Tag Archives: cooking

How To Make Steak And Ale Pie

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The first thing you need to know about making steak and ale pie is that it takes a long time. I mean hours. I underestimated this the first time I cooked and ended up eating at midnight. The second thing is; if you get it right it is the best pie in the world. My notoriously fussy fiancee loves it, calling it the best pie he has ever tasted. High praise indeed. Here is how you can make someone happy through their stomach.

You will need:

400g braising steak, cut into small, chunky pieces

3 tbsp plain flour

salt and pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

300ml brown ale. I use London Pride.

3 garlic cloves

3 onions

4 carrots

1 fresh or dried bay leaf

A handful of fresh thyme sprigs

300ml beef stock

1 tbsp tomato purée

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar ( I used red wine vinegar the first time, shown in the picture, balsamic vinegar is much better. Use sparingly)

500g mushrooms

A knob of butter

For the pastry: Buy it from the supermarket. Life is too short. You will need two packs of shortcrust or puff pastry.

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To start; chop the onions, garlic, carrots and mushrooms. This will make it easier as you go along. Make sure you cut the beef into bite-size chunks, using a separate chopping board.

Add some olive oil to a pan, add the onions and garlic and cook on a medium heat until golden-brown, then add the beef. Cook the beef until brown and no pink bits are left. Then add the ale, the thyme, bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.

Add the beef stock and then the carrots and mushrooms. Stir and then leave to cook for 90 minutes.

Get a casserole dish and cover the shortcrust pastry (you can also use puff pastry) with it, leaving some for the top. Take the filling and pour into the casserole dish. Put the rest of the shortcrust pastry on top. Cover the top.

Put in a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes at 200C/400F/Gas 6 or until golden brown. Take out of the oven and leave to cool for a little while. Enjoy!

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how to make steak and ale pie

Roasted Christmas Day Lunch ‘Cottage Pie’ With Cheesy Mash Recipe

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Roasted Christmas Day lunch ‘cottage pie’ with cheesy mash

By Paul Merrett

Roasted Christmas Day lunch 'cottage pie recipe

After the excess of Christmas Day this is the perfect comfort food. It also manages to use up just about every savoury ingredient from a Christmas Day lunch which is a bonus too!

 

Use whatever you have left over to make your version of this dish, but this recipe will serve as a good guide.

 

Serves 4

About 500g of roast turkey – brown and white meat – roughly chopped

4 or 5 leftover chipolatas (if they’re wrapped in bacon that’s even better)

2 or 3 tablespoons of leftover stuffing

25 left over sprouts

Spoonful of leftover carrots

2 or 3 leftover roast potatoes

4 left over parsnips

Handful of peas from the freezer

1 pint of left over gravy (or make with gravy granules if you didn’t have any leftover)

2 teaspoons redcurrant jelly

Splash of Worcestershire sauce

Mashed potato – leftover or made from scratch by peeling 4 large potatoes, then chopping into large chunks. Boil for around 10-15 minutes until tender but not mushy. Drain and return to the pot before adding a large knob of butter, salt and pepper and mashing.

Handful of grated cheddar

 

  • Find a large sauce pan and add the turkey and the gravy before bringing to a very gentle simmer
  • Meanwhile chop up the chipolatas in to bite sized chunks and tip them in to the pan
  • Do the same with the sprouts, carrots, parsnips and roast potatoes – again return the pan to a very gentle simmer – by now the mixture should be moist but not too wet
  • Add the peas and add the Worcestershire sauce and red currant jelly to taste
  • Finally chop the stuffing into chunks and add to the pan
  • Stir the pan very gently and then tip into a large shallow casserole dish
  • Pipe or spoon the mash on top and scatter with grated cheddar
  • Bake in the oven at 170C for about 20 minutes until golden brown and piping hot

 

 

Wine match

Cono Sur Bicicleta Pinot Noir

This voluptuous Pinot Noir has rich fruit notes of cherry, raspberry, plum and strawberry, making it a great lighter red wine to pair with white meat, pastas and even seafood. Young and refreshing with subtly smoky hints, it’s a perfect wine to match with food.

 

Stockists

£5.61 (25% off) in Sainsbury’s from 16th October-5th November and from 11th-31st December

£5.99 in Tesco from 23rd October-3rd December

£5.99 or £30 for a case of 6 in Musgraves from 28th October-17th November

£6.99 in One Stop from 5th November-3rd December

£6 in Morrisons from 19th November-6th January

£5.99 in The Co-operative from 20th November-3rd December

£5.50 in Asda from 5th December-1st January

£7.49 in Ocado

5 Fun Life Skills To Improve Your Life

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5 fun life skills to improve your lifeIt probably is possible to go through life without developing any life skills at all. But would it be easier? I think not. With that in mind here is a fun little list of 5 fun life skills to improve your life. Add your own below.

Cooking

By the time you get out of your teens you should be able to whip up one amazing dish. By the time you hit thirty, you should have at least five amazing dishes that you can easily make that people compliment you on. This should be made without stress and fuss.

Driving

Driving is an unparallelled life skill. Running a car may be expensive but freedom costs money. Nothing beats being able to get into a car and go anywhere you want. It is debatable whether or not you are truly grown up until you can drive.

Dancing

Being able to dance is definitely a strength in life. So many social occasions call for it. If you don’t have natural rhythm then just take some classes and know your way around a fox trot. It will make you much more appealing to the opposite sex and people will think you are talented and sophisticated.

Games

Any party will probably include games, and dinner parties generally include post games fun. For something more entertaining than your average board game, and most things are, getting in touch with your gambling skills for an occasional flutter is fun. I am not talking about online gambling, but poker with friends is always lots of fun and very interactive. Brush up your card skills and bleed them dry.

