Tag Archives: Dave Myers

Hairy Bikers

Dave Myers : Hairy Biker

Leave a comment

If you follow my blog you’ll see that we use the Hairy Biker’s recipes a lot – we have seven of their cook books and we enjoy following their recipes to create amazing dishes. So, we were saddened to hear the news of Dave Myer’s passing.

I followed Dave’s cancer journey as much as I could mainly because I was battling cancer at the same time and I felt a connection with what he was going through. I think it was a shock because it did seem like he was beating it, he was recording the Hairy Biker’s cooking show on which he discussed his cancer diagnosis and even said that he was enjoying his food once again.

His cooking partner, Si King, broke the news on social media with a heartfelt statement:

Hi everyone, I’m afraid I bear some sad news. Most of you will know Dave has been fighting cancer for the past couple of years. Last night, on 28th February 2024, with Lili, Dave’s wife, his family, close friend David and myself by his side, he passed away peacefully at home. All who knew Dave are devastated at his passing. His beloved wife brought him such happiness as did her children, Iza and Sergiu who Dave loved like his own.

Personally, I am not sure I can put into words on how I feel at the moment. My best friend is on a journey that for now, I can’t follow. I will miss him every day and the bond and friendship we shared over half a lifetime. I wish you god’s speed brother; you are and will remain a beacon in this world. See you on the other side. Love ya.

I know Dave and his family would want me to thank all of you who sent messages of support in recent times. It meant the world to him, his family and all The Hairy Bikers team. I am sending you all much love and gratitude for those simple acts of kindness, generosity and spirit. We are eternally grateful for them.

May I ask you all for one further kindness and allow Lili, his wife, his family, close friends and I some time and some peace to process our huge loss. I am sure I will see you all soon.

Love Si x

The Hairy Bikers met on a Catherine Cookson mini-series and formed a bond over their love of food and motorcycles. From there was borne their own show where they travelled on their motorcycles to sample local cuisines and showcasing their own dishes.

They published over 25 cookbooks ranging from comfort foods to diet books to Mediterranean style recipes.

Whenever I have blogged when I have been following their recipes I always get a huge response – the stats don’t lie! The top one being their Bread and Butter Pudding with orange and raspberries, which is amazing.

Bread and Butter Pudding with Orange and Raspberries
Turkey Curry
Chili with Cheese and Nachos

Since his passing I have read lots of comments on social media about his zest for life, how he treated people with respect and care and most of all, his sense of humour.

Thoughts also go to Dave’s family and of course, Si. I’m not sure what he will do next, but he will have the support and love from all the Hairy Biker fans and all those around him.

RIP Dave…

Hairy Bikers

TURKEY CURRY

2 Comments

Just before Christmas we bought another Hairy Biker’s recipe book – we have quite a collection now – this time we thought we would go for the 12 Days of Christmas because we thought it would give us a few ideas for Christmas. Unfortunately we didn’t use it before Christmas as most of our family were ill, but we did make this turkey curry last week with some frozen leftover turkey we found in the freezer.


This is their thoughts on the dish:

This simple curry  is made mainly from store cupboard ingredients, but it has a lovely fresh taste and mouth-watering aroma. You don't have to add the tomatoes if you like a fairly thin sauce, but if you prefer it thicker, use Maris Piper or similar. The starch in the spuds will thicken the sauce as it cooks. You can serve the curry with rice if you like, but it's just as good without.  This recipe makes a medium curry, so if you like your curry hot, add a little more chili powder or fry a finely chopped chili with the garlic.

Ingredients

600g new or old potatoes
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 medium onions, halved and sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 ground ginger
1/2 hot chilli powder or cayenne pepper
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 litre chicken stock
3 tbsp mango chutney
2 bay leaves
500g cooked turkey
cut into chunky pieces
4 tomatoes, quartered
200g young spinach leaves
sea salt flakes
freshly ground black pepper

How did I get on?

First we peeled our potatoes and then cut them into thick slices. After cooking the onions for 5 minutes, adding the garlic and we then sprinkled over all the spices. Next the tomato puree and stock is added, followed by the potatoes, mango chutney and bay leaves, seasoning well with salt and pepper. This is brought to the boil, heat reduced and then simmer for 10 minutes.

