Happy Hallowe'en! and more autumn fun

So as you may have gathered by now I love autumn... a lot. Mainly because the fatty inside me loves hearty traditional food and also because nothing says themed cooking like a hallowe'en / bonfire night extravaganza. There have been a lot of articles on how you should be careful about not eating too much sugar around this time of year, etc etc etc blah blah blah. The great debate being taken up by the LA Times here, I would like to know how their children react to being banned from eating sweets. I completely ignored all these helpful healthy tips as everybody knows that hallowe'en snacks don't count. Obv.

 So I made a suitably cosy and throughly soul warming Sunday meal, drawing on the best of traditional British autumn fare and extremely sugary seasonal pudding. Steak and Offal Pie followed by toffee apple and pear crumble. The very best of nursery food and both extremely simple to cook - hurrah!

Steak and Offal Pie
Serves 4 - a twist on the normal steak and kidney pie

Ingredients:
500g chuck steak diced (or beef shin)
200g rump/ribeye steak
200g lamb/pork/veal kidney
1 lamb heart
2 onions roughly diced
2 cloves garlic
30g plain flour (Doves gluten free plain flour is very good)
Salt and Pepper
Worcestershire Sauce to taste
Tabasco to taste
125ml red wine
750ml pints beef stock
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 Tbsp Thyme
Vegetable Oil
Puff pastry to measure dish
1 egg - beaten

1. In a casserole brown the beef in the oil and then set aside
2. In the same pan brown the offal and add the onions and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes until it starts to soften.
3. Add the beef back into the mix and dust the flour over until it coats everything. Add the red wine, simmer for 3 minutes, add the beef stock, simmer gently for 1 1/2 hrs over a low/medium heat. Add the herbs 1/2 way through and top up the stock if you need. At the end add the tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
4. Remove the mixture and place into a deep baking dish, allow it to cool slightly.
5. Preheat the oven to 200deg Celcius.
6. Roll out your pastry and place over the top of the sidh using a rolling pin to hold it. Pinch in around the edges and brush the beaten egg over the top.
7. Cook for 35 minutes in the oven until the pastry is puffed and deep brown on top.

Serve immediately with seasonal veg.

Toffee apple and pear crumble
Serves 4-6 : for those who don't like calories look away now!
Inspired by Sophie Dahl, which is a little wrong as she is stick thin, she must have never eaten this... ever.

(pre topping pic!)

Ingredients:
4 large seasonal apples, peeled, cores out and chopped into small chunks
4 large pears, peeled, pips out and cut into 8ths
Handlful of dates roughly chopped (stones out)
200g butter (unsalted) 1/2 in small cubes, slightly soft
6 very heaped tbsp brown sugar
250g plain flour (more may be needed)
1 tsp cinnamon powder

1. melt half the butter in a pan, mix in 2 heaped tbsp sugar. Once this is dissolved add the apples, pears and dates. Simmer together for 10-15 minutes until it is all soft but not mushy.
2. Place in a shallow pie dish and allow to slightly cool.
3. In a mixing bowl rub the flour and butter together between your fingers until it becomes like bread crumbs, add the flour bit by bit without measuring too accurately, you will see when it is right. Add the sugar and cinnamon along with this mixture.
4. Preheat the oven to 180DC
5. Top the apple/pear/date/cholesterol mixture with a deep layer of crumble mixture, pressing it compact as you go.
6. Pop in the oven for 25- 30 minutes.

Stand for 5 minutes or so to make sure nobody burns their tongue. Either serve onto plates with custard/cream/ice cream (I recommend ginger), or give everyone a spoon and share out of the dish. Delish!

Stay posted for toffee apples, toffee apple muffins and general bonfire night fare (may include more toffee apple themed things, I must stop!)