Beef Stew And Dumplings

 It's that time of the year again, I gave the lovely Mr Debs a choice of beef stew and dumplings or pho as I had a large piece of brisket that I randomly bought whilst in the market ( looking for silverside ).

Honestly, I thought he'd go for the pho as we have just returned from a wonderful trip to Australia and the choice of cuisine was remarkable....nope.....straight away he plumped for this British winter stalwart. 

Every time I make this it's slightly different depending on the veggies available but just throw anything that you have in as it always comes out tasting delicious anyway.

Ingredients

1 Kilo piece Beef brisket

3 Large Carrots Roughly Chopped

2 Large Onions Roughly Chopped

3 Sticks Celery Chopped

2 Cloves Garlic Minced

1 Parsnip Chopped

3 Bayleaves

2 Beef Stock Pots ( or beef stock cubes )

3 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce

3 Tablespoons Mushroom Ketchup

2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon Mixed Dried Herbs

2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

Salt and Pepper to taste

For the dumplings

160gms Self Raising Flour

80gms Butter

2 Tablespoons Chopped Parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

Cold Water

Now, many recipes will have you browning the meat etc before you put all these ingredients into the stock pot or slow cooker, I've tried both ways and it makes no difference at all. I simply put everything into my slow cooker, top up with cold water to make plenty of gravy and put the cooker on a high setting for 7-8 hours.

Once the meat is tender and falling apart , thicken the gravy.

Towards the end of the cooking time and about 45 minutes from serving, make the dumplings.

Simply rub the butter into the flour to make a fine breadcrumb consistency, add salt and chopped parsley, bring the dough together with enough cold water to make a slightly sticky dough - do NOT overwork - simply bring together and form into balls.

 Pop them into the pot, cover to cook .

They can cook in about 30 minutes but they're even better after 45.

Serve with whatever floats your boat, we had peppery buttery cabbage with enough left over for bubble and squeak next day.

Vegan Lemon White Bean Soup ( Vegan Richa )

 Finding this lovely blog has been an absolute inspiration for my vegan cooking, I cook up something nice for Sam and Hayley every week as I look after our granddaughter and this blog has soo many recipes I'm spoilt for choice. 

This one appealed to me as I love all thing beany and lentilly and I make a really large pot and share it between us.

It was terribly easy to make and I would say served 5/6 portions with some nice crusty bread.

Ingredients

For the bean puree

• 1 to 1.5 cups cooked white beans( I used canned )
• ▢0.75 cup cashews or 1 cup silken tofu
• ▢6 teaspoons white miso
• ▢6 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• ▢3 tablespoon lemon juice
• ▢3 teaspoon lemon zest
• ▢1.5 cup vegetable stock or a little more if needed
• 
  

Place all ingredients into a blender and blitz until nice and smooth.

Ingredients for the soup

• 6 teaspoons olive oil
• ▢12 cloves garlic finely chopped or minced
• ▢2 large chopped onions
• ▢6 teaspoons tomato paste
• ▢3 teaspoons dried oregano
• ▢
• ▢1.5 teaspoons smoked paprika
• ▢0.75 to 1.5 teaspoon black pepper
• ▢1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• ▢4 large chopped carrots chopped small
• ▢3 sticks chopped celery chopped small
• ▢1 red pepper chopped small
• ▢3 x  400g tins any cooked white beans
• ▢1 Large tin sweetcorn
• ▢3 cups chopped broccoli chopped small
• ▢4.5 cups vegetable stock or more if needed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Heat the oil in a flameproof stock pot and gently fry the garlic for a few seconds, add the onions and a good dash of salt, cook for about 10 minutes or until the onions are softened but not brown.

Add all the herbs and spices and tomato paste and a splash of stock and cook out for a couple of minutes.

Add all the veggies, cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Add all the beans and the puree and the stock, give it all a good stir and cover and cook for a further 15 minutes until the veg are cooked.

Add more lemon juice if needed, add salt and pepper to taste and serve with crusty bread.

Picture ruthlessly taken from the original blog as we ate ours before photographing! It simply delicious and we all agreed that we love to have it again.

Happy New Year to all of you !

 Happy new year to all my readers, hoping that we have a happy and healthy 2026 xx 

One of the most beautiful places on earth Clashnessie, a piece of my heart is here .

Merry Christmas to all at Tony Ale Foodmarket Perth ( well Cockburn )

 Having just returned from an amazing one month trip to Perth to see my wonderful son, I had to post a picture and give a big shoutout to Tony Ale.

