Goulash - well my easy tasty interpretation of it!

I'm sure I'm not the only person in the UK who is glad to see the back of our frankly, rubbish summer and is welcoming the dark and cosy nights of autumn with open arms (maybe not this much rain though!)

Autumn is all about slow cooked pieces of meat that melt in your mouth and strong rich flavours for me and this goulash is spot on.

Sorry all the veggies for the 'melt in the mouth' comment. You can also make this goulash with some chunky portabello mushrooms and a teaspoon of marmite / other yeast extract.

You will need:

1lb stewing steak (cubed into bite size pieces, dont be too finnicky about trimming off the fat)
1 big sweet potato (slighty bigger bits than the beef if you can)
4 medium sized carrot (slightly smaller bits than the beef)
6 teaspoons of paprika (I like 3 each of both normal and smoked paprika) - yes, really that much!
Small bottle of red wine (250ml)
2 cloves of garlic
Dessert spoon of tomato paste
1 red onion, chunky chopped

In a big frying pan, gently cook the onion garlic and tomato paste in olive oil, after a couple of minutes, turn up the heat and add the beef and paprika. Keep stirring until all the beef is sealed.

Tip it all into a big casserole dish then add the red wine to frying pan (this will pick up all the bits off the bottom of the pan), then tip that into the casserole dish aswell.

Add the sweet potato and carrot to the dish and top up with some freshly boiled water out of the kettle.

Put a lid on and cook on a low oven (140C) for two hours, or longer if you like! Stir in a bit of flour mashed with butter to thicken (or even some gravy granules) if you like your sauce thick.

Serve with a dollop of soured cream and fluffy white rice ( you could serve with another starchy carb, but I think the clean taste of the rice contrasts wonderfully with the rich goulash)

Enjoy, pics when mine comes out of the oven!

sunkiss tomato and almond pesto

What's in the fridge tonight? Well there was some fresh pasta we got in and some chicken breast fillets. I also had the leftover tomatoes and ham from the Tomato and Prosciutto Tart the other night. Flicking through a few recipes online (I was looking for some pasta sauce inspiration but didn't want anything too tomatoey or too cheesy) I can across pesto recipies using almonds...bingo! Almonds on the 'baking' shelf in my cupboard.

So after chargrilling the chicken strips on the griddle with a splash of oil and lemon juice, this is what I did next...

Put a handful of flaked almonds in a dry pan and keep them moving around so they brown but don't burn.

Add them to a bowl with:
a handful of sunkiss tomatoes
tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
tablespoon of strong grated cheese (I had a cheddar with some pickled onion in, tasty!)
handful of fresh basil
pinch of dried italian herb blend

Blitz with a stick blender until a thick paste.

Stir into freshly cooked hot pasta with another glug of oil and salt and pepper. Tear in a couple of slices of proscuitto and top with fresh basil leaves and chargrilled strips of chicken.


Enjoy!
abz x

Tomato and Proscuitto Tart

Tea for one tonight, and not really in the mood to stand and chop or stir, so my lazy, but indulgent tea tonight is a ready rolled puff pastry tart!




Ready rolled pastry has really taken off recently with 'just roll' leading the brands, however, the convenience queen in me loves ASDA own brand puff, as it's already on baking paper!
Whichever you buy and what ever you're planning to do with it, make sure it stays cold. Warm pastry gets sticky, is hard to manouver and doesn't crisp so good!

All convenience aside, I'd love to have the time to stand and make my own rough puff, but as I said this is a lazy night, so another day/post!

The co-op do some great deli bits and one of the things I absolutely adore is their sunkiss tomatoes. They're not chewy like some dried ones are but have that gorgeous intense flavour of sundried tomato, I can just pick away at a box of them.........sorry tempatation's too much *saunters off to kitchen*.

Anyway!
They are even better paired with a scrunched up bit of proscuitto or serrano ham, ideal on a tart!

• Cut your pastry down to size (or do what I did and reassembled left over bits from the other nights Goat cheese and caramelised red onion tart remenants)

• Draw your border around the edge (to get nice puffy sides)

• 'paint' the inside of your tart - pesto, cream cheese, tomato paste and leftover smooshed minty peas have all worked well in the past! only a thin layer, not too soggy!

•  Top with your favourite flavour combinations, or whatever's left in the fridge! 'shred it all up into bite size pieces before arranging. I always finish with a sprinkle of cheese and some fresh herbs, usually Mr basil :).

• Brush the edges with milk or a beaten egg and cook in the oven on a 170 fan or 180C normal oven for 15mins, or untill puffed up and golden.

It's that quick I've been eating mine and typing one handed!

Of course, with a nice salad and some posh bread it can be a little bit more sophisticated :)

Feel free to share your favourite fillings!

Spring Lamb Stew

Now I know summer is not the season for stew, but with all the rubbish rain recently, we all needed a bowl of something warm and comforting. This gives just that, without the rich autumnal punch of my Classic Beef Stew.

You will need:

300g approx of cubed lamb neck fillet  (into bitesize pieces), seasoned.
handful of baby new potatoes (into bitesize pieces)
2 handfuls of chanternay carrots(or normal will do) (into bitesize pieces)
a leek trimmed, halfed and sliced thinly ( slice in half and run under the tap with root end pointing upwards to remove any trapped dirt!)
2 big shallots (finely chopped)
1/2 mug of frozen peas
lamb stock cube
mint sauce
1/2 glass of white wine
splash of olive oil
big knob of butter

IN  A BIG PAN

• cook the shallot until soft in the olive oil, then add the lamb chunks, stir gently until browned.
• pour in the white wine, crumble in the stock cube and add enough water untill the lamb hunks are covered by about and inch. Leave this so it's just bubbling on a low heat for about an hour, give it an occasional stir and top up the water if necessary.
• In a small saucepan - cook the leeks off gently in half the butter until they're soft, then turn off the heat.
• Now the lamb has been cooking for a bit, throw in the carrots and potato, top up with boiling water so everything is covered and cook on a medium heat for 15 mins.
• check the potato and carrot has cooked through, then add the leeks, frozen peas and a heaped teaspoon of mint sauce.
• If you like the gravy thick, mash the butter with a pinch of flour and stir it in gently ( or be lazy and stir in some chicken/lamb gravy granules, adding the butter will make the gravy glossy and even more tasty!)
• Taste to check for seasoning, this is usually the point I add another spoonful of mint sauce!

Enjoy!

Is anybody cooking?

I know I have lots of lovely people who click on my links from facebook, but is anybody trying out the recipes?

If not, at least I'm amassing a virtual cookbook, will save it for the kids when they move out :).

But if you have, could you please let me know? Let me know how you found it.

Even if you were inspired to hit the kitchen,

Please let me know!

Abz xx