Category Meat

Crispy Asian Beef

January 7, 2016 Comments Off read Meat

f you’re intending on sticking to or continuing to stick to a healthy diet this month after the indulgences of Christmas then I recommend Asian food as a good go to. It packs a reliant punch on flavour without compromising on health and nutrition. Not to mention that this is a really quick recipe and can be served out in about 20 minutes.

As a passionate cook and appreciator of food I have always been the type to savour my meals either for flavour or appreciation for the time and effort spent creating it – either by myself or more importantly a fellow cook. However, I can’t help but notice that many of us eat too fast. Not only does this encourage us to be unappreciative of the food, time and effort that has gone into making it but you cannot appreciate and savour the flavours. Sticking to the topic of nutrition and health this month, on a nutritional side the faster you eat the more chance you have of overeating. Eating slowly allows your stomach to register satiety at the right time. It also helps improve your digestion. Hand in hand with this I also recommend chewing your mouthfuls more to aid speed and digestion. Just putting down your fork (or chopsticks) after eat mouthful to enjoy, talk to your dinner friends and take your time is such a great habit to get into.

That said, a great way to get into this habit if using chopsticks! Not only is it fun and authentic but if you’re anything like me and still learning you can’t help but eat slowly…if at all. So obviously have a fork ready to hand to prevent starvation.

NOTE: Quite without meaning to I’ve created a gluten free meal using my stash of ‘Clearspring Gluten Free Brown Rice Noodles’. Asain food is a great go-to is your are gluten free. As I say, it packs a punch on flavour without compromising nutritional requirements.

Serves 2

250g beef mince
1 thumb size knob ginger, finely shredded
1 large garlic clove, crushed
1/2 red chilli (hotter the better here)
1 star anise
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1tsp fish sauce
Bunch coriander, chopped
Bunch basil, chopped
4 spring onions, chopped
100g ‘Clear Spring’ ‘Gluten free brown rice noodles’
1 tsp sesame oil
Juice 1 lime
Serve: I recommend a nice lime juice covered fresh crispy salad e.g. Cos lettuce, grated carrot, bean sprouts, cucumber etc

Submerge and soak the noodles in boiling water for at least 10 minutes. Set aside kept warm until ready to serve.
Heat the sunflower oil in a frying pan or wok on a high heat. Add the beef mince and use a spatula to break up the pieces into chunks. then add the star anise. Fry on a high heat for about 5 minutes until the mixture begins to brown well and crisp up. Keep an eye on it moving the mince around continuously.
After about 5 minutes when well browned add in the ginger, garlic and red chilli and continue to fry on a high heat until the meat is really browned and crispy as below.
After about 5-10 minutes add the soy sauce, sesame oil and fish sauce and stir to combine. Cook until really dark and crispy to your liking.
Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped spring onions, coriander and basil
Drain the noodles and squeeze over the lime juice and add the sesame oil
Serve the noodles in warm bowls and top with your crispy beef piece and a lovely crunchy fresh salad.

Beef Rendang

November 17, 2015 Comments Off read Meat

‘ve been looking for a cold carefree weekend to indulge in this slow cooked curry for ages but with long busy working days, midweek life hasn’t obliged. I love any form of slow cooking and coupled with my more recent love and commitment to the Asian flavours of the East they are combined lovingly here in a comforting wintery curry that while warming the heart will also transport you to the sunny climates of Malaysia….of Bruges!?

Bruges might not seem like the most logical inspiration but a quick hop skip and jump over to Belgium for the evening promoted this weeks blog post! The cold chilly weather, the (sadly) persistent rain and the festive Chrismassy lights was cue for something warming on return to the UK. But my main incentive starts with beer.

Histroical, medical and romantic, Bruges is a small and compact little city. But it has without a doubt the highest concentration of chocolate shops and beer merchants littered on every corner! Belfry view done and canals walked it was time for the brewery tour!

ne of the oldest breweries left in Bruges, De Halve Maan promised history and charm and certainly delivered. We began in the brewing room before winding our way romantically around the high beams and rafters of the old listed building from cold cellar to the top of the roof before ending up in the restaurant bar, rewarding beer in hand, leather sofas and a warming fire to dry our wet feet. With Belgium beer on tap we drank away the rainy afternoon with a platter of meat and cheese and long outstayed our welcome.

o on return home and that carefree Sunday afternoon to indulge, we drank our loot with this warming curry.

