Scarborough Fairly Meatloaf - parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme!

You may not be altogether surprised to hear that the name of this meatloaf is one of my own devising. Of course, it's because the herbs involved are parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. LOL

You see, I was after a midweek, no frills, relatively plain, good and savoury, tasty meatloaf that could be served with some denomination of potato dish and a selection of vegetables. A meat & three veg. meatloaf, if you like!

I used beef and pork mince in a two thirds/one third combination because the pork mince just serves to lighten the texture of the beef. Adding loads of extra flavours - mustard, herbs, onion & garlic granules - helped pep up the savouriness and my now indispensable method of draining off the cooking juices halfway through the cooking time as ever, resulted in a good firm loaf. I do so hate meatloaf that you could serve with a spoon. Gak!

Now you might be wondering why I used the onion & garlic granules instead of adding fresh onion and fresh garlic. Good question! I find that fresh onion has to be almost grated or minced, so as not to leave small pieces of quite firm, almost crunchy, onion behind in the mix. Some people might like that, but I'm not a fan. Grating or mincing the onion just serves to increase the liquid in the mix, which I pour off at half time anyway so its not a good method.

It's a similar thing with garlic. I'm allergic to raw garlic, so it has to be incredibly finely chopped to wind up cooked sufficiently for me. Hitting on a piece of semi raw garlic is so overpowering to the other flavours, that again, it's just not a good method for me. However, if I add onion and garlic granules - which are simply dehydrated and finely minced - I get all the benefit of the flavour and none of the drawbacks. It's a personal taste thing. If you like to find onion or garlic in your meatloaf, or have the time and energy to pre-cook and caramelise them, then by all means go ahead and use fresh!

Oh and I'm also assured that this meatloaf is fairly epic when used, cold, as part of a sandwich. Happy days!

SCARBOROUGH FAIRLY MEATLOAF   (Serves 5)

Ingredients :

1 bread crust, blitzed into breadcrumbs
500g reduced fat beef mince
250g pork mince
1 large egg
1 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
pinch of sea salt
pinch of ground black pepper
1 tsp onion granules
half a tsp garlic granules
1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped fine (dried parsley would work too - use 1 tsp)
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried rosemary
half a tsp dried thyme
1 tsp beef stock powder or 1 tsp Bovril.

Method :

Pre-heat your oven to 180degC/350degF/Gas 4.

Place all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix together well, using your hands.  Try not to over-mix or the meatloaf will become tough, but ensure all the ingredients are distributed well across the mix.

Line a 1lb loaf tin with silver foil and pack the meatloaf mix in well.  I find it best to put half in and press into the corners, pushing it well down and ensuring all air bubbles are out, before adding the second half and repeating the process.

Using your fingertips, create a small space along the edge of the mix between the loaf tin and the ingredients - a gutter, effectively!  This will help when it comes to draining off the excess liquid, later.

Place onto the middle oven shelf and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the meatloaf from the oven and carefully drain off any accumulated liquid.  Take care not to let the loaf slip from within the tin, into the sink!

Place back into the oven for another 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and, using the silver foil, pull the meatloaf from inside the loaf tin.  Place onto a chopping board and carefully unwrap.  Cut the meatloaf into slices and serve with mashed potato and seasonal vegetables of your choice.

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Midweek beef mince with black garlic - not scary at all!

How do you elevate a midweek minced beef recipe?  Why, add black garlic of course!

Black garlic is exactly that - it's garlic and it's very black, having been aged in balsamic vinegar.  Balsajo is the black garlic I used today and we love it.  The cloves are stickily dark like soft liquorice, but they don't taste of liquorice!  If you're expecting it to taste of raw garlic, it doesn't do that either.  It has a taste all of its own, being sweet but slightly tangy and incredibly delicious.  I haven't yet eaten an entire clove like a sweetie, but the thought is there!

So today we were due to have just plain common or garden beef mince in gravy, which I always try to make as flavoursome as possible.  Just because it's a midweek dish, doesn't mean it should be lacking in flavour or interest.

Having received the Balsajo as a competition prize a few days ago, I was keen to try it out in as many different incarnations as possible - so I backed off on a few ingredients that I would normally include in a midweek beef mince and added a nice whack of black garlic.  The challenge to it was clear - see what you can do with this!  

