Welcome back to my blog peckish people!
First off I want to do a quick review of Smokey's Walsall.
I've been a couple of times but on Saturday I popped in with my workmate who hadn't been before, just for a quick bite before we went up to "Karma" to get my ingredients for this weeks recipe blog. It was a way of thanking him for fixing my old laptop.
It's been going for a couple of years now and has got to be one of the best places to eat in Walsall.
They do a good array of burgers, hot dogs, burritos, steaks, salads and smoked BBQ style food including chicken, ribs and brisket. It's not what you would call cheap but it is good value for money as what you do get for your money is worth it.
It's easy to find too, right opposite platform one of Walsall train station.
We got there around 2pm and were greeted by a friendly waitress called Sian who told us to take a seat anywhere and she'd be over in just a minute. There were only a couple of people in there eating so we took a seat and had a look at the menu. I pointed out to my mate the burger I had last time I came, a smoking hot burger. Now, I like my food spicy but, I said to Tee ( my workmate) who also likes a chilli kick, I wouldn't have it again, it was just too damned spicy! I was almost crying when I'd finished it and my mouth was actually numb for the rest of that day. Also on the menu are "monster challenges", Take a look at the website and you'll see what they're all about!
Our waitress came over and we ordered a couple of pints of Coors light. They do sell "Blue Moon" speciality lager on draught, which I have had before but at £4.30 a pint was a little too expensive for us both. Besides, I had ingredients to spend my money on!
We had a look at the specials board while our drinks were being poured and Tee was immediately taken with the "Jalablue" burger. A half pound handmade burger stuffed with jalapeno chilli's and blue cheese. (£9.95, with fries and coleslaw or beans.)
I liked the look of the "Waffle burger". Homemade waffle with a waffle shaped burger, crispy bacon and maple syrup. (£8.95 with fries and beans or coleslaw.)
Tee went back to our table and i took a couple of interior photos.
Unusually for a cafe style place they had a fine selection of bourbon whiskies behind the bar!
I went and sat back down and and Sian came over to take our orders. Unfortunately they didn't have the Waffle burger as the waffle iron had blown up the night before, which was a shame as I really fancied that sweet and savoury mix. Sian couldn't have been more apologetic though and I thought that was a nice touch.( so many "servers" these days just aren't really bothered with doing their job properly and it was good to see that she was.) I ordered the same as Tee, the "jalablue" and asked her if she could ask the chef if I could have mine done just medium. Order completed, we quaffed our lager and waited to eat, I was talking about how much I was looking forward to getting to Karma for my Ingredients from the "M&T" ( Asian supermarket) and Tee was excited about visiting one of the Polish shops to get some unusual Polish lagers. ( he loves a polish lager does Tee, and I must admit he got me into them a while ago. If you haven't tried them then I can recommend one called "ZUBR" it's 6% alcohol and has a lovely crisp flavour.)
We waited about 15 minutes for our burgers to arrive and when they did Sian said "could you let me know if you like them, the chef would like any feedback as she ( the chef, Lauren.) had come up with the idea". Again, a nice touch!
They were good looking burgers, not like the gourmet creations you would get from "the Meatshack" boys or "The Original Patty Men" who regularly trade at Digbeth Dining Club and who's burgers are, without doubt, the best I've ever tasted but certainly no cardboard bland mass produced rubbish you would get at a big chain like Wetherspoons or the like. I would say they were definitely on a par with "the Handmade Burger Company" one I had the other week in Birmingham, which, for a little place in Walsall is high praise indeed!
They came served on a nice fresh bun with great jacket fries. They also had a slice of American cheese grilled to the top. I had the coleslaw with mine, which was a little over dressed with mayo (and you know how I feel about so called "homemade" slaw!). So we dug in.