Serves 3

500g braising steak, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 large red chilli, chopped (a hot as you dare!)
2 inch large piece ginger, chopped
1 tsp tumeric
1 lemongrass, bashed roughly
15 g tamarind paste (about 1 tbsp)
1/2 tbsp brown sugar
Large pinch ground coriander and cumin
2 kaffir lime leaves
5 cardamon pods
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
5 tbsp desiccated coconut
350ml coconut milk
Rice, lime and coriander to serve

Preheat the oven to 160°C.
Start by making the paste. Place the onion, garlic, chilli, ginger, turmeric, lemongrass, tamarind and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until you have a fine paste.
Heat 1 tbsp of sunflower oil in a large ovenproof saucepan/casserole dish over a medium heat. Cook out the paste for about 5 minutes but don’t burn or let it catch. Next add the lime leaves, cardamon, star anise and cinnamon stick.
Add the chopped beef and cook for 10 minutes on a medium high heat until starting to colour and brown.
Meanwhile, dry toast the coconut in a hot frying pan until golden brown and toasted (careful not to burn). Set aside.
Next add the ground spices and the coconut milk to the beef.
Bring to the simmer and mix well. Add the coconut. Place in the oven with a lid for 1 1/2 hours .
During this time, check and stir occasionally. After this time, check the thickness of the sauce. If it needs to be reduced, remove the lid and placed back in the oven for 5 minutes or so or reduce on the hob. Add a splash more coconut milk if it looks too dry.
Serve on warm rice dressed in lime juice and scattered with coriander.

Gaucho Coffee-Chocolate Chilli

October 5, 2015 Comments Off read Meat

espite my healthy lifestyle the last few weeks have been fairly boozy. What with dinner parties, celebrations and an invitation to Kensington Palace (don’t ask), heading home to the Wiltshire countryside for some fresh air couldn’t have been a better cure this weekend. Warming crowd pleasing comfort food, dog walks and long girly catchups over coffee. Saturday evening, with the ‘forage in the pantry’ kitchen all to myself it was time to get cooking these crowd pleasers. And what could be more warming and enticingly friendly than a big bowl of chilli. Whether you eat it solo, topped with guacamole and soured cream or cheese. On mash, rice, nachos, cornbread or puffing pillowing flatbreads I’ve never met a chilli hater.

I’ve religiously used the same go-to recipe for years for my chilli (see here). With such a delicious recipe to hand I’ve never felt the need to deviate? However, with an urge to avoid the booze I decided to replace the wine with coffee. Hear me out. And some chocolate. Please hear me out. Chocolate and coffee clearly are not a sweetener here but a subtle, earthy dark and meaningful background flavour to the slow roasted beef. If I’m honest, my true inspiration for this recipe was the newly released Doble & Bignal coffee infused dark chocolate bar. Having used this delicious chocolate in my recipes before I’m well aware of its flavour. So naturally it seemed like the perfect ingredient here. Delicious and dark. Puerto Cabello and Johe cocoa beans infused with Kilimanjaro Machare and Brazilian Rainforest coffee.

So….while my usual chilli recipe is a regular go to, this is a little deviation. No wine, slow cooked using chunks or melting beef its a lovely alternative. Oh and did I mention the chocolate!?

A variation on my all time favourite chilli recipe (see here)

Serves 4

500-700g diced beef (brisket works well)
1 red onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 heaped tsp each- ground cumin, coriander, chilli powder, smoked paprika
2 bay leaves
1 large red chilli, deseeded and chopped
1 dried ancho chilli (or feel free to use poblano or chilpotle)
1 tbsp muscovado sugar
250ml hot strong coffee
400g chopped tomatoes
1 can kidney beans, beans
20g dark chocolate, grated. I used Doble & Bignall’s Coffee Infused Dark Chocolate (Must be 70% plus cocoa)
To serve (some suggestions)- soured cream, guacamole, cornbread, rice, grated cheese, baked potatoes, nachos, flatbreads…

