Game Casserole with Mustard and Herb Dumplings

I'm not really a casserole or stew maker, it's not that I don't like them, it's just that there seem to be many more exciting things to make and I'd rather be making them! I probably wouldn't have made this, but I picked up a heavily reduced "Game Casserole" meat mix from Waitrose the other day, and, since that was what it said on the pack it seemed fitting. I must admit that I wasn't overly impressed with the "Game Casserole" mix, as the pieces were not chunks as expected, but mostly little rubbishy bits - presumably either off cuts from other things, or just very badly chopped... mustn't grumble for £1 though.

Southern Chap is a big fan of game meat, so this was right up his street. It was perfect for a cold Sunday after he'd had a long run - warming, rich and deeply savoury. The crowning glory though were the mustard and herb dumplings. I love dumplings so much, and in fact the main reason that I fancied making this casserole was because I'd be able to eat them with it. These are very good, even if I do say so myself - the mustard and herbs just lifting them from the ordinary and making them a great match for the casserole.

Game Casserole with Mustard and Herb Dumplings

1 tbsp oil

knob butter

1 red onion, chopped into large pieces

2 cloves garlic, peeled

4 slices unsmoked streaky bacon, cut into pieces

340g pack game casserole, or about the same of any game meat

200ml port

600ml stock (I used beef)

4 small carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

bouquet garni of thyme, rosemary, bay and parsley

1tbsp flour mixed with a knob butter

1heaped tsp mustard

1 large potato, peeled and cut into large chunks

For the dumplings

1 small handful chopped fresh rosemary and thyme leaves

75g suet

150g self raising flour

good pinch salt and fresh ground pepper

1 heaped tsp mustard (I used made up, but powdered would probably work as well, if not better)

7 tbsp cold water

Pre-heat the oven to 150C, 130C fan, gas mark 2. Heat the butter and oil together in a casserole over a medium heat and cook the onion, whole garlic cloves and bacon, until the onion is softened and the bacon is browned a little. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and then brown the meat in batches.

Once all the meat is browned remove from the pan and pour in the port. At this point my port set quite violently alight, so do take lots of care when you're doing this! Once the flames have subsided and the port is bubbling scrape away at any of the sticky brown bits in the bottom of the pan and let the port reduce by about half. Return the meat, onions, garlic and bacon to the pan along with the carrots and bouquet garni then pour over the stock to cover. Put the lid on the pan and cook in the oven for 2 hours.

Make the dumplings by mixing all the ingredients together, to form a large slightly sticky ball. Divide into 4 large dumplings.

Take the casserole out of the oven and check what it looks like. I thought my gravy was a little thin so I made a beurre manie but mixing together about 1tbsp plain flour and a knob of butter. I added some of the casserole gravy to this and stirred to dissolve, then poured it into the pan along with the mustard. Remove the bouquet garni, stir in the potato pieces and place the dumplings on top. Return to the oven for another 45 minutes. Once cooked the dumplings should be soft, fluffy and have puffed up.

This served the 2 of us and was a great British Sunday lunch followed by apple pie and cream!

Apple, Walnut and Cranberry Santa Hats

"My God they taste Christmassy!" declared Southern Chap when he bit into his first Santa Hat. So, just about the reaction I was hoping for!

Apple, Walnut and Cranberry Santa Hats

150ml oil

175g light brown sugar

3 eggs

2 tbsp apple juice

1 eating apple

50g dried cranberries

50g walnuts, chopped into small pieces

200g plain flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp mixed spice

pinch nutmeg

1 tsp baking powder

Spiced Brandy Buttercream

150 butter, softened

300g icing sugar

7- 8 tsp brandy

1 tsp mixed spice

red food colouring

Pre-heat the oven to 180C, 160c fan, gas 4 and line a 12 hole muffin tray with 12 festive cupcake cases.

In a large jug mix together the oil, sugar, eggs and apple juice. Core the apple and chop into small dice (I had a lovely red apple, so left the skin on, but you can peel it if you'd prefer), then stir into the oil mixture with the cranberries and chopped walnuts.

In a separate bowl mix together all the dry ingredients. Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir together then spoon into the prepared cupcake cases and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until the cakes are risen and golden. Leave the cakes to cool on a wire rack.

