Sausage, Cannellini Bean and Pumpkin Stew

Sometimes, when it is cold and rainy and you feel under the weather, it HAS to be a stew - or soup - or something in between the two, as this is.  Essentially, this is good pork sausages, browned, then braised in herby stock with cannellini beans, carrots and chunks of squash and potato.  Lovely served in a big bowl with crusty bread, and under a fiver if you are careful with your shopping - don't skimp on the bangers, though, they should be the best quality you can afford.  For 4, take a pack of 6 or 8 bangers, halving them if you like, and brown a little in a tablespoon of olive oil in a casserole or ovenproof pot.  Remove, then add an onion, chopped, 2 cloves of garlic, a bay leaf, a sprig of thyme, a sprig of rosemary, a large potato, cut into chunks (peel if you like), a couple of carrots, also cut into chunks and a wedge of pumpkin or squash of similar quantity to the potato and carrots, peeled and cut into chunks.  Stir this all together in the fat in the pan.  Whilst this is happening, dissolve a chicken stock cube in a pint of boiling water with a tablespoon of tomato puree and a good splosh of Worcesterrrrrshire Sauce and pour over the veg.  Bring to the boil, then tip in a tin of drained cannellini beans (or any other tinned bean of preference, rinsed too) and then place the bangers back on top.  Cover, and bake in the oven for about 45 minutes or so until the veg is soft and the liquid has reduced a little - a temperature of about 180C should do nicely.  Sprinkle over some chopped fresh parsley and dish up the soupy beany stew with thick hunks of crusty bread to dip into the herby broth.  Then go back to bed and feel sorry for yourself, albeit on a full tum.  That's what I did.

Irish Stew

It is always a bit risky posting a recipe for something like Irish Stew.  As soon as you commit your recipe to virtual-paper, a whole load of people are bound to say "that's not how you make Irish Stew"!  Well, it's how I make it, so there!  I brown cubes of lamb leg in batches (about 750g for four servings), and then add loads of sliced leek, whole onions or shallots, carrots and swede.  Then I stir in a little flour and a pint of lamb stock, mixed with a teaspoon of tomato puree, some fresh rosemary and thyme and a couple of bayleaves.  It is baked in a covered Le Creuset casserole for an hour, then peeled potatoes are added, the dish covered again and cooked for another hour.   Perfect with some simple green cabbage or kale.  I sometimes add a tablespoon of barley to it at the start which thickens things nicely.

Potroast Beef Brisket

The cold weather continues, and so it is a good time to capitalise on long, slow cooking of cheaper cuts of meat, which provide flavour.  Last week it was pork belly, this week, rolled beef brisket.  Simply brown it well in an oven-proof casserole (I love my trusty Le Creuset), then add big chunks of winter veg - carrots, onions and swede for me, but you can add celeriac, celery, turnips - you can also do potatoes and pumpkin, but I would add them half way through so they don't break up.  A bay leaf or two, and some fresh thyme, then pour in some beef stock, red wine and tomato puree, not enough to cover the meat but enough to come a good half-way up the side of the dish.  Put a tight fitting lid on, using foil underneath if in doubt, bring to the boil on the hob, then put into the oven at around 140C for a minimum of 3 hours, longer if possible.  As brisket is so lean, you shouldn't need to skim the sauce.  Thicken with a little cornflour at the end if liked.  This has given us masses of leftovers, and I'll probably shred some of the meat with the sauce to dress some pasta for Hubby's supper tomorrow (I'm off out with the Laydees for an early Xmas do).  NB the leftovers made great Beefy Beany Broth, one of my most favourite soups

Spanish Pork and Chorizo Stew

This is largely based on Delia's Spanish Pork recipe, but I added a jar of Spanish butterbeans instead of potatoes this time. I love this recipe - it works in the summer as well as winter, and the smoky paprika from the chorizo is addictive. If possible, make it the day before, as you can remove any set fat (oily sausage and fairly fatty pork shoulder give flavour but render a lot of fat on cooking) and the flavour only deepens with a bit of maturing.

Navarin of Lamb [#248]

Phew, what a scorcher! 25C outside today, so I am glad we hadn't planned a roast that would have made the kitchen hellish. Instead, we had a delicate and light spring lamb stew, chock full of baby carrots, Jersey Royals, kohlrabi, baby onions and peas. I used a Knorr lamb stock cube - if it's good enough for Marco Pierre White, it's good enough for me. We have leftovers for tomorrow so it should taste even better after a day in the fridge. This was based on a Judith Wills' recipe and is very low fat, using extremely lean cubes of leg of lamb.

Sausage and Salami Stew with Lentils

This was a hearty and quick-to-make stew, made even easier by the use of a tin of Epicure Lentilles Verts. I substituted chorizo for the salami as I prefer the flavour, and I also added a good handful of chopped parsley at the end. Nice served with crusty bread, and loads left over for our lunches tomorrow. Nigel says this recipe serves two, but I think you'd have to be very greedy (even greedier than us!) to put half a pot of this away each!

Chicken Stew with mash

A simple hob-top stew (oven comes on Wednesday, yay!) of chicken legs marinated overnight in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, herbes de Provence, garlic, bay leaves and strips of orange peel. Today, it is simmering in stock and leeks after the chicken was well-browned in the pan. Just before serving, I'll tip in a drained can of cannellini beans to warm through and soak up some of the juicy sauce. Will eat with mash and sprouts. To be followed by a fresh orange and Campari jelly with 'fillets' of fresh orange (not a Nigel recipe - culled from one of Aussie Donna Hay's great books) for a light and healthy Sunday evening dinner. PS: really interesting flavours, with the balsamic balanced nicely by the orange peel and herbs. We have left-overs for tomorrow night too. picture credit: with thanks to http://www.spittoonextra.biz/chicken_stew.html

Lamb and Barley Stew

Nigel's Lamb and Barley stew for supper tonight. As I was at home today, it was a simple and pleasurable half-an-hour of work to chop onions, leeks, celery, parsnips, carrots and potatoes to mix with pre-cooked barley and chunks of lean lamb leg steaks (I know, the recipe specifies neck chops but they are a bit fatty for me). All mixed together in a pot with a pint of good chicken stock, lots of black pepper and some fresh bay leaf and thyme. It all simmered gently on the hob for a good three hours. Just before serving, masses of chopped flat-leaf parsley was added which freshened the flavour.

The verdict? Well, it was fine, but not as good as my father's Scotch Broth. However, there is half left for lunch at work tomorrow, and it is cheap, filling, sustaining and warms the cockles on a day which struggled to rise above -3 degrees C outside. So, a success - and, an hour after eating, and the temperature outside registering -10 degrees C, I can still feel the warming benefit of it. Hubby loved it and declared it superior to the Irish Stews of his youth (he's from Belfast, so he should know!). I think this may be down to a leaner cut of lamb which avoids the carapace of hard lamb fat which we would normally have when it cools down - nice!