In a short series of pie posts (two, to be honest), I thought I’d share my very easy approach to Shepherds/Cottage pie. And a real quick cheat’s version.

Again, start with a pan of spuds.

Gently fry a finely diced onion and carrot for about five minutes, then add mince (lamb or beef depending on your pie of choice) and fry until golden. This is all about building up layers of flavour at this stage. Drain off a little of the fat and stir through a dessertspoon of plain flour to thicken the gravy.

Add hot stock – beef, lamb or Swiss bouillon powder, plenty of black pepper and a small pinch of mixed herbs. A teaspoon of mustard is great with beef or the same of tomato puree with lamb. A squirt of Worcester sauce (or if you’re lucky enough to live far enough north to get Henderson’s Relish) is always a winner.

Simmer this for about 20 mins while the potatoes cook. With a slotted spoon, remove the meat and veg to an ovenproof dish, reserving the gravy for later. Top with mash and smoosh up the surface a bit so it crisps up. Crispy bits rule.

Cook in a hot oven, as above, for about 20 – 30 mins until golden and erupting like a little meaty volcano. Serve with the warmed gravy, peas and beans.

The picture’s of a recent experiment with a sliced potato topping – uses fewer spuds so is probably a bit healthier. I just topped with a couple of layers of finely sliced potatoes instead of mash and sprinkled a little cheese over the top. I’m not that good at doing healthy, really.

And here’s the cheat’s version – I’m going to call it Rustler’s Pie as we’re using someone else’s beef…

I’m with Delia on rating M&S tins quite highly – I was brought up eating stewed steak, mash and veg and still love it. The M&S chunky steak is lovely and warmed in a pan with half cup of stock, a handful of peas and a finely diced carrot makes a great instant base for a cottage pie. Top with mash, as above and whack it in a hot oven.

Purists may not like it – but what the hell’s wrong with knocking up a cottage pie  in half an hour when you’re hungry and in need of comfort food.

I can’t eat any of these without lots of bread and butter to mop up the gravy. And some ale.

It was quite strange to find out in my 20s that what I’d eaten all my life as spag bol was really nothing of the sort. It was ragu and it’s supposed to go with wide pasta.

And since I’ve discovered a more authentic version of Bolognese I’d got out of the habit of making the ragu that I’d grown up eating. I can’t recommend the Bolognese highly enough and there’s always a few tubs of it in the freezer, but there’s something about the food the way your mum used to cook it that somehow makes it taste better.

I was given a pasta machine for Christmas and it was playing about making ravioli and tagliatelle which reminded me it had been a couple of years since I’d knocked up a proper ragu.

So here’s my (or rather, mostly my mum’s) spag bol sauce – or ragu if we’re being pedantic about it. It’s rich, herby and smells like nothing else on earth while it’s simmering away.

Although it’s quick to prepare, I allow at least an hour for cooking time so often make a big pot on a weekend to freeze in batches for quick midweek teas.

This is all about building up flavours so start by frying some smoked streaky bacon, pancetta or lardons. When they’re really crispy they come out and into their fat goes a pack of beef mince until its well browned. Again, remove and add finely chopped onion and garlic to the pan.

Fry until translucent and add veg – peppers, courgettes, mushrooms are all good but keep them in biggish chunks so they don’t all break up. Many traditional recipes start with a soffritto, but I personally think that to add carrot or celery would be the work of a madman. Up to you.

I’ll put a lid on this now for five minutes or so to let the veg sweat and give out its flavour to the sauce. Turn up the heat, pour in a glass of red wine and let it bubble away until it’s reduced by about half. Now add the meats back into the pan and stir in a good squeeze of tomato puree.

Add a tin of plum tomatoes (chop them up a bit) and use a jug of beef stock (about 400ml) to swill out any of the tomato juice left in the can. Grind in plenty of black pepper – salt it in about half an hour though once it’s cooked down a bit.

