Cottage Pie / Shepherd's Pie

Cottage Pie / Shepherd's Pie


• 1kg lamb mince / mixture of beef and pork mince

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

• 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

• 2 sticks of celery, trimmed and roughly chopped

• 1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

• 50g pancetta, roughly chopped

• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• a small bunch of fresh rosemary, leaves picked

• 1 x 400g can of plum tomatoes, chopped

• 250ml lamb or vegetable stock

• 1kg potatoes

• 200ml milk

• 2 knobs of butter


Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5.


1. Heat a large pan and, when it’s nice and hot, add the olive oil and mince and fry until browned all over. Add the onion, celery, carrot, pancetta and garlic to the pan, and throw in a large pinch of rosemary leaves and the tomatoes. Pour in the stock and stir well so the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Leave in the same pan or transfer to an ovenproof dish, cover and bake in the oven for an hour.

2. Peel the potatoes, boil them in salted water until cooked through, then drain well. Heat the milk gently then pour over the potatoes. Add a knob of butter and mash well until smooth and creamy.

3. Melt the remaining butter in a frying pan. When it starts to bubble, throw in the rosemary and fry until crisp. Drain, and add the rosemary to the mashed potatoes with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

4. Take the mince out of the oven, spoon over the mash, then turn up the temperature to 200°C/400°F/gas 6 and bake for about 20 minutes or until bubbling and crispy and brown on top.

Pork Stir Fry

Ingredients (This is a recipe for 2 but can easily be doubled)
2 nests medium egg noodles
2 tsp cornflour
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sunflower oil
250g/9oz pork tenderloin , cut into bite-sized pieces
thumb-sized piece ginger, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 green pepper, deseeded and sliced
100g mange tout
1 tsp sesame seeds

• 1. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the noodles following pack instructions. Meanwhile, mix the cornflour with 1 tbsp water, then stir in the soy sauce and honey, and set aside.
• 2. Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat. Add the pork and cook for 2 mins until browned all over. Add the ginger, garlic, pepper and mangetout, and cook for a further 2 mins. Reduce the heat, then add the soy and honey mixture, stirring and cooking until the sauce bubbles and thickens. Divide the drained noodles between 2 bowls. Top with the pork and vegetables, and finish with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Goulash...yum!

Goulash:  We had this for dinner on the Saturday before Easter.  It was simple to prepare, fairly inexpensive and tasted wonderful!  I forgot the cream but it didn't matter.

Ingredients

•  * 2 tbsp olive oil
• * 500g pork tenderloin, cut into chunks
• * 30g plain flour
• * 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• * 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• * 2 of red and green pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
• * 2 tbsp tomato purée
• * 2 tbsp paprika
• *1 can chopped tomotoes
• * 75ml dry white wine
• * 300ml beef stock, home-made or shop-bought
• * black pepper

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a casserole dish or heavy-based saucepan.
2. Coat the pork with the flour and brown well, in batches, in the hot casserole dish. Set the browned meat aside.
3. Add in the remaining olive oil. Add in the onion, garlic, pepper to the casserole dish and fry until softened, around 5 minutes.
4. Return the pork to the pan with the tomato puree and paprika. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
5. Add the tomatoes, white wine and beef stock. Cover and cook it on the hob on a gentle heat for about an hour, removing the lid after 45 minutes.
6. Check seasonings and add salt and freshly ground pepper as needed. Stir in the sour cream and serve.

Dinner from the fridge and cupboards

I was going to cook the duck which I had taken from Nina's fridge when I emptied in.  However, I looked at the use by date and discovered that it had been in Nina's freezer since 2005 so I thought better of it.  However, I do have pork mince in the refrigerator and I have found this recipe from Nigel Slater that sounds interesting.  I have decided not to tell anyone about the ingredients until after they have eaten it.  Read ahead and you may understand why!

Pork meatballs with anchovies

Ingredients

• couple of good handfuls of pork mince (about 500g/17½oz)
• good handful fresh white breadcrumbs
• 1 lemon, zest only
• small handful freshly grated parmesan
• handful flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
• handful thyme, leaves only
• 8-10 canned anchovies, drained, chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• few good glugs of fruity olive oil
• enough hot chicken or vegetable stock to come halfway up the patties
• Swiss chard leaves, to serve

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
   
2. Mix together the pork mince and breadcrumbs in a mixing bowl with the lemon zest and parmesan. Add the herbs and the anchovies, season with a little salt then more generously with freshly ground black pepper.
   
3. Using your hands, mix together well and then form the mixture into 6-8 large patties.
   
4. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then fry the patties until brown on both sides. Place in a shallow ovenproof dish and cover with enough stock to come halfway up the pork patties. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes. They will have crisp tops but be deliciously moist underneath.
   
5. Serve them in a shallow bowl with some steamed Swiss chard with some of the stock they were cooked in.