While the cakes cool, whisk the butter with an electric mixer, then add the icing sugar and about 6tsp (2tbsp) of the brandy. You may need more brandy, as I did, but if you're not keen on the alcohol, or want less brandy flavour then use water. Remove just under 1/3 of the creamy mixture and decant to another bowl, then add the mixed spice and enough red colouring to make a deep red to the remaining 2/3.

To decorate, spoon the red buttercream onto the cakes and smooth into a hat shape. Place the white buttercream in a piping bag with a smallish star nozzle and use to create the fur trim and bobble! I then scattered over some edible glitter, for that truly over the top festive look.

Chestnut Choc Chip Cookies

December has been unusually busy and all the plans I had for festive baking have gone right out of the window. However I'm officially on my Christmas holiday, so am trying to catch up and these Chestnut Choc Chip Cookies are my first offering. I've been planning this recipe for a while now, ever since I saw a chestnut biscuit recipe and thought I could make it better!

The cookies are very crisp and the chestnut gives them a real bite (a bit like ground rice in shortbread actually, but these cookies aren't crumbly like that is). Southern Chap describes them as "grown up" biscuits because of the dark chocolate chips I've put in them. If you encounter quite solid choc chips when cutting out the cookies, then get through them by tapping the cutter down with your rolling pin. This makes quite a lot of dough, so I've put a little into the freezer to use in January when we need a little warm cookie cheer!

Chestnut Choc Chip Cookies

200g cooked peeled chestnuts

275g golden caster sugar

200g unsalted butter, softened

225g plain flour

1/4 heaped tsp baking powder

100g chocolate chips (I used Bourneville chips, but any will do)

Whiz the chestnuts and sugar together in a processor for a few minutes, until the chestnuts are completely broken down and it looks like a granular paste. Add the butter and whiz again until completely incorporated, then do the same with the flour and baking powder. The dough should come together nicely. Take the dough out of the processor and place on a sheet of cling flim, then gently knead in the chocolate chips. Wrap up in the cling film and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 150C, 130C fan, gas 2 and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper or baking parchment. Dust a clean work surface with a little flour and roll out the chilled dough to about 1cm thick and cut out with cookie cutters (I used snowflakes, but of course any will do!), the remaining dough can be mashed back together and re-rolled or it can also be formed into a cylinder and rounds sliced off if you don't have cutters. Bake for 25 minutes, then cool on a wire rack, and nibble with decadent hot chocolate, or just a nice hot cuppa.

Miso Marinated Lamb

We often eat Japanese food at home, but I very rarely blog about it because it's usually snaffled the minute it's cooked! Today though, before Southern Chap could get his hands on the grub, I took a quick snap. It's not the best picture, but it'll have to do!

What I love about Japanese food is that it is healthy, extremely delicious and actually quite simple to make, especially the kind of food that the Japanese eat at home (case in point, Japanese people don't make their own sushi, it's usually bought in, or eaten at a restaurant). There are basic Japanese ingredients that I always have in the house so that I can cook up some "nihon ryori" when the urge takes me. These are:

Soy Sauce

It has to be Kikkoman soy sauce! Most of the ones available in the supermarkets are Chinese soy sauces, that are not totally pure and often coloured using caramel. If you go to a Japanese shop you'll find that there are a few different Kikkoman soy sauces, but I find the most common one, that's in quite a recognizable bottle works well for most things.

Sake

I like to have a little bottle of sake in the fridge. I like it small because it gets used up quickly and doesn't really have time to start tasting funny (though being no kind of sake expert, I probably wouldn't know when it was tasting funny anyway).

Mirin

Mirin is often called Cooking Sake, as it is a kind of rice wine, but one that has a high sugar content, though still contains alcohol. This is used a lot in marinades for fish and to add sweetness to savoury dishes.

Rice Vinegar

Not only is this one of the main components of rice for sushi, but it's also a lovely light vinegar to use in salad dressings.

Miso

Currently my fridge contains a tub of red miso and some stronger darker hatcho miso, which looks much like marmite and has as similar strong salty taste. I think miso is really interesting, as the different colours have different flavours and uses and Japan is divided regionally by miso preferences. There, I've said it, I'm a miso nerd. Miso is not just for soups either!

Japanese Rice

If you're in a supermarket this will be called Sushi rice. It's similar to the fat rounded rices used in Europe for risotto and paella and a bit like pudding rice. I think it has a nice nutty flavour all of its own and if you want a true taste of Japan buy your rice from a Japanese supermarket, where they have real Japanese rice from Japan.