The last ingredient is mixed herbs or herbes de Provence. Put a good pinch in and then grind up another good pinch in the palm of your hand to a fine powder – it makes a mess but it infuses the sauce with great flavour.

Cook with a lid on for about 20mins and uncovered for at least another 40mins until it’s cooked down to a thick, rich, stewy sauce.

Stir through pappardelle, stuff it into ravioli or spoon on top of a pile of spaghetti and call it spag bol. Best served with the rest of the wine you opened and lots of parmesan and ground black pepper.

Lamb and leek sausage casserole

I had a new year’s email from the nice chaps at WordPress this week with lots of useful facts and figures about my blog.

I sort of keep an eye on the stats I see in terms of how many people are reading, but I don’t really have much of an idea whether what I write is being read. It’s nice to think it might be and I was surprised and chuffed that my recipes have been viewed nearly 6,000 times in 2010 (enough to fill 14 Boeing 747s apparently!). So thanks to all who dropped by to pick up and easy tea or two. Probably mostly my mum, though.

Still, spurred on by the thought that I’m not alone, I thought I’d share the list of most popular easy teas for 2010 – everybody else is doing new year countdowns…

1. Sausage Casserole

2. Cheat’s Chicken Casserole

3. Fish pie

4. Speedy beef Stroganoff

5. Slow Roast Moroccan lamb

I made the cheat chicken casserole last night so that’s at the top of my favourites list right now. Heartily recommended to keep out the recent arctic chill and only about 15 minutes’ work involved.

Interesting to see that comfort food makes up most of the list – I had the sort of 2010 where I needed lots of that too. I’ve got a few ideas up my sleeve for this month, starting with a few all-in-one ‘trayroasts’. I’m also trying to find more interesting things to do with fish as I want to eat more of it.

Happy New Year!

Giant Yorkshire pudding with lots of good stuff inside

I have a slightly odd relationship with Yorkshire puddings. As a kid I never liked them (which for me translates as wouldn’t try them) and it wasn’t until I went to live in York and saw these massive Yorkshires filled with meat, veg and gravy and I really gave them a try. I then went to live in Germany with a landlord who was obsessed with finding the perfect Yorkshire pudding recipe – he couldn’t get them to rise. Being British, I immediately became his onsite expert – despite the fact I’d never cooked one before in my life.

It wasn’t until I saw Brian Turner share his mum’s method on tv and hastily scribbled it down a couple of years ago that I regularly started making Yorkshires (and giant ones and toad-in-the-hole). It never fails to deliver perfect crispy well-risen results.

You don’t need to measure anything, just use the same volumes of ingredients – egg, milk, flour.

First thing to work out is the volume of egg. So grab two identical cups (mugs/ramekins, whatever) and crack an egg into one. Into the other, pour plain flour until it fills the cup to the same level as the egg in the other one. Add a pinch of salt to the flour.

Put the egg into a mixing bowl and pour milk into the cup it’s just come out of up to the same level as the flour. Add a dash of vinegar to the milk.

Pour the flour and milk into the bowl with the egg and whisk all the ingredients into a smooth batter. While this is left to stand for 10 minutes or so, put a little fat (from beneath the roast for flavour, or a little cooking oil if you’re not roasting) into the tin you’re using and get it good and hot in an oven set to about 200 degC. Pour batter into the tin or divide into a muffin tin for individual Yorkshires and give it about 15 mins in the oven – keep an eye on it so the tops don’t burn. These should rise a good two or three inches above the tin.

For the giant Yorkshires, I used a pair of seven inch cake tin and made a double amount of batter (i.e. volumes based on two eggs.) Never done it before (always bought frozen ones) so was a bit nervous they’d collapse or not rise, but it worked a treat. If they rise in the middle as well, just press them down as you take them out of the oven.

Straight from the oven - flatten down the middle

For the filling we always use tinned mince or chunky steak (M&S version is surprisingly good) as a really quick way of getting this tea on the table. With a few boiled spuds and carrots/beans/broccoli/peas in the Yorkshires before the meat and gravy go in it’s a good way of helping with the old five a day too. I’ve also done it with fried mince and onions, a little flour then stock and herbs to make gravy but it does turn something simple into a bit more of a faff and makes for more washing up. I’ve just made Yorkshire puddings from scratch, for goodness sake, I’m allowed to cut a few corners!

