Beef casserole

 

When you’ve got a big crowd around, it’s great to be able to prepare your meal in advance.  Using a cheaper cut of meat means that a great quality casserole doesn’t have to cost the earth either. This braised beef casserole  is a simple but tasty option which takes less than half an hour to prepare before popping it in the oven.

For 4 adults and a 2 children you will need:

Another potato cake recipe

If you’re stuck for something for dinner, you might find a tin of tuna in the cupboard and some leftover potatoes.  You don’t need the spinach – it’s just a great way of sneaking in vegetables to the little ones!  This is another simple ‘cake’ recipe for little ones and adults alike.

for 8 ‘cakes’ you will need:

• 400 g cooked mashed potato
• 1 tin tuna
• 1 handful spinach finely shredded
• 2 spring onions finely sliced
• 1 knob butter
• 1 egg beaten
• Polenta to coat (optional)

Method

While the potatoes are still hot, add a large knob of butter and the spinach.  Stir thoroughly.  Then add the tuna and mash it up into the potato and spinach mixture.  Allow it to cool completely before seasoning with black pepper.

Make small patties / cakes (about the size of the palm of your hand) out of the mixture, dunk in the beaten egg and coat with polenta or breadcrumbs.   The cakes can be frozen at this stage.

From room temperature, bake the cakes which have been lightly brushed with oil and placed on a baking tray at 200 C for 20 minutes turning once during cooking.  Alternatively shallow fry in a little olive oil for a 3-4 minutes on each side until golden.

Enjoy!

Yummy Scrummy Sausage Rolls

A very cheeky saturday lunchtime treat.  We cheated with some frozen ‘all butter’ puff pastry.  Buy the best type you can afford as it makes all the difference.

For 24 sausage rolls:

French Toast – Pain Perdu

We were inspired by Rachel Khoo’s ‘Little Paris Kitchen’ to make some ‘Pain Perdu’ – ‘lost bread’.  Use any leftover chunky bread that’s past its best for making this sweet french toast – delicious for a weekend brunch.

For 2 adults and 1 little one you will need:

Salmon and Spinach cakes

Little potato cakes are a great way of using up leftovers. They are also a brilliant way to wean little ones as they can eat it from their hands and it’s already mashed up inside. We will post a few recipes here on the blog over the coming weeks.

Makes 8-10

Cheeky snacks! Arancini

These ‘arancini’ (little oranges in italian) are a simple and delicious snack that also work well as a canape for drinks.  We used left-over rice from a stir fry. Chose to add more cheese if you like. We serve ours with mango chutney.

For 2 adults and a little one