Raised Pork Pie

I’ve never tried to make hot water pastry before and never attempted to shape a pie by hand so allowed myself plenty of time for this recipe..

The day before I cooked the pork in the stock for about an hour, I had bought 1lb of meat and so only used half the amount of stock. After the meat was feeling tender I drained off the liquid and at that point I really didn’t have much left. So I had to skip the next step of boiling the stock down even further.

Even thought the meat felt soft it was looking a bit dry. So I left that in the fridge and then the next day started the pastry.

So this was easy enough to mix up but I think the idea is to work quickly! I found it took a while to knead to get a smooth dough..

Then I was attempting to shape the pie by hand. It was easier than I expected and the dough does cool and start to stiffen up quite quickly which helped keep the shape. I do think I maybe left it a bit too thick but I was afraid it might all collapse!

Then I put the meat in the pastry case with some seasoning and herbs. Then I checked the liquid left from yesterday which didn’t have a layer of fat and wasn’t particularly jelly like, and actually there was hardly any of it. I did pour a couple of tablespoons over the meat before adding the lid.

I made a small hole in the top like the pastry recipe suggests and decorated with some leaves with the last wee bits of remaining pastry. Then I doubled wrapped it with greaseproof paper before going in the oven..

So after the full cooking time it was looking nicely browned ..

So according to the recipe it’s supposed to be left to cool the jellied sauce added, but we were having this for dinner, so instead I poured what little liquid I had left into the hot pie and then I didn’t leave it to set before cutting it!

It was looking a wee bit dry and the meat was falling out, which I’m guessing would’ve been avoided had I left to cool and added some gelatine to the liquid and left to set, but I was skipping all that!

We ended up having this with beans for tea!!

Well this was a pretty good pork pie! Yes it could do with some more liquid, or maybe the pork did not need all that initial cooking time, but despite that it’s really tasty.

The pastry is quite thick, but we didn’t mind that but I’ll try be a bit more brave and make it bigger and thinner next time!

Would I make this again? Yes!

Steak and Kidney Pudding

I’ve made few steamed sweet puddings but not yet ventured into a savoury steamed pud. This does need quite a bit of time in the steamer so definitely a weekend recipe..

First I made the suetcrust pastry which is another recipe from the book..

All the dry ingredients are combined..

Then some water is added and then kneaded lightly until it does eventually become smooth..

I used three quarters of the pastry to line the dish. So for the filling I ended up only buying 2 kidneys which weighed just under a quarter of a pound. I’m not a fan of kidneys really so didn’t want to put too many in so I upped the steak quantity! Have to say the kidneys were really cheap, only 19p for two!

So I coated the meat in the seasoned flour..

Then all that is added to the dish along with a chopped onion and some water..

Then I rolled out the remaining pastry for the lid, brushed with water and sealed onto the top..

I covered the dish with tinfoil and then put into the steamer for the full four hours, I did have to keep topping up with water to make sure it didn’t dry out.

So after the four hours it was feeling pretty firm to touch but hadn’t exactly risen that much, no idea if it’s meant to be considering its self raising flour I did expect a bit more expansion!

Anyway it look pretty well cooked after all that time..

I swithered over turning out of the dish into a plate or just serving from the dish, and ended up opting to serve from the dish to avoid any turning out disasters!

The pastry did come away really easily from the dish..

While this had been cooking I had made an onion gravy to have with it as I was worried it was going to be dry, well I shouldn’t have bothered! Even from that tiny amount of water out into the pudding enough moisture had been created..

So how did it taste? It was great! The meat is really tender and soft and I actually didn’t mind the few bits of kidney through it. The pastry is very soft which is to be expected after 4 hours of steaming! I had thought it would need some herbs or even wine or stock as the fluid rather than water but I don’t think that’s necessary, yes I might try that next time but as this is it’s pretty simple yet delicious, and I have it on good authority that it’s even better the next day!

Would I make this again? Yes definitely..

Osso Bucco

I got a bit confused about this recipe after going to the butcher. It’s in the veal section and is meant to be shin of veal but in the butcher they had pork osso bucco..

So traditionally osso bucco should be veal and does mean bone with hole in Italian so assuming I can replace the veal with the same cut of pork! It was also pretty cheap which is good!

I only had the two bits which weighed out at 250g so I had to sort of quarter everything else. First the meat is browned in butter..

Once that was nicely browned it was removed and the veg browned for a few minutes..

Then the meat is put back in the pan with the wine and left to simmer, after 20 minutes in goes the tomatoes, stock and rosemary..

While that was simmering I made a basic risotto to serve with it. After just over an hour the liquid had thickened up in the pan and was smelling pretty good!

