A veggie version …

You won't need your slow cooker – you can use a large frying pan or a casserole.

Following the recipe, substitute the braising steak with Quorn pieces – you won't need to seal the Quorn pieces.

Gently fry your onion and garlic in a generous drop of rapeseed oil. Add the spices and cook together so that the spices are able to release their deliciousness!

Add the passata and the chilli sauce and bring to the boil.

Add the Quorn pieces and simmer for 12 minutes if frozen – 9 minutes if not - set aside until you're ready to roll.

The optional extras are the same – even the chorizo! Try M&S Plant Kitchen “No chorizo puppies” - they are freezable. Made with red pepper, smoked paprika and roasted garlic, mushroom and caramelised onion to name but a few ingredients!

Slice the chorizo and fry with a little oil, turning frequently. If you're adding sweet baby peppers sauté them in the chorizo oil.

When you're ready to serve add the chorizo and peppers and the residual oil with the kidney beans to your chilli and re-heat gently until piping hot!

Serve with whatever takes your fancy – rice, good bread or wraps.

Yum!

Happy New Year

Method - Posh Chilli

Seal the diced steak in batches in a large frying pan using a drop of rapeseed oil then set aside in your slow cooker.

Gently fry your onion and garlic, using another drop of rapeseed oil if necessary. Add the spices and cook together so that the spices are able to release their deliciousness!

Add the passata and the chilli sauce and bring to the boil. Add to the sealed diced steak and then slow cook for 4 hours. Turn off and then leave to cool. Freeze in boxes to suit your needs – remember – you can pull out two boxes if you need to, rather than have to throw away from a larger quantity.

Defrost thoroughly in your fridge. Re-heat gently on the stove adding your kidney beans, sweet baby peppers or chorizo.

For the optional extras :

Use a large frying pan and fry the chorizo gently so that it releases its oil. Set the chorizo aside, leaving the oil in the pan.

Sauté the sliced, sweet baby peppers in the chorizo oil.

If you enjoy a spicy hit you can use mixed beans in a chilli sauce instead of ordinary red kidney beans.

Serve with rice if you like but I think it's fab in a bowl with a blob of sour cream served with some rustic bread of your choice on the side or with wraps with bowls of relish of your choice – mango would work well.

Freezing serves dishes like chilli or curry very well – the freezing process allows the spices to develop. Here's a thought – you could double the recipe and serve as a supper or as part of a larger supper buffet.

Hot food seems to go down so well and it's easier to cook and serve.

A veggie version ...

Now for the good bit …

Method and assembly – be creative!

Grease your baking tray.

Pre-heat your oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6.

Using a large frying pan stir fry the chorizo, onions and peppers on a medium heat for 2/3 minutes, add the stock and then add the potatoes – set aside. Your stock needs to be melted gently in the same pan – it forms a jelly when it has set.

Scatter the chicken onto the tray and then the chorizo, onions, peppers and potatoes over the top. Cover evenly with the stock. Nestle the bunches of tomatoes on the top and scatter the black olives. Season with salt and black pepper and sprinkle with Panko and Parmesan.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Serve straight to the table – make sure you have a heat proof surface and non slip proof mats to stop the tray moving around.

Serve with any good fresh bread of your choice – Italian would make the most sense with the bowls of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil mixed together for extra dipping.

You'll notice that I've not mentioned additional garlic or herbs in the recipe – they are already there – in the slow cooked chicken and therefore in the strained stock but if you'd like to add more of either, go for it – I'd use garlic paste and either oregano or garlic Italian seasoning.

I love pulling ingredients out of the fridge, ready to assemble and go – in addition to which minimal fuss, maximum flavour and one tray to actually wash up – the remaining dishes are for the magic box – gets my vote every time!

Coming next a Kedgeree and a curry – the fast way

More entertaining - Strog Part 2 – the day before and on the day

The day before you want to serve the Strog – not a huge workload - take both bags of meat and gravy out of the freezer and fridge to allow them to defrost properly.

Before I begin, a practical tip. My slow cooker can be used on the hob i.e. it's separate from the base. If yours can't then you'll need a large saucepan. As a guide 23x12 cms – 9x4½” in old money.

