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
- 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.
- 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.
- When this is done add the wine or beef stock then add veggies, tomatoes and orange peel.
- 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
- Boil potatoes for 20-25 minutes
- Drain and mash
- Meanwhile heat butter and milk together
- Add slowly to potatoes continuously mashing
Enjoy!
Categories: Beef > English Food > Featured Post > Main Course > Recipes
No Comments - Click to Add Yours
Boulangere potatoes
Posted: 15 January '10 by Niall
Boulangere potatoes
After our superb lunch in Cafe Vaudeville I thought that I would have a go at making the Boulangere potatoes that were such an important part of that main course. This French recipe makes a really tasty side dish.
The type of potato that you use is important. I prefer a waxy variety of this type of side dish as they will hold their shape a little better rather than dissolving into the stock. Charlotte or Maris Peer varieties would be my choice.
Lighter and healthier than the cream-drenched Dauphinoise potatoes (and yes, I love them!), Boulangere potatoes are very similar in that the dish is composed of thinly sliced layers of potato that are cooked in the oven. The difference between the two is the addition of chicken stock. I tried the Knorr Stock-pots in this recipe and I quite like them, I have to admit – they produce a rich, flavoursome stock without the saltiness of stock cubes.
In terms of slicing the potatoes, while a mandolin would be ideal, I like using the “D-shaped” potato peeler – it makes the chore of slicing the potatoes so much easier, and the slices are wafer thin. Obviously, if you have neither, there’s nothing wrong with a good sharp kitchen knife either.
My recipe uses a large casserole dish but you could be very chef-y and use a “tower” to create a cylinder of stacked potatoes, liberally brushing the top with rosemary flavoured olive oil to caramelise the top layer of potato for even more flavour.
Serves 4
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5
Ingredients
- 4-5 largish potatoes – thinly sliced
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 small red onion – finely chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- Fresh rosemary, chooped (optional)
- 1 to 11/2 pints of chicken stock (I used the Knorr stockpots for the stock)
- 25g butter, cubed (and some more or greasing the casserole dish)
Method
- Peel the potatoes, slice them thinly, and then wash and drain the potato slices in water to remove the excess starch .
- Mince the onion and the garlic.
- Pre-heat the oven to 180/360/gas mark 5.
- Rip a small section from the wrapper of your butter and rub then inner-side around your casserole dish to grease the dish.
- Now layer the potatoes in the bottom of this dish, and sprinkle some of the onion, garlic and bay leaves on top.
- Season the top of this layer with a little salt and pepper (and the rosemary, if you’re using it).
- Continue to layer the potatoes, garlic, bay and onion, finishing with a layer of potato at the top. It’s important that you press each layer down to make the layers of potato as compact as possible.
- Dot the top of this top layer with the cubes of butter.
- Now pour on the stock so it comes up level to the top layer of potato.
- Place the casserole dish in the oven on the highest shelf and leave it there for about an hour. When it’s ready the crust should be a golden brown and the bottom layer tender when prodded with a knife.
Enjoy!
Categories: Featured Post > Recipes > Side Dishes > Vegetables
2 Comments
Parmesan Chicken Goujons & Honey mustard dip
Posted: 13 January '10 by Ciara
Parmesan Chicken Goujons
Firstly, i would like to apologise for being a bit lazy about adding new recipes. I have been extremely busy since the end of November between shopping in New York and the lead up to Christmas. But i’m sure i’ll be forgiven when i share some of the new recipes that i have picked up recently.
I also have to write a few reviews on restaurants that i visited while in New York and also in Dublin during the lead up to Christmas.
The chicken goujons are a definite favourite in our house. These are one of my daughter Sophies favourite foods. They are really handy and can be made in advance. I made them recently with chips and mushy peas but they also go well with mashed potatoes and broccoli and parma ham.
Ingredients
Parmesan Chicken goujons
- 600g chicken breasts
- 50g flour
- salt and pepper
- 2 eggs beaten
- 100g breadcrumbs
- 50g parmesan cheese
- 3 tbsp oil (i used goose fat recently and it was yummy)
Honey mustard dip
- 250ml creme fraiche
- 1 tbsp grainy mustard
- 1/2 tsp honey
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
Method
Method – Parmesan Chicken goujons
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees
- Cut the chicken fillets into finger sizes
- Place the flour and salt and pepper into a bag
- Place the eggs into a bowl and beat with a fork
- Place the breadcrumbs and parmesan into another bag
- Toss the goujons into the seasoned flour, then remove and shake off excess flour
- Dip into beaten egg
- Toss into breadcrumb and parmesan mix and lay themk unto a plate
- Cook in the oven for 20 minutes turning once and serve with honey mustard dip
Method – Honey mustard dip
- Mix all of the ingredients altogether and serve. Note, depending on your taste you may want to add more honey or more mustard.
Enjoy!
Categories: Chicken > Featured Post > Recipes > Starter Course
4 Comments
Beef casserole with suet dumplings
Posted: 12 January '10 by Niall
Beef casserole with suet dumplings
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
- Heat the oil over a low heat in a very large sauce pan.
- Cook of the onions and carrots until the onions are soft and translucent.
- Increase the heat to medium and add the beef, stirring the cubes to seal until the meat has browned.
- 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.
- Add the stock, seasoning, herbs, and soy sauce, bringing the contents to the boil.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Spoon the casserole onto the plates, making sure that everyone gets a dumpling or two.
Enjoy.
Categories: Beef > English Food > Featured Post > Main Course > Recipes
2 Comments
Anyone for eggnog?
Posted: 27 December '09 by Niall
A glass of eggnog
Eggnog is an essential part of the Christmas and New Years’ celebrations in the United States and Canada but doesn’t really feature in our preparations for Christmas. After working right up to Christmas Eve and in need of some seasons’ cheer I thought that is was time to change all that.
Be warned though – eggnog (or at least this recipe for it) is deceptively potent! It’s creamy and sweet like Baileys Irish Cream, with almost no hint of alcohol, making the eggnog very easy to drink – and before you know it you’ll be very merry indeed.
The recipe does require raw eggs, which can be off-putting to a few people – but if it doesn’t bother you or you can overcome your squeamishness you’ll find out just how good eggnog is. Let me assure you that there is absolutely no hint of egg, nor any strange or unpleasant consistency. Because of the raw egg, however, it should be served within 24 hours of making it.
You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 1 cup of caster sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 2 cups of milk
- 2 cups of whipping cream
- 3/4 cup of brandy
- 1/3 cup of dark rum
- A little more grated nutmeg for serving
Method
- Make sure the ingredients are chilled before you begin.
- Beat the eggs until they are frothy, then add the sugar, the vanilla, and the nutmeg.
- Slowly stir in the brandy, the rum, the cream and the milk.
- Pour the mixture into a suitable container and place in the fridge until chilled.
- Remember to stir the eggnog just before you serve, and grate a little nutmeg on top to complete the recipe.
Enjoy
Categories: Drinks and Beverages > Featured Post > Recipes
