CRISPY POTATO CUMBERLAND PIE
This crisp, potato-topped pie is slow-cooked and inexpensive to make with an extra layer of crunch that makes it different to shepherd’s pie.
2 celery sticks, sliced into 1cm pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 big carrots, halved lengthways then chunkily sliced
5 bay leaves
3 thyme sprigs
2 tablespoon cooking oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon each plain flour, tomato purée and Worcestershire sauce
2 beef stock cubes, crumbled
850g boneless beef or lamb, cut into large chunks
850g large potato
50g Rewa cheese, finely grated
1 cup breadcrumbs
1. Heat oven to 160C. Soften the celery, onion, carrots, bay and 1 thyme sprig in a casserole with 1 tbsp oil and the butter for 10 mins. Stir in the flour, followed by the purée, Worcestershire sauce and stock cubes.
2. Gradually stir in 600ml hot water, then tip in the beef and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and cook in the oven for 2 hrs 30 mins, then uncover and cook for 30 mins-1 hr more until the meat is really tender and sauce thickened.
3. Meanwhile, cook potatoes in a pan of boiling water until they’re not done but about ¾ of the way there.
4. Transfer meat to a baking dish. Slice potatoes into 1cm thick rounds and gently toss with seasoning, breadcrumbs the remaining oil and thyme leaves. Layer on the beef, scattering with the cheese as you layer. You can cover and chill the pie now for 1 day, or freeze for up to 3 months.
5. Increase oven to 200C and bake for 30-40 mins until golden and crispy, and sauce bubbling if the dish went in cold.
ST CLEMENTS PIE
250g light digestive biscuit
100g cornflakes
85g butter, melted
140g caster sugar
For the filling
1 large egg, plus 4 large egg yolks
397g can light condensed milk
zest and juice 3 lemons
zest and juice 2 oranges
For the topping
150ml whipping cream
100g Greek-style yogurt
4 tbsp icing sugar
more lemon and orange zest, to decorate
1. Heat oven to 180C. Sit a fluted 20cm round loose-bottomed tin (about 5cm deep, or a slightly shallower 22cm tin) on a baking sheet. Break the biscuits into a big bowl, or double-bag them in food bags, and bash to big crumbs with the end of a rolling pin or small saucepan. Add the cornflakes and bash a bit more to crumbs. Mix with the melted butter and sugar and press into the base and sides of the tin. Bake for 15 mins, then remove and reduce oven temperature to 160C.
2. Whisk egg and yolks in a big bowl until pale and frothy. Whisk in the condensed milk, followed by the zests and juices. Pour in the tin and bake for 20 mins. Cool in the tin, then chill for at least 5 hrs, or overnight.
3. Whip the cream, yogurt and icing sugar together. Dollop on the pie and scatter with zest to serve.
LANCASHIRE HOT POT
4-6 lamb chops
400g diced lamb leg or shoulder
Flour, sugar, salt and pepper, to dust
3 large potatoes
2 sprigs of thyme, leaves picked
1 bay leaf
2 onions, sliced
500ml lamb or vegetable stock
20g butter, melted, plus extra to grease
1. Preheat the oven to 170C. Dust the meat lightly with flour and sprinkle with a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper. Peel the potatoes and slice them thinly.
2. Butter a high-sided casserole dish and arrange about a third of the potatoes in the bottom. Season them and sprinkle with a little thyme. Top with the meat and bay leaf and season in the same way, followed by the onions, seasoned in the same way.
3. Arrange the remaining potato slices on top of the onions like overlapping fish scales, and season these with salt and pepper. Pour enough stock over the potatoes to just come up to the base of the topping (take a piece off to see this better), then brush them with melted butter.
4. Cover and bake for two hours (two and a half hours for mutton), then uncover and bake for another 30 minutes, until the potatoes are golden and crisp. Serve with pickled red cabbage.
SCOTCH EGGS
12 large eggs
800g uncooked lamb, beef or chicken sausages, skinned
5 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
2 tsp Worcestershire ‘Pick Me Up’ sauce
2 tsp English mustard
12 rashers smoked streaky bacon
85g plain flour
140-200g/5-7oz dried breadcrumbs
about 1 litre vegetable oil, for frying
scraps of bread, for testing oil
1. Put 9 eggs into a large saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Once boiling, set the timer for 5 mins. When 5 mins is up, quickly lift the eggs out with a slotted spoon and plunge into a big bowl of cold water.
2. Put the sausage meat, parsley, Pick Me Up sauce and mustard into a bowl with plenty of seasoning. Break in 1 of the remaining eggs and mix everything together.
3. Crack remaining 2 eggs into a bowl, beat with a fork, then sieve onto a plate. Tip the flour onto another plate and season well. Finally, tip the breadcrumbs onto a third plate.
4. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Drop in the bacon rashers, turn off the pan and fish out the bacon with a pair of tongs – it should be just cooked.
5. When the eggs are cool, tap lightly on a hard surface to crack the shell, then peel. Wrap a slice of bacon around the middle of each egg, overlapping, like a belt.
6. Now finish coating the eggs with flour, mince, beaten egg and finally breadcrumbs.
7. Roll your bacon-wrapped eggs in the flour, shaking off excess. Take a good chunk of mince and pat out to thinly cover one hand. Sit the egg on the meat, then mould over the mince to cover, squeezing and patting so it is an even thickness. Dip in the egg, shaking off the excess, then roll in the breadcrumbs to coat, and transfer to your tray. Repeat to cover all 9 eggs, then cover with cling film and chill for 4 hrs or overnight.
8. To cook, pour the oil in a large, deep saucepan to about 4cm deep. Heat until a small chunk of bread browns in about 1 min. Carefully lower in a scotch egg and fry for about 5 mins, turning gently, until evenly browned.
9. Enjoy with a salad and your favorite sauce
