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RECIPE

STEAK & ALE PIE

Perfect for those cold winter nights, The Hairy Bikers Steak & Ale pie recipe is really easy to follow and delicious too. You can’t beat good, hearty British grub for a bit of comfort food and Si and Dave don’t disappoint with this famous recipe.

INGREDIENTS

• 900g stewing steak, diced • 25g flour, plus extra for dusting • 100g butter • 2 onions roughly chopped • 2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped • 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped • 150g button mushrooms • 2 sprigs fresh thyme • 400ml good-quality ale • 500ml beef stock • Salt and pepper • 1 egg, beaten for glazing • 300g ready-made rolled puff pastry

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/428°F/Gas Mark 7. 2. Pour flour into a bowl and season well. Coat the meat with the seasoned flour. 3. Heat half the butter in a heated pan and add the meat. Sear all over until golden brown.

4. Add the vegetables, herbs, ale and stock. Bring to a simmer, then cover with a lid and gently simmer for 1 hr. When cooked, season, add the remaining butter and pour into an ovenproof serving dish. 5. Brush the edge of the dish with the beaten egg. Roll out the pastry using a little flour as possible and place over the dish. Pinch the edges of the dish so that the pastry will stick to it and trim off any remaining pieces of pastry from around the edge. Brush the pastry top thoroughly with the remaining beaten egg and place on a baking tray. 6. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.

WINE MATCH

For a classic meal like Steak & Ale Pie with its rich and full flavours try an equally powerful and full-bodied wine such as Australian Shiraz or California Cabernet Sauvignon. These have pronounced body and structure so they won’t feel dull next to the richness of the pie and their earthy, spicy fruit flavours will also add a bit of a kick.

While there´s no doubt a good ale (generally the same one you have used in the making of the pie) goes down well with this dish, as mushrooms are a central feature, a robust red Pinot Noir would also work incredibly well with these flavours.

MOVIE REVIEW ALBUM REVIEW BOOK REVIEW

DEATH ON THE NILE

Four years on from the hit Hollywood film ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ comes this fantastic adaption of another Agatha Christie novel ‘Death on the Nile’.

Kenneth Branagh reprises his role as Belgian super sleuth Hercule Poirot and ‘Wonderwoman’ actress Gal Gadot features as the beautiful bride potentially hiding a dark secret. The film, by 20th Century Studios, is set in the scenic location of Egypt also stars a cast of iconic and rising stars; any of whom could be playing the murderer.

‘American Beauty’ actress Annette Benning is teased in the film’s posters as ‘The Mother’ who is gripping a martini in a threatening pose while Letitia Wright, who stars in the ‘Black Panther’ franchise is portrayed as ‘The Manager’ and newcomer Emma Mackay is ‘The Lover’.

Originally filmed in 2019 but delayed dure to Covid, ‘Death on the Nile’ is written by Michael Green, produced by Ridley Scott and adapted from Agatha Christie’s novel of the same name.

It’s a classic ‘Who done it film?’ full of mystery and intrigue. The costumes scream glamour and the cinematography is stunning.

‘Death on the Nile’ is scheduled to be released nationwide in cinemas from February 11th.

Definitely worth a watch if murder/mystery films are your thing. Reviewers and critics are giving it the thumbs up.

AVRIL LAVIGNE – LOVE SUX

Canadian punk rock songstress Avril Lavigne is releasing her seventh studio album this month and promises it will “return pop-punk music to the mainstream.”

Arriving on February 25th via Travis Barker’s DTA records, ‘Love Sux’ will feature her latest single ‘Bite Me’ as well as three collaborations with the likes of; Machine Gun Kelly, Blackbear and Blink 182’s Mark Hoppus.

She shared the news of the album via her social media last month with news of the track ‘Love it when you hate me’ (the Blackbear collab) saying: “I was just like, Let’s make a pop-punk record. We used live guitars and live drums and didn’t hold back, I just got to do exactly what I wanted and what I feel like I’ve probably wanted to do for a long time.”

Lavigne’s last album before ‘Love Sux’ was released in 2019 which launched to critical acclaim. This new drop is going back to her roots with “pure rock and roll from front to back.”

It marks 20 years of being in the mainstream music industry for Avril who first burst onto our screens aged 16 in 2002 with her debut album ‘Let Go’ featuring the catchy hit-making singles ‘Complicated’ and ‘Sk8er Boi.’

During the height of her fame, she was nominated for 8 Grammy Awards in 2 years and to date has won a total of 169 awards, selling more than 30 million singles and 40 million albums.

‘Love Sux’ is touted as being another bestseller for the punk rock princess who has also announced a UK and European tour, starting this month on February 26th in the Netherlands with three London dates on March 27th, 28th and 29th.

THE CHRISTIE AFFAIR

Nina de Gramont’s ‘The Christie Affair’ is a beguiling novel of star-crossed lovers, heartbreak, revenge and murder with a brilliant reimagination of one of the most talked-about unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century.

The book has a teaser of...”Every story has its secrets. Every mystery has its motives.”

The book is set in London in 1925, in a world of townhouses and tennis matches, socialites and shooting parties, Miss Nan O’Dea became Archie Christie’s mistress, luring him away from his devoted and wellknown wife, Agatha Christie.

The question is, why? Why destroy another woman’s marriage, why hatch a plot years in the making, and why murder? How was Nan O’Dea so intricately tied to those eleven mysterious days that Agatha Christie went missing?

“A long time ago, in another country, I nearly killed a woman. It’s a particular feeling, the urge to murder. It takes over your body so completely, it’s like a divine force, grabbing hold of your will, your limbs, your psyche. There’s a joy to it. In retrospect, it’s frightening, but I daresay in the moment it feels sweet. The way justice feels sweet,” the novel divulges.

The greatest mystery wasn’t Agatha Christie’s disappearance in those eleven infamous days, it’s what she discovered. This book with a Good Reads guide of 3.85 and described as an “absolute marvel“ is sure to both entertain and enthral readers when it is released on February 1st.

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FEATURES Anne-Marie

Anne-Marie is one of Britain’s most popular solo artists. Her latest album ‘Speak Your Mind’ has just surpassed 4.5 billion streams on Spotify - making it the 10th most streamed album by a female artist on the platform’s history.

With a soon-to-be, sell-out UK, European and US tour starting this month and culminating with the FM4 Frequency Festival in August, Anne-Marie is one of the most popular British female solo singing exports.

Everyone knows and loves her music. From when she burst onto the UK charts back in 2016 with her stunning vocals on Clean Bandit’s number one hit song ‘Rockabye’ - Anne-Marie has gone from strength-tostrength including a judging spot on ‘The Voice UK’, killer album launches and 12 music industry awards.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Anne-Marie was born and raised in East Tilbury, Essex. Her father was a builder and handyman while her mother was a teacher. With her hugely talented vocal ability she was picked to star in West End productions including ‘Les Miserables’ aged six and ‘Whistle Down The Wind’ aged 12, alongside fellow Brit pop star Jessie J.

She first cut a solo demo for Rocket Records in 2013 and was even picked by the hugely successful band Rudimental to feature on four of their tracks on their ‘We Are The Generation’ album.

However, her huge break came with Clean Bandit single ‘Rockabye’ (also featuring rapper Sean Paul) which firmly put Anne-Marie on the map when it stayed in the Charts at Number One for 9 weeks in 2016, including the coveted Christmas Number One spot.

Following on from this, Anne-Marie released album ‘Therapy’ which made it double platinum in 2021 and hit singles including ‘Way Too Long’ with Nathan Dawe, ‘Kiss My’ with Little Mix and ‘Our Song’ with Niall Horan have proved Anne-Marie is a British music entrepreneur that can work with anyone in the industry.

Turning 30 in April last year was a pivotal moment for the star. Having achieved her musical goals with her 5 years of successful album releases, made her reassess her life. She was quoted as saying about her big 30th birthday:

“Leading up to it, I felt like I was changing and caring a little less about what people thought about me – and removing that from my life was really nice.