I know people turn their noses up at tinned mince/stewed steak but I’ve always been a fan (largely due to a deep love of anything served in gravy) and while I’m sure there are plenty that live up to their dogfoodesque appearance, even Delia uses the M&S mince so it must be OK.

Anyway, it’s a bloody good midweek tea that’ll make you feel like you’ve knocked up a roast dinner in less than half and hour.

Cheers Brian.

The meat is not cooked for long so is best with fillet (although sirloin and rump are both fine too). See what’s on offer this week!This all cooks really quickly so you need to get everything cut up first. Slice the steak into thin strips then slice an onion, clove of garlic and a handful of mushrooms. While you’re doing that, get a wide frying pan good and hot.

Now quickly seal the steak – fry until you get a good brown colour – for a minute or two, no more. Remove the meat to a plate and add the veg to the pan and fry for a couple of minutes. Once it’s starting to cook, dust over a teaspoon of flour and about four teaspoons of paprika. Stir this around so it coats the veg and let it cook for a minute or two. If you happen to have brandy in the house, pour in a generous capful and let it flame – it’s a bit showy but it does add a depth to the flavour. The alternative is to add a little wine vinegar.

Now add about a mugful of beef bouillon to put out the fire and stir well so that the paprika and flour mix in and start to thicken. I let this reduce down for about 10 minutes or so before returning the beef to the pan and adding two tablespoons of creme fraiche (healthier and less likely to split than cream). This literally just needs to warm through – any longer and you run the risk of the steak going tough – it should still be pink in the middle and sauce should be thick, rich and marbled from the cream/paprika.

That’s it – all done in about 20 minutes. You do see it served with noodles or fried potatoes but I prefer rice.

You can use beef mince or casserole/stewing beef for this – the later makes a really hearty chilli stew which is good for tacos or fajita wraps.

So, fry the mince until browned. Remove to a dish and fry an onion and a roughly chopped red pepper and chilli in the juices from the meat along with two cloves of garlic. Once the onion is on its way return the meat to the pan and it’s time to add some spices.

For a 500g pack of mince, I use a good two teaspoons of cumin, about five of paprika and one of turmeric. If you like it hot, add some chilli powder and a pinch of cayenne too. Let this cook for a few minutes before adding a tin of tomatoes a few squirts of tomato puree and enough beef stock to generously cover the meat. Get this up to the boil then back to barely simmering and cook for about an hour. Check it regularly to make sure it doesn’t go too dry or stick to the pan.

You should end up with a thick, spicy, unctuous sauce which is great with rice and a little sour cream on the side. It keeps very well and I think is often better a day or two after being made. Great to make a batch on the weekend and keep it portioned up in the freezer too for a really quick tea.

Sausage pasta simmering

This is pretty much my all-purpose pasta sauce recipe (the tomato version, anyway – see below for the cheese version). Tonight I’m making it with sausages cos they were on offer in Marksies – got up too late for the market this Saturday. We eat it with turkey quite often too for a good low fat version.

Start by browning the sausages in a wide pan. Once they’ve got some good colour and you’re starting to get some colour in the pan, remove to a plate.

Now fry a diced onion, clove of garlic, chopped courgette and a couple of sliced mushrooms. I’ve used a couple of diced carrots too as they looked a bit sad on their own – I don’t really hold with adding carrots to pasta sauce as a rule though! Peppers would have been good – fresh or charred from a jar.

Once the veg has fried until the onion is translucent, pop a lid on for about five minutes or so to let them sweat – it releases flavour into the pan that should already be mingling with all the juices from the sausages. Pour in a glug of booze to help things along. I’m using a little port as there’s no red open. Any wine works OK.

