread with the stuffing. Cover with the other fillet, beaten side facing down. Roll up tightly, folding each piece of bacon over the roll. Lift onto a roasting tin with the bacon join underneath.
5. Bake in a preheated oven for about an hour until the bacon is crisp and the pork is cooked.
6. Let the pork rest for a minimum of 10 minutes before carving.

For the Cranberry and Madeira Gravy:

You will need: 25g butter, 100g sliced chestnut mushrooms, 300ml cranberry juice, 75ml Madeira, 1 rounded tablespoon plain flour, 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the sliced mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Gradually pour in the cranberry juice. In a small bowl blend the Madeira with the flour until smooth, then add to the sauce. Bring to the boil, stirring, then add the balsamic vinegar. Season.

This was a fabulous meal and I will be making it again. After eating this, we soon forgot about the previous evenings meal. After all, we had moved on to 2009. Happy New Year everyone!

CHIPOLATA AND SHALLOT HOTPOT

My husband reminded me last night, British Sausage Week is from Monday 3rd November to Sunday,9th November.

Fortunately, quite a few of the butchers shops here are members of The Guild Q Butchers, they enter lots of competitions and seem to do really well. For instance, my local butcher is a gold medal winner for his pork sausage, year after year.

Whilst in Beckenham visiting family, we went to Villagers Sausages where every sausage imaginable can be bought. They have a very interesting website with press related articles, history and also lots of recipes, not forgetting that you can also order online.

The recipe I chose for British Sausage Week comes from the very talented cookery writer Annie Bell.

You will see from the photograph that my sausages are shall we say 'very well done'. I am a very fussy sausage eater, they have to be top quality and this is how I enjoy eating mine.

If you don't like your sausages as well cooked as mine, then by all means just show them the pan and brown the sausages lightly.

Only a small amount of red wine is used in this recipe, and unless you have got a bottle of red already opened, this can sometimes be a problem to the home cook. Maybe you have already come across Gourmet Classic seasoned cooking wines, these can be bought both in red and white. They have a screw top and can be kept in the store cupboard for up to three months after opening. I've seen these in both Waitrose and Sainsbury's.


GORGEOUS SUPPERS - ANNIE BELL

ISBN 9781856268189 - Page 129

Serves: 4 people

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 600g chipolatas, 300g peeled shallots, 1 tablespoon plain flour, 200ml red wine, 300ml chicken stock, 1 bay leaf, black pepper, 500g peeled and thinly sliced medium main crop potatoes.

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan180°C/Gas 6. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan and brown the sausages on both sides, doing this in two batches so as not to overcrowd the pan (I chose to grill mine).
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a 30 x 20cm roasting dish over a medium heat, add the shallots and fry until slightly golden. Sprinkle over the flour and stir, then pour over the red wine and chicken stock. Add the sausages, bay leaf and a little seasoning, then bring to the boil.
3. Toss the potato slices in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of oil (I microwaved my sliced potatoes to start the cooking process first) and lay them on top of the sausages. Season and bake for 40 minutes until the potatoes are lovely and crisp.

Delicious!

LAMB KOFTA CURRY

This is one of our favourite lamb curries, it's ridiculously simple to make and perfect for a Friday or Saturday evening meal.

The star ingredient in the sauce is Patak's Korma Curry Paste with coconut and coriander. You can read about Patak's on their very informative site here where they list the ingredients, nutritional information and lots of other useful details about their products.

A couple of comments regarding the ingredients list, I always dry fry coriander seeds and then grind them in the pestle and mortar. Any remaining fresh ginger can be successfully frozen, and then grated into any future recipes directly from the freezer, (there is no need to remove the brown outer layer of the ginger).

I have slightly adapted the amount of sauce from the original recipe, we prefer plenty of sauce to go with our rice and naan bread.

This recipe freezes well and if you only need enough for two, the other half can be frozen for a rainy day.

