Bolognese/Ragu Sauce made with Leftovers

Leftover Pork & Stilton, Venison & Damson, and Cumberland sausages from the last BBQ of the year found their way into this ragu, which in turn was made into a midweek lasagne.  The meat part  of this sauce could equally be made with leftover roast beef or roast pork.

A food processor makes light work of all the vegetable & meat chopping.

1 onion
1 large carrot
1 stick of celery
1 clove of garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
2 large handfuls of leftover meat
1 tin chopped tomatoes

Peel the onion and carrot.  Roughly chop onion and garlic and process into a fine rubble in the food processor.  Fry gently in a wide saucepan to soften whilst you roughly chop and process the celery and carrot to a fine rubble too.  Add these to the pan once chopped.  Cover and sweat over a gently heat for 5 minutes or so whilst you roughly chop the meat and process this to a rubble.

Once the onions start to look translucent, push the vegetables to once side, turn up the heat a little and add the meat.  Leave it to sizzle for a few minutes before adding the tomatoes (liquidised if you like, as my kids prefer) together with a can of recently boiled water.

Bring to the boil and simmer with the lid of for 20-30 minutes and the sauce has reduced and thickened to your taste.  If using leftover roast you may wish to add pepper and salt to taste.  Using processed meat, I found there was no need to add any further seasoning.

Slow Cooker Beef in Red Wine

It’s tipping it down outside, but I’m happy as I’ve just found the remains of Sunday’s beef stew and eaten it.

I did find another portion a few weeks ago at the bottom of the freezer and wondered if I could recreate it. But Dad took Sunday dinner into his own hands, as he does, and has managed to make a similarly tasty stew without knowing it.

With a slow cooker I think the trick is to leave most vegetables out. We just steamed some to have on the side later.

1kg stewing beef, shin (off the bone is cheaper), or ox cheek cut into bite sized pieces
2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
1 large clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp plain flour
2 bay leaves
1 stick of cinnamon or a star anise (this gives a lovely warming tingle)
500ml red wine
Beef stock cube
Boiling water to top up
Cornflour to thicken

Toss the beef in the flour and brown in a frying pan. Place into the heating slow cooker then fry the onions and garlic, adding more oil if needed and fry until beginning to brown then add to the slow cooker. Heat the wine in the frying pan with the crumbled beef stock cube and scrape all the yummy bits off the bottom of the pan. Pour over the beef once it has come to the boil. Add the bay leaves and cinnamon or star anise if using and top up with boiling water so there is about 2cm covering the top of the beef.

Leave to cook on high for at least 6 hours. And something I’ve only recently learnt, try not to peek! It lowers the temperature and makes the cooking time even longer, and shin and ox cheek all the tenderising help they can get!

After 6 hours, when tender enough pour off the liquid into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Mix 2 heaped teaspoons of cornflour with a little water until it is the consistency of single cream and add to the simmering sauce to thicken. Return to the sauce to the meat in the slow cooker and season to taste.

Dad served ours with roast potatoes and parsnips as it was Sunday, but it works just as well with boiled or mashed potatoes or even pasta.

Simple Slow Cooker Venison Casserole…with Chocolate

I picked up a pack of casserole venison in our local butcher during the week as the ideal thing to put in the slow cooker on Saturday, to cook whilst we spent the afternoon in the rugby club celebrating the opening of the new pitches.

Not the cheapest meat, I opted only to buy a 500g pack between five of us and bulk it out with something.  I settled on this recipe with button mushrooms, as I am not a fan (as I might have mentioned) of overly stewed carrot and celery.   Only one child baulked at them.

Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
500g casserole venison
1 medium onion, finely sliced
1 large clove of garlic, finely sliced
50g smoked bacon offcuts or 2 rashers smoked bacon, diced
200g button mushrooms
200ml red wine
1 beef stock cube, crumbled
1 tbsp redcurrant jelly
Boiling water

At the end of the cooking time:-
4 heaped tsp cornflour
4 cubes dark chocolate
Salt and pepper, to taste

Fry the cubed venison in the olive oil in batches to brown it.  When brown, place in the warming slow cooker.  Fry the onion, garlic, bacon and mushrooms in the pan after the venison.  When it begins to brown or catch add the wine, stock cube and redcurrant jelly.  Bring to the boil and pour into the slow cooker.  Top up with about 200ml boiling water so the meat is just peeking out.  Stir, cover, and leave on Auto for about 6-8 hours.

When ready to eat, pour back into the pan you used to fry everything in if still available.  Mix a little water into the cornflour until it is the consistency of double cream and stir into to the simmering stew to thicken.  Melt the chocolate into the sauce (mainly done to win the kids over admittedly), check the seasoning and serve with mashed potato, or pasta if you think you’ll still need additional help winning the kids over!

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry

Slow Cooker Pheasant in Cider

Adapted from Delia Smith’s Pot Roast of Pheasant with Shallots & Caramelised Onions.

Pheasants are currently selling at £9.99 for four in our local butchers.  Which means last nights meal was roughly £1 each for the five of us, plus veg.   Apparently, according to Delia, the pheasant season comes to an end in mid-February so try it out quick.

Serves 5

2 pheasants
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp sunflower oil
12 shallots or 3 onions, quartered
1 large clove of garlic, thinly sliced
2 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
3 tbsp Calvados or brandy
500ml cider
300ml recently boiled water
1 chicken stock cube
1 tbsp flour
Salt & pepper

Plug in the slow cooker to warm up.  Heat the butter and oil in a large frying pan and brown the pheasants.  Once browned, place in the slow cooker.  Brown the peel shallots (or onions) in the remaining fat then add to the slow cooker together with the thyme and bayleaf.

Return the pan to the heat.  Add the Calvados/brandy if using to scrape any meaty goodness off the bottom of the pan.  Add the cider and bring to the boil.  Pour over the pheasants.  Crumble the stock cube into a measuring jug and add the recently boiled water. Top the slow cooker up with this so the liquid comes about halfway up the pheasants.

Cook on high for 4-5 hours or Auto for 6-8 hours.  Serve with mash to absorb all the lovely cidery sauce.

Any leftover liquid can be used as a stock for a soup.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry

Shepherds Pie with Hidden Vegetables

Sprout grumbled when I announced at breakfast that it was going to be Shepherd’s Pie for tea.  And grumbled again when I reminded her on the walk home from school.  She then looked somewhat surprised when I set a plate of it down in front of her at tea, saying “Oh I thought you meant Fish Pie”.  As seconds were had by all, I resolve never to pay attention to children grumbling about Shepherds Pie again.

It was announced to be the best Shepherd’s Pie ever and they were none the wiser about the vegetables! I used to make this with more meat, but I stretched 500g of lamb with loads of vegetables one day to feed an unexpected guest and it was a result. Yes it is a big hearty comfort food dish, but it’s actually relatively healthy and thrifty. Serves 4-6 500g lamb mince or leftover lamb roast 1 carrot 1 stick of celery 1 onion 1 garlic clove 1/4 swede 1 tbsp olive oil 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce 1 tin chopped tomatoes 5 large baking potatoes Butter or margarine Milk 1 handful cheddar cheese Finely chop the onion and garlic (I often use a food processor for my veg chopping in this meal) and start frying with the olive oil in a large saucepan or saute pan.  Finely dice, grate, or blitz the carrot and celery, adding this to the pan when ready.  Peel and grate or blitz swede and add this to the pan.  Stir, cover, and sweat this vegetable rubble for 5 minutes.

When soft or beginning to catch add the lamb, breaking up the lumps and cooking for a few minutes.  Then add chopped tomatoes, half a can of water, worcestershire sauce and leave to simmer for 30 minutes Peel the potatoes and roughly chop.  Boil in salted water for 15 minutes or until soft.  Drain and mash with a large knob of butter or margarine and milk to make a spreadable mash. Put the lamb mix into a high sided baking dish and spread over the mash.  Ruffle the surface of the mash with a fork and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake in a pre-heated oven at 190C for about 30 minutes until bubbling and golden on top (you might need the grill on for a few minutes at the end to achieve this).

