The day before flying - making convenience foods for a week

I spent yesterday evening making convenience foods for Rod for the week.  Before you get outraged at the idea that he cannot cook for himself - that isn't the case.  However, as part of keeping the house gluten free I try to have lots of tasty food handy so that the lure of the takeaway pizza doesn't become unbearable.   He is planning to spend the five days getting another novel out of his head and into the computer.  The first all the way through story telling is best done in undisturbed isolation.

So, the produce from the farm shop has become six portions of barbecue-style chicken, five portions of spicy beef and bean stew, labelled and frozen, plus other meals over the last couple of days and plenty for today when my we fetch my mother.  We need to leave about three am, so we will collect her from Birmingham this morning.

The little plug-in induction hob came in useful.  It heated my large cast-iron casserole dish very rapidly with its large load of beef and beans, before I put it in the oven.  It only cost £22 so I wasn't expecting much, and trying to make pancakes in our usual frying pans yesterday wasn't very successful - they buzzed and rotated while cooking.  However, using my excellent heavy cast iron skillet this morning produced good results.

Only jobs left are to sort out the final packing - my clothes need to go in my mother's suitcase, and to convert the chicken carcass into stock.

I have had a reassuring email from the person whose flat I am renting, so I know things like how to switch on the tv and the wifi code, plus a pleasant walk through a park to the town centre.

My cupcake carriers are stuck at customs with an address query, but the future MIL will sort that out for me today.  The car was serviced yesterday, so really shouldn't break down on the way to the airport.  We are driving in the very early morning so shouldn't get stuck in traffic.  We are being met at the other end by the groom's grandparents....oh, must remember to print out the recipe for the cake!  I tend to just look things up on my blog when I need recipes, but just in case, if the wifi doesn't work..best to have a hard copy.  Good to show airport security too, if they find my odd load of stuff in the suitcase hard to comprehend.

Venison, Ale and Mushroom pie

I based this recipe on one from  UKTV Food.  This pie has a crisp golden pastry and succulent rich filling.  Pureed beans and onion thicken the sauce.  If you don't want to puree them just add them to the rest of the ingredients at the start of the slow cooking stage.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients
1 pack diced venison (c340g)
1 pack mushrooms (c 200g)  I used chestnut
1 bottle beer - I used Nick Stafford's Hambleton Ales GFA Gluten and Wheat Free Ale
2 onions - chopped
2 carrots- diced
3 cloves garlic - squashed
vegetable oil
1 tsp fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 tsp dried
stock / water - I used chicken as I always have that available in the freezer.
1 small can beans -  cannellini / borlotti or gf baked beans
1 tbsp tomato paste
pepper


Pastry
500 g gf flour (40%urid, 40% tapioca, 20% cornmeal)
250 butter
water to bind
egg wash for pastry top if wanted (an egg beaten with a little water, brushed on to pastry before cooking).


Trim any cartilage from the venison pieces. Dry with paper towel.  This will make it spit less when you fry it.

Cover the bottom of your pan with a thin layer of oil.  Place individual pieces of meat in this oil when hot and allow to brown.  Don't over-crowd the pan; you may need to do it in two batches.  When the meat is brown set aside in another dish.

Put the onion and whole squashed garlic cloves in the pan and cook slowly until translucent.  Add extra oil if needed. Remove from the pan.

Cook the carrots and mushrooms for two or three minutes then add the meat back to the pan.  Add the stock, ale, thyme, tomato paste and pepper, and also salt if you want to.  The liquid should cover the meat. Put the lid on and simmer gently for 1.5 hours, checking the levels of the liquid every half hour or so.  If it is getting dry add some water.

Meanwhile, put the cooked onions, garlic and the can of undrained beans in a blender and puree. This will form the thickened gravy for the pie. You can leave the onions and beans unpureed if you prefer.

When the meat and vegetables have cooked for the hour and a half, add the bean and onion puree.    Check for seasoning.  Cook for a few minutes, stirring, until the gravy is the texture you like.  This stew is now ready to be eaten by itself, frozen for another occasion, or used as the pie filling.  Leave to cool before making the pie.

To make the pastry: cut the butter into the flour either by hand or in the food processor.  Add water a little at a time until the dough coheres in a slightly claggy ball.  Wrap in cling film and set aside for at least fifteen minutes for the flours to absorb the water.  If you make it ahead of time, keep it in the fridge but allow it to come to room temperature before rolling out or it will be too stiff to work.

Roll pastry out on a floured board to fit your pie dish or dishes.  This recipe is enough for two 1 pint /  half litre pie dishes.  If you aren't sure of the fit of your dishes, measure how much stew you have and see how that much water fits into your dish.  Place a layer of pastry in the bottom of the dish and put the cooled filling in.  Dampen the top edge of the pastry and place on the top layer of pastry.  Crimp or fork the edges together.  Brush egg wash on if you want a deeper golden and shiny pastry.  Bake for 35 minutes at 170C until pastry is golden brown.

Left over pastry can be made into jam tarts, or rolled out and frozen between greaseproof paper sheets until wanted.