Tee was very happy with his and I must say that I was too. a good strong acidic flavour from the blue cheese filling and a nice meaty burger that, to be fair, was slightly over the medium I had ordered but only just. Both of us agreed though that it could do with a few more jalapenos as both of us like a bit of heat. The fries were nice and crispy and we wolfed the lot down in a matter of minutes, with an accompanying second beer.
We gave our feedback about the extra jalapenos to Sian who duly noted it down and thanked us for it. As she brought out the dessert menus she said she had mentioned our feedback to Lauren and she would put a few more jalapenos under the American cheese before grilling it. It was a another good bit of service from our waitress that made the whole experience that little bit nicer. We did have a look at the puds and Sian said that as I couldn't have the Waffle burger that I actually wanted then we could have a dessert for £2 instead of the usual £3.50. As both of us were pretty full and wanted to get on with our shopping we declined the generous offer and asked for the bill.
Our total bill was under £35 which I don't think was too bad for a good burger each and 4 pints between us. So, all in all, a good experience and I would recommend it. It's not a fussy place, the portions are good and the service was excellent.
So, after paying our bill we stepped out into the bright breezy autumn sunshine and walked the 10 minutes up to Caldmore rd (Karma) for a bit of ingredients/ Polish beer shopping!
My intention was to get loads of photos of the many varied Asian, Polish and Caribbean wares on offer in Karma but because of the Coors we had had at Smokey's I kind of forgot. ( I'm useless at daytime drinking, even if it was only a couple of pints of light beer!) so next time I go I will do a proper blog about it. Suffice to say that Tee bought some cans of unpronounceable beers ( one of which was 7.6%!) for £1 each and I bought some fantastic Polish smoked farmers sausages and some cured smoked pork fat which is much much tastier than it sounds!
After our purchases in the Polish shop it was time to get my mutton for this weeks Shepherds Pie recipe from the "M&T" Asian supermarket. I picked out a lovely looking shoulder and a half rack of ribs. This is where things went slightly awry. In the butchers section of the M&T, you pick your meat, they weigh it out and print off a price, you go and pay for it at the till then pick your meat up back at the butchers section. What I didn't realise till I got home (again, I'm blaming the couple of beers here.) is that when you have picked your meat, if you don't tell them you want it whole, they will chop it up into small pieces, bone and all. I have bought mutton there before but it's always been for curry goat, when you need it to be chopped up. Needless to say that when I got the meat out of my fridge to start the recipe (after an afternoon nap to sleep off those beers) I was most annoyed. Mainly with myself for not realising. Anyway, I did manage to do the recipe with the chopped up mutton, but if you can, get a whole piece as its much easier to get the meat off the bone without having to pick through it all!
So. Here we go with this weeks recipe for Shepherds pie!
Braised Mutton Shepherds Pie. (makes 6 individual pies or 1 large pie.)
Equipment: (for the braised mutton.)
Large roasting tin.
greaseproof paper.
tin foil.
measuring jug.
large saucepan or frying pan.
large sieve.
Metal tongs.
10"x7"x3" deep gratin dish, or 6 3" individual dishes.
Ingredients for the braised mutton.
2.5 kg WHOLE mutton shoulder. ( you can use lamb shoulder if you can't get mutton or you can use mutton shoulder that has been chopped into bony little pieces!)
1 bottle of red wine.
1 large carrot roughly chopped.
2 medium brown onions, roughly chopped.
2 sticks of celery, roughly chopped.
1 whole bulb of garlic, cut in half.
1 good sprig of fresh rosemary.
Half a lemon. ( I used 2 halves in mine but it made the cooking juices a little bitter so just use 1 half.)
1 small tin of anchovies ( optional, but they really do bring out the flavour of the meat.)
A good few twists of black pepper.
Method:
Pre heat your oven to 120 degrees c/ gas mark 1 if you are braising overnight, this is the best way as you can bung it in the oven and leave it there till the morning and will guarantee the meat falls off the bone and is easy to pull, or shred.
Throw your roughly chopped veg, the garlic, anchovies, half lemon, rosemary and black pepper in the roasting tin.
