My Veggie Roast!

This dish ticks two boxes – it's for those who love stuffing with their roast and with the extra ingredients it becomes a vegetarian roast in its own right.

It's tried and tested, here it is :

Chestnut and Apple roast

170g/6oz of dried breadcrumbs

2 tsps dried sage

100ml/3fluid oz boiling water

or

1 packet of sage and onion stuffing mix – 170g/6oz

suitable for vegans

1 packet – 180g/7oz of vac packed chestnuts, blitzed to a

crumb – not dust!

Vac packed chestnuts are available all year in

larger supermarkets

300g of chunky apple sauce – preferably Bramley apple

OR

Portion of apple sauce – 225-350g/8-12 oz

1 medium onion, finely chopped

Drop of rapeseed oil and knob of butter.

2 additional knobs of butter

I used an oval cast iron oven proof dish measuring 25x17x5 cms – 10”x7”x2” in old money.

For your dried breadcrumbs, remove the crusts and tear up into chunks – weigh to achieve 170g/6oz. Pre-heat oven 150fan/170c/Gas 3. Blitz the bread in a food processor until you get an even crumb. Spread the crumbs onto a baking tray and bake for 6 minutes until they are golden. You can make a finer crumb by blitzing again when cooled. Add dried sage to taste – I'd suggest 2 tsps.

You don't have to make your own breadcrumbs, you can buy them dried.

Alternatively if you're short of time, use a sage and onion stuffing mix.

Fotos to follow!

A brief interlude …

… to talk about apples – rumour has it that 2025 has produced the best quality and flavour for a long while. What do you do with a glut, you can only bake so many apple pies?

Whether it's Bramleys or eating apples, I have recipes and ideas for you especially since the Christmas festivities are looming!

First up it's a Bramley apple sauce recipe (you can use other cooking apples if you can't get Bramleys).

MiamMiam

School of Cookery

The best Apple Sauce!

I found this recipe by accident and it is truly the most delicious apple sauce. Even if you decide you haven't the time on this occasion, stick it in your pending tray and try it when you do have time – you won't be sorry.

Eliza Acton's Apple Sauce – with Bramley apples

Pre-heat oven to 160fan/180c/Gas 4.

Grease a glass dish with butter.

This sauce is so easy – the only emphasis is on the preparation of the apples. All the peel and core must be removed. There are no amounts here, you can cook as much sauce as you desire – it freezes well!! So, peel, core and slice your apples – if you can slice them a similar size they will cook more evenly.

Place your apples in your dish and cover with a lid or foil – NO WATER, SUGAR OR ANYTHING ELSE!!

Bake for 20-30 minutes. Check after 20. Apples should be soft. Here's the satisfying bit – whisk the apples until they begin to break up, sprinkle with caster sugar plus a generous knob of unsalted butter, whisk again – enjoy. (You can use Plant based “butter” if preferred).

Alchemy with apples - enjoy!

P.s. The books … if, like me, you're interested in food history you might like to add the following to your list. Elizabeth David's “An Omelette and a Glass of Wine” which is a compilation of articles and is where I found “Big Bad Bramleys” which in turn lead me to “Eliza Acton Modern Cookery”.

Next up, My Veggie Roast ...

… or you could try

... a posh Shepherd's Pie Upside Down – the “SPUD”

SPUD

Serves 4-6

940g braising steak – 1kg will do it doesn't

have to be precise

980g beef stock - ditto

Glug of rapeseed oil

salt and pepper

2 x beef stock pots

salt and black pepper

I went to the butchers and bought 3 x trays of cubed braising steak – you can usually get a great deal. A good start! A little patience is required here – using a large frying pan heat the rapeseed oil, place braising steak in the pan – it should sizzle – season with salt and pepper. Don't overload the pan, brown the meat and then set aside in your slow cooker making way for the next batch and repeat until you've browned all the meat. At the risk of repeating myself, if you insist in ramming it all into the pan it will turn grey and stew – it's not a good look!

