Shepherds Pie

January 13, 2016



Nowadays we use mince in our shepherds pies, however back in Victorian times they would always use up their leftover roast meat as a frugal way of living. It must have been some treat back then as it still has a certain endurance about it every time I eat it. The same with a cottage pie also, which if some of you aren’t aware, that is used with beef mince or in this case would have been leftover from your roast the previous day.
 I love doing this and creating different recipes with the leftover meat than just putting it cold into a sandwich for lunch the next day. 
  This way definitely gives more flavour I feel to the dish, a deeper earthier taste. Plus it brings a coarse texture that can be more appealing to others also. Plus it’s less fatty. 
This meat was taken from just a fore leg of Lamb, a bit like a large shank that I managed to buy and I got two huge parts of the leg for only £8! Down from £21! What a bargain!
  So you see my readers, not always is a roast an expensive dinner, it’s looking for that bargain first and it’s also what you manage to get out of it. 


Shepherds pie

(Using leftover Roast Lamb)





Ingredients: (Serves 4 approximately )
Mash: 
  • Roughly 6 floury potatoes such as Maris piper, wilma or marfona peeled and cut into even size chunks.
  • 100 ml double cream 
  • a good size knob of unsalted butter
  • Salt and pepper to season
Meat mixture:
  • 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • approximately 400g leftover Roast Lamb meat coarsely chopped
  • 1 large onion diced
  • 1/2 leek sliced thinly
  • 1 carrot finely diced
  • 1/2 celery stick finely chopped 
  • 1 clove of garlic finely chopped
  • a small sprig of thyme
  • Any gravy/juices/stock saved from the joint, use for a sauce
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • a good splash of red wine such as a cabernet sauvignon/merlot or Cotes du Rhone
  • a few splashes of Worcester sauce
  • a few grinds of cracked black pepper
  • Salt if needed or if too strong tasting, use a pinch of caster sugar to even out.

Method:
 * Boil potatoes in a pan of boiling water until tender. Drain and mash the potatoes adding the ingredients to it. Set aside.
  • preheat oven to 190c 
  • In a hot frying pan pop in your rapeseed oil and fry off your onion for about 2-3 minutes. Then add your celery and carrot and fry off for another minute.
  • Add in your leeks to the mixture, fry of for a further minute and then add in your garlic and thyme.
  • Add your chopped meat, gravy/juices,tomato puree, Worcester sauce, wine, pepper stir and leave to simmer for 20 minutes.
  • Taste as you go along and you can add more wine or water as you wish if it becomes dry.
  • When the mixture is reduced down to a gravy like sauce and the meat is tender again pop into a pie dish, top with your mash and roughen the mash with a fork.
  • Then place into the oven for another 20 minutes or when the topping is golden brown and bubbling at the edges. 

*  Serve on its own or with some green vegetables and a glass of red. 







Jerk style chicken with peach and cucumber salsa

January 6, 2016
What is it with Diets in January? I like creating healthy recipes and eating them, don’t get me wrong but why is it that when as soon as New years Eve is out of the way, people seemed to have consumed so many calories over Christmas, they must be the size of Brazil by now! 
 I don’t actually eat that much over Christmas, maybe the wrong type of foods yes but never anymore than normal really. I can’t afford much more! I say eat in moderation, have a balanced diet. Plus that way you get a wide range of foods and with the added cheeky treat.

  So I thought my readers I’d share a recipe I did back in the summer of last year that isn’t super healthy but has a lot of benefits in it thats better than a Pork pie…Ooh any of that left?
  This Jamaican marinade has so many different versions all over the world, from Grandmas recipe that has been passed down the years in a Caribbean household to such as my recipe here which I have created. Some may argue it isn’t a true Jerk recipe but its one I have been doing for sometime now and it never fails to impress people. 
  With Jerk recipes, some are dry and some are wet. I have gone for the more wet and sticky version so be prepared as you wont be able to eat this elegantly.

    The many times I have done this dish, I’ve served it with wedges, sweet potato, rice and coleslaw, ( not all at once) however it was now time for a real fruity kick of a salsa and you can’t get more refreshing than this with the added cucumber. The coconut oil adds a real sheen and added class to it. You could even use fresh coconut in there, finely grated or sliced.
  A comforting dish still for January but with some added healthy Oomph as well.



