Beef Bourguinon

There is nothing better than a Friday night in during Autumn. I got home from work, made a cup of tea, put the PJs on and threw my prepared tea into the oven. Within a few hours, my house was full of lovely aromas including apple Yankee Candles and the various Autumn scented air fresheners. Heaven.

Now, I am curled up with the dog, and my husband is out so I can just enjoy rubbish TV and a glass of wine. Perfect night to me!

Ingredients:

500g stewing steak, diced as preferred

200g bacon, cut into cubes

8 shallots, peeled

4 carrots, cut into chunks

2 sticks of celery, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp tomato purée

450ml rich beef stock (I like the Knorr stock pots)

100ml red wine

200g button mushrooms

Instructions:

1. In a casserole dish (or in a pan if you want to cook in the slow cooker), heat some Fry Light and brown the beef in batches. It's important not to over-crowd the dish - well-browned meat will have an intensified flavour. Remove the beef and keep on a plate. Repeat as necessary.

2. Fry the bacon and shallots in the same pan, until the bacon is cooked through. Add the beef back to the pan (or place all in the slow cooker and use from now on).

3. Add the carrots, celery, garlic and tomato purée to the meat mixture. Add the red wine and reduce the liquid. Give the dish a good stir, releasing any flavours on the bottom of the dish. 

4. Make up the beef stock as directed, add to the casserole dish and bring to the boil. (Tip: I actually did these steps this morning and then left it ready to put in the oven tonight.)

5. Place the casserole dish in the oven and cook on 160 for 2 hours (or in the slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours).

6. Add the mushrooms and stir through. Return to the oven for 30 minutes. 

7. When done, stir well, before serving with accompaniments of your choice (I went for herb roasted potatoes).

 

(I won't lie - my photo is me pretending I didn't have a mush bigger portion after!!) 

Unicorn's Blood Cocktail

Ingredients:

2 tbsp gin

2 tbsp elderflower cordial

Prosecco

Method:

1. Add gin and elderflower.

2. Top up with prosecco. 

Felix Felicis 'Liquid Luck' Cocktail

Ingredients:
1 tsp lemon sorbet
1 tsp lime cordial
Prosecco

Instructions:
1. Add lemon sorbet and lime cordial to a tall flute glass. Mix to begin to melt the sorbet.

2. Pour prosecco on top and mix quickly (but gently).

Shredded Chipotle Chicken

For Halloween, we invited friends over for a ghoulish feast and potions (cocktails). We had seen the idea of a dissected man online so decided to go with it...

In all honesty, we cheated quite a lot. We've been decorating, I still had a lot of school work to do so we went for quick and easy options. The intestines (Taste the Difference apple and pork & pork and caramelised onion sausages) and ribs (apple BBQ pork ribs) were out of a packet and we take no credit for them (other than for choosing a very good selection from Sainsbury's!). However, the shredded flesh (chipotle chicken) is a recent Slimming World recipe from one of their magazines, and I love it. Luckily, our friends really enjoyed it too, so much so that they wanted the recipe. And here we are...

Ingredients (serves 4):

3 skinless chicken breasts

Sauce: 

4 tbsp tomato ketchup

2 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp mustard powder

2 tbsp chipotle paste

2 tbsp Worcester sauce

1 tsp black treacle

2 tsp smoked paprika

Salt & pepper

Instructions:

1. Boil the chicken for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and cover. Leave in the boiling water to poach for 30 minutes. Remove from the water and set aside to cool for 5 minutes. 

2. Mix together the ingredients of the sauce and set aside. 

3. Using two forks, pull apart the chicken breasts until appropriately shredded. Stir through the chipotle sauce. 

4. Add the chicken and sauce back to a pan, and cook over a medium/low heat for 10 minutes until hot and serve as desired.

The recommendation in the magazine was to serve in bread rolls, but we enjoyed with the other meat, fries and coleslaw. This is currently 2 syns per serving, but please check syn values before cooking. 

