The original recipe for the steak and ale filling is from the BBC food website (I have adapted here from this pie recipe) and the cobbler originally comes from this recipe.

Ingredients

For the filling

1 kg/2lb 4oz braising steak, cut into matchbox-sized pieces

3 tbsp plain flour

salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

300ml/ 1/2 pint brown ale (I used Guinness)

2 garlic cloves

2 onions

250g/ 9oz carrots

1 fresh or dried bay leaf

handful fresh thyme sprigs

300ml/ 1/2 pint good quality beef stock (I used a Knorr beef stock pot)

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

250g button mushrooms

For the cobbler

200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp mixed herbs
2 tsp oil
150ml plain, unsweetened yoghurt

Method

1. Mix the beef with the flour and some salt and pepper. An easy way to do this without making too much mess is to put everything into a large food bag, seal, then shake well.

2. Heat a tablespoon of the oil in a large heatproof casserole up to a medium heat, then add half of the beef, shaking off the excess flour and keeping the chunks well-spaced so they fry rather than sweat. The original recipe says to brown for about 10 minutes, but it didn’t take that long so just cook until golden-brown all over.

3. Transfer the first batch of meat to a bowl, then add a splash of brown ale or water to the pan and scrape up any meaty bits. Tip the liquid into the bowl of meat. Wipe out the pan with some kitchen paper, then add a tablespoon of oil and brown the second batch of beef. When the beef is golden-brown transfer it to the bowl and set aside. Repeat until all the beef is cooked.

4. Chop the garlic, onion, and carrots into chunky pieces. Add the final spoon of oil to the pan and heat gently. Add the vegetables and herbs to the pan and fry to soften for a few minutes.

5. Put the beef back into the pan. Pour in the stock and brown ale, then add the tomato purée and balsamic vinegar. If necessary, add a little more stock or hot water to ensure the meat is covered in liquid (this will prevent the beef from drying out). Bring to the boil then cover and simmer the stew for 1-1½ hours until the beef is almost tender and the sauce has thickened. Chop the mushrooms in half and then add about half an hour in, stirring well.

6. The original recipe then says to set aside to cool, overnight if possible. But we wanted to have this for dinner (and I hadn’t started it early enough) so I just put some of it into an oven proof dish whilst making the cobbler. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas mark 6.

7. Make the cobbler dough by sifting plain flour and baking powder into a bowl. Mix in the herbs. Make a well in the centre and pour in the oil and yoghurt, bringing it all together to make a soft, but not sticky dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and cut into rounds, and then place them on top of the meat.

8. Cook in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cobbler is golden brown. Enjoy!

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If you’re planning meals for the weekend, then this recipe is definitely a winner for Sunday! It’s perfect on a cold Autumn day – proper comfort food. The recipe originally comes from James Martin’s ‘Slow Cooking‘, which is a great book packed with recipes that you can take your time over (you don’t need a slow cooker either). This recipe takes about 3 hours altogether and serves 4, so we had half on Sunday and had leftovers on Monday night which was brilliant! I have to admit that I did leave out the celery and parsley as they’re two of my least favourite ingredients, but I have included them in the recipe below. I’ve used my own recipe for herby dumplings here, but you could make plain ones if you prefer.

Ingredients

500g stewing beef
50g plain flour
4 tbsp olive oil (you can use beef dripping if you prefer)
100g celery
100g carrot
1 large leek
3 garlic cloves
150g whole baby onions (I used shallots)
150ml red wine
500ml beef stock
3 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the dumplings

100g self-raising flour
50g suet (beef or vegetable is fine)
2 heaped tsp mixed herbs
Pinch of salt
Enough cold water to make a pliable dough

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas mark 2. Toss the beef and flour together in a bowl with salt and pepper. Cut the celery, carrot and leek into 2.5cm pieces. Roughly chop the garlic and peel the onions.

2. Heat a large flameproof casserole dish until hot, add a little oil and enough of the beef to just cover the bottom. Fry until brown on each side, then remove and set aside. Repeat with more oil and beef in batches.

3. When all of the beef has been cooked, add the vegetables to the pan and cook gently for 5-10 minutes until softened and lightly coloured.

4. Return the beef to the pan and add the red wine. Simmer until reduced by half, then add the beef stock and bring back to a simmer. Cover with a lid and place in the oven for 2 hours.

5. To make the dumplings (about 15 minutes before the 2 hours is up), mix the dry ingredients together and then slowly add a little cold water at a time, mixing thoroughly until a slightly sticky dough has formed. Flour your hands and then roll the mixture into 6-8 balls.