Spices added!
After chicken stock added!

Then the leftover cooked turkey is added and is returned to a gentle simmer for 10 minutes. Next, the tomatoes are added and the spinach leaves are scattered over. Cover the pan with a lid and continue simmering for a further 5 minutes until the spinach has wilted and then it’s ready to serve!

Spinach and Tomatoes added
Curry

Thoughts

Well I have to say, hats off to this recipe, it’s probably one of the best curries we have made! It looks like a lot of ingredients but most can be found in your store cupboard. This is a great recipe for using up leftover turkey. It was delicious and accompanied with Naan bread and mint yoghurt, it’s a great Indian meal! But wait, what about the rice? Well, let me show you how we made that!

Rice

Just before Christmas we treated ourselves to a new toy – a Thermomix!

Thermomix

There is over 2500 recipes in the memory of this piece of equipment – we have only just scratched the surface but keep a look out for future recipes when we try to do them! This time, it was just steamed rice, which was simply adding litre of water together with chicken stock and turmeric for colour, pouring the rice into the steamer and cooking for 20 minutes, and voila, perfect rice!

Rice
Finished curry

Cookery, Cooking and Baking, Hairy Bikers

Chili with Cheese and Nachos

1 Comment

Another recipe from the Hairy Biker’s One Pot Wonders, we have actually made this dish a few times for friends and family and it’s never failed to impress.

This is their thoughts on this dish:

"We can't tell you how good this is - you just have to taste it. Yes, there are quite a few ingredients but a lot of them are spices and the prep is easy, just a bit of chopping. The nachos topping is amazing and you end up with different textures - crunchy on top and softer at the bottom, with the juicy, spicy chili underneath. Naughty but definitely nice!"

Ingredients

2 tsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, diced
I red pepper, diced
400g minced beef
200g minced pork
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp light brown soft sugar
400g can of tomatoes
2 x 400g cans of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
400ml beef stock or water
50g dark chocolate
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the topping: 200g tortilla chips and 200g Cheddar cheese, grated

To serve: soured cream and fresh coriander leaves.

How did I get on?

Out came the trusty Le Creuset casserole dish, which is ideal for these type of recipes. First step was to heat the oil in the dish, add the onion, celery and red pepper and cook over a low heat until the onion has softened and turned translucent. Then, add both minces, beef and pork and break up with a spoon until it’s completely browned then reduce the heat. Then it’s time to add all the spices, the tomatoes, kidney beans and stock. Bring to the boil and turn down the heat, leave the chili to simmer for an hour, stirring regularly.

After an hour of simmering on the cooker, the dark chocolate is added and while it is cooking for another 15 minutes, preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6.

Arrange the tortilla chips over the chili and top with the cheese and put in the oven for at least 10 minutes until the cheese has melted and started to brown. Serve immediately with soured cream, coriander leaves and lime wedges.

Finished dish!

Thoughts

Another easy dish to make – there are a lot of ingredients, but a lot are spices so you probably already have them in your cupboard. One thing to bear in mind is that the dish has to simmer on the stove for an hour, so it’s best to factor that in when cooking this dish, you don’t want your diners waiting around for their meal.

With the added components, sour cream, guacamole, salsa and a bottle of Sol, it all adds up to a great Mexican meal.

Guacamole Recipe

Ingredients:
1 small red onion
1 medium very ripe tomato
1 red chili, deseeded
1 large handful fresh coriander
1 lime
4 medium ripe avocados
Olive oil

Method:
STEP 1
In a food processor, pulse the onion, tomato, chili and most of the coriander until finely chopped, then transfer to a bowl.

STEP 2
Add the juice of the lime to the mix.

STEP 3
Cut the avocados in half, remove the stone and scoop out the flesh with a spoon.

STEP 4
Squash the avocado to a pulp, so that it is creamy, but leave a few chunks for some texture. Mix this with the pulped ingredients. Serve with a drizzle of olive oil and some more coriander.

