Toad in the Hole

Ingredients

4 to 6 best quality pork sausages, depending on the size of your oven tray,

100g Plain flour (yes, NOT self raising and no added raising agents),

225ml Whole Milk,

¼ tsp Salt,

3 Eggs, Medium or Large

4 tbsp vegetable oil, or any high temperature flavourless oil

Optionally rosemary 

Equipment

A glass roasting tray (or steel, I prefer glass for the higher thermal mass)

A balloon whisk, preferably an electric one

Method

Cook the sausages, not too dark as they're also going in the oven for half an hour, and set aside, I usually cook a packet the day before. Plain pork or Cumberland are best.

Set the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7 and place the roasting tray in the centre of the oven, do not add the oil yet.

Into your mixing container (I use a 1 litre measuring jug) put the flour and the salt in it, stirring the salt into the flour.

Next, make a well and break in the 3 eggs whole, add a splash of milk and whisk until smooth. 

Now you whisk while slowly adding the rest of the milk, whisk very well.

Leave the batter to come up to room temperature or prepare the bought before and let it rest for 24 hours. More resting tastes better but give it an hour at least. 

Once the oven is good and hot, add the oil and put it back in the oven. Optionally add your rosemary.

This needs 5 to 10 minutes to come up to high temperature.

Once ready, remove from the oven, remove the rosemary if using, and, with tongs, add the sausages. If it's hot enough it'll snap and pop, don't let it bite you. 

Take the battery and pour it evenly throughout the tray, it should snap again.

Place the tray back in the centre of the oven and cook for 30 to 35 minutes. 

The exact time will be about this but vary slightly depending on local water, flour, eggs, etc. 

At 30 minutes open it up and have a quick look, once medium dark and toasted it is ready. 

Serve immediately with rich mashed potato (riced or pureed with lots of butter and well seasoned with salt to taste, if you want to add pepper, use white pepper), some green vegetables and a good onion gravy.

Curry Pie (Serves 4)

Ingredients

500g Beef Mince

4 Baking Potatoes

2 Large Onions

3 Carrots

1 tbsp Mustard

100ml Milk

4 tbsp butter

250ml good beef stock (use a whole stock cube even though it's only 250ml)

1 tbsp Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

4 tbsp Pataks Vindaloo Paste

Optional: misc fixed vegetables, frozen mixed veg is fine, use fresh of you can

Optional: Thickening granules if your filling isn't thickening up well

Method

1 Preheat oven to 180°C (170°C fan)

2 Peel, chop and boil potatoes 

3 Peel, chop and fry the carrots and onions in the olive oil and the Vindaloo Paste

4 Add the mince, stir and cook

5 Add the water

6 Drain and mash the potatoes with the milk, butter and mustard (use a potato ricer of you can)

7 Reduce the filling over a medium heat, thicken with thickening granules as needed

8 Season with salt and pepper, tasting as you go, until the flavours are enhanced but before it tastes salty

9 Assemble pie and cook in oven for 20 minutes or until browned, when ready, brown under grill if necessary

Serve with courgettes

Really Dumb But Really Good Chicken Fajitas

Some made up nonsense I used to use up a packet sauce, chicken and salad that needed eating up

Ingredients

2 large chicken breasts, in long thin strips

2 bell peppers, I like green and red, also long 'n thin

1 medium large brown onion, sliced into thin half rings

1 or 2 packets of Levi Roots Jerk Coat 'n Cook sauce

A bag of mixed salad leaves

Small bunch of coriander, chopped

5 or 6 corn or wheat wraps/tortilla

A Tex-Mex dip selection

Cooking oil of choice

Optionally, more salad like baby plum tomatoes, cucumber, pickled gherkin or spring onions, all finely sliced

Utensils

1 oven tray with at least 1 cm of lip

Method

Combine in the oven tray or a separate bowl the chicken, peppers, onion, packet sauce(s) and a few glugs of your cooking oil to this tier sauce our slightly

Line the oven tray with kitchen foil

Transfer contents into the oven tray

Cool in a pre-heated oven at 190°C for 25-30 minutes

With you're happy with how cooked it is, remove from the oven, turn the foil into a pouch to keep it warm and put aside

Heat your tortillas slightly in a microwave

On your board or a plate, place a warm tortilla

Lightly coat the inside of it with your choice of dips

Spoon the chicken mixture in a line from the top to the bottom of the tortilla

Repeat with the salad, coriander and optional salad you chose, if any.

Perpendicular to the chicken mix line, pull the tortilla over the line, 3 or 4 cms worth

Now roll the left and right 'edges' up and over the mix, getting tight and straight

Flip it over so the weight pins the wrap in place

Hand it off on a plate to who's serving, optionally tie a ring of kitchen twine around it with a bow knot.

Serve with beer with lime in it.

Keeps for days in the fridge, chicken in its pouch, salad in a clip seal box or reseal the salad bag with an electric bag sealer (get one, they're fantastic), wrap the dips in cling field, wrap the wrap packet with cling film but don't store them in the fridge.

Slow Cooker Beef Bourguingnon

Rice.

200ml rice,
400ml boiling water,
1/4 tsp salt,
1 tbsp groundnut oil,
30cm non stick lidded saute pan

Mix the salt and the water.
Heat the oil in the pan to a high heat.
Add the rice, which will turn translucent.
Fry the rice until it turns opaque.
Tip in the water, stir and put the lid on.
Turn down to lowest heat.
For electrics, move to a different ring.
Simmer for 13 minutes.
Check water has been absorbed (tip it, glass lid helps)
Take off the heat, fork rice over, wrap lid in clean tea towel, replace lid and leave for ten minutes.

Chilli Mix No.3:

Chilli mix No.3:

2 tbsp Cumin powder
1 tbsp Coriander powder
1 tbsp hot chilli powder
1 tbsp Cayenne powder
1 tbsp Onion powder
1 tbsp Smoked paprika
1 tbsp Garlic granules
1 Kallo beef stock cube

Makes enough for Chilli made with 1kg beef mince.
Mix together, blend with the chopped tomatoes.