Beef & Bean Casserole with Dumplings

The modern kitchen is likely to contain so many pieces of equipment that it is almost impossible to have them all out and available at the same time: unless, of course, you have a huge kitchen.  My slow cooker has been hiding in the cupboard for a while and had been rather forgotten, until last week, that is, when I needed to cook a ham.  Using the slow method, I thought, would make a change.  As it was still sitting on the counter it seemed sensible to use it for this recipe.  On a busy day it was helpful to prepare the food early in the day, returning later to a hot meal with minimal last minute work.  The instructions below include the (original) stove top casserole method as well as my slow cooker version.

This recipe is adapted, using several substitute/extra/changed quantities of ingredients, from one found in The Complete Farmhouse Kitchen Cookbook.  The original was called Beef and Haricot Casserole and supplied by Jean Welshman of Malton, East Yorkshire.  I see no reason why almost any bean could be substituted (butter beans or kidney beans are both good), even baked beans at a pinch. I also increased the amount of tomato and added tomato purée to give an extra rich flavour and managed to use some sweet and delicious baby carrots found on our local market.  Once I successfully substituted a pig’s kidney for some of the beef to make a steak and kidney version.  This would not be the same without the wine, of course, but it could be replaced with extra water.  I freeze ends of bottles of wine, both red and white, to use in recipes.  I’m sure some would disapprove, but it works for me even though the flavour is probably not a patch on using fresh.   If I was cooking for guests, however, I would definitely open a bottle!   This casserole freezes well, according to the original instructions, although I have not tried it.  I would however not freeze the dumplings which are easily made freshly when needed.

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Beef & Bean Casserole with Dumplings
(Serves 4)

400g/14oz tin haricot beans (alternatively red kidney or butter beans are good)
1tbsp olive or sunflower oil
125g/4ozs bacon, smoked or unsmoked
454g/1lb lean chuck or casserole steak
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
225g/8ozs baby carrots or 2 large carrots
4 medium tomatoes, sliced or cut in eighths
1tbsp tomato purée
150ml/¼pint red wine
150ml/¼pint water, if needed, aprox
½ beef stock cube
1tbsp dried mixed herbs, or 2 tbsp fresh (parsley, thyme & marjoram)
Salt & pepper
1tbsp butter & 1tbsp flour (beurre maine), mixed together, to thicken if needed

1.  If using a slow cooker it should be pre-heated on *High while the initial cooking takes place. This takes about ½hour.

2.  Gently fry the bacon in the oil for about 5minutes and then remove from pan to a dish, leaving bacon flavoured fat.

3.  Chop the beef into 2.5cm/1inch cubes and fry in the bacon flavoured oil until browned.  Place with the cooked bacon.

4.  Peel and slice the onion, dice the garlic and add to the pan.  Fry gently.  If using baby carrots simply top and tail them and clean well.  Larger carrots can be either well washed or peeled & sliced in 1.25cm/½inch rings.  Add these to the pan along with the tomato pieces, tomato purée, herbs and red wine.  Crumble in the stock cube and stir very well.  Return the meats to the pan, bring to the boil, reduce heat and cook for 5minutes. 

5.  
Stove top Casserole method:
Turn the meat and vegetable mixture into an ovenproof dish, cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper (as an extra seal) plus a lid and place in the oven.  Cook for 1½-2 hours on a gentle heat. 
Slow cooker method:
Turn the meat and vegetable mixture into the slow cooker crock, cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper (as an extra seal) plus the lid, turn down to *Automatic and leave to cook for 5 or more hours.  Beans should be heated up before adding to the mixture.  The cooker should be turned up to *High again for the final cooking period, especially if Dumplings are being added.

6.  If you would like a slightly thicker gravy this can be done towards the end of the cooking time using a beurre maine: combine the butter and flour and gradually add to the liquids in the casserole.  Stir in well.  Alternatively, for a mixture that lacks liquid, extra water can be added, or some of the water from the beans, though be aware that this may be salty. 

7.  Strain the beans from their liquid, stir them in and cook for another ½hour. Suet Dumplings should be added at the same time as the beans as they take around 20 minutes to cook.  Season to taste.  

8.  This casserole has a rich gravy so it is easier to serve the meal in bowls.  A green vegetable is a good accompaniment and adds a different colour.  Serve with potatoes or suet dumplings, cooked as part of the dish (see 7 above).  Alternatively, this casserole is delicious with creamy servings of Coleslaw and Potato Salad.  (This last link gives a recipe for Rosy Potato Salad which uses beetroot as well.  You could omit this if you wish although beetroot and beef go well together) .

*NOTE: My Cordon Bleu slow cooker has three settings: Automatic, Low and High. Cooker instructions vary so these are guidelines only.  Please consult the instruction booklet for your machine.

