BEEF & BUTTER BEAN POT PIES

There's nothing quite like making your own pies and knowing that everything you put into it are good quality ingredients. This pie takes a little longer to make than some but using simple cuts like gravy beef lets you save money when buying it but the longer cooking time gives you the melt in the mouth taste you get with more expensive cuts.

                                            BEEF AND BUTTER BEAN POT PIES


500g Gravy Beef, chopped
1 each large Onion and Carrot, chopped
1 T Thyme or Rosemary Leaves
400g can diced Tomatoes
1 T each Brown Sugar and Red Wine Vinegar
1 cup Beef Stock
400g can Butter Beans, drained
1-2 sheets ready rolled Puff Pastry, thawed


1. Heat 1 T vegetable oil in a saucepan over high heat. Cook beef in
   batches for 3-4 minutes or until browned. Remove and set aside.


2. Add onion, carrot and herbs to pan, cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes. Return
    the beef with tomatoes, sugar, vinegar and stock. Bring to the boil, reduce
    heat to low and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes, then uncovered for 30 
    minutes. Stir through butter beans.


3. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. Divide the mixture between 4 
   ovenproof dishes and place onto a baking tray. Top each with pastry, trim
   to fit. Glaze with a beaten egg. Push a sprig of herbs into each one
   and bake for 20 minutes or until pastry is golden. Serve with steamed
   green vegies or a mixed salad. 

CREAMY CHICKEN, BACON & LEEK CASSEROLE

This casserole is a hearty meal, packed full of vegies and is delicious served with warm crusty bread.

                                                    CREAMY CHICKEN, BACON and LEEK CASSEROLE


1 kg Chicken Thigh Fillets, trimmed
2 T Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 stick Celery, chopped
6 bacon Rashers, chopped
1 large Leek, thinly sliced
1 T finely chopped fresh Thyme
50g Butter, chopped
1/3 cup Plain Flour
3 cups Chicken Stock
1 cup frozen Peas
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Fresh Thyme, to garnish
Crusty Bread and Green Salad, to serve


1. Cut chicken into 4cm pieces. Combine in a bowl with half the oil.


2. Heat a large stockpot over a high heat. Add chicken in 3 batches. Cook,
   stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until brown. Transfer to a large
   bowl. Cover to keep warm.


3. Reduce heat to medium. Heat remaining oil in same stockpot. Add onion,
    garlic, celery, bacon, leek and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally, for
    about 5 minutes, or until vegies are almost tender. Add to chicken in bowl.


4. Melt butter in stockpot. Add flour. Cook, stirring for 1 minute, or until
   bubbling. Gradually whisk in stock, until smooth. Return chicken and
   vegies to pot. bring to boil. Simmer uncovered, stirring, for 30 minutes,
   or until chicken is tender and sauce thickened. Add peas. Cook for 5 
   minutes, or until tender. Season


5. Garnish with thyme. Serve with crusty bread and green salad.   

BEEF AND BEER CASSEROLE

There's nothing like a hearty casserole to feed the family on a cold night. Instead of cooking this recipe in the oven because I wasn't going to be home I simply followed steps 1-4 then threw it in my slow cooker and left it while I was out and came home later that night to that beautiful aroma of a cooked meal as soon as I opened the front door. This Beef and Beer Casserole appeals to the guys because it has beer in it, but even for those of you like me who don't like the taste of beer, you won't taste it at all, you'll be too busy marvelling at how the meat just melts in your mouth.

                                                       BEEF AND BEER CASSEROLE


 1 Kg Chuck or Boneless Shin/Gravy beef
6 whole baby Onions, peeled
2 whole peeled cloves Garlic
2T Plain Flour
2 cups Beef Stock
A good shake each of Worcestershire Sauce and Soy Sauce
375ml bottle of Ale OR beer or a 440ml bottle of Guinness
2 T Brown Sugar                 

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius. Cut beef into cubes. Season with
   salt and pepper, add 2 T of oil and mix well. Heat a large frypan over a 
   medium-high heat.