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry

Veg Rich Toddler Curry

 

My kids are slowly venturing onto ‘normal’ curries, but this was one of my starter curries when they were younger and that I return to every now and then as comfort food for them.

It’s high calorie (kids need calories!), high protein, and sweetened with pureed veg and my secret ingredient, apricot jam!Makes 6 kid sized portions

500g mince (lamb, chicken, or turkey I think are best). You could make this with leftovers ie roast.
1 medium carrot
1 onion
1/4 jar Curry Paste – I use Pataks Rogon Josh, Jalfrezi, Korma.  If you can’t get these use 1-2tsp garam masala spice mix instead
1 tin chopped tomatoes, liquidised
oil for frying
1 tbsp apricot jam (optional)
50ml cream (for extra calories – optional)

Peel and roughly chop the carrot (you are going to liquidise them later) and boil in small pan for 5-10 minutes.  Drain and keep the cooking liquid.

Whilst the carrots are cooking, peel and finely chop the onion.  You can do this in a mini food processor if you are worried your kids might identify it in the curry. As the onion starts to soften add the curry paste.  If you are starting your kids off on curry try a heaped dessertspoonful to start.  If you’re using garam masala instead, add this to the onions and stir around for a minute or two making sure it doesn’t burn.

Add the liquidised tomatoes.  Puree the carrots with a can of tap water and add these, together with the lamb to the pan. Bring the sauce to the boil whilst breaking up the mince.  By adding it with the liquid I find it breaks up better than if I fry it first.  Simmer for 20 minutes to reduce and thicken to a suitable curry sauce consistency.  Add the jam right at the end, and cream if using.

Serve with half a mug of basmati rice (serve 3 kids) boiled for 10 minutes in fast boiling salted water which makes it melt in the mouth for my fussier diners.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry

East Meets West: Sunday Roast Leftovers Chow Mein Stir Fry

As Autumn (slowly) approaches and we have begun having Sunday roasts again, I am being begged by the kids to make this kind of chow mein for them midweek with the leftovers.  It really doesn’t need a lot of leftover meat (or arguably any at all) as a little goes a long way! You could always make a vegetarian version of this without meat or gravy.

I first made this a few weeks ago.  I had intended to refer to one of my earlier Chinese stir fry recipes on my blog, but Princess was so engrossed with her favourite app on my phone that I tried to do it from memory. I pulled the most commonly used Chinese ingredients out of the cupboard and fridge and just made it up as I went along. The kids declared it the best noodle dish ever (their memories are so endearingly short) so I thought I had better write it down to ensure I can impress them again!

Serves 4-5 (3 kids – 2 adults)

1-2 handfuls of leftover roast (chicken, pork, beef, xmas turkey), chopped into mouthsized chunks
2 large carrots, grated
Something green – 1/4 cabbage shredded, 10 runner beans, finely sliced, pak choi, grated broccoli stalk etc
1 large or 2 small cloves of garlic,  crushed
Small knob ginger, grated or finely chopped
1 large serving spoon of leftover gravy (optional)
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp Sherry or white wine
4 tbsp oyster sauce
4 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce (or sprinkle with dried chilli flakes to taste at the end
2 tbps tomato ketchup
1 tbsp sesame oil (optional)
4 layers of medium egg noodles, alternatively you could serve over steamed rice or stir fry rice instead

Chinese stir frying is quick, quick, quick, so prepare all your ingredients in advance and have them within reach of the wok/frying pan.  Cook the noodles according to the packet’s instructions.  Drain, reserving a mugful of the cooking water, and leave in a pan of cold water until ready for them.  Chop your ‘solid’ ingredients, leaving the garlic and ginger to last.  Pile meat in one of the bowls you are going to eat out of, veg in another, and mix liquid ingredients in another.