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Special Chilli con Carne

Chilli con Carne is one of our most popular family recipes.  The name comes from the Spanish chile con carne, meaning ‘peppers with meat’, but it is actually the official dish of the State of Texas in the USA, making it ‘Tex-Mex’ rather than Mexican, as is sometimes thought.  My version is not taken from any particular book but has been adapted and improved whenever I have discovered a new ‘twist’.  Some years ago we had an excellent Chilli con Carne for lunch in a pub, leading me to experiment with adding cumin as well as chilli powder, which adds extra depth to the spice flavours.  More recently I discovered that Nigella Lawson, in her book Feast, adds cocoa powder to her Chilli con Carne.  What a good idea!  Chilli can be added to chocolate recipes, after all, so why not chocolate to chilli recipes?  It really does enrich the sauce and you do not detect the flavour at all.   Smoked bacon similarly adds good background flavour, with diced red and green peppers (capsicums) adding colour, as well as vegetable content.  If you wish to make the dish a little healthier by reducing the red meat content per head, add finely diced aubergine which will cook down to be almost invisible.  The amount of chilli powder to be added is optional, of course.  When my children were young I used to cook the mixture without chill, divide it between two pans and then add the spices later (not ideal, I know).  One pan had the full (adult) quantity of spices and the second had some cumin and a very little chilli, just enough for the children to get used to the taste: one was known as Chilli con Carne and the other as Carne non Chilli!  My ruse obviously worked as we all now eat food cooked in the same pan!  

As with the Lasagne al Forno I posted a few weeks ago, this method is my own tried and trusted recipe and special because it has been adapted and improved .  It is worth making a double quantity as the recipe can be frozen for later use, as can individual portions of leftovers.  Chilli con carne is lovely finished with a spoonful of cool and soothing soured cream.

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Special Chilli con Carne
(Serves 6)

15ml/1tbsp olive oil
1tsp ground cumin
½-1tsp (or more) chilli powder, depending on taste
1tsp cocoa powder (optional, but recommended)
1tbsp water
1 large onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
125g/4ozs diced bacon, smoked or unsmoked
125g/4ozs button mushrooms, quartered (or larger ones, sliced)
1 medium aubergine, diced (optional)
15ml/1tbsp mixed herbs
500g/1lb minced beef steak
30ml/2tbsp tomato purée
1 x 400g tin tomatoes, chopped
150ml/¼pint water (about ½ tomato tin) 
1 red pepper (capsicum), deseeded & chopped
1 green pepper (capsicum), deseeded & chopped
1 x 400g tin red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
Salt & black pepper

1.  If using aubergine it is usual to sprinkle it with salt, place it in a colander, cover it with a plate and place a weight on top of it for at least 30 minutes, to let the juices can run out.  You can cut out this step if you are short of time: I have never noticed much difference in taste.

2.  Mix the cumin and chilli with the water to make a paste.  Heat the oil in a large saucepan, stir in the spice paste and fry briefly (no more than 30 seconds).  Reduce the heat, stir in the onion and garlic and fry gently for 5 minutes, or until soft.  Add the diced bacon, mushrooms and mixed herbs (at this point the diced aubergine should be added, if using), put a lid on the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes.

3.  Add the beef mince, stir to break up and cook for 1o minutes, stirring occasionally so the meat cooks through.  Stir in the cocoa powder, tomato puree, tinned tomatoes and water, stir and bring to the boil.  Season and taste.  Reduce heat, cover and cook for a further 10minutes.

4.  Add the chopped peppers and red beans, stir well, cover and cook for another 5-10 minutes, depending  on how well cooked you like your pepper. Check seasoning.

5.  Serve on a bed of white rice or as a filling for a jacket potato, flour tortilla or pancake along with a spoonful of sour cream.  A small side salad makes a good accompaniment along with a few tortilla chips if serving with rice.

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Erwtensoep – Dutch Pea Soup

On our visit to Amsterdam in October 2009 I was very keen to try Erwtensoep, or Dutch Pea Soup.  This is a traditional dish which I had read was widely available, especially in the colder months: in fact I was sure I remembered enjoying it on a previous visit.  One lunchtime we managed to find a restaurant with Pea Soup on the menu and we were not disappointed.  It was very warming and so filling we ended up having a snack rather than a main evening meal.  I decided I simply had to hunt down a good recipe once I was back in London so I could make it myself to keep out the British winter chill.

There was nothing in my recipe books or the library, but I found several versions online and this recipe is my own interpretation with ideas taken from three recipes.  The versions used for inspiration, along with some of the online comments, were: gourmettraveller, BBC Good Food & recipezaar.  The resulting soup was a substantial lunch style soup, but you could easily add more meat for a soup suitable for a evening meal (such as ham and/or smoked sausage and/or pieces of fried belly pork strip, all of which should be added after the soup is liquidised).  One recipe used leaves from the Lovage plant.  I had some seed, which I added as an experiment and I felt gave a distinctive flavour that I felt enhanced the soup. The potato is traditionally added, I understand, helping to thicken the soup and also reducing any scum from cooking the peas.

