Categories
carrots chicken food sausages

christmas dinner pie

A Christmas dinner in a pie! What a novel idea. After seeing one on the shelves from Pukka Pies I thought it was worth looking into.

Not content with dominating the Christmas music charts, YouTube channel LadBaby have come out with a pie:

Pukka Pies have been around for ages so it sort of makes sense that these would be the guys to come out with such a pie. This is a fairly straightforward idea so I thought I would give it a go at making at home.

One downside of making the pie yourself is the charity missing out. Sales of the pie give a 10p donation to the Trussell Trust, an organisation that works with food banks in the UK. If you’re able, why not consider a donation by following the link or scanning the QR code?

Donate to the Trussell Trust

My version of the pie has chicken, carrots, stuffing, sausages and bacon, covered in gravy and wrapped in a flaky pastry. You could easily swap out ingredients as you prefer. Serve with mash and veg with extra gravy for a satisfying treat.

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christmas dinner pie

A simple and homely pie with all your favourites
Course Main Course
Cuisine British
Keyword pukka pie
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Resting time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 4 pies

Equipment

  • muffin tin or pie dish

Ingredients

For the pastry:

  • 250 g butter refrigerated
  • 300 g flour

For the filling:

  • 1 chicken breast diced
  • 1 carrot large, peeled and diced
  • 2 chipolata sausages skinned
  • 65 g bacon diced, about 2 rashers
  • 80 g sage and onion stuffing made as per packet instructions, formed into small balls
  • pinch dried sage
  • 400 ml chicken stock
  • 1 teaspoon cornflour

Instructions

For the pastry:

  • Grate the butter and mix with the flour. Add a pinch of salt and add small amounts of ice cold water until it comes together and clean away from the bowl (this will not be much, maybe 20-50ml). Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.

For the filling:

  • Bake the stuffing balls according to the packet instructions. You can cook the rest of the filling while they bake.
  • Cook the carrots until tender - I put them in the microwave with a splash of water in a covered dish for 4 minutes.
  • Get a pan over a medium heat and add a splash of oil. Add the bacon and fry for a couple of minutes. Squeeze the sausages into 4 pieces each and add to the pan along with the chicken. Stir fry for a couple of minutes, colouring on all sides.
  • Add the sage and stock to the pan, followed by the cooked carrots. Bring to the boil. Mix the cornflour with a teaspoon of water and then stir thoroughly into the pie filling. Once blended remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
  • Preheat the oven to 200°C. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to 3mm thick. Cut out circles and line into a greased muffin tin. Add the pie filling and top with another pastry circle. Brush with beaten egg and bake for 30-35 minutes until puffed up and golden.

Video

Notes

Can easily be frozen at any stage. Even the pie filling itself can be frozen separately for making another day.
Categories
carrots chicken potatoes

one tray roast chicken dinner

I love a roast dinner but I don’t love the mess you have to create to make it. With this one tray roast chicken dinner recipe everything is done in one baking tray, so you only have one thing to clean up at the end. Potatoes, chicken, gravy, peas, carrots all in one pan. It pretty much takes care of itself so you can leave it to get on with cooking while you do other things.

It’s a real time-saver and more importantly, a washing up saver! This would work really well with other meats such as lamb, pork and turkey too.

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one tray roast chicken dinner

A quick and easy way to prepare a roast dinner
Course Main Dish
Cuisine English
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours
Servings 4 people
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken about 1.5kg
  • dried herbs of your choice e.g. sage, rosemary, thyme
  • 4 carrots
  • 500 g potatoes e.g. Maris Piper
  • 500 ml chicken stock
  • 3-4 handfuls frozen peas
  • 2-3 sprigs fresh herbs (optional) e.g. rosemary, sage, bay

Instructions

  • Get the oven on to 180C.
  • Untie the chicken and open the legs so hot air can penetrate the bird. Slather with oil, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle over your favourite dried herbs. Pop in the tray and put in the oven.
  • While the chicken gets started, peel and halve your carrots. Peel your potatoes and chop into golf-ball size chunks.
  • Once the chicken has had 30 minutes, take the tray out and scatter the carrots and potatoes around the chicken. Give them a turn in the fats and oils in the base of the tray, and season the vegetables. Put back in the oven.
  • After a further 20 minutes, you can add fresh herbs if using. 30 minutes after this, check the chicken. The best way to do this is by using a probe thermometer where it should read over 70c, or pierce the thickest part and ensure the juices run clear. Remove the chicken to a board to rest. If the chicken isn't done keep checking every 10 minutes. Once the chicken is removed you can add 500ml chicken stock.
  • After 20 minutes give everything a good turn in the stock and scatter over the frozen peas. Return to the oven.
  • After 10 more minutes everything should be done. Carve your bird, add carrots, peas and potatoes to your plate and ladle over the gravy. Enjoy!

Video

Categories
cabbage carrots turkey

KellyBronze turkey rolls with winter slaw

I’ve been so, so lucky with this silly little blog. I’ve met all of my food heroes and worked with fantastic people, and eaten some great stuff.

Actually. Not all of that is true. I’ve not met all of my food heroes.

