Slow cooked Cajun beef

This is so full of flavour and really benefits from a long marinade and a long slow cooking. Use any kind of beef which is good cooked slowly... chuck, shin, skirt etc.

This makes enough for up to 4 people.

- marinade 500g of your chosen cut of beef cut into chunks in a dry marinade made up of 1 tbl sp smoked paprika, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 or 2 chopped chillies, 1 tea sp cayenne, 1/2 tea sp ground black pepper, 1/2 tea sp salt, leaves from a few sprigs of thyme and leaveto marinade for a few hours. If you have any 'cajun spice' mix then add 1/2 tea sp of that too but dont worry if not.


- when ready to cook, brown meat in a casserole in some olive oil and set aside

- brown a chopped onion in the same pan

- add the meat back into the pan and add 500ml beef stock and a couple of bay leaves

- cook on a low heat on the hob or in the oven for a couple of hours, add a chopped green or red pepper 20 mins before the end. Sometimes we add mushrooms too. Keep an eye on it and add some extra stock if the liquid evaporates too quickly.

I'm not sure if its particularly authentic but a mixture or parsley and coriander on top is nice before you serve it.
We serve it with rice and an extra side of tinned sweetcorn roughly blitzed in a processor with a chilli, some basil, seasoning and a splash of double cream, then heated through on the hob.

Thai beef salad

This is based loosely on the Jamie Oliver Thai beef salad from his 15 minute meals series. By 'based loosely' I mean based on whatever notes I scribbled down whilst watching the programme, as well as being dependant upon what food we had in the fridge. I have purposely left quantities approximate as we tend not to use specific measurments in recipes like this.

 - marinade steak (we used two rib-eye steaks)  in a good pinch of salt, pepper, crushed szechuan peppercorns, chinese 5 spice/mixed spice and a slug of oil for at least 30 mins


- dry fry a mixture of nuts and seeds (we used sesame seeds, pine nuts, mixed nuts) and set aside

- make the dressing... lime juice and zest, fresh and/or pickled ginger, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, sesame oil, fresh chopped chilli, thai fish sauce - and set aside

- fry a sliced red pepper and a handful of sliced shallots until soft, add a splodge of oyster sauce if you have any

- cook/soak a portion of noodles and mix in with the fried peppers and shallots
- griddle the marinaded steaks on each side until medium rare, leave to rest for a few minutes and then slice thickly

- chop up a romaine lettuce, spring onions, coriander, parsley and scatter on a large platter. Add halved cherry tomatoes, rocket and sliced radishes if there are some to use up.

- pile the hot peppers, shallots, noodles and sliced steak on top of the leaves and finish off with the toasted nuts and seeds

- serve the bowl of dressing and a few extra lime wedges on the side

Beef, chestnut and mushroom pie

This is perfect Sunday food for when it's cold outside. Leave the filling to cook for a few hours while you sit back with a glass of wine and a good film!

- Season about 500g of beef chuck steak with salt, pepper and plain flour. Brown in batches in olive oil in a deep casserole

- Remove the beef once browned and set aside. Fry a diced onion with a diced celery stick and 2 cloves of minced garlic

- Add the beef back into the pan once the onions have softened a little

- Pour in 250ml of beef stock and 250ml of ale followed by a couple of bay leaves and some fresh thyme. Leave to simmer for around 1.5-2 hours, stirring occasionally

- After 1.5-2 hours add a couple of handfuls of button mushrooms and a large handful of cooked chestnuts and continue to cook for another 20 minutes or so. Check the seasoning and re-adjust if necessary

- Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees.

- Pour the filling into a pie dish and leave to cool slightly for 15 minutes or so. Then top with your pastry of choice and brush with a beaten egg. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the pastry is golden

- We served ours with a selection of vegetables

Fillet steak Diane

This is one of our favourite sauces for steak. It makes plenty of sauce for 2 people...

75ml Champagne cognac or other brandy

200ml chicken or beef stock

1 tbl sp Dijon mustard

100ml double cream

chestnut and portobello mushrooms, sliced

• Cook your mushrooms and steaks in a pan until the steaks are cooked how you like them. Remove the steaks from the pan, loosely cover with foil and allow them to rest.
• Add the brandy to the pan and allow to flame. Add the stock and mustard and let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes or so until reduced by almost half.
• Add the cream and season to taste.
• To serve, pour the sauce over the fillet steaks. Garlicky dauphinoise potatoes and green veg are good on the side.

A very nice steak

Mmmmmm steak! We like rib-eye and t-bone steaks the best. These were monsters... cooked to medium rare on a griddle pan and served with garlic mushrooms, slow roasted tomatoes, onion rings and home made chips.

Chunky chilli

We adapt our chilli recipe all of the time. Sometimes we add red wine, sometimes beer, sometimes chocolate, sometimes minced beef, sometimes chunky steak… you get the picture.

