Cheese, onion and potato pie

Basically a pimped up cheese and onion pasty.

Ingredients: serves 3-4 with accompaniments
1 large onion, diced
3 medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped into small chunks
A couple of large handfuls of grated cheese (whatever you have available, we used cheddar and a little parmesan)
1 large tbl sp of soft cheese
Leaves from 3 thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
½ glass of white wine
1 pack of puff pastry
1 egg
Olive oil
Knob of butter
Salt and pepper

• Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees.
• Take the puff pastry out of the fridge so that it comes to room temperature.
• Melt the butter in a large non-stick frying pan and add a little olive oil.
• Add the diced onion and allow to cook for 5 minutes until soft.
• Add the diced potato and continue to cook for 10 minutes, stirring often so the potatoes don’t stick.
• Add the wine, thyme and bay leaf and allow to simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated.
• Check that the potato chunks are tender, if not, continue to cook for another few minutes.
• Remove the bay leaf and pour the potato/onion mixture into a large bowl. Add the grated cheese and soft cheese, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir everything well.
• Line an oven tray with greased baking parchment.
• Cut the puff pastry in half (or use circles if you prefer a circular pie) and place one half on the baking parchment.
• Tip the cheesy potato and onion mixture on top of the pastry and use a spoon to spread it out evenly. Leave a 1cm gap around the edge.
• Lay the other half of the pastry on top, and pinch the edges to seal the two layers. Score a couple of lines across the top of the pie to allow steam to escape and egg wash the top and edges if you like.
• Cook in the pre heated oven for approximately 30 minutes until golden brown.
• We had ours with a pile of pea shoots but it would be good with any salad or green veg to counter balance the carb overload.

Lancashire hotpot

I hadn't had a hot pot since primary school and I was a little worried that ours would be as horrible as I remember the school version being. Luckily ours tasted very nice.

We used diced mutton from Alternative Meats.

Ingredients (serves 2-3)

500g diced mutton

1 large white onion, finely sliced into half moons

2-3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into slices

2 carrots, finely chopped (optional)

2 celery sticks, finely chopped (optional)

handful of mushrooms, sliced (optional)

300g lamb stock

1 bay leaf

butter and olive oil

salt and pepper

• Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees.
• Brown the mutton in a little olive oil in batches, then set aside.
• Fry the sliced onions in the same pan as you browned the mutton. Once the onions have started to soften, add the carrot, celery and mushrooms and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
• Add the mutton back into the pan with the veg and add the bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper.
• Place a layer of potato slices on the bottom of a deep casserole dish, spoon the mutton and veg on top of the potatoes.
• Add a final layer of sliced potatoes on the top.
• Pour over the stock so that it comes at least half way up the sides of the casserole dish.
• Dot the top layer of potatoes with a little butter and season the top layer with salt and pepper.
• Cover the dish with a lid or a layer of tin foil and place in the oven for 2-2.5 hours.
• Then remove the lid/foil and continue to cook for another 20 minutes to brown the potatoes.
• You could serve this with extra veg or go for carb overload and serve it with big chunks of crusty bread to mop up all the juices.

Lamb Tava

This recipe is a Cypriot dish taken from the book Falling Cloudberries by Tessa Kiros. We've adapted it ever so slightly.

It's great in the fact that everything gets cooked all together at the same time in one dish, so there's very little washing up.

Ingredients: (serves 2)

4 lamb chops

1 red onion, roughly chopped

1 red pepper, roughly chopped

2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped

2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

4 large tomatoes, cut into large chunks

A handful of chopped flat leaf parsley

2 tea sp cumin seeds

1/2 tea sp ground nutmeg

olive oil

salt and pepper

• Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
• Place the lamb chops in a deep casserole or baking dish.
• Add the potatoes, pepper, onion, garlic and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper before adding the herbs and spices. Add a large glug of olive oil (good quality olive oil is best for this) and mix everything up really well.
• Pour about 100ml of water over the top and mix again.
• Cover the dish with foil and bake in the oven for about 1 hour. At this point remove the foil and place back in the oven for another 1.5 hours or so. Give it a good mix every half an hour or so.
• Sometimes we serve this on its own but on this occasion we added a handful of mixed greens to the dish for the last 15-20 minutes or so of cooking. Tessa suggests serving it with salad or sauteed vegetables.

