Baked Corned Beef Hash

Serves 4

A tasty dish when I am feeling like a lazy cook...

4 large potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
Vegetable oil
1 Onion, peeled and diced
1 Red Pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 Tin of Corned Beef, chopped
Horseradish sauce/cream
A splash of Worcester Sauce or Mustard, depends what you fancy
Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper to taste
chopped fresh flat leaf Parsley to garnish

1] Boil the potatoes in a pot of lightly salted water for about 5 minutes. Drain well and allow to dry slightly.
2] Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the Onion and Peppers. Cook for about 5 minutes until they begin to soften.
3] Tip in the dried Potatoes. Cook and stir for about 10 minutes until they start to turn golden brown.
4] Stir through the corned beef. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Fold the Horseradish into the hash.
5] Preheat  the oven to 200*C/ 400*F/ gas mark 6.
6] Tip the hash into a lightly buttered casserole dish. Place into the oven and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, until bubbling and beginning to brown.

To serve you can top it with grated cheese or a poached/fried egg.

No Yeast Bread

30 minutes to make
Serves 4

200g plain flour
0.5 tbsp sugar
0.5 tbsp baking powder/soda
120 ml water
1 tsp vinegar
Pinch salt

1] Put all the ingredients in a bowl.
2] Slowly mix for 15 minutes until malleable.
3] Form into rolls and cover in butter for a crust.
4] Put in a preheated oven for 30 minutes at 180 degrees.

Apple and Pear jelly

1kg Bramley apples, peeled and cored
1kg Conference pears
500ml water
1 clove
Granulated sugar

1] Roughly slice the Apples and Pears into a pot with the water and the Clove. Bring to the boil and simmer for 12-15 minutes.
2] Using a ladle push the softened fruit through a sieve into a measuring jug. Measure how much puree you have collected then add ¾ sugar to the amount of puree you have, for example 1 litre of puree will require 750g of sugar.
3] Return to the heat, bring to the boil and then gently simmer for approx 1 hour, stirring frequently to prevent the mixture burning. After 1 hour the mixture should be thick and glossy.
4] Line small dish or mould with a little oil, so that when the mixture has set, it can be turned out easily onto a plate. The jelly must be left for 2-3 days to set.

Potted Pheasent

   •    2 Pheasant
    •    2 Onion, roughly chopped
    •    2 cloves Garlic, roughly chopped
    •    Goose fat
    •    Salt and freshly ground black pepper
    •    Red Wine
    •    Pheasant stock
    •    ½ tsp blade Mace
    •    ½ tsp Black Peppercorns
    •    Seed and husk of 1 Star Anise
    •    Bay leaves (1 per pot)

1] Roast off the Pheasant, keep it on the pink side of cooked. Let it rest and strip the meat off.
2] Get a stock pot on  with the bones for a rich stock.
3] Soften the Onion and Garlic in a frying pan using some of the goose fat and season with salt and pepper. Add the Red Wine and reduce.
4] Add your stock to the reduction and continue reducing.
5] Take the Mace, Peppercorns and Star Anise and grind using a pestle and mortar.
6] Put the Pheasant meat in a food processor with the spice mix and a 'little' of the liquid reduction.
7] Give the food processor a few short pulses to break up the meat, you want to keep some texture.
8] If it's too dry 'manually' mix in some more reduction. Don't use the processor, you will end up with pate.
9] Taste for season and adjust as appropriate.
10] Let the mixture cool thoroughly before spooning into your sterilised jars. Pop a Bay leaf on top.
11] Will keep for a good month unopened.

Serve with Apple and Pear jelly and some good strong cheese with melba toast or water biscuits.

This worked as a really tasty filling in puff pastry with some butter fried leeks added.