Winter is a comfort food season and I love the feeling I get when its dark and cold outside and there is a comforting and hearty meal to tuck in to. Theres something about these dishes that scream “Get me in your husbands belly” And if the dishes below had a comfort rating it would be at least a 13tog.
I see winter as a season of indulgence and forgiveness, it’s that time of year you can tuck into the heavy puddings and rich casseroles.
So take one last look out in to the cold, close your curtains, turn on jazz fm and promise me you will share at least one of these recipes with your nearest and dearest whist you relax around the kitchen table and catch up on your family.
I also believe winter is the season for a beer or a glass off red with most meals and these meals go perfect with either!
Lancashire Hot-pot (serves 6)
This dish tops the scales for comfort and I’m absolutely positive it would get Betty Turpin’s nod of approval.
A Lancashire hot-pot is a famous and timeless pub classic which incorporates slow cooked lamb, swede, carrots and buttery sliced potatoes to finish.
I know there are so many versions of hotpots out there, beef and chicken but I really back this one as being a bit special and a bit of a treat!
Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
500ml of hot lamb stock
3 tbsp of flour
White Pepper ( this really gives it a lovely kick as well as flavor)
800g of mutton or diced lamb
Fresh thyme (very handy to have this in your garden)
Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp of unsalted butter
450g of white potatoes cut lengthways into thin slices
4 Carrots peeled and chopped into chunks/cubes
2 onions chopped
1 small swede peeled and chopped
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4
2. Season the flour with salt and generous amounts of white pepper and toss use to coat the lamb (reserve any excess flour)
3. Brown the meat in a large heated dish for 2-3 minutes then remove
4. Cook the vegetables with a few picked thyme leaves for 10 minutes
5. Stir in the reserved flour,the prepared stock & a few good splashes of Worcestershire sauce, bring to the boil, then add the lamb.
6. transfer into s shallow casserole dish and top with the potatoes, arranged in one layer but slightly overlapping , brush with hot butter, sprinkle salt & pepper and the remaining thyme leaves.
7. Cover & cook for 1.5 hours or untill the potatoes are cooked through.
Remove the lid for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
Serves with greens, or in my case a nice crust of bread to mop up the delicious sauce.
Beef stew with Horseradish and Parsley Dumplings
I always feel a great urge of disappointment for anyone who has unflavored dumplings, I kinda get excited when they tell me that’s what they are cooking but then follow it up with a silent “Oh” because once you try these ones you will never go back.
Next to the Lancashire hot pot this is my other favorite winter warmer and its great for getting the kids involved too, they will thoroughly enjoy making the dumplings with you.
Again this dish is so comforting and warms you belly up a treat. I use to make the dumplings from scratch as stated in the recipe but who really has time for that so I now take a short cut and buy dumpling mix and add the horseradish and parsley, just as mouth-watering but half the prep time.
I don’t know about you but I like my dumplings to be the size of tennis balls so I use 2 packets of the dumping mix which allows me to get whopper’s I crave.
So here goes…
ingredients
- 300g (10oz) 2cm cubed chuck steak
- 4 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- ½ tbsp tomato puree
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1 large carrot, peeled and roughly cubed
- 1½ beef stock cubes, crumbled
- roughly 1 pint of boiling water
- 3 tbsp Worcester sauce ( add more for an extra kick)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp fresh chopped thyme
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the dumplings
- 225g self-raising flour
- 115g beef or vegetable suet
- 2 inches salt
- 1 medium egg
- 4 tbsp Parsley
- 2 tbsp grated horseradish
- a little cold water
OR ditch the flour and suet and replace with the dumping mix, also winter is a very hard time to get your mitts on fresh horseradish so a couple of tablespoons of the creamed sauce is just as good.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 160°C, Gas 3.
- Using kitchen paper pat the meat dry then heat tbsp of oil in a deep casserole dish or oven-proof pan.
- Next add half the meat and cook until nicely browned all over. Repeat the process with 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil and diced chuck steak.
- Sprinkle on the flour and stir in well, let the flour catch slightly, this helps to give the stew a nice colour and flavour.
- Then add the tomato puree, stock cube, Worcester sauce, water, thyme and sugar.
- Heat the other 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan and add the onion, carrot and garlic and cook gently until softened and golden brown.
- Tip the onion mixture into the casserole dish with the beef and stir together.
- Season well with salt and pepper and bring to a gentle simmer, cover with a tight-fitting lid and
- place in the pre heated oven and cook for 1½ hours, nice and gently.
- Remove the stew from the oven.
- Make the dumplings, by placing the flour, salt, suet, parsley, horseradish and egg into a bowl.
OR mix the dumping mix, horseradish and parsley and egg together
- Mix well and add enough cold water to form a soft dough the mixture must be soft but not sloppy.
- Break off 6 walnut sized pieces and place them on top of the stew.
- Return the oven uncovered and cook for a further 35 minutes, or until the dumplings are nicely browned and crunchy.
- To test if the meat is cooked perfectly cooked juicy and tender, gently squeeze it will fall
- apart, do not over cook or the meat will dry out and become stringy
Serve with steamed greens and that all important beer or glass of red.
Now after all that scrumptious food your probably feeling rather full and you couldn’t possible take another bite, could you… YES you could, anyone could when it comes to this pudding.
Chocolate Bread & Butter Pudding (serves 4-6 depending on potion size.
A very good friend of mine who just so happens to chef around Europe taught me how to make this herself. An afternoon of food and friendship.
Just like the hotpot and dumplings its hearty, its warm, it’s comforting its indulgent and It absolutely screams get me in your children’s belly and it can be made in advance.
I’m a huge chochaholic and this is just pure heaven. Cooked right it should be so soft it will just melt around your taste buds.
There are so many variations of this recipe but this uses brioche rolls which i believe to be the not so secret ingredient,trust me and stick with this. and you will thank me forever.
ingredients
1 block of unsalted butter
1 pack of brioche rolls
2 bars of Dairy Milk chocolate, you can use any chocolate but Id recommend this for maximum pleasure.
double cream
3 egg yolks
Method
1. pre heat the oven to 150c
2. Slice the brioche rolls in half and layer in an oven proof dish
3. Slice or grate the chocolate and resist the urge to eat it there and then and then sprinkle over brioche
4. Heat the butter in the pan untill melted then pour over brioche
5. Mix your egg yolks with enough souble cream and caster suger to taste, there is no exact measuments of this as she did it all to taste, as now do I. It shouldnt taste at all eggy but lovely and sweet.
Now its ready to cook until the chocolate has melted or until the cream has gone.
Or if you have made in advance place in the fridge until needed.
Serve with good old custard or like myself lashings of cream!
So there you go guys a few recipes from my winter kitchen, go a head and try something hearty and indulgent today
xxx
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