blue cheese meatloaf

This is a great comfort food recipe, easy to put together and perfect for a family weekend dinner. The resulting meatloaf has a subtle blue cheese flavour and is perfectly moist. The polenta helps to firm up the texture of the loaf so that excess moisture is soaked up and makes for easier slicing. If you don't have any you can always experiment with oatmeal or breadbrumbs. If you have any left overs you could always make yourself a meatloaf sandwich using the kaiser rolls.



Ingredients
700g lean mince (I used 50/50 pork and beef)
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 sticks of celery, finely diced
100g blue cheese
1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly ground if you like
1 tsp dried rosemary
freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
70g cornmeal/polenta

1. Preheat oven to 150C (fan oven). 
2. In a large bowl mix all the ingredients together until thoroughly combined but take care not to over mix otherwise you'll end up with a tough meatloaf. Place the mixture in a 1lb loaf tin, cover loosely with foil then bake in the oven for around 1 hour 30 minutes. About 30 minutes before the end of the time, remove the foil lid, carefully drain off the excess fat and return to the oven to colour up.
3. Once the meat loaf is cooked remove from the oven, turn out on to a serving plate and slice up ready to serve. I served mine without any additional sauce or gravy but with butter bean and potato mash and slow cooker red cabbage as sides. Feel free to add a sauce if you like though. 

gołąbki - polish stuffed cabbage rolls

I love gołąbki (pronounced ga-womp-kee) and I'm yet to meet anyone who doesn't enjoy them in either this meaty version or the equally delicious vegetarian version where the meat is substituted for mushrooms and vegetable stock is used instead of beef. Every Polish person will have been fed these at some time and no doubt have their own way of making, seasoning and serving. This recipe is how I like to make them.

There is nothing about this recipe that is particularly difficult, however it can be a little time consuming. The effort is definitely worthwhile, especially if you freeze the left overs as individual portions for a tasty homemade ready-meal on a busy weekday. This recipe is for a large quantity of gołąbki, I got about 25 or so little parcels in the end. If I end up having lots of left over cabbage I usually put it in the fridge and use it the following morning to make bubble and squeak topped with a poached egg.

Ingredients
Whole cabbage
800g minced meat (I used a mixture of beef and pork) or the equivalent of cooked, chopped mushrooms
400g cooked long grain rice
salt and pepper
pinch of ground allspice
500ml beef stock
400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 onions finely diced
butter

1. Cook the rice and set to one side.
2. Core the cabbage then place in a large saucepan. Cover with hot water from the kettle and boil until the leaves are soft and can be separated. Put the separated leaves in a colander and rinse with cold water so that they can be handled.
3. Using a paring knife remove the thick part of the stem on each leaf. This is the most tedious part of making gołąbki but has to be done otherwise they're difficult to roll.
4. Chop up the smaller leaves from the cabbage that are too small to be stuffed, and place in the bottom of your ovenproof dish ready for the gołąbki to sit on top.
5. Next heat up a frying pan, add the butter and cook the diced onion until it is golden brown.
6. Preheat the oven to 180C fan, 200C.
7. Put the mince meat into a large bowl, add the cooked and cooled rice, the browned onion, salt, pepper and allspice and mix together until everything is thoroughly combined. Be generous with the salt and pepper.
8. Place one of the cabbage leaves on a board with the stem facing away from you, put in a dessert spoon of the meat and rice mixture then wrap the leaf firmly around the meat. Place in the bottom of the ovenproof dish on top of the chopped cabbage.
9. Continue this process until all the meat mixture and cabbage leaves have been used. Pack the gołąbki tightly in the dish to help prevent them unwrapping during the cooking process.
10. Once you have made all your gołąbki mix together the stock and chopped tomatoes and pour on top, ensuring even coverage.
11. Cover the gołąbki with foil and/or the lid to the dish then cook in the oven for around an hour until the meat is cooked.
12. Serve with mashed potatoes and some of the cooking juices. If you're feeling fancy add a dollop of soured cream.

garbanzos con carne molina / chickpeas and mince - my style

This recipe is not a classy dish but it is a hearty dinner with an excellent balance of spicy and savoury and a comforting texture. I have a feeling that this dish will be a feature of my autumn and winter dining for some time to come. It is part inspired by the garbanzos con carne molida from this intriguing Colombian recipe blog and also the Spanish dish of arroz con garbanzos.

I used Laverstoke Park, lean buffalo mince in this dish as I enjoy the flavour and the fact that it is only 3% fat but you could use any minced beef, veal or pork. Feel free to experiment.

The amounts below are enough for 2-4 people depending on how greedy you are.

Ingredients
300g lean buffalo mince
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic grated/minced/crushed
1 tsp chilli flakes, add more if you like it spicy
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp hot smoked paprika
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tomato puree
400g can chickpeas, drained
generous handful of chopped, fresh coriander
salt and pepper
wedge of lime to squeeze over at the end
100g basmati or other long grain rice cooked with 1 good quality beef stock cube (e.g. Kallo) - see below for my method.

1. Heat a wide frying or saute pan over a medium heat then add the oil and cook the onion until translucent, you don't want it to colour too much.
2. Add the chili flakes and cumin and stir together, cook for a further minute or two.
3. Now add the mince and stir until it has all browned evenly. 
4. Next add the crushed garlic and stir, followed by the tomato puree. TIP: Before you stir the tomato puree through the whole mixture cook it for about a minute to one side of the pan until you start to see the colour change. This will help to intensify the flavour. 
5. At this stage I had a left over grilled aubergine so chopped it up and added it in for an additional texture and flavour but this recipe will work equally well without or you could experiment by adding other roasted veg such as red peppers or courgettes.
6. Next add the smoked paprika followed by the drained chickpeas. Lower the heat then cook the mixture for a further 5-10 minutes.
7. Taste for seasoning then adjust to your preferences.
8. Mix the rice into the meat and chickpea mixture and continue to cook over a low heat until it is all heated through.
9. Sprinkle over the fresh coriander then serve with lime wedges on the side.

How to cook perfect rice...

1. Put the rice in a saucepan, cover with boiling water/stock so that the water is about 1.5cm above the rice.
2. Cover, then boil on a medium heat for 5mins then turn the heat off and leave for approx 10 mins until all the water is absorbed. Do not lift the lid at this stage. Trust that this will all work out. 
3. While the rice is cooking you can get on with the rest of the meal.
4. When the rice is ready to use you should have perfectly separate, fluffy grains of rice.