Myself and my husband and daughter are taking part in a challenge based in Framlingham, Suffolk, to only eat local food during September 2011. The group promoting the challenge Greener Fram www.greenerfram.co.uk are a local Transition Town group and are looking at ways to reduce our dependence on oil. The rules of the challenge are simple. You must only eat food grown within a 30 mile radius of your home for the 30 days of September. The exceptions to this are 3 items chosen before the challenge starts, one of mine being tea, essential!

Saturday, 17 September 2011

Beef, mushroom, carrot and onion cobbler with cheese-scone topping

I made this last night for dinner with friends, served with cabbage, green beans and cauliflower. It was really really delicious, I will definitely be making it again and the kids loved it too. Next time though I would add more carrots and maybe more mushrooms to make the casserole bigger and make the topping about a third smaller as it was a bit stodgy in places where it was really thick.  You could use the same topping to cover a vegetable pie, or really any pie filling. the recipe below is how it appears in the book (Porters English Cookery Bible)

For the casserole:
675g diced stewing steak
225g onions, roughly chopped
2 large carrots, sliced
300ml beef stock, beer or red wine
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
bouquet garni
salt and pepper
225g button mushrooms, halved

For the topping:
450g plain flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon english mustard powder
salt and pepper
110g butter
225g sharp flavoured mature cheese e.g. chedder, grated
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
300ml milk
beaten egg to glaze


  • Preheat oven to 150C/300F/GM 2
  • Heat oil in casserole dish and seal the meat, remove from pan and add carrots and onions
  • cook for a few mins until lightly browned
  • return meat to casserole with stock, bouquet garni, vinegar, salt and pepper and bring to boil
  • cover and transfer to oven, cook for 1 3/4 hours
  • add mushrooms and cook for another 45 mins (I did this in the morning and left it in the oven then slowly re-heated at dinner time ready to add the topping, you could even do it the night before)
  • meanwhile put flour, baking powder and mustard powder in a mixing bowl and add good sprinkling salt and pepper
  • rub in the butter, then add cheese and parsley
  • pour in milk and knead lightly to form a soft dough
  • put in fridge for 30 mins (this make the dough harder, it was too stick to use when it was warm)
  • roll out on lightly floured surface to 1cm then cut into rounds and arrange on top of the casserole and brush with beaten egg
  • cook for about 25 mins at 190C/375F/GM 5 until topping is golden and risen

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