Baked Potatoes

This is what I usually cook at the same time as a casserole, baked potatoes.
I select the potatoes I need. I wash or scrub them , remove any nasty looking bits with a knife. leave the skin on.
Pierce each potato with the knife a few times.
Cut a piece of foil for each potato.
Place one potato on a piece of foil.
I now add a drop of olive oil to the potato and cover it , use a brush or your hands.
Sprinkle with some salt.
Wrap the foil around the potato.
Put the potatoes on a tray or on the shelf around the casserole.
Large potatoes will take about 1 hour smaller 40 minutes.
Put in for the last hour of casserole cooking , high in the oven.
They are done when soft.
Enjoy

Chicken Casserole Recipe

Suet Dumplings

This is a really nice recipe for a chicken casserole with an old fashioned favourite, suet dumplings.

Casserole Ingredients

olive oil for frying

3 large chicken breasts(cut into chunks) or (8 chicken thighs )

2 tablespoons of plain flour

3 carrots peeled and sliced

3 leeks washed and sliced

1 turnip peeled and diced

1 teaspoon of dried thyme( or mixed herbs)

1 can of Guinness or 1/3 pint Madeira or port

1 pint of chicken stock homemade or from a stock cube

Any fresh herbs as a garnish when serving

salt and pepper

Method

Prepare all the vegetables

Put the flour into a plastic bag

Put the chicken into the plastic bag with the flour and toss until well covered with flour

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat.

Fry the chicken in batches until golden brown and place into a casserole dish

Let the frying pan cool

Put all the vegetables, herbs and salt and pepper into the casserole

Add some chicken stock to the frying pan so it deglazes the pan and collects all the tasty juices.

Add this to the casserole.

Add the Guinness,Madeira or port to the casserole.

Add more stock so it comes to the top of the casserole. See the photo.

Cover with foil and cook at 180C--300F--gas 4/5 for 1 hour.

Dumplings

4oz self-raising flour

2 oz suet

olive oil for frying

1 small onion diced fine

1 garlic clove diced fine

2oz mushrooms button or chestnut chopped fine

cold water

Method

Put the flour and suet into a bowl and mix.

Put some olive oil in a frying pan on a medium heat

Fry the garlic, onion and mushrooms together.

Add this to the flour and suet and mix.

Add the cold water a bit at a time.

Mix after each addition.

The dough needs to be firm.

Put some flour on your hands and onto the work surface.

Shape into 4 balls

Remove the casserole after 1 hour of cooking.

Place the dumplings on top of the casserole .

Cook for 20 to 30 minutes on top of the casserole without the lid.

Remove and serve.

Serve with baked potatoes

Hope you enjoy this Chicken casserole with herb dumplings.

Crazycupcakes

Roasted Tomato Soup

This is my latest soup recipe for cold winter days roasted tomato soup.

Make this soup when you are cooking a casserole. The tomatoes are roasted in a slow oven to get an intense flavour.

Go to my Soup blog ROASTED TOMATO SOUP RECIPE
Thanks for reading

Crazycupcakes

Beef and Guinness Casserole

This is my first recipe of the new year. An old favourite recipe for beef casserole recipe but with Guinness and mushrooms but with a twist of a hot ingredient.
Ingredients
1 can of Guinness
3 large onions diced
2 garlic cloves diced
4 cups of bite sized diced beef. I used what we call shoulder steak
30 mushrooms cut in half
1 1/2 tablespoons of horseradish sauce. Mine was a good quality one from the supermarket.
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon of thyme
olive oil for frying
4 tablespoons of plain flour to toss the cut beef in
Method
1. Prepare all ingredients and get out a frying pan and a casserole dish with a lid.
2. Heat some olive oil fry the garlic and onions. Not too hot or the garlic will burn. Fry for about 5 mins and put the garlic and onions into the casserole dish.
3. Toss the beef in flour inside a plastic bag.
4. Fry the beef in small batches to brown the meat. Put each batch into the casserole dish.
5. Fry the mushroomsfor about 5 mins. Add more olive oil as the oil is used up and add to the casserole.
6. Lower the heat of the frying pan. Add some Guinness to the frying pan to soak up all the pan juices. Add to the casserole. Stir the casserole.
7. Add the thyme, salt, pepper and horseradish sauce and mix well with the other casserole ingredients.
8. Add Guinness to the casserole, so it covers the ingredients. If any is left this can be added as the casserole cooks to get the gravy to the correct consistency. It will thicken with the flour.
9. Cover the casserole with foil.
10. Put on the lid. Cook at gas 5--190C--375F for 2 1/2 hours, check after 1 hour add more Guinness. Repeat later.
Serve
Bake some potatoes at the same time.
Roast some leeks and parsnips at the same time.
Remember to put in a pudding such as a bread and butter pudding, baked apples, rice pudding, baked plums at the same time to use the heat whilst the oven is on.
Eat and enjoy

The archives on the right have lots more casserole recipes that are tried and tested by myself.
Thanks for reading
Crazycupcakes

New Year Recipes

Happy new Year to everyone who comes by the blog. This is really the time I love casseroles and I start to stock up the freezer. With the credit crunch I think casseroles are so economical and if you stock the freezer lots of cash is saved on fuel. Slow cookers are a good way to save money as well in making casseroles.
In the UK our emphasis is now on local food and I think casseroles really use local products. So less food miles and better value for money.
As soon as I get going I will publish any new recipes for casseroles up to now I've just gone for soup and salads.
My first soup recipe of the new year is at this link
MUSHROOM AND CELERY SOUP RECIPE
and my first salad of the new year is at this link
WINTER SALAD WITH TUNA, WALDORF SALAD, SATSUMA AND MAPLE SYRUP SALAD AND TOMATO
Thanks for reading
Crazycupcakes