Oxtail Stew

A friend recommended I try this, even though I was a bit wary of trying or cooking with oxtail. For some reason, it just didn't occur to me that it would be like beef, seeing as it is from the same animal! This did taste like a very rich, unctuous beef stew. I thought it tasted amazing! The secret is the long, slow cooking. I did it in my oven, set at about 130c for 6 hours, but it would work just as well in a slow cooker. Put your slow cooker on low, for as long as you can. I will certainly be making it again. Perfect served with creamy thick mash on a cold, snowy day.

Serves 4

4 large pieces of oxtail
Oil for frying
4 carrots, chopped
6 shallots, peeled but left whole (or use 2 onions, diced)
Half of a large swede, peeled & diced
2 large leeks, sliced
1 whole star anise
3 garlic cloves, peeled, left whole but crushed slightly
1 bay leaf
1 litre of beef stock
Salt & pepper to season

Preheat your oven to 130c (or use a slow cooker). In an oven & hob proof casserole dish, fry the oxtail on all side until coloured. Remove from the heat, and add all the other ingredients. Pop into the oven, covered, for 6 hours. Before serving, remove the bones - the meat should just fall off.

Egg & Bacon cups

These delicious little things are what my children and I shared for Mothers day brunch! So simple to make, and lovely to eat. I will need to make more next time, these disappeared too quickly. Be careful not to over-mix your eggs when whisking, be gentle. You could add any extras you fancy, such as mushrooms or cherry tomatoes. I have many ideas for some tasty variations.

Makes 6 cups

6 rashers of streaky bacon
6 eggs
Handful of grated cheese
Salt & pepper to season

Preheat the oven to 200c.
Line a muffin tray with a piece of bacon in each cup. Gently mix the eggs with the cheese, and season to taste. Pour the mixture equally between the 6 bacon cups. Pop into the oven for around 20/25 minutes, until all the egg mixture is cooked. Serve with toast & a dollop of ketchup!

Broc-a-leekie Soup

This is another amazing soup recipe from Clementines of Broughty Ferry! I really enjoyed this soup, so warm & filling - perfect for the wintry days we are still getting. This is great if you are vegetarian or a meat eater. I cant wait to make this one again.

1 leek sliced
1 head of broccoli, chopped (stalk too! no waste!)
1 medium potato, peeled & diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1.2 litres of vegetable stock

Fry the leek & garlic in some butter until softened, around 5 minutes. Add the broccoli, potato & stock, season & simmer for 15 minutes. Blitz with a hand blender and serve with a swirl of cream.

Chicken & asparagus roll-ups

Asparagus is in season, and I love to use seasonal veg. Usually it is just used as a side dish, but this recipe makes good use of them. I really enjoyed this recipe with just a nice simple baby leaf salad & a cucumber & dill cream. One chicken breast will serve on person, because you will be slicing them in half. I flattened mine with a rolling pin, a meat hammer would work too.

Serves 2

2 chicken breasts, sliced in half then flattened
1 beef tomato, sliced
75g grated parmesan
4 asparagus spears, sliced in half one way, and again the other way
1 crushed garlic clove
Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 220c.
Fry the garlic lightly in a large frying pan with oil. Fry the chicken on one side only, them remove to a chopping board. Discard the garlic.
Cooked side down, layer a slice of tomato, half the parmesan cheese and 4 pieces of asparagus per breast. Roll up & secure with a cocktail stick. Place in a roasting tray and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
Cook in the oven for around 20 minutes. Serve with your choice of side dish.

Chinese Beef & Vegetables

On a Friday night, I just like a quick & easy dinner to prepare. Its the end of the week, everyone is tired and looking forward to the weekend - and finances don't stretch to a takeaway! This can be put together quite quickly and has minimum fuss. The kids really enjoyed this, I served it with egg fried rice, though they have requested noodles next time.

Serves 4

400g strips of beef/steak
300g tenderstem broccoli
1 onion, sliced
5 large chestnut mushrooms, sliced
2 fat garlic cloves, sliced thin
1 large carrot, cut into small thin strips
4 tablespoons oyster sauce
Oil for frying (I used sesame but sunflower would work)

In a large wok, fry the beef strips for 2/3 minutes in some oil. When all coloured, remove to a warm plate. Add a splash of water to the wok, and add the broccoli. Stir fry until the broccoli is bright green, then remove to the plate. Add some more oil, and fry the onion & carrot until softened, then add the garlic & mushrooms. Fry for 3  more minutes then tip in the beef & broccoli. Add the oyster sauce and 250ml of water, and allow to reduce to a sticky sauce. Serve with rice or noodles.

Red Nose Day Cookies - Cheese & Tomato!

Red Nose Day is 25 years old this year! In celebration of that, Sainsburys Family Bloggers network challenged me to make a Red Nose Day cookie. As I have given up sugar for lent (go me!), I decided to make a more interesting savoury cookie, using tomatoes for red noses. They turned out looking great and tasting amazing! They are so easy for kids to make too, my 4 year old had great fun helping me mix & flatten the cookies. He also devoured 2 for his lunch, with a big glass of milk. Yum!

