Posts tagged cooking techniques

The Youtube culinary institute…

June 21, 2013 · Filed under Food experiences, News, Vegie smuggling techniques · Tagged

Armed and (mildly) dangerous.

Armed and (mildly) dangerous.

I never hide the fact that I’m not a trained chef. Considering my recipes are all for everyday family life, I’ve actually considered my lack of formal training to be a bit of an advantage. It means that my cookbooks are full of recipes that can be cooked by anyone – I never make an assumption that you know how to make a roux or whip up pastry.

But as I’ve cooked more and more, I’ve obviously gotten pretty good in the kitchen and as I’ve built confidence, I’ve given myself more challenges. Whenever I want to tackle something I’m unsure of, I’ll just do a search online and find some instructional video that gives me the confidence to HAVE A GO (ya mug).

The quality of online videos varies wildly, from the great to the hideous, so in the interest of giving you a red hot go in the kitchen, here are some links to good videos showing you how to tackle some everyday kitchen skills…

The basis of nearly every dinner – how to dice an onion.

If you love making casseroles in your slow cooker, you might want to know how to cut up a raw chicken into eight pieces. If that makes you squeamish, you might prefer this video – how to carve a roast chicken, which is also handy (mine never look like this!).

Have a perfect ‘mom’ moment by knowing how to perfectly cream butter and sugar.

Then you might want to separate eggs. And then of course you’ll need to know how to beat eggwhites. (You can also watch this one in Italian, just for something a bit exotic).

Take your patisserie skills even further and learn how to make choux pastry. If you’re feeling like pickling some pickles or jamming some jam, you’ll need to know how to sterilise jars. And for the ultimate Donna-Hay-presentation-moment, here’s five ways to finish your pie crusts.

For a bit of celebrity, here Gordon Ramsey cooks a cheese sauce. And here Curtis Stone shows us when fish is cooked (and let’s face it, we’ll avidly watch pretty Curtis do pretty much anything).

For lovers of japanese food, here is how to cook perfect sushi rice. And finally, a wacky one from my favourite Youtube channel – Cook with Dog. How to make a bento box.

Happy learning!

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A simple (gluten-free) mix and bake

June 13, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, The best way to smuggle..., Vegetarian · Tagged , , , , , , ,

Is there anything better than a dinner that gets mixed up in one bowl, then pressed into one tin and cooks in one oven? Perhaps only the addition of Bono, sitting up on the benchtop in his onesie, belting out a little acapella version of ‘One’ while I sip one wee glass of vino while I’m wearing my onesie. That’d be nice, if a little weird.

If you’re free Bono, pop over tonight and we’ll whip this zucchini slice up together.

One piece.

Just one piece.

Zucchini & rice slice (Gluten free)

There’s no smuggling going on here really, since pretty much the whole dish IS vegies. Smuggling vegies within vegies…

2 zucchinis, grated
1 carrot, peeled, grated
4 spring onions, finely sliced
125g can corn kernels, drained
1 cup cooked rice (white or brown) – I always make extra rice whenever I’m cooking a stir-fry, so I can make stuff like this the next day
2-3 tbsp fresh chives and/or parsley, finely chopped (optional)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (plus extra for the top)
1/2 cup mild feta, crumbled
4 eggs, lightly whisked

Preheat the oven to 190C. Line a 20x30cm slice tin with baking paper.

In a large bowl, combine everything well. Press the mixture into the tin, top with a handful of grated cheese and bake for 30 minutes until set.

Serves 2 adults and 2 kids

________________

Like this recipe? Why not try out my Baked tuna & tomato rice.

summer-sale-square

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Chunky vegetable & bean soup

June 2, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News, Vegetarian · Tagged , , , , ,

So how am I going with the pressure cooker that Kambrook sent me? Well, it took a bit of courage to tackle but after some experimentation, I’m happy to report that I’m digging it.

The poor old slow cooker is gathering dust while I romance with its whizzy, fast cousin. They’re perfect for the same kind of dishes, but something that would cook for 8 hours in the slow cooker, is done in 20 minutes. Seriously. So while you do still have to do all the prep work (chopping, browning, sautéing etc), you’re not doing it at 8am when the smell of browning meat can be a little nauseating.

I rate it.