Despite sharing a county with him, despite cooking food similar to his, despite going for job interviews at his office, despite writing about him dozens of times, despite eating at his restaurants… I’ve never managed to meet Jamie Oliver.

Until now.

I had an invite to Jamie Oliver’s new(ish) headquarters, with no promise of him appearing, for a talk and demo of KellyBronze turkeys. Paul Kelly of KellyBronze was to host, and I have met him a couple of times – he’s a wonderful, fun guy: definitely knows his poultry, definitely loves what he does. Jamie or not I was sure for an entertaining evening.

As I arrived I started chatting to some of the people there, and I was chuffed to meet someone I’ve been following online for years: Elizabeth from Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary. By chance we were next to each other and started talking and it’s so lovely to finally meet her. (Click the link to read her version of the evening!)

And sure enough, Jamie appeared to say hello. He gave a quick intro on why he loves KellyBronze turkeys so much, then Paul Kelly took to the stage to wax lyrical on the history of the turkey and how his family has made it their duty to bring excellent turkeys back to tables across the country. In the early 80s the Kelly family brought together superior breeds to make the KellyBronze which is bred for longer, allowing it to reach maturity. A period of hanging after slaughter also breaks the collagen down and makes for a tastier bird.

.He then talked through a turkey that he’d cooked earlier. Despite being 6kg it took 1hr 55m to cook completely. By having a more mature turkey it has a store of fat under the skin that conducts heat through the carcass more rapidly. For the cooking itself, he advises cooking breast-side down at first. No stuffing, as it impairs the speed of cooking. After an hour flip the bird the right way up and continue until done, testing using a meat thermometer. And while resting meat is absolutely crucial, don’t cover with foil as you will continue to cook the turkey.

Paul then demonstrated his world-record setting carving skills, removing the legs, removing each breast then slicing to make perfect portions of meat. We then enjoyed the carved meat in a bun with a helping of slaw, which I’ve recreated here.

After eating, Jamie was chatting off to one side with Dhruv Baker. If I didn’t go and say hi to Jamie now, I’d be really disappointed that I’d missed the opportunity. So I took the chance to shake his hand and say how much he’d inspired me over the years. He was super down-to-earth, and happy to have a chat.

It’s just meeting a person – but it was really meaningful to me. So much of what I’ve done has fed from Jamie’s enthusiasm and ideas.

I’ve ordered my turkey this year from KellyBronze – there’s still time for you to order yours!

I’ve used a cooked turkey breast here, you could use leftovers on Boxing Day!

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KellyBronze turkey rolls with winter slaw

Servings 4 people
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

  • 1 turkey breast cooked
  • 4 brioche rolls or similar
  • 2 carrots
  • 1/2 red onion
  • 1 beetroot
  • 250 ml yoghurt
  • 1 lemon
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • Dijon mustard
  • green leaves such as spinach, lamb's lettuce

Instructions

  • Peel and finely slice the onion. Peel and grate the carrots. Grate the beetroot. Mix together the yoghurt with a few dashes of olive oil and add the juice of the lemon with a big pinch of salt. Mix the dressing thoroughly and season to taste. Combine with the veg.
  • Put the buns on to toast lightly. Slice the turkey. Spread the buns with mustard, then pile up the buns with turkey, green leaves and slaw.
Categories
asparagus beetroot carrots cucumber

crunchy summer salad

Sainsbury’s are wanting to inspire the nation to be more creative with their vegetables after seeing a massive upturn in sales of vegetables with Avocado (147%), asparagus spears (118%), broccoli (40%), courgettes (30%) and bunched beetroot (25%) leading the way. I do love a salad, but it’s a bit easy just to get a plastic bag of leaves, slice a tomato and say we’re done. There’s so much more that can go in a salad though!

Inspired by their “vegetable butcher” Amber Locke I felt like giving it a go too. I am a recent convert to spiralizing veg and have been going all out to make curly-wurly courgettes. I’ve been trying out the Savisto tabletop model and Lakeland hand-held models lately – look for more detailed reviews in a future post. If you don’t have a spiralizer, just slice the ingredients finely on the cutter side of a box grater or mandoline.

Combined with lightly pickled cucumber to make the base of a dressing and freshly grilled asparagus this salad celebrates plenty of vegetables and would be a vibrant accompaniment to a barbecue.

Sainsbury’s contributed to the ingredients for this recipe.

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crunchy summer salad

Course Side Dish
Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 10 minutes
Servings 4 people
Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

For the pickle:

  • 20 ml white wine vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried dill

The veg:

  • 2 beetroots
  • 2 carrots
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • 1 romaine lettuce
  • 1 raddichio
  • 1 tablespoon mixed seeds

Instructions

  • Mix the pickle ingredients together. Slice the cucumber lengthways and use a teaspoon to scoop out the seeds. Chop diagonally and leave in the marinade while you get everything else ready.
  • Grill or barbecue the asparagus for ten minutes, or until wrinkled and blackened.
  • Lay the asparagus on a serving plate. Spiralize or slice the beetroot and carrot and lay on top. Remove the cucumber from the marinade (reserving the liquid) and add this. Shred the lettuces and top the salad. Scatter mixed seeds over the top.
  • Whisk a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil into the pickle mix, and drizzle over the salad.
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