Recipe Shed - Chicken and Ham Pie

It's pies this week on Reluctant Housedad's Recipe Shed, which worked perfectly with our plans for a chicken and ham pie that we'd been thinking of making for a few weeks!

My mum did us a joint of ham at Christmas - my mum's Christmas ham is legendary. She roasts it with honey and cloves, and then makes the most incredible lentil soup with the stock. Unfortunately (or not, depending on how you look at it) she made rather a lot and we had quite a few slices left over even 5 days later. So we threw them in the freezer and set about finding a way to use them up.....and discovered this. It's a Good Food recipe, tweaked a bit to suit our tastes and storecupboard.

Chicken and Ham Pie

(serves 6)

Put 6 cubed chicken breasts in a large pan, along with 3 or 4 cubed potatoes, and a variety of veg (we used frozen peas and sweetcorn but carrots, broccoli or celery would work as well). Add 800ml hot chicken stock, dried herbs, and seasoning. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 minutes.

Place a colander over a large bowl and drain the contents of the pot. Reserve 1 pint of the hot stock and put the chicken and veg to one side. Rinse out the pot and melt 50g of butter. Add 2 chopped onions and cook out for 5 minutes. Stir in 50g plain flour then begin to add the hot stock a little at a time to make a smooth thick sauce. We used the full pint but on reflection it made the sauce quite watery so perhaps don't use it all. Add 300ml milk and simmer for 5 minutes.

Take the pot off the heat and stir in the juice of a lemon. Put the chicken and vegetables in a large pie dish, along with as much cooked ham as you fancy (we used 4 large thick slices) and cover with the sauce, allowing to cool for a while.

Preheat the oven to 200degC. Take a 500g pack of ready rolled shortcrust pastry (or be really virtuous and make your own) and place it over the top of the pie dish. Add a few steam holes and decorate with pastry leaves, if you are so inclined!

Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. We had this on its own but to make it go further you could serve it some more veg, or (Jewhurst's suggestion) chips....!

Isn't it a beaut? It tasted AMAZING. The clove from the ham gave it a nice warmth without overpowering it, the chicken was tender and the potatoes gave an interesting texture to the filling. I also thought that perhaps the filling could be made in the slow cooker to really intensify the chicken and vegetable flavour.
Have a look at some other pies on Reluctant Housedad's blog. What's your favourite pie?

I have also linked this up to Mrs M's Recipe Link Party

Recipe Shed: Healthy New Year

Time to hook up with the Recipe Shed from Reluctant Housedad again, and what better theme to kick off the new year than the healthy stuff! We can all admit to over indulging a bit over Christmas but going healthy is always so much easier when the recipe is a tasty one which is interesting to make and attractive to the eye.

My contribution is from Slimming World, a recipe I nabbed from my mum's SW book. I have no idea about the Syns/points/calories etc., but I am guessing that the absence of fats or dairy products, not to mention the presence of healthy fillers like rice and pulses, means that it's a safe bet for a healthy diet.

Rice-filled Peppers
Serves 1

Chop one red pepper in half and scoop out the seeds and white membrane. Leave the stalk intact to help keep the filling in the pepper (not to mention making it look pretty!). Meanwhile fry a small onion in a little oil - I used coconut oil which is a healthy option - and add 1/4 tsp each of chilli flakes, paprika, and dried mixed herbs. Cook out until the onion is soft. Add a portion of cooked rice, a small tin of kidney beans, and some sweetcorn. Taste for seasoning - I added some Ludlow sauce for tanginess but Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce would also add nice flavour. Spoon the rice mixture into the peppers and bake in an oven for 40 mins at 180 deg.

(Funny story behind this photo - I managed to upend one of the peppers transferring it to the plate. Literally upside down pepper with filling everywhere. You can see a few rogue grains of rice I missed with the kitchen roll...)

If you want to gather a few more ideas for healthy food to balance out the Christmas splurge then head over to Keith's blog and check out the entries!

Recipe Shed - One Pot Wonder (and a review of Ludlow Sauce!)

I'll start with Mrs Hesketh's Ludlow sauce...

I discovered this at the Ludlow Christmas Fayre on a deli stall - The Deli on the Square to be precise. It was sitting in a little bowl with chunks of bread next to it, and I ventured over to taste. Oh. My. Days. It is delicious. The taste is somewhere between balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce, and from what I could gather from the leaflet provided and the recipes on Mrs Hesketh's website, it is hugely versatile as well. There are actually 4 different types - Ludlow Hot, Ludlow Summer, Ludlow Winter, and original Ludlow Sauce. It was the latter that I bought. So far I have tried it splashed into tomato soup (gives a nice tang), and for dipping with bread (quite sharp on its own, nicer when balanced with some olive oil as well). The website suggests stews, risottos, marinades...and the following recipe for lentil dhal.

I am also linking this up with Reluctant Housedad's Recipe Shed where he asks us to share our one pot wonders. I love one pot suppers, simply because it means I can stand over my beautiful Le Creuset casserole dish and just stir (and stare!).

