Lamb Potato & Caramelized Onion Pies with chilli, coriander & ginger

Every now & again you cook something and you just sit there open mouthed looking at the other person eating saying a few things that I cannot really repeat here. These Pies are one of those moments…..I said GOD DAM

Been pretty addicted to the whole pie making business ever since I bought my 6 large muffin baking tray. So far I have cooked Steak Mushroom & Onion pies, Chicken & Leek Pies, Chicken Curry Pies & also Potato & Roasted Vegetable Mini Quiches. This time out I wanted to cook something with lamb & Chilli as I had a friend over for dinner who liked all of the above so we were in for a treat.

The principle behind this pie is identical in method to the Steak/Mushroom pie but this time I used lamb pieces. I caramelized the onion in brown sugar and I also added 3 green devil eye chillis to give the sauce a real punch. Also in the sauce added some grated fresh ginger root & fresh coriander which really compliments all the flavours going on.

Beef Bourguignon

This French classic still very much has a place in the modern kitchen. That place namely being like it was today, freezing cold outside and you wanting something really heavy to warm you from the inside out.

I cooked this dish in a saucepan but it can also be done in a casserole dish and in the oven – if you are cooking it in an oven you would want to cook it at 140C

Wallenbergare

GROUP D: Sweden

I have been told that Wallenbergare is typical Swedish. I had talked about making some meatballs but when I got this recommendation from a Swedish colleague I decided to go for this.

Yet again I learned something new while undertaking this European Championships Kitchen. I had to really stop myself when making this recipe as when you combine all the ingredients I had the feeling that the mixture was way too moist (I really wanted to added either flour or breadcrumbs to it). Due to this moistness in the mixture the meat is encrusted in a sort of omelette texture during the cooking process. The end result really is delicious.

I served Wallenbergare with a creamy mashed potato and frozen peas (very traditional appartently).  It is all served with a deliciously simple cream sauce. The recipe can be found here:

Beef and Guinness Stew

Group C: The Republic of Ireland

Ireland are back in a Major Championships for the first time in 10 years and I wanted to do something special for the occasion. This stew is placed in an oven for 2-3 hours so once you get it together you can just sit back and relax. A tip I would give on it would be to get a good quality beef as then your meat will be very tender.

If you are interested in more Irish recipes here at Food Devil why not check out my Irish section which you can find here:

Pork Fillet with a Rosemary & Sage stuffing

I have memories of eating this quite a bit when I was younger so when I wanted to make something for Easter dinner this came to mind. The stuffing that I used is different than my regular basil one. This time I used Rosemary & Sage as they compliment the pork perfectly.

I was unable to find any bakers string so I took out a needle and thread to test those home economics skills when I wanted to bind it together. You wrap the pork up completely in Ton Foil & place in the oven for 50 minutes…you open it up for the last 10 minutes. Then let it stand wrapped in the tin foil before you serve it.

Also my apologies for the serious lack of photos at the end but in my haste to serve the Easter Dinner I completely forgot to snap the final product but you can trust me it was delicious. I serve it with Potato Gratin, Cauliflower with White Sauce, carrots, gravy and of course homemade Apple sauce.

Roast Pepper, Tomato & Chilli Soup

This soup really is an old favourite of mine, so much so I was  really surprised that I had not posted it already. The Soup has 3 simple ingredients (peppers, tomatoes & chilli) that all work together in the cooking process to give an amazing flavour.

I have tweaked the original recipe over the years to have twice as many peppers as when I first made it as I really love the sweetness that you get when you roast a pepper.

The only thing you really need for this soup is time, as you will find the process of just getting the ingredients ready can take almost an hour. The soup itself is ready quite quickly after that. As always when you use chilli’s the amount you use is really all about personal taste. Personally I hardly ever cook the soup with the seeds from the chilli included or if I do I only add a few as if you use too much chilli the heat/spiciness can overpower the other subtle flavours that are going on.

Chicken Soup

My thoughts on food have always been that it should be practical and suit the need & purpose for what you want. This soup fits that bill perfectly. This recipe is more or less 100% 'a hangover cure'. Although it is mighty tasty I only seem to cook it to cure a bad hangover….hence the reason why I use the soup mixes. The soup is very easy to get together and when it is ready it will really come to your aid and make your recovery day that little bit more bearable.

On the Soup mixture discussion I like to make a 1.5 litre soup with half of the stock coming from the soup mixture. So use enough soup mixture to make 0.75lt of soup. If you can try combining cream of vegetable & chicken soup for best results

Roast Turkey

With Christmas around the Corner I thought it best to upload the recipe from how I Roast a Turkey and also how I Honey-roast my Ham at Christmas. Whenever people go on to me about Christmas dinner they always say how stressful it is and also how dry the Turkey was etc.

Honey Roasted Ham

A real favourite of mine at Christmas but in all honesty it can be eaten all year round if you can get your hands on some good Ham. The Ham comes in 2 stages. Firstly you need to boil it – you can do this the day before.
 
