May 2022 - Happy eats

‘Cottage’ Pie

Hi all! This is my first post as contributor, thanks for the invitation 🙂

A little about me: I’m an experimental cook that likes to try different cuisines & flavours using whatever I find in my cupboard, and often like to bring in flavours from East & South Asian recipes in particular for the taste of home. I also like to get inspired by British classics which I grew up with, which brings me to today’s dish – a simple yet delish ‘Cottage’ Pie.

Traditionally with beef, I didn’t have any at home, so went for a flexitarian version, where the main ingredient is lentils – the only non-vegetarian ingredient I used was Bovril beef stock, which for the full veggie experience, can be substituted with Marmite, both for flavour & colour.

Be sure to follow here, or @happy_eats_coldbacon for more upcoming recipes!

Go to Recipe

19/05/2205/05/22

Roast leg of lamb with garlic, anchovies and rosemary

Great cut of meat for a roast if you are hosting family and friends in Spring or just want a lot of leftovers! Don’t be intimidated by haunch of lamb leg, it’s actually very easy to cook with – you just have to allow the extra time in the oven compared to eg. a rolled joint of lamb because of the thigh bone. If you have a deboned leg then it won’t need as long in the oven so adjust your cooking time appropriately.

I made this recently for Mothering Sunday and the feedback (although somewhat biased of course!) was very positive. As per all my recipes, I try and use as few pans as possible to minimise the washing up and this is a one roasting tray recipe that also makes its own gravy! The water that you add to the roasting tray actually creates steam within the oven making sure the leg remains as succulent as ever.

Like all roasts, one of the most important steps is to allow time at the end for the meat to rest before you carve it. The meat continues cooking and the moisture is redistributed throughout resulting in moist meat. So it’s the same for this lamb.

Whilst the lamb is resting on a pre-heated tray tucked up under foil, you can finish off your gravy and the other trimmings to go with your roast. The usual trimmings will do – crispy roasted potatoes, veggies etc. as the lamb itself is already quite flavourful.

Go to recipe

Nice and easy.

Happy eating! 🤤🤤🤤🤤

05/05/2223/04/23

Oxtail stew fit for a baby (and you!) – no wine, no salt

Oxtail stew fit for your baby! And you can have some too!

Oxtail stew with added veg for the little one

Oxtail is probably not the most obvious thing to feed your little one. It is meltingly tender when stewed and full of collagen. Typical oxtail stew recipes use wine and stock in the cooking liquid which is the way I have always been cooking it. But I had some oxtail the other day and really wanted to share it with the little 👶 so I modified how I usually cooked oxtail but still making sure that it remains rich and tasty for us! Because oxtail is mainly bones, it creates its own stock when cooked so there really isn’t any need to add a stock cube which is, of course, high in salt.

Whilst adding a good red wine to your stewing liquid gives the stew another dimension, to be honest, I’d be more than happy to go without it in the recipe in the future. Except for the glass or two to go with the stew of course!

This recipe does take a long time to cook and the longer you cook it, the more tender the meat gets. So if you are able to plan ahead and cook it the day before as suggested, I would highly recommend it. Otherwise, if you are cooking on the day, give oxtail more time to stew if you can before eating. The cooking time in the oven can be extended as you prefer, just keep an eye on the stewing liquid although it shouldn’t dry out too much if you are using a heavy bottomed pot with a lid.

Using the approach of the trio of ‘humble beginnings‘ (aka mirepoix, holy trinity, soffrito, battuto, etc – a really good article explaining what these are at seriouseats.com) of garlic, onions and celery, the ‘beginnings’ of the stew flavours were set without the need for any salt at all.

Browning the oxtails first caramelises the meat, again adding an extra layer of flavour to the stewing liquid.

Not to be too blasé about it, but the rest of the recipe is just about chucking all the rest of the ingredients into the cooking pot and let it stew. So it is actually quite an easy recipe. The vegetables you add to your stew can be any combination you like. A very versatile recipe.

Add all ingredients into the pot ready to bring to the boil

I served it with cous cous this time but you can serve it with rice, bread etc. anything that can soak/mop up the rich sauce. With no wine, no salt and lots of vegetables, it’s a perfect recipe to diversify your little ones’ taste adventure. There were certainly no leftovers from either the boss 👶 or the other minion 👨!

Happy eating! 🤤🤤🤤🤤

See full recipe