Pie and Mash

This isn't a soup recipe but it's by far the best thing I've ever cooked. It's not particularly quick, simple, cheap or healthy, but it's well worth it. You could make regular mashed potatoes to go with this, but the flavours in this version go really well with the pie. If someone tells you that you should always make pastry from scratch, they're wrong and they're awful. Shop-bought pastry is fine. Everyone knows this. I served this pie with honey and thyme roasted baby carrots and steamed savoy cabbage. This recipe serves 4

Pie Ingredients

5-600g shin beef or stewing steak cut into 1 inch cubes
350ml Badger beer 'Poacher's Choice' (or another dark beer)
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 sprigs fresh thyme
2tsp black peppercorns
2 tsp garlic puree

(Marinate these ingredients together overnight in a non-metal bowl. Tie the herbs together with a piece of string.)

2 tbsp seasoned flour
4 rashers streaky bacon, cut into lardons
knob of butter
12-15 small round shallots, peeled
1 pack button mushrooms
1 litre decent beef stock
2 tbsp tomato puree
2tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2tsp dried mixed herbs
2 bay leaves
1 pack puff pastry
1 beaten egg

Fry off the bacon in a big frying pan until crisp, then transfer it into a large stew pot.

Strain off the beef, retaining the beer and the herbs. Coat the beef in the flour and brown it off in the bacon fat over a high heat. you may need to do this in a couple of batches. Transfer the browned meat into your stew pot.

Add a knob of butter to the frying pan and brown the shallots and mushrooms. Sprinkle over any remaining flour. Transfer the veg into the pot.

De-glaze the frying pan with the beer and then add it to your pot with the meat and veg. Add the herbs from the marinade, as well as all the other ingredients, bar the beef stock. Top up the stew with stock as and when it is needed.

Either simmer the stew on a low heat on the stove, or put it in the oven at gas mark 3 for about 2 and a half hours, till the beef is tender. When it is done, you should have a thick stew. Season to taste.

Using a slotted spoon, add the meat and veg to a pie dish, and pour over some of the liquid from the pot, making sure to remove the bay leaves, rosemary and thyme. You should have a fair bit of the liquid left over. Retain this.

Roll out your puff pastry, cover the pie dish, and glaze with the beaten egg.

Pop it in the oven at gas mark 5 for about half an hour, or till the pastry is golden brown.

When you're ready to serve, heat up the remaining liquid with a bit more beef stock for a gravy.


Mash Ingredients

4 baking potatoes
4-6 finely chopped spring onions
knob butter
2 heaped tsp wholegrain mustard
Splash single cream
handful chopped chives

Boil and mash the potatoes as you normally would.
Soften the spring onions in the butter a little, then stir them into the mash along with the other ingredients, and plenty of seasoning.

Mushroom-strone

This recipe came from not having a good mushroom soup recipe or a decent vegetarian minestrone recipe. I personally think blended mushroom soup is kind of hard to pull off, and if you want an easy mushroom soup, this is a pretty good place to start. Buying bags of 'soup mix' from supermarkets is a good way to save time and money. They're just a collection of dried veg and pulses, usually either with or without pasta. Feel free to use whatever mushrooms you like, or a mixture, but if you only have button or chestnut, that's fine too.

Ingredients

2 medium red onions, chopped,
3 celery sticks, chopped
3 large handfuls mushrooms, quartered
1 large red chilli, chopped into rings
3 crushed cloves garlic
1tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp sundried tomato puree (or regular tomato puree)
2 1/2 vegetable stock cubes
couple of handfuls of soup mix with pasta.

Soften the onions, celery, mushrooms and half the chilli in a little oil for 10-15 mins

When the onions are translucent, add the garlic and herbs and cook for a further couple of minutes

Add the rest of the ingredients along with enough water to give the consistency you're after. Simmer on a medium/low heat with a lid on your pot.

When the pulses are cooked through, add the rest of the chilli, and some more water if you need to, season to taste (I recommend a LOT of black pepper), and serve.

Chicken and Beans

This is a really simple and versatile stew that's a regular in my cooking habits. It's really hard to get wrong, and it's perfect for a winter evening. You can use whatever beans you like really, but I do recommend using more than one different kind. Last time I made it I used my two favourites, black beans and butter beans, but you can use anything you can get your hands on. If you've got the end of a bottle of white wine, chuck it in, but you can still make an amazing stew without it, I promise. I think this is best served with crusty bread.

Ingredients:

6 whole chicken thighs, skinless and boneless
1tbsp seasoned flour
2 white onions, finely chopped.
2 crushed cloves garlic
about 1 litre chicken stock
splash white wine (optional)
1 large tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 tins of beans
large handful of green beans, or a mug of frozen peas

Soften the onions in a little oil for a few minutes, before adding the chicken.

Brown off the chicken, before adding the garlic, herbs and seasoned flour and cook for a further 1 or 2 mins on low.

Pour in the stock, and wine if you're using it.

Simmer on a low heat for about 25 minutes, allowing the stock to thicken and reduce.

Once the chicken is cooked through, add the green beans if you're using them and cook for 3 or 4 mins.

Add the peas (if you're using them) and tinned beans and simmer until they're cooked through.

Season to taste.