Because the black garlic has a quiet, sweet flavour, it's effect on the savouriness of the mince dish wasn't a big slap in the face sort of effect but very much one of infusing that mellow richness throughout the meat and gravy.  Just gorgeous.  Every so often you picked up a little chunk of black garlic on the fork, enabling a more intense flavour to come through.

I was astounded at the price for our Balsajo black garlic.  Being so keen on it we were eager to replace our bulb once it was finished and so looked online to find out more.  The Balsajo website has a handy "Where To Buy" section, from which we discovered that if we turned up at our local Sainsbury's with the princely sum of £1.50 (December 2015 price) clutched in our hot little hand, all would be well.  Now how often does that happen?  Not very often, not with "artisan" products that are unusual and slightly off the wall, I've found.  Colour me seriously impressed.

So all that has made me very happy.  After all, it's one thing being given an item to review (although, as I say, I won it in this instance), but quite something else if once you've decided you love it and cannot be without it, to find out that you need to re-mortgage the house in order to do so.  As long as Balsajo keep making this delicious product, I'll keep on buying it and I recommend that you do, too.

MINCED BEEF WITH BLACK GARLIC   (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp olive oil
500g reduced fat minced beef
smoked sea salt (normal is fine)
ground black pepper
1 onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1 bay leaf
2 tomatoes, chopped
4 cloves black garlic, sliced
quarter of a tsp ground cinnamon
half a tsp dried rosemary
1 Knorr Rich Beef stock pot
1 tsp Bovril
1 heaped tsp French mustard
2 tbsp Bisto Best beef gravy granules.

To serve : mashed potato and seasonal vegetables (I used carrot, broccoli, runner beans and peas)

Method :

Heat the olive oil until really quite hot in a large, deep frying pan.  Add the beef and break up the block into small pieces as it cooks.  Add a small pinch of smoked sea salt and a good helping of black pepper.  Fry until the beef has all browned, the moisture has evaporated and there is just oil left under the beef.  Leave the beef to caramelise for at least two turns, then remove it with a slotted spoon into a bowl.

Remove all but 1 tbsp of the fat from the pan and reserve in case you need more as you cook the vegetables.

Add the onion, garlic and bay leaf and fry until the onion is transparent and soft.  Do not let the garlic burn.

Add the tomatoes and black garlic and stir to combine.  Fry until the tomatoes are starting to break down.

Add the cinnamon and rosemary and stir to combine.

Add the stock pot and sufficient water to just under the level of the mince.

Add the Bovril and mustard and stir to combine.  Bring to a lively simmer, then cover the pan and leave to cook for some 10-15 minutes.

Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary - the dish can cope with lots of black pepper but remember that the gravy granules are high in salt!

Pull the mince to one side of the pan and remove from the heat.  Sprinkle in the gravy granules and stir immediately.  Return the pan back to the heat and stir gently.  Once the gravy has thickened, you are ready to serve.

Serve with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

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Weekday beef mince - tasty and versatile

We thought we'd have a trip back in time for dinner today.  Around 15 years ago, we were living in Chatham and I was working at Hampton Court Palace, in Surrey.  Both before and after work, I would care for my donkey, who was also in Surrey.  As you can imagine, I didn't have a lot of time left for cooking, between leaving for stables and then work at around 6am, then returning home at around 9pm.

So, on the days when I did cook - hubby-to-be would often have something ready by the time I got home - it would have to be something easy.  Something really easy.

Common or garden weekday mince was always a favourite.  However, since I've had more time to cook, poor old weekday mince was relegated to history and never seen again.

I was cooking the other day when I remembered a time when some builders were working on the house and I was cooking weekday mince.  They were both like Bisto kids outside the back door and eventually, one came and asked what I was cooking.  They seemed impressed at how good it smelled - for just plain old mince - and we had quite a conversation about how to make it, complete with scribbled notes on the back of a cigarette packet for his wife to peruse!

That memory reminded me of how good weekday mince was, so I resolved to add it to the menu list.  We had it for dinner this evening and it was so good.  Not surprisingly, I have to pass the recipe on to you all.  So here we go!

WEEKDAY BEEF MINCE   (serves 3)

Ingredients :

1 tsp olive oil
500mg beef mince
1 onion, chopped finely
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 baby red peppers (or half a red pepper), chopped finely
1 tsp dried oregano
1 flat tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
quarter tsp of black pepper
1 Knorr rich beef stock pot
1 tsp Bovril
1 tsp HP Sauce
300ml water
3 tsp Bisto Best beef gravy granules.