I got this recipe from Mrs Hesketh's recipe page and it was insanely simple. I must confess to tweaking it slightly, adding some stuff and changing the method. I hope she doesn't mind! You can see the original recipe here.

Mrs Hesketh's Lentil Dhal with Cheese

Get out your chosen one pot pan. That trustly old favourite you always use for these dishes. Then heat 2 TBSP butter and 1 TBSP olive oil until melted and bubbling slightly. Add a small chopped clove of garlic and cook for a moment.

Sprinkle 1/2 tsp each of ground ginger, ground coriander, and ground cumin, as well as a pinch of chilli flakes

Add one chopped onion and cook until soft, stirring so it is coated in the fragrant butter and oil. Splash some white wine, if you have it, and cook out for a moment.

Pour in 600ml vegetable stock, a TBSP of Ludlow Sauce (you could probably use Worcestershire sauce instead but I strongly recommend the good stuff), a tsp tomato puree and a bay leaf, as well as some salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer for 20 minutes until the lentils are cooked and have absorbed the liquid. You may need to add a bit more water (I did, but I may have had the heat too high).

Proof that it was made in one pot!

Stir through some chopped coriander, before serving in a bowl with a dollop of mango chutney and a few strategically and creatively placed coriander leaves

The original recipe calls for 175g of cheddar to be stirred through before serving, however as I was only having one bowl and saving the rest, I just stirred a sprinkling of cheese though after taking this attractive photo.

By the way, do you like our lovely bowls? We got them on our wedding list. Aren't they pretty?

Head over the Reluctant Housedad's page and check out the other one pot wonders in the linky.

I was not asked to review Ludlow Sauce and have not received any product or payment in return (Mrs Hesketh can verify!).... I just think it's really nice!

Recipe Shed - 5 ingredients or less

This week's Recipe Shed from Reluctant Housedad is a good 'un: a dish using 5 ingredients or less. I'm coming at it a bit late because I only made this dish yesterday. On the plus side, I used our new camera so the picture is MUCH better!
You'd be surprised at how many recipes call for more than 5 ingredients, even the ones you think are really easy! But this is a great recipe from Nigella which fits the bill perfectly. I use it a lot when I have visitors over.

Minestrone in Minutes
(serves 3-4)

In a large saucepan, heat 750ml chicken stock, a 350g jar of pasta sauce (I use Dolmio), a can of Mixed Bean Salad, and a pinch of chilli flakes. Bring to the boil, then add 100g small pasta - any type you want.

Simmer until the pasta is just cooked, then turn off the heat to let the pasta swell a bit and soak up the flavours.

Look! Look! It's a DECENT picture of food!

If I add any more to that recipe it'll be cheating.......but if you wanted you could add some grated cheese on top, or stir through some cooked sausage, or serve with crusty bread.

Head over to the Reluctant Housedad blog to see some more 5 ingredient dishes, and add your own!

I've also linked this up to The Crazy Kitchen's Foodie Foto Friday :)

Recipe Shed - Spices

I missed out on Recipe Shed last week because of a busy week and lack of inspiration. On Meal Planning Monday I lamented the fact that one of this week's dishes would have been great to link up to Recipe Shed last week, as it is a veggie dish. I realised tonight that it is also slightly spicy, so I am linking it up to this week's Recipe Shed, where the theme set by Reluctant Housedad is "Spices" :)

I have taken a *tiny* bit of liberty here as the "spices" in this dish are verging on negligable. But it does involve spices I use in practically every dish I make so I'm linking it anyway. Also the lovely Seren who always comments on my MPM posts said how nice it sounded so this recipe is for her as well.

This is a big favourite of mine, loosely adapted from a Rosemary Conley recipe. I add lots of chilli flakes or use sweet chilli Philly because I like mine really spicy. The beauty of this dish is that you can tinker with the ingredients to suit your taste.

Garlic Mushroom Pasta
(serves 1)

Cook some pasta - any type, I used wholewheat fusilli - according to pack instructions. As this is for one person, just cook as much as you would have normally.

In a small frying pan or wok, heat 1 TSP oil and fry off a clove of chopped garlic and 1 chopped spring onion.

Add some sliced mushrooms - I used half a packet of baby button mushrooms, I guess you just add as many or little as you like and fry off til softened.

Dollop 2 teaspoons of Philly cream cheese and stir to coat the mushrooms and spring onions. Add a splash of milk to make a creamy sauce, and a big pinch of chilli flakes. Simmer gently while the pasta is cooking. If it starts to thicken too much, turn off the heat and put a lid on the pan, or add more milk.

When your pasta has cooked, drain and tip into the sauce. Stir thoroughly and serve immediately.

Apologies for the crap picture. We have bought a new fancy-pants Canon camera with wedding present money so in a month or so my pictures will be MUCH more impressive! (We've made an executive decision not to use it til we're both in the country....!)

For more spicy recipes head over to Reluctant Housedad's blog!

