Spicy Beef Patties

I roasted some beef the other day and it turned out like a piece of old shoe leather. I was furious but didn't want to waste it. So I turned to my 1956 Constance Spry cookbook and found a section called Rechauffes. That's Rissoles/Patties/Croquet's to me and you and means reheated. Here is my recipe for the very unglamourously titled Beef Patties. True, they are a bit of a faff but can be frozen, uncooked and I hate wasting food, so whats a girl to do? The vegetables I chose needed using up and were wrinkling gently at the bottom of my fridge. If you are not rich enough to buy a joint of beef then substitute corned instead. Leftovers is the key word here.

500g mashed Potato
6 Baby Leeks, white only
Half a Red Pepper
Half a Red Onion
1 Red Chilli, seeds removed
2 Cloves of garlic, peeled
Half a bunch of Flat Leaf Parsley
1tbsp Dried Coriander Leaf
2tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Flour for Coating
Breadcrumbs
1 Egg
Vegetable Oil for frying

Cut the beef into chunks and process in a food processor until minced. Set aside. Put the garlic, chilli, leeks, red pepper, red onion, parsley into the processor and pulse until chopped very finely.

Fry the vegetables in a tbsp of oil on a gentle heat for 10 minutes. Add the worcester sauce, coriander leaf, salt and pepper to the pan. Take off the heat and leave to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, mix the beef and potato and add the vegetables. Stir gently until well amalgamated. You do not want this to be too wet or runny so stir with care.

Oil your hands and shape into patties. I made nine from this recipe. Open freeze them on a tray for at least 45 minutes. Pour the breadcrumbs into a bowl. I used leftover bread for mine. Beat an egg in another bowl and put about 3 tbsps flour in a third bowl.

Take the patties out of the freezer. Dip each one in the flour first, followed by the egg and finally roll in the breadcrumbs.

Heat an inch of vegetable oil in a heavy based pan and fry gently until golden brown. Serve with hot baked beans or a crisp green salad, depending on how cold you are! Open freeze what you don't use and place in bags when fully frozen. More simple ingredients made special!

Red Pepper and Chick Pea Dip

This dip is rather a like a dress that looks awful on a hanger but wonderful on. I am not a great fan of dips, especially ones involving chick peas but this is a little cracker and all your friends will want the recipe.Very simple food made Stunning!

5 -6 Peppers, Red or Orange, quartered
3 Red Onions, peeled and quartered
6 Cloves of garlic, peeled
2 Red Chillis, seeds removed
400g Tin of Chickpeas, drained
5 tbsp Good Olive Oil
1 tsp Dried Parsley
1 tsp Celery Salt
1 tsp  Dried Coriander Leaf
Juice of a lime
Juice of a lemon
1 Flat tbsp of  Brown Sugar 
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper

Lay all the vegetable, including the garlic and chillis on a roasting tray and drizzle with 2tbsps of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast in a 200 degree oven for about 40 minutes.

Put the drained chick peas into a food processor and process until the consistency of hummus. Add the roasted vegetables, lime and lemon juice, sugar, dried herbs and remaining olive oil.  Process until smooth. Taste and season if needed. Chill and serve with hot bread. This dip should be seasoned to your taste. If it needs more garlic/olive oil/pepper then don't be afraid to experiment.

Thai Fish Cakes

I'm not the first person in the world to have cooked this and I'm sure I won't be the last. I wanted to have a go because there are so many different recipes out there and after a bit of research, I think I have managed to amalgamate the best of them. I made these with basic frozen supermarket fish, which at around £5 a kilo is pretty cheap. I don't think you need to use madly expensive fish for this recipe because YOU are adding all the flavour and taste and should take credit for creating something quite gorgeous.

