Beef Stew & Dumplings

Is there anything more warming than a bubbling pot of beef stew? The house smells divine, and everyone was hungry & eager to tuck in - just what I love. I love my dumplings to soak up the gravy underneath, but crispy on top. Everyone likes them different though - how do you like yours? Serves 4, you could serve mash alongside to make it go further.
 
2 celery sticks, thickly sliced
1 onion , chopped
2 really big carrots , halved lengthways then very chunkily sliced
5 bay leaves
3 sprigs thyme
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 beef stock cubes , crumbled
850g stewing beef cut into nice large chunks

 Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Put the kettle on. Put the celery, onion, carrots, bay and 1 thyme sprig in a casserole with 1 tbsp oil and the butter. Soften for 10 mins, then stir in the flour until it doesn't look dusty anymore, followed by the tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce and beef stock cubes. 

Gradually stir in 600ml hot water, then tip in the beef and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and put in the oven for 2hrs 30 mins, then uncover and cook for 30mins - 1hr more until the meat is really tender and the sauce is thickened.


Dumplings

125g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

60g suet

water, to make a dough

 Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Add the suet and enough water to form a thick dough. With floured hands, roll spoonfuls of the dough into small balls. Drop them on top of the stew for the last 30 minutes of the cooking time.

Roasted Honeyed Celeriac

Celeriac is back in the supermarkets! It must be back in season - I just love it and have been waiting months for it. I used it as a side dish for our roast dinner this week. I love it cooked all different ways, but this has to be one of my favourites. We had it with herby roast chicken, sweetcorn, sweet & sour carrots and gravy. The others also had potatoes, but not me, the other veg was enough!

1 celeriac
a thick slice of butter
a little olive oil
2 tbsp honey
8 sprigs thyme
4 tsp honey

Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. Put a pan of lightly salted water on to boil. Peel the celeriac and remove the tops. Slice the flesh into thick chips. Drop them into the water and leave for 10 minutes till almost tender.
Drain them, then put them into a roasting tin or baking dish with a thick slice of butter and a spoonful of olive oil or beef dripping. Season with salt and black pepper, the thyme leaves pulled from their stalks, and the honey. Toss gently then roast for 35-40 minutes until the celeriac is crisp and pale gold.

Very Tasty Veg Stew

This is a recipe that I saw Nigel Slater make, though of course I adapted it slightly to suit our tastes and fridge contents! The key to this recipe is cooking the veg in stages, rather than bunging it all in to make a mushy stew. The veg keep their individual flavours & textures, which makes it sing. This would also make a lovely pasta sauce, or a filling for a pie. Top with mash or pastry, or even grated cheese. This makes enough for 5 hearty appetites! It is also a perfect recipe for those following the 5:2 fasting diet - 1 large portion comes in at 150 calories. You get a lot of food & nutrients for your calories with this!

olive oil
a large aubergine, halved and thinly sliced
2, halved and sliced courgettes
2 peppers, (orange and red) peppers
2 onions, peeled and roughly sliced
2 garlic peeled and crushed
marjoram, parsley and thyme
3 medium, quartered tomatoes
12 or so cherry tomatoes
500ml jar or pack tomato passata or crushed tomatoes
3 bay leaves
basil leaves

Heat a shallow layer of olive oil in a large, low sided pan and brown the aubergine on both sides. Remove from pan and set aside. Fry each of the other vegetables separately in the order above, adding more oil as necessary, until each is pale gold. Remove as each one is ready and set aside.
When you reach the onions, cook in the same way along with the garlic but when cooked, don’t remove from the pan. Add the herbs, along with the tomatoes and allow to cook a little before transferring the cooked peppers back into pan. Add the passata and leave to simmer, with the lid on. When the sauce is reduced a little transfer the aubergine and courgettes back in to the pan along with the bay leaves and season. Taste – leave to simmer for a few more minutes. Stir gently with a handful of torn basil leaves and serve.

Chicken & Almond Traybake

I love meals that I can bung it all in a dish & pop in the oven! Simple and quick, this took just a few minutes to put together then needed very little supervision. You need quite a big oven tray to fit this all in though! Alternatively, split it between 2 trays. A dollop of greek yogurt was lovely on top, sprinkle with some coriander. This recipe will serve 4 people (it went round all 5 of us).

500g boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 medium red onions , cut into thick wedges
500g small potatoes , cut into thick slices
2 red peppers , deseeded and cut into thick slices
1 garlic clove , finely chopped
1 tsp each ground cumin, smoked paprika and fennel seeds , slightly crushed
3 tbsp olive oil
zest and juice 1 lemon
50g whole blanched almonds , roughly chopped

 Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Place the chicken, onions, potatoes and peppers in a large roasting tray (or 2). In a bowl, mix together the garlic, spices, oil, and lemon zest and juice. Pour this over everything. 
Roast for 40 mins, turning over after 20 mins, until the chicken is cooked through. Add the almonds for the final 8 mins of cooking.

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Mushroom Soup

I am loving the series of MasterChef Australia that is on TV at the moment. I have already tried the melting moments that Julia made in an episode. Whilst browsing, I saw this recipe by Wade, for mushrooms soup. So simple and it was an amazing flavour! Luckily I made enough to have some tomorrow too :) I can see this being made quite often for a quick lunch. I dropped a couple of dried porcini mushrooms on top as a garnish.