Oreo Cheesecake

This is just about the best invention ever. This is based on my regular cheesecake recipe and inspired by a colleague in work who suggested oreo cheesecake. I love any kind of cheesecake, but the oreos really make this for me =) Get ready for umpteen compliments from your friends who are bound to love this really easy recipe! 

Ingredients (for a 21 inch cheesecake):

Base:
16 oreos
100g butter

Cheesecake:

600g cream cheese
100g icing sugar
280ml double cream
6 oreos

Instructions:

1. Crush the oreos for the base into fine breadcrumbs. This may be easier if you have a food processor, or alternatively, place in a bag and bash with a rolling pin until you get the right consistency for the base.

 

2. Place the biscuit crumbs in a mixing bowl and melt the butter over a low heat. Pour the melted butter over the biscuit and mix well ensuring that all crumbs are covered.

 

3.  Line the base of a 21” cake tin with baking parchment. (A springform tin is best for this recipe if available). Add the biscuit to the base of the tin, and distribute evenly, pressing down with your fingertips. Place the base in the fridge for at least an hour.

 

4. Using an electric whisk, whisk together the cheese and icing sugar. Add the cream and and whisk again until just combined. Do not over whisk the mixture as it can become runny due to the heat generated.

5. Cut the remaining oreos into small pieces. Gently fold the pieces through the cream cheese mixture, ensuring even distribution of the pieces. (You can use a whisk on a slow speed for this, which may also help to break down the pieces into even smaller pieces).

6. Pour the cheese mixture into the tin, and spread using a spatula. Leave as it is, or decorate with other oreos

7. Remove from the fridge about half an hour before serving; just be careful removing from the tin.

BBQ Pulled Pork

This is another Slimming World recipe, which is syn free. So easy to do as it all just goes in a slow cooker (or on a low temperature in the oven) for several hours meaning you can cook it whilst in work or getting on with something else. On top of that, it was absolutely delicious - just a shame Rhys couldn't taste it due to his cold. Still, good reason to have it again sooner rather than later :-) 

Ingredients (serves 4):

1 kg pork shoulder

500g passata

5 tbsp Worcester sauce 

3 tbsp sweetener

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp mustard powder

2 cloves garlic, crushed

Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Remove the skin and any visible fat from the pork. This is the time consuming bit, and can be quite a tough job so get a good sharp knife!

2. Mix all the remaining ingredients in a saucepan and simmer until the sauce thickens.

3. Spray a frying pan with FryLight and seal the meat on all sides.

4. Cover the bottom of the slow cooker with some sauce, place the meat in, and cover with the remaining sauce.

5. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, until the meat is so tender it can be shredded with two forks. Mix the shredded meat through the sauce to cover well and serve.

Toad-In-The-Hole

Everyone loves a good old British classic, and me probably more than anyone else. Pie and mash, sausage and mash, roast beef, Eton mess... They all top my favourites list.

Rhys had the Masterchef Complete Cookery course cookbook for his birthday, and this Toad in the Hole recipe instantly appealed to me. I'll be honest and tell you that I had never actually cooked it before - and Rhys had apparently never even tried it (deprived childhood obviously!) - but I will definitely be making it again.

Try and buy the best sausages you can afford; more pork = more flavour! My mum's tip is that you should also buy the best quality roasting tin you can afford, and to have the oil really hot before you add the batter which will help them to rise.

Ingredients (serves 4):

125g plain flour

Pinch of salt

2 eggs

300ml milk

2 tbsp vegetable oil 

8 sausages 

Instructions:

1. Put the flour in a bowl with the salt, make a well in the centre and add the eggs with a little milk.

2. Whisk together the mixture, gradually incorporating the flour. Add the remaining milk and whisk until smooth. Put the batter in the fridge and leave for at least 30 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 220C. Pour the oil into a roasting dish, and heat. Add the sausages and cook for about 5 - 10 minutes until they are starting to brown. 

4. Reduce the temperature of the oven to 200C.

5. Carefully pour the batter around the sausages and return the tin to the oven. Cook for approximately 30 minutes until the batter is risen, golden and crisp. Serve hot with gravy and vegetables.