500g/1lb 2oz White Fish

1 tbsp Thai Fish Sauce 

1 tbsp Thai Red Curry paste

2 tbsp chopped Coriander

4 Spring Onions, finely sliced

1 Egg White

1 Red Chilli, finely chopped

2 Cloves garlic, minced.

1 Lime, juice and zest

Handful of Green Beans, finely chopped.
Cornflour
Vegetable Oil for frying

 

Pulse the white fish in a food processor until well chopped but not too smooth. Transfer into a large bowl. Add the green beans, chilli, garlic, red curry paste, fish sauce, spring onions, lime and coriander and mix well. Add the egg white. At this stage I felt my mixture was a little wet and American recipes for this dish use a tablespoon of cornflour to solve this. The mix was fine after I did this.
 

 
The most important thing to do is to CHILL your mixture for at least a couple of hours. Ensure you cover it well or it will stink your fridge out!  I didn't use flour to shape my fish cakes. I oiled my hands and shaped as I was ready to fry. You can make them small or large. Heat your oil and drop a cube of bread in. If this turns brown quickly then you are ready to fry.

Fry them in batches of 5 or 6. When they rise to the surface, turn the heat down by a third and turn them over. Watch them carefully. Drain well on kitchen towel and repeat for subsequent batches.

If you are serving them straight away then keep them warm in a low oven until all are cooked. I made these for a party and they were stored in the fridge overnight and put into a hot oven for 7 minutes the next day. Serve with sweet chilli dipping sauce or a cucumber salad.

Pork and Chorizo Pate

This is mid way between a coarse and a smooth pate. If you want to make a smooth version of this then pulse the minced pork in a food processor for a moment or two.

500g Finely Minced Pork
6 Large Good Quality Sausages
150g Chorizo
6 Rashers unsmoked Back Bacon
Bunch of Spring Onions , finely chopped
4 Sprigs of Lemon Thyme, leaves pulled of the sprig.
Level tsp Celery Salt
2 tsp Dried Parsley
1 tsp Yellow Mustard Seeds
2 Cloves Garlic, crushed. (Optional)
2 Eggs, beaten
75mls Double Cream
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper

Mix the thyme leaves, celery salt, mustard seeds, salt, pepper and dried parsley into a small bowl. This is your seasoning.

Put the minced pork into a large bowl. Dice the Chorizo and squeeze the sausage meat out of the casings. Add to the pork and chorizo. Sprinkle the spring onions and garlic into the bowl and add the seasoning. Now get your hands in there and mix thoroughly. Spend at least 5 minutes doing this. Beat the eggs and the cream together and use your hands to evenly distribute through the pate mix. Line the bottom of a 9 x 2 inch cake tin, or two 1lb loaf tins with the bacon rashers and spoon the pate over. Cover with foil.  Fill a large roasting pan with boiling water from the kettle and place the covered tin in the water. I usually half fill this and then top it up after I've put it in the oven.

 Bake at 180 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes for the large tin or 2 to 2 hours and 15 minutes for the two smaller tins. I made this for a party but you can halve the quantities and just make a smaller pate.

Remove from the oven. Drain any liquid around the pate and place a board on top of the foil. Weigh down with tins for at least an hour. Turn onto a plate and leave to cool completely and refrigerate. It's important to cool this as quickly as you can as it will keep longer.

You can add whatever seasonings you like to this pate. When I cook it next time I am going to omit the Chorizo and add lots of Chilli. Enjoy!

Bacon, Marscapone and Parmesan Pin Wheels

Perfect party food, these little lovelies will impress your guests at any party. Life is far too short to make Puff Pastry. I still have nightmares about my domestic science exam and my attempt at 'rough puff pastry' so buy it and don't fret too much! They are very simple to make but you do need a bit of patience.

600g Ready Made Puff Pastry
250g Mascarpone Cheese
6 Rashers Smoked Back Bacon
Small Handful Flat Leaf Parsley
Half a Red Onion, finely chopped
Half a Yellow Pepper, finely chopped.
6 Sun Dried Tomatoes, drained and chopped finely
Parmesan Cheese for grating
Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Vegetable Oil

In a frying pan fry the bacon rashers until just cooked. Leave to cool for a few minutes and chop the bacon finely. Add the onion and yellow pepper to the pan and cook on a medium heat until translucent.  Combine the parsley, sun dried tomatoes, bacon, onion and pepper in a bowl and season to taste.