Start by heating a large heavy based casserole dish with a splash of oil and preheat the oven to 160°C
Soak the dried chilli in the hot coffee to rehydrate.
Soften the onion and pepper for 10 minutes in the casserole dish and oil. Once softened add the garlic, chopped chilli, bay leaves and the ground spices. Cook out for a few more minutes. You may need to add a touch more oil if it gets too dry.
Once the dried chilli is rehydrated, remove from the coffee and chop. Add to the casserole dish with a splash of the coffee and give everything a good stir. Season well.
Add the rest of the coffee, the sugar and the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Add the diced meat and I’ve everything a good stir. Ensure the meat is fully submerged. If not, add a touch more coffee or hot water.
Bring to the simmer on the hot. Once hot, put a lid on the dish and place in the oven for 3 hours in total.
After the first hour, give everything a good stir. After 2 hours, stir in the kidney beans and return to the oven. If the chilli is looking too watery remove the lid. If too thick, add a splash more water.
After 3 hours remove from the oven. Use a few forks to lightly pull apart any large chunks of meat which should now be very tender. Add the grated chocolate and check the taste and seasoning. At this point the chilli can be simmered for longer on the hob or int he oven to thicken and reduce the liquid or kept warm until ready to serve with whatever side you like.

Pistachio and Feta Dip

August 25, 2015 Comments Off read Extras, Meat, Vegetables and Salads

ot another dip I hear you say? And not another Moroccan and middle Eastern themed recipe. Yes. Please continue. A boozy and wonderful dinner party in the Wiltshire countryside this weekend was enhanced as it naturally would be by the addition of a Middle Eastern themed feast! And gracious guests of course! And the weather seemed to be on it best behaviour for most of the time rather suitably while we guzzled bubbly Saumur and nibbles. The downpour and lightening only theatrically threatened to steal the attention late into the evening when the food had already stolen my guests hearts. It reminded me a little of my recent venture to Morocco where a hearty downpour after a heavy humid day was still not enough to spoil the show once the hearty tanginess graced our dining tables.

Kicking off with a round (or two) of sparkling Saumur, my new and cheaper favourite alternative to Champagne, to set the tone, this cheesy spiced Turkish/Bulgarian dip went down a treat. A lovely alternative to the usual humus this is perfect with some mini ‘olive oil cracker tongues’ (see here) adapted with the addition of some sweet smoked paprika and rolled smaller and bite sized.

While the middle East is always a source of natural inspiration for me, both these recipes were inspired by a new cookbook purchase that has weakened my already full and bursting cookbook shelf. Bought on a whim having been won over in a trace by the initial sparkling textured cover and once in side, by the beautiful photos and recipe combinations that steal my foodie heart. Adapated slighty but quite welcomely without much amending. Persiana, Sabrina Ghayour. A delightful book for any cookbook collector, food lover or photography buff.

Serves 8 as a nibble with drinks

100g pistachios, shelled
75ml olive oil
200g feta cheese
Handful chopped dill
Large bunch of coriander leaves
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 red chilli, chopped
3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
zest 1 lemon, juice of 1/2
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp dukka (see here) to garish (optional)

Blend the pistachios and oil in a processor for 30 seconds.
Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until you get a smooth but rustic texture. Season to taste
Spoon onto a shallow bowl or plate. Sprinkle with any leftover dill leaves, the dukka and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.
Serve with olive oil crackers.

Dips and drinks were followed by a slow roasted, shredded and falling off the bone leg of lamb spiced to the nines with Moroccan love. Zesty lime yoghurt and cumin dipping salt on the side of a fresh allotment picked raw vegetable salad….

Serves 8-10

1 large leg of lamb on the bone (2.5kg approx)
50g butter
2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp sea salt flakes
Handful coriander leaves to garnish

Cumin dipping salt

2 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp flaky sea salt
Pinch cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a large roasting tin.
Mark deep incisions over the lamb with a sharp knife
In a small bowl, place the butter, spiced, thyme, and garlic and blend into a paste. Rub the paste over the land and into the incisions.
Place the lamb in the tin and pour in 1 large glass white wine. Cover with foil and cook for 4 hours.
During this time, baste the lamb with any juices every 40 minutes or so.
After 4 hours, turn the oven up to 190°C. Remove the foil and finish the cooking for the final 1 hour uncovered to brown the top and crisp the skin.
Meanwhile, for the dipping salt, dry fry the cumin seeds in a hot frying pan for a few minutes until fragrant. Tip into a pestle and mortar and grind. Add the salt and cinnamon and grind together lightly. Tip into a small ramekin or bowl.
After 5 hours, remove the lamb from the over. Cover with foil and leave to rest for about 15 minutes.
When ready to serