Moussaka

Equipment:-

• A large frying pan
• 1 pot
• Chopping board
• Baking tray
• A sharp knife
• A small baking dish
• Grater
• Cooking brush
• Grease proof paper

Moussaka

INGREDIENTS

• 3 medium or 2 large aubergines, sliced into 1 cm thick rings
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 10 baby tomatoes halved
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 4 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp of bouillon
• 500g minced lamb or beef
• 2 tbsp tomato purée, mixed with 150ml water
• 150ml red wine
• Small bunch of flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Bechamel Sauce

• 500ml milk
• 60g butter
• 60g plain flour
• 50g Cheddar cheese, grated
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Nutmeg, to grate

METHOD

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Place aubergines on baking sheets. Brush with olive oil and season and turn over and repeat. Bake for about 25 minutes until soft, golden and floppy.

2. Meanwhile, put 2 tbsp olive oil into a large frying pan over a medium high heat and cook the onion until soft. Add the garlic, cinnamon and oregano and cook for a further couple of minutes, then stir in the lamb or beef. Turn up the heat slightly, and brown the lamb well, cooking until the mixture is quite dry. Stir in the tomatoes, wine, bouillon and tomato water bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down low and cook for 30--40 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Season and stir in the parsley.

3. Meanwhile, make the bechamel. Bring the milk to just below boiling point, and melt the butter in another saucepan. Stir the flour into the butter and cook for a couple of minutes, then gradually whisk in the hot milk. Cook until you have a thick sauce, then stir in about 70% of the cheese until melted. Take off the heat and allow to cool slightly, then beat in the eggs and add nutmeg and seasoning

Moussaka

4. Arrange a half of the aubergines in the base of an oven dish, and top with half the meat. Repeat this layer and top with the sauce. Add the left over tomato halves and the rest of the cheese. Season with cracked black pepper and bake for about 35 minutes until well browned, and then leave to cool for half an hour before serving.

Roast Pheasant

Equipment

• Roasting Dish 
• Chopping Board
• Sharp knife
• Tin foil

Ingredients

• 1 Pheasant
• 10 Rashers of streaky bacon (4 slices roughly chopped)
• Small bunch of fresh thyme
• Small bunch of fresh rosemary
• 40g of butter
• Salt and pepper
• Vegetables for roasting (Onion, carrot, parsnip, olive oil, salt and pepper)
• Serve with braised cabbage

Roast Pheasant

Method

• Heat oven to 200 Celsius
• Add half of the streak bacon to the pheasant cavity
• Add half the Thyme and rosemary to the pheasant cavity
• Rub into the skin the butter and season well with salt and pepper
• Add the rest of the herbs onto the pheasant
• Layer streaky bacon rashers over the top of the pheasant
• Place in Roasting dish and surround with the oiled seasoned veg
• Place in oven for 20 mins at 200 Celsius and then 1 hour at 180 Celsius
• Turn pheasant upside down on some tin foil and rest for 15 mins
• Carve it up and serve with the veg

Roast Pheasant

Duck breast in plum sauce

Equipment:-

• A griddle or frying pan
• 2 pots
• Chopping board
• Colander
• A sharp knife
• A small baking dish

INGREDIENTS

• Duck Breasts
• 2 Duck Breasts with skin scored several times
• 2 tsp of dry thyme or 4 sprigs of fresh
• 1 star anise
• 25g of butter
• Salt and pepper

Plum Sauce

• 4 dark red plums de stoned and cut into wedges
• 300ml of beef stock
• 50ml of red wine
• 2 garlic cloves finely diced
• 3 tbsp of Demerara sugar
• 1 large shallot diced finely
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• Salt and pepper

METHOD

• Heat 1 tsbp of oil in a pan and fry the shallots for 3-4 mins
• Add the garlic and fry for 1 min
• Add the plums and sugar and fry until the sugar has dissolved
• Add the red wine and stock
• Simmer for 15 mins stirring occasionally until it has thickened
• Leave to cool to room temperature
• Heat oven to 180C or Gas mark 4
• Heat Griddle pan to medium/high
• Season duck breast and place on griddle pan skin side down
• Leave to cook for 5 mins
• Then turn the duck and add the butter, thyme and star anise
• Once butter has melted baste the duck a couple of times
• Transfer to a baking dish and put in the oven for 5-6 mins for medium rare
• Remove from oven and let rest on chopping board for 5 mins
• Heat some of the plum sauce and in the mean time slice the duck in thin slices
• Serve up and drizzle some of the butter and thyme sauce over duck
• Add 3 - 4 tbsp of the plum sauce

Beef, Mushroom, Tons of Thyme and Red Wine Casserole

Equipment

• Large Pan
• Chopping Board
• Sharp knife
• Measuring Jug
• Grease proof paper disc to fit on top of large pan (Cartouche)

