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Comforting beef casserole with mashed potatoes

Posted: 22 January '10 by Ciara

I am really excited about this new recipe. I tried it for the first time this evening and we all loved it. It is packed with flavour and was the perfect thing to eat on a cold snowy evening. Sophie has been quite run down recently, so i am a bit paranoid that she should be getting as much goodness into her as possible,  and i was delighted that she loved this.

Please note that I cut my vegetables quite small and also the carrots were grated quite finely too as Sophie doesn’t really like a lot of lumps in her food, so feel free to cut up your veggies to your own liking.

The recipe comes from Nigella Lawson’s “Nigella Feasts” programme.

Serves 5

You can see more photos here.

Ingredients

Ingredients: Beef Casserole

• 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion
• 2 carrots sliced or grated
• 2 celery stalks sliced thinly or 1 inch thick
• 3 cloves of garlic grated
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2lbs of beef fillet stewing meat
• 1/4 cup flour
• salt & pepper
• 1/2 cup red wine or beef stock (i obviously used beef stock for Sophie)
• 1 large can whole plum tomatoes (i also blend these for Cor, who hates lumps of tomatoes in his food)
• peel of half an orange

Ingredients: Mashed Potatoes

• 6 maris piper potatoes
• 4 knobs of butter
• 30ml full fat milk

Method

Method: Beef Casserole

1. Heat oil and over a medium heat fry onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves and thyme for 5-10 minutes until onion turns translucent. Remove veggies to a bowl leaving as much oil in the pot as you can.
2. Meanwhile, place flour and salt and pepper in a plastic bag along with meat. Shake until meat is coated. Place into the pot which you have just removed veggies from and cook until pieces are well browned.
3. When this is done add the wine or beef stock then add veggies, tomatoes and orange peel.
4. Bring to a simmer and then reduce to a low and cook for 3 hours. Remove bay leaves, thyme sprigs and orange peel and serve with mashed potatoes.

Method: Mashed potatoes

1. Boil potatoes for 20-25 minutes
2. Drain and mash
3. Meanwhile heat butter and milk together
4. Add slowly to potatoes continuously mashing

Enjoy!

Tags: recipe, recipes

Categories: Beef > English Food > Featured Post > Main Course > Recipes

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Beef casserole with suet dumplings

Posted: 12 January '10 by Niall

With the bitter Winter wind whistling around outside and the garden covered in a thick carpet of white snow, I thought that it was high time to make one of my favourite Winter dishes – beef casserole with dumplings.

A beef casserole is made using Chuck Steak (also called braising steak), one of the cheapest cuts of beef there is. Taken from the shoulders of the beef, the meat demands a long, slow cooking process – anything less than a couple of hours will just produce tough, stringy, and almost inedible meat – take the time and you’ll be rewarded with a tenderness that rivals a far more expensive cut. Slow-cooking the casserole will also perform an almost magical transformation, changing the watery gravy into a thick, rich, meaty sauce.

The dumplings are a great addition, and really make an already thrifty meal go that bit further. I rarely see dumplings on restaurant menus these days, but they always remind me of Mum’s cooking when I was younger. Be warned though – if losing a few pounds was one of your New Years’ resolutions, suet dumplings are certainly not going to help! Suet is the fat from around the kidneys and loins in beef and sheep and is traditionally used in dumplings and puddings to produce a bready, dense pastry. I like to add some seasoning to the dumpling mixture to provide even more flavour to the casserole – sage, in particular, works very well with red meat.

Here’s our recipe for a real rib-sticking, filling dish. When you’re in need of some comfort and warmth this Winter, I think that you should give it a go.

You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6Image 7Image 7Image 9Image 10

Ingredients

Beef Casserole

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions – chopped roughly
• 450g /1lb diced beef – braising/chuck etc.
• 2 carrots -chopped roughly
• 11/2 pints stock
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce or Worcester sauce
• Seasoning (the usual salt and pepper)
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried herbs – maybe sage, oregano, rosemary or thyme
• A glass of red wine (optional)

Dumplings

• 75g / 3 oz suet
• 150g / 6 oz self raising flour
• 150 ml water
• Some dried sage to flavour
• Seasoning