Jerk style chicken with a peach and cucumber 
salsa:




Ingredients:
(Serves 3 people)
Chicken:
–    3 Chicken drumsticks, 3 thighs
  • 3 Garlic Cloves finely chopped
  • 1 Medium sized Red Chilli finely diced, more if you like it really spicy
  • Thumbnail size of Fresh Ginger grated
  • 2 tbsp Tomato Ketchup
  •   1 Tbsp Soy sauce 
  •   1 Tbsp Malt Vinegar
  •   2 Tbsp of good quality Jerk seasoning ( depending on how powerful the seasoning is)( I used Spice Kitchen’s) 
  •   Spritz of Lime
  •   Sprinkle of caster sugar
  •   1 tbsp of Rapeseed oil
Salsa:
  • 3 peaches Peeled and diced
  •   3 inch size of cucumber peeled,de-seeded and finely diced
  •   1/2 red pepper 
  •   Half a red chilli finely chopped and de-seeded
  •   Handful of fresh chopped coriander
  •   1 tsp- 1 tbsp of Coconut oil, depending on how much it 
  •     A good squeeze of fresh Lime juice ( no more than half )
  •   A good squeeze of Fresh Orange ( no more than a quarter of a large orange )



Method:
*  Place all marinade ingredients into a bowl and mix together
  • Make some score lines in your chicken and add to your marinade, working it into he chicken. Cover your bowl and leave in the fridge from 6 hours up to 24 hours if you can. (The longer the better)
  • Chop all ingredients for your salsa and set aside in the fridge
  • Pre-heat oven on 190c-200c
*  Check if your chicken looks a little dry, add a bit more of rapeseed oil, not too much as the chicken has skin on.
  • Pop your Chicken into the baking tray/dish of your choice and pop in the oven for 30 minutes or until all cooked through and sticky on top.
*  Serve with your Salsa and your ready.





Chestnut, cranberry and white chocolate biscotti

January 2, 2016





I was actually meant to post this before Christmas. I came up with this recipe for my weekly column as a great edible gift for Christmas. However if you are anything like me and enjoy the full 12 days of Christmas, you will still make these anyway. So why don’t you get some Sunday baking done tomorrow and keep it Festive! After all, today is still only the ninth day of Christmas! 




Below is what I wrote for my column:
It’s less than 2 weeks till Christmas now so I thought I’d share with you another  recipe of mine great for those edible gifts, an emergency sweet treat when guests suddenly turn up or even just great to eat at your leisure alone. 
 The great thing about biscotti is how long it lasts for so its perfect to be baking ahead now if you like. You can even freeze them down and cook when needed.
 Biscotti are so easy to make yet they look like you’ve spend hours on them.
 They look so pretty however you present them just Perfect with a mulled wine or Hot chocolate.


Chestnut, cranberry and white chocolate biscotti:






Ingredients:
(Makes 16-18 biscotti)
  • 175g plain flour plus extra for dusting
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 125g light muscovado sugar 
  • 1 egg beaten 
  • 50g cranberries
  • 50g chestnuts ( cooked vacuum packed ones ) chopped roughly
  • sprinkle of cinnamon ( I use Spice Kitchen )
  • sprinkle of nutmeg
  • 75g white chocolate melted to drizzle


Method:
  • Heat your oven to 180c
  • Place your greaseproof baking paper onto a baking tray. Put your flour,baking powder, sugar and spice into a bowl and mix well.
  • Stir in your egg, mix well. It will start to the form clumps. Bring the dough together with your hands and knead a couple of times to bring mixture together.
  • Then add your chestnuts and cranberries and knead together.
  • Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and make into a sausage shape. Place onto the baking tray and pop into the oven for 25 minutes.
  • At this stage it still will be slightly pale in colour. Take out of the oven, transfer onto a cooling rack until cool enough to handle. 
  • Using a bread knife cut into slices of about 1cm thick and lay individually back onto the baking tray. ( At this stage they can be cooled and popped into the freezer in bags) 
  • Turn down oven to 140c and then bake for 15 minutes, turn the biscotti and bake for a further 15 minutes until golden and dry.

* Pop onto a wire cooling rack to cool. Then drizzle with melted white chocolate. ( don’t be perfect with it ). Allow the chocolate to cool and then you are ready to eat.








Festive scallops

December 20, 2015
At Christmas time, scallops always make their way into my Kitchen. I don’t get chance to eat them very often because of their cost so they become an indulgent treat at Christmas. 
  I have done many starter recipes with scallops so I thought I would share one of my festive ones with you. 