Ingredients

• 500g Diced Stewing Beef
• 1 Red onion diced
• 1 medium parsnip cut into medium chunks
• 1 medium carrot cut into medium chunks
•  12 whole button mushrooms
• 1 Large glass of red wine
• 400 ml of beef stock
• 1 tsp Worcester sauce
• 1 tsp of beef bouillon
• 1 can chopped tomatoes (400g)
• 1 heaped tbsp of tomato puree
• 4 whole sprigs of fresh thyme
• 10 sprigs of fresh thyme just the leaves
• A small bunch of fresh parsley chopped
• 1 tbsp of plain flour
• 1 tsp of smoked paprika
• Salt and pepper
• 1 knob of butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Method

• lay beef out on a plate and season with salt and pepper and evenly coat with the plain flour
• Heat olive oil in the pan to a medium high heat
• Add the seasoned beef and fry on all sides until browned
• Remove beef and set aside in a bowl
• Add onions and fry for a couple of minutes stiring occasionally
• Add knob of butter
• Add mushrooms and fry for a couple of minutes stirring occasionally
• Add tomato puree and fry for 2 minutes stiring occasionally
• Add parsnip and carrots for 2 minutes and stir occasionally
• Add the glass of red wine and stir well so all caramelised bits are removed from pan base
• Simmer for 5 mins
• Add tomatoes, beef stock, Worcester sauce, beef bouillon, thme leaves and sprigs and stir
• Cover and simmer for 2.5 to 3 hours stirring3 or 4 times
• Preheat oven to 200
• Remove pan and stir and add grease proof paper disc on top of stew
• Place in the over for 30 mins
• Remove and stir in chopped parsley and your done
• Serve with mash potato or potato gratin

Fillet Steak with red wine sauce

Fillet steak with red wine Jus is always a winner. Just make sure the fillet steak is good quality from a good source and to use a fairly good red wine. Serve it up with some boiled or hassleback potatoes and some steamed green veg. After making this we decided to remake it over the weekend for 2 friends we had round. Although we were a bit drunk it still went down a treat again and we all had a lovely evening.

Serves 2

Equipments:-

• 1 Griddle pan
• 1 Sieve
• Small bowl or dish

Ingredients

Fillet steaks

• 2 Good quality fillet steaks at room temperature
• 300ml of red wine
• 2 tbsp of garlic infused olive oil
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 2 tbsp of brown sugar
• 1 onion peeled and slice roughly
• Salt and pepper

Method

• Heat the griddle pan until medium/high
• Brush the fillet steaks with the garlic infused oil on both sides
• Season the fillet steaks with salt and pepper on both sides
• Quickly sear the fillet steaks on all over
• Cook the fillet steaks for 2 minutes on each side
• Set them aside in a warm place

Fillet Steak

• Add the olive oil and onions to griddle pan and fry until browning
• Add the brown sugar and stir fry for 2 minutes
• Add the red wine and simmer until reduced to by about 90% leaving a nice red win reduction
• Strain the onion and wine mix through a sieve pushing through as much liquid as possible out of the onions.
• Serve up the steaks and drizzle with the Jus.

Fillet steak with red wine sauce

Fillet steak with red wine sauce Done!!!!

Prawn Salad (Prawn Cocktail)

Here we have a prawn salad or a prawn cocktail if you want the starter version. It is more of a salsa based prawn cocktail than the traditional 70s and 80s variety. We originally done this with Lobster instead of prawns last Christmas and was so good we wanted to make it again this year but we could not get hold of a lobster. We got some good quality prawns and tried it with them instead. It turned out pretty amazing and at half the cost. So if you fancy prawn salad, prawn cocktail, lobster salad or lobster cocktail give this one a try.

Serves 2 prawn salads (4 prawn cocktails)

Equipment:-

• 1 large bowl
• 1 small bowl
• 1 chopping board
• 1 sharp knife

Ingredients:-

• 250g cooked and peeled prawns
• 2 tomatoes de seeded and finely chopped
• 1/4 cucumber de seeded and finely chopped
• 1 red pepper de seeded and finely chopped
• 4 spring onions finely sliced
• 1 small green medium chilli de seeded and finely chopped
• A bunch of coriander roughly chopped
• 1/2 juice of a line
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 3 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
• A few drops of Tabasco sauce 
• 1 Avocado diced
• black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup of shredded lettuce

Method:-

• To a bowl add tomato, red pepper, spring onions, cucumber, lime juice, olive oil, salt and coriander.
• Mix well and then set aside the salsa in fridge for 30 mins
• In a small bowl make the dressing by mixing the mayonnaise, ketchup and Tabasco together
• In 2 medium serving bowls serve up. There will be 2 layers of each ingredient in each serving dish so roughly evenly serve it out based on that. Layer up in the following order
• Salsa, lettuce, prawns, dressing, avocado, Salsa, lettuce, prawns, dressing, avocado.
• Season with black pepper and it's done.
• You can alternatively make 4 smaller versions as a prawn cocktail and serve up in some glasses or smaller dishes.

Prawn Salad or Prawn Cocktail Done!!!