Another way of cutting down on beef usage, and other meat too for that matter, is not to waste any. How many meat eaters eat offal nowadays?
I have too much respect for animals to throw anything edible away … I’d expect others to throw it away on my behalf … heart, liver, kidneys, tripes etc … all are highly nutritious and part of our diet when we can get it.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Can you even buy hearts these days? . We love offal but have to admit to not fancying tripe although OH likes it. I can’t see the younger generation making a rabbit do for three days dinners. A couple of pigeons in a pie 😀 It depends on what they were brought up with. Its so different now, seems mince and pasta is the thing to cook.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
Of the three dishes you mention, mum is a a traditional cook and meat eater but much prefers my veg lasagne to any meat version - the trick is to cook it long and slow so the aubergines in particular aren’t chalky and undercooked. Puy lentils, onions, mushrooms and carrots in gravy works just as well as mince for a cottage pie, veg chilli with added beans of your choice is tastier than the mince version. I’m not vegetarian but don’t like most meat apart from cured pork products such as organic sausages, pancetta, jamon etc., but will stretch to a leek and ham hock pie.
A winter staple is Tara Ramsey’s (wife of Gordon) tomato sausage casserole, with leeks, chickpeas, lentils and shredded savoy cabbage. Easy to make and freezes well so you can make a big batch, but wilt down the cabbage at the end and omit it from the portions to be frozen and add it when reheating. Great to bung any leftover bits of veg into. Serve with rice or a baked spud. I don’t have an actual recipe anymore, think it was in a newspaper many moons ago.
Don’t discount the humble tin of baked beans, they can really lift a casserole!
A show-stopper that always goes down well with the vegetarians is the BBC’s layered and spiced Moroccan Pie. Only for special occasions as it’s time-consuming to make. I substitute the sloppy humous with fried chickpeas with onion, ginger, coriander and harissa which works much better. I also don’t bother with the cranberries as I don’t like them!
I would happily be completely vegetarian (I was veggie for several years ages ago) but as I can't bear fish or seafood in any form and OH loves it I feel it unfair on him to ban all meat too. But most of our meals are vegetarian and lentils/pulses etc. are a must.
Look out for the Hodmedod brand - they are really into locally produced and work with farmers to grow lentils and even quinoa in the UK. This is my absolute favourite meal:
Spinach thing Fresh spinach, steamed slightly then chopped and mixed with black pepper and ground nutmeg in the bottom of a casserole dish. Make a sauce with onions/fresh tomatoes/peppers/celery. Stir in lots of grated cheese. Put on top of spinach and bake for about 20 minutes.
We have it with a baked potato and tinned butter beans with soy sauce on top.
I’ve seen hearts in Morrison’s. I buy them from the butcher.
Lamb hearts are quite often sold pre-packed in Tesco here.
We buy oxheart from the butcher for the dogs - as well as 'skirt' and lamb breast. Rolled, stuffed lamb breast is a good cheap meal for people. Our local butcher gets all his meat locally and he is a 'proper' butcher so he has whole carcasses and we can get almost anything from him, including things like short rib that you rarely see in the SMs, rabbit, venison and other game shot locally. And his poultry has giblets, his bacon has the rind on, the pork chops are huge. I realise we're fortunate to have that locally. I wonder what will happen when he retires. The one thing he doesn't sell is tripe - says it never sells, even to the gamekeeper or the hunt master for the dogs.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
We must be in the minority on here then, as we like meat and fish and don't like veggies much, especially me, can't bear any kind of cabbage, cauliflower is foul, spinach awful and so on. Probably relates back to my childhood when my grandmother would boil the cabbage to death and insist I ate it! I do like tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms and salad. I don't like and can't eat spicy food at all and limit cheese (too much fat).
My favourite meal is a roast lamb dinner or a big juicy steak.
That said, we are trying to limit our consumption of meat to 3 or 4 times a week, eat fish twice and perhaps have meatless pizza or fried egg and chips once a week.
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Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I can’t see the younger generation making a rabbit do for three days dinners. A couple of pigeons in a pie 😀
It depends on what they were brought up with.
Its so different now, seems mince and pasta is the thing to cook.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
A winter staple is Tara Ramsey’s (wife of Gordon) tomato sausage casserole, with leeks, chickpeas, lentils and shredded savoy cabbage. Easy to make and freezes well so you can make a big batch, but wilt down the cabbage at the end and omit it from the portions to be frozen and add it when reheating. Great to bung any leftover bits of veg into. Serve with rice or a baked spud. I don’t have an actual recipe anymore, think it was in a newspaper many moons ago.
Don’t discount the humble tin of baked beans, they can really lift a casserole!
A show-stopper that always goes down well with the vegetarians is the BBC’s layered and spiced Moroccan Pie. Only for special occasions as it’s time-consuming to make. I substitute the sloppy humous with fried chickpeas with onion, ginger, coriander and harissa which works much better. I also don’t bother with the cranberries as I don’t like them!
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/moroccan-spiced-pie
Look out for the Hodmedod brand - they are really into locally produced and work with farmers to grow lentils and even quinoa in the UK. This is my absolute favourite meal:
Spinach thing
Fresh spinach, steamed slightly then chopped and mixed with black pepper and ground nutmeg in the bottom of a casserole dish.
Make a sauce with onions/fresh tomatoes/peppers/celery.
Stir in lots of grated cheese.
Put on top of spinach and bake for about 20 minutes.
We have it with a baked potato and tinned butter beans with soy sauce on top.
We buy oxheart from the butcher for the dogs - as well as 'skirt' and lamb breast. Rolled, stuffed lamb breast is a good cheap meal for people. Our local butcher gets all his meat locally and he is a 'proper' butcher so he has whole carcasses and we can get almost anything from him, including things like short rib that you rarely see in the SMs, rabbit, venison and other game shot locally. And his poultry has giblets, his bacon has the rind on, the pork chops are huge. I realise we're fortunate to have that locally. I wonder what will happen when he retires. The one thing he doesn't sell is tripe - says it never sells, even to the gamekeeper or the hunt master for the dogs.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I don't like and can't eat spicy food at all and limit cheese (too much fat).
My favourite meal is a roast lamb dinner or a big juicy steak.
That said, we are trying to limit our consumption of meat to 3 or 4 times a week, eat fish twice and perhaps have meatless pizza or fried egg and chips once a week.
Let's hear for the meat eaters!