So I totally forgot about the garnishes! I was hungry and just wanted to get stuck in, and I don’t think it needs anything else as it’s pretty good garnish free!!

The meat is soooo soft and tastes great. There is a bit of fat and bone so only one bit of meat really probably isn’t enough for one! The sauce is fantastic and all the veggies that have been cooked in it are meltingly soft and taste great!

Overall this is really delicious, next time I see veal shin I’ll try it again with that.

Would I make this again? Yes!

Barbecued Lamb

I do quite like lamb, but find some cuts a bit too fatty! I’d picked up half a shoulder that was just over 2lb for this recipe.

The recipe says mushroom ketchup, which is not something I’ve ever seen to buy, but is a recipe from this book that I’ve tried before. I didn’t have any mushrooms or time to make it so decided to just use regular ketchup..

I tried to cut off as much of the fatty bits that I could see..

I mixed the garlic, and dry ingredients together and rubbed all over the lamb..

Then I mixed up the rest of the ingredients and poured all that over the lamb, which ended up with all the onions stuck on the lamb and all the liquid in the bottom of the tin..

The recipe is quite specific with its 27 minutes to the pound! I did work out how long I need per based on the size of this joint and was just about 90 minutes. I did baste it pretty frequently and the sauce did almost dry out so added a bit of water on more than one occasion.

After the full cooking time it was smelling pretty good..

I left it to rest for a few minutes before slicing..

The outside of the lamb is nice and sticky from the sauce, and the almost burnt oniony bits looked too good to waste..

This was a fab roast dinner! The lamb is really nicely cooked and nice and tender, and the edge bits with the sticky glaze on them are particularly good! It is a bit fatty in some places but I just cut them out. This was more than enough for the three of us and even plenty left over for lunch the next day!

Would I make this again? Yes..

Grilled Pork Chops with Apple Rings

This isn’t much of a recipe! It’s more of a suggestion..

I had bought pork loin chops, I’m wasnt sure if there is a difference between a loin chop and a regular chop, so I did a bit of a search and there’s actually a few chop options! I prefer these as don’t have the bone in them..

The recipe talks about the grill pan and the grid, not sure what the grid is! I just put the pork under the grill, then sliced up the apple – I don’t have a corer so improvised with a knife and nearly sliced my hand open..

…then when the pork was just about done I put the apple rings on under the grill around the pork and allowed to grill with the chops for the last few minutes. I maybe over browned slightly..

So that’s all there is to it! I served each chop with a couple of slices of apple on top..

We were just having this with some good old frozen veg!!

Well the pork chop is good and the apple with it is also good! A classic combination! My daughter didn’t like the apple but I suppose aged 7 it might seem weird to have fruit and meat together!! I think it was great, and a great dinner.

Would I make this again? Yes..

Bacon and Egg Pie

Sometimes you can’t beat pie and beans for tea…

I was making three mini pies for us, so I reduced all the ingredients to fit with that. I made 4 oz of shortcrust pastry using the same recipe from the book..

That was rolled out and used to line each of the pie dishes..

Then each one is filled with a rasher of chopped bacon..

It’s basically one egg person but I whisked the eggs and milk together and then split between the three pie dishes..

Then I put a lid on each pie, and do think I could be a bit neater with my pastry rolling!!

They were brushed with the last bits of egg and then into the oven. I followed the temperature lowering instructions but didn’t actually look in on them until almost the full time was done and they had puffed out to almost double the size of the tin! I gave them the full cooking time and after then they were really puffed and golden..

I was worried about getting them out of the tin but two came out really easily and the third just needed a bit of assistance!

So this was tea, a bacon and egg pie with beans..

Well for someone who doesn’t like egg I loved this!! The pastry is great and well cooked right through. The filling is so light and is obviously the cause of the swelling! It’s like a soufflé omelette inside a pie!

We all loved this!

Would I make this again? Yes definitely..

Savoury Lamb and Mushrooms

This isn’t my favourite cut of lamb, I don’t really buy lamb chops often at all, I much prefer a large joint of lamb slow cooked! I do like how simple this recipe sounds so may hopefully change my mind about lamb chops!

Really simple and quick prep for this recipe! First the tomatoes, onions and mushrooms go into a dish..

Then I trimmed some of the fat off the chops and they were plonked on top..

There really isn’t much meat on these chops! This should be enough for four apparently, but think this may struggle to fill up the three of us! I topped each chop with some butter, although not sure that’s entirely necessary, then some seasoning and that’s it..

After 45 minutes in the oven it’s all looking well cooked, I was thinking maybe a bit over cooked..