Method :  

1.  Brown the beef mince in a deep frying pan until all the water has evaporated, then continue until the meat has caramelised on the underside at least three times.  Caramelise it, then turn the meat, then caramelise again and repeat once again.

2.  Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat and reserve.  Remove and discard some of the fat, then add the olive oil.

3.  Add the onion, garlic and peppers along with a little salt and fry until the onion is transparent.

4.  Mix in the meat and add the cinnamon and oregano along with black pepper.

5.  Add the stock pot, the Bovril and the HP sauce.  Add 200-300ml of water and stir to combine.  Bring to a boil and reduce by approximately half.  Stir regularly.

6.  Reduce the heat, cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes or so.

7.  Add the Bisto best gravy granules, the gravy will thicken, then simmer - stirring regularly - for 10 minutes or so.

Serve.

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BBQ meatloaf - man pleasing food!

This meal was born from a desire to create a "man pleasing dinner".  The notion was that having had a healthy, vegetable inclusive fish dinner the night before - and another vegetable inclusive meal to come on Sunday (tomorrow) - the menfolk might like a man pleasing dinner to keep them interested.

In fact, this meal contained the subject of this blog entry - the meatloaf - together with a fantastic cornbread (which is dealt with in the next blog post) and baked beans.

Now I don't know about your menfolk, but my menfolk like meat.  No, in fact, they like MEAT.  *chuckle*  I can understand this, as I'm a bit of a carnivore myself and do sometimes get a terrible hankering for a big lump of roast beef in which to sink my gnashers.

Quite a long way up on their "man pleasing foodstuffs" list, but below meat, is a good barbecue sauce.   We've discovered Kraft's Bulls Eye BBQ sauce, which is currently doing a pretty good job in that connection.  If anything, I find it a tiny bit sweet - but the menfolk love it and that's the main thing.

I can't claim to have invented this form of meatloaf, as like with a lot of things, I spotted a photograph on the internet that piqued my interest.  That of a meatloaf with a coating of barbecue sauce - and it looked good.

Now I have written previously about my attempts to make a firm meatloaf that doesn't require a spoon with which to serve it.  Hubby has a term for these soggy meat loaves - that of "meat porridge".  It describes the texture quite succinctly.

Fortunately for us, I discussed the problem of meat porridge with my pal Melanie (a Brit who has been in Canada for the last mumblymumble years) and who claimed to have solved the conundrum.  She decreed her meat loaves to be firm and positively perky.  Hence, I have paid attention to Mel's tutelage and gone down my own road with the flavourings - but followed the basic recipe quite closely.

Lo and behold - what do we have here?  Only a firm, sliceable, serve with a spatula and no spoon in sight, delicious meat loaf!  Thanks, Mel!

If you also have problems with meat porridge, it is well worthwhile having a read of her treatise on the subject at her blog, Rutabaga Dreams.

I had been pondering on what to use as flavourings and couldn't really come to any firm conclusions.  I knew I had to be aware of how much salt was being included - as additional sauces can often bring quite a slug of salt with them.  So salt wasn't a problem unless I overdid it.  The basic meats were two thirds beef, one third pork and a lone rasher of bacon (that had no other home to go to).  Now onion was a given - but in fact, I used two shallots for their sweetness.  The breadcrumbs were made from a combination of white and brown Polish Bakery bread - which can only be surpassed by home made bread, in my view.  I also added a little tomato ketchup, some Worcestershire sauce, some Mic's Chilli Inferno hot sauce, a teaspoonful or so of freshly ground black pepper, some dried parsley and something that you may not have at home - a teaspoonful of Essential Cuisine's mushroom stock powder.  Add an egg, mush it all together and into a loaf tin it goes!

Baking the meat loaf (at 180degC) is a simple matter of making sure it is inside another roasting tin, to catch any drips that may escape the loaf tin, then fishing it back out after 30 minutes.  Very carefully, tip the liquid away then coat the top of the meat loaf generously with your favourite barbecue sauce.  Back into the oven it goes for another 30 minutes and you're done.