Put the meat on top of the veg and pour over the red wine.
Cover the tin with a sheet of greaseproof paper and tuck it tightly around the outside, be careful not to tear it.
Cover the greaseproof with a couple of sheets of tin foil, again, tuck in tightly over the greaseproof to get a good seal.
Now put in the oven and allow to braise overnight. (about 8 hours.)
If you want to try and do it a bit quicker you can raise the temperature to 160 degrees c/gas mark 2, but it'll still take around 6 hours.
If you're using lamb instead of mutton then it won't take as long, I'd check it after about 5 hours, you want it to be literally falling off the bone.
When the braising time is up, remove the tin from the oven and take off the tin foil and greaseproof. have a test of the meat. If it doesn't come away from the bone easily then it needs a bit longer. Re- cover with the greaseproof and tin foil and continue to braise. (there's no exact timing to the braising, it depends on so many things like the age of the animal it came from, your oven's efficiency, whether it's chopped up into little bony pieces etc, etc, etc. mine took about 10 hours to braise before I could move onto the next step. )
When you are happy that your meat is done then you can remove the tin foil and greaseproof and you can either take the meat off the bone as it is and shred it or, as I've done, give it a quick blast in the oven on 200 degrees c/ gas mark 6 for around 20 minutes to brown it a little.
Remove all of the meat from the roasting tin and pull it apart into shreds, it should be easy enough to do now it has been braised.
Put all of the shredded meat into a suitable container and get rid of the veg, lemon and garlic from the cooking juices.
you can pass it through a sieve if you want, to get rid of any stray bits of rosemary.
pour all of the juices into a measuring jug and allow it to settle. the fat will rise to the top. allow to stand for a good 20 minutes while you get on with the mash for the top of your shepherds pie.
Mash topping for Shepherd's Pie:
Equipment:
Potato peeler.
Large saucepan.
Potato ricer. ( if you don't have one of these then you can always use an old fashioned masher, but I urge you to get one. It makes such an easy job of making the smoothest lump free mash that you won't go back to a masher, I guarantee it!)
It also means you don't over-work the mash which can leave it "gluey".
Plastic tub or bowl.
Ingredients:
About 1 kg of potatoes. I used King Edwards as they are great for mash but Maris Pipers are just as good. You need a good floury potato or your mash will be soggy.
A good tablespoon of butter.
About 200ml of whole milk.
A grate of nutmeg or a pinch of ground nutmeg.
Half a teaspoon of mustard, or more if you like a little bit of a kick.
salt and white pepper.
Method:
Peel and chop the potatoes into quarters, try to get them all roughly the same size so they cook evenly.
Put a large saucepan of cold water on the stove and pop in your spuds with a generous pinch of salt.
Bring the spuds to a boil and turn down the heat so that they gently simmer. They should be cooked through in about 7 minutes. to test them stick a sharp knife into one. It should give no resistance and fall off the knife when you try to lift it up. As soon as they're done turn off the heat and drain in a large colander then stand the colander in the empty saucepan. If you have an electric stove like mine put the saucepan, with the spuds in the colander on the same ring you used to cook the spuds, there should be enough residual heat from the ring to dry the spuds out. If you have a gas stove then turn it on as low as it will go and do the same. The idea here is to get the potatoes as dry as possible, so there's as little water as possible in the finished mash.
Once the potatoes have dried out for a few minutes you're ready to start ricing!
Put the spuds in the ricer a few at a time and squeeze the handles together to get your riced potatoes.
As you can see you will get lovely little "worms" of perfectly dry potato. Don't squash the worms down as this is the secret to glorious fluffy mash.
When all of the potatoes are riced you're ready to start the gravy for the meat.
Shepherd's Pie gravy:
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons of fat from the top of your cooking juices.
2 good tablespoons of plain flour.
Gravy browning. (optional, don't use Bisto though! as it'll make the gravy too thick and gloopy.)
