Scouse

Introduction

Scouse.

Staple of Liverpool and surrounding areas. Great way of cooking cheap cuts of meat and using leftover vegetables. Great for tricking children into eating hidden veg. Filling and warming in winter, yet make it thinner and it can be a delightful summer dish too.

Every place has their own version of Scouse. The Welsh have Cawl, there's Irish Stew, Lancashire Hotpot all made to similar (yet different) recipes. Within Merseyside, everyone claims their scouse is the best. Every family will have their own recipe with slight differences

This is mine...

Ingredients (serves 4 for two days)

200g or so of lamb neck

200g or so of a cheap cut of beef such as shin

half a bury black pudding

1 large onion

1 stick celery

2 or 3 carrots

200g or so of spuds. Whatever your fancy

Whatever other leftover veg you have. I had:

half a celeriac

4 or 5 runner beans

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp paprika

2 tsp thyme

3 bay leaves

1 tbsp worcester sauce

2 tbsp of tomato puree

1 tsp marmite

1 tsp cranberry jelly

Method

For this, I've used my slow cooker where you just bung everything in, mix up and let sit for 5 to 6 hours, however you can easily do this in the oven or on the hob by putting the ingredients in the order shown and cooking for a few mins before moving on to the next

• Chop the onion, celery and carrot and put in the pan
  
  
  
• Mix the flour, paprika, thyme, some salt and pepper with the chopped meat. Add to the pan
  
  
  
• Add chopped leftover veg until the cooker/oven pan is almost full
  
  
  
• Finish the top with sliced taters. I like mine to go soft and mushy but still retain shape so about half centimetre slices will do this.  Here I used baby new potatoes but use which ever you prefer
  
  
  
• Add the bay leaves and the liquid ingredients. Now mix well.
• If you have some, a good slug of red wine or dark beer will only make this nicer
  
  
  
• Slow cook for about 5 hours. In the oven you should cook at no higher than 140º for at least 4 hours. On the hob, a low heat for at least 2 hours will probably do
• Serve with some nice crust bread and pickled cabbage (never NEVER beetroot – it's just wrong)

Enjoy :-)

Simple Carrot Soup

Introduction

When I was little, my Nan used to make the most amazing carrot soup. For me, it was magical. How did this pretty disgusting veg (I'd didn't like them then) turn into a delicious soup?

So it turned out we had a bunch of carrots in and a bit of left over coriander from my last curry. With weather changing, this has wholesome carrot & coriander soup written all over it. I did a little bit of research (I googled carrot soup) and discovered it seemed to be really easy.

So this is my attempt at a very simple and quick recipe that turned out to be delicious. I suspect it would work with other root veg instead of carrot. Given the time of year, perhaps pumpkin or (bleurgh) beetroot. Or maybe that massive squash I got recently...

Ingredients

7 or 8 large carrots – no idea what the weight was but this made a lovely amount

1 stick celery

8 shallots

1 espresso cup of red lentils

Veg stock – I used a cube with hot water

Spices

1 tsp coriander

2 tbps coriander seeeds

Small bunch of fresh coriander

Method

• Heat some olive oil and a good spoonful of butter in a pan
• Very roughly crush the coriander seeds
• Mix in in the roughly chopped shallots, carrot, celery & crushed coriander. Keep stirring until it softens
• Stir in the coriander power and the lentils. Mix well

• Add enough stock to cover well
• Bring to boil and simmer until the carrots are soft
• Stir in the chopped coriander leaves
• Blitz with a food processor. The soup should go thick and creamy and delcious

Enjoy :-)