Add a litre of water to the juices left in the frying pan, bring to the boil then add the stock pots – stir until melted – pour carefully into the slow cooker with the meat. Pop the lid on and slow cook for four – six hours.

Switch off and cool – if you want to freeze all or part then divide the stock between two “pour and store” freezer bags and divide the meat between two in strong freezer bags.

Other than the slow cooking of the braising steak there's no work involved - the mash and turning the stock into a gravy beyond all gravies is easy, peasy, just thicken the stock as required with 1-2 teaspoons of slaked cornflour.

All that remains is the mashed potatoes – a large pan! A big tip - leftover mash is perfect for bubble & squeak or corned beef hash.

Was it worth the fifteen minutes I spent prepping the braising steak for the slow cooker … you betcha!

P.s. You might want to offer your guests a spoon too, to scoop up the leftover gravy. In the North we have a less refined custom but much more satisfying – use small pieces of crusty bread to dip and mop up the remains.

Gets my vote!

Here's another …

... cheap and cheerful recipe, using your slow cooker and, other than minimum prep, the rest is done by magic!

Steak Pie Filling

Serves 4/6

1kg/2.2lbs braising steak or stewing steak, cubed

glug of rapeseed or Canola oil

2 x Knorr beef stock pots

2 heaped tbsp tomato paste

2 heaped tbsp small chunk Branston pickle

Brown the meat in a frying pan, using a drop of rapeseed oil – do this in small batches – if you don't you'll get grey looking meat - it'll take ages and will stew. Using a slotted spoon pop the browned meat into the slow cooker.

Dissolve the stock pots in the residual pan juices, then add the tomato paste – make sure the paste is properly melted and “cooked out” - if you don't do this you'll get a bitter taste. Add your Branston, then add 250ml water, bring to the boil and tip over your meat. Slow cook on low for 4 hours. If your gravy is too thin then add a little slaked cornflour and thicken to taste.

You can make this filling ahead and freeze it, should you have a spare 30 minutes.

All that remains is your choice of lid – you could cheat and use a puff pastry sheet or create a “hot-pot” style, sliced potato lid from your ready-baked potato stash or leave as is and serve with potatoes and other veggies of your choice.

By adding the tomato paste it enriches the gravy. By adding the Branston Pickle it gives a zingy flavour – ordinary it is not.

Life is so much easier with a slow cooker, especially in the Autumn and Winter months – the ultimate in comfort!

There's a Spie for everyone!

 

Quorn, chicken or turkey Spie

Serves 4

500g Quorn, chicken or turkey breast mince

1 medium onion, finely chopped

glug of rapeseed oil

2 chicken stock pots

1 tsp garlic paste or 1 garlic stock pot

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 dessertspoons small chunk Branston

glug of Worcestershire Sauce

celery salt and black pepper

250g passata

2/3 jacket potatoes, baked, peeled

if you wish, sliced thinly

50g each of Mature Cheddar and Red Leicester cheese

grated and mixed together

Pre-heat oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Heat the rapeseed oil gently in a large frying pan. Add the chicken or turkey mince ensuring that you break it up – fry for 2/3 minutes to seal properly and then turn it, repeat. Add salt and black pepper.

Add the onion and garlic and fry for 2/3 minutes, stirring to combine.

Add the tomato paste and the chicken stock pots, followed by the Worcestershire Sauce, stirring to combine. Finally add the Branston and stir well and simmer for 5 minutes. Leave, covered until you're ready to roll.

If you're using a hob to oven frying pan then arrange the sliced potato over the base and then sprinkle with cheese. Cook for 30 minutes.

If you are using an ovenproof casserole or a foil tray then transfer the base and finish as above.

The Quorn, chicken and turkey breast mince are all low in fat.

A WARNING – if you are using a frying pan that is suitable to transfer from the hob to the oven please be careful when removing the pan and remember to wear oven gloves! If you'd prefer to use a foil tray, they measure 23x23 cms approximately so perfect to serve four - if you want to know where to get them, try Amazon or any larger discount store.

