Welcome to another edition of From the Den Kitchen. I’m taking a quick break from the Christmas festivities to share with you some of my favourite recipes I’ve been cooking lately.
I’m slowly working through my list of recipes to try and the following two have been a big success and asked for again.
The first is a chicken shepherd’s pie.
The original recipe came from Kidspot but we modified it slightly.
For the pie filling you will need:
- oil (we used veg oil)
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 2 rashers bacon, diced
- 50g butter
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon chicken stock powder
- 3 cups water
- 1 double chicken breast, cooked and cubed (I boiled mine till cooked, let it cool then cubed it)
- frozen peas & corn, as much as you like
- For the topping – mashed potato
Preheat oven to 180°C. Get out your pie dish, casserole dish or whatever you’ll put your pie in. I used a deep lasagne dish.
Heat oil in a saucepan and cook onion, garlic and bacon for 2 minutes. Add butter and flour to pan, cook 2 minutes. Gradually stir in water and stock powder. Cook until sauce thickens. Add your chicken and frozen veg to the pan then bring to the boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour into pie dish, top with mashed potato. Bake for 35-45 mins.
Last night we had Fruity Beef Casserole. Originally from Taste. This is the recipe for 2 adults & a nearly 3yo (plus leftovers)
You will need:
olive oil
500g stewing steak, cubed
2 onions, thinly sliced
1 carrot, peeled & thinly sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 heaped tablespoon plain flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 cups beef stock
1/2 cup plum sauce
Preheat oven to 170°C.
Heat oil in a large frypan. Add beef and cook in batches until browned all over. Transfer to plate and set aside to rest.
Add onion to the pan, cook 1-2 minutes until softened. Add carrot, garlic, tomato paste and flour. Stir to combine and cook for another minute. Add lemon juice, beef stock and plum sauce. Return beef to pan.
Bring to the boil and allow the sauce to thicken slightly.
Pour into casserole dish and cook for 2 hours until beef is tender.
Serve with creamy mashed potato.