pie

#35 FOOD NEWS: Mum’s super 70’s savers!

/ AngelaRomeo / 3 Comments

shopping final I always remember loads of veg and good home cooking when I think of mealtimes as a kid. So, with a January budget to stick to and a new years resolution to eat more veg, me and mum grab a cuppa and chat through a typical weeks food from ‘the good ol’ days’ when anything that resembled granola was firmly meant for the budgie. I’m loving the retro shortcuts in this little lot! Make sure you stock up on them – recipes on links below.

SUNDAY – Roast chicken

Good sized chicken for a roast (this is going to make three meals), so spend out on a good quality free-range chicken. Serve with roast potatoes, carrots, Paxo stuffing balls, parsnips and Brussels sprouts (or the veg of your choice).

Retro shortcut: Paxo paxo final

MONDAY – Leftover chicken and leek pie

Fry leek, onion and mushroom, stir through the leftover chicken and Campbell’s condensed mushroom soup. Fill a homemade pastry case with the filling. Crimp the top to seal. Brush with milk and bake. Serve with cabbage and mash.

Retro shortcut: Campbell’s cream of mushroom soup campbells final

TUESDAY – Chicken broth

Boil the chicken carcass, with stock (made from 1 oxo stock cube) and veg, such as potatoes, parsnips, swede, carrots, onion (whatever veg you have – or possibly buy a stew pack) add a little Bisto for colour and cornflour paste to thicken (if necessary). This definitely sounds free-style: ‘add soup – packet or canned, until you have an appealing colour!’

Retro shortcut: Oxo stock cube oxo final

WEDNESDAY – 70s Spaghetti bolognese

(Italian In-Laws turn away now!) Make up a packet of (1 pint) Knorr minestrone soup with a little less water than stated on the packet. Fry off the mince with carrot and onion, drain off the excess fat. Stir through tomato purée. Add the minestrone soup, frozen peas (or sweetcorn) and mushrooms. Serve with spaghetti and grated cheddar.

Retro shortcut:  Knorr minestrone soup

THURSDAY – 3 bears pies Fry off mince with diced carrot and onion. Drain excess fat. Meanwhile make up a Bisto paste (!). Put 2-3 dessert spoons of Bisto in a cup and stir through a small amount of water until you have a paste, add to the mince, stirring. Cook for 3-4 mins. Roll out homemade shortcrust pastry. Cut out 7-8 circles (using a saucer as a template). Fill one half of each pastry circle with the mince, fold over and crimp to seal. Bush with milk and bake. Freeze any leftover pies. Serve with mash and veg.

Retro shortcut:  Bisto gravy granules bisto final 1

FRIDAY Grilled pork chops, tomatoes and chips (Friday treat).

SATURDAY Sausages with onion gravy, mash and cabbage.

Retro shortcut: Mum’s fave makes another appearance! Bisto gravy granules! bisto 2

The whole lot aside from store-cupboard staples, a packet of mince and a packet of sausages (which I already had) came to £33.10. I don’t think that’s bad! All meals will feed at least four – as there’s two of us I’ve included some freezer notes on some of the recipes. Very handy – I won’t need to cook hardly at all next week!

#32 FOOD NEWS: ‘Apple’ apple pies!

/ AngelaRomeo / 2 Comments

Every monday

Ferrero Rocher, Kinder Bueno and nutella…. the hazelnut is somewhat of a hero in Italy, so I’ve decided to take a piece of inspiration from Mr Ferrero and hidden a fruity hazelnut filling in the centre of these pies. With honey from Pollino National Park dotted throughout, I’ve hopefully given this British fave a little kiss from Italy. AND they’re shaped like an APPLE!

apple group

300g plain flour, sifted
Pinch salt
180g butter
3tbsp caster sugar
3tbsp runny honey
6 Granny Smith apples
100g Pre-soaked mixed fruit
40g roasted chopped hazelnuts
milk, for brushing
softly whipped cream, to serve (optional)

ingreds

1 Place the flour, salt and butter in a bowl, rub between your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir through 1 tbsp of the honey, the sugar and 4-5 tbsp cold water. Turn out onto a work surface and knead quickly to form a smooth dough. Wrap in cling film and chill for 20 mins.

pastry strip

2 Meanwhile peel the apples.

Peeled apples

3 Slice off the bottom to create a flat surface, then remove the core using an apple corer.

stuffing apples strip
4 Heat the remaining honey in the microwave for 10 seconds to loosen. Mix the dried fruit with the nuts and 1 tbsp of the honey. Set aside.

5 Divide the dough into 6 x approx 90g pieces. Roll out the first piece on a lightly floured work surface, large enough to wrap around an apple.

Stuffing apples

6 Place the apple in the centre with the top of the apple facing down. Fill with the dried fruit mix. Brush the outside of the apple with the remaining honey.

7 Pull up the sides of the pastry, folding to follow the shape of the apple. The folds will mean there will be excess pastry at the bottom of the apple, slice off the excess and reserve.

Trimming pastry
8 Turn over, so the apple is the right way up and shape in your hands, smoothing out the folds as best you can. Repeat with the remaining apples, place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment.

leaf trimmings

9 Roll out the reserved trimmings and use to cut out leaf shapes, brush the undersides with a little water and stick to the tops of the apples. Pierce the top with a skewer to allow the steam to escape. Chill for 10 mins.

Ready for oven
10 Preheat the oven to 200ºC, 180ºC fan, gas 6. Brush the apples with the milk and bake for 30 mins (checking after 20 mins – if they are already a nice golden colour cover with a layer of foil for the final 10 mins). Serve with softly whipped cream, if liked.