The flavourings really are up to you.  You can go Italian with sun dried tomatoes, oregano and garlic, or Mexican with chillies and beans, Indian with curry spices - really, so long as you follow the "no ingredients that will leach liquid" (like tomatoes, mushrooms, courgette etc.) and include the breadcrumbs and an egg, I see no reason why your meat loaf shouldn't be as sliceable as mine turned out to be!

The menfolk both gave the meat loaf - in fact, the whole dinner - a big thumbs up, so I'd say that's job done!

BBQ MEAT LOAF   (serves 3-4)

Ingredients :

3-4 slices of dry bread, blitzed into crumbs
pinch of sea salt
half a tsp of freshly ground black pepper
half a tsp of dried parsley
500g minced lean beef
250g minced lean pork
1-2 rashers of bacon, chopped fine
1 dessertspoonful of tomato ketchup
1 tsp of hot sauce (to taste - use more if you like more)
2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp of stock powder of your choice (most, but not all, of a stock cube will do)
1 egg
3-4 tbsp BBQ sauce.

Method :

1.  Place all the ingredients barring the BBQ sauce into a large bowl.  Using your hand, scrunch and mix the ingredients until they are all evenly spread throughout the mix.

2.  Take a one pound loaf tin and line it with silver foil (non-stick silver foil, if you can get it, is wonderful for this!).

3.  Pack the meat mixture into the loaf tin, pressing it down firmly.

4.  Place the loaf tin inside a bigger roasting tin and into a pre-heated 180degC/350degF/Gas 4 oven for 30 minutes.

5.  At the end of the time, remove the meat loaf from the oven and carefully drain the liquid away.  (Be very careful not to let your meat loaf fall into the sink, as happened to me on one stellar occasion).

6.  Coat the surface of the meat loaf in BBQ sauce and replace into the oven for another 30 minutes.

7.  When the time is up, remove from the oven and from the loaf tin.  Carefully peel the silver foil back all around the meat loaf, but be careful of the hot liquid that will be contained therein.  Let the loaf rest for a couple of minutes - no longer than 3-4 - then slice and serve.

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Casarecce Romantica - for Valentine's Day

This rich and delicious beef ragu is one of hubby's own recipes, that he had been pondering over for a few days.  During one of our board meetings when we set the menu for the week, he announced that he'd be making a "romantic beef ragu".  Well, you can't argue with that!

I have to admit, I was a teensy bit skeptical about what a "romantic beef ragu" would entail.  Was he going to be using rose petals (well, they're in Ras al hanout spice mix!), or maybe gilding it in gold or - horrors - using heart in the mix!

No.  The extra ingredient was love.

Aaaaaaah ......

Cue hubby : 
 
This is essentially a rich beef ragu sauce which lives or dies by the quality of the ingredients and the care of its preparation.  The better the quality of the ingredients, the more love will end up on the plate :-)

The recipe as given below will serve 3 people - you might want to reduce the quantities a little for just the two of you - or put one serving in the freezer.

CASARECCE ROMANTICA  

Ingredients :
 
500g beef mince
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
1 large carrot, diced finely
1 large stick of celery, diced finely
1 clove garlic, crushed
125ml robust red wine
500ml beef stock (made with Knorr Rich Beef Stockpot)
10 - 12 cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp mushroom ketchup or Worcestershire sauce.

Method :

1.  On a high heat, dry fry the minced beef in a large pan until browned.  Remove the meat from the pan using a slotted spoon and set aside.

2.  Add the finely chopped onion, carrot and celery.  Reduce the heat and saute the vegetables in the beef fat until the onions begin to soften.  Add the garlic at this stage and carry on sauteeing for a few more minutes.

3.  Once the onions are soft, turn the heat up and bring the pan to a high temperature before adding the red wine.  Cook on a high heat until the wine has reduced by at least half.

4.  Return the minced beef to the pan and cook for a few minutes to bring back up to temperature, before adding the beef stock.

5.  Add the tomatoes by squishing them into the sauce and then reduce the heat to bring the pan to a gentle simmer, adding the mushroom ketchup.

6.  Simmer for 30-45 minutes or until the sauce has reduced to a rich coating consistency.  

7.  Season to taste before serving over Casarecce pasta.



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Introducing ... Hampshire Hash!

Many years ago - longer than I care to remember - my friend Linda Hessell and I went on a Western Horse Riding weekend at Burley in the New Forest.  I was in my teens and it was my first holiday away without my parents.

