Stuffed hearts

Cooked by Maxine, during coaching (see The Cookery Coach)

6 lamb hearts

1 mix of stuffing (see recipe)

2 carrots, chopped

2 onions, chopped

2 sticks celery, chopped

500ml beef stock (see recipe)

1 tablespoon beurre manié (see recipe)

Soak the hearts in a large bowl of salted water for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 140C.

Remove the hearts from the salt water. Trim off any tubes with scissors, and snip the inside of each heart so it becomes one cavity. Rinse the hearts, and place on a large plate. Fill each heart to the top with stuffing mix.

Place the chopped carrots, onion and celery in the bottom of a large casserole dish. Nest the hearts down into the veg, so the hearts stand up with the stuffing upwards. Pour the stock into the casserole dish, around the hearts. Bring to the boil on the hob. Seal the casserole dish with a tight-fitting lid (use foil under the lid, to get a good seal) and place it in the oven for 3 hours.

Transfer the casserole dish to the hob, over a low heat. Remove the hearts to a warmed serving dish. Crush up the veg a bit, with a fork. Add half of the beurre manié and stir. Let the sauce thicken. Add more beurre manié if necessary. Check for seasoning, and add salt and pepper if necessary. Strain the sauce over the hearts, and serve.

Goulash

2 tablespoons lard or light oil

2 onions, chopped

1 red pepper, sliced

1kg stewing beef, cut into 2cm chunks (or 6 lamb neck chops, left whole)

3 tablespoons plain flour

Salt and pepper

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 tin chopped tomatoes

250ml stock (see recipe)

200 ml bitter or lager

Bouquet garni (some parsley stalks, thyme, bay leaf, tied to a celery stick with string)

100ml double cream

Pre-heat the oven to 140C.

Place a large casserole dish on the hob, over a medium heat. Melt the lard. When it sizzles, add the onion and pepper. Fry gently until glossy but not brown.

Put the plain flour, salt and pepper into a plastic bag. Add the chunks of meat to the bag, and shake the bag to coat the meat in flour. Remove the meat from the bag, and pat off any excess flour. Keep the flour in the bag for later.

Remove the veg from the casserole dish, leaving the oil behind, and put the veg in a bowl. Add the floured meat to the casserole dish, and fry until browned. Tip in the seasoned flour from the bag, and fry for 2 minutes more. Add the paprika, tomatoes, stock, beer and bouquet garni. Return the veg you put aside, bring to the boil, and cover the casserole dish with a tight-fitting lid. If your lid’s a bit loose, put a sheet of foil under it and crimp the edges to form a seal. Put the goulash in the oven for 2-3 hours.

Remove the goulash from the oven, remove the bouquet garni, stir in the cream, check the seasoning and adjust by adding salt and pepper.

This is great with some dumplings (see recipe) added 20 minutes before the end. Flavour the dumplings with a teaspoon of caraway seeds, or a small chopped chilli.

Coq au vin

75g chopped bacon or lardons

175g sliced mushrooms

16 peeled button onions/shallots

10g butter

2 tablespoons vegetable (or light olive) oil

1 jointed roasting chicken (or 12 thighs)

4 tablespoons brandy

3 tablespoons plain flour

450ml red wine

150ml chicken stock (see recipe)

Bouquet garni (some parsley stalks, thyme, bay leaf, tied to a celery stick with string)

Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Put a large casserole dish on the hob over a medium heat. Fry the bacon, onions and mushrooms in the oil and butter until lightly browned. Remove them from the casserole dish, to a bowl, leaving behind the oil and butter.

Fry the chicken until browned. Pour over the brandy and set light to it. When it goes out, remove the chicken to the bowl, again leaving the oil.

Add the flour to the casserole dish, and stir. If there’s not enough oil to moisten the flour, add a little more. Cook for 2minutes, stirring all the time. Add the wine and stock gradually, stirring while the gravy thickens. Add the herbs, and a good twist of salt and pepper. Return the veg and chicken to the casserole dish and stir. Cover tightly and cook in the oven for 1 hour.

Before serving, remove the bouquet garni. Great with mashed potato (the coq, not the bouquet garni).