Father’s day menu: The recipes

/ AngelaRomeo / 2 Comments

Title strip

So my old dad after 50 years of work, enjoying his retirement, decided to go for a quick holiday to Spain to visit my brother on hol to play a bit of tennis – as you do. I’m not sure how much tennis will be played – paella and beer will probably be more the order of the day! This means we brought Father’s day 2014 forward, so good news for my lovely blog followers as the recipes are now here should anyone want to give them a go this weekend! Dad’s never going to get Blancmange in Spain.

Mini fish finger open sarnies

Beef and Stilton shirt & tie pie

Espresso blancmange Martini

For a bit of background on how I ended up with this tantalizing trio, please click here. Not worried? Read on and enjoy!

STARTER

Mini fish finger open sarnies

fishfinger1

50g plain flour
1 egg, beaten
Zest of 1 lemon, plus 1/2tbsp juice, plus lemon wedges, to serve
75g ciabatta breadcrumbs,  plus 4 slices
275g skinless cod fillet, cut into 12 x approx 6cm x 3cm fingers (See Britalian tip)
4tbsp mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic (1 crushed, 1  halved)
Vegetable oil, for shallow frying
Peashoots or watercress, to garnish

1 Place the flour onto a plate. Pour the beaten egg into a shallow dish. Mix the lemon zest into the breadcrumbs, season to taste, then tip onto another plate.

fishfinge step 1 crop

2 Take a piece of fish and dust it in the flour, next dip it in the egg (allowing any excess to drip off) and finally into the breadcrumbs. Chill for 1 hour – this will firm up the fish and make them easier to handle.

3 Meanwhile, mix the mayo with the crushed garlic and lemon juice. Chill until ready to serve.

4 Preheat the grill to hot. Wipe the cut halves of garlic over the ciabatta slices and set aside.

5 Heat the oil in large frying pan, add the fish fingers and cook over a medium heat for 2-3 mins either side until golden-brown and cooked through (you may need to do this in batches – keep already cooked fish fingers warm in a low oven). Remove the fish fingers from the pan and place on kitchen paper to absorb any excess oil.

fish finger strip

6 Literally just show the ciabatta slices to the grill, to warm, then pile on the fish fingers. Add a spoonful of the garlic and lemon mayo and garnish with the watercress or pea shoots. Serve with extra lemon wedges (if you remember – I forgot for the pic!).

Britalian Tip

If you can only get cod fillet with the skin on, you will need approx 350g, when the skin is removed you should have approx 275g of fish left.

MAIN

Beef and Stilton shirt & tie pie

photo 1

Serves 4

2tbsp olive oil
700g stewing steak, cubed
2 red onions, peeled and chopped
200g leek, trimmed and sliced
3tbsp plain flour
500ml beef stock (made with 1 stock cube)
100g Stilton, crumbled
250g chestnut mushrooms, quartered
500g pack shortcrust pastry
1 medium egg, beaten
1tbsp poppy seeds
1tbsp sesame seeds
Steamed Tenderstem broccoli, mini carrots and new potatoes, to serve

ingreds pie crop

1 Heat 1tbsp oil in a large non-stick saucepan, fry the steak for 3-5mins, until browned, remove from the pan and set aside.

2 Heat the remaining oil in the saucepan, add the onion and leeks and cook for 3-5 mins until softened, then return the steak with any juices and mix well.

3 Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually pour in the stock, stirring, season to taste. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer very gently for 1 hour 30mins until the meat is tender, stirring occasionally to make sure the mixture isn’t sticking to the bottom of the pan.

4 Remove from the heat, stir through the Stilton until melted, then stir through the mushrooms. Set aside and allow to cool.

5 Preheat the oven to 200’C, fan 180’C, gas mark 6. Spoon the steak mixture into a 1.5L rectangular oven-proof dish. To make the pastry lid, roll out the pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin, and cut out a rectangle large enough to cover the dish. Reserve the trimmings.

pie strip

6  Dampen the edges of the dish, then press strips of pastry from the trimmings onto the dampened edges, brush with water, cover with the pastry lid, then press the edges to seal. Use the remaining trimmings to make shirt and tie shapes. Secure into place with a little water. Cut a couple of slits along the ‘tie’ for steam to escape.

 pie about to go in oven

7 Brush the ‘tie’ with the beaten egg and decorate with the poppy and sesame seeds, then brush the ‘shirt’ with the remaining egg and place on a baking sheet and bake for 30-35 mins until the pastry is golden. Serve with the steamed vegetables.

PUD

Espresso Martini blancmange

photo 1

36g pack chocolate blancmange
3tbsp caster sugar
500ml whole milk
70ml espresso
300ml double cream
3tbsp Martini Extra Dry
1tbsp icing sugar
12 chocolate coffee beans by Sainsbury’s
Cocoa powder to dust

1 Empty the contents of the pack of blancmange into a bowl, then add the sugar plus 3tbsp of the milk. Mix to a smooth paste.

2 Heat the remaining milk and espresso in a saucepan until warm. Add a little of the warm milky coffee to the paste, mix, then add the remainder and stir well. Return it to the saucepan.

steps espresso martini

3 Bring to the boil, then stirring continuously, simmer gently for 1 minute. Rinse 4 x martini or dessert glasses with cold water and shake to eliminate excess water. Pour in the liquid. Allow to cool to room temperature then chill for 3 hours until set.

4 Very softly whip the cream with the martini and icing sugar. Divide between the dessert glasses, then decorate with the chocolate coffee beans and dust with the cocoa powder.

dessert eaten

‘My lovely dad’ card from the fab https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AbbyRoseCardDesigns

Thanks to Helenka at http://www.ilovemygrub.com/ for inspiring conversation on shirt-shaped food!