Daisy Chains and Picnics

  I used Bisto beef gravy granules, if using beef stock you might need to add another 1 tbsp flour to thicken the gravy, sprinkle the flour over the mince and veg when it has been browned, slightly reduce heat and cook for a couple of minutes to cook the flour. Making mince is a bit like making stovies, every person has their own version of how its made, what they add or how it tastes. There is nothing remotely photogenic about mince and tatties, but damn, it's delicious, my family love it, a perfect winter comfort food. These are the types of food us Scottish kids grew up on. Ingredients 600g minced beef 1 onion, peeled, diced 2 carrots, peeled, diced 1 tbsp olive oil 1 oxo cube 1 tbsp flour 600ml beef gravy or stock 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce salt & pepper to season Method 1.  Place a large, wide based pan over a medium heat, add oil, fry diced onions and carrots for about 5 minutes until softened but not brown, increase heat to medium high, add meat to pan and brown t...

I made these sausage rolls for Hogmany and the girls loved them, said they were better than Banjo's so I am glad I wrote everything down while making them. Delicious flaky crispy pastry with a moist filling Jodie took some to work for lunch the next day. Ingredients 500g sausage mince 1/2 carrot, grated 1/2 onion, finely chopped 1 tbsp tomato ketchup 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce salt & pepper to season 2 sheets thawed puff pastry Method 1 .  Preheat oven to 210°C fan forced. 2.  Grate carrot, removing any excess liquid by squeezing the carrot with paper towels. Transfer to a bowl. Add chopped onion, sausage mince, tomato ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, lightly season with salt & pepper. Mix together until well combined. 3 .  Cut each pastry sheet in half. Shape some mince mixture into sausage shape, place along 1 side of pastry half. Brush one edge with egg, roll up pastry to meet the egg washed edge and to enclose filling. Cut into quarters. Place seam side down ...

  We love stovies, the perfect comfort food for cold evenings and an ideal way to use up leftover meats. I had some corned beef leftover from Scott's sandwiches so that became the base for these stovies. Ingredients 1-2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 1 kg potatoes (suitable for mashing) 300ml beef stock 1 beef oxo cube 1 tin corned beef Method 1.  Peel and thinly slice potatoes. 2.  Heat oil in a large deep pan over a medium heat until hot. Add onions and fry until golden. 3.  Add sliced potatoes, beef stock and crumbled oxo cube. Stir to combine ingredients well. Cover with lid, turn heat up to medium-high, bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, simmer, stirring every few minutes. Cook for 40-50 minutes or until potato is soft and tender. 4.  Using a potato masher, roughly break the potatoes into smallish pieces. Cut corned beef into small chunks. Add to potatoes, season with salt and pepper. Stir until well combined and corned beef has brea...

Scott listens to Steve Wright on BBC radio 2 through an app while he is driving or at work because he doesn't like the radio stations here. After listening to one particular show he came home and said he heard on the radio that someone was going to have lunch of a corned beef & brown sauce sandwich and said it sounded delicious. I had seen tinned corned beef in the supermarket but wasn't too sure if it would be anything like the corned beef we get back home, so never bothered to buy it. Next day while grocery shopping I bought a tin of corned beef and some HP brown sauce (no other brown sauce can compete) and made it for his lunch. We were pleasantly surprised that the corned beef was every bit as good as the ones in the UK, looked the same as well as tasted the same. Slice up some corned beef to your preferred thickness, butter some bread and sandwich between a thick dollop of brown sauce. Not in the least healthy but a delicious treat non the less 😋

Jodie came home the other day with some organic vegetables that were just past their best before date. I would have normally made soup as that always goes down well at my house but decided to go for something different. I bought some gravy beef, mushrooms and carrots and went for a slow cooked beef casserole.  I used the vegetables that Jodie took home but any kind of veg would be great, pumpkin, zucchini, squash etc. Serve on a bed of creamy mash. Ingredients 800 g gravy beef, diced 2 tbsp flour 8th tsp paprika 1/2 tsp garlic powder 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper 1/4 tsp celery salt 2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, diced 2 carrots, sliced 140 g celery, sliced 100 g kale, roughly chopped 2 white radish, sliced 6 red radish, halved 150 g button mushrooms, halved 2 cups beef stock 50 g tomato puree 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 3/4 tbsp brown sugar Method 1.  Preheat oven to 150°C fan. Mix fl...

Another shared Disney recipe. This one is based on Walt Disney's own recipe, apparently, chilli was one of his favourite meals. image sourced Disney parks The chilli is served at the Carnation Cafe in Disneyland Park. There are a couple of different recipes floating around the net so not sure how authentic they are. I will also try the other one and see which one my family prefers. This one went down a storm with my family, it was spicy but not overpowering, and the added chunks of tender beef made it even more delicious. It is definitely a keeper in my house. This recipes asks to be slow cooked on the stove top but I did mine in the oven as I wasn't too keen on having to constantly keep an eye on it. I brought it to a simmer on the stove top then covered it with the lid and slow cooked it in the oven. Ready to go into the oven. coming out of the oven. It contains stew meat suitable for slow cooking as well as minced beef, it als...

Beef olives are not the most attractive kind of dinner, I mean, seriously anything brown that looks as if it has just been dumped on the plate shows no sign of beauty!! but believe me when I say beef olives are delicious. slo Ingredients for skirlie stuffing 3-4 tbsp oil or butter 200 g pinhead oatmeal 1 onion, finely chopped Method 1.  Heat oil in a pan over a medium heat. Add onions, cook until softened and golden. Gradually add oatmeal, stirring thoroughly to coat and combine onion. Season with salt to taste. Cook gently for 8-10 minutes. Set aside. Ingredients for olives and gravy 6-8 slices sizzle steak. 40 g seasoned flour 2-3 tbsp oil or butter 1 carrot, finely chopped 1 onion, finely chopped 450 ml beef stock Method 1. Preheat oven to 150°C.  Flatten steak and lay it out, fill centre of steak with some skirlie stuffing and roll the steak over, encasing the stuffing, tucking in the end flaps to keep filling se...

I had some pot roast leftover and thought individual pies would be perfect, makes for an easy dinner and Scott could take one to work the next day. I made these in a pie maker so I followed the manufacturers instructions. Ingredients 1 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, crushed left over beef, veg and gravy 200 ml beef stock 100 g frozen mixed vegetables 1/2 tbsp Worcester sauce 1 tbsp flour 4 sheets shortcrust pastry for bottom 2 sheets puff pastry for tops Method 1.  Heat oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook until softened. Add beef and veg. Fry for 1-2 minutes. Add stock and Worcester sauce. Allow to come to a steady simmer. 2.  Mix flour with a little water to make a paste. Add to pan. Simmer until thickened. Season to taste. 3.  Cut out pastry into rounds to fit the pie maker or pie tins. Place shortcrust pastry on bottom layer. Fill base with meat filling. Top wit...