Lamb and Mint Casserole

This Lamb and Mint Casserole is another one pot meal of recent times. Again made in bulk with some left over to freeze for another time.
It is based on a pub meal I had some time ago, and the flavours stuck with me.
The dish is relatively inexpensive, if you can fnd lamb at a reasonable price. We actually asked the butcher for "enough for 4 people" which was about 500g, and he cubed up some lamb leg for us, but since this is slow-cooked a cheaper cut could be used.
The quantities can be adjusted to suit your liking. I personally like it a little more minty, but for the general population, I'd stick to just a couple of spoonfuls of mint sauce. Plus this time, we'd only got a glass of red wine to go in, so I upped the amount of stock to a pint, and used 2 stock cubes (and no extra seasoning).
This could probably be done in the slow cooker, with an adjustment to the liquid, but working out the quantities would require a little more brain power than we have at the moment!
I hadn't made this casserole for a while, but will do it more often now, since it was met with the exclamation "This is well nice!"

500g diced lamb
1 small bottle red wine
3/4 pint lam stock
250g mushrooms, halved or quartered depending on size
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 desert spoons mint sauce
flour
olive oil

1. Fry the onion and mushrooms with a little olive oil in a large oven proof pan/casserole until softened.
2. Coat the lamb in flour and add this to the pan. Fry for a little while to colour.
3. Add the wine, stock and mint sauce to the pan and stir well.
4. Cover, and cook at about 160C for 2 - 2.5 hours, stirring every so often. I uncovered the casserole for the last half hour to thicken the sauce. Serve with mash or crusty bread and veg. (or like us, mashed veg - yum!)

Beef and Peppercorn Stew

Well there is no more chicken left so time again to think about food for work.  Thankfully there were just enough microwave trays after Fran's red and grey soup to freeze another stew.  This seems a good time to introduce you to a favourite recipe book of ours.  It is packed full of great stews and soups (and mashes) and is conveniently called "Soups, Stews and Mash".  Quite a number of my family members had this book and we were lucky enough to find it on ebay for 99p!!  What I like about this book is that it is adventurous but not ridiculous - there is no "shin of a virgin calf" type of ingredient.  Everything can be found in the supermarket and there are bags of ideas.

The dish I decided to do is tried and tested and is the ultimate in comfort food.  It is very filling having beef and potatoes and it has that very satisfying black pepper kick.  Probably best as a winter dish but I think the summer is over now anyway.

Beef and Peppercorn Stew

You will need (these are my proportions and gluten-free):

800g Stewing Steak
2 Teaspoons Cracked Black Peppercorns
40g Butter
2 Tablespoons Oil
2 Onions
3 Gloves Garlic
1 and half Tablespoons Plain Flour (Doves Farm Gluten and Wheat Free)
2 Tablespoons Brandy
750 ml Gluten-Free Beef Stock (2 knoor cubes)
1 Tablespoons Gluten-Free Worcester Sauce (Life)
2 Teaspoons Dijon Mustard
500g Baby new Potatoes
(Some) Cream
Parsley (if you wish)

Toss the cubed steak in the peppercorns, heat some butter and oil and brown the meat in batches and set aside.

Cook the onion and garlic in the juices.  Then add the flour and cook for 2 mins.
To the pan add brandy, mustard and stock.  Put the steak back, cover and simmer on the hob for 1.5 hrs (keep checking and stir occasionally).

Add potatoes and simmer uncovered for 30 mins.

Add cream, stir and remove from the hob. 
Parsley to serve.

I like to have it with a pile of green veg at home of an evening or just a simple bowl of it at work with a roll  makes a very satisfying dinner.




The proportions made 5 good size work meals - but probably about 4 evening meals.

Sweet Chicken Casserole

One thing me and Fran like to do is make batches of meals to take to work.  Fran normally makes soup whereas I choose manly things like casseroles.  No doubt Fran will attempt to inspire you with some of her creations but I thought I would share a simple casserole that I have made this morning purely for freezing.

The idea came from a fish dish that I changed into a chicken casserole.  Often when I make things spontaneously they turn into a casserole!!  I have also done this Gluten-Free so Fran can steal some too if she fancies:

 Sweet Chicken Casserole

The molasses and soy give it an interesting twist to the usual casserole flavour.

Prep 10 mins Cook 2.5 hrs

Ingredients

6 Chicken Thigh Fillets
3 Large Salad Tomatoes Chopped
1 Large Onion Chopped
3 Medium Carrots Chopped
1 Tablespoon Oil
1 Tablespoon Molasses
1 Tablespoon Tomato Puree
1 Tablespoon Gluten-Free Soy Sauce
1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano
200 Ml Gluten-Free Chicken Stock
Black Pepper to season

Method
Preheat oven to 180 Degrees C
Oil in pan
Brown the chicken in a heavy based oven-proof pan and set aside
Fry onions in the juices for 5 mins then add mollasses
Allow onions to caramelise in the molasses a little then add tomato puree
Cook for 5 mins then add chopped tomatoes, soy sauce and oregano
Cook for a further 5 mins then add carrots and combine
Return the chicken to the pan and season
Add stock and bring to the boil

Put in oven for 2 hours

Enjoy

Note: the chicken will fall apart a little so does not need to be 6 portions - serves 4 hungry people like me - or 6 people with veg and potatoes.