Here’s my first win – a vegetable and bean soup that borders on a stew. Always a sucker for a really chunky soup, I’ve kept the liquid minimal, but if you want it wetter, add an extra cup of stock.

Also, if you want to make this in the slow cooker, go ahead. I’ve not tested it myself, but think it would work using HIGH for 3-4 hours. (**If anyone wants to play recipe tester and let me know accurate timings, I’ll send you a free e-book of your choice.)

Soup + winter = cosy.

Soup + winter = cosy.



Chunky vegetable & bean soup (in the pressure cooker)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, peeled, finely diced
2 sticks celery, finely sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 cups sweet potato, peeled, cubed
1 cup cauliflower florets
1 zucchini, diced
400g can chopped tomatoes
400g can four-bean mix, rinsed, drained
1/4 cup fresh herbs (any or all of – parsley, chives, basil, thyme)
2 cups beef stock
1 cup frozen peas

Baguette & grated cheese (optional)

Set the pressure cooker to ‘sauté’. Add the oil and heat before dropping in the onion, carrot and celery. Stir regularly for several minutes until all are starting to soften and onion is starting to turn golden.

Pop in the garlic and cook for a minute until everything is fragrant. Stir in the rest of the ingredients (except the peas). Combine well. Lock on the lid, bring to pressure and cook for 20 minutes.

Carefully release pressure, remove lid and toss in the peas.

As an optional extra, top with slices of baguette with the cheese melted on top.

Optional: Make dippers with baguette slices topped with melted cheese.

Serves 2 adults and 4 kids.

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May giveaway time

May 23, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Ham/pork, News · Tagged , , , ,

Quinoa salad, made Mr M&P friendly with SAUSAGE.

Quinoa salad, made Mr M&P-friendly with SAUSAGE.

Forget the bowlo meat raffle – this month my giveaway PUTS IT TO SHAME. The Peppercorn Food Company are giving one Vegie Smugglers reader the chance to have the ultimate meat-fest with a prize pack crammed full of their sausages, rissoles and meatloaves.

They sent me a pack a few weeks back and it was good to remember that sometimes beef sausages taste like beef and pork ones taste like pork etc etc. I baked a beef meatloaf and we ate it sliced thin and cold on sandwiches, the pork one was cut up and chucked through fried rice. Some of the sausages were yummy on my quinoa salad (pic above, but I’m still tweaking the salad recipe) and the Italian ones were great in this sausage goulash. Don’t be scared of such a daggy sounding dish – it was a huge hit with the kids and anything that cooks in one pot is always a huge hit with me, too.

To enter, just comment below and let us know how you like to cook sausages for your family. Make sure you’re a Vegie Smugglers subscriber and also swing by the Peppercorn Food Facebook page (tell them I sent you).

Please note, that since the prize is perishable and needs careful refrigeration, the winner needs to lives in the Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide or Perth metro areas. Entries close 8pm AST, Sunday May 26. ***CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNER DABECS! NICE SUGGESTIONS ABOUT A GREAT SAUSAGE & PASTA RECIPE. HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR MEGA MEAT TRAY!

Not too daggy for hungry kids.

Not too daggy for hungry kids.


Sausage goulash (no truly)

Usually in these saucy dishes, I’ll grate the carrot and zucchini, but I don’t recommend it here as it makes the texture a bit weird.

8 Peppercorn Food Italian sausages, thickly sliced (or if slicing raw sausage grosses you out, cook them whole and slice afterwards – takes longer but same result).
1 brown onion, diced
2 sticks celery, finely diced
1 large carrot, peeled, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
5-6 button mushrooms, very finely diced
1 zucchini, finely diced (peeled first if your kids hate green bits)
1/2 red capsicum, finely diced
1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
800g can crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp brown sugar
Handful green beans, top & tailed & cut into 3cm lengths

Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the sliced sausage and cook, stirring regularly for 10 minutes or so until cooked through. Remove and set aside.

Add in the onion, carrot and celery and saute for a few minutes, stirring regularly. Add in the garlic for another minute then also add the mushrooms, zucchini and capsicum. Cook the vegies, stirring constantly for another couple of minutes until they are all softening down nicely.