When I think about it, we were babes in the wood really - but we took care of each other and managed to emerge unscathed at the end of the weekend, having had a great time.

Funny how sometimes your world turns in ways that return you back across tracks you've already travelled.  Some thirty five years (oh darn, there, I've remembered!) and eight house moves later, I find myself living within a twenty minute drive of Burley and have been past the same riding stables several times.

There are many reasons for remembering this holiday fondly, not least being the food - which was fabulous.  They had a housekeeper/cook who fed us all really well at the end of each day, with lashings of comfort food when we were all starving after riding across the New Forest and trying to look like we knew what we were doing.

Two recipes stand out from the weekend, firstly the Corned Beef Pie that I blogged back in December 2011 and this Hampshire Hash.

Now it is very probable that the affection with which I remember the holiday, may have something to do with where these two recipes stand in my memory.  My liking for Shepherd's Pie and Cottage Pie are well known - and Hampshire Hash fits very neatly into that category.

Before going into the oven ...

However, it had been some while since I last made Hampshire Hash as it had evolved into something which wound up being rather greasy - and occasionally, with semi-cooked potato cubes on top.  You can just imagine how much Hubby enjoyed that combination!

I'd been hankering after having another go at Hampshire Hash for some time and had been pondering on how to ensure a) it wasn't greasy and b) the potato was cooked.  I thought I had a plan and hubby agreed to give it a try, so we were set.

.... and after.  Mmmmnn!

Now previously, I will admit to not skimming the fat from the minced beef once it was browned - which obviously contributed a lot to the grease.  So that was an easy change - to fry the mince to the point where all the water had evaporated, the fat was rendered down and the mince was caramelising - then skim off the fat.  Sorted.

Now the potato aspect to the dish also had some input into the grease element.  Basically, you toss the potato pieces in a combination of full fat mayonnaise (low fat is just disgusting once cooked) and tomato ketchup.  Sounds a bit odd, but it works.  However, too much mayonnaise and you'll find it releases a lot of grease once it warms up.

So I decided to split the par-boiled potato pieces into two groups.  One which sits on top of the mince and absorbs the gravy - and the remainder which gets the mayonnaise/ketchup treatment and goes on the top.  That way, you still get the lovely flavours, with much less mayonnaise involved.

Well, it worked up to a point.  Interestingly, even though I put the minced beef in the casserole dish at a high temperature and added the plain potato pieces immediately, the ones with the mayonnaise on them cooked far more quickly.  I suspect this is because a) they were on top and b) the oil in the mayonnaise helped to "fry" them - and at a higher temperature than the ones underneath.  So we wound up - still - with some pieces of potato being noticeably harder than others.

So my cunning plan - reflected in the recipe below - is to leave one half of the potato pieces to cook for longer at the par-boiling stage.  I figure that if you start off with them slightly ahead of their mayo-coated brethren, everything should finish at the same level.  Also, make sure you give them the full three-quarters of an hour in the oven, to get that lovely caramelised edge to the potato pieces.

I really like this dish.  As a change from your regular Shepherd's Pie and Cottage Pie, it fits the bill well.  Especially as the minced beef part to it is flavoured differently - with curry powder and cinnamon - to add to the interest.

Oh and one other point - take care not to over-salt the dish.  The addition of curry powder can give a similar effect to salt, so you can afford to be sparing.

Hubby gave this version the thumbs up as regards grease and overall flavour, so I think I've probably succeeded where that is concerned.  Son and heir polished off his plateful, having been somewhat doubtful about how hungry he was to begin with - so that's another vote of approval.

I served ours with steamed carrots, butternut squash, peas and sweetcorn - but it would go with just about any vegetable of your choice.

HAMPSHIRE HASH   (feeds 4-5)

Ingredients :

3 or 4 large Maris Piper potatoes, peeled
1 tbsp rapeseed or olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped finely
500g lean minced beef
3 chestnut mushrooms, chopped finely
1 large celery stalk, de-stringed and chopped finely
1 heaped tsp Madras curry powder
half a tsp ground cinnamon
200g tin of Heinz baked beans
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 Knorr Rich Beef Stock Pot (or a low salt beef stock cube)
200ml hot water
a good pinch of ground black pepper
1 dessertspoonful of mayonnaise (don't use low fat - it's horrid!)
1 dessertspoonful of tomato ketchup.