Cut your puff pastry in half and roll each half into a square approximately 35cm x 35cm. Spread the mascarpone thinly on each square and sprinkle over the bacon mixture.

Now carefully roll up as though you were making a swiss roll. Get it as tight and neat as you possibly can.

Place on a tray and freeze for at least 45 minutes. At this stage you can 'open freeze' it for a couple of hours, bag it and leave it until an hour before your guests arrive.  Take out of the freezer and, using a serrated knife, cut into 1cm slices and space evenly on a baking tray covered with baking parchment. grate a little parmesan cheese on each one.

Bake in a hot oven at 200 degrees for 15 -18 minutes until golden brown and puffed up. you can also bake these on the morning of the party and put them in a hot oven for 5 minutes.

Joshy's Pineapple Upside Down Cake

This is a real blast from the past but my 14 year old loves making it and the one in the photo below is all his own work.  A very easy pudding to serve straight from the oven with cream or ice cream. 

  
300g Marg
300g Sugar
300g Self raising Flour
4 Eggs, beaten
Squeezy bottle of Golden Syrup
Small Tin of Pineapple Rings
Glace Cherries

Preheat oven to 160 degrees/180 if it's not a fan oven.

Butter a 9 inch  square cake tin well. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs a little at a time. You may need to add a spoonful of flour after the second egg to stop the mixture splitting. Beat until pale. Fold in the flour. Squeeze about a centimetre of the syrup into the bottom of the tin and make sure it spreads to the edges. Drain the pineapple and pat dry on a kitchen towel.  Arrange the pineapple and cherries in the syrup. Put spoonfuls of the mixture, one by one into the tin until you have filled the surface area. You can then smooth this out with a knife without disturbing the syrup at the bottom too much. Bake for 40 -45 minutes or until a sharp knife comes out clean when inserted into the cake. Run the knife around the edge of the tin and turn out whilst still hot. Drizzle extra syrup on the cake and serve hot but it's just as good cold with thick double cream. Serves 1 to 6 people depending on how hungry you are!

Slow Cooked Lamb and Baby Onions

This dish looks complicated but it isn't it's another one of those leave in the oven dishes. The ingredients are a little expensive but if you have friends over for Supper it's a little bit of heaven on a plate with very little effort. I used a Large Lamb Shank cut which is the lower part of the leg but much bigger than your normal shank.

1.5 Kg Lower leg of Lamb
1 Large Onion, peeled and quartered
1 Celery sticks, roughly chopped
3 Carrots, roughly chopped
500gms of Baby Onions, unpeeled
Sprig of Rosemary
2 Litres Lamb Stock
4 Whole Cloves of Garlic, peeled
Sea Salt
Cracked Black Pepper
Olive Oil

Heat your oven to 160 degrees. Put the onion, carrots, garlic and celery into a large oven proof pot. Season the lamb with plenty of salt and pepper. Make a few small cuts in the skin and insert the rosemary leaves. Add the Lamb to the pot and pour over the stock. Bring to the boil on the hob.

Now seal your pot. Put a double layer of foil over the top and weigh down with the lid. Transfer the pot to the oven and leave it alone for 4 hours or until the lamb is falling of the bone. 45 minutes before the lamb is done put the baby onions into a dish and drizzle with olive oil and put in the oven. If you are going to serve this dish with roast potatoes you can put those in with the onions at this stage.

I roast the onions first because I can't stand peeling them and the resulting tears! Now remove the Lamb from the pot and cover with foil to keep warm. Using a hand blender, blend the stock and vegetables until smooth. This is your simple but gorgeous gravy. Take the onions out and cut the top off each one. The onions should be just cooked through. Anymore and they will turn to mash. Use some kitchen towel to squeeze each one and they will pop out of their skins. Discard the skins. Serve on a big platter in the centre of the table with rice or roast potatoes and a big jug of gravy. Your friends will be very impressed and you can then brush off any compliments with the phrase...'it was nothing really'... because it's true!