Secondly you roast it – it only takes 60 minutes, so do this while the Turkey is resting in the Aluminum Foil

You will need aprox 250g per person – again cook more as it is really delicious  as leftovers

Tartiflette

The French most certainly know how to cook & if I was to undertake any type of cooking course it would most definitely be in French Cuisine. 
So it really excites me when I come onto a French classic that I was not aware of before. The Tartiflette has its origins in the French Alps & when you eat it you can certainly see why. The Crème Fraiche & Wine combined with your cooked potato with the mixture of melted Reblochon Cheese on top is very delicious. The one thing I have learned on this recipe is that it needs Reblochon….so seek the cheese out and try it…..you will not be disappointed

Leek and Potato Soup

A real old favourite of mine. What I love about this soup is the simplicity in the flavours in the soup itself can be completely jazzed up with your choice of toppings that you want to add to the soup.

Minestrone Soup

Minestrone Soup is one of the cornerstones of Italian cuisine. It is essentially a vegetable broth with whatever vegetables are in season at that moment. So if you do not like one of the vegetables below you can easily remove it. Also if you want it vegetarian just remove the bacon.

The process of getting it together is actually fairly simple. The one comment I would make with my own recipe is that I was unable to locate an Italian bean such as cannellini or borlotti so I used red kidney beans. If your beans are fresh or dried you would need to obviously cook them first.

French Onion Soup

This old favourite is very simple to make. You will naturally caramelize your onions & then cook in beef stock before adding a toasted baguette and gooey cheese. I like to use up to 3 different types of onions to give the soup extra taste & flavour.

Creamy Onion Soup

You know only one thing with this post….Winter is coming. From a food perspective I really like European Winters, it means you can start to enjoy your soups again & also more hearty meals like Irish Stew, Goulash Soup, Chicken Stroganoff and of course Lamb or Steak Pies.

Sausage Pie

Nothing quite beats a potato crust pie. That super creamy mashed potato with a crust will always compliment whatever is beneath it. When I have the time I would always try to prepare my Shepherds Pie recipe but the Sausage Pie is a very tasty quick & cheap alternative.

Spaghetti Bolognese

There are many ways to make a Spaghetti Bolognese & the debates on what is the best one are far ranging. For myself I like to keep it simple with 3 steps.

Step 1: When I make one I like to always make my Tomato Sauce
Step 2: Then separately I like to brown my mince & let half a glass of red wine absorb completely into the mince. After this has done I will now blend the meat in a food processor, the main reason I do this is twofold:
1.    The mince can be quite tough & blending it will really break it up & make it very tender
2.    The blended mince when added to your tomato sauce will now race up & down each individual piece of spaghetti when you serve it.
Step 3: I will fry some finely chopped onions, carrots & green pepper with garlic & chilli. Then I will add the tomato sauce & also blended mince.

Tomato Sauce with Meatballs

The most time consuming part of this recipe is the Tomato Sauce. But once that is cooked a real simple meat ball to add is with Sausage meat. It is all real easy in that you will just squeeze out the sausage meat into even sized balls and cook on medium to high heat.

Then you will add it all together with your cooked pasta & serve with grated cheese

Chicken Stroganoff

This recipe is a very old favourite of mine, now that the Winter is coming it will start to be on my weekly menu more often. What I love about it is the unique character you can give it. The basis of the meal is all about the flour & spices mixture. You want to have a consistency of 2:1 here. What this mixture will do is to give the sauce an amazing flavour while also acting to thicken up your chicken stock.

Also the beauty of this mixture is that you can really make it your own. So you can make it as spicy as you want, add other spices to it or even add dried herbs if you so wish. Really just play around with it and you will discover what you like & don’t like. Everything is cooked in a Large Wok so after you brown the chicken your onions/mushrooms are also cooked in the same oil so they immediately get the flavour from the spices.

This recipe works great for a mid-week dish and also can be cooked for a more serious dinner as like I said the flavour is very natural & delicious. I always serve it with potatoes but it also works with rice , whichever you prefer.

Steak Mushroom & Onion Pies

Finally the search for a suitable meat pie casing has come to an end. I combed many a website for the perfect one but in the end I found a very large muffin baking tray, it worked perfectly. The beauty of this method is that you can buy sheets of frozen pastry (flaky puff pastry) that fit perfectly into each meat pie so that all you need to use is different meat sauces as the pastry is easily available in your freezer. You want to find a pastry that is butter based & not oil/yeast based, this pastry will give the pie a beautiful flaky texture.

Previously I have made a Chicken & Leek Pie during the World Cup Kitchen but this time I wanted to make a more traditional meat pie filling. I went for a Steak Mushroom & Onion Pie. The key when making the meat sauce is: more time the better. In the recipe I say cook it for 2.5 hours but the longer the better. Turn the sauce temperature right down and let the sauce stew away would be the best philosophy. Let the mixture cool completely before you add it into the Pastry casings.

Day 18: Slovakian Goulash Soup

Day 18
The Netherlands 2 Slovakia 1
Brazil 3 Chile 0

 

I have just returned from a weekend in Budapest and I had the below soup or a variation of it every day for my lunch. I know the paprika is Hungarian but the Goulash is also a very popular dish in Slovakia.

The rule of tongue with this soup is to really let the beef simmer away for as long as you can, as the longer you leave it the more tender it will become.