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Erwtensoep – Dutch Pea Soup
(Serves 3-4 depending on thickness of soup)

250g/8ozs green split peas (soaked overnight)
125g/4ozs streaky bacon, diced
½oz/15g butter
1 stick celery, chopped
1 medium onion, peeled & chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled & chopped
1 medium leek, cleaned & finely sliced
½tsp lovage/ajwan seed (available in ethnic supermarkets) or chopped celery leaf
Large pinch each of ground spices: coriander, chilli, nutmeg, clove & ginger, more if you wish
1 medium potato, grated
2pints/40fl ozs/900ml stock, ham if possible but watch it is not too salty, or vegetable stock
2-3 frankfurter sausages, grilled and cut into 4-6 pieces each.
Salt & black pepper, to taste, if required

1.  Soak the peas overnight in cold water.  If there is not enough time for a long soak this can be speeded up by putting the peas into a saucepan, covering with boiling water and leaving  to soak for 1hour.  Bringing the peas back to the boil once or twice speeds up the softening process. Do not add salt until the peas are completely cooked as it toughens them and can slow down the cooking time.

2.  In a large saucepan, fry the diced bacon in the butter until it is cooked through but not crisped. Remove and set aside, leaving the fat in the pan.

3.  Use the fat remaining in the pan to fry the celery, onion, carrot and leek over a gentle heat until soft. Stir in the lovage/ajwan seed along with the ground coriander, chilli, nutmeg, clove & ginger (these can be adjusted more or less to personal taste). 

4. Drain the peas and stir into the cooked vegetable mixture. Stir the grated potato. Add the stock, bring to the boil, turn down heat and simmer until the peas have softened. Stir occasionally to make sure the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Add a little water if necessary if the soup starts to get too thick. 

5.  Blend the mixture until smooth.  Adjust seasoning, if necessary.  Stir in most of the smoked cooked bacon and sausage, leaving a little to garnish the finished soup.  Return the soup to the pan to reheat.  (The reserved frankfurter and bacon can be reheated if necessary by a short burst of heat in the microwave or in a sieve placed over the steam of the reheating soup.)

6.  Serve soup garnished with reserved frankfurter sausage and bacon, plus parsley or celery leaf if you wish, along with crusty bread.

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Cassoulet ‘Franglais’

Cassoulet is a hearty mixture of meat, beans and vegetables cooked for an extended period until the meat is meltingly tender, its home being the Languedoc region of France.  The town of Castelnaudary styles itself as the ‘Capital of Cassoulet’ with Toulouse and Carcassonne also having their own variations.  Every chef and restaurant in the region would claim to have the authentic recipe.  Depending on which recipe you read, the beans are either white haricot, also known as cannellini, or a mixture of haricot and butter beans.  It is usual to use more than one type of meat or meat product.  The original versions are usually based around a piece of duck, if possible confit of duck or even goose, cooked with some of the following: smoked bacon, smoked sausage and/or belly pork.  Occasionally lamb is included and in Toulouse the famous local Toulouse sausage is used. 

In the end I decided to invent my own version of Cassoulet, which I have named Cassoulet ‘Franglais’: my English version of the French dish. Consulting my recipe collection I found several versions from which I collectively took my list of basic ingredients and method. I found one recipe which substituted chicken for duck, which is a very good and less expensive substitute for day-to-day cooking. If I was making the dish for a special occasion I would be tempted to buy a duck leg or two depending on the number of diners. I found Toulouse style sausages in both Sainsburys ‘Taste the Difference’ and Morrison’s ‘The Best’ ranges, but one recipe suggested that Cumberland sausage could be substituted. Another recipe used a combination of both haricot and butter beans so either would be suitable: if the recipe is being doubled one can of each could be added. I understand that some French chefs would shudder at the breadcrumb topping whilst others include it. I put it in my version as it made a lovely crispy topping. The one instruction that all my books were in agreement over was the long cooking time. Ideally this should be cooked the day before to give the flavours a chance to mature before reheating and serving. It should certainly have at least two hours in the oven. If you have a slow cooker this would be an ideal dish to come home to at the end of a cold winter day: it could even be started the previous evening, I suppose.  Just add the breadcrumb topping towards the end and finish under the grill or scatter over a layer of freshly toasted breadcrumbs before serving.