Method

1. Heat the oil over a low heat in a very large sauce pan.
2. Cook of the onions and carrots until the onions are soft and translucent.
3. Increase the heat to medium and add the beef, stirring the cubes to seal until the meat has browned.
4. If you wish to add a glass of red wine, do so now – it will de-glaze the saucepan, removing all of those encrusted, tasty morsels from the bottom of the pan as well as adding a deeper richness to your gravy.
5. Add the stock, seasoning, herbs, and soy sauce, bringing the contents to the boil.
6. Transfer the casserole to an ovenproof dish and cover with a lid or tin foil. Slow cook in a preheated oven gas 4/5 / 190-200*c / 350-400*f for 2 hours.
7. With around 30 minutes before the casserole has finished cooking you should start to prepare the dumplings. Mix the dumpling ingredients together in a large bowl to create a sticky dough.
8. With wet hands break off golf-ball sized pieces of dough, rolling the dough around to form the dumplings, setting each dough-ball aside until all of the dough has been used.
9. Take out the beef casserole and place the dumplings on top of the casserole and leave the casserole uncovered to bake for the last 20 minutes (or until the dumplings have become crisp and have turned a golden brown colour), turning the heat up to gas 6/ 220*c/ 450*f.
10. Spoon the casserole onto the plates, making sure that everyone gets a dumpling or two.

Enjoy.

Tags: recipe, recipes

Categories: Beef > English Food > Featured Post > Main Course > Recipes

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How to make Creamy Fish Pie with Mushy Peas

Posted: 16 December '09 by Niall

Kelly and I both love fish pie, and it makes a regular appearance on our dining table. It’s a real winter dish, being warming and filling, and it’s also economical – those fish fillets can be expensive, but combining them with potatoes, cheese, and creamy sauce makes them go that bit further.

Fish pie is something that should be relatively easy to make but it can go disasterously wrong – from a flavour-less, watery consistency all the way to a glue-like gloop. To my mind, the success of your pie comes down to the quality of your bechamel and the flavour of the creamed potatoes, but particularly the former. It really does pay to apply yourself – and your taste testing tastebuds – to this part.

This fish pie is filled with a mixture of smoked and unsmoked fish. Some recipes add salmon or prawns, but I think that that’s a bit over the top, and doesn’t really contribute anything to the recipe – the flavour of the smoked haddock in particular would just overshadow the more subtley flavoured prawns. The addition of parsley is important, however – it not only tastes good, but it also adds a splash of colour to an otherwise anemic, pale pie. The golden cheese crust is also vital in my book.

I usually accompany the fish pie with mushy peas. Although you can buy tins of mushy peas, nothing comes close to those that you can make yourself. It does take a bit of effort (soaking the peas overnight) but, believe me, it’s all worth it.

This recipe makes a hearty, four person Fish Pie.

You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6

Ingredients

For the fish pie

• 600g of any firm white fish – we use cod or haddock fillets
• 200g of smoked haddock
• 750ml milk
• 1 medium onion, roughly chopped
• 1 large carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• some fresh parsley, chopped
• a few peppercorns
• 400g mature cheddar, grated
• 1kg floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper
• 125g butter, plus extra to grease the dish and dot on top of the pie
• 75g plain flour
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the mushy peas

• 250g of marrowfat peas
• Bicarbonate of soda tablets
• 11/2 pints of boiling water – and more fresh water to cook
• Sugar, butter, salt and pepper (to taste)

Remember! If you want to make mushy peas they need to be left to soak for between 12 and 16 hours – so you’ll need to do this the night before you plan to eat.

Method

For the fish pie

1. Place the fillets of fish in a medium saucepan. Add the milk, onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, a couple of stalks of parsley and the peppercorns.
2. Place the pan on a low heat and let the milk heat up gently. As soon as it comes to a simmer, switch off the heat and cover the pan. The fish will continue cooking in the hot milk. This is my favourite way for cooking fish – it keeps the flesh plump and moist, and doesn’t add or detract from the flavour.
3. Peel the potatoes, cut them into even, bite-sized chunks so that they cook evenly, and put them in a large pan with just enough water to cover and put the pan on the hob over a high heat. Add a teaspoon of salt and let the water come to the boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook the potatoes until a fork will pass easily through the flesh, but not so much that they disintegrate in the water.
4. Carefully drain the potatoes and allow them to cool in a colander for a minute or two. Return them to the pan and mash them, adding 50g of the butter, using a spoon to mix the creamed potato at the end until you have a golden, smooth consistency. Put the mash to one side.
5. Stand a sieve over a large jug and tip in the fish and milk mixture.
6. Take your oven dish and break the cooked fish fillets into it – not too much though – you ideally want nice chunks of meaty fish in your pie.
7. Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
8. To make the béchamel sauce, put the remaining 75g of butter in the clean pan and melt it over a low to medium heat. Add the flour and stir well with a wooden spoon to make a roux. Cook for two minutes, stirring every few seconds. Then gently whisk in one third of the hot fishy milk. The paste will quickly turn into a very thick sauce. Add another third of the milk, whisking all the time, and then the final third, so you end up with a creamy sauce.
9. Add the chopped parsley and after tasting the sauce you can season the béchamel with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
10. Reduce the heat until it is very low and let the sauce simmer gently for a couple of minutes.
11. Pour your creamy, fishy bechamel sauce over your fish.
12. Spoon over the mash and spread it carefully across the surface of the fish sauce.
13. Sprinkle the grated mature cheddar over the top of the creamed potatoes, making sure that the surface is covered evenly.
14. Place the pie in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until the top is starting to brown and the fishy sauce is bubbling up the sides of the mash.