Method :

1.  Put a large saucepan half filled with water and a little salt added, on to boil.

2.  Cut the potatoes into dice of approximately 1cm - and try to get them evenly sized, so that they cook evenly.

3.  When the water boils, put all the potato dice into the water and cook for 3 minutes.

4.  Remove half the potatoes with a slotted spoon and place into a bowl - allow to cool.

5.  Cook the remaining half for another minute or so.  Drain and replace in the saucepan.  Allow to cool.

6.  Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onions.  Fry gently until softened and golden.  Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and put onto a plate.  No need to keep them warm, as they'll be back in the pan in a moment.

7.   Place the minced beet into the pan and turn up the heat to maximum.  Fry the beef until all the water has boiled off and the fat has reduced.  The beef should be beginning to caramelise.

8.  Reduce the heat to moderate and push the beef to one side.  Spoon off a good nine tenths of the fat - and discard (or give to the dog!).

9.  Return the onions to the pan, together with the mushrooms and celery.  Cook until the mushrooms have taken on the remaining oil and the celery is softening.

10.  Add the curry powder and cinnamon.  Stir through and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes.

11.  Add the ketchup, baked beans, stock pot (or stock cube) and water, along with the pepper and stir through.  Allow to simmer - stirring occasionally - until the ingredients have all combined nicely and a good gravy has formed.

12.  Decant the meat mixture into a casserole dish.

13.  Sprinkle the extra-cooked potatoes from the saucepan, on top of the meat mixture.  Don't mix them in - just allow them to sit on the surface in a single layer.

14.  Add the mayonnaise and ketchup to the potatoes in the bowl, and stir through taking care not to break up the potato cubes.  The potatoes should be well covered.

15.  Sprinkle these potatoes over the top of the plain ones and settle them into an even layer.

16.  Bake at 180degC/340degF/Gas 4 for 35-45 minutes or until the potatoes are beginning to become browned and crispy.

Serve with your choice of vegetables.

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Jamie Oliver's Minced Beef Wellington - my version thereof!

I have been promising you all that I'd blog this one - and since all the excitement of the photograph being shown to Jamie on Zoe Ball's programme on BBC Radio 2 today, I thought there might never be a better time!

It had been a while since I'd made this recipe and I'd forgotten the finer details.  However, just a quick look at the blog post from the last time (which is here) and it all came back to me.  So I put the mince back in the fridge, as I wouldn't be needing that until later!

Just the sheer fact that this is, quite probably, around the fourth or fifth time I've made this one should tell you that it is well worth doing.  In the last couple of days, with all the Radio 2 thing going on, I've received a couple of comments along the lines of "it just looks like a big pastie".  Well, I suppose you could think of it in that way, but in truth, it is a lot more than that.

For starters, there's an awful lot more meat than vegetable (which in your average pastie, is exactly the opposite), there's an awful lot more filling than pastry (which again, in your average pastie is exactly the opposite) and I've yet to find a pastie that can feed 3 people for a main course dinner, then three people for lunch the day after!


Yes, it does involve two cooking instalments - one to make the vegetables for the filling, then another to finish the Wellington and cook it - but neither of those instalments are particularly taxing.  As a great mid-week dinner, you just can't beat it.

With this particular incarnation, I made a couple of changes from a) Jamie's original and b) my last blogged version.  I added some leftover Celeriac that had been diced finely, used mushroom ketchup instead of Worcester Sauce and had run out of frozen peas, so substituted sweetcorn instead.

The end result was just as good, just as tasty - and well worth doing!.

MINCED BEEF WELLINGTON (serves 4 with leftovers)

Ingredients :

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 medium onion, chopped finely

1 carrot, peeled & cut into fine dice

1 stick of celery, washed, trimmed and cut into fine dice

1 potato, peeled & cut into fine dice

a large chunk of celeriac, peeled and cut into fine dice

1 clove of garlic, minced or grated

2 large chestnut mushrooms, chopped finely

4 sprigs fresh rosemary, removed from the stalks and chopped finely

2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce or Mushroom Ketchup

a big handful of peas or sweetcorn niblets (frozen is fine)

500g good quality minced beef

sea salt & black pepper

500g puff pastry

1 large egg, lightly whisked.

Method :

1.  In a frying pan, heat the rapeseed oil over a medium heat and add the onion. Fry until light golden brown, then add the remainder of the vegetables and the garlic and continue to fry until the veggies are showing signs of softening.