Heat a wok or large frying pan until it starts smoking.  Add the oil, swirl it around, turn the extractor fan on and stir fry the onion and garlic for a minute or so.  Tip in the vegetables and continue to stir fry for another couple of minutes.  Add the meat and the sauce ingredients.  Turn down the heat and cook for a few minutes until the vegetables are slightly less raw.  Bring the pan of noodles and water over to the cooker and add the dripping noodles in handfuls (a little bit of extra water in the wok is no bad thing).  At this stage I often chop the noodles with scissors or a fork and sharp knife.  This makes it easier to mix and helps the kids get it up to their mouth.  Stir the vegetables through the noodles and leave on a low heat with a lid on for a few minutes to heat through.  If you hear a sizzling noise, this is your cue to stir it and try to turn the noodles over so the top layer is as hot as the bottom.  I like a sloppy chow mein so I add a little of the noodle cooking water to give the dish a little more sauce.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry

Italian Rabbit Stew

We’ve been meaning to have rabbit for a while now but weren’t too sure what the kids, and 6 year old Big Boy in particular who once tried to release a baby crab from a paella back into the sea, would make of the idea.

By coincidence, I had only just listened to a BBC Radio 4 Food Programme In a Stew about Rabbits when Dad emerged from the butcher’s on Saturday with my two beaming younger children and two jointed rabbits.

So I put together the first recipe on the web page, Barny Haughton’s Italian Wild Rabbit Stew.

For 4 people1 wild rabbit, dressed & jointe
4 rashers streaky bacon or pancetta, cut into 1cm lengths
2 carrots
2 sticks celery
2 medium sized onions
2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
½ bottle dry white wine
a small bunch of thyme
2 bay leaves
I small bunch flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
Black pepper, salt, olive oil
Seasoned flour (3 tablespoons flour, 1 tsp each salt and pepper)

Thankfully our rabbit was already jointed, but I did have to remove the heart, lungs, kidneys, and several pellets of poo from one of them!

Dust the rabbit pieces with seasoned flour (It took a lot more flour to flour the rabbit pieces than it said in the recipe, but I did end up with a lovely rich sauce) and brown a few pieces at a time with olive oil.  Again it took a lot more olive oil that the recipe said, but given that there is no fat on a rabbit it didn’t seem to much of an issue to add more to the pan.

Dice the carrots, celery and onion and fry in the oil after you have browned all the rabbit and placed in on a plate, or the lid of the casserole.  When the onion starts to brown, add the garlic and bacon and fry for a few minutes.  Return the rabbit pieces to the casserole dish, plus the wine, herbs (not parsley) and top up with water to just cover.  I did not season as the flour was already seasoned and decided to leave season to just before serving. Bring to a simmer, put on the lid and place in the oven at 150C for one hour.

Having just suggested this with my recent Chilli con Carne recipe I was interested to read “As with all casseroles and stews, if you can leave it to cool and then refridgerate overnight, the flavours and texture will improve”.  I left it to cool on the back doorstep for a couple of hours with the lid on.

To serve, reheat gently on the hob.  Add chopped parsley if using (I didn’t have any) and season to taste.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry

Lamb Dhansak (Lamb, Lentil & Squash Curry) – Updated

I first made a dhansak in January 2013.  It was one of my menu choices for my first curry night of that year, but the worst snow in 20 years put pay to that.

I have made it once or twice since, but as we were carving pumpkins last week for Halloween I thought I’d try another one with pumpkin instead of butternut squash.  I also decided to make this as a one-pot curry, rather than the two stage process set out in my source recipe.  So the recipe below is my new improved recipe.  It only takes one large pan, plus all the flavours of the meat, onion, garlic and spices get to mingle with the squash and lentils as they cook.

Dhansak is also a great budget meal, making a little meat go a long way.  I’ve been battling with a bad head cold (and the kids over October half term) for just over a week.  And with 500g of cubed lamb in the freezer, this meant I don’t need to venture out to the shops with my little darlings in tow.  You could also put leftover roast lamb in it.

