Key
Ingredients: Beef, carrotts, tomatoes, onion,
courgette.
For the uninitiated, many
many centuries ago, HaRpi launched a quest. Our
aim was to work through the Doctor Who Cookbook to make and sample every recipe
where-in, no-matter how much brandy and double cream it involved. Our mission
remains to reach the end ahead of the onset of obesity.
Newcomers may check previous misadventures, including such favourites as Sarah
Sutton's Brandy Fingers and the unforgettable Decider's Dessert. One
guest on that day has NOT BEEN BACK SINCE! It's a fact you can't deny.
But for today, we have Shobagan Stew to make! Bring on the Dicks!
Some meat. And a
confession. We originally set out to make Sarah Hellings Rani Casserole, before
realising as we left for the shops that we'd ALREADY MADE IT! Yes, if we can
have a wibbly flashback please...
That was back in the day. It was the same day we made this:
Which may explain how it's got overshadowed. Anyway, Dicks lazy recipe basically
invovles chucking some "meat scraps" into a stew with some tomatoes
and vegetables. So we decided to go with this, and cannily tailor it to our own
design.
Here's me dicing some carrots.
Next, a big hat is donned and the meat is fried. We watched highlights from
"An Evening With Mark Ayres" while we cooked, which (I kid you not) is
actually a real DVD. You wait, oh lucky people, for the next fun-filled HaRpi
bash.
P-Bal pretends to open a tin of tomatoes, at the same time smelling faintly of
tuna nicoise. Actually, it's all for the photo and the can-opening task was
taken from him swiftly in the moments following.
Mmmm. The tomatoes are slopped over the browned meat, and HaRpi's moist oven
warmed. It's just like the Rani Steak Casserole in fact, except slightly less
complicated.
Vegetables are heaped on top and it's ready for the oven. Actually, probably owing
to the fact that it's barely a recipe at all (and there's therefore no enforced
addition of spirits, cream or coffee) it's actually mightily healthy! Just look
at all those vegetables!
P-Bal knocks up some rice to accompany the dish...
And here it is!
The Verdict
I thought it was great, largely owing to an adventurous flash in the middle of
Sainsburys - we did courgettes and leeks with it to add a bit of variety. It's
quite apt that this wholly unoriginal dish came from the pen of Dicks though -
he probably pinched it from Mac Hulke.
"He always said all you need is a good recipe... it doesn't necessarily
have to be YOUR good recipe..."
Anyway. On with...
Carole Ann Ford's Apple Thingy!
Key
Ingredients: apples,
honey, sultanas, almonds, drambui. DRAMBUI!
With a demon look in his eye, and fresh from robbing her of a days work (which
is a story for another time, scandal fans) P-Bal and Lady Si grab Carole Ann's
apples and begin the preperation.
This is actually quite a simple desert, though we suspect that knowing Carole
"Cup of Tea and a Simple Sandwich" Ann, the exact combination of ingredients
involved somehow makes poison. We slice the apple and add sultanas.
Someone aloof and wearing Mrs Beckham glasses steps in to ladle some honey onto
the concoction. It's the cheapest honey money can buy.
What is an "apple thingy" anyway? Typical, everyone else thinks up a
witty Doctor Who name, but this old bag can't be bothered. Knobs of butter are
added to the honeyed apple. I can't be bothered to dirty the scales, so I just
chuck in half of what we bought.
On go the sultanas and it's ready for the oven!
We should note here that, this being the Doctor Who Cook
Book, Carole requested LIQUEUR to be added to the top, but seeing as how we
couldn't find anywhere that sold miniature bottles of contreau, and we weren't
prepared to pay £22 to make the old bags recipe, we ditched that idea. P-Bal
suggested Tia Maria as a replacement, but we smiled politely and let that idea
be quietly forgotten.
Out it comes, add some ice cream and we have Carole Ann's hot honey'd thingy.
Yum!
The Verdict
Mr Rayner is non-plussed.
"It tastes just like someones chucked lots of ingredients in a bowl,"
he says. Mr Hunt agrees it's a tad on the sweet side, perhaps owing to the extra
butter chucked in. Still, a hit and not much is left when we're done! Hurrah!
That's about it for this time, but join us next time for two more recipes from
the Doctor Who Cook Book!