Whatever herbs you want to use. I've used oregano and parsley. (you can use mint if you like, as it is traditional, but I prefer to serve my finished shepherds pie with mint sauce.)
The cooking juices from the roasting tin, skimmed of the rest of the fat.
A bit of sugar. ( this is entirely up to you but I used about a tablespoon full in mine, best thing to do is to taste as you go, add a little sugar at a time until it tastes right to you.)
150g frozen peas.
salt and pepper.
Method:
Put the 4 tablespoons of fat in a frying pan or large saucepan on medium heat. Add the flour and mix together well until you have a nice roux.
You can cook the roux out for a few minutes until it darkens slightly but don't let it burn!
Skim the rest of the fat from the top of the measuring jug of cooking juices with a spoon and discard, or you can keep it to use for roast potatoes.
Add a little of the cooking juices to the roux in the saucepan/ frying pan and mix to a smooth paste. Don't worry if it goes a bit lumpy, you can easily whisk with a fork to smooth it out.
Add some more juices and mix until smooth again, then you can add the rest of the juices and mix until you get a nice smooth sauce. Add the browning ( about a teaspoon will do) and mix in.
Have a taste. if you think it needs some sugar, now's the time to add it.
Add in your herbs of choice.
Now put the shredded meat back into the pan and mix together
Finally, for this part, toss in your frozen peas and mix the whole lot together.
Have another taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, and sugar, if you think it needs it.
Now we're ready to assemble the Shepherd's pie!
Turn your oven on to as hot as it will go, or put your grill on high.
Put the meat mixture in the bottom of your gratin dish, or individual dishes and press it down a little.
Heat the milk and butter over a medium heat and add the nutmeg and mustard. when it just starts to bubble add your riced potatoes and mix together thoroughly.
Don't be tempted to beat too hard as you will ruin the mash, just keep turning it over on itself until it comes together. (see picture.)
Now you can smoother it all over the meat mixture in the gratin dish.
Drag a fork over the top so you have a nice rough surface.
Then pop it in the oven under the grill to brown.
If you are making a large one then close the oven door and let it bake for about 5-7 minutes until the top is golden brown.
And there you have it, a perfect shepherds pie.
I realise that this is quite a long recipe this week for what is basically an easy dish, but if you think about it theres only really 4 things to do, braise the meat, make the gravy, make the mash and finish it off. You could quite easily make the meat mixture and freeze it until you need it. I had lots left over as I only made one individual pie, I froze the rest of the meat mixture and the plain riced mash in separate tubs so next time I get a hankering for this dish I can just defrost, warm up assemble and finish it off in about 10 minutes!
I hope you've enjoyed this weeks blog, I've crammed a lot in! If you have please tell your friends and share it round on twitter or facebook.
Thanks for reading, I'll look forward to seeing you next time!
Until then,
Happy Cooking!
Mat.
Greetings lovely people!
1 and a half teaspoons of bicarbonate of soda. 
Once all of the ingredients have melted together give them a good old stir and turn up the heat to high. 
In your mixing bowl cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. 
Then add a little of the beaten eggs. Mix together till smooth, then add a bit more of the eggs. repeat until all of the mixture is combined. ( don't worry if it looks like it's going to split as when you add the flour in the next step it'll all come together. 
Your dates should now be softened enough in the boiled water so go in with the potato masher and give them a bit of a mash. You can really go at it if you like to get a smooth puree but I like to leave it a little lumpy so when the pudding is finished you get a nice variation in textures.
Add the mashed dates, with the water, to the batter and stir together with the wooden spoon to get a good pourable batter mix.
Now, get the gratin dish out of the freezer or fridge and pour the batter on top of the sauce in the bottom. 
Pierce the cake all over, right to the bottom, with a skewer, then pour over the remaining sauce from the saucepan. If the sauce has thickened up too much then give it a bit of a warm through on the stove before pouring over the cake.