Potato and celeriac rosti

Rostis can be fiddly to make and have a habit of falling apart but I think we've mastered the art of the perfect rosti now. We had ours with pork and apple sausages, mixed greens and an apple and cider gravy. I think next time we'll have it with a thick slice of ham and a fried egg.

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 large potato, peeled and grated

1/2 celeriac, grated or finely chopped

4 spring onions, chopped

1 egg yolk

a handful of grated parmesan

salt and black pepper

olive oil

• Put the grated potato in a sieve over a bowl and add salt. After a couple of minutes, squeeze the excess liquid out by pressing down with a spatula or wrapping the potato in a clean tea towel and wringing it over the sink.
• Combine the potato and chopped celeriac in a bowl. Microwave for a couple of minutes before draining off any more excess water from the bowl.
• Now add the remaining ingredients to the potato and celeriac mixture... egg yolk, parmesan, spring onion and black pepper and give it a good stir.
• Heat olive oil in a non stick frying pan, spoon the rosti mixture into the pan and press down firmly with a spatula so it is compacted.
• Cook on quite a high heat for 2-3 minutes without touching it so that the bottom seals. After 3 minutes turn the heat down slightly and continue to cook for approx 5 minutes or so.
• To cook the other side you can either put the pan under a moderate grill for 5 minutes or invert the rosti using a plate and then slide back into the frying pan the other way up.

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

Hangover breakfast

Quite disgusting to look at but a perfect all in one breakfast if you're feling a little delicate.

Ingredients (serves 2):

3 eggs

1 small white onion, sliced

1 medium sized cooked potato, cut into slices (prick it with a fork and blast in the microwave for 5 minutes or so first if you don't have any cooked potato leftovers)

4 rashers of streaky bacon

a handful of grated cheddar (or sliced if you can't be bothered to grate)

black pepper

butter or olive oil

tomato ketchup (optional)

pot of tea (necessary)

• Butter or oil a non stick pan before placing it on the heat. Once hot, place the onion and potato slices in one layer to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook for approximately 3 minutes and then turn over for another 3 minutes
• Meanwhile, beat the eggs and season with black pepper
• Pour the eggs on top of the potato and onion mixture and swirl the pan slightly to ensure the egg mixture covers the bottom of the pan
• Pre heat the grill to a medium heat
• After a couple of minutes sprinkle the grated cheese on top and then place the bacon rashers on top of the cheese (you can pre grill the bacon rashers for a couple of minutes first if you like them crispy)
• Place the pan under the grill until the bacon is cooked and the egg mixture is set
• Slide it on to a plate and add a good dollop of ketchup on the side

In our house a pot of tea would be necessary to gulp alongside it.

Tapas

Tapas - herby lamb meatballs, patatas bravas, courgette and feta fritters and tomato salad

Ingredients and method (serves 2, add bread and a green salad and it would probably serve 4):

Tomato sauce:

glass of red wine

3 fresh tomatoes, chopped

tub of chopped tomatoes

dessert spoon of tomato puree

1/2 red onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, diced

4 mushrooms, sliced

olive oil

• Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees
• Fry the onion, garlic and mushrooms in olive oil until soft
• Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes
• Add the red wine and turn up the heat to allow the alcohol to cook off for 5 minutes or so
• Turn the heat back down, add the chopped tomtaoes and puree and let the sauce simmer for 45 minutes

Lamb meatballs:

approx 200g lamb mince

approx 200g lamb mince

1/2 red onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, diced

a handful of fresh herbs (basil, pasrley, thyme, rosemary) roughly chopped

salt and pepper

• Combine the lamb mince, onion, garlic and herbs and season
• Form into meatball shapes and refridgerate until needed
• Brown meatballs in a frying pan before placing them on top of the prepared tomato sauce. Be careful not to stir them in to the sauce too vigorously as they can break up
• Cook meatballs and sauce in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes

Patatas bravas:

2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

2 fresh tomatoes, chopped

1/2 red pepper, diced

pinch of red chilli flakes

1 small clove of garlic, diced

olive oil

• Par boil the potatoes before putting them in an oven proof dish with a splash of olive oil and placing them in the oven
• After 15 minutes or so fry the garlic and red pepper in olive oil until soft
• Add the tomatoes and chilli flakes to the garlic and red pepper and continue to cook for 5 minutes
• Add the garlic/pepper/tomato mixture to the potatoes and stir through
• Return potatoes to the oven for approx 20 minutes

Courgette and Feta fritters:

1 egg

1 table spoon of plain flour

1 courgette, grated

approx 25g of feta, cut into small chunks

3 spring onions, chopped

salt and pepper

olive oil

• Salt the grated courgette and place in a sieve over another bowl. Leave for 15 minutes and then press the courgette mixture to remove the exess water
• Mix together the egg, flour, feta, spring onions and grated courgette and refridgerate for an hour or so until needed
• Heat some oil in a non-stick pan
• Placed 4 heaped spoonfuls of the batter mixture in the pan and press each one down lightly. Turn each one over after 3-4 minutes to cook the other side

Tomato salad:

2 tomatoes, cut into chunks

1/4 cucumber, diced

handful of olives

approx 25g of feta, cut into chunks

olive oil

pepper

• Mix together the tomatoes, olives, cucumber and feta
• Dress with olive oil an black pepper
• Refridgerate or cover until needed

Roast skate wings with shallot and tartare butter

We're trying to cook with one new ingredient a week. This week it's skate wings.

We searched for various recipes and opted for a slight variation of a Gary Rhodes recipe where skate is served with a sizzling tartare butter. This is our version...

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 skate wings, skinned

salt and pepper

plain flour

4 shallots, finely chopped

dessert spoon of diced capers

dessert spoon of diced gherkin/cornichons

1 clove of garlic, crushed

juice of 1/2 a lemon

chopped parsley

leaves from a couple of thyme sprigs

butter

olive oil

mashed potato and steamed spinach to serve

1. Pre heat the oven to 200 degrees.


2. Heat the oil in a hob and oven proof pan. Dust the skate wings with salt, pepper and flour and place them in the hot pan.


3. Cook the skate wings on each side for approx 3 minutes before transferring the pan to the oven. Roast for approximately 10 minutes, depending on the size of the skate wings. If they are particularly large wings, they may take a little longer.


4. In the meantime, heat some oil in a frying pan. Add the chopped shallots and garlic and cook until golden. Next add a knob of butter and once it starts to foam, add the capers, gherkin, herbs and lemon juice.


5. Once cooked transfer the skate wings to a plate and top with the sizzling butter.


6. Serve with olive oil mashed potato and steamed spinach.

Oxtail with horseradish and mustard mash

This was the first time we'd cooked and eaten oxtail. We weren't quite prepared for how messy it was to eat. Don't cook and eat this on a first date!

Ingredients (serves 2):

1 oxtail cut into pieces

1 carrot

2 celery stalks

1 white onion

1 bay leaf

2 rashers of bacon

bunch of fresh herbs (rosemary or thyme would be good)

3/4 bottle red wine

200ml beef stock

olive oil

potatoes for mashing

teaspoon wholegrain mustard
teaspoon horseradish sauce

1. Heat the oven to about 180 degrees. Season the oxtail.
   
2. Heat the oil in a hob and oven proof pan. Add the chopped bacon and oxtail pieces to brown.


3. Once the oxtail has been browned on both sides, add the chopped carrot, celery and onion and continue to cook for another 5 minutes.
   
4. Add the bay leaf, herbs, and wine and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Then add the stock.


5. Cover the pan with a lid if it has one, if not, cover with a piece of foil. Transfer the pan to the oven and cook for about an hour. Take the lid/foil off after an hour and turn the oxtail pieces over. Cook for another 2 hours, checking it from time to time. If it looks like too much of the liquid has evaporated, add a splash of hot water.


6. Meanwhile, make the mashed potato however you like it. We didn't bother with butter or olive oil in ours. Just salt, pepper, mustard and horseradish.
   
7. Serve the oxtail and roasting juices with the mash and some green veg.


8. Napkins recommended!