Waste Not Want Not

Like most of my generation I was brought up to make good use of leftovers, I think that my Mum who had been a child during the second world war grew up valuing food and never taking it for granted.  One of my favourite tricks is to turn leftover casseroles or curries into pasties.

Usually I make shortcrust pastry for these or cheat by using shop bought puff pastry but today I was inspired to make my own rough puff pastry; less labour intensive than homemade puff pastry but a bit more work than a shortcrust which I normally whizz up in the food processor.

I love the crispy pastry against the softer texture of the casserole or curry filling.  Served with saute potatoes and a crisp salad it makes a great mid-week meal.

Rough Puff Pastry
Enough for 2 large pasties
Ingredients
150g plain flour
pinch of salt
75g unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
chilled water to mix

Method
Mix the flour and salt in a bowl and add the cubes of butter.  Gently mix with your hands ensuring that the butter is covered in flour.  Add enough water to bring the mixture together into firm dough.

On a well-floured board bring the dough together into a rectangular shape.  Roll out the rectangle to about 1cm thickness then fold the top third of the pastry towards you and the bottom third up over the top.  Turn 90 degrees and repeat the rolling and folding.  Do this another 4 times i.e. 6 times in total.  Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and place in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.

ready to roll

After the resting period take the pastry out of the fridge and roll it out to about 3mm thickness.  Cut out two 20cm circles (I use a side plate for this).

ready to cut

Put your filling of choice onto one half of one the circle, leaving about 2cm around the edge.  Brush the edge with water and bring the other half of the circle over the top of the filling to form a pasty shape,  Pinch the edges together to form a good seal and repeat with the other circle of pastry.

ready to bake

Place the pasties on a baking sheet covered with silicon paper and brush with a little egg yolk or milk, then bake in the oven at 190C for about 30 minutes.

Note: 20cm circles make large pasties so if you're serving children or having the pasties for lunch you could cut smaller circles, say 12-15 cm in diameter, making more pasties with the same amount of casserole or curry. The pasties can be eaten cold as well as hot from the oven making smaller versions ideal for summer picnics.

My First Veg Box

On Thursday my first organic veg box from a local farm arrived.  The variety of veg was not bad given the time of year - there were a few potatoes (glad there were not too many as we still have a lot of our own potatoes), four large leeks, some carrots and onions, a handful of runner beans, a cauliflower, a cabbage, a very large swede and some curly kale.

We like our vegetables but this is quite a lot to get through before the veg starts to deteriorate and our freezer is already full to bursting with Holly Grove produce, so I had to make things that would use the maximum amount of veg in the shortest time.

First on the list was something to accompany fillets of trout that I had bought for our supper on Thursday.  The runner beans were an obvious choice and something using some of the lovely leeks, but what?  Then I remembered a dish that my Mum used to make when I was a child - stovies!  Any Scots reading this may need no further explanation, though from my experience family recipes vary.  The stovies my Mum made used potatoes, onions, butter and milk and it was cooked in a saucepan on top of the stove; this delicious concoction would be served in bowls with crusty, well buttered bread - real comfort food.

My interpretation is really a variation of dauphinois and uses leeks instead of onions - posh stovies.  The dish was perfect with the simply cooked trout and runner beans, the richness of the stovies went so well with the lightness of the fish - lovely!

A vegetable curry was next on the list and delicious it was too - that was Friday night's meal served with naan and vegetable pakoras.

Then using some beef from the local butcher and leeks, carrots, onions and swede I made a large slow cooked casserole - some eaten last night and the rest for a pie filling for tonight's supper.  The pie I'll serve with creamed potato and swede and some of the dark curly kale.

After all of this there is still enough veg left to make a warming soup and some vegetable stock that I may just be able to squeeze into the freezer - phew!  To be honest I'm not sure veg boxes are for me, I think I'd rather select my veg myself and probably buy smaller quantities more often, but it has been an interesting experience and reminded me of a childhood dish long forgotten - oh, and here's my recipe...

Posh Stovies

Serves 2-3
Ingredients

125ml double cream

125ml milk

2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced

1 bay leaf

good grating of nutmeg

salt and pepper

2 good sized potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced

1 large leek, cleaned and thickly sliced

leaves stripped from a few sprigs of fresh thyme

a handful of freshly grated parmesan cheese

Method

Put the first five ingredients in a saucepan and simmer together for 5 minutes to infuse the milk/cream mixture.  Remove from the heat and remove the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.

Take an earthenware ovenproof dish and grease generously with softened butter.  Lay a layer of potatoes in the bottom of the dish and sprinkle with some of the thyme, add the leek slices in a layer over the potatoes and then cover the leek with another layer of potatoes, sprinkle the remaining thyme over the potatoes.

