Good Things Come to Those Who Wait (especially if they wait in the pub)

My grandma had a selection of dishes in her repertoire that she used to refer to as the ‘Sit and Wait’ collection. Rather than being the kind of dishes designed to teach my sister and I good manners at the table, they were the kind of recipes that could be cooked up when she had the time to keep an eye on something that braised long and slow in the oven, then simply reheated later on when everybody wanted feeding. Such dishes were, I guess, her version of the ready meal, except they were properly homemade, didn’t require chilling between cooking and eating (unless they were to be eaten the next day) and boasted flavours and ingredients that benefitted from both the slow cooking process and the waiting around time.

Today, the ‘Sit and Wait’ collection has proved indispensable to me, although I’ve updated some of the ingredients, introducing a bit of zeitgeist exotica by using things like aubergine and paprika where once she would have made do with turnips and perhaps black pepper (not that there’s owt wrong with turnips and black pepper, you understand; many a dish served at the Animal Disco between now and spring will make full use of both). Anyway, I digress. As a freelance writer, I spend most of my weekdays at home, a slave to the keyboard. But there’s always time to turn the oven on and fiddle around in the kitchen – something I intend to do on Wednesday afternoon, before my friend and ex-Theatre Royal colleague arrives in Bath for an overnight stay. And this is where ‘Sit and Wait’ dishes come into their own…

I’m meeting Nick off the train at 6pm, then we’re going to go for a couple of cheery drinks in the Garrick’s Head before heading back to my house for supper. Start fiddling around with food when we get in? Not bloody likely! Reheat a pot of lemon and paprika beef, carve some fresh crusty bread into chunks and open a bottle of wine? Ah, now we’re talking! So that’s exactly what I’ll be doing. If you fancy doing it too, you’ll find the recipe below.

Sit and Wait Lemon and Paprika Beef (serves around six people, and freezes well)

1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

750g braising steak cut into 2cm cubes

1 large onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 medium aubergine, cubed (no need to the salting thing)

1 tablespoon paprika (smoked if you’ve got it)

150ml red wine

1 x 225g tin tomatoes

1 unwaxed lemon

2 tablespoons mango chutney

Preheat the oven to around 150c. Brown the beef in the oil in a big oven proof casserole dish. Transfer it to a plate, then fry the onion, garlic and aubergine in the same pan (adding a bit more oil if necessary) for around a couple of minutes. Spinkle the paprika over everything and give it another minute’s frying time, stirring continuously. Tip in the tomatoes and the wine, reintroduce the beef, stir it all together, add the whole lemon, bring to the boil, cover and slide the whole shebang into the oven for a minimum of two hours (but anything up to three and a half hours won’t do anything any harm).

When the beef is tender, remove the lemon (which by now should be really soft and squishy) with a pair of kitchen tongs or a slotted spoon, pierce it and squeeze all the juice into the casserole itself. Discard the knackered lemon, stir in the chutney, turn the oven off and leave the dish to wait for you until you’re ready to eat. If by this time it’s all cooled down, just reheat it to boiling point on the hob, and serve with more chutney and crusty bread and butter.

And for dessert? Stilton, Duchy Original Oatcakes, fresh pears and all the chocolate left over from Christmas. Ah, January – doncha just love it?