Summery Cottage Pie

Ye olde cottage pie is a favourite in our household.  It’s one of the ever culinary Mr P’s signature dishes and as such I usually don’t go near the making of them myself.  I wouldn’t dare.  He has been know to whip up a cottage pie, impromptu, on a chilly autumn evening that makes the child in me weep with joy.  But one evening, with a bumper load of Summer produce in the fridge, a package of minced beef ready to use and Mr P working rather later than usual, I decided to tread on his territory a little and rustly up dinner loving.  He didn’t really seem to mind too much, so I know it’s not half bad.

This is a great dish to make as the weather turns a little nippy and you want to use up some Summer produce still kicking around.

Incidentally, does anyone know the difference between Cottage Pie and Shepherds pie?  I’ll give you a hint, the reason is in the name!

2 Tbsp Olive oil
1 stick celery, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lb/ 450g minced beef
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 ½tsp balsamic vinegar
1 Patti pan or zucchini, coarsely chopped
6 or 7 chard leaves, chopped
1 cup red wine
1 cup beef stock
salt and pepper to taste

2 large potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 Tbsp Olive oil
splash of milk
salt and pepper

- put a pot of water on to boil.  When it’s boiling add the potatoes and lower the heat.  Cook for about 10 or 15 minutes until done (when a fork slides easily into the potato chunks). Drain and reserve.

- preheat the oven to 350˚F

- over a medium heat, saute the celery, carrot, onion and garlic in the olive oil for about 5 minutes

- add the beef and cook until browned, separating the little clumps with a wooden spoon as you go

- add the tomato paste and balsamic and caramalise for a couple minutes

- add the Patti pan, chard, wine and stock and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the liquid has reduced and the mix is thick and yummy

- mash the potatoes with the oil, salt and pepper to taste and enough milk to give a silky but firm texture

- half fill a casserole with the meat mixture, top with the potato mash and bake for 25 – 30 mins, until the top is browned and crisp.

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Autumnal Stuffed Squash

I love squash. I was brought up eating gem squash a couple of times a week, steamed in a pot and mashed up in the half shell with a slathering of salted butter and black pepper. Yum. I don’t know why we don’t eat that many any more, but when I saw these beautiful, variegated, stripey squash in amongst the first autumn pumpkins I knew just exactly what I was going to do with them: stuff ‘em! And even though it’s still warm out (amazingly, thinking back to the wet, chilly September we had last year) I’m filled with the excitement and energy autumn seems to bring me and a really, truly Autumn meal is just what the doctor ordered, especially when served with a divine, meaty South African Cabernet. Oh, my!

Stuffed Autumn Squash

1 Kale leaf, chopped
2 Beet leaves, chopped (use the ones from a bunch of beets if they’re fresh and not wilted)
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 small zucchini, finely chopped
⅓ – ½ cup mushrooms, finely chopped
5 – 6 meat balls ( or a bit of cooked mince, or some pancetta, chopped)
handful chopped parsley
2 – 3 Tbsp chopped Almonds
salt and pepper to taste

1 or 2 squash, halved and deseeded
Camembert cheese, enough for a chunk on each squash half

- preheat oven to 400˚F

- simply mix all ingredients in a bowl, seasoning to taste, and fill the cavities of each squash. You might have filling left over. Bake this in a bowl along with the squash for a great lunch treat. Top each squash with a generous chunk of Camembert.

- bake the squash for about 40 – 50 mins or until squash is tender when poked with a fork. Serve with polenta or mashed potato

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Meaty Little Balls

Growing up mostly vegetarian as I did, it took my Mother-in-law to introduce me to the wonders of Meaty Comfort Foods, such as bolognese, cannelloni and lasagna. I loved when we went to their house for a Sunday dinner and instead of a traditional roast and two veg, there was a juicy, aromatic dish of pasta al fourno bubbling happily away in the oven. These little meat balls, stuffed with a cube of good dutch cheese, went down in a gobble and a gulp from a very satisfied Mr P, half Dutch as he is. The meat balls take a bit (though not much) of fiddling and it’s a good idea to start them a little in advance, say 45 mins before you want to eat, but the rest of the meal is dead simple: just a pot of good pasta on to boil and the simplest of tomato sauces. I made my sauce with a can of whole, peeled, Italian Plum tomatoes, some salt, some sugar and a good dollop of really good Olive oil, just boiled away for 20 mins while I carried on with the meat balls.

Meat Balls stuffed with Maasdam Cheese

450g – 500g lean minced beef
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp dried thyme
1 tsp mustard powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp Italian Parsley, finely chopped
1 large egg, beaten

± 20 ½cm cubes of Maasdam, or other hard cheese

flour for dusting

Veg oil for frying

- combine all ingredients, except cheese, flour and oil, in a bowl and mix well

- roll balls about 1 inch in size and push a piece of cheese into the middle of each

- dunk in the flour and shake the meat ball in your hand to remove excess flour

- fry the balls in batches in the hot oil. Turn frequently to brown all over.

- Serve with pasta and tomato sauce.

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Burger Bonanza!

There’s something decadent about cooking up burgers at home. In North America we feel inundated with the things, from the multitudinous fast food chains everywhere you look to the pub ‘n grubs serving up overcooked hunks of beef-on-a-bun. One of the posher eateries down the street from us notoriously sells a burger for nearly $40, with the chips cheekily brought in from the fry up a few doors down. But I still love a burger on the odd occasion: the sloppy, messy, goo it runs down your chin as you try to fit a bun just-too-big into your mouth, the licking of fingers and slurping of beer to wash it down. It feels like the parents have left the building for a bit, leaving the rules to the five year olds. But then these are grown up burgers, after all, made with the best ingredients we can find. Mr P., the meat expert in the house, always gets fry up task, while I focus on fixing up a sauce and opening the beer.

Tonight we used sun-dried tomato and onion patties from The Healthy Butcher, which serves up organic, grass fed beef, with a shitake and tarragon sauce, Roquefort cheese caramelised shallot and garlic.

Shitake and Tarragon Burger Sauce

1Tsp butter
2Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 clove garlic, minced
½ cup destalked, halved and sliced Shitake mushrooms
2 stems tarragon, leaves removed and finely chopped
2 Tbsp Parsley, finely chopped
pinch sel de mer
pinch freshly crushed black pepper
1 Tbsp Chestnut flour
½ cup milk
1 Tbsp cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)

- heat oil and butter over medium heat

- add garlic and heat gently until aroma’s start to rise

- add mushrooms and tarragon. Cook, stirring, for a minute or so.

- add parsley, salt and pepper. Cool until mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes

- sprinkle mushrooms with chestnut flour and stir. Cook for another minute

- slowly add the milk, stirring, and bring slowly to boil. Cook, stirring, until mixture thickens.

- just before serving, add cream cheese and stir until combined.

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