Wasabi

This comes either in a tube or powdered. The powdered kind that you make up into a paste with water is supposed to be the best, but I much prefer the convenience of the tube wasabi. I like this in salad dressings too and it can't half liven up some tuna mayo.

Nori sheets, sesame seeds and sesame oil can also come in handy, but are not quite as essential. If you're in London everything is a available at both the Japan Centre in Piccadilly, or Arigato in Soho. If you're not in London though, the Japan Centre has a website for your convenience: http://www.japancentre.com/ Anyway, back to Sunday's dinner!

The apple mint sauce is a Japanesey take on traditional mint sauce. I thought the savoury lamb would be good with just a little extra zing.

Hatcho Miso Marinated Lamb with Apple Mint Sauce

2 heaped tbsp hatcho miso, or red miso

2 tbsp sake

2 tbsp mirin

1 tbsp soy sauce

knob ginger, peeled and finely grated

1 clove garlic, peeled and finely grated

2 tbsp vegetable oil

About 450g lamb, cut into chunks (I cut my pieces from a shoulder, but any cut would work)

Apple Mint Sauce

1 apple (I used a Cox's), grated

large bunch mint, leaves picked and chopped

2 spring onions, finely chopped

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sake

1/2 tsp wasabi paste (or to taste)

In a small bowl mix together the miso, sake, soy sauce and mirin, making sure the miso is completely dissolved (you might need a small whisk for this). Stir in the ginger, garlic and oil. Place the lamb in a re-sealable bag, or a bowl and cover with the miso marinade. Leave to marinate in the fridge for 2 - 3 hours.

Make the Apple Mint sauce, by mixing all the ingredients together. Taste and add extra wasabi if you like a little more heat!

To cook the lamb, heat a griddle pan until very hot. Place the marinated lamb pieces on the grill and cook for about 2 minutes each side (this will depend on the size of your chunks, if they're thick you may want to cook then for a minute or so longer, ditto if you don't like your lamb pink). Serve the lamb on rice and top with some apple mint dressing. I made leek and shitake mushroom rice, but plain rice is just as nice. You could even served this in a more Korean style, with a spicy dipping sauce and small lettuce leaves to wrap the tasty lamb up in.

The little green sparkles you can see on the picture were a random addition; wasabi tobiko (wasabi flavoured fish eggs), that a friend gave me on Saturday. Quite a way out ingredient, but since I had them I though I should use them up, because I love them!

Golden Syrup Gingerbread

I made this yesterday on 5th November especially for Bonfire Night. However, we ended up going out for a burger and to see some fireworks, so didn't eat it on the day in the end. I think it does benefit from a night spent developing its stickyness in its tin though, so just as well really!

I absolutely love ginger and since this cake doesn't use black treacle the ginger flavour really comes through, but because I substituted golden syrup for the treacle it still has that gorgeous moist sticky crumb that you want in a ginger cake. I fancied adding the stem ginger for a little extra oomph, but it isn't intrinsic to the recipe and some did sink to the bottom, so you don't have to add it if you don't want to.

For me this cake tastes just like bonfire night and is the perfect treat on a chilly November day with a nice cuppa and maybe even a little spreading of butter, if you're feeling extra indulgent!

Golden Syrup Gingerbread Loaf

110g golden syrup

110g demerara sugar

110g butter

150ml milk

1 large egg

2 balls stem ginger, drained of syrup and thinly sliced (optional)

170g plain flour

2tsp ground ginger

2tsp cinnamon

1 well heaped tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pre-heat the oven to 150C, 130C in a fan oven, gas 2. Grease a 2lb loaf tin and line with baking parchment.

In a small pan heat together the golden syrup, demerara sugar and butter over a low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring all the time until everything is mixed together and the demerara seems to have melted. At this point the mixture will be quite thick and look like caramel. Allow this to cool.

Beat together the milk and egg and stir into the cooled golden syrup mixture along with the sliced stem ginger. Mix the flour, spices and bicarbonate of soda together in a large bowl. Gradually pour the golden syrup mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring well until it is all completely mixed, then pour into the prepared tin. Bake in the oven on the middle shelf for 45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. The cake should look dark brown and crusty on the outside. Allow to cool in the tin and leave overnight, if you can, for an extra sticky cake!