Makes enough for 4 hearty bowls

125g butter, cubed 
1 onion, finely sliced 
1 garlic clove, finely sliced 
600g button mushrooms, finely sliced 
4 parsley stalks 
1L chicken stock 
2 tablespoons dry sherry

Parsley leaves and/or porcini mushrooms to garnish.

Melt the butter in a pan, and cook the onions & garlic until soft but not coloured, about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and parsley stalks and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the sherry & reduce for 5 minutes. Add the stock and simmer for 15/20 minutes. Season & taste. Blitz the soup and serve.

Sweetcorn Fritters

Today I made my slow cooker ribs again for dinner. I wanted to make some tasty sides to go with them, so decided on a potato salad and these maxing corn fritters. They were quite messy to make, but absolutely worth it! The kids loved them, and ate every last scrap. They are not something I would make on a regular basis, but lovely as a treat. I would use a pan of oil that you can discard afterwards rather than a deep fat fryer, the mess was unreal! 

90g plain flour 
1 tablespoon sugar 
1 teaspoon baking powder 
2 eggs 
120ml  milk,
1 teaspoon salt 
4 large tins of sweetcorn, drained 
3 teaspoons Chopped Fresh Chives 
 Oil, For Frying

Heat about 2 inches of oil to a medium high heat in a large pan.
Sift together the flour, sugar and baking powder. Season with salt & pepper.  Stir in the milk & eggs and mix until it is all combined. 
Add the sweetcorn and chives and mix so that the corn is coated. The mixture will be still quite wet, and wont hold together well, that is how it is supposed to be. Drop a large spoonful of the batter into the oil. repeat this, doing no more than 4 at a time. Once they have turned golden in the oil, remove & drain on kitchen paper. Serve when all the mixture has been fried and drained.

Rosti Topped Cottage Pie

Something a little bit different to the usual mashed potato topping. I saw this is the Lorraine Pascale book, but tweaked a little bit to fit what I had in the cupboards. Everyone loved this, no leftovers left at all. Shame really, because I wold have loved some for lunch the next day!

Vegetable oil
2 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
4 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
750g beef or lamb mince
3 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
1 crushed garlic clove
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp plain flour
400ml beef stock (or red wine for a fuller flavour. I used 200ml of both)
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp caster sugar
100g frozen peas

1 medium potato
1 medium sweet potato
25g butter

Heat the oil in a large pan. Soften the onion for about 5  minutes. Add the sage & rosemary & the mince, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots & garlic and stir through.
Drain the tin of tomatoes with a sieve. Discard the juice/liquid.
Add the flour to the mince, and mix until it is thoroughly combined, then add the drained tomatoes.
Add the stock (or wine), season and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, par boil the potato (peeled and cut in half) and the sweet potato (peeled but left whole) for 5 minutes. Drain and leave to cool. When cool enough to handle, grate and mix together.

After allowing the meat mixture to simmer for 15 minutes, transfer to an oven proof dish.Preheat the oven to 200c.
Melt the butter in the microwave.
Top the meat mixture with the grated potato mix, season and then spread the butter on top.Pop into the oven for around 25/30 minutes. The topping should go golden & crisp.

Butternut Squash Soup

This is a simple, yet tasty, soup to make using leftover butternut squash. I had half of one left from another recipe that I wanted to use. Just double the quantities if you want to use a whole squash. I made Parmesan croutons to go alongside, just some nice bread sliced, drizzled with olive oil, coated in grated Parmesan & dry-fried in a frying pan. This recipe will make enough soup for about 4 people for lunch. Scatter sage leaves on top for extra flavour.

1 red onion diced
2 sticks of celery diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Half a butternut squash deseeded and cut into chunks
1 litre chicken or vegetable stock
 olive oil

 Sweat the celery, carrot & onion in a drop of olive oil for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic & rosemary & cook for a further 2 minutes. Add the squash and stock, and simmer for 30 minutes. Season well, then blend. Serve with sprinkled sage and crusty bread.

Fettuccine Alfredo

I think this must be one of the quickest meals I have ever made! It was so tasty too, I can't wait to make it again. It is very simple, but oh-so-naughty! There is a lot of butter in this, but I think thats what makes it taste so great. There are only a few ingredients, so it may sound boring but believe me it tastes amazing. I added some fried onions & mushrooms with a touch of garlic for some extra flavour. Serve with a side salad or some nice bread.

 18 oz. fresh fettucine
 10 button mushrooms sliced
1 onion, finely sliced
Aproximately 3/4 cup pasta water
200g butter, cut in small cubes
200g grated Parmesan Cheese
Fresh parsley, chopped

Heat a little butter (teaspoon) in a wok or large frying pan. Lightly soften while you cook the fresh pasta for 2 minutes in boiling salted wtaer. Drain the pasta, reserving almost a cup of the water. Tip the water plus the rest of teh butter into the pan, and bring to a boil. Add the pasta & toss. Add the parmesan, and stir through until all melted & the pasta coated.  Scatter with parsley & serve immeadiately.