Pour the milk/cream mixture over the layered potato and leek.  Oil the inside of a piece of tinfoil and then use this to cover the dish, oilside down.  Put the dish on a baking sheet in the oven 200C for about 40 minutes or until the potato is soft.  Remove the foil and press down the potatoes with the back of a serving spoon then sprinkle over the parmesan and return to the oven for about 10 minutes until the top is golden.

Hogmanay Pie

Wishing you all health, contentment and happiness in 2010!

The Handyman and I had a lovely New Year's Eve (known to all Scots as Hogmanay), just the two of us in our cottage home. Traditionally we have a beef and ale pie for our evening meal on Hogmanay and this year was no exception. The filling for the pie was slowly cooked for around 5 hours in a very low oven and then placed in a pie dish covered with puff pastry and returned to the oven. Served with mixed winter vegetables (carrots, parsnips and brussel sprouts) and creamed HG potatoes - delicious when complimented by a glass or two of St Emilion! A lovely meal to end the old year.

Hogmanay Pie
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 packet ready made puff pastry
1 lb stewing steak
6-10 shallots, peeled and left whole
2 parsnips, peeled and thickly sliced
3 carrots, peeled and thickly sliced
chestnut mushrooms
3/4 pt beef stock
1/2 pt Guinness
pl flour mixed with 1 tsp mustard powder to coat the beef
1 tsp dried sage

Method
Heat some oil in a heavy based frying pan. Add the shallots, carrots and parsnips and fry gently until the onions have browned slightly. Remove from pan and place in a large casserole dish.

Heat some more oil and add the beef coated in flour in small batches, browing all over, then remove and place in the casserole dish. Repeat until all the beef has been browned.

Pour off the excess oil and add the stock and Guiness to the pan. Bring to the boil and then add the dried sage. Pour enough of the liquid over the beef and vegetables to cover and stir to combine. Cover the beef mixture with a circle of greaseproof paper and place the casserole lid on top. Put the casserole in the oven at 120C - 140C for at least 4 hours. Check the liquid level from time to time adding more if required. After about 3 hours add the mushrooms, stir to combine and return to the oven.

When the beef is cooked spoon the mixture into a pie dish and cover with the puff pastry. Place the pie dish in the oven at 200C for aproximately 25 minutes until the pastry has risen and is golden. Serve with creamed potatoes and vegetables of your choice.

Warming Winter Casserole

Returning from the kitchen garden this morning with cold hands and a selection of root vegetables my thoughts turned to the lovely stewing beef I had in the 'fridge. Beautiful beef marbled with just enough fat to make it tasty and moist from our very local butcher, fresh as the morning root vegetables, and the prospect of a chilly Winter's evening can mean only one thing - a heart-warming beef casserole served with creamed celeriac and potatoes and buttered cabbage.

As this recipe is slow cooked over many hours you can (and should) use cheaper cuts of meat - ask your butcher for some recommendations.














Winter Beef Casserole
Serves 4
Ingredients
1lb stewing beef
2 ozs plain flour
1 tsp mustard powder
1/2 tsp Spanish paprika
salt and pepper
1 large onion, chopped
2 HG garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 HG leek, washed and sliced
6 small HG turnips, washed, peeled and cut into chunks (or left whole if very small)
About a quarter of a large HG celeriac, diced (the remainder of the celeriac will be used along with some potatoes to make a creamed celeriac and potato side dish)
15 fl ozs beef stock
5 fl ozs red wine
1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce

Method
Heat some rapeseed oil in a large frying pan add the onions, leek and garlic and fry gently until softened, not browned. Add the turnips and celeriac and heat through.

Meanwhile mix the flour, mustard powder, paprika, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add the chunks of beef and cover in the flour, stack on a plate ready to cook.

Remove the vegetables from the pan and place in the slow cooker pot. Add more oil to the frying pan and brown the meat in batches, adding the beef to the slow cooker as each batch is browned.

When all the beef has been browned add the red wine to the frying pan and bring to the boil. Boil vigorously until the alcohol has boiled off (you can tell by the smell of the boiling liquid). Add the beef stock and Worcestershire sauce to the wine and bring back to the boil.

Add the liquid and 3 bay leaves to the slow cooker ensuring that the beef and vegetables are covered by the stock, if necessary adding some water.

Cook in the slow cooker on a medium setting for about 6-8 hours. Alternatively you can cook in a conventional oven on a low setting 140C for about 3 hours. Check the level of the liquid in the dish throughout the cooking time.