Stop! Pumpkin Times 2

As promised here is a recipe for pumpkin cakes. I'm not sure if the cake mix should be classed as a cupcake or a muffin. When I wrote the original recipe it was a cross between a muffin and a carrot cake and this is just that recipe re-worked with pumpkin. I called those Carrot Cake Muffins..... I think these can just be Pumpkin Cakes, as they are pumpkin in every way! Make sure you get an eating pumpkin for these (and I guess if you make any other pumpkin recipes) since the ones for carving tend to have softer watery flesh (easier for carving, see?) and are all seeds and fibers, so you're essentially paying for air!

*Please note that no Pumpkin Cakes were harmed during the photo shoot for this blog! All cakes were safely placed onto glasses or ramekins and at no point did any actually come into contact with the earth at all, though a blade of grass did touch one and a leaf stuck into Dracula briefly.

Pumpkin Cakes

200g self-raising flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

150ml vegetable oil

juice and zest 1 orange

200g soft light brown sugar

3 medium eggs

200g edible pumpkin (or squash), de-seeded, peeled and grated

Pre-heat the oven to 200C, 180C in a fan oven, gas 6. Place cupcake cases in a 12 hole muffin tin. In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients. Measure the oil into a jug then beat in the orange zest and juice, sugar and eggs, to combine completely. Pour the oil mixture into the dry ingredients with the grated pumpkin. Stir together to combine and divide between the cases. Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 15 - 20 minutes until well risen and brown. Allow to cool before icing, or leave out the icing and devour as a breakfast muffin.

Icing

I'd like to say that this icing was made with a proper recipe, but alas, it wasn't. I beat together 125g softened butter with about 200g icing sugar (all that I had in the house, or else I'd have used 250g) and 2 tsp orange juice. I then added a large pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg and proceeded to colour the icing in a rather haphazzard manner.... I don't have an orange colour, so used yellow, red and brown. Eventually I hit upon the colour I was after, which was lucky! The faces are done with black writing icing and the stalks with white marzipan coloured green.

Stop! Pumpkin Time

I'm not really into the whole Halloween trick or treat thing, but I do like a nice project and tend to carve a pumpkin every year. Some years are better then others, but I think this year was reasonably successful! So, Martha Stewart eat your heart out. I've carved a delightful pumpkin and though that one wasn't for eating I did have half a squash to use up so I also made this rather tasty soup. All I need now to be the next Martha is a pumpkin cake (which I may do later this week if I can be bothered) and some kind of sewing project!

This soup is another of frugality; I'd already used the other half of the squash for a risotto, the chicken thighs were accidentally removed from the freezer and needed to be used and the coconut milk was left over from heaven knows what. DW loves soup too, so I made this because I thought he'd like it, and he did.

Red Curry Squash Soup with Chicken

1 tsp groundnut oil

5 thai shallots (or use half a red onion), finely chopped

3 skinless and boneless chicken thighs, cut into small dice

2 tbsp red curry paste

1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger

300ml coconut milk

600ml chicken stock

1/2 a butternut squash, deseeded, peeled and cut into small dice

handful green beans, cut into 2cm pieces

dash fish sauce

juice 1/2 a lime

pinch sugar

handful coriander leaves to garnish

In a large pan, heat the oil over a low heat and cook the shallots for a few minutes until softened then add the chicken and brown lightly. Stir in the curry paste and ginger and cook very briefly before adding the coconut milk and stock, stir everything together and then tip in the squash. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes, until the squash is softened.

When the squash is soft, with a slotted spoon scoop out a little more then half of the squash, place it in a processor and blend it with some of the soup liquid. Now this is a bit fiddly and if you don't mind blending the chicken as well you could just scoop out half of the soup and puree it, but I didn't find it too much of a bother getting just the squash out and I liked the deep orange colour it created. Return the blended soup to the pan and heat for 5 minutes, then stir in the beans, fish sauce, lime juice and sugar and heat for another few minutes until the beans are done to your liking.

My soup didn't need any more seasoning, but if you feel your soup does then add a grind of salt and pepper. Spoon into bowls and scatter over coriander leaves to serve. Serves 2 very greedy people with a bowl leftover for the next day, or 4 normal people!