2.  Add the rosemary and the Worcester sauce or Mushroom ketchup and stir to combine.

3.  Add the frozen peas or sweetcorn and cook for another couple of minutes until thoroughly defrosted and mixed in.

4.  Decant the vegetables into a large bowl to cool completely.  I find that if I smooth them as far up the sides of the bowl as possible, it allows them to cool more quickly than leaving them in a lump.

5.  When cool, preheat oven to 180degC/350degF/Gas 4.

6.  Add the minced beef to the bowl with salt and pepper and half the egg.  With your hands, scrunch everything together until thoroughly mixed.

7.  On a clean worktop, roll out the pastry to the size of small tea towel and place the mince mix along one long side, in a sausage shape, but leaving a small area of pastry, so that you have something to start the rolling with.

 

8.  Brush edges of pastry with egg and roll pastry to cover mince completely.  Tuck any escapees into either end, then fold the ends together and squeeze the joins so that they hold.

 

9.  Flip the Wellington over so that the pastry join is underneath and transfer to a baking tray that has been lined with either non-stick silver foil or baking parchment.  

 

10.  Use a knife to cut a couple of holes in the top to let any steam escape, then brush with egg.

 

11.  Bake for approximately one hour (I'd check it after 30 minutes and turn it to ensure an even bake) until golden.

 

Serve with steamed vegetables and gravy.

 

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Rich Beef Cottage Pie - food of the gods!

Now I'm sure that if you've been following my blog for longer than the last ten minutes, you will know that my very favourite thing is a Cottage Pie or a Shepherd's Pie.  Doesn't matter which - both are as good as one another.

When I was in my early twenties, living away from home but close enough to visit every Friday and have dinner at my parents' house, my Mum would often make a Cottage Pie for me to take home.  So there I'd be, in the very early days, riding home on my motorbike with a casserole dish full of deliciousness in my topbox.  In later years, I'd be driving home in the car, with two lurcher dogs guarding the casserole dish.

Convert this into a view made with mash & peas ...

Even earlier than that, I can remember eating Cottage Pie at the dining table, "en famille", and probably driving my parents crazy as I made landscapes out of my dinner.  The crispy topped mashed potato would be ploughed fields, the mince would be muddy fallow fields, the peas would be grass with occasional dots of white cauliflower for sheep and orange carrot tractors.  Very creative.

So began my love affair with mashed potato topped pies.  I'll never lose my love for them, as no matter how many disappear down my throat, there's always room for one more.

Now circumstances have dictated that hubby has become the Cottage Pie chef in our house - largely because of my penchant for using it as medicine.  So, whenever I'm under the weather, he'll make a Cottage or Shepherd's Pie and it seems to have the effect of injecting some life back into me.  However, I had a yearning to make a Cottage Pie in the style of those I used to make when son & heir was just a wee lad (instead of the hulking great lump of boy he is now) and hubby was a big-shot I.T. man (which he still is, except not so many people notice, these days).  A Cottage Pie with rich, deep, dark beefy flavours.  One with *sharp intake of breath* baked beans in the mix.  Oh don't look like that - it's just not a Cottage Pie without baked beans in there somewhere!

Just look at the colour of that gravy - rich!

There are about as many recipes for Cottage Pie as there are fleas on a hedgehog - in fact, I'd wager that there are probably more recipes than fleas - and that's saying something.  I think everyone has their own special way of concocting the mince mixture, but the mash is probably very similar everywhere (unless you're one of these adventurous types who put mashed parsnip, or sweet potato on top).  This recipe isn't the definitive recipe - this is just "my" recipe.

Liberally sprinkled with cheese and full of delicious promise!

I think what makes my recipe different from all the rest are the small touches - not all of which will be agreed with by the purists amongst us.  Do I care?  *pshaw!*  Do I heck as like (which means "no", for those who don't speak Jenny).

For me, to begin with, it is important to get that touch of caramelisation on the mince, as this is what helps the flavour along.  Drain the fat from the mince (or the mince from the fat, whichever works for you!) and reserve the meat.  The fat can either go in your dog's dinner (for which he will be forever grateful), into a container for roast potatoes at a later date (mmmmn!) or if your conscience demands - in the bin.  It's that touch of caramelisation that makes the difference between a flavourless steak and a steak with gorgeous rich beefy flavours.  It's the same with mince - just in smaller bits.

