Crazy Cook-athon

So it's the new year, time to curb the gluttony and spending. I discovered a copy of Jamie's Ministry of Food that was languishing on the bookshelf and it inspired me to do some old school batch cooking. What became a challenge to fill the freezer with with healthy goodness for January become a marathon cooking sessions.

I went shopping at 2pm and had begun cooking earlier in the day. I think all in all I was cooking for about 6 hours but I have a freezer full off:

Chicken and Veg Soup - inspired by Jamie's Spring Veg Soup but I needed to use it leftover roast chicken and veggies.

Jamie's Meatballs - I did swapped the Jacob Cream Crackers for Multigrain Ryvita's, hopefully it will work ok :-S

Beef Kofta's - inspired by Jamie's Burger recipe.

Jamie's Chilli Con Carne - with Heston's addition of star anise.

Jamie's Spag Bol.

Chilli (left) and Spag Bol (right)

Cottage Pie - inspired by Jamie's Minced Beef Pie, I starting flagging at the thought of making pastry as well already had too much washing up!

Jamie's Lasagna - but I made a white sauce (the first time ever!) instead of using crème fraîche as I didn't have any.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Fruit Muffins - made with lots of blueberries. I hope they will rise a bit more next time but they taste yummy.

Done!

Reinvention of the Mince Pie

After watching Jamie and Gennaro making these mince pie's on 'Jamie'e Best Ever Christmas' my Sister gave them a go. I LOVE mince pies but I would say these are nicer.

Because the mincemeat is rolled within a puff pastry to make a sausage roll you get a little bit of each in every mouthful.

Then the slices of mine meat and puff pastry are placed in filo 'cups' which give you a nice crunch.

If you fancy giving it a go then you can find out everything you need to know here.

I ♥ Mince Pies

So far Co-op Luxury Mince Pies are the winners of 'Best Mince Pie of 2010' but I think these homemade ones may beat them. Sean on pastry duty, and me on filling and baking.