Tuesday 15 July 2014

Snake in the Hole : A great FAMILY RECIPE from Jamie Oliver

So far, this week has totally sucked! My poor little Bert has picked up (another!) nasty virus and I've been dealing with raging temperatures, vomit, hardly any sleep and the general pissed-off-ness of my little man. He is usually such a happy chap, and it is the most rubbish thing in the world to see him miserable and not be able to do too much about it. We've been to the GP just to check after our hospital stay last month I'm not being too careful - and it is just a virus which will run its course - hopefully he'll be feeling on the mend tomorrow, and a bit of normality can resume. 


Bert still managed a smile, even though he's feeling rubbish! 

Until he is better, food is my solace - last night ended in a much needed mini tub of Hagen Daaz, and tonight ended with family dinner of EPIC proportions. 

SNAKE IN THE HOLE

I'm always searching for inspiration in the kitchen. I get bored of the same old dinners every week, and as a general rule I like to try and make something new once a week. I don't always stick to this, as I can't always find the time but on the whole it's what I aim for. 

Most of my food ideas and inspiration come from cookery shows. My default TV channel is Food Network UK, and I'm always on the look out for new cookery shows to record. I'm a huge fan of Jamie Oliver, and am yet to make a recipe of his I've been disappointed with. I also love Nigella Lawson, Nigel Slater, Gordon Ramsay and The Hairy Bikers for reliable feed your family recipes. They are my go-to chefs when I want something wholesome, hearty, not too fiddly and ultimately, delicious! 

On last weeks "Save With Jamie" on Channel 4, he introduced us to the wonder that is "Snake in the Hole"....a distant cousin of Mr Toad, and a blooming genius idea! It left me miffed that I hadn't thought of it myself...what else could be cooked 'in the hole'...any ideas on a postcard (or a comment!) 

The basic principal of this recipe is a baked meatloaf encased in Yorkshire pudding. And like all the recipes featured in this series, it is intended to feed 4 hungry adults, or 2 adults 3 kids a healthy hearty meal for as little money as possible. 

The main 'need to buy' ingredients are a 500g pack of beef mince and a sweet potato. Apart from that all the ingredients are store cupboard staples: bread, oil, flour, eggs, milk, dried or fresh rosemary, wholegrain mustard, seasoning. 

What I love most about this recipe is the novelty of it! Once you've made the meatloaf style mixture of beef, grated sweet potato and seasonings you shape it into a snake & bake it. What fun! I can imagine kids will absolutely love this dinner, and they could easily help with the prep and shaping of the snake. 


shaped and ready to bake...

Once baked for 20 minutes you add your Yorkshire batter, cook for a further 20 minutes and Bob's your uncle….


baked for 20 mins and waiting for its Yorkshire...

On goes the Yorkie batter, and back into a hot oven for 20 minutes

Once it has risen and is golden and burnished on the top it is ready to cut and serve. I teamed it with mashed potato, peas and onion gravy tonight, and oh my days…it was GOOOOOD. 



What a feast! This dinner will brighten up any dull day! 

We absolutely devoured it, it was so tasty, and will definitely become a regular in The Bishop household. Mmmmmm!

Thanks Jamie....you've done it again! 

Why not make Snake in the Hole for your family this week?

Mrs B 

xxx  




Tasty Tuesdays on HonestMum.com