Spicy Chicken & Chorizo Pie with a Potato Top

After being disappointed today, as mates cancelled a meet up I decided to cheer myself up with a spicy chicken pie...

3 Cloves of Garlic, sliced
2 Small Onions, diced
1 Pepper, diced
1 Chorizo Sausage, sliced
500g Chicken (Thighs deboned are best)
1 Can Chopped Tomatoes
300ml Chicken Stock
1 Teaspoon chopped Basil
1 pinch dried Oregano
1 pinch Parprika
Dash of Hot Sauce (I used Dave's Gourmet Insanity Sauce)
4 or so Potatoes
Handful of Button Mushrooms
Salt & Pepper to season
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• Fry the garlic and onion for a few minutes then add the chorizo and cook till it starts to brown the sausage
• Add the peppers and the chicken and cook till the chicken starts to golden
• Add the everything else but the potatoes and simmer until the sauce reduces to a nice thick consistency
• Preheat the oven to 180C
• Slice the potatoes very thinly (Ideally with a mandolin) and par boil in salted water.
• Pour the chicken filling into a oven proof dish and put a layer of the potato on top, sprinkle with seasoning and the olive oil, and repeat till you use all the potatoes.
• Whack it in the oven for about 30 mins or until the topping is all crispy.

Chocolate Eclairs

I recently went to a friends for dinner and I didn't want to show up empty handed to the lovely ladies when they were cooking me a feast - so I made them some chocolate eclairs.

I used a recipe from BBC Food

For a first attempt they looked a bit like bangers and brown sauce, but they were scoffed by the girls (All 16!!!)

Beef Stew

Rainy Saturday means comfort food and the sofa. This Beef Stew can simmer away as you relax watching some old movie and relax.

800g Diced Beef

2 Small Onions diced

1 Peppers diced

2 Cloves Garlic chopped

Dozen or so Button Mushrooms

3 Stalks of Celery diced

2 Carrots Diced

100g Pancetta/Smokey Bacon diced

1 Oxo cube

1 Tablespoon tomato puree

1 Bottle Dark Ale (I use Hobgoblin)

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Plain Flour

4 or 5 Potatoes cut into big chunks, not peeled.

1 Bay Leaf

Couple of Stalks worth of Fresh Thyme

Salt & Pepper to season

• Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan and brown off the beef in batches on a high heat then remove from the pan.
• Add the Pancetta/Bacon and cook till it starts to brown.
• Add the onions, garlic, peppers and carrots. Cook for 5 mins on a high heat then reduce the heat to low, whack the lid on and simmer for 10 mins.
• Stir in the flour and puree and cook for a couple of mins
• Add the beer and stir in slowly to thicken it.
• Add the beef, potatoes, mushrooms, oxo cube, thyme, and bay leaf and bring to the boil.
• Reduce and simmer for as long as you can. The longer the cooking the richer the gravy.
• Serve and scoff on the sofa in bowls with a grin