Scatter over the paprika. Stir and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Return the sausages to the pan then carefully pour over the tomatoes. Rinse out the can with about 1/4 cup of water and add that along with the sugar. Stir well. Bring to a simmer, turn the heat to low, cover and leave simmering away for about 5 minutes.

Remove the lid, add the beans. Taste and add pepper if you fancy it. Simmer for another couple of minutes then serve on pasta.

Serves 2 adults and 4 kids.

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Help! I’m scared of my new appliance!

May 15, 2013 · Filed under Food experiences, News · Tagged ,

If Johnny Depp were an appliance, he'd be a pressure cooker.

If ‘Game of Thrones’ was an appliance, it’d be a pressure cooker.

I’ve never actually been scared of an appliance before.

There’s no shortage of gadgets in my kitchen. It’s an occupational hazard that I already own a fair few of them and usually I’m into them in a jiffy and using them for as many things as I can think of within minutes.

But ever since Kambrook sent me a pressure cooker to try out, I’ve had a half-unpacked box in the corner of my kitchen just looking a bit ominous and scary. Sure, my slow cooker is heavy, and my food processor is sharp, but neither of them have a reputation for EXPLODING the way that pressure cookers do. Not easing my nerves, most of the web pages dealing with these contraptions start with reassuring lines like “These days pressure cookers are safe and easy to use…” then off they go offering poetic descriptions of the hours of joy that await me.

Also alarming is the instruction booklet, which is 50 pages of info and recipes, but with some pages covered in more ‘WARNING’ panels than instructional text.

Yeah, sure, reassuring...

Yeah, sure, reassuring…

So tell me, do you use one? What are your pressure cooker staples and what recipes should I start with? This ‘Dummies’ cheat sheet seems a have a bunch of good basic information on using them and A Perfect Pantry has a good list of recipes – I’m thinking the beef ragu might be good (with a stack more vegies). And this pulled pork recipe looks good and cooks about 7 hours more quickly than my slow-cooker version.

I know many people are big fans of these contraptions, so if you can steer me in the right direction, I’d love to hear from you.

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Do your kids take you for granted?

March 26, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Ham/pork, News · Tagged , , , , ,

Last year I was working two days a week, but since the closure of that magazine I’ve been home full-time. Luckily I have this business and a bit of freelance design work to keep me afloat.

I’d like to say the extra time at home makes me a better parent, but it doesn’t. I’m still snappy and impatient, although the house IS usually full of baked goods and the lunchboxes are a bit fancier.

Somehow I’m still just as busy, but the tasks I’m caught up in are more mundane. School canteen last Friday, netball gala day on Saturday, play dates over the weekend, parent supervisor at band yesterday and reading groups volunteer today. Apparently, once upon a time, there was a stack of mums to share all these tasks around. But these days we’re a bit slim on the ground, so out of obligation you pick up more and more (although I’m strongly resisting the P&C).

I don’t mind, I quite like it and maybe one day my kids will look back with affection at everything I did for them. It’s fair to say though, right now, they’re pretty comfortable taking me for granted and just expecting the house slave to be at their beck and call.

Being regular kids, they’ve phased in and out of periods of rudeness and have never been particularly thankful for my presence (perhaps that shows what a great job I’m doing at creating a secure environment). In the past I’ve not been bothered about it. When you’re working out of the home you have other stuff to think about. But when you’re parenting full time it’s hard not to take it all bit more personally. Finding job satisfaction at home can be difficult.

It’s the small signifiers that show me when I’m doing well, like when a meal disappears. Which this stir-fry has done every time I’ve made it. It’s really easy too. You can marinade the meat all day and have everything chopped ready to throw together at dinnertime.

Which is good, since we’re out three afternoons a week. The kids having lives and me being their taxi driver and chief spectator. Sigh.

I never take an easy, tasty and popular meal for granted!

I never take an easy, tasty and popular meal for granted!

Pork stir fry

400g pork fillet (you used to have to go to the Chinese butcher for this cut, but I’ve seen it in regular supermarkets now – see here)
1/2 tsp Chinese 5-spice powder
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp shaoxing wine (Chinese rice wine)
1-2 tbsp peanut oil
1 red onion, sliced in half moons
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
1/2 red capsicum, cut into strips
1 carrot, peeled, cut into thin diagonal slices
Handful of green beans, trimmed
Handful of snowpeas, whole or in strips
Splash extra of shaoxing wine

Rice & coriander to serve

Slice the pork into thin, 5mm strips. Toss in a bowl with the 5-spice and sauces. Cover and refrigerate for as long as you’ve got (I do this in the morning and leave it all day)

Prepare all your vegies before you start cooking.

Heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat (as hot as you dare).

Add your oil (do not leave the kitchen!). Cook the pork in batches, stirring often until totally browned but not quite cooked through. This will take 1-2 MINUTES. That’s all! Keep it undercooked. KITCHEN TIP: Do cook the meat in batches – it is so quick to cook that it only takes a jiffie and will be about 10 times yummier than stewed, overcooked pork.

Remove the last of the meat and set aside. Reduce the heat slightly, return the pan and add more oil if needed. Stir fry the onion for a minute or so then add the ginger, capsicum and carrot. Keep it all moving for another minute before adding the beans and returning the meat and all the juices.

Cook everything for another minute, adding the shaoxing if the pan gets too dry.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 2 KIDS

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A chocolate cake that will make grown men cry

February 18, 2013 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Sweets & treats · Tagged , ,

No, it's ok! See! You serve it with raspberries!

No, it’s ok! See! You serve it with raspberries!

Admittedly, this cake is scraping into the Vegie Smugglers repertoire on an almond-meal technicality. I considered calling it ‘adult nut cake (with rum and a block of chocolate)’ but I have to concede that it doesn’t contain anything healthy at all. The truth? It’s a flourless dark chocolate, almond & rum cake that is SO delicious that Mr VS loved me more after I made it for him on Valentine’s day.

Being a fan of all things tasty, I thought it worth sharing in case you know an adult in need of spoiling sometime soon. It starts off like a mousse cake, then after a day in the fridge becomes a sinful truffle cake that lasts several days.

The recipe is from Claudia Roden’s ‘The Food of Spain‘, but it’s not her recipe either, apparently it dates bake to Spanish cookbooks from last century.

Chocolate, almond and rum cake

150g dark cooking chocolate (best quality you can afford), broken into pieces
3 tbsp water
150g unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 cup almond meal
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp dark rum

Topping
50g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tbsp water
1/4 cup caster sugar
25g unsalted butter, cubed

Heat the oven to 160C. Line a 23cm springform pan with baking paper.

Melt the chocolate with the water in a double boiler (a bowl, over a pot of boiling water – but don’t let the bowl touch the water or it will burn, you just want the steam to be a nice gentle heat source – still not sure how? Watch this video).

Stir constantly and once the chocolate is nearly melted, add in the butter and stir them together into melty-awesomeness. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar, almonds, baking powder and rum. Add in the melted chocolate and mix really well.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks (when you lift up the beaters, the peaks stay up in the air – if they flop to the side, they are ‘soft peaks’ and you need to beat them a bit more.

Add 1/4 eggwhites into the chocolate mix and combine in gently with a spatula. Repeat with 1/2 the remaining mix and then again until all the eggwhites are combined in – there’s an ok ‘how to’ video here about beating and folding in eggwhites).

Pour into the tin and bake for about 35 minutes until firm.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan (it will sink – totally fine).

Release the cake from the pan and transfer to a cake plate. For the topping, melt the chocolate and water as above, add the sugar and butter and melt and mix well, then pour over your cake, easing nice drips down the side every now and again.

SERVES 8 ADULTS.

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Mmmmmmm mince

October 8, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, Red meat · Tagged , , , , , , ,

It’s just a fact, isn’t it, that once you have kids, you start filling your trolley with all sorts of new things. Actually, even the fact that you have a trolley and not just a nifty, easy basket is a dead-set giveaway that times have changed. No more baskets with pate, marinated feta and Brie for dinner. No, now it’s nappy boxes, huge bunches of bananas (no matter what the price) and MINCE.

Generally it is the easiest way to get meat into kiddies. You can make patties, meatballs, stir-fries and fajitas. And these days you’ve got a choice of flavours to rev things up a bit.