Just a note: Le Creuset has brought out a Harry Potter edition of their brand complete with a Hogwarts Express kettle, Deathly Hallows spoon rest and even a Spellcasting spatula set!

Hairy Bikers

Macaroni cheese

2 Comments

Hubby and I were on babysitting duties, so we decided that instead of taking the easy way out and ordering in, we were going to make something. We needed something that was quick and easy and decided to turn to one of our favourite recipe books, The Hairy Bikers One Pot Wonders and seeing as our grandson loves pasta, we settled on their Macaroni Cheese recipe.

This is their thoughts on this dish:

"Yes, mac 'n' cheese all in one pot! No faffing about making a cheese sauce. The dish works because the starch from the pasta is released and combines with the milk and water to thicken the sauce. Magic!

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil
15g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
100g smoked bacon, diced
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp dried thyme
500g macaroni
750 ml whole milk
2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
150g cherry tomatoes, halved
200g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
salt and black pepper

How did I get on?

The first step was straightforward, heat the olive oil and butter in a large flameproof casserole dish. Add the onion and bacon and cook until the onion is soft and translucent. Turn up the heat, then continue to cook until the bacon is crisp and has rendered out much of its fat. Don’t worry if the onion browns, it will add to the flavor.

Next we had to stir in the garlic and thyme. We did get some fresh thyme out of our garden, rather than using the dried thyme. The macaroni was then added, with the milk and water, then stir in the mustard. We had some single cream left over, so we substituted some of the milk for that.

Mustard going in. We forgot the macaroni(!) so that was added after!

We had to bring this to the boil and leave it to simmer for 8-10 minutes or until the macaroni is cooked and most of the liquid has been absorbed. It needs a loose texture so you need to add a little more milk or water if necessary. Then we had to preheat the grill.

Finally, add the tomatoes and 150g of the cheese and stir until the cheese has melted, then leave the pan over a low heat for a further five minutes and the last step was to sprinkle over the remaining cheese and put the dish under the grill until the cheese has melted and browned.

Thoughts

This dish was very easy to make, we found that it was best to keep stirring the macaroni so it didn’t stick to the bottom of the casserole dish. The flavour was delicious, the tomatoes just popped in your mouth. This served four people, so there was plenty for us two and a little mouth and the leftovers still taste great when you have it for lunch the next day. But don’t take my word for it, Harry liked it too!

Just as an aside, we used a Le Creuset casserole dish, it may be a little more expensive than your normal dish, but it retains the heat really well, it is easy to clean and the food stays warmer for longer on the table, plus it comes in lots of amazing colours!

Le Creuset casserole dish
Hairy Bikers, Uncategorized

Bread and Butter Pudding with orange and raspberries

1 Comment

As hubby and I are huge fans of desserts, we decided to try out one. We recently purchased the Hairy Bikers British Classic recipe book from Amazon and on perusing it discovered the bread and butter with orange and raspberries recipe.

HB

So, after doing a lockdown shop to get all the ingredients, here’s how we got on….

Ingredients

BBP-1Softened butter
10-12 slices of square brioche loaf
300g raspberries
1-2 tbsp Framboise liqueur (optional)
125g caster sugar
4 eggs
400ml whole milk
400ml double cream
grated zest of 1 large orange
1-2 tbsp demerara sugar

Even though we went shopping, we did forget to buy an orange, but then hubby came up with the idea of using marmalade, so we substituted that and I have to say, it may have even enhanced the flavour!

How did I get on?

This was a very easy recipe to do – here’s the Hairy Biker’s take on it:

“We think this is one of the all-time great British puds. We’re pretty proud of this version, which is quite glam, made with slices of brioche and flavoured with orange zest, raspberries and a splash of raspberry liqueur, if you have some in the cupboard. It’s really easy to make too and you’re gonna love it!”

BBP-2So first of all, it’s just a question of making up the dish; crushing some of the raspberries with two tablespoons of caster sugar in a bowl, arranged the first layer of brioche and placing the crushed raspberries on top, together with a few more whole raspberries.

Then top with the remaining brioche slices and arrange the remaining raspberries over the top.

