Ingredients (serves 2-4):

• 500g of venison – cut up into chunks
• 2 leeks – sliced
• 2-3 sticks of celery – sliced
• 1 onion – sliced
• 1 clove of garlic – crushed
• 1 tablespoon of redcurrant jelly
• 1 large glass of red wine
• Some plain flour
• 250ml of beef stock
• 1 teaspoon of dried thyme

Heat the oven up to 180 degrees C.  Fry the leek, celery, onion and garlic for 3 or 4 minutes in some olive oil and/or butter then set to one side.  Put 3 or 4 tablespoons of flour into a bowl and add some salt and pepper, mix well, then turn the venison around in the flour until evenly coated.  Cook the venison in the pan after adding a little more butter until golden brown all over.  The flour protects the venison from going tough during cooking.  Remove the venison from the pan, leaving any juices behind.  Add the wine, jelly and thyme to the pan and simmer for a few minutes, making sure you remove any of the meat juices and bits from the bottom of the pan and incorporate them into the sauce.  Pour in the beef stock, stir well and simmer for a further couple of minutes.  Transfer the veg, meat and sauce to an oven dish and give it a quick mix then season well with salt and pepper.  Put the oven dish into the oven for 1 to 2 hours dependant on the temperature of your oven, until the venison is nice and succulent.  Serve up with mashed potato!

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 200g beef mince
• 3-4 bell peppers – tops cut off and seeds removed
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1-2 chopped peppers
• 1/2 onion – chopped
• 2 spring onions – sliced
• 1 heaped teaspoon of dried parsley
• Cheese – grated for topping the peppers
• Salt and pepper to taste

Start by heating the oven up to 180 degrees C.  In a pan add a little oil or butter and fry off the garlic and beef mince under the meat has browned off.  Add in the onion, peppers and celery and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring regularly.  Add in the tinned tomatoes and the spring onion.  Stir around for a minute or so, still on a medium heat.  Add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer for as long as your like; at least ten minutes is good.

Take the hollowed out peppers and place them onto a baking tray.  A good tip to keep them upright is to use chopsticks or skewers in a mesh, piercing through each pepper. 🙂

When the sauce has simmered for a while, making sure it doesn’t go dry, divide it up amongst the peppers.  If you have any leftover, you can just serve this on the side or save it for another day.  Place the stuffed peppers into the oven for around 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, remove the peppers from the oven and top well with the grated cheese, don’t worry about being messy.  Return the peppers to the oven and bake until the cheese has melted well into the peppers.  Serve straight away with salad, chips or both!

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 10g butter
• 2 red or orange peppers – chopped
• 1/2 onion – chopped
• 2 cloves garlic – minced
• 300ml of chicken stock
• 50ml of double cream
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat then add in the peppers, onion and garlic.  Saute for 5 to 10 minutes until nice and soft.  Pour in the chicken stock, bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Either transfer the soup to a blender or use a hand blender to make a smooth soup base.  Return the mixture to the pan and pour in the cream, add the salt and pepper to taste and heat through for a further 5 to 10 minutes.

Ingredients (makes roughly 12 cupcakes):

Cupcakes:

• 150g butter at room temperature
• 150g soft brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 150g self-raising flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon of milk

Frosting

• 200g butter at room temperature
• 50g soft brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 200g icing sugar
• Pinch of ground cinnamon

Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees C.  Firstly, we’ll make the cupcakes themselves; cream together the butter and sugar.  Pour the flour into a second bowl and mix with the spices.  Gradually add the eggs into the butter and sugar mix whilst beating and alternate each egg with a third of the flour until both the eggs and flour are fully mixed in.  Finally, stir through the milk.  Place 12 cupcake cases onto a cake tray and divide the mixture equally between the cases.  Place into the oven and bake for upto 20 minutes or until nice and golden.  Remove when done and set to one side.

While the cupcakes are in the oven you can make the frosting.  Melt 50 grams of the butter along with all of the brown sugar in a pan on a low heat.  Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and stir into a rich creamy sauce.  Leave to on side for a while.  In a large mixing bowl beat the butter until smooth.  Then start sifting in the icing sugar, stirring regularly.  Pour in the sauce whilst once again stirring.  Add a splash of milk if the mix is a little thick.  Mine came out a little thin this time around plus I didn’t have a piper. 🙁

Give the cupcakes five minutes to cool down after they’ve come out of the oven before either piping or pouring on the frosting.  Allow to rest for a further five minutes before tucking in!  They will keep for a few days in an air-tight container also.

Ingredients (serves 4-5):

• Vegetable oil
• 900g stewing beef – cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 large onion – chopped
• 1 green bell pepper – chopped
• 3 sticks of celery – chopped
• 2 large carrots – peeled and sliced
• 30 ml honey
• 30 ml fresh lemon juice
• 10 ml yellow mustard
• 60 ml ketchup
• 475 ml water
• Salt and pepper to taste

Start by pre-heating the oven to 180 degrees C.  In a large pan heat a couple of tablespoons of oil and then put in the meat and brown off.  Add in the onion, pepper, celery and carrots and fry for five minutes.  In a mixing bowl combine the honey, lemon juice, mustard, ketchup, salt, pepper and water.  Transfer the meat and veg to an oven dish and pour over the juice from the mixing bowl.  Give it a quick stir and then place into the oven for upto 2 1/2 hours or until the meat is nice and tender.

Ingredients (serves 2-4):

• 220g of butter
• 1 onion – chopped
• 1 garlic clove – sliced and crushed
• 450g lambs livers – trimmed and chopped up into pieces
• 1 tablespoon brandy
• 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt half of the butter in a pan over a medium heat.  Once melted add in the onion and cook until softened but not browned off.  Add the livers and garlic and cook until the livers are browned off.  Add the brandy and mustard and stir until nice and consistent.  Add the rest of the butter then transfer to a food blender and blend until you’re left with a smooth paste.  Pour into ramekins or a small dish and refrigerate until the pate sets.  Serve with warm bread or toast!

Ingredients (serves 2-3):

• 200g of pork mince
• 2 garlic cloves
• 4 spring onions – sliced
• 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes
• 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
• 50g of mushrooms – sliced
• 500ml of chicken stock
• 6-8 leaves of chinese leaf or ramone lettuce – cut in half lengthways

Start by mixing together the pork, garlic, half of the spring onion and half of the chilli in a bowl.  Season with salt and pepper before grabbing portions of the mix and forming into smooth balls.  Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a pan and fry the balls until golden brown all over.  In a large saucepan pour in the chicken stock and oyster sauce, bring to the boil and then add in the mushrooms.  Simmer until the mushrooms are just going soft then add the chinese leaf and meatballs.  Simmer until the leaves are just starting to wilt then add in the remaining chilli flakes.  Season to taste, using soy sauce instead of salt if required.  Serve up when everything is piping hot and scatter over the remaining spring onions.