Poor Mans Stew

 Very tasty - I fried everything and then put in a slow cooker for 6 hours. I added 2 sticks of celery and omitted the corn and mushrooms.

200g ground beef, browned and drained
1 potato, diced
2 carrots, sliced
1/2 onion, diced

1 Corn Cob shredded or Sliced Mushrooms  (Optional)

Handful of Peas
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 pint Stock (Beef Oxo)
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp. dried oregano

Instructions:

Add the cooked ground beef, potatoes, carrots, onions, peas, corn and  garlic to a slow cooker.

In a small bowl whisk together the tomato paste, stock, salt, pepper and oregano. Pour this mixture over everything in the slow cooker. Stir.

Cover and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours, without opening the lid during the cooking time.

Coffee Walnut Cake

Original recipe was double this and made a round cake for 12; next time would make as a tray bake or do an extra half in loaf tin as when cut in half the top part broke. 

For the cake

·         4oz unsalted butter

·         4oz caster sugar

·         2 eggs, beaten

·         4oz plain flour, sifted

·         1 tsp baking powder

·         2 tsp Tesco Finest Costa Rican coffee

·         2oz walnuts, chopped

 

For the icing

·         3oz unsalted butter

·         8oz icing sugar, sifted

·         2 tsp Tesco Finest Costa Rican coffee, mixed with 1 tbsp hot water and cooled

·         Walnuts, halved, to decorate

 

Method

1. Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4, 180°C, fan 160°C. Butter and flour a loaf tin.
2. Beat the butter and sugar with an electric hand whisk for about 5 minutes or until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, one at a time and beat well between each addition. Then fold in the flour and baking powder using a large metal spoon. Mix the coffee powder with 1 tbsp of warm water and fold into the cake mix with the chopped nuts.
3. Add the cake mix to the prepared tin and smooth the surface flat. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean and the surface of the cake is slightly springy to touch.
4. Remove from the oven, leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin and then turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely, about 10-15 more minutes.
5. To make the icing, beat the butter together with the icing sugar and cold coffee until smooth. Split the cooled cake with half of the filling and then cover the top with the rest of the filling and decorate with the chopped nuts.

 

Rhubarb Crumble Tart

You could use a bought pastry case

For the Crust and Crumble
180g plain flour
100g granulated sugar
25g ground almonds
1 tbsp light brown sugar
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
200g chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces

For the Filling
200g rhubarb, diced
80ml double cream
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
50g granulated sugar
2 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp ground almonds
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

2. For the crust, combine the flour, sugar, ground almonds, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the butter and blend until the mixture is a rough, crumbly texture and pieces of butter are no longer plainly visible. Scoop out 140g of the crumble and keep for later. Press the remaining crumble into an ungreased 9-inch (23 cm) removable-bottom fluted tart pan and place this on a baking tray. Bake both for 20 -25 minutes, until the crust browns a little at the edges. Cool the shell before filling.

3. Spread the rhubarb onto the bottom of the cooled crust. Whisk the cream, egg, egg yolk, sugar, flour, ground almonds, and vanilla extract. Pour this over the fruit (it will not completely cover the fruit) and sprinkle the pre-baked crumble overtop. Bake this at 180 °C for about 30 minutes, until the tart filling no longer jiggles in the centre. Cool the tart to room temperature, then, chill until ready to serve.

4. The tart can be served chilled or warmed up in the oven.