1. Place the stew beef in the slow cooker along with the soup mix, thyme and apple juice or water. Cook on low for 8 hours/overnight. (Alternately you could put everything into a casserole dish with a lid and then oven braise it in a slow oven for several hours until tender.)
2. The next day, scoop out the meat and place into a four serving size shallow casserole/baking dish. (My casserole was 8 by 12 inches in size, 3 inches deep. Leave the juices in the crock pot so you can thicken them.)
3. Whisk the flour/water mix into the juices in the pot and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Cook until thickened. Taste and adjust seasoning as required. Pour over the meat in the casserole dish. (This is your gravy.)
4. Cook the carrots in lightly salted boiling water until almost tender. Add the peas and corn for the last couple of minutes. Drain well. Spread the vegetables over the meat in the casserole dish. (You could use canned veggies if you wanted to, or all frozen. Mixed veggies are nice.)
5. Cook the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water to cover until fork tender.
6. Drain well and return the potatoes to the saucepan. Mash well with enough warm milk and the butter to give you the right consistency for spreading over the casserole filling. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. (You want them to be able to hold their shape and stand up a bit. You don't want them to be loose and pasty.)
7. Taste and adjust seasoning before spreading over top of the casserole to cover the meat and the vegetables. Rough up the top with the tines of a fork. Dot with a bit of butter if desired. (I just run a fork at alternate intervals to create a bit of a basket weave. You can rough them up whichever way you wish.)
8. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Once the oven is hot place the casserole dish on top of a baking tray. (This will help to prevent a mess if the gravy boils over into the oven.)
9. Bake in the heated oven until the filling is bubbling and the top of the cottage pie is golden brown. (About 35 to 40 minutes) Let stand five minutes before spooning out to serve. Delicious!

 

 

Yield: 4 to 6

Author: Marie Rayner

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French Onion Cottage Pie

Cook time: 40 MinInactive time: 5 MinTotal time: 45 Min

This is delicious. You cook the meat in the slow cooker overnight until it is fork tender. Thicken the gravy the next day, pile it into a baking dish, top with some cooked veg and mash and, after a quick bake in the oven, a delicious dinner is served.

Ingredients

For the meat:

• 1 1/2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 envelope (4 serving size) dry French onion soup mix
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 3 cups (675ml) of apple juice (or water, or a mix)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 TBS flour shaken together with 120ml (1/2 cup) cold water until smooth

For the vegetables:

• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1/2 large mug each of frozen peas and frozen corn

For the potato thatch:

• 4 large floury potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks (something like a russett)
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup (60 - 90 ml) of warm milk
• 3 TBS finely grated parmesan cheese
• 1 TBS butter
• salt and black pepper to taste
• butter to dot (optional)

Instructions

1. Place the stew beef in the slow cooker along with the soup mix, thyme and apple juice or water. Cook on low for 8 hours/overnight.
2. The next day, scoop out the meat and place into a four serving size shallow casserole/baking dish.
3. Whisk the flour/water mix into the juices in the pot and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Cook until thickened. Taste and adjust seasoning as required. Pour over the meat in the casserole dish.
4. Cook the carrots in llightly salted boiling water until almost tender. Add the peas and corn for the last couple of minutes. Drain well. Spread the vegetables over the meat in the casserole dish.
5. Cook the potatoes in lightly salted boiling water to cover until fork tender.
6. Drain well and return the potatoes to the saucepan. Mash well with enough warm milk and the butter to give you the right consistency for spreading over the casserole filling. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.
7. Taste and adjust seasoning before spreading over top of the casserole to cover the meat and the vegetables. Rough up the top with the tines of a fork. Dot with a bit of butter if desired.
8. Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Once the oven is hot place the casserole dish on top of a baking tray.
9. Bake in the heated oven until the filling is bubbling and the top of the cottage pie is golden brown. (About 35 to 40 minutes) Let stand five minutes before spooning out to serve. Delicious!

Notes

The leftovers warmed up in a skillet the day after were (believe it or not) even more scrumptious

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1. Whisk all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl. (flour, salt, spices and baking soda) Set aside. (I just use a small wire whisk.)
2. Cream the butter and both sugars together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. (2 to 3 minutes)
3. Beat in the egg and vanilla, beating until smooth. (scrape bowl if necessary)
4. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in the oats by hand. (This helps to prevent overmixing and a tough cookie.)
5. Stir in the chocolate chips, coconut, cranberries and pumpkin seeds, again by hand.
6. Cover and then chill the dough for at least 45 minutes. (I just scraped it all into a zip lock baggie. You can chill these for up to 4 days before baking, apparently.)
7. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line two baking sheets with some baking parchment.
8. Scoop out large balls of the chilled dough (2 to 3 TBS each). Roll into balls and place onto the baking sheets two to three inches apart. (This will help to prevent them from baking together.)
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 14 to 15 minutes. (When done they should be set and the bottoms just turning golden brown.)
10. Leave to sit on the baking sheets for 8 to 10 minutes before scooping off onto a wire rack to cool completely.
11. Store in an airtight container. (These also freeze well, for up to three months.)

 

  

 

Yield: 15 large cookies

Author: Marie Rayner

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Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal Cookies

Prep time: 1 H & 15 MCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 1 H & 30 M

Delicious cookies loaded with chocolate chips, dried cranberries, pumpkin seeds and moreish Pumpkin Spice.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (90g) all purpose, plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp pumpkin spice (see notes)
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup (114g) butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup (100g) soft light brown sugar, packed
• 2 TBS granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups (135g) rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (85g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup (24g) shredded sweetened coconut
• 1/3 cup (40g) dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup (32g) pumpkin seeds

Instructions

1. Whisk all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl. (flour, salt, spices and baking soda) Set aside.
2. Cream the butter and both sugars together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. (2 to 3 minutes)
3. Beat in the egg and vanilla, beating until smooth. (scrape bowl if necessary)
4. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in the oats by hand.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips, coconut, cranberries and pumpkin seeds, again by hand.
6. Cover and then chill the dough for at least 45 minutes.
7. Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Line two baking sheets with some baking parchment.
8. Scoop out large balls of the chilled dough (2 to 3 TBS each). Roll into balls and place onto the baking sheets two to three inches apart.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 14 to 15 minutes.
10. Leave to sit on the baking sheets for 8 to 10 minutes before scooping off onto a wire rack to cool completely.
11. Store in an airtight container.

Notes

Make Your Own Pumpkin Pie Spice: Mix together 1 TBS ground cinnamon, 2 tsp ground ginger, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg and a pinch of ground mace or ground cardamom. Store in an airtight container out of the light for up to 6 months. 

You can find a complete list of my spice mixes, etc. here. Make Your Own

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This content, written and photography, is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.