For the mushy peas

1. Dissolve the bicarbonate tablets (they usually come in a box) in one and a half pints of boiling water.
2. Pour the solution over the dried peas.
3. Leave to soak overnight, or for at least 12 to 16 hours.
4. Drain the peas, then put them in a saucepan and just cover them with cold, fresh water.
5. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Once the water has reduced and the peas have become mushy add salt, pepper, sugar, and butter to taste.

To accompany the dish

Fish pie is a rustic dish and deserves a glass of something equally tasty and uncomplicated. Rather than white wine, what about a glass of chilled lager? The slightly bitter Budweiser Budvar would be perfect – light and crisp, with a buttery flavour common the Czech beer, and with plenty of hops on the nose.

Enjoy.

Tags: recipe, recipes, seafood, winter food

Categories: English Food > Featured Post > Recipes > Seafood

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Vegetarians, look away now: Our steak pie recipe

Posted: 28 October '09 by Niall

With the rain lashing down and a gale blowing outside our front door, we huddled around the fire. As gloomy as this sounds, I wasn’t too down-hearted.. Winter is coming – and this means “goodbye” to salads and “hello” to more substantial dishes. I like that.

A quick trip to Forestside (McGee’s butchers, to be exact) and we were ready to go – Steak Pie was on the cards! Steak pie (but especially steak and kidney pie) is one of those meals-from-childhood that I will always remember with fondness and hanker after: tender pieces of meaty steak, rich gravy, and light, buttery pastry. What could be better..

You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5

Ingredients:

• 900g/2lb stewing steak, cut into cubes
• plain flour, seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, for dusting
• Beef dripping
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 7.5ml/1/2tbsp tomato purée
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 570ml/1 pint hot beef stock
• 500g of puff pastry (I bought JusRol Puff Pastry 1Kg block and used half – because I love pastry)
• 1 free-range egg, beaten
• Worcestershire sauce

Method:

1. Put a good three or four tablespoons of beef dripping into a large saucepan and place on a low heat
2. When the dripping has melted, add your onions and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, until the onions become slightly translucent
3. Add your cubed stewing steak to the saucepan and cook until the meat has started to colour
4. Add 3 or 4 tablespoons of the seasoned flour and stir in thoroughly, and allow the mixture to heat through for a minute or two
5. Add the beef stock to the saucepan, increase the heat slightly, and stir until the liquid has become a bubbling, thick sauce
6. Reduce the heat so that there is only a slight bubbling of the liquid and allow it to simmer gently for an hour and a half
7. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5
8. Taste the sauce at this point (chef’s prerogative!) and add a few splashes of worcestershire sauce and the tomato puree (the worcestershire sauce will really help those meaty flavours along, as does the tomato) – taste again and add more if necessary
9. Transfer the filling mixture to an ovenproof dish
10. Take some flour and dust your work area and rolling pin – with your block of pastry on the work-area, roll out the pastry so that it is slightly bigger than the area of the casserole dish, and about 1 centimetre thick
11. Drape the pastry over the meat filling
12. Beat an egg in a bowl and brush the surface of the pastry with the beatebn egg – it’ll give the finished crust a really nice golden colour
13. Place your pie in the oven cook for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the pastry has puffed up and is golden-brown

To my mind, you have to serve your steak pie with creamed potatoes to make the most of that gravy – and a glass of claret is a great addition too.

Other information:

You could use olive oil rather than beef dripping – but the dripping is so much tastier. Go on, spoil yourself and use the dripping.

Add 280g of chopped ox or lamb kidney to the stewing steak kidney for a delicious steak and kidney pie.

Tags: recipe, recipes, winter food

Categories: Beef > English Food > Featured Post > Main Course > Recipes

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