A scottish feast

 

Film night at Kitchen Fairies HQ, Macbeth.  

Venison casserole, neeps and tatties with spring greens seemed appropriate.  The venison, however was much more Yorkshire than Scotland - from Bracewell's in Todmorden Market Hall.

Onion

Olive oil

Garlic

Bay leaves

Venison

Flour

Carrots

Mushrooms

Red wine

Stock

Worcestershire sauce

Tinned tomatoes

Potatoes

Swede

Butter

Cabbage

1.  Gently fry chopped onion in olive oil, add bay leaves and crushed garlic.

2.  Add venison, brown slightly.  Sprinkle with flour and fry for a minute or so.

3.  Add chopped carrots and mushrooms, then half a bottle of red wine.  Simmer for a few minutes to let the alcohol evaporate.

4.  Add stock and a tin of chopped tomatoes, and a splash of worcestershire sauce.

5.  Simmer for about 2 hours, adding more stock/water if necessary.

6.  Peel potatoes and swede, and boil.

7.  Mash potatoes and swede with butter, and plenty of black pepper.  If there is time pop into the oven to brown the top.

8.  Steam the cabbage.

9.  Serve, scoff.

Squib pie

 

Film night at KitchenFairies HQ again - which means firing up the imagination (and Google).  The film was Official Secrets, and the whistleblower was employed by GCHQ - so I found some traditional Gloucestershire recipes.  Well one (and adapted it a bit) - and we had double gloucester and crackers for "pudding".

The traditional squib pie would have been made with mutton, onions and apples - flavoured with nutmeg - and baked for 2 hours.

We don't like pudding with dinner so omitted nutmeg, but I did include the apple - bulked it out a bit with swede and potato.  It worked very well!

Onions

Olive oil

Diced lamb

Swede

Potato

Apple

Flour

Stock

Flour

Butter

Plain yogurt

1.  Sweat off chopped onion in olive oil.

2.  Add diced lamb and brown a bit.

3.  Chop swede, potato and apples into small dice, add to the meat mixture.  Season.

4.  Stir and cook a bit, then add a spoonful of flour and sir in - to help thicken the gravy.  Pour in a pint or so of stock and simmer until its cooked.

5.  Meanwhile make the pastry, rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs, add a spoonful of plain yogurt and work into a paste.  Chill for at least 30 mins.

6.  Keep stirring the meat mixture.  When it's reduced down transfer to a pie dish, cover with foil, and put in a medium oven to keep cooking gently.

7.  Roll out pastry and cover the meat mixture with it.  Wash with soya milk (or dairy milk).

8.  Bake at 180 for 35-40 minutes.

9.  Steam carrots and cabbage.

10.  Serve, scoff ... was delicious.

Bobotie with geelrys

 

It was film night again, at Kitchenfairies HQ.  Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom. So, I thought I would make the South African national dish - Bobotie.  I had never made it before, and have an aversion to "pudding with me dinner" ie. sweet in savoury, so I toned down the fruitiness - but kept some.  I was also a bit wary of savoury custard over the spiced mince, but it works well.  The traditional accompanying geelrys also usually has dried fruit in it - that would have taken me over the edge - so perhaps this was really more of a pilau.  It was delish all the same.

Bobotie

Onion

Garlic

Olive oil

Butternut squash

Minced beef

Curry powder

Grated apple

Mango chutney

Stock

Worcestershire sauce

Frozen peas

Soya milk (or dairy milk, if you're not lactose intolerant)

Bay leaves

4 eggs

Geelry

Onion

Olive oil

Cinnamon

Turmeric

Basmati rice

Stock

1.  Soften chopped onion and garlic in olive oil.

2.  Peel butternut squash and cut into small dice, add to the onion.

3.  Add minced meat to the vegetables and brown.

4.  Add curry powder to taste (I used mild caribbean, with a little black pepper) and keep cooking.  Add stock and simmer for a few minutes.

5.  Heat soya milk with a few bay leaves.

6.  Add grated apple and a couple of big spoons full of mango chutney to the meet.  Simmer again.  When the mince is just about done add a handful of frozen peas and a good splash of worcestershire sauce, stir in.

7.  Transfer to and oven dish and bake at 180 for about 20 minutes.

8.  Start the geelrys by frying finely chopped onion in olive oil.  Add cinnamon and turmeric, then add basmati rice and turn in the spice mixture until every grain is coated.  Add stock to 1 inch about the surface of the and bring to the boil.  Ass soon as it hits the boil, slam on the lid and turn it down as far as it will go.

7.  As soon as the milk hits the boil turn it off, remove the bay leaves, and let it cool a little.  Whip together the eggs.

8.  Pour the milk onto the eggs and whip together quickly (if the milk is too hot it'll just be scrambled eggs, so do let it cool a bit).  Return to the saucepan and keep whisking as it thickens a bit.

9.  Pour the custard over the meat mixture, and bake for a further 20 minutes.

10.  Serve, scoff, with a bit of salad ... have seconds ... no really - it was fab!  Quite astonishing for something which was pudding with yer dinner.