HOT FOOD

ISBN 1740452259 - Page 146

Serves 4

500g minced lamb, 1 onion (finely chopped), 1 finely chopped garlic clove, 1 teaspoon grated ginger, 1 finely chopped small chilli, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 teaspoon ground coriander, 50g ground almonds, 2 tablespoons chopped coriander to garnish.

For the sauce: 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 finely chopped onion, 4½ tablespoons Korma curry paste, 1½ cans chopped tomatoes (600g), 180g thick natural yoghurt, 1½ teaspoons lemon juice.

1. Combine the lamb, onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, garam masala, ground coriander, ground almonds in a bowl. Shape into walnut size balls with your hands.
2. Heat a large non-stick frying pan and cook the koftas in batches until brown on both sides - they will not need to be cooked all through.
3. To make the sauce: heat the oil in a saucepan over low heat. Add the onion and cook for 8 minutes, or until soft and golden. Add the curry paste and cook until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the yoghurt (1 tablespoon at a time) and the lemon juice, stirring until combined.
4. Place the koftas in the tomato sauce. Cook, covered, over low heat for 20 minutes. Serve over steamed rice and garnish with the coriander.

CHIANTI BAKED MEATBALLS

Over the next few weeks, I have decided to cook a few recipes from Jo Pratt's wonderful book -
In the Mood for Food
ISBN 9780718148584 - page 122

There are six chapters in the book: In the Mood.....for Being Healthy, Something Naughty but Nice, Some Comfort, Being Lazy, Being Extravagant and Being Romantic.

The Chianti baked meatballs are light in texture with lots of flavour. The meatballs are cooked in a rich tomato, red wine and basil sauce. This is a one pot meal, cooked in the oven from start to finish. The only alteration I made to the recipe, was to leave out the olives from the meatball mixture - olives aren't a huge hit in this family. The basil leaves are out of my garden, only small leaves are left because garden creatures have destroyed all the other leaves!

You can serve the meatballs with pasta, or potato mixed with rosemary and olive oil, this can then be cooked in the oven with the meatballs.

The recipe can be found here on Nigella's site and is a recipe recommended by Nigella's Admin! I too, would recommend this recipe and I know it won't be long before my husband requests this again.

Recipe: Lamb Tagine by Mary Berry

Just by looking at the list of ingredients in this recipe you can tell all those spices are going to make this fabulous.

This recipe is by Mary Berry and one I make time and again.  It's one pot cooking and can be cooked in the slow cooker too.  The flavours pack a punch and my kitchen always smells wonderful when this is cooking. I have slightly adapted the recipe and added some chicken stock to loosen the sauce. I made this for the two of us and halved the list of ingredients, although for the lamb I used 300g. The tagine is best made the day before and left in the fridge overnight for the flavours to develop.

Lamb neck fillet from Waitrose was used in my recipe. For some unknown reason the butchers around here don't seem to sell it.

One of my hubs favourite meals and I craftily always make this if I've been out and bought things I didn't realise I needed:)

I served mine with rice purely because we aren't fans of couscous.

You will need:

1 tbs sunflower oil, 900g neck fillet of lamb, boneless shoulder or leg, 2 large onions, 3 cloves garlic crushed, 175g quartered dried apricots, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon ground paprika, ⅛ tsp hot chilli powder, 1 generous pinch of saffron soaked in 3 tbs hot water, 2 tbs honey, 800g tinned chopped tomatoes, ½ pint of chicken stock, chopped parsley and coriander to garnish.

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C.
2. Heat the oil in a large casserole and brown lamb in batches. When browned, remove and put on one side.
3. Add the chopped onions and garlic to a pan on a low heat, stir and then cover for around 10-15 minutes until soft.
4. Increase the heat and add the spices including saffron and soaking liquid.
5. Add the apricots, honey, tomatoes and lamb. Add some of the stock to loosen the mixture - you may need to top up the casserole during cooking to make a sauce.
6. Bring to the boil, season and cover with a lid. Pop in the oven for at least two hours.
7. Garnish with lots of parsley and coriander and serve either with couscous or rice.