While I try my hardest to keep my recipes as appealing to adults as possible, I do admit that this savoury mince is more of a ‘kid’ dish. Adults might be uninspired by a lack of sophistication here, but doubts will be eased by the flexible nature of this dinner. It’s easy to make and can be made ahead and popped into the fridge, ready to be served with pasta, on potatoes, in toasties or over rice (my favourite choice). It also freezes really well in little containers that can be defrosted quickly on tricky days when You. Are. Only. Just. Holding. It. All. Together.

Best yet, you can switch vegies to suit your family. And while you won’t find it on the menu at any restaurant anytime soon, with enough coriander and fresh chilli on top, it’s yum enough for an adult mid-week meal too.

Yes, i know, a watermark. Hope this doesn’t bother anyone too much.

Savoury mince

500g beef mince
1 onion, finely diced
1 stalk celery, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 zucchini, grated
1 carrot, peeled, grated
¾ cup mushrooms, finely diced
½ green capsicum, finely diced (red capsicum is also yum and makes a more colourful dish)
1 cup beef stock
2 tbsp Worcester sauce
1 tbsp BBQ sauce
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp corn flour
½ cup peas

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Brown the mince, stirring and breaking up lumps as you go. Remove and set aside.

(If you pan is now dry, add a bit of oil) Add the onion and celery to the pan and cook, stirring for a couple of minutes until starting to soften. Throw in the garlic for a minute before adding in all the rest of the vegies.

Once they’re all mixed through and starting to cook a bit, return the mince. Once that’s all mixed through, pour in the stock and sauces. Combine really well.

Put your corn flour in a cup or small dish. Spoon some of the cooking liquid into the cup and stir until you have a nice, runny, lump-free paste. Pour that back into the mince mixture and combine well.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or so, until everything is cooked through. Remove from the heat and mix in your peas.

Serve with rice or pasta. Use to top baked potatoes or fill toasties.

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‘A mum turns 29, looks 55’

September 3, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Chicken, News · Tagged , , ,

Do you get those spammy ads in your Facebook sidebar? The ones with a pic of a supermodel labeled as a ’55–year old mom’? Apparently that’s possible with a facemask. I can’t decide if I like them more or less than the emails I get from ‘Arnold A Hornymaker’ offering me Viagra so that my husband can make me moan all night. Excuse me Mr Hornymaker, but I need some SLEEP.

In fabulous advertising fashion, all of these ads are designed to make me feel bad about myself and offer me a trip to the promised land of eternal youth, beauty and wild all-night sex. Because apparently life was so much better back then, when I was 29. Or was it?

Caught up in the nostalgia for parties, clubs, beaches and restaurants I forget how fraught that time was. Monday comedowns. Horrible bosses. Existential angst about if I’d find the right man, nauseating first dates, Sunday morning walks of shame. All more fun in hindsight I reckon.

So here’s the thing, spammers. I’ve already been youthful and agree that it’s wasted on the young. I’ve been more beautiful than I am now but was so insecure I didn’t know how to handle it. And I’ve had all-night sex. And it got me pregnant. So BAM, you can take your facemasks and horny-making pills and shove them.

I like my life more now. I like my kids, my husband, my friends and my home. They’re a comfortable little niche that I’ve carved out of this crazy world. Cuddling my children takes me closer to the Divine than anything else I’ve experienced. The wrinkles seem like a fair trade for a piece of contentment. Besides, I don’t think my equilibrium could cope with a sudden burst of youth or beauty or passion.

To celebrate the simple, here’s an easy stir-fry recipe. It’s not fancy, but neither am I. And that’s just fine.

Simple. But good.



Chicken & cashew stir fry

1 tbsp peanut oil
500g chicken thigh fillets, finely sliced (you can buy pre chopped breast fillets, but I find they dry out and aren’t as yummy)
6 spring onions, sliced
1 carrot, peeled, finely sliced (or batons are good too)
1 celery stalk, sliced on the diagonal (just so you look authentic)
½ cup raw, unsalted cashews
½ red capsicum, cut into strips
125g can corn kernels, drained
1 bunch bok choy, washed and sliced across- ways (so that you’ve got crunchy bits and separate leafy bits)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp tomato sauce
Fresh coriander (optional)
Serve with hokkein noodles or jasmine rice

Prepare all of your ingredients first so that everything is ready to go.

Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over high heat.

