21 January 2014

GUEST BLOG: Stew pied!

By guest blogger TRACEY

Yesterday, we ran the second of six sessions at the Approved Premises in Stockport.  The guys made swift work of preparing all the vegetables. Parsnips, turnips, sweet potatoes and carrots were peeled then diced and sauteed with leeks and sliced onions. Cracking Cook Rob brought his pressure cooker to demonstrate its use and speed up the cooking of the diced beef as we were limited to only one and a half hours' cooking time. This resulted in succulent tender meat which smelt wonderful as the meat was steamed with a bouquet garni made up of fresh rosemary, bay leaves and thyme.


The aromas filled the room along with the enticing smell of the onion and leeks. Beans and peas were added to the pan along with chopped tomatoes to bulk the dish out further, then the mixture was split in two. Once separated, a short crust pastry was settled over half the mix and baked, while the suet dumplings were settled on top of the stew and left to cook through. Our hearty lunch was plated up with creamy mashed potato and both stew and pie were devoured very quickly, leaving super-clean plates!

More pictures from this session are on our Facebook page: click here.

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