The Cookbook Challenge Week 32 & 33 - Potato & Seafood - Fish Pie - 2 - $ - (V)

In an attempt to catch up on the Cookbook Challenge I have been a little bit clever (read: cheeky) and used this recipe so that I can tick off two themes at once.

I thought I may have had to miss out on the 'potato' theme because even though I LOVE potato, my tummy does not so I don't often cook with them. But then this recipe presented itself and reminded me of the ginger version of spuds - sweet potatoes of course! Being a redhead I should never forget these guys. In fact there are a lot of orange ingredients in this pie...


Like the celeriac, I was introduced to fish pies when I lived in the UK but I've never cooked one myself. I thought this recipe from the May/June issue of Frankie Magazine sounded interesting with the cayenne and the capers.
I did change my version a little bit though; I used 300gms smoked cod and 200gms of prawns and I also I went a little heavy handed with the cheese, but never mind.
If you're having trouble finding smoked fish try your deli but if you prefer adding fresh fish my local fishmonger recommended doing a mix of rockling and whiting, so I might try that next time.



Ingredients (serves 4-6)

100gm butter
1 large white onion, finely diced (I used half a brown one)
2 celery stalks, finely sliced
3 1/2tbs flour
750ml milk (it said full cream but I used a 2% version and it worked just fine), plus an extra splash for the mash
1/2tsp cayenne pepper
1/2tsp nutmeg, freshly grated if you can get it
zest and juice of half a lemon
2tbsp capers (rinse the brine off them or they'll taste like nail polish remover)
500gm smoked fish (or a mix with fresh like I did)
850gm sweet potato (approx 3-4), peeled and roughly chopped
2 handfuls of grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to season
handful of breadcrumbs (optional)

Smoked cod - also a redhead

Preheat oven to 220C degrees.
Put the sweet potato in a large pot and cover with cold, salted water. Bring to the boil and cook the potato until mashable, approximately 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the butter over a medium heat and add the onion and celery. Cook stirring for about 5-6 minutes until soft. Add the flour and stir well to cook it off for about 1 minute. Pour in the milk and stir constantly until you bring the sauce to the boil. This will take a little while, don't be impatient and don't give up. Most importantly though, don't turn up the heat, it won't help!
When the sauce has thickened, remove from the heat for a minute or two (no longer though or it will form a skin) and then add the seafood, capers, nutmeg and cayenne. Beware flaking smoked fish by hand - you'll have cod fingers for the rest of the night.
Your potato will be well-ready by now so add a splash of milk, season and mash until thick and creamy.
Pour the fish mixture into a well-greased baking tray and dollop the potato on top. Smooth it out as best you can to cover the entire pie, you can use a fork to fluff up the potato. Sprinkle on the cheese and crumbs and bake for 25 minutes or until golden.
The recipe advised to serve on peas but we're not friends so I just had it on its own.
This is a hearty feed, good comfort food and perfect for a winter's night. It could do with some fresh parsley I think and perhaps a bay leaf in the milk while making the sauce just to give it a little bit more oomph.

Enjoy!

Reader Recipe - Dunc's Goat's Cheese Tart - 2 - $ - V

Hooray again for Duncan sending through this new recipe!

He's a bit cheeky though (but we're getting used to that) because he didn't really measure anything too well and when I asked for the recipe he said it 'was mostly free-styled so I'll guess a few quantities and accept no responsibility for fluffed results!'

I think we can handle it but perhaps if your instincts are telling you more or less of something then go with that and don't tell Monsieur Dunc.

Elf size Goat's Cheese Tart (sorry for tiny pic)

Ingredients

1 quantity shortcrust pastry (if you can afford and find this one it's divine)

4-6 eggs depending on size of your tart pan

1/4 cup cream

a handful of grated hard cheese such as Romano or Parmesan
flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 clove garlic crushed

some mushrooms, capsicum, shallots or whatever else you have going off in the fridge

goat's cheese

ground black pepper

Preheat oven and grease tart pan.

Line the tart pan with the shortcrust pastry.
Beat and season the eggs.
Mix all other ingredients in a bowl, stir in the eggs and tip into tart pan and bake until golden.
Too easy yo! (That was Duncan again and not me.)

Enjoy! (That was both of us.)

Beef & Guinness Pies - 2 - $

Welcome!

Today is our official launch so thanks for stopping by! It's pretty cold where we are and it's nearly the weekend, so the recipe below is perfect for some slow cooking on a Saturday.
There will be new recipes, reviews or other foodie info posted here daily - well almost, we need at least one day off to go to the market - so make sure you check-in regularly. You can of course follow us on Twitter using the link on the right, or subscribe to this here Blog and then you'll be kept in the loop automatically.
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Beef & Guinness Pies

Please note this recipe needs about 2 hours of stove time and about half an hour in the oven. You don't need to watch them cook, but you probably should hang at home while they do.



In theory, this recipe should make 6 pies in ramekins but I can only ever get 5 out of it, so alter as you will. You could use the filling to make one big pie if you are brave enough to blind bake a pastry base - uuurrrgh.

Ingredients

1kg chuck steak cut into 3cm cubes
1/4 cup plain flour, seasoned
20gm unsalted butter
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbs tomato paste
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
400ml Guinness or other stout (if you live in Melbourne like me, Abbotsford Invalid would be the obvious choice)
1 fresh bay leaf
300gm potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
375ml beef stock
6 sheets of puff pasty
1 egg

Coat the beef in flour and shake off excess, keep the leftover flour.
Heat the oil and butter in a large pot and cook the beef in batches for 3-4 minutes until browned. Set aside.
Add garlic, onion and carrots to the pot (you can add a little more oil if need be) and cook/stir for 2-3 minutes. Pop the beef back in the pot, add the tomato paste, leftover flour, Worcester sauce, booze, bay leaf, potato, stock and stir well. Bring to the boil and then simmer, covered, for 1 & 1/2 hours or until beef is cooked and sauce has thickened.
You must cool completely before the next step. Don't worry if a skin develops on the top, you can skim it off or re-heat for a minute, stir it in and then cool again - it won't happen twice.
Don't forget to defrost your pastry while your filling is cooling.
Preheat your oven to 190 degrees.
BEFORE you fill your ramekins, use one dish as a template to cut 6 lids for the pie tops, make them about 1cm too wide.
Spoon your filling into the ramekins, don't make them too full or they will bubble over in the oven.
Cut 6, 1cm strips (my ramekins need a little more than the standard pastry sheet length so don't turf the pastry until they are all done just in case) and push them onto the rim of each dish to make a little collar. Brush them with water and then pop the tops on and press together carefully. You can trim the edges with a knife, or fold them over all fancy-like and score the edges to make them pretty. You need to put a couple of slits in the top and then beat your egg and brush lightly over the tops.
Cook for 25-30 minutes. Remember all ovens are different, so as long as they are golden on top, they are done.
You can serve these with salad, steamed veg, chips or whatever else takes your fancy.
They don't freeze so well, so make them when you have a few people coming over, or drop a couple off to your mates/neighbours when you're done.

Enjoy!

Feel free to leave any feedback or tips in the comments section below.