Tip the contents of the gravy bag – carefully – into the cooker or the pan. Using a large frying pan melt 50g of unsalted butter, add the quartered mushrooms and season with salt and black pepper, sauté gently. The mushrooms will release liquid – continue to cook gently and the liquid will be absorbed, leaving slightly browned mushrooms.

Another tip. If I'm adding cornflour to thicken a gravy I mix it separately in a small jug or cup – with this dish you can use some of the cold gravy or a drop of cold water.

Back to the mushrooms. Add a couple of ladles of gravy from the cooker or the pan and heat gently until simmering, you can then gradually add the cornflour, stirring until smooth and thickened.

Yet another tip – when you're about to add the soured cream add some of the cold gravy before incorporating and whisk together. This will prevent white specks appearing – now is not the time to spoil the appearance of the Strog!

Warm the gravy in the slow cooker or saucepan and then add the thickened mushrooms and the soured cream loosened with the gravy.

All that remains is to add the slow cooked steak to the mushrooms, cream and gravy. Simmer very gently for 20 minutes until piping hot – resist the urge to stir, you'll break up the steak. A gentle jiggle will do the job. To “jiggle” is to give a quick light shake!

You can serve the Strog with whatever takes your fancy. As you know I chose mashed potato – it's not everyone's bag but for me it's the perfect combination. If you're not a fan, then tagliatelle is a popular choice or new potatoes, surprisingly rice is not top of the list but it's whatever your favourite gravy absorber is! It's personal – for me there's nothing quite like Strog ladled generously over a mini mountain of good mashed potato – cuts down on washing up too – you only need either a spoon or a fork to devour!

Then there's the dessert … a bowl of strawberries

Strog Part 1 Method

The reason I've split the recipe into two parts is simple – Part 1 can be slow cooked ahead and then frozen. Part 2 completing the dish is quick and easy – flawless cooking on the day!

Back to the method :

Using a large frying pan heat the rapeseed oil, season

and seal the strips of steak in batches until well browned

then, using a slotted spoon, set aside in the slow cooker

Using the oil and juices left in the pan sauté the onions

and garlic. Add the beef stock pots, mustard, tomato paste

and sweet paprika. Mix together and cook out for 2/3 minutes

so that the stock pots have melted and the tomato paste, mustard

and sweet paprika are combined. Add a glug of water and mix

thoroughly, meanwhile put the kettle on!

Gradually add more boiling water until the onions and

everything else are in a thick gravy. Tip the gravy over your

sealed steak, carefully, then top up with more boiling water so

that the steak et al is completely covered.

Slow cook for 4 hours

Now for the crucial part! When the slow cooking is complete set aside to cool. When cooled remove the the beef with a slotted spoon and place in a strong Ziploc bag, seal and place that bag in another – for safety's sake!

Carefully tip the gravy into another Ziploc bag and as above place that bag in another.

Place both the steak and the gravy bags in the freezer.

Coming up – Strog Part 2 – the day before and on the day ...

What to cook in hot weather - Butter Chicken method and other choices

The simplest recipes are the best and this is no exception.

Butter Chicken Method

Put the tomato paste in a clear measuring jug. Add water slowly, mixing as you go, to make up 8fl oz (225ml) of tomato sauce.

Add the ginger, cream, garam masala, salt, sugar, green chilli, cayenne, green coriander, lemon juice and ground roasted cumin seeds. Mix well. At this stage you can box and fridge until the finishing touch below completing the sauce.

**Heat the butter in a wide sauté pan or a large frying pan. When the butter has melted, add all the ingredients in the measuring jug. Bring to a simmer and cook on a medium heat for a minute, mixing in the butter as you do so.

Now you're ready to add your chicken.

Once again you have chicken choices. I slow cooked chicken breast ahead – one per person plus an extra two for good luck, and then froze. All that remained was to pull it all together and finish off on the day – not forgetting to defrost the chicken in the fridge overnight.

Madhur Jaffrey has another suggestion and that is to add tandoori chicken.

That suggestion gave me an idea for a spot of fusion – of culinary minds that is.

Dipna Anand is co-owner of “Brilliant” restaurant in London. The tandoori chicken is taken from a larger Tandoori Chicken Tikka Salad recipe from Dipna. This is an hommage to Madhur Jaffrey and Dipna Anand. It also proves that recipes that are 40 years old work just as well with “now”!

Chapter and verse to follow