Steak pittas

Another quick tea, after a day at nursery/work.

You'll need:

a couple of pitta breads per person, toasted
a tub of hummous (one of these days I'll get round to making it myself again)
salad leaves (preferably involving baby spinach and/or rocket)
a nice piece of steak, at least 1-2 cm thick (ours was reduced to clear in Sainsburys, but no worse for that)

Heat a griddle or grill pan up on your hob, and brush with a little olive oil. Once it's sizzling, place the steak on it, and sear for a couple of minutes. Turn over, then leave for another couple more - it depends on how well-done you like your steak (this will do it medium rare, with a lovely pink bit in the centre). Whip the steak out of the pan, then leave to rest for 5 minutes or so.

Slice as thin as you possibly can, and then jam into some pitta breads with the salad leaves (if you've got any juices left in the pan then drizzle them on top). Top with a small dollop of hummous.

Steak, celery and onion stew

We spent the afternoon at the swimming pool, with you giggling like a loon whenever I pretended to be a shark. Consequently, lots of stodge was required afterwards.

You'll need:

a large piece of stewing or braising steak
an onion, chopped
four or five sticks of celery, chopped (don't worry about the leafy bits - chuck it all in)
a large teaspoon of flour
a couple of medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into small chunks
dried thyme
lots of black pepper
worcestershire sauce

I made this in the slow cooker, but you could equally stick the oven on fairly low (160 degrees C) for a couple of hours, or cook it on the stovetop.

Chop your steak into small chunks, and brown in a frying pan (you may have to do this in a couple of batches). Chuck into your stock pot. Add a teaspoon of flour to the juices left in the pan - swish it about for 30s or so, and then add a little hot water. Pour the resulting liquid into your stock pot.

Add the celery, onions and potatoes. In a slow cooker, add a little boiling water, so that the veg/meat is barely covered. You'll need to add more if you're cooking this in an oven or on the hob (maybe 1/4 to 1/2 a pint). Season with several splashes of worcestershire sauce, lots of black pepper and a good sprinkling of thyme.

Cook for 4-5 hours on high in a slow cooker, or for a couple of hours in the oven/on the hob.

We ate ours with dumplings - you'll need half suet to flour, and a little cold water to mix. Roll into balls, and then either drop into the stew or slide onto a tray and stick in the oven for 25 minutes until they're golden brown on top and fluffy inside.