Ingredients -

75g plain flour
Pinch of paprika or chives
20g soft butter
20g grated mature cheddar
1 spring onion, chopped
2 tablespoon passatta
3 cherry tomatoes, halved

Preheat the oven to 190c. Rub the flour, herbs or spices and butter together in a bowl, until all combined. Add the cheese, chopped onion & the passatta and mix until you have a dough like consistency. Add a drop more passatta if it is too dry. Shape into 6 equal sized balls, then flatten on greaseproof paper on a baking sheet. Place a slice of cherry tomato on top & gently squeeze in.
Pop in the oven for 15 minutes. remove & allow to cool & harden.

Braised Chicken, Shallot & Bacon

I picked up some nice chicken pieces from our local butcher, as well as some very tasty bacon. Looking in the fridge, I had some mushrooms & shallots to use up, so this was the ideal recipe. It would serve 2 people alongside some baby potatoes or wilted greens.

4 chicken pieces
12 button mushrooms
12 small shallots, peeled
Oil for frying
3 slices of smoked bacon, diced
Sprig of thyme
150 mls red wine
400 mls chicken stock

 Preheat the oven to 200C.


Heat the oil in an ovenproof dish on the hob on a medium/high heat. Add the chicken & brown on both sides. You may have to do this in batches. Remove to a plate.
Turn down the heat to low/medium and add the shallots. When they start to colour slightly, add the mushrooms and bacon. Cook for 5 minutes. Turn up the heat, and add the red wine, and reduce by half. Pour in the stock & thyme, season, cover & pop in the oven for 45 minutes. 
Check the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken, mushrooms, bacon & shallots & reduce the liquid to a thicker consistency if desired. Pour over the chicken & serve.

Scotch Pancakes

It was Pancake day a few days ago, so of course we made pancakes! My 4 year old son helped me to make these, and asked for golden syrup ones. These were so easy to whip up, and the Wee Man had a lot of fun mixing the batter. The trick is to use a dry but hot (not too hot though!) frying pan. Spoon the batter into the pan, then flip when lots of bubbles appear in the batter.

½ teaspoon white wine vinegar 
150 ml milk 
110 g Plain flour 
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 
1 medium egg 
1 tablespoon Vegetable oil 
1 tablespoon Golden syrup

 Mix the oil, milk, vinegar and golden syrup in a bowl. Add the egg & mix. Tip in the flour & bicarb. soda and combine thoroughly. Its ok if very small lumps remain.

Heat a large frying pan, and spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into the pan. Repeat 3 more times until you have 4 pancakes in the pan. Flip over when bubbles appear on top. Cook for another minute on the other side then remove to a warm plate. repeat until there is no remaining batter.

Can be eaten warm or cold.

Nippy Neep Soup

A local greengrocers, Clementine of Broughty Ferry, do a great service called "Soup in a Bag". Each week they provide a paper bag filled with all you need to make a scrumptious soup, with the ingredients being local produce. This week, the soup I tried was called Nippy Neep. We had it for lunch today, and it was amazing! You get enough ingredients to make a large pot, enough to feed my hungry family of 5 with some warm crusty bread. I have my soup bag, plus a large fruit & veg box, delivered by Alfie's situated on Keptie Street in Arbroath. Anyone local to Arbroath can have their soup bags delivered, or can pop into the shop to collect theirs.

It's funny to realise that in England, a "neep" is a swede. Up here in Bonnie Scotland, a "neep" is a turnip. It can get very confusing! In case you are confuddled, its the large purpley thing that has yellow flesh!

1 onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled & finely chopped
Half a small red or green chilli, chopped & deseeded.
1 large neep (swede for the English, a turnip for the Scottish) peeled & chopped
2 carrots, diced
1 teaspoon each of garam masala, tumeric and ground cumin
1 litre of vegetable stock
Olive oil

Heat some olive oil in a large pot. Gently fry the onions, ginger & garlic for a few minutes. Add the carrots & allow to soften for a few more minutes. Add the spices, and stir and coat the vegetables. Add the diced neep and add 1 litre of stock. Bring to a simmer & cover for 25 minutes. Blend completely & serve.

Eating Out - The Harbourside Grill

I thought I'd review a wee restaurant that I visited recently. Called The Harbourside Grill, it's a lovely wee place situated close to the Arbroath harbour. It serves steak & seafood, with other items appearing on the menu too. The staff are very friendly & helpful, as is the owner. The interior is fresh & clean, with a lovely large window that lets in a lot of sunshine. A friend and I tried out their very reasonable "2 Courses for £10" lunchtime deal. This is what was on offer on the day we went ....

I decided to have a starter, and chose the prawn cocktail. It was quite a small portion, but beautifully presented and very tasty. I ordered the ceasar salad for my main course, which was huge and filling. It tasted lovely, with salty Parmesan shavings on top. My friend ordered the steak baguette followed by the scone & jam. She thoroughly enjoyed both! We were quite stuffed by the end of the meal. I enjoyed it so much, we are returning with more friends for a birthday lunch very soon! I would recommend the restaurant to people visiting the town, and to the locals who have not yet tried it.