Cook the chicken in batches for 5-6 minutes until turning golden and just cooked through. Remove and set aside. Continue until all the chicken is cooked. (Please take the time to do this, you’ll get a much better result).

Return all the cooked chicken to the wok and add the carrot, celery and cashews. Keep everything moving constantly for a minute or so, then add in the capsicum, thick stalk bits of bok choy and spring onions. After another minute, add in the corn, bok choy leaves and the sauces.

Stir until well combined and the bok choy has turned a beautiful deep green (just another minute or so). Serve over noodles or rice.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 2 KIDS

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Speaking in tongues (how to nag in several languages)

July 9, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Red meat · Tagged , , , ,

A top Aussie winter. Noice.

A good winter day in Australia isn’t too bad, is it? Even I concede that a sunny day of 18 degrees isn’t worth a rumble of dissatisfaction. And there’s been a stretch of them lately. Just beautiful cool clear days that magically lift me off the couch, away from carbs and float me off into the neighbourhood walking about and realising just how unfit I am.

It appears I’m not alone. The other day there were people out EVERYWHERE. Walking. With dogs. With friends. Laughing even. The joy of vitamin D! And of course people were flocking to their gardens – raking, weeding, smiling and just ‘being’ with nature.

The spell was broken though, by the cranky sounds of a mum screeching at her children. Let’s just say I’m familiar with the tone. As I got closer I realised that the words were in French and I couldn’t understand any of it. It was unmistakable though – the (well dressed) kids were giving the (well dressed) mum the shits.

Perhaps it was the general blissful tone of the day, but it did occur to me how much better pestering and nagging the kids sounded in another language. Lifting the everyday nasty into a realm of sophistication.

So with that in mind I’ve compiled a little phrase book with all sorts of useful sentences that you can whip out when your own English phrases are getting a bit well worn.

(French) Ne vous asseyez pas sur votre sœur.
(English) Don’t sit on your sister.

(Italian) Tirare su i pantaloni.
(English) Pull your pants up.

(Dutch) Leg de slak
(English) Put down the snail.

(Afrikaans) Raak nie.
(English) Don’t touch it!

(Russian) То, что вода или Ви?
(English) Is that water or wee?

With the discipline done, feed the kids this dish for dinner. It’s a ‘casserole’, which is much fancier than a ‘stew’, and technically it is different. A stew is cooked on the stovetop, a casserole in the oven. My kids like the flavor of this one, but not the texture of the butter beans, so when I serve theirs, I hack away with scissors until it’s all a jumble, then tidily plop a few dumplings on top. They eat it. Suckers.

Yum in any language.

Best ever dumpling-topped, beef casserole

Olive oil
600g chuck steak, cubed
Plain flour
1 onion, diced
1 leek, tough green bits removed, diced
2 carrots, peeled, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 large parsnip, peeled, diced
3 cups beef stock
1 cup red wine (the better the wine, the better the casserole!)
1 tbsp Worcester sauce
1 cup peas
1 can butter beans, rinsed, drained

Dumplings
1 cup self-raising flour
60g butter, chopped into little cubes
2 tbsp parsley (I like the flavour of curly parsley in this)
½ cup grated cheddar cheese
1 egg
3-4 tbsp milk to bind

Use a large stove to oven dish (with a lid) for this recipe.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Heat the dish over medium/high heat. Toss the meat in flour & shake off excess. Add the oil and brown on all sides. Remove and set aside.

Lower to heat to medium, add more oil if necessary and saute the onion , leek, carrot and celery. Stir frequently for several minutes until the vegies start to soften. Add the parsnip for a minute or two more, then return the meat, add in the stock, wine and Worcester sauce.

Give it a good stir, removing any stuck bits to the bottom. Cover with a lid and transfer to the oven for 1 hour.

While that’s cooking, make the dumplings: In a large mixing bowl, rub the butter into the flour (no need to sift). Mix in the parsley, cheese and egg. Add enough milk to bind it all into a sticky dough. Wear gloves or use spoons to roll or shape the mixture into about 18 bite-sized balls and set aside.

After an hour, remove the pot from the oven and remove the lid. Stir in the peas and beans. Season to taste. Pop the dumplings over the top and return, uncovered to the oven for another 30 minutes or until the dumplings are golden and cooked through.

Serves 2 adults and 2 kids.

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