Cassoulet

250g dried haricot beans (or 2 tins, if you really must cheat)

250-500g lean boned and rolled shoulder of lamb*

500g onions

25g lard

200ml white wine

50ml pastis (Ricard, Pernod, etc.)

250g streaky bacon, not smoked, in one piece (not sliced – ask your butcher)

600ml brown stock (lamb* or chicken – see recipe)

Bay leaf

3-5 cloves garlic (depending on how much you like)

100g garlic sausage (not chorizo – get French stuff from the deli) cut into 1cm cubes

1 tablespoon chopped parsley stalks

Salt and pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

Soak the beans overnight, if using dried. Follow the instructions for soaking on the packet.

Put a large casserole dish over a medium heat. Melt the lard. Finely chop the onions and fry gently until soft but not brown. Add the wine and pastis, and boil for 2 minutes. Add the pieces of lamb and bacon, stock, drained and rinsed beans, bay leaf, whole garlic cloves, sausage, parsley, and a good twist of salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, cover tightly, and simmer very gently for at least 2 hours. You can leave it longer. If you prefer, you can put it in the oven at 120C.

Remove the casserole dish from the heat. Lift out the meats onto plates. Taste the sauce, and adjust the seasoning by adding salt and pepper, if necessary. The sauce should be the consistency of single cream. If it’s a bit thick, add some boiling water. If it’s a bit thin, boil it with the lid off to reduce it.

Remove the string from the lamb. The meat should pull apart with 2 forks. Break it into nice chunks and strips.

Pat the bacon dry with a clean tea-towel or kitchen roll, and cut it into 1cm cubes. Heat the olive oil in a very hot frying pan, and fry the bacon cubes until brown. Return the lamb and bacon to the casserole dish, heat through and serve.

* If you buy the shoulder bone-in, get the butcher to bone and roll it, and give you the bone to make stock (see recipe). You can use a whole chicken, or 4 duck legs, instead of the lamb.

Beurre manie

This is a basic – equal parts of butter and plain flour, creamed together with a fork. It’s used to thicken gravy, sauces and stews.

Stew and dumplings

4 tablespoons vegetable (or light olive) oil

1 large onion

1 stick celery

2 large carrots

1kg stewing beef (shin or chuck, sliced into 2cm wide strips, not chunks)

50g plain flour

Salt and pepper (a good twist of each)

1 glass red wine

50g black pudding

500g new potatoes

200g mushrooms

1 tablespoon fresh or dried herbs (mixed is fine, thyme is better)

200g self raising flour

100g suet

Salt and pepper (again)

1 teaspoon English mustard (or ½ teaspoon dry mustard powder)

Pre-heat the oven to 140C. Put a large casserole dish on the hob, over a medium heat.

Finely chop the onion, celery and carrots. Fry gently in the casserole dish, in 1 tablespoon of the oil, until glossy but not brown. Put aside in a bowl. Add the remainder of the oil to the casserole and turn up the heat a bit.

Put the plain flour, salt and pepper into a plastic bag. Add the strips of beef to the bag, and shake the bag to coat the meat in flour. Remove the beef from the bag, and pat off any excess flour. Keep the flour in the bag for later.

Add the beef to the casserole dish, and fry until brown. Add the red wine and boil for 2 minutes to reduce. Add the rest of the flour from the bag, and stir. Add the onion, celery and carrot back to the casserole dish. Add enough water to cover the stew by about 1cm. Crumble in the black pudding (or chop it finely and add it). Cover with a tight-fitting lid (or a layer of foil and a looser lid) and place the casserole dish in the oven for 2 hours.

Slice the potatoes and mushrooms, and add them to the stew with the herbs. Check that the gravy still covers the stew, adding more water if necessary. Cover, and return to the oven for another 40 minutes.

Put the SR flour, suet, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add just enough water, stirring with a fork, so the mixture forms a damp dough. Drop golfball-sized dumplings on to the top of the stew, leaving a gap between them as they swell up. Cover, and return to the oven for a further 20 minutes.

If you want to be really traditional, substitute a can of bitter or stout for the red wine. Another nice variation is to use 2 teaspoons of horseradish sauce in the dumplings, instead of the mustard.