instead

Nice lying in, 2 capsules of Nespresso with milk, slice of toast, Sunday Times, 'Something for the weekend' and a glass of something cold.
I am a creature of habit.

I make another cup of... tea, this time. I know what too much caffeine does to my body, so I stick to guilt free green tea.

'' So, what shall we have for dinner tonight?''

I find a great joy talking about what to eat, especially for Sunday. 

The day opens up with tens of ideas of what we could possibly have. We travel from London, France, Thailand and to the very further corners of far east. 

But I only have one answer today...

It was such a gorgeous day.

It was a kind of Sunday I wished if I was in my favourite pub, comfortably settled in rather handsome chesterfield, relaxed with good glass of velvety red wine, looking over those ticklish raindrops and a plate, full of home.

Instead, I hovered around my kitchen, merrily chilled with a refreshing mint Daiquiri and cooked this little beauty.

Meat carefully collected from oxtails and cooked in deep rich red wine. It mingles with amazingly flavoured bite sized vegetables in cheesy gravy. 

Breaking into this crunch layers of deliciously baked golden puff pastry pie, oh hell yes! 

It was the pub brought to my home with all the trimmings.

Oxtail pie in rich red wine gravy

180g cooked oxtail meat, from about 3 bones (see here to see how)

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 celery stick, chopped

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 garlic cloves

handful of dried mushrooms soaked in water (wild or mixtures of different sorts)

70g Gruyere cheese, grated

handful of thyme

kalamata olives, sliced

2 ground juniper berries

4 ground all spice

2 tsp cranberry sauce

350ml red wine

1 block of all butter puff pastry

1 egg, lightly beaten

olive oil

nob of butter

1tbsp plain flour

salt and pepper

In a large sauce pan, saute onion, carrots, celery stick and garlic with little oil and salt for good  5-10mins over low heat. Add butter and flour. Stir and cook them for another 5mins.

Place chopped tomatoes (don't worry about its skins. I don't bother too much with the skin.), thyme, juniper berries and all spices with little pepper to the pan and cook them for further 5mins with the lid on. 

At this point you want to add olives, oxtail meat, rehydrated mushrooms, cranberry sauce and red wine to the pan. Pour in the liquid you soaked the mushrooms (roughly about 300ml).

Increase the heat to cook off the alcohol. Once brought up to the boiling point, let them simmer for 35mins until the sauce thickens up and them cool the mixture.

Preheat the oven on 190º. Place pie mixture into the baking dish, spread grated cheese on top and cover them nicely with rolled pastry sheet. Give the pastry a good egg wash with lightly beaten egg. 

Bake the pie for 40mins or so until the pastry top is golden.

Serve them with fresh greens and mash.

It certainly was indeed my well wished plate, full of home.

Cheers!!