best of british

We have been finding it so difficult to re-adjust since we got back from the Maldives so I decided we needed an injection of good old-fashioned British grub. I have recently rediscovered beef. As a teenager I went through the whole not eating certain meats fad, however I never returned to beef.
I have Jamie Oliver to thank for my favourite meal, after watching him cook a fabulous pie on Jamies kitchen.




Ok so not the best picture but you get the idea, I only wish we had smellevision. This was a particulary good one. My recipe is not very faithful to Jamies but he deserves the acknolwledgement all the same. I have made the pie with flaky pastry which is delicious but only a treat as I'm trying to eat healthy, I've also made it with guiness which is good though sometimes it can make it bitter.

melt some butter in a pan
chop some onion, leek, carrot, suede or what ever you have!
cook for a few minutes
add the beef (preferably organic)
cook for another couple of minutes
add a little seasoning (the stock is quite salty)
add worcester sauce
add my secret ingredient a teaspoon of marmite
stir in a tablespoon of flour
transfer to an oven proof pot with lid
make up stock (your own if you're clever or from a stock cube if you're not)
this is the important bit: pour the stock over the meat and veg but dont cover completely.

cook in a moderate oven gas 4/5 with lid on for about 1 hour stirring occasionally
take off the lid lower the oven to 3/4 for another hour or until the meat is tender and gravy is a good consistency.
an optional extra is to throw some grated cheese in before serving.


To finish our british day we had rhubarb crumble with custard. This was also my best crumble to date probably because I used butter! Thanks to the garden for the rhubarb!