I made some mashed potato to have with this, help mop up the juices!

I think the lamb looks over cooked but it’s surprisingly soft and tastes good. The tomatoes, mushrooms and onions are all really soft and taste great having been cooking under the lamb! There’s a lot of liquid in the bottom of the dish which is actually really nice and the mashed potato was ideal for mopping up!!

We did manage to finish off the lot between the three of us and could’ve done with a bit more lamb!

Would I make this again? Yes, easy and tasty..

Calcutta Beef Curry

We do like having some sort of slow cooked dish on a Sunday, and I like the sound of this slow cooked curry..

The coconut milk tip is not something I had ever heard of!! So now I know I can dissolve desiccated coconut in water in the event I can’t find coconut milk!

I did a quick search for this recipe and did come across a few that had pretty much similar ingredients, although fresh chillies and fresh ginger did feature.

The smell and colours of the spices together is good..

Then I mixed all that with some of the coconut milk..

Once the onion and garlic had been cooking for a few minutes I added the paste..

Then after another few minutes the meat was added..

So the recipe says the stock should be added at the same time as the meat and there is no real browning stage, so that’s what I did!

An hour does not seem long enough at all to cook the meat, I think I ended up leaving this to simmer for nearer 2 hours! I had expected the liquid to all simmer away, but there’s still a decent amount after all that time..

So then the coconut milk, lemon juice and salt is added and it kind of totally ruins the look of it, there’s now way too much liquid! So I served this just with some boiled rice and chose not to serve any of the weird fruit accompaniments that the book suggests!

Our plates were drowning in sauce and there was still loads left in the pan, so it’s just as well it tastes so good!! The sauce truly is delicious, the flavour from all the spices and the coconut milk is great. The meat is lovely and soft and the three of us loved this. I have loads of sauce left so tomorrow I am going to make a version of this with prawns!

Would I make this again? Yes, loved it..

Rich Beef Casserole

It was soo cold and miserable yesterday and that totally put me in the mood for some kind of slow cooked beef dish. I picked this one as I had all the ingredients in the cupboard…

I probably would’ve expected a few more ingredients for a rich casserole..

..but then I suppose that makes this an appealing recipe, few ingredients for hopefully a rich tasty casserole!

Really quick to get this in the oven, first off the onion and peppers are fried and transferred to the casserole dish..

Then the beef is browned..

Finally the wine, tomato paste and some seasoning is added and then that’s all added to the casserole dish..

So that’s it! It’s shoved in the oven and left for a good couple of hours. Normally I don’t pay too much attention to the timings of dishes like this, but considering there really isn’t much liquid I did check on this now and again, and after an hour it was looking dry so I did add a splash of water.

I think in total I gave this just over two hours. So the recipe says to add a packet of frozen sweetcorn in the last 10 minutes, but the packet I have is huge! So I added about a mug full and put back in for the last few minutes..

After then it’s smelling good and looking rather inviting!

We were having this with some mashed potato..

So as a casserole goes this is good, it’s not as rich as I imagined it would be, but all three of us really enjoyed it.

Would I make this again? Yes, easy and made with pretty basic ingredients..

Pork Ragout

I made an egg ragout last week and was probably one of the most awful looking things I have made! It actually tasted quite nice, but am hoping this ragout recipe is going to be better..

The list of ingredients do read more like the what you’d expect in a ragout..meat, garlic, red wine..

First off I fried the onions..

Then I added the pork, which I got the butcher to bone and cube for me..

It is quite fatty so I did cut off a few extra overly fat bits. Then I had this cooking for 10 minutes before adding the onion, garlic and pepper..

Then I added the chilli, celery salt, wine and stock. I like using celery salt and often add that to soups. I think it has a really interetsing flavour. So once all that’s added it doesn’t look terribly exciting..

While that was simmering away I started with the rice, so if I had halved everything else I had planned to half the rice amount but 1.5oz of rice is hardly any and to half that would just seem pointless, so I opted to keep the full amount..

I was going to make my own stuffing but then I found a packet of stuffing mix for only 27p, and I was only using half so technically is only 13.5p of stuffing!

Once I’d added boiling water and left to thicken, I then shaped into balls..

I think I had the pork simmering for about the full hour and a half and by then it was looking a bit more appealing..

Then I added the cooked rice..

Then the fried stuffing balls..

So this was dinner for the three of us and we all enjoyed it! The pork is lovely and soft and the flavour from the sauce is just great! I don’t think my daughter particularly loved the stuffing balls as they are quite strongly flavoured with sage, but I think it all went together really well..

Would I make this again? Yes, is really delicious..