 

Sport

No, not watching. Unless the sound is off and it is just for some eye candy. Learning a sport is an invaluable skill to improve your life. It will keep you fit, help you meet new people and maybe even get some fresh air. Take a class, do Zumba, running, football, yoga, anything you want. It will be another skill that will improve your life. I recently did Anti-Gravity Yoga which was different and lots of fun.

What do you think? What other fun life skills are there?

 

 

Top 10 things women want to do with a free day

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puppy, sleeping puppy, puppies, cute animalsIt appears that during the average working week women clock in at least 20 per cent more hours than men.
A major study claims that because of housework and childcare, career women are working much longer hours than men.
A study by researchers at Cambridge University in England has found that women who work outside the
home still do the bulk of the domestic chores, including picking the kids up from school, helping with
homework, cleaning and cooking. So even though men tend to spend more hours at the office, often
because they are in management positions and earn higher salaries, it is the women who are actually on-
the-go for longer.
It’s certainly not 50-50 in terms of work on the job and at home then.

 

A recent survey undertaken by luxury tanning brand Vita Liberata attracted thousands of entries. Their question? Purely and simply, what would a woman do if they had 24 hours entirely to themselves, with no responsibilities, no financial issues, no worries at all.
Top 10 responses:
1. 78% were so knackered all they wanted was a day to rest
2. Shopping! No surprises there ..
3. 8% wanted to go for cocktails
4. The top 3 destinations to spend a day ‘out’ are New York,
London or Paris
5. Go to Nashville and visit the home of Elvis Presley
6. Watch Barcelona football team – at their home ground
7. 98% chose not to include their husband in their day off
8. Do makeup on a Hollywood film set
9. 5% wanted an active day – bungee jumping, skiing, white
water rafting, being the most popular
10. Drive the 5 fastest cars in the world
* Taken from Vita Liberata’s Liberation Day Survey
Most surprising result is that all most women* want is a Spa Day… time to themselves, to rest, relax and be pampered. Lack of imagination or just sheer exhaustion??
What would you do with a free day?

Grilled Goat’s Cheese and Roasted Peppers on Corn Cakes Recipes

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Grilled Goat’s Cheese and Roasted Peppers on Corn Cakes
Makes 3 loaded rice cakes

Create a wonderfully warm snack by topping your rice cakes with grilled goat’s cheese
and roasted red and yellow peppers. Just joyous!

 2 large red peppers
 2 large yellow peppers
 4 tbsp extra virgin
 olive oil
 200g soft goat’s cheese
 Salt and pepper
 3 Kallo Corn Cakes

Place your cored and deseeded peppers in a roasting dish, cover generously with olive
oil and roast for 20 minutes.

Cut the goat’s cheese into rounds and place under a moderate grill for 2 to 3 minutes.
Layer onto your rice cake, before seasoning with salt and pepper and another drizzle of
olive oil.

Smoked Mackerel Pate Recipe

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Smoked Mackerel Pate

Makes 3 loaded rice cakes
A delightful dish with a layer of smoked fish! Easy-peasy, and perfect for a light lunch!
Finish off with a cooling layer of cucumber if you fancy…
200g smoked mackerel or other smoked fish
100g cream cheese
1 tsp horseradish sauce
Small bunch of chives, chopped
Zest of a whole lemon and juice of half
Salt and pepper
Sliced cucumber to decorate (optional)
3 Kallo Sea Salt & Balsamic rice cakes
Blitz all the ingredients in a food processor until you have a rough paste, then smother
lovingly on your favourite seasoned rice cake and top with a long slice of cucumber if
desired.

Classic Coronation Chicken Recipe

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coronation chicken recipe, recipe, foodClassic Coronation Chicken. Makes 3 loaded rice cakes
Coronation chicken.

Quite the classic. And it works just as splendidly on a rice cake as it does in your sandwich – especially with some rocket and a sprinkle of black pepper.
25g mayonnaise
25g crème fraîche
30g mango chutney
½ a tsp curry powder
½ a tsp lime zest
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
250g skinless, boneless, chicken breast fillets, cooked and diced
Handful fresh rocket
1 tbsp flaked almonds (optional)
Kallo Cracked Black Pepper & Sea Salt rice cake.
Mix together the mayonnaise, crème fraîche, mango chutney, curry powder, lime zest, lime juice and salt
in a large bowl.
Add the diced chicken and toss with the mixture until well coated.

Cover and chill until serving.
Layer your Kallo Cracked Black Pepper & Sea Salt rice cakes with the rocket, then top with a generous
dollop of the Coronation Chicken.
Top with the flaked almonds if desired.

 

 

 

Tangy Salsa & Glorious Guacamole Recipe

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Guacamole recipe salsa recipeTangy Salsa & Glorious Guacamole
Serves 2-4
Why not whip up a tangy salsa or glorious guacamole the night before work for some dreamy desktop
dipping at the office? Delicious!
Tangy salsa
5 large tomatoes, deseeded and finely diced
½ a red onion, finely diced
Small bunch of coriander, chopped
Zest and juice of a lime
Salt and pepper
Glorious guacamole
1 ripe avocado
1 large tomato, finely chopped
½ a red onion, finely chopped
Small bunch of coriander, chopped
Zest and juice of a lime
Salt and pepper
For the salsa: Finely chop the tomatoes and onion, along with the coriander. Mix in the zest and juice of a
lime and season with salt and pepper. Leave in the fridge for a few hours for the flavours to marry.
For the guacamole: Scoop out the flesh from the avocado into a bowl. Add the chopped tomatoes and red
onion, along with the coriander. Mix in the zest and juice from the lime and mash with the back of a fork
before seasoning with salt and pepper.
Splendid with Kallo’s Chilli rice cakes