Stir this about a bit to get all the bits off the bottom of the pan and add a tin of plum tomatoes and about a mugful of stock. Give it a few squirts of tomato puree, bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer. Add a good grind of black pepper and some mixed herbs/herbes de Province. Dried herbs are great in anything that’s going to simmer for a while but I think they’re better if you really grind them up in the palm of your hand before you add them. They sort of dissolve into the sauce for great background flavour then.

I’m not going to bang on about the quality of sausages cos I’ve already done that elsewhere, but tonight’s are M&S organic chipolatas – two packs for £4. Top quality and an absolute bargain.

Anyway, simmer the sauce for about 20-30 minutes until it’s thickened and the veggies are cooked through. Now put the meat back into the pan for a last 10-15  minutes until cooked through – check it’s piping hot throughout. A few fresh herbs like thyme and basil are a good last minute addition if you have them.

While the meat’s cooking you’ve got time to cook a pan of pasta – tagliatelle’s good with this.

If you’ve got a bit more time on your hands, stir through some cooked fusilli or penne, pour into an oven proof dish and spread a torn up ball of mozzarella over the top – bake in a medium oven until the cheese melts and starts to brown. Awesome.

Easy creamy cheese sauce for pasta

This is good with fish or chicken & chorizo. To the fried meat, add a slug of white wine and lemon juice and reduce for a few minutes. Stir in a few tablespoons of creme fraiche and a small handful of strong cheddar or parmesan and warm until the cheese melts. Very easy and tasty.

This takes about an hour to cook but the prep time’s about 15 mins. So you can get it sorted as you walk through the door and go and do something else for an hour while it does its thing in the oven. So they’re also good if you’re expecting guests too.

First make the meatballs. I tend to use lean mince to keep the fat content down (unlike burgers where you need a bit of fat to keep them moist). Put a pack of mince into a bowl. A normal 500g pack give serves 2 to 3 hungry people but would probably stretch to 4.

To the mince add salt and pepper and a teaspoon or two of ground cumin and coriander (seeds). The spice just provides some depth of flavour – you won’t taste the individual spices but there’s a nice background warmth to the meatballs.

Now get your hands in and give it a good mix, really squeezing the dry ingredients into the mince. If you want to taste it now, pull off a small bit of the mixture and quickly fry it – good idea to check there’s enough seasoning.

Form up the meatballs into whatever size you want, depending on how many you’re trying to serve. I think smaller’s better as they’re easier to eat with pasta so I make mine about an inch in diameter at the most.

Brown off the meatballs in batches so that they aren’t too crowded in the pan. If you’ve got a casserole you can use on the stove do it in that here or use a frying pan, either way, remove the meatballs to a separate plate as they brown.

Next fry a chopped onion, garlic and a diced red pepper (and/or mushrooms) in the fat and juices that have come out into the meatball pan until soft. Throw in a glug of red wine and let it bubble away for a few minutes. At this point, if you’re using a frying pan you need to transfer the mix into a casserole dish.

Return the meatballs to the dish, add a tin of tomatoes and chop them up a bit if they’re not ready-chopped. Add enough stock so that the meatballs are completely covered – for me that’s usually about a 1/4 of a pint but it’ll vary by size of dish. Put a lid on it.

This now goes in the oven (170 C) for about 40 minutes. After that time the sauce should be reduced by about a third. If it’s not thick enough, give it 10 minutes on the stove or turn up the oven and take off the lid.

If you’re feeling fruity, you can tear up a ball of mozzarella, scatter it over the top of the sauce and give it five minutes in the oven with the lid off to melt. It’s well worth it!

We usually eat this with spaghetti or linguine and the rest of the red wine that was opened for cooking.

And I must give credit to my friend Mark who first made this for us about six years ago – I’ve been pretty much making it monthly ever since.

Salted cucumber before it's squeezed out

I found a yellowed newspaper clipping that I’d ripped out in the summer of 1997 – a recipe for tsatsiki that been meaning to get round to for 12 years!