I visited here two years ago for the first time and most likely haven't stopped talking about it since. Fast forward two years and Tony Ale wonderful foodmarket was top of my things to do.

Now I realise that there is a LOT of stuff to do here and oh boy we did it - but - yup Tony Ale still gave me a great big thrill.

This is a food shop and then some, sad to say ( not that sad ) that it's at the very top of my list when I go to Fremantle.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AT TONY ALE 

If you see a punky pensioner gazing lovingly at the fruit and veg..... it'll be me 

Vegan Mac and Cheese Powder ( Vegan Richa )

 This seemed like a great idea for Sam as he's moving house and always time poor, a pot of instant vegan cheese powder for a stressed busy family has to be a help right ? 

• 64.5 g cashews
• ▢22 g nutritional yeast
• ▢3 tbsp plain flour
• ▢2 tbsp tapioca starch or other starch
• ▢2 tsp garlic powder
• ▢2 tsp onion powder
• ▢1 tsp ground mustard
• ▢1 tsp sugar
• ▢2 tsp salt
• ▢2 to 3 tsp paprika ( I used a mix of hot and sweet )
• ▢1/2 to 1 tsp black pepper

This was so easy, I can't believe I haven't made it before, I simply put the whole lot into a blender and blitzed the living daylights out of it. 

It's fair to say that Vegan Richa is my new favourite blog, every single thing that I've tried has come out floopin wonderful. 

Buffalo Hot Sauce Chicken Pasta Bake

 There are various recipes that we come back to time and time again and this is one of them. It's a recipe from Slimming Eats which is a diety kind of recipe but it's really delicious served with a nice salad and there's no need to be dieting to enjoy it. 

It's dead easy to prepare and the quantities here serve 4 

Ingredients

400g Chicken thigh or breast meat chopped into bite size pieces

1 Large Onion Diced

1 Clove Garlic Minced or chopped finely

1 Teaspoon Paprika ( I used sweet )

1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes

2 Large Tablespoons Tomato Paste

100mls Franks Hot Sauce ( or any that you like ) 

350g Fresh sliced tomatoes

249g Dried pasta ( penne is good )

Little olive oil ( spray if dieting )

Salt and pepper

For The Topping

100g Light cream cheese

240mls Chicken stock

1 Tablespoon Cornflour

1/2 Teaspoon Onion powder

1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Granules

1 Teaspoon Dried mixed herbs

30g Strong cheddar grated

50g Mozzarella grated ( or finely chopped )

2 Spring onions finely chopped 

Spray a frying pan with cooking oil spray ( or add a little to a pan ) 

Add the onion and fry until lightly golden and softened
Spray with a little more spray oil
Add in the chicken, paprika, garlic and a good pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper and fry until the chicken is browned and has a lovely colour from the paprika.
Add in a little splash of water just to deglaze the pan of anything stuck to the bottom.
Then add in the tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, hot sauce and diced fresh tomatoes and stir to combine, just simmering for a few minutes until the tomatoes are slightly softened.
Cook pasta in boiling salting water until al dente. 

Add this into the sauce and mix to combine, then add to a oven proof dish.
Preheat oven to 200c/ 180c/ 400f or gas mark 6
In a saucepan or frying pan, add the cream cheese, garlic and onion powder, plus dried herbs along with the stock and heat whisking as you do until the cream cheese is all melted and you have no lumps visible.
Mix the cornflour with a little water a couple of tablespoons of water to make a slurry. Then add this to the sauce and allow to bubble stirring every now and then until the sauce thickens.

Once thickened spread this over the top of the pasta bake (kind of like you would with a lasagne).
Scatter the grated cheeses on top and then place in the oven baking for approx 20 minutes just until the cheese has melted and is lightly golden on top.

Sprinkle with the spring onions and serve. 

Freezing Fresh Basil

 It's a rare occasion that I can successfully actually grow any meaningful basil but I was gifted a couple of little plants early in the year and randomly popped them into a bare pot - hey presto, loads of basil. 

I really don't know what was different this year, it was a very warm summer but honestly these little plants have thrived on neglect. Next thing I knew I had loads and loads of basil to use up. I read somewhere that you could freeze it in ice cube trays so that's what I did - dead easy!

Basil freshly washed and dried a bit 

Nice quality Olive Oil

The kitchen smells amazing..... Just chop until really fine.....

Then mix with olive oil and spoon into ice cube tray .....

Pop into the freezer until completely frozen. I then put two cubes per bag back into the freezer ready to be used.