Gateshead Floddies

 
Ingredients
1 x medium potato
1 x tablespoon of chives (fresh or dried)
0.5 x small onion finely sliced into strips
1 x egg (whisked)
1 x heaped tablespoon of cornflour
3 strips Parma ham or 1 slice ham finely chopped
vegetable or rapeseed oil

Utensils
knife
chopping board
potato peeler
cheese grater or food processor
mixing bowl
jug
whisk or fork
frying pan
fish slice
tea towel
tablespoon

Method
1. Peel potato.

2. Grate the potato with either a cheese grater or food processor.

3. Put grated potato into the middle of a tea towel. Gather up edges into a bag shape and squeeze liguid out of the potatoes. Quite alot will come out so do it over the sink.

4. Put potato into a mixing bowl with the flour and mix with hands so that the flour coats the potato.

5. Add chives, onion and finely chopped ham to the potato and mix so all ingredients are evenly distributed.

6. Add whisked egg to bind ingredients together.

7. Scoop mixture with a tablespoon and make small balls (should make about 6). Put them onto a chopping board.

8. Heat frying pan to a medium high heat with half cm depth of oil.

9. When you can feel the heat through the pan by hovering your hand over it, add three of the balls to the frying pan. Squash them down with the fish slice, so they are flattened but not totally flat.

10. Fry for about 2 minutes and then turn them over and fry for another two minutes. Break one in half to check that they are cooked through.

11. Serve. They taste a bit like onion bhajis.

Notes
1. You don't need seasoning as the flavours in this recipe balance.
2. You can leave out the meat. If you do I would add a little salt.
3. Use other herbs like rosemary and/or thyme.
4. I found a recipe for this with cayenne pepper, but finely chopped fresh chilli might be tasty.
5. Could be used as an alternative to blinis. Add dill into mix and then serve with smoked salmon on top.

Gluten Free Polenta Crackers

Ingredients
140g polenta
100g seeds (pumpkin and sunflower work best)
50ml olive oil
250ml boiling water
herbs to taste, I use rosemary and thyme
salt
rock salt

Equipment
scales
mixing bowl
jug
parchment paper
baking tray
spatula
oven

Method
1. Preheat oven 150 degrees
2. Put parchment paper on baking trays
3. Put polenta, seeds. salt. herbs, oil and  water in a bowl and mix throughly
4. Leave stand for 10 minutes
5. Spread onto baking sheet thinly with a spatula and trace cracker portions with the edge of the spatula
6. Put in oven for 70 minutes. No less other wise the crackers won't dry out
7. Leave to cool... and then snap into crackers.

Beef Stew

Ingredients
500g stewing beef chucks
corn flour
1 x onion
1 x large potato
1 x large carrot
1 x parsnip
1 x tin of canellini or haricot beans
vegetable oil
2 x pints water (approx)
1 x knorr rich beef stock pot
1 x heaped teaspoon thyme
1 x heaped teaspoon sage
generous grind salt
generous grind black pepper
2x teaspoons of marmite
half a ladle of sherry (optional)
desert spoon of blackcurrant jam (optional)

Utensils
kettle
knife
chopping board
oven proof casserole dish/ pan
ladle
bowl
teaspoon
dessert spoon

Method
1. Put  oven proof pot on medium heat. Add oil to the pan so that it covers the bottom in a thin layer.

2. As the oil is heating up, put a generous handful of flour into a bowl. Grind salt and black pepper over the flour and mix through. Roll the beef chunks in the flour so that they are totally covered.

3. When the oil has heated up, add the beef chunks. Every couple of minutes move the chunks around the pan so that they browned on the outside. You do this to seal in the moisture of the meat when it is cooking. This should take about 8-10 minutes. As they are cooking wash and dry the bowl that had the flour in it.

4. When the chunks are browned, take them out of the pan and put in the bowl.

5. Wash and dry the oven proof pan.

6. Put pan on the heat with a layer of oil covering the bottom. Heat up.

7. When waiting to heat finely chop up the onion.

8. Put the onion and herbs in the pan and heat until soft.

9. As the onion cooks peel and finely chop the carrot, parsnip and potato.

10. Fill and boil the kettle

11. When the onion has cooked add the carrot, parsnip and potato to the pan.

12. Stir well so the vegaetables are covered in herbs

13. Add in the beef chunks.

14. Add boiling water to pan so that meat and vegetables are covered. Add the beans.

15. Add beef stock pot, marmite, sherry, jam and a couple of grinds of salt and pepper

16. Stir and bring to the boil by turning up the heat

17. When it is boiling either turn down the heat to medium and put a lid on. Or put a lid on and put in the middle of the oven at 180 degrees.

18. Cook for 2 hours. Check every 20 minutes that the liquid hasn't reduced too much. Add boiling water and stir through if it has done.

