Slow Cooked Ox-Tail Stew

I'm always on the look out for reduced or cheap items to make recipes for my blog. I have to say that, although these items were reduced, I certainly would not describe them as cheap. I have always wanted to use ox-tails to cook with, but having seen the price of them I've never bothered, I found some reduced in Sainsbury's and decided to give them a go. The finished dish was delicious served up with fresh green broccoli and new potatoes. The stew was everything I knew it would be, rich, thick and very tasty. All this aside would I buy it again? Probably not as the amount of cooking this cut needed meant not only was the meat expensive but the cooking of it was costly too. Having said that, if you fancy a treat and can afford it I would recommend giving it a whirl.

 Ox-tail 1kg

6 carrots chopped

3 red onions chopped

Small bottle red wine

Dried thyme tsp

Splash of Worcester sauce 

2 Heaped tbsp flour

Salt and Pepper

Small carton of passata

300ml beef stock

Tbsp oil

Add salt and pepper to the flour and coat the ox-tails in it.

In a very hot pan with some oil brown each side of the ox-tails.

After they are all browned place them in a large casserole dish and keep to one side.

 In the same frying pan on a medium heat with the fat from the ox-tails add the chopped carrots and onions and thyme and fry until soft, about 15-25 minutes.

Add the full bottle of red wine and a splash of Worcester sauce to the pan and stir.

Transfer to the casserole dish with the ox-tails add the beef stock passata and give it all another stir before putting into the oven at 180 for 2 and a half hours.

After 2 and a half hours give it all another stir turn the ox-tails over and return for a further 1-2 hours until the meat falls away from the bone.

It's quite normal to see an oily surface you can either skim it off now or leave it in the fridge over night to cool and scrape off the next day.

Shred the meat off the bones and make sure that all the bones are removed (No matter how much they have annoyed you this summer you really don't want to choke your family!)

When you have removed all the bones and added the shredded meat back to the dish, you can either keep it up to four days in the fridge until cooking again, or serve up with vegetables and potatoes immediately. 

Simply Corned-beef Hash

This a versatile dish you can use at just about any mealtime. Serve with beans for a hearty brunch, on it's own as a filling lunch or topped with an oozy, poached egg for supper. It is definitely a dish to help you out if the purse has decided to go on a diet! My dad argues with me that this is not true corned beef hash as it isn't mashed potato and corned beef mixed together, I get the feeling it's like the 'panhag' and everyone has their own take on it. This is mine. 

Tin of corned beef roughly chopped

2 large potatoes cubed

200g black pudding chopped

Large onion sliced

Splash of Worcester sauce 

In a frying pan on a medium heat with some oil fry the onions.

In another pan boil the cubed potato pieces for roughly 5 minutes or until soft.

Put the black pudding and corned beef into the pan with the onion and fry off while the potato cooks add a dash of Worcester sauce.

Drain the potatoes add to the frying pan and cook while your beans heat up or you poach an egg.

Serve and enjoy.

Cheap Chicken Fajitas

We love a Mexican night in our house. It certainly helps with the decision of what to have for tea. As with my Banging Bargain Burritos, I wanted to show you with the same few spices you can make the fajitas without buying the kits. Don't forget to buy the wraps from the bread aisle, not the section near the Mexican food kits they do cost more. These are so tasty and can be altered to almost anybody's liking. Like B.B.Q fajitas? Use half B.B.Q sauce and half passata. Like them hot? Throw in some jalapenos or up the heat of the chilli powder. Play around with food and make it your own, experiment with flavours and involve the family. Have a themed night each week to help with tea ideas, we tried Mexican Monday, Meat free Wednesday and Fish Friday!

For the fajitas:

3 chicken fillets cut into strips

3 peppers sliced

2 red onions sliced

300ml passata 

3 tsp cumin

3 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp paprika

3 tsp mild chilli powder

Tbsp oil

Wraps

After you cut the chicken shake all the spices onto the meat to marinate for 30 minutes or more covered in the fridge.

In a frying pan with the oil fry off the chicken for 15 minutes.

Add the peppers, onions and passata and cook for a further 15 minutes until the sauce reduces.

Spoon the mixture into a warm serving dish and take to the table with the wraps, salad and trimmings for everyone to make their own.

How to deliver a cheap and tasty meal

Another tasty, cheap and filling recipe courtesy of my lovely dad, you will be famous soon dad! He's always told me how he fancies a plate full of liver and onions-the very thought always made me want to be sick-but as he's been such a great dad, I put my queasiness aside for a day and made him the treat he's been wanting. I read that if you were to get liver to avoid pigs liver as it could be quite bitter, I have since realised this is all just personal preference. Pigs liver is cheaper and if you don't like the taste if you soak it in milk for 30 minutes it's supposed to combat the bitterness. I used lambs liver, it cost £1.34 and there was enough for two big plates full. As well as being cheap, it's actually quite good for you, it contains a large amount of high-quality protein, an easily absorbed form of iron and all of the B vitamins-including B12 and folic acid in significant amounts. I have to say I didn't like it myself however, the gravy was delicious and my dad said it was the best he had tasted so that's good enough for me!

Lambs liver

Onion sliced

2 rashers streaky bacon

300ml beef stock

Tbsp flour

Worcester sauce

Tbsp tomato ketchup

Tbsp oil

 In a frying pan on a medium-high heat with the oil, fry the onions and chopped bacon until the onions are soft and the bacon is crispy.

Slice the liver into cm thick strips and fry for 2-4 minutes until cooked and remove from the pan and keep warm while you make your gravy.

  Add the flour to the onions and bacon and stir, gradually add the beef stock stirring constantly so you don't get lumps until it's all added. You may need to keep adding more water depending on how thick you like your gravy. Add a dash of Worcester sauce and the ketcup and stir in. Return the liver to the pan and let bubble away for a couple of minutes.

Serve on its own or with a pile of mashed potatoes and peas. Enjoy!