I suppose this pie recipe should now be called Beef and Red Wine Pie, but as this recipe was published back in the ’70s before the labelling laws changed and only wine from the Burgundy region of France could be called that, I think I can leave it as Burgundy. I don’t think it matters too much which grape variety of red wine you use for the recipe, but it should be wine that’s worth drinking and of course a good cook should always sample it before adding it!!!!!!
I like the sound of this – steak, onion, mushroom and red wine topped with potato, don’t think you can go wrong with that combination. I would suggest though that if you don’t have an ovenproof pan it would be better to transfer the meat to an casserole dish as I don’t think the potato cook all the way through under the grill.
Unless you’ve already bought 2kg of baby octopus it’s too late to make this recipe for Easter, but don’t worry it’d be good at any time of the year. It comes from a Women’s Weekly ‘Let’s Go Greek!’ supplement, I like it because it gives clear instructions on how to prepare the baby octopus.
Hunting through Mum’s recipes I found this Pumped Leg of Lamb recipe and it’s brought back lots of memories. Ham when I was a kid only came in cans and even then only on special occasions. On the other hand lamb was readily available and cheap and Mum always made it to have as cold meat a Christmas time. When cooked it had a vague ham look, taste and texture. This recipe was printed in the Herald Sun in, I think, the 70s, I don’t have Mum’s original recipe, but I’m sure it didn’t have red wine, orange juice and honey in it, Mum’s was a much plainer version.
Pumped Leg of Lamb is similar to corned beef. You can’t buy it off the shelf these days, but I’m sure a butcher would be prepare it for you, like corned beef the lamb is pumped with brine and you cook it the same was as corned beef. Not sure if you want to try it out, but it does bring back lots of memories to me of cold meat and salads on hot Australian summer days.
These no real need to put the ingredients in an Oven Bag to cook this dish, you can easily put it all in a casserole dish. Although an Oven Bag does save on the washing up…………
Ingredients: ½ oz flour = 15g, 1oz butter = 30g, 4-6oz sultanas = 125-185g, ½ pint = 300ml wine/stock & marsala/sweet sherry
Beef Burgandy is just the fancy name for slow cooked beef with red wine. My tried and true way of cooking it has always been by using the first method shown here, which gives you lovely tender beef in a rich sauce. The second method using an oven bag I found in Mum’s collection and should work just as well. The more modern way, of course, would be too use a slow cooker. Whichever way you end up cooking it, it’s a great winter dish. You get the best flavor by using the cheaper cuts of beef – gravy beef, blade or even skirt steak.
MY WAY:
THE OVEN BAG WAY:
Beb's Recipe Drawer 