6. After the 2 hours is up, remove the stew from the oven and carefully place the dumplings on top. Return to the oven for 20 minutes (mine actually took 35!) uncovered, until the dumplings are cooked through and have turned light brown. Roughly chop the parsley and sprinkle over the stew to serve.

Enjoy!

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Butternut squash isn’t something that I’ve cooked with a lot before, but recently I’ve realised how delicious it is and I seem to keep choosing it! Here’s a delicious recipe by Nigel Slater, which I saw on TV last week on his programme Nigel Slater’s Dish of the Day. It was first broadcast on 23rd November 2012, but you can watch it on the BBC website. The recipe isn’t written out but I’ve transcribed it – on the clip it shows you how to make some crisps out of the butternut squash peelings, but I’ve not included them here. I also had a sweet potato in the fridge and decided to throw that in for good measure, but that isn’t part of the original recipe.

Ingredients

1 large butternut squash
1 brown onion
Olive oil
Hot smoked paprika
1 vegetable stock cube, made to packet instructions
1 sweet potato (optional!)

Method

1. Peel and chop the squash (and sweet potato) and the onion, and brown in a pan with some olive oil.

2. Add the paprika and stir well. Pour over the stock, season and cover the pan with a lid. Leave to simmer until the squash is tender.

3. When cooked, blend thoroughly and add boiling water to adjust the consistency to your liking. Enjoy with some crusty bread – which tastes even better if you’ve made your own (click here for my bread recipe).

This soup freezes really well – you’ll need to add a bit more water to adjust the consistency. We also added some bacon when cooking a frozen batch and that tastes fantastic too!

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I decided to look for a recipe using pumpkin, and after trawling through loads of different recipes on the internet I settled on a soup recipe, but I’ve basically combined lots of ideas from lots of different recipes to come up with this one. I must admit that pumpkin isn’t really a vegetable that I usually use, and I suppose that true for quite a lot of people in the UK. But now I’ve tried this out I’ll definitely be using it every Autumn! You could always leave out the bacon to make a vegetarian version of the recipe – just remember to add some salt if you do!

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

200g/7oz brown onions, chopped

3 large carrots, chopped

1 medium sized pumpkin, chopped with outer skin removed

125g/4.5oz smoked back bacon, cut into small pieces

1 tbsp ground cumin

750ml/1pt 7floz vegetable stock

Black pepper (season to taste – also add salt if not using bacon)

Method

1. Heat the oil in large pan or stock pot and add the onions. Cook on a low heat until softened.

2. Add the pumpkin, carrots, bacon and cumin. Season, stir well, cover and cook for around 10 minutes.

3. Add the stock and raise the heat to bring to the boil. Then lower the heat and simmer (uncovered) for 20-25 minutes or until the pumpkin is soft.

4. Leave to cool and then blend with a hand blender. I like my soup to be quite chunky, but you could puree it if you prefer.

5. Enjoy with some home-baked bread

I’ve also been making some gorgeous Yorkshire Parkin which is just perfect for a cold Autumn night in! I’ll post this recipe tomorrow because I haven’t managed to take a good photo of it yet…that’s if there is any left in the morning, it’s so delicious And makes a great dessert after having some of this delicious pumpkin, carrot and bacon soup!

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Ingredients

4 Bramley Apples (with caster sugar to sweeten and a squeeze of lemon juice)

Cold water (enough to just cover one layer of apples in a pan)

200g plain flour

100g butter

100g dark muscovado sugar (or soft brown sugar)

100g oats (optional)

1-2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Method

1. Peel the apples and chop into fairly small pieces. Place in a medium/large sized pan and add a squeeze of lemon juice – this stops the apple from going brown. There have been many occasions when I haven’t had a lemon, so I discovered that using golden caster sugar hides the slight browning.

2. Then add just enough cold water to cover the apple. Always be sparing with water – it is much better to add more later if needed, as you can’t take it out once it is in!

3. Cover the apples with caster sugar. I don’t usually measure this out, I just do it by eye. As with the water, you can always add more later if you prefer your apple sweeter.

4. Leave to simmer on a low heat. Whilst the apples are cooking you can start to make the crumble mix – and also pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4.

5. Rub the butter and flour together until the mix resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add in the sugar (if you’re using the dark muscovado you might need to bash any bigger sugar lumps with a wooden spoon) and any optional ingredients such as oats and cinnamon.

6. The apple is cooked when you can squash it with the back of a wooden spoon. I like my apple quite chunky, but if you prefer it a little smoother then you can just give it a good stir. Put the apple into an oven-proof dish and pour over the crumble mixture (remember to box up some apple and crumble mix in separate boxes if you’re freezing some).

7. Bake in the oven for around 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Enjoy with custard and a cuppa (or ice-cream and a coffee if you prefer!).

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