Category: Weekend Batchcooks

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Beef Cheek Ragout

stewing beef, onion and peppers

feeds a hungry family of 4


This recipe is perfectly suited to long slow cooking or a blast in the pressure cooker. I get my beef cheeks from my butcher as they’re not the kind of ingredient you tend to find in a supermarket. There’s a lot to be said for the knowledge that your local craft butcher has about cheaper cuts of meat and the best way to cook them. You don’t get that kind of advice from packets on a fridge shelf.


Double up or treble up your ingredients for an easy batch cook.


Ingredients

1 trimmed beef cheek
1 chopped large onion
2 chopped peppers
2 chopped sticks of celery
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
4-5 cloves of crushed garlic (more or less if you prefer)
1 teaspoon each of salt, white pepper, paprika, sugar, and dried oregano
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar


Method

Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker pot and stir well. Cook on high for 8 hours or until the beef cheek is fall-apart tender. If cooking in a pressure cooker this dish will take about 3 hours.


To serve, break up the meat with a spoon and stir in some freshly cooked pasta. Garnish with chopped basil.


To make this meal stretch further add a drained can of chickpeas at the start.

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Triple Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

100g dark chocolate
2 eggs
100g caster sugar
50g plain flour
50g cocoa powder/drinking chocolate (your preference)
1 teaspoon baking powder
150g chocolate chips


Method
Preheat the (fan) oven to 170 degrees Celcius. Line a square brownie baking tin well.


Melt the dark chocolate either in a bowl sitting over steaming hot water (bain marie) or by zapping in a pyrex bowl in the microwave at 30 second intervals. Stir after every 30 seconds until you have all the chocolate melted.


In a second bowl whisk the eggs and sugar until they are light and frothy. Once the chocolate is melted, carefully whisk it in bit by bit. Don’t put it in all at once or you’ll end up with scrambled eggs!


Finally, blend in the remaining dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder and baking powder) into the whisked egg, sugar, and chocolate froth. I use a stand mixer so just turf them all in together and whisk quickly until they are combined. Chocolate chips on top are optional but I do recommend them!


Bake the batter in the oven for 25 minutes. Then leave to cool completely before slicing and serving. It is very squishy

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Honey Buns Recipe

Makes 18 Buns or 12 Muffins

Ingredients

140g self-raising flour
80g wholemeal flour
40g oats
150ml milk
100ml runny honey
75ml sunflower oil
3 medium eggs (or 4 small eggs)
2 ripe bananas

Method
Preheat a fan oven to 170 degrees Celsius and line a muffin tin with bun cases.

In a large bowl combine the self-raising and wholemeal flour, along with the oats then stir. Take a second bowl and combine the milk, honey, sunflower oil, and eggs. Stir with a fork so that they are combined before pouring into the first bowl with the dry ingredients.

Whisk so that the wet ingredients are mixed with the dry ingredients. Once you have a batter, break in the 2 ripe bananas and stir. Spoon the mixture into the bun cases. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes and allow to cool before serving.

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Slow Cooker Beef Ragout Recipe

stewing beef, onion and peppers

Serves 6

Ingredients

450g stewing beef, chopped into chunks
1 chopped large onion
2 chopped peppers
3 chopped & peeled carrots
1 tin of chopped tomatoes OR 300g cherry tomatoes
4-5 cloves of crushed garlic (more or less if you prefer)
2 tablespoons tomato puree
1 teaspoon each of salt, white pepper, onion salt, paprika, and dried oregano
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

Method

Combine all the ingredients in the slow cooker pot and stir well. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or until the beef is fall-apart tender. If cooking in a pressure cooker this dish will take about 1 hour.

To serve, break up the meat with a spoon and stir in some freshly cooked pasta. Garnish with chopped basil.

To make this meal stretch further add a drained can of chickpeas at the start.

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Buttermilk Pancakes


Ingredients

250g (1 cup) plain flour
1 teaspoon bread soda/bicarbonate of soda
2 small-medium eggs (1 large egg should be fine either)
150ml buttermilk
Optional 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon sunflower oil for frying/greasing the pan.