 Scallops are a great starter for Christmas Day or anytime really over the festive period as they are so quick to cook plus they only need a few ingredients alongside as you don’t want to overpower their sweet subtle taste. Personally I find if you buy large scallops, 3 can be ample for each person but thats your choice. 

  This recipe you will be able to knock up in 15 minutes to impress your guests.  A festive, seafood, showstopper that really is simple to do.

My Festive Scallops:




Ingredients:
serves 4
  • 1 tbsp Rapeseed oil
  • a couple of knobs of unsalted butter
  • 12 Large scallops
  • 3 rashers of Smoked bacon trim most of the rind off but leave a little fat to give flavour
  • 150g frozen petit pois defrosted
  • 3 clementines segmented keep the rest for juice later.
  • small handful fresh mint chopped
  • a good splash of Prosecco or fruity sauvignon blanc
Method:
  • Chop your bacon into very small squares. Fry in a hot frying pan for a couple of minutes, just until starting to colour. Pop aside on a plate leaving the fat in the pan.
  • Pop some boiling water into a saucepan and empty in your peas. Boil for no more than 2 minutes as you want to keep their colour. Drain, add a knob of butter and your chopped mint, shake and cover with a lid. Set aside.
  • To cook the scallops, add a knob of butter and a splash of rapeseed oil to the frying pan and heat until hot but allowing not to burn. Place your scallops in the pan and cook for roughly 2 minutes, do not turn until caramelised on each side. Then do the other side.
  • Set your scallops aside onto a warm plate and then add your bacon back into the frying pan, deglaze with your wine and reduce down for about a minute. Add in your clementine segments and a little spritz of the juice. Once reduced to a syrup texture you are ready to plate up. 

*  Place pea mixture onto the plate, top with your scallops and pour over your bacon and clementine syrup.





Smoked mackerel and pea fishcakes with a green bean salsa

December 17, 2015

I actually did this recipe back in June this year for my column but I thought it would be perfect to share now as a nice meal change in-between all that Christmas shopping.

These fishcakes are a great alternative for a fish Friday supper. The green bean salsa gives it more of a lighter feel but will still fill you up. 

  So I wanted to show you how easy making fishcakes can be, as having no egg and breadcrumbs to this recipe, it takes less time.  Also this version is  healthier than the usual mashed potato used with butter and cream. 
 I have added the peas into the fishcakes as it’s a great way of getting vegetables  into your children’s diet.
  You can use other strong fish in this recipe but I prefer the mackerel and its great for budget shopping. 

   This dish will be a perfect, lighter alternative for you before all that meat is consumed over Christmas. 
    Oh and a little tip from me also…they are great eaten cold the day after. 


Smoked mackerel and pea fishcakes with a green bean salsa:



Ingredients:
Fishcakes
  • 2 tbsp of Rapeseed oil for frying
  • handful of plain flour to dust the fishcakes
  • 4 skinned Fresh Smoked mackerel fillets
  • 2 Spring onions chopped
  • 500g bag of Jersey Royal potatoes or any other New potatoes halved
  • A good Handful of petit pops defrosted and drained
  • fresh flat leaf parsley chopped 
  • A good squeeze of lemon
  • Salt and cracked black pepper to season 
Green bean salsa
  • Fine green beans blanched for 3 minutes and halved
  • 2 large tomatoes chopped roughly
  • 1 medium red onion diced finely
  • small handful of baby capers chopped
  • half a 180g tin of sweetcorn drained
  • Fresh flat leaf parsley chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste as above


Method:
  • Boil your potatoes until just starting to break/soften
  • Blanch your green beans for about 3 minutes as they still need a “bite” to them then place into ice cold water
  • When your potatoes are done crush them using a potato masher, leaving them still with chunks and add a little seasoning to them. 
  • Take a bowl, pop in your crushed potatoes, flake in your smoked mackerel but also leave chunky.
  • Add spring onions, peas, lemon and seasoning and mix together with your hands.
  • Start to form in your hand a ball like shape and flatten to form a fishcake. dust in flour and place on a plate.
  • Continue with the rest of the mixture.
*  If you aren’t using them all, you can freeze at this stage.
  • Once all formed, in a frying pan heat a little oil and start to fry. Turning every couple of minutes. Once golden brown after approximately 5-6 minutes, they will be done.
  • Place all fishcakes onto Kitchen paper to drain the oil.
*  Put all your salsa ingredients together in a bowl and serve.