2. Brown beef in two or three batches. Remove each batch and place in a
    casserole dish.


3. Reduce heat in the pan, add a little oil, add onions and garlic cloves, cook
    for 12 minutes and stir occasionally.

4. Sprinkle in flour and stir until the onion and garlic are coated. Gradually 

    pour in the stock, stirring well. Add the worcestershire and soy sauce, beer 

    and sugar, stirring until the mixture boils.


5. Add it to the cassserole dish,stir to combine. Cover the casserole dish, 
   place in oven, and cook until the beef is very tender, up to 3 hours,   
   depending on the cut. Stir every 40 minutes or so, add water if needed to 
   keep the ingredients just covered.Serve with mashed potato and beans. 
    Serves 6

HONEY GLAZED CHICKEN

We really love our chicken at our place and because it is so often on special I always stock up the freezer when it is so I always have some on hand. This Honey Glazed chicken is a new recipe I tried and together with vegetables in season it was a tasty yet economical meal that the whole family enjoyed.

4 teasp. Mustard Powder
1/4 cup White Wine Vinegar or Cider Vinegar
1/4 cup Honey
2 T thinly sliced Spring Onions/Shallots
1 teasp. Dijon Mustard
2 teasp. chopped fresh or 1/2 teasp. dried Thyme
1 teasp. chopped fresh or 1/4 teasp. dried Oregano
4 skinless, single Chicken Breast Fillets (125g each)

                                                                 HONEY GLAZED CHICKEN


1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius. Line a roasting tin with foil; spray
    with cooking spray. Set aside.


2. Place the mustard powder in a small bowl and stir in vinegar until
    smooth. Add honey, spring onions, Dijon Mustard, thyme and oregano. Mix
    well.


3. Place the chicken breasts in prepared tin. Brush with half the honey
    mustard glaze. Bake for 10 minutes.


4. Remove chicken from the oven. Using tongs, turn chicken breasts over
    and brush with the remaining glaze.


5. return to the oven and bake until juices run clear when meat is pierced with a knife, about 10 minutes. Slice chicken breasts, place on serving plates
and serve.


COOKING HINTS FROM VON:-


* To prepare in advance, make the honey mustard glaze ahead as directed in step 2 and keep refrigerated until ready to use. Store in a glass jar or airtight plastic container for up to 1 week.

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Thank you again to everybody reading my blog, having only been doing this for such a short time I am grateful to everyone who takes time out of their own busy lives to have a look at my blog. I hope you are continuing to enjoy the recipes I am sharing and hope you are finding recipes that are not only economical to make but actually taste delicious too.

CHOCOLATE SELF-SAUCING PUDDING

Chocolate self-saucing pudding is an old favourite in our house and I have great memories of my Mum making it for me as a child. Although this is not her recipe(I have currently misplaced it much to my annoyance) it is very similar to this one. The photo below shows the recipe doubled.

                                                      CHOCOLATE SELF-SAUCING PUDDING

1 Cup S.R Flour
2 T Cocoa
1/2 cup Caster Sugar
1 Egg, beaten
125ml Skim Milk
1 teasp. Vanilla Essence
EXTRA, 2 T Cocoa, sifted
EXTRA, 3/4 cup caster Sugar
2 cups Boiling Water
1 T Icing Sugar, sifted.


1. Sift the flour and cocoa together. Stir in the sugar.


2. Add in the combined egg, milk and vanilla. Stir until the mixture is smooth. 
    Do not overmix. Pour into a greased 1.5 litre ovenproof dish.


3. Combine the extra cocoa, sugar and boiling water together. Stir until the 
    sugar has dissolved. Pour the sauce gently over the back of a spoon on top
    of pudding mixture.


4. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into 
    the centre of the pudding comes out clean. Serve the pudding hot, dusted 
    with sifted icing sugar.

CARAMEL SAUCE

It is always handy to have a Caramel sauce recipe on standby to pour over cakes for dessert or just to pour over icecream for a sweet treat.

                                                        CARAMEL SAUCE

2/3 cup Brown Sugar, firmly packed
60g Unsalted Butter
1 cup Cream

Place the brown sugar, butter and cream in a pan and simmer for 5 minutes.