Recipe Shed - Sausages

Many thanks to the Reluctant Housedad who has devoted this week's Recipe Shed to sausages, after I had a small paddy at him the other week *blush*

Jewhurst and I made this a few weeks ago while he was staying over. The original recipe for this stew comes from the good people over at BBC Good Food, but after making it the first time Jewhurst remarked that it would be nice with some spuds in it as well, a la Irish Stew.

We had a little play around with ingredients and timings and came up with this:

Sausage Stew with Potatoes
(Serves 4)

Heat 1 TBSP olive oil in deep frying pan or large casserole. Fry 12-16 chipolata sausages until browned (you'll probably have to do it in batches) – remove and chop into pieces when cooled slightly.

Cook 1 onion and 4 chopped cloves of garlic in the same pan, adding splash of water if they start to catch.

Add a 350g jar of ready made tomato sauce (I used Dolmio), 450ml chicken stock, 1/2 tsp chilli flakes, and 1tsp tomato paste. Bring to a bubbling simmer.

Add the chopped sausages and 500g potatoes to the pan (small baby new potatoes or larger ones cut in half), lower heat, and simmer for 40mins or until potatoes are cooked.

Enjoy with a plenty of crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

This is perfect warming food - a great dish to have now that the weather is starting to turn. It also freezes/reheats well.

If you have a sausage recipe to share, or are looking for inspiration, why not head over to Reluctant Housedad's blog and take a look?

Recipe Shed: Hand-me-downs

This week's Recipe Shed over at Reluctant Housedad asks us to think about those recipes which we have had handed down from someone else. I have chosen one which my Mother in Law (to be) gave to me the weekend Jewhurst and I got engaged. Unfortunately as soon as you put the word "balls" into a title it automatically makes you want to snigger like a small schoolboy but try to look past the unfortunate wording and you will find that this recipe makes a delicious and incredibly moreish snack to enjoy with a cup of tea! There is pretty much always a box of these on the go at Jewhurst's house, and I am touched that his mum shared the recipe for me so that when he moves here he can have some treats to remind him of home!

Coconut Balls
(makes approx 22)

Crush 10 digestive biscuits into sandy crumbs; add 5 level TBSP drinking chocolate and 5 level TBSP of dessicated coconut

Melt 2 oz margarine and add to mixture along with a small tin of sweetened condensed milk*

Roll into balls about the size of a walnut and toss in some more dessicated coconut to creat a coating on the outside.

* My MiL makes a footnote at the bottom to say that you can't buy small tins of condensed milk, so she either doubles the quantity of coconut balls, or finds another recipe calling for a small tin of condensed milk!

If you have a hand-me-down recipe to share, or fancy noseying at other people's, why not head over to Reluctant Housedad's blog and take a look!

Recipe Shed - Tex Mex Tacos

Evening all :)

So a manic week has come to an end. This week I have, along with an amazing team of volunteers, been entertaining on average about 50 children every morning at Holiday Bible Club. I'm exhasuted! But I really wanted to join in with Reluctant Housedad's Recipe Shed linky this week, where the theme for the week is "Mince"



When I heard that it was mince my thoughts immediately went to the obvious recipes - cottage pie, lasagne etc. I am so glad I didn't go for that as the Housedad himself made the most amazing looking lasagne and Alyson has made a similarly delicious looking cottage pie. Both of which will be infinitely superior to my own versions. So I had a flick through my recipe file, dismissed meatballs as they were too much work for the end of a busy week, and opted for Tex Mex Tacos instead.

The recipe is originally from Good Food and is insanely simple. This recipe apparently serves 6, by which I think they mean 6 tacos rather than 6 people. I halved the recipe for just myself and I got 3 tacos out of it.

Tex Mex Beef Tacos

Heat a large frying pan until very hot, then brown 500g beef mince. Remove, then season with salt and pepper.
Heat 1 tbsp sunflower oil in the pan and add 4 garlic cloves, 1 1/2 tbsp dried orgeano, 2 TSP ground cumin, 2 TSP paprika, 1/2 TSP chilli flakes and fry until they release their aroma (you might want to lower the heat to make sure the garlic doesn't burn!)
Return the beef to the pan and warm through with the spices.
Warm some taco shells (2-3 per person) according to pack instructions.
To serve - fill the taco shells with the beef mixture, some sour cream, salsa, guacamole, grated cheese...... whatever takes your fancy!

Unfortunately I did not have sour cream in the fridge as I thought and next time I would definitely add it. Even though the cheese was a great accompaniment, the beef is a dry mixture with no sauce, so you definitely need something like sour cream or salsa to moisten it. Guacamole would add a nice creaminess to balance out the crunchy spice from the beef and tacos.

This would be a great dish for families or if you had friends coming over. You could just put the beef in a large dish, tacos on a plate, and toppings in little serving bowls. Perfect!

If you have a great mince dish to share then please join in with Keith's linky (just click on the Recipe Shed badge), and if not then why not check out the other blog entries and get some ideas! There are even some veggie options there!