Method

Put the flour and bread soda into a large bowl and stir so that they’re combined. Make a well in the centre and crack in the 2 eggs, pour in the buttermilk (add the vanilla extract if using). Whisk until you have a batter. Don’t worry too much if you have small lumps, as these should disappear after the next stage.

Put the oil in a heavy, shallow non-stick frying pan (see notes on frying pan below). Before you put the pan on the heat, spread the oil over the surface. I like to use a little bit of kitchen paper for this. Next, put it on a medium heat and allow it to come to temperature. This takes about 5 minutes or so. Once the pan is hot, give the batter a second vigorous whisk and you should see those lumps disappear (or at worst get smaller, they’ll be gone completely in the cooking process don’t worry).

Using a tablespoon as a measure, pour out 3-4 pancakes onto the surface of the frying pan. Once the bubbles begin to appear on the surface of the pancakes, and the batter has changed colour from pale to slightly darker, flip the pancakes using a non-stick spatula. Cook for a further 1-2 minutes, until the pancakes turn golden on both sides. Lift and serve.

If you want to wait for all the pancakes to be cooked before serving, pop them onto a heat-proof plate and cover with a bit of baking parchment/tin foil, then a heavy tea towel to stop them from getting cold. Lift the “insulation” everytime you cook another batch to add to the pile.

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Cowboy Beans


Servings: 12-15 people

Ingredients
• 1 lb sausage Meat
• 2 red onions, chopped
• Lots of garlic (I used 7 cloves finely chopped)
• 1 big mug of beefstock
• 2 tablespoons tomato puree
• 1 teaspoon chipotle chilli flakes
• ½ teaspoon white pepper
• 3 stalks celery chopped
• 1 large courgette, chopped
• 3 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 tin of blackbeans, drained
• 1 tin of butterbeans, drained
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• ¼ teaspoon of black treacle


Method
Take a massive saucepan and place it onto a medium heat. Start by frying off the sausage meat. Then add the onions and a little splash of stock at this stage if you notice the bottom of the pan getting sticky. Add the garlic, seasonings, and tomato puree before stiring in the vegetables, beans, tomatoes, and finally a little bit of black treacle.
Cover, bring to a simmer and cook for 2-3 hours on low until the vegetables are tender. I put the lid onto my casserole and cooked it in the oven at 150 degrees for 2 hours.
Serve on a bed of fresh potato wedges, lashings of parsley or coriander (or both) and maybe some chopped cooked bacon if you’re feeling very luxurious.
Allow to cool before bagging or boxing and freezing for another day.

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Celebration Chicken Curry


This is an extremely simple curry recipe that is deliberately low in salt. This makes it suitable for diners of all ages and perfect for large family occasions or you can portion it off and freeze this meal for another day. This recipe makes 2 family meals for under €10.


Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons of oil
• 800g boneless skinless chicken thighs (you can totally use fillets if you choose)
• 300g each of the following… chopped peppers, chopped onions, chopped carrots, and frozen or fresh peas
• 1 large tablespoon of curry powder
• 1 teaspoon of ground garlic powder or garlic flakes
• 2 tablespoons of tomato puree
• 500ml of water
• 25-50 of potato starch to thicken at the end (optional)
• Chopped Chives to decorate


Method
Heat a heavy casserole on a medium heat. Start with oil in the pan and saute off the chicken until it takes some colour. Remove the chicken and pour in the vegetables. Saute in the juices from cooking the chicken for a few minutes. Add ¼ of the water and put the lid on the casserole to accelerate the cooking process.

After 5 minutes lift the lid, sprinkle in the curry powder, garlic flakes and tomato puree. Stir well so that these ingredients begin to cook. You will be able to notice a change in the scent from the pan as the tomato puree heats through.

Add the remaining water, stir well, then return the chicken to the casserole pan. Put the lid back on and put the entire casserole dish into the oven at 160 degrees Celsius for 1 hour.

After 1 hour in the oven, remove the casserole. Stir in potato starch to thicken the sauce or use a cornflour slurry alternatively. Serve with steamed rice or crusty bread.