Oh and yes, I know it's bad form to be using cop-out gravy granules (this is where the purists begin to raise their eyebrows and mutter about reducing stock) but the Bisto Best Rich Roasted granules are so tasty that it is an easy way to get a little more flavour in, whilst thickening your gravy.  So shoot me.  If you're passionately opposed to them, use flour, or gravy browning - whatever you want by way of thickening.  You are looking for a quite thick, dry, consistency - one that won't allow lots of gravy to flood across the mash topping as it cooks - and gravy granules does that whilst adding another oodle of flavour.  We're not cooking for The Ivy here, people - this is for the family - and yes, I appreciate that gravy granules are processed and all things processed are baaaad.  *sigh*  But it's just one dessertspoonful!

These photographs are making my mouth water ..

All the finely chopped vegetables have their role to play in flavour development, too.  As the mixture cooks and the individual veggies melt into the gravy, so the flavour deepens.  The leftovers (which are mine, all mine - get your hands off!) are just fantastic the next day.  One day I'll be brave enough to make the pie a day before it will be required - but I'm too scared I might eat it in secret, sitting on the kitchen floor, in the dark, at 2 a.m., to have tried that approach yet!

My last recommendation is to use one of the Knorr "Rich Beef" Stock Pots.  (There go the purists again!).  They do two types of beef stock pot - so make sure you get the "Rich Beef" one, as it makes all the difference to the flavour.  I used to swear blind that nothing had beef flavour like Oxo cubes - until I tried one of these Rich Beef Stock Pots.  They have just swung my preference, for two reasons - they aren't so salty as Oxo cubes and also have a great richly roasted flavour.  So there you are, of course it won't matter if you use home made beef stock, or Mulligatawny soup (although that might be a bit odd) - if it works for you, I'm not going to complain!  

RICH BEEF COTTAGE PIE     (feeds 3-4)

Ingredients :


500g minced beef
1 onion, chopped finely
1 stick celery, de-stringed and chopped finely
1 carrot, diced finely
1 small garlic clove, crushed
2-3 chestnut mushrooms, chopped finely
200g tin of Heinz Baked Beans
a "Rich Beef" Knorr Stock Pot
200ml hot water
a tsp of Bovril
a dessertspoonful of tomato puree
a dessertspoonful of tomato ketchup
2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
a dessertspoonful of Bisto Best Beef gravy granules (optional)
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
4-5 medium Maris Piper potatoes, peeled and each cut into 4 or 6 chunks
100ml warm milk
a heavy-handed knob of butter (as large as your conscience will allow)
a generous handful of grated mature cheddar cheese.

Method :

1.  Pre-heat the oven to 180degC/350degF/Gas4.

2.  Heat a deep frying pan on a high heat and add the mince.  Fry until all the water has evaporated, the fat is rendering out and the meat is beginning to caramelise.  This can take up to 10 minutes - so be patient!  Drain the the fat away and reserve the meat.

3.  Leaving a little of the fat in the pan, reduce the heat and add the onions, celery and carrots.  Fry until the onion is softened and a light golden colour and the vegetables have softened.  Add the mushrooms and garlic and continue to fry for 2 minutes or so.

4.  Add the meat back into the pan and mix well.

5.  Add in the baked beans, the contents of the stock pot, water, Bovril, tomato puree, tomato ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and stir well.  On a medium heat, allow the contents of the pan time in which to heat through and simmer for another 15 minutes or so, to enable all the flavours to amalgamate.

6.  Now this next bit is optional - but if your gravy is looking a little bit thin at this stage, I use a small amount of Bisto's Best Beef Gravy Granules to thicken it. 

7.  Taste for seasoning and add some sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, as required.

8.  Leave the meat mixture to simmer slowly on a low heat and boil a pan of salted water for your potatoes.

9.  Once the potatoes are tender (and fall off a knife easily), drain them and return them to the pan.  Add the warm milk, butter and seasoning and mash like crazy until you are sure all the lumps have disappeared.

10.  Decant the meat mixture into a deep casserole dish and add blobs of mashed potato on top.  Lightly, with a fork, blend the edges of each blob until you have a seamless mashed potato topping with a fluffed up surface.

11.  Scatter the grated cheese on top and place into the oven to bake for 45 minutes or until the top is golden brown and crunchy looking.

Serve.

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