Liver and Bacon Casserole

• 1 packet lambs liver (usually 125g)
• 2 onions
• 1 packet bacon (unsmoked or smoked its your choice, 6 slices of back or 12 slices streaky)
• third of a bottle of bitter
• flour
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree

Slice the onions and saute them in a little oil in a large shallow pan or a frying pan with deep sides.

Chop up the bacon into pieces 1 cm by 2-3cm and add to onions.

Once all bacon coloured and onions sof, remove from pan and place on one side.

Put some flour ona plate or in a shallow bowl and add some salt and pepper and mix with fingers. Take a slice of liver and coat it both sides in the flour and then fry in the pan you cooked the onions and bacon in. Fry each side for about 2-3mins until it gets a little colour. Do this for every piece of liver in packet, can fry more than one piece at once, set them aside once cooked.

Add bacon and onions back to pan and add the bitter, put on a high heat and use the boiling liquid to remove the caught spots of flour from the pan and gather up all the flavours from the frying liver.

Add the cooked liver again and then sprinkle in the 4 oxo cubes, top up with water until you get a nice amount of gravy in the pan. Add the tomato puree and mix well then leave to simmer for 10 minutes.

Serve with mashed potato or root vegetable mash.

Coq au Vin

This is a combination of many recipes off the internet, kudos goes to Nigel Slater, Delia Smith and Jamie Oliver for some of the best ideas.

• 1 whole chicken, ask your butcher to cut this into 4 joints for you
• 2 ribs celery, chopped coarsely
• 500g baby onions (soak in water to peel easier) cut in half
• 500g chantaney carrots, unpeeled, topped and tailed and cut in two
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2/3 bottle rich red wine (Cote du Rhone etc)
• 1 litre chicken stock
• 180g bacon lardons or thick bacon chopped into cubes
• 300g button mushrooms
• butter
• fresh thyme
• salt and pepper

Put chicken, carrots, celery and onions in bowl and add the wine. Mix until all covered, cover with lid and leave somewhere cool overnight to soak up.

Next day, put a good sized knob of butter in a large pan, once melted, cook the bacon lardons in the pan until lightly browned. Put to one side.

Next cook off the button mushrooms in the butter and bacon juices. After 4-5 mins of cooking remove frompan and set aside with bacon.

Take the onions soaked in wine out of the bowl and cook them off next until soft, then repeat for the carrots and the celery (these could be done together). Keep the wine, you're going to need it soon!

Finally in all the remaining pan juices, fry off the chicken pieces until browned on each side.

Once chicken is brown, add the onions, carryots and celery back in. Cook them off for 2-3 mins adding the garlic and the thyme.

Then pour in the wine, chicken stock, add salt and pepper and boil. Turn onto a low heat and simmer.

After 1-2hrs of cooking, add the bacon and mushrooms. Taste for seasoning and if needed add a little cornflour mixed with water to thicken the sauce.

Serve with buttery mashed potatoes.

Beef in Red Wine

This is one of those recipes I can't give exact amounts for the ingredients, I just know what I put in ;) Have to thank my mum for this one :)

• Suitable casserole dish, like round cast-iron, with lid
• Brasing steak (enough to fill 1/4, for a six person casserole I use around 0.8kg, if it is for a dinner party, I would use better steak)
• Chopped Carrots (enough to fill 1/4, again for a six person casserole I would use around 6, cut however you choose, chunky is usually good)
• Chopped onions (enough to fill 1/4, for six people I use around 2 large again cut chunky), or have used chopped fennel as well
• Chopped mushrooms (enough to fill 1/4, for six people I used around 2/3 of a large punnet)
• 1 bottle red wine (for 6 people)
• 1.5l beef stock
• Salt & Pepper

Chop up all the ingredients, making them chunky. Add to casserole and mixed so they are evenly distributed throughout. Season with salt and pepper, then pour in red wine to around the 1/3 - 1/2 way point, then top up with the beef stock. Place in oven at 160oCand cook for as long as possible, usually 3 hours is good. Stir occassionally and when ready to serve, if juices are thin, use gravy granules to thicken up. Serve with either new potatoes and veg, or with rice.