I studied in Germany for  a year in 1996 and was fortunate to be invited to join in with my landlord’s family barbecues. I still think Bratwurst are just about the best thing in the world to cook on a bbq and it was also my first taste of this brilliant Greek sauce or dip which goes so well with grilled meat. Which I guess is why I spotted this recipe in what I think looks like the Telegraph.

It only needs about 5 minutes’ prep and I made some quick beef kebabs to go with it, although I’m going to do it again next time I cook burgers or sausages.

First roughly grate about six inches of cucumber into a bowl. Sprinkle over a good pinch of salt and leave it for 20 minutes – the salt draws out the water from the cucumber so that it’s not soggy in the sauce.

Once 20 mins are up, you need to squeeze out the liquid. Take handfuls of the cucumber at a time and squeeze as much water out as you can. Put the cucumber back into a clean bowl. Add a smooshed up clove of garlic, about a tablespoon of chopped mint leaves (or a teaspoon of dried mint), salt and pepper and a pot of natural/Greek style yoghurt (250g pot, I think but anything between 200 and 300 will probably work ok). Stir this all together and pour in a tablespoon of olive oil as you stir.

To go with the sauce I made some curried beef kebabs – like shami kebab patties as I was cooking on the griddle, but you could always shape them round skewers for the grill or bbq.

Simplicity itself to make. To a bowl of lean mince, I added about four teaspoons of chat spice mix (cos I spotted it in Tesco and the name amused me in a highly juvenile way) and a squeeze of lemon juice. Get your hands in to mix the spice and meat together then pinch off a small amount, fry it quickly and taste. You may need more spice, or if you can taste the spice but it’s a bit bland, add more salt. Once you’re happy, form them into small patties or round skewers and cook for about 15 mins until they’re done all the way through.

Other spice mixes which work well are jerk/Jamaican all purpose seasoning, garam masala, good madras curry powder or make your own – dry fry a teaspoon of cumin seed, corriander seed, black peppercorns and dried chilli flakes, add salt and grind in a pestle and mortar.

The next time I’m stuck for an idea to liven up a midweek pork chop or a bit of grilled fish I’m going to try this tsatsiki just because it adds a lively, fresh zing to the meal.

Linguine Bolognese

Bit of cheating going on here as this is one of my absolute favourite mid week teas, but it relies on a little bit of weekend work. It’s a case of making a huge pot of the sauce and then freezing it in about six batches (all of which serve two people).

It’s the most brilliant recipe and it makes the whole house smell amazing. Seriously, if you’re trying to sell your house, make this sauce.

Credit must go to a feisty old Italian lady who Antonio Carluccio was following around in a programme I saw about a year ago. I quickly scribbled what I could remember of the recipe and urge you to try it. Sounds like a faff, but you’re investing in teas to come…

In a big pot, gently fry a chopped onion and some garlic. Then add a pack of minced beef and one of minced lamb. I think packs are about 500g. Once the meat’s coloured add a glass or two of white wine (yes, white) or a slug of dry vermouth. Let that cook for a couple of minutes. Now pour in a whole jar of passata or sieved tomatoes – can’t remember how big a jar is, whatever the standard supermarket size is. Also, a mug or two of stock (Marigold powder or a cube).

Now, get that back to the boil then turn right down to the lowest setting on the smallest ring and let it gently blip away for three hours. Yes, three. That’s what makes the house smell so good. The result will be thick and unctuous and intensely meaty and tomatoey. It’s brilliant. You serve two big serving spoons of sauce per person so that’s how best to portion it up for the fridge or freezer.

To serve – the 12 minute bit once you’ve defrosted a portion from the freezer – cook a pan of your favourite pasta. I like long pasta with this so spaghetti, linguine or tagliatelle. Put one big spoon of the sauce per person into a wide frying pan and warm it up. Then add the cooked pasta to the sauce and stir it so it’s coated. That’s it – parmesan on top and you’re good to go. A slow-cooked bolognese sauce, midweek in the time it takes to make a cup of tea.