A tip - you could decant into smaller foil “takeaway” type trays (with lids) and then freeze in portions if you don't need the whole batch.

Something to suit everyone!

The Spie

The Spie is just a nickname which evolved for variations of a basic recipe and also because I was fed up with labelling containers with the full title and it stuck!

What follows is the original, “no frills” recipe for “the Spie”

Here it is :

Spie

Serves 4

500g minced steak

Celery salt and black pepper

Drop of rapeseed oil

2 tbsp tomato paste

2 Knorr beef stock pots

2 tbsp small chunk Branston pickle

or Branston sauce

2/3 cooked Jacket potatoes, sliced thinly

or leftover mashed potato

Two handfuls of grated cheese – whatever you've

got in your fridge, Mature Cheddar, Red Leicester or

Gruyere work well – or even a little of each

Using a large frying pan, brown the minced steak thoroughly in a drop of rapeseed oil and season with salt and black pepper. Add the tomato paste and stock pots, when cooked through and melted, add the Branston. If the mixture is too stiff add a drop of water. It should not be sloppy. Cook on a low heat for 10/15 minutes and set aside.

Take your potatoes from your baked stash, slice thinly (or add leftover mash) and arrange on top of the mince mixture. If you haven't any ready to use baked potatoes you can always microwave them although the flavour is not as good as oven baked. Finish off with grated cheese.

To serve pre-heat your oven to 180fan/200/Gas6 and bake for 30 minutes.

Serve on its own, with steamed vegetables or, if you like hot with cold, try my personal favourite, bazzin' beetroot relish (mentioned in the blog on 27^th July … “By the way ...”) and or a coleslaw! (mentioned in the blog on Friday 8^th August … When you're ready to serve).

This is an everyday, speedy recipe and more to the point it's easy peasy. Perfect fork food served in large bowls of comfort and joy!

If you'd like a veggie version you can use Quorn mince - or a version that doesn't use red meat but poultry, you could use chicken or turkey mince.

The recipe's coming up ...

To mash or not to mash!

Toppings on pies are a serious business - shall it be mash - if not then what?

Two of the fundamentals that I still use are baking jacket potatoes (usually six - large) in foil whilst my oven is already on. The other is grating a large box/bag of mature cheddar cheese and fridge it. You create a very useful stash!

It may seem trivial but I have found these two “bits” invaluable – for example, with the potatoes, the principle is if your oven is on, with a roast chicken, roast spuds and parsnips, stuffing et al, you can always find space for jacket potatoes. Bake for an hour and a half then test – you want your paring knife to move firmly through the potatoes. Remove them and set aside to cool – bear in mind they will continue cooking because they are insulated by the foil. When cool they can be bagged and fridged.

Which brings me to the title of this piece. You don't have to have a mashed potato topping for your Snug Shepherd or your Cosy Cottage – you can slice a couple of jackets from your stash, peeled or not for a “top” and then use some of your grated cheese to complete!

If you choose a mashed potato topping and you want it lump free then put the pototoes through a ricer – don't add milk or butter. Set aside to cool.

You can add grated mature cheddar cheese, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and black pepper to the riced potato before you complete your pie. If you want added flavour to zhuzh the mash you could add a finely diced onion softened in a little unsalted butter and a tiny drop of rapeseed oil.

Mashed potato seems to be on “the definite list” - definitely yes you love it or definitely no you hate it! If you're in the no camp then try the sliced baked potatoes.

This is my favourite method of Autumn cooking especially when you want a meal as quickly as possible when you arrive home – turn on your oven to pre-heat when you've taken off your coat and by the time you've juggled a few more balls or spun a few more plates your shepherd or cottage – posh or not - is in the oven - ready for the hungry hordes.

Whether mashed or baked the beauty of this dish is it can be made and assembled ahead and then baked in a pre-heated oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6 for 25 mins.

Simple stuff but it hits the spot for those autumnal chilly nights – a hug in a bowl!