Stuffing

You will Need

1 packet sausage meat
1 onion
8 cm bread fresh or dried
mixed herbs ideally sage and thyme
optional
ingredients		 lemon zest
chopped dried apricots or
small chunks of apple

Method

  1. Make the bread into breadcrumbs, either using a food processor or a grater.
  2. Chop and slice the onion and mix into the breadcrumbs in a large bowl.
  3. If using dried breadcrumbs, add a few tablespoons of water, oil, chilli or cranberry jelly or stock to freshen it up.
  4. Add the sausage meat and a teaspoon or two of herbs (less if dried, more if fresh).  Optionally, add the apricots or apples (apples and/or apricots go especially well with pork, lemon and thyme with chicken).
  5. Mix together thoroughly - ideally with your hands, but a wooden spoon will also do the trick.
  6. Drop the mixture into a baking tray, and bake in the oven for 45 mins at 200°C.

Halfway through the baking stir the mixture to ensure it gets crisped evenly.  Alternatively, it can be stuffed into the meat to be roasted.  Stuffing baked inside the meat will be more moist and less crunchy than a mix baked loose.

Smoky Beans with Basil and Bacon

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil for cooking
1 small onion finely chopped
2 rasher smoked back bacon
420 g can canellini beans rinsed and drained
2 large tomatoes roughly chopped
6 large basil leaves
Tabasco sauce

cheddar cheese or similar grated

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the bacon until golden and crisp.  Remove from the pan, leaving the oil.
  2. Add the finely chopped onion.  Stir and soften for about 5 mins.
  3. Add the tomatoes and beans.  Stir well and cook for another few minutes until the tomatoes soften.
  4. Shred the basil and add to the pan along with a few drops of Tabasco, to taste.

Serve on hot buttered toast with the bacon and top with the grated cheese.

Stew and Dumplings

You need

3 potatoes
2 carrots
½ turnip
1 or 2 onions
500 g beef (stewing steak), cubed
1 tsp herbs
1 beef stock cube
2 tbsp pearl barley (optional)
50 g suet
100 g self-raising flour
pinch salt

Method

  1. Toss the beef in a little flour to coat it.
  2. Chop all the vegetables into bit sized pieces and layer them with the beef.
  3. Mix up a stock cube with boiling water and just cover the veg. and meat with the stock.
  4. Add the herbs (and pearl barley, if desired).
  5. Bring to boiling point, then cover reduce to a simmer for at least an hour.  Check occasionally to ensure that it doesn't burn.
  6. Make up the dumplings by mixing the suet, flour and salt with just enough cold water to clump it all together.
  7. Toss into the liquid and allow to simmer for 15 mins.

Makes loads.  Also, tastes better the next day!