This is one version we made recently which was particularly tasty with a perfect level of heat. The chillies we used on this occasion were very hot so we only needed two small ones. You can always add extra cayenne/paprika/dried chilli if necessary once you’ve tasted the sauce.

As with many slow cook dishes, this is best made the day before you want to eat it and reheated to serve.

We prefer to eat chilli with plain rice but we sometimes have it with salad, nachos, grated cheddar and guacamole. Leftovers are best on a jacket potato for lunch or on a chilli dog (the latter is especially good on returning home from the pub).

Ingredients (serves 6):

Approx 800g diced chuck steak/stewing beef
1 white onion, diced
1 red onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pack of mushrooms, sliced
1 carrot, finely diced (optional)
2 hot birds eye chillies, finely diced
2 pointed peppers, diced
3 large tomatoes, chopped
1 can of mixed chilli beans
A good glug of beer (we used half a bottle of bud)
2 squares of dark chocolate (preferably chilli chocolate)
2 tins of chopped tomatoes

A handful of chopped coriander
A pinch of cayenne
A pinch of paprika
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

· In a large, deep non-stick pan fry the onions in a little olive oil until they start to soften
· Add the garlic, chilli, peppers, carrot and mushrooms and fry for 10 minutes or so
· In a separate pan, fry the chunks of beef (cut them into smaller chunks if they’re particularly big)
· Once the beef is browned, add it to the diced veg
· Add the diced tomatoes, chopped tomatoes, cayenne, paprika, beer, chocolate, half of the coriander and stir well. Season with salt and pepper
· Put the lid on the pan if it has one and allow to simmer on a low heat for an hour. Stir it occasionally
· After an hour add the can of mixed chilli beans and leave to simmer for another hour. Add the remaining coriander and serve.

Chinese beef noodle soup

This was very easy and quick to make...

Ingredients (serves 2):

800ml beef stock

1 fillet steak, finely sliced

splash of sesame oil

splash of chinese cooking wine

splash of soy sauce

1 pinch of chinese 5 spice

1 chilli, de-seeded and diced

1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced

1 thumb nail sized piece of ginger, minced

1 star anise

3 spring onions, sliced

6 mushrooms, sliced

pack of ready cooked noodles

1 chinese leaf, finely diced

• Fry the mushrooms, garlic, spring onions, chilli and ginger in a little sesame oil
• Add the stock, star anise, chinese 5 spice, cooking wine and soy sauce. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes or so
• Add the sliced beef and noodles and cook for a couple of minutes until the steak has poached
• Add the chinese leaf and allow to simmer for another minute or two
• Remove the star anise and serve in warm bowls

Beef in black bean sauce

Not a great photo i'm afraid - it smelled so good that we couldn't wait to start eating. I'm not that keen on coriander usually but it was quite nice in this. It's also very easy... 5 minutes of chopping and then 5 minutes of cooking and it's ready.

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 large steak (we used sirloin), cut into strips

1 chilli, diced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1cm ginger, minced

1 green pepper, sliced

5 spring onions, sliced

1 handful of chinese cabbage, shredded (optional)

3 tbl sp black bean sauce

2 tbl sp chinese cooking wine

2 tbl sp soy sauce

1 tbl sp sesame oil or veg oil

1/2 tea sp sugar

juice of 1/2 a lime

coriander, finely chopped

noodles (we used garlic & coriander ready cooked noodles)

• Prepare all of the veg in advance and then fry the pepper, spring onions, garlic, chilli and ginger in the oil for a couple of minutes.
• Add the strips of beef and fry for a minute or two.
• Add the shredded cabbage, lime juice, sugar, soy, chinese cooking wine and black bean sauce. Stir well and allow to simmer for a couple of minutes.
• Meanwhile cook your noodles (or buy the straight to wok version for ease), and then add them to the pan.
• Stir everything well again before adding the coriander and then serving in warm bowls.

Meat & potato pie

Ingredients (serves 4):

shortcrust pastry

2 onions, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

2 large potatoes, grated

1 large carrot, grated

2 celery sticks, diced

250g minced beef

bay leaf

small handful of thyme leaves

1 beef oxo cube

2 tbl sp tomato ketchup

2 tbl sp Worcestershire sauce

olive oil

salt and pepper

100ml hot water

• Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees
• Fry the onion, garlic, carrot, potato and celery in olive oil until soft
• Add the beef and brown
• Add the Worcestershire sauce, ketchup, thyme and bay leaf, follwed by the oxo cube dissolved in the water
• Turn the heat down to a low heat, season and leave to simmer for 30 minutes, then allow to cool slightly
• Line a pie dish with shortcrust pasrty and add the cooled mince mixture. Add a lid of shortcrust pastry and brush with egg or milk and some extra thyme leaves.
• Cook the pie for approximately 30-40 minutes until golden brown on top.
• Serve with whatever you like... mash or chips, extra veg and gravy