All fired up

Make sure you get a chance to enjoy the fireworks on Bonfire Night with party food that’s prepared in advance

Chilli Beef
Sausage and pepper relish pitas
Quick fix: Tarts
Spicy rice pudding
Deluxe hot chocolate
Quick fix: Flapjacks
Fireworks safety tips
Jackets with leeks and cheese

Chilli beef

This chilli can be cooking away while you get ready for the party

Serves 8
Ready in 4 hours
Price per serving £1.50

1kg lean braising steak, diced
1tbsp sunflower oil
1 large red onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 level tbsp chilli powder
1-2tsp crushed dried chillies (optional)
1tsp dried cumin
1tsp ground coriander
1tbsp tomato purée
2 x 400g cans Asda Chopped Tomatoes with Sweet Peppers and Chilli
2tsp brown sugar
200ml hot strong beef stock
1 red and 1 yellow pepper
2 x 300g cans Asda Adzuki Beans,
drained and rinsed
50g dark chocolate (at least 70%
cocoa solids)
1tbsp cornflour
3tbsp chopped fresh coriander
wheat tortillas and sour cream, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/130C Fan/Gas 2. Cut any large pieces of meat small enough to eat with a fork. Heat the oil in a pan and cook the onion until soft. Add the garlic, cook for a minute, then put in a large casserole dish.
   
   
2. Add the beef to the pan with the chilli powder, crushed chillies (if using), cumin, ground coriander, tomato purée, canned tomatoes and sugar and heat until simmering. Add to the onions in the casserole dish with the hot stock. Cover and cook in the oven for 3 hours. Deseed and dice the peppers and add to the casserole with the adzuki beans. Cover and cook for another 15 minutes.
   
   
3. Stir in the chocolate until melted. Mix the cornflour with a little water, then stir into the casserole. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Stir in half the fresh coriander and sprinkle the rest on top. Grill the tortillas until crisp and cut into wedges. Serve the chilli with the tortillas and sour cream.

 

Sausage and pepper relish pitas

You can prepare the relish in advance and reheat it just before serving

Serves 6
Ready in 30 minutes
Price per serving 75p

2 red onions, halved and sliced
2tbsp olive oil
1 red and 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced
pinch of ground ginger
2tbsp red wine vinegar
50g soft brown sugar
6 Asda Extra Special Pork Sausages
6 Asda pitta breads
few sprigs watercress

1. To make the pepper relish, cook the onions in the oil until soft. Add the peppers and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Stir in the ground ginger, then add the red wine vinegar and sugar and cook, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved and the vinegar has evaporated. Set aside.
   
   
2. Barbecue or grill the sausages and heat the pittas. Cut the pitta breads in half to make handy little pockets you can hold and fill with the cooked sausages, some pepper relish and sprigs of watercress.

 

Quick fix

Have some little savoury tarts on hand to bake in the oven when your guests arrive – also handy for any unexpected guests. Serve warm with a mixed leaf salad drizzled with a vinaigrette of olive oil, lemon juice and Dijon mustard.

Asda Extra Special Jalapeno Tarts, £2.48 (260g; 95.4p/100g)

 

Spicy rice pudding

A pudding that won’t spoil keeping warm in the oven

Serves 8
Ready in 3 hours
Price per serving 30p

15g butter
125g Asda Pudding Rice
50g granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 small orange, plus extra for serving
1.4 litres whole milk
½tsp grated nutmeg
100g sultanas
½tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 150C/130C Fan/Gas 2. Grease an ovenproof dish with butter then put in the rice, sugar, orange zest and milk. Sprinkle the nutmeg on top and bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Stir and return to the oven for another 1 hour 45 minutes.
   
   
2. Carefully lift the skin from the pudding, stir in the sultanas and cinnamon and cook for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with a little orange zest, to serve.

 

Deluxe hot chocolate

A totally decadent, warming treat

vanilla pod
1.5 litres whole milk
250g dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids)
3tbsp sugar
mini marshmallows
Asda Aerosol Real Dairy Cream

Serves 8

1. Make a cut along the length of a vanilla pod and scrape the seeds into a pan. Add the pod to the pan and pour in the milk. Heat until boiling.
   
   
2. Break the chocolate into pieces. Add the chocolate and sugar to the milk and stir over a very low heat until melted. Whisk to make it frothy and pour into mugs.
   
   
3. Serve with mini marshmallows and cream.
   

 

Quick fix

Flapjacks and just about anything sweet and chocolatey will go down very well at your bonfire party. Asda has a great selection of biscuits and cakes to nibble with a mug of hot chocolate in hand.
Asda Rocky Road Cluster Tub, £2.18
Asda Flapjack Tray Bake,  £1.18
Asda Caramel Shortbread Tray Bake, £1.18

 

Fireworks safety tips

Stay safe on Bonfire Night

1. Ensure that children are well supervised, and keep pets indoors.
   
   
2. Always keep fireworks in a sealed box. Take them out one at a time and replace the lid.
   
   
3. Follow the instructions on each firework – and read them by torchlight, never a naked flame.
   
   
4. Light the end of the firework fuse at arm’s length with a taper or safety lighter.
   
   
5. Never return to a firework after it has been lit.
   
   
6. Never put fireworks in your pocket.
   
   
7. Make sure children wear gloves when handling sparklers, and hold them at a distance when lit.

For more about safety, go to the Child Accident Prevention Trust’s website at www.capt.org.uk

 

 

Jackets with leeks and cheese

You can cook and stuff the potatoes in the morning, ready to reheat for the party

Serves 8
8 baking potatoes
2tsp olive oil
2 medium size leeks, chopped
25g butter
4tbsp crème fraîche
200g Emmenthal, grated
100g extra mature Cheddar, grated

1. Rinse the potatoes, pat dry with kitchen paper and prick all over with a fork. Using your hands, rub the skin with olive oil.
   
   
2. Bake in the oven at 200C/180C Fan/ Gas 6 for 1 hour or until soft when pinched. While the potatoes are baking, put the leeks in a pan with the butter. Cover and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 10-15 minutes or until soft. Halve the potatoes, scoop out the flesh and mash with the crème fraîche.
   
   
3. Stir in the leeks, along with the Emmenthal and Cheddar. Pile back into the potato cases and reheat in the oven for 10-15 minutes.