BEEF WELLINGTON

I made Beef Wellington for my husbands birthday - he has reached an age where there is a '0' at the end of the number! Something special had to be made, to celebrate his special day.
Choosing the recipe was quite challenging, there are so many versions of Beef Wellington. A recipe from a food writer, rather than one from a chef's book, was the main criteria. I wanted this to be home cooking at its best and not me trying to copy restaurant food.
The meat was cut from the middle of the fillet and was bought from my local QGuild butcher.
I prepared the beef the day before, popped it in the fridge and cooked it the next evening.
A variety of steamed vegetables were served with the Beef Wellington.
The meat cost me a small fortune, but its not everyday you get the chance to serve prime fillet in such a delicious way.

MEAT by Joanna Farrow

ISBN 0600612627 - Page 33

Serves: 6

1.5kg middle piece beef fillet, 50g butter, 2 small onions - finely chopped, 300g chestnut mushrooms - chopped, 2 tablespoons brandy, 500g puff pastry, 200g smooth chicken pate, 1 egg - lightly beaten, salt and pepper.

1. Trim off the excess fat and season the beef. Melt the butter in a frying pan and sear the beef on all sides. Transfer it to a roasting tin, reserving the fat in the pan, roast in a preheated oven 200ºC(400ºF), Gas 6 for 20 minutes. Leave to cool.
2. Fry the onions in the pan for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and a little seasoning and fry until the moisture has evaporated. Add the brandy and fry for a further 1 minute. Leave to cool.
3. Thinly roll out the pastry to a large rectangle. Spread the top of the meat with the pate, then press a thick layer of the mushroom mixture over the top. Invert the beef onto the pastry and spread with the remaining mushrooms.
4. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg and bring it up over the fillet to enclose the meat completely, trimming off any bulky areas at the corners. Place, join side down, on a lightly greased baking sheet and brush with more egg. Bake for 35 minutes, until deep golden. Leave to stand for 20 minutes before carving.

My son took the photograph despite all the kitchen frenzy - my husband decided to give food photography a miss. It was a day to enjoy freshly cooked hot food - we gave lukewarm food a miss for once.

LANCASHIRE HOT POT

There are numerous recipes for Lancashire hot pot and the only thing they have in common are the main ingredients of lamb, onions and potatoes. In some recipes kidneys, black pudding and even oysters are used.
In the photograph you can see I have used lamb chops and this is the way I prefer to eat mine.
Brian Turner in his book Favourite British Recipes uses lamb chump chops and Mark Hix in his book British uses lamb neck fillet.
I haven't called this dish Traditional Lancashire Hot Pot for the very reason I do not come from that part of the world and even in Lancashire I am sure everyone has their own particular way of making this wonderful dish.
This recipe is very simple and requires good quality ingredients. I use lamb from my local Q Guild butcher, organic carrots and herbs from my garden. For the stock I buy a Beef concentrated bouillon.


LE CORDON BLEU - HOME COLLECTION CASSEROLES

ISBN 1853917303 - PAGE 35

SERVES: 4 people

Skill Level: Easy

Taste Test: The lamb is meltingly tender and the stock is very flavoursome.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C(350°F/Gas 4). Melt 20g butter in a frying pan and over a high heat, quickly fry 1kg middle neck of lamb chops until lightly browned. Remove from the pan.

2. Slice 900g peeled potatoes into 2mm thick discs and cover the base of a casserole dish with about a third of the slices, season lightly. Place the lamb on the potato, scatter with 2 large onions which have been finely sliced, 2 carrots sliced into 2mm thick discs, ½ teaspoon of fresh thyme and a bay leaf, season lightly with salt and pepper. Put the remaining potato slices on top. Pour 500ml of brown stock to come up to just under the top layer of potato, by pouring the stock down one side of the dish, so that the top layer doesn't get wet. Brush with 60g melted butter and season. Place a few sprigs of thyme on top. Cover and cook for 1½ hours.

3. Remove the lid, then add more stock if required. Return to the oven for about 45 minutes, uncovered, until the potato top is browned. Serve hot with a green vegetable.

Kitchen Equipment Used: Le Creuset Casserole Dish