BBP-3

You then whisk the remaining sugar and the four eggs together, add the milk, double cream and orange zest.  This is where we added the marmalade, which we had put in a microwave for about 20 seconds, just to soften it. Making sure all this mixture is combined well and then this liquid is poured over the brioche and raspberries. You then need to wait half an hour, I assume for the liquid to soak into the brioche, and then you’re ready to put in a oven preheated at 180ºC/Fan, 160ºC/Gas 4.  I have to admit when I used to do recipes and they said to leave for a couple of hours to marinate etc., I wouldn’t do this, I would just crack on with the recipe, now being older, and a little bit wiser(?) I always do this and have found the results to be much better, guess I should have listened to the experts!

After the half an hour is over, I used the time to do our main course, which was Cod, Pea and Potato Casserole, from their Hairy Biker’s One Pot Wonders recipe book, the bread pudding was put in the oven and 40 minutes later, there you have it: Bread and Butter Pudding with Orange and Raspberries.

BBP-4

Thoughts

As I said earlier, we are dessert lovers and this one certainly ranked amongst the best we have made at home. It was so easy and it smelt wonderful as it was cooking. This recipe serves six and as there is only two of us, we can enjoy this pudding over a couple of days. I will certainly make it when we can get together again as a family, it’s a good home comfort type of dessert.

 

Hairy Bikers

Sausage and bean supper

1 Comment

“What are we gonna have for tea tonight?” is the question which is hotly debated between my husband I first thing in the morning.  Sometimes I can’t get my head around what to eat in the evening at six o’clock in the morning, but this particular morning we didn’t have much choice, as not having had time to go shopping our choices were sausages or sausages.  “Looks like it’s sausages then,” hubby told me and I nodded rather half heartedly. I then picked up The Hairy Bikers’ One Pot Wonders, which I had ordered from Amazon the other day and looked up sausages.

We decided on the sausage and bean supper recipe, it looked easy enough, we had most of the ingredients, so let’s see how we got on….

Ingredients

  • sausages8 fat sausages
  • 2 onions, cut into wedges
  • 300g butternut squash, cut into thick slices
  • 100g smoked bacon lardons
  • 1 tsp rubbed sage
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 x 400g cans of haricot beans, drained and rinsed
  • 250ml passata
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 2 tbsp barbecue sauce
  • generous dash of Worcestershire sauce
  • salt and black pepperServes 4

As I mentioned before, the cupboards were a little bare, so we had to substitute and leave out a couple of ingredients, so we used mushrooms instead of butternut squash, baked beans instead of haricot beans and we didn’t have any sage, so didn’t use it!

How did I get on?

I was pleased to see that the only things that needed chopping up were the onions and the butternut squash (the mushrooms for us) and once that is done, it’s just a matter of adding the sausages, onions, butternut squash (mushrooms) and bacon lardons into a roasting tin, after drizzling with the olive oil…

These were then put in an oven, set to 200°C/Fan 180°/Gas 6 for 30 minutes. Once they were in, it was time to make up the sauce which consisted of  the haricot beans, (baked beans for us), passata, garlic, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce and salt and black pepper.  We used a Jack Daniels Barbecue Sauce, which is so good! Cue another YouTube video:

sausages-out-of-oven

Once the sauce was made, it was time to get the sausages from the oven, the sausages were browning and the onions and mushrooms were soft. After turning the sausages over it was time to add the sauce, making sure to pour this around the sausages and just lifting the bacon and onions and mushrooms so they don’t stick to the pan.  Then, it’s back in the oven for another 20 minutes.

sausages-ready-eatTime to set the table, pour a nice glass of wine and smell the wonderful smells coming out of the oven.

20 minutes later and there you have it: Sausage and Bean Supper!

 

Thoughts

This dish was probably one of the easiest I’ve made so far, there isn’t much preparation and as the name of the Hairy Biker’s book suggests, it’s all made in one pot, so not much washing up, which is a huge bonus. It tasted wonderful, the sausages were cooked to perfectiion and  the barbecue sauce gives it a smoky savoury flavour.  I will definitely make this again, but this time, I will make sure that I have all the correct ingredients!