Meat & potato pie

Those winter nights are drawing in and whatever you call your evening meal depending on whereabouts you're from in the UK, the one thing we all want when its cold & gloomy is something warm, comforting & taste bud tingling delicious 

Well my recipe for a meat and potato pie is just that. Delicious slow cooked beef, paired with potatoes & encased in a rich short crust pastry.

The perfect centre peice for a family winter evening dinner. To serve 4-6 people you will need :

800g boneless beef or lamb

2 medium onions chopped

3 tbsps plain flour

300ml veg stock

2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 tsp onion salt

2 tsp marmite/veg extract

4/5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 

1 tbsp tyme leaves ( fresh or dried ) 

2 tsp tomato puree

A good handful of steamed baby potatoes 

2 blocks of short crust pastry/2 sheets of ready rolled short crust

• Start by coating the meat peices in the flour in a bowl

• Seal the meat by cooking on a meduim to high heat until browned all over. You may find it easier to do it in batches. 

• Once the meat is browned all over, add in the chopped onion and cook until the onions are soft and beginning to colour. 

• Add in all the other ingredients except for the potatoes and leave to simmer on a low heat until the meat is nice and tender and the stock has reduced to a nice thick gravy. 

• Add in the steamed potatoes and stir through. Check the seasoning & adjust if required. Leave to completely cool 

• If you're using the pastry block, roll one block out to an inch thick and use this to line a 23cm round pie dish. For the sheet,  no need to roll - you can line your dish without rolling 

• Pour the cooled filling into the lined dish then roll out the 2nd block to the same thickness and place over the filling. Seal the edges by pressing them together with a fork or tip of a butter knife. 

• Brush the top of the pie with egg wash .. make a hole in the middle for the steam to escape. You can decorate the pie with the left over pastry trimmings - i used my leaf cookie cutter

• Bake for 25-35 mins at 210 fan or until golden brown all over & serve with whichever sides you like 

Masar daal

I have always from being little, absolutely loved daal -lentil curry. I was the child in the family that would eat all her veg & wouldn't complain if there wasn't any chicken or meat for dinner.

Thankfully I still love it just as much now as an adult, although my husband and I always debate what is a better accompaniment..  Are you team rice or chappati ? I love my rice with daal but to be fair whenever I do cook daal i will alternate between rice and chappatis. This time round it was the turn for rice.

I made my husband's favourite daal which is masar daal - brown lentils. 

So for my masar daal to serve 4-6 people you will need 

500g brown lentils
Knob of butter - leave this out if you're wanting it for a vegan diet
1 medium onion chopped
2 frozen cubes garlic/ 5 fresh cloves crushed
2 frozen cubes of ginger/ thumb size peice crushed
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 green chillies chopped
1 tsp hot curry powder
2 tsp cumin seeds 
1 bay leaf
Fresh coriander chopped to garnish. 

• Start by giving the lentils a quick rinse and leave them to soak whilst you cook the masala.
• On a hight heat add a little olive oil to your pan with the knob of butter. Add in the chopped onion. You want the onion to brown and crisp up but watch they don't burn as the heat is high
• Once they have turned a nice dark brown, add a splash of water to soften them. Lower the heat to medium, add in the salt , garlic, ginger and chillies. Cook through for a couple of minutes so the ginger and garlic brown and the chillies soften.
• Add in the bay leaf, cumin seeds and curry powder, stir through and add in all the lentills
• Pour enough water over the lentils to cover them. And leave to simmer on a medium heat for 45 minutes. Stir them intermittently to stop them catching or burning,  and top up the water if need be.
• After 45 minutes the lentils should be fully cooked and the daal should be the perfect consistency 
• If you prefer a drier consistency, leave it to simmer a little further - I make my daal slightly drier if im serving it with chappatis .. Garnish with coriander just before serving