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Cassoulet ‘Franglais’
(Serves 4)

1tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 medium sized carrot, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 large tomatoes, cut into 8 pieces
1 leek, washed thoroughly and sliced into rings
2tbsp tomato puree
1tsp herbes de Provence
1tsp dried orange peel (see My Kitchen>New & Unusual Ingredients>Dried Orange Peel)
1 bay leaf
4ozs/125g button mushrooms
4ozs/125g smoked streaky bacon or bacon pieces if available, diced
4ozs/125g rindless belly pork strip, diced
2 or 3 thick Toulouse sausages or thick Cumberland sausage
2 chicken thigh pieces or 1 chicken leg
1 small glass of white wine (optional, but very French!)
½pint/10fl ozs/225ml chicken stock or water & ½stock cube/½tsp stock powder
400ml/14oz can of white haricot/cannellini beans or butter beans
Black pepper to taste
4ozs/125g white breadcrumbs

1.  Pre-heat the oven to 350^oF/180^oC/170^oC Fan oven/Gas 4

2.  Fry the diced onion, celery, carrot and garlic gently in the oil for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the diced bacon, leek and mushroom and cook for 5 minutes more. 

3.  Add the mixed herbs, orange peel and chopped belly pork.  Stir and cook for a further 5 minutes. 

4.  Skin the chicken.  Briefly brown the sausages under the grill.  It does not matter if they are not thoroughly cooked.  Put the whole sausages and the chicken into the pan.  Add the bay leaf, tomato puree and tomato pieces.

5.  Stir in the wine and then the chicken stock or water and chicken stock cube (a small amount of stock cube goes a long way so I use just half a cube or spoonful).

6.  Transfer the mixture to a deep lidded casserole dish and put in the oven. Cook for at least two hours. 

7.  At this stage the Cassoulet can be returned, uncovered, to the oven for the final 30 minutes cooking time or stored overnight ready for reheating the next day.   

8.  Thirty minutes before serving remove the chicken pieces and sausages from the casserole.  Strip the meat from the chicken bones and slice the sausages into about six pieces, depending on size.  Stir the meat into the casserole with the drained and rinsed white beans.  If you are reheating the dish, then this step can be done while the mixture is cold, but make sure that the Cassoulet is thoroughly heated through before serving.

9.  Ten minutes before serving the Cassoulet stir once more and cover with a thick layer of breadcrumbs, which will turn golden brown. 

10.  Serve with a jacket potato, if required.

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Courgette & Lentil Gratin

This unusual and tasty base becomes a crispy crust that lifts easily from the flan dish when cooked.  The courgette as part of the fairly traditional filling is tasty, but as an alternative you could easily substitute small florets of lightly steamed broccoli or slices of uncooked tomato. The lentil and onion used for the base reminds me of dhal, a common accompaniment to Indian meals, but without the spices. The crust could take on an Indian flavour if dhal spices were added and a suitable vegetarian filling (or even a meat based one) could be used. Occasionally I have been asked by various schools and churches to submit a favourite recipe to their fundraising cookbook and this has appeared several times. It is a good recipe for a light summer meal and I would certainly serve this, or a variation, when entertaining a vegetarian friend.

The original recipe came from Sainsbury’s Healthy Eating Cookbooks: Beans, Nuts & Lentils by the vegetarian food writer Sarah Brown.

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Courgette & Lentil Gratin
(Serves 4)

Crust
125g/4ozs red lentils
15ml/1tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled & finely chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
15ml/1tbsp tomato purée
50g/2ozs oat flakes
15ml/1tbsp lemon juice
10ml/2tsp chopped mixed herbs (sage/thyme/marjoram)
Filling
250g/8ozs courgettes, diced
2 eggs, beaten
15ml/1tbsp wholemeal flour
50ml/2fl ozs skimmed milk
salt & pepper
50g/2ozs Cheddar Cheese

1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5/375^oF/180^oC.

2. Cook the lentils in twice their volume of water for about 15 minutes, or until they are fairly soft. Beat well with a spoon, then drain excess liquid if any remains.

3. Heat the oil in a pan and gently fry the onion for 3-4 minutes or until soft. Add the garlic and fry for 2 minutes.

4. Remove from the heat and mix in the cooked lentils, tomato purée, oats, lemon juice and herbs. Season well. The mixture should be thick enough to hold together. If the lentils are a little wet, return the pan to the heat to dry them out before adding or add a few more oat flakes.

5. Press the mixture into the base and up the sides of an 20cm/8″ flan dish. It is easier to do this with your hands than with a spoon.

6. For the filling, lightly steam the courgettes for 4 minutes or until tender.

7. Blend the eggs with the flour, then add the milk. Stir in the cooked courgettes and season well.

8. Spoon the filling into the flan case. Cover with grated cheese. (Tomato slices can also be added to decorate if you wish.)

9. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the filling has set.

10. Serve hot with jacket potatoes and salad.

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