RECIPE - Lancashire Hotpot

The nights are drawing in and there's a definite nip in the air, and thoughts are turning to warming winter dishes. And for a Lancashire lass, especially one who has been exiled to darkest Hampshire, the first thing that springs to mind is Lancashire Hotpot.

Sometimes I see recipes that claim to be the "best" or even the "definitive" recipe for Lancashire Hotpot. They make me cringe - the best is the one you love most, and as for definitive, well as with so many traditional dishes, there is really no such thing. There are as many hotpot recipes in Lancashire as there are cooks, and each one has their own preferred version that has gradually been tweaked and tested over the years, to hone it to what they, and their family, love.

Sometimes recipes insist on including oysters - maybe nowadays that's a touch of poshness for you, but a few generations ago oysters were one of the cheapest proteins around and would have been added simply to pad out the meat. Some people use stewing lamb, or lamb cutlets,  some used diced lamb, some add kidneys or other offal, some even use other meats. My dad hated lamb, so all through his life my Mum used stewing beef, or even, when money was tight, a tin of corned beef. (Actually the corned beef version was delicious, like corned beef hash with a crispy topping - I must try that sometime soon!). Sometimes people top their hotpot with pastry, shortcrust, suet or rough puff, a habit that is growing more popular, but I love the crispy potato topping so I won't be doing that any time soon.

One thing everyone agreed on in my childhood - there were two occasions when Lancashire Hoptpot was a must. They were bonfire night and New Year's Eve, when the hotpot could be left to look after itself for several hours while everyone got on with the celebrations. And all through my childhood the accompaniments were the same too -  pickled red cabbage, mashed carrots with or without swede turnips, and cold sliced beetroot (generally ruined by dousing it in cheap malt vinegar, one tradition I have NOT maintained).

So here is my Lancashire Hotpot recipe - this makes two hearty servings but  can be made for any number of people. Allow several hours cooking time - at least 2½ hours but longer is fine.

Ingredients:
400g diced lean lamb
500g peeled potatoes, thinly sliced
2 large onions, thinly sliced
1 heaped tablespoon plain flour
a lump (about 20g) of lard
seasoning

Preheat the oven to very low - 150C (130 fan), 300 F, gas mark 2

Put the flour in a plastic bag and season well - you'll need a lot of seasoning as you won't be adding any stock, and the seasoning you add here will season the whole dish as the flour is going to become the "gravy". Toss the bag to mix and then tip in the lamb and toss to mix well.

Arrange a quarter of the potatoes in the bottom of a greased heavy earthenware pot with a lid. Top with a quarter of the onions. Repeat the two layers then tip the entire contents of the plastic bag over, spreading it evenly. Carry on layering the potatoes and onions, this time going onion-potato-onion-potato so that you finish up with a layer of potatoes on top.

Pour in cold water (the water must be cold or the flour will go lumpy) to just below the level of the top layer of potatoes then dot the lard over the top. Cover with a well fitting lid and place in the oven for at least 2 hours. 3 or 4 hours wouldn't be too long, but if you cook it for so long check from time to time to make sure it isn't drying out, and top up a little with hot water if it is.

30-40 minutes before serving, turn up the oven to 220C (210 fan), 425 F, gas mark 7. Take the hotpot out of the oven, remove the lid and - here's the magic bit - press the potatoes down with the back of the spoon so that some of the unctuous liquid runs on to the potatoes. Now return the hotpot to the oven without a lid and cook until brown and crispy on top, about 30 minutes.

I've just realised I told you to slice your beetroot but ours were tiny ones from the garden so we ate them whole. The pickled red cabbage is home made too, made with a home grown cabbage. The carrots were also from the garden - I love the crops we have at this time of year!

I am sharing this with the Slow Cooked Challenge at Farmersgirl Kitchen  and Baking Queen 74



and also with Simple and in Season at Feeding Boys

Recipe: Slow Cooker Goulash Soup

Sometimes the slow cooker is indispensable! Yesterday my husband  had a drive home of several hours after work, and would welcome a hot meal when he got in - but these days road works and traffic jams can lengthen a journey very unpredictably, so a slow cooked meal was perfect as an extra hour or two of cooking wouldn't spoil it. So I decided to make a goulash, a complete one-pot meal.

I've called it a soup, but it's actually something in between a soup and a stew. Cutting the meat and veg small makes it spoonable, but it's still good to have something to mop up those yummy juices. I served it with home made caraway rye bread.

The goulash itself was a bit of a fridge clearing exercise - I wouldn't normally have used celeriac in a goulash, but it was just reaching "use it or lose it" point, and in fact it added a lovely savouriness to the goulash and I'll make a point of always adding it in future! And of course it means it contains even more veg, and makes an already cheap cut of meat go further.

This goulash reheats beautifully (we've just eaten the leftovers for lunch) and would probably freeze well too, although I wouldn't keep it for too long in the freezer as I find anything with garlic in it can develop a musty taste after a couple of months.

Goulash Soup in the slow cooker

ingredients (to serve 4)

500g lean stewing beef – buy it in a single piece if possible (I used skirt)

2 tablespoons plain flour
1 tablespoon paprika – hot or sweet, as you prefer, but NOT smoked
½ tsp salt
pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon sunflower oil
750ml beef stock
4 tablespoons tomato purée
1 bayleaf
2 onions
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 large carrots
½ a small celeriac
2 large potatoes

Mix together the flour, thyme and seasoning in a large plastic bag. Cut the meat into small pieces, about 2 cm square, and toss with the seasoned flour.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown a few pieces of meat at a time, taking care not to overcrowd the pan. Transfer to the slow cooker pot as done.

 

Peel and dice all the vegetables into roughly 1cm cubes, and add to the pot along with the bay leaf. Blend the tomato purée into the stock and pour over the meat and veg, then mix together.

If your slow cooker has an auto function, cook on auto for 10 hours. Otherwise cook for either 4-6 hours on High, or 1 hour on High followed by 8-10 hours on Low. Serve in soup bowls with crusty bread. I added a dollop of sour cream - not essential but rather yummy!

Mark suggested I should have garnished it with chopped parsley, but as there's no parsley in the recipe, to me that counts as an "irrelevant garnish" (one of my pet hates). However I've just thought - it DOES contain thyme, so a few leaves of fresh thyme would have prettied it up!

Since this is so cheap, easy and nourishing I'm going to spread the word by entering it into:

Extra Veg  at Jo's Kitchen  with Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy Food For Friends


The Slow Cooked Challenge at Farmersgirl Kitchen



Credit Crunch Munch at Utterly Scrummy Food For Friends with Fuss Free Flavours and Fab Food 4 All




Super Soup at Jo's Kitchen