Beef Stroganoff

Quick and easy, this is ideal for mid-week.

Serves 4

450g round steak, sliced into thin strips

A small knob of butter

1 tblsp vegetable oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 tblsp flour

2 tblsp paprika

250g field mushrooms, sliced

200ml beef stock

2 tblsp white wine vinegar

250ml carton of Crème Fraiche

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Garnish with snipped chives and sprinkling of paprika

Serve with long grain rice

Put the sliced beef into a bowl with the paprika, flour, salt and pepper.  Toss to evenly coat the beef

Melt the butter together with the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat.  Once sizzling add the beef to the pan and cook until brown.  You may have to do this in batches to avoid over-crowding the pan.  Once all the meat is cooked add the onions and fry for a few minutes until soft and beginning to brown slightly, followed by the mushrooms which just need 2 minutes of stif-frying.  Pour in the stock and vinegar, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir through the crème fraiche and Dijon mustard and cook for 1 minute, don’t let it boil.  Taste, season, garnish and serve with the rice

Eve’s Pudding

This old-fashioned dessert is perfect for this time of year, it doesn’t matter if the plums aren’t ripe they will still work fine here.

1.5kg mixture of eating apples, pears and plums

1 thin slice of butter

100g light brown sugar

a good pinch of cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger

1 bay leaf

For the batter;

200g butter, softened

200g golden caster sugar

5 eggs

200g self-raising flour

Softly whipped cream to serve

Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC/gas 4.  You’ll need a 20cm buttered baking dish.

Peel and core the apples and pears and cut into quarters.  Half the plums and remove the stones.  Put the fruit, brown sugar, spices, bay leaf and butter into a big saucepan and stew gently for 25 minutes with the lid on.  You’ll need to give it an occasional stir.

To make the batter; Put all the ingredients into a food processor and whizz until smooth.

Drain the fruit using a sieve and reserve the liquid.  Put the fruit into the base of the baking dish and spoon over the batter.  Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45 minutes or until the top is golden and a skewer comes out clean when tested.

Serve warm with the softly whipped cream.