19. The stew is cooked when the meat is super tender and falling apart.

20. Serve with a chuck of bread and if you are Granny Joy, a chunk of cheddar cheese.


Options
- use sliced leek instead of an onion
- use venison chunks instead of beef
- use red wine or port instead of sherry
- add dried porcini bashed into flakes to give it more depth

Easy Cassoulet

Ingredients
2 x chicken thighs
1 x saucisson or small chorizo ring
1 x onion
1 x celery stalk
1 x large carrot
1 x tin of canellini or haricot beans
vegetable oil
2 x pints water (approx)
1 x knorr chicken stock pot
1 x heaped teaspoon dried rosemary
1 x heaped teaspoon thyme
generous grind salt
generous grind black pepper

Utensils
kettle
knife
chopping board
saucepan
oven proof pot
ladle


Method
01. Boil kettle and put water in the saucepan with chicken stock jelly. Bring to boil and add chicken thighs. Make sure water covers the chicken. Top up water if not.

02. Keep chicken on the boil for 40 minutes.

03. After the 20 minutes of the chicken boiling, FINELY chop the onion, celery and carrot. Chop saucisson into 1cm chunks.

04. Sweat onion and celery in oil in the oven proof pot. Add rosemary, thyme, salt and black pepper. Add saucisson after a few minutes and cook until onion is soft. Add carrot. Keep stirring.

05. When the chicken has cooked remove from stock with a ladle. Remove stock from heat BUT DO NOT POUR AWAY. Remove skin and pick meat off the thighs. Add meat to vegetables.

06. Add stock to vegetables and meat. Add tin of beans and its water.

07. Stir well and add pot to oven 180 degrees for 30 minutes.

08. Serve as it or with chunky bread or rice

Tip
Freezes well.

Apple Crumble - Quick and Easy

Ingredients:
for the crumble
100g Plain Flour
75g Sugar
50g Butter
large pinch of salt
extra sugar for top

for the filling
3 x large eating apples
half teaspoon cinnamon
half handful of sugar

Utensils
mixing bowl
weighing scales (see tip below because you don't necessarily need one*)
3 x mug sized ramekins or one large oven proof dish
knife
peeler
chopping board

Tip
*Crumble works to a 4:3:2 ratio.
4 flour: 3 sugar: 2 butter
So you could measure out with american cups

Method
01. Pre-heat over to 180 degrees (medium high)
02. Weight flour and sugar, add to mixing bowl.
03. Add cinnamon and salt to dry ingredients and stir around with your hand so all evenly mixed up
04. Cut up butter into small chunks Add to dry mixture.
05. Rub mixture together until it looks like breadcrumbs. Put to one side
06. Peel and cut apples into small (4cm chunks)
07. Either all of the apple into the oven proof dish or evenly between three ramekins. One apple per ramekin.
08. Add sugar and cinnamon to chopped apple
09. Gently fill oven proof dish(es) with crumble mixture
10. Put in oven for 25 mins
11. If freezing, don't cook just put in freeezer (in a bag) as is.

Tip
This is quick and a good alternative if you have a sweet craving!

Home Made Donner Kebab

Ingredients
500g of minced lamb (has to be lamb)
3 x garlic cloves or 2 s teaspoons garlic salt
1 x beef stock cube (has to be an oxo)
2 x teaspoons of oregano
1 x teaspoon paprika
1 x teaspoon thyme
1 x teaspoon dried mint
pinch of nutmeg
salt
pepper

pitta bread
salad
hummus
tzatziki

Utensils
mixing bowl
fork
cooking knife
baking tray
rolling pin (optional)

Time
20 minutes or so

Method
1. Put minced meat into the bowl and break down with the fork
2. Crush or finely chop the garlic cloves
3. Add garlic to the meat.
4. Sprinkle over beek stock cube, oregano, salt and pepper
5. Mix really thoroughly so the seasoning goes all the way through and starts to knit together and break down.
6. Lightly oil the baking tray(s)
7. Add meat mix to the baking tray(s) and flatten so it fills the tray and is 4mm thick. If you have over do the same in another baking tray.
8. Put oven on 180 heat (medium high)
9. Put tray in the oven and cook for 15 minutes.
10. Check that meat is cooked through, with no pink bits
11. When cooked, cut into long strips
12. Heat a pitta bread, cut into a pocket add a large spoonful of hummus or tzatziki to the bottom of the pocket, add meat strips top with salad leaves

Easy and relatively healthy!

Tzatziki (an alternative to aioli and mayonnaise)

Ingredients
1 x small pot of natural greek yoghurt
1 x garlic clove
2 x mini cucumbers or about 10cm of a big one (I know you are not keen but they are needed for flavour and you don't get the texture)
1/2 x lemon
pinch of paprika
salt
pepper
+ if you have it 2 x teaspoon of dill

Utensils
knife
chopping board
small tupperware box or other closable container

Method
1. Finely chop garlic and cucumber. Chop really finely.
2. Put in container
3. Squeeze lemon juice over it
4. Add dill, paprika, salt and pepper and stir thoroughly
5. Add yoghurt and stir throughly.

Use
It is fresh and garlicky tasting

• eat with chips like you would mayonnaise or aioli
• put a spoon of it into a pitta with a burger (veg or meat)
• put a spoon of it into a pitta with home made donner kebab

Best Before

It should last a couple of days in the fridge