Saturday nights in.

Sunny cold winter days normally lead to chilly nights that call for a home cooked hearty meal.

Planning a quiet night in after raiding my pantry, freezer and wine cabinet today brought about the dish below.

Beef/Bacon/Mushroom/Red Wine Casserole /Creamy Royal Blue Potato Mash /Crispy Potato Skin Rosette

Topped with a dollop of creamy smooth olive oil infused mash the beef chunks flake and melt in your mouth coated with a rich wine and bacon infused vegetable ragu.

Truth be told I cheated.

For cost and time saving purposes I used Masterfoods Black Pepper Beef and Mushroom Casserole Spice blend and skimmed through the instructions quickly. I generally find it hard to follow instructions on such packets, especially if  I have my own alterations to begin with.

I first cooked off some diced streaky bacon whilst I diced the beef into cubes. I then put the beef into a freezer bag filled with a tablespoon or two of flour and shook it to give each cube a coat. I added the beef to the pan to sear/brown it off then added in 2 roughly chopped onions. I sprinkled through the spice blend and added in the rest of my vegetables (carrot/celery/zucchini/mushroom). Enough chicken stock was added to almost cover the top of the contents in the pot and the leftovers from a bottle of Tintara Shiraz was poured in as well. Four tablespoons of tomato paste, salt and bay leaves were mixed through and the pot was brought to a boil then turned down to simmer for at least half an hour whilst I made the potato mash. Give it a stir every once in a while to make sure the contents don't burn on the bottom.

I've never really used Royal Blue potatoes before tonight, however they looked much more appealing than the average potato at the grocers today. Bringing water to the boil I added a generous pinch of salt and plopped in the peeled and roughly diced potatoes. I saved the skins to experiment to see if I could fry them off to a crisp to add an extra texture to the dish. Alas, it did not quite work as I had hoped. 

Royal Blues are quite waxy and are great for roasting, mash or chips. Not great for salads however. Once soft enough to pierce with little effort I drained the potatoes and added in a generous slice of butter and a splash of milk to the same pot. The heat from the pot and potatoes helps to melt the cold butter as you start to mash them. Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a large pinch of salt and you get the perfect accompaniment for the casserole.

 Now if you want some

 I do have plenty of leftovers - 

though I am not sure how long they will last.