Serves 4-6 (generous)
500g diced lamb
500g squash (pumpkin, butternut squash), cubed
100g red lentils
1 400g tin tomatoes
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp turmeric
6 black peppercorns
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
6 green cardamons
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
2.5cm root ginger, finely chopped
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp hot chilli flakes
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp salt
Handful of chopped fresh coriander or 2 tbsp dried mint

Dry roast the coriander, fenugreek, cardamon, peppercorns, and cumin seeds in the saucepan for a minute or so, then add the sunflower oil and fry the onion, garlic, and ginger.  When the onion and garlic start to brown at the edges add the lamb and brown as much of it as you can.  Then add the squash, tomatoes, lentils, turmeric, chilli, lemon juice, salt, dried mint (if using fresh coriander, add this just before serving) and 1 can full of hot water.  Stir and bring to the boil.  Cover with a lid and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the vegetables and lentils are quite soft.

The flavour of curries develop the longer they are left.  I try to make curries mid afternoon and leave them standing on the hob for an hour or so to mature.  Reheat gently, particulary if using fresh coriander.

At home we serve this with basmati rice which has been cooked with a large pinch of cumin seeds and a handful of frozen peas.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry

Slow Cooker Chilli con Carne – New & Improved!

I cooked last night’s Halloween tea in the slow cooker.

I had presumed that I would take my standard chilli recipe and just leave it blipping away in the slow cooker until tea time.  But, as ever, I made a few tweeks as I went along.  The result was a beautifully rich chilli.  So much so I resolve to cook it this way every time in future.

1) Use cubed shin of beef or ox cheek.  This tough meet tenderises beautifully and the connective tissue, gristle, and fat (yep, you need this) melts with the slow cooking into a thick rich sauce.

2) Possibly a personal foible, but forget celery or carrots.  Whilst I happily add them to stove top chillis I have a personal grudge against slow cooked vegetables as they taste overly stewed.

3) Add a stock cube.  Slow cooked dishes tend to be a bit watery.  A stock cube adds an additional depth of flavour.

4) Tomato paste is a great thickener, and more added flavour, stirred in right at the end.

Serves 6
500g cubed shin of beef or ox/beef cheek
1 large onion
1 large clove of garlic
1 red pepper
1 tbsp sunflower oil
3 tsp cumin
3 tsp oregano
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 tin of kidney bean cooking water (if available)
2 tins kidney beans or 250g beans, soaked and pre-cooked
1tbsp red wine vinegar
1 beef stock cube
1/4 – 1/2 tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp sunflower or olive oil
2 tbsp tomato paste
Salt & pepper

Finely chop onion and garlic and fry gently in large frying pan with the oil.  Cube the meat if not already cubed.  If using ox cheek, slice off as much of the fat off in one piece as you can.  You should cook this with the meat, but leaving it as a large piece makes it more easy to remove it at the end of cooking!

When the onion has softened a little, push it to the side of the pan and add the beef in small handfuls.  Leave it as long as you can to brown, only moving it to make room for a later handful of beef.  Add the fat too. Dice the red pepper and stir this into the meat to fry for a few minutes.  Next time I might  chop this finely in a mini food processor as the red blobs were the only thing my kids grumbled about

Add the tomatoes, beans, 1 can full of bean cooking water or just plain water, cumin, oregano, vinegar, chilli, stock cube and bring to the boil.  Do not add salt or tomato paste until just before serving.

Tip everything into your slow cooker and cook on high for 6-8 hours. When ready to serve, add tomato paste to thicken a little and season to taste.  And whilst this has arguably taken a long time to cook already, we discovered last night that the flavour is better still if left to stand for an hour or so after the first helping was served to the kids.

I usually serve ours up with rice or baked potatoes.  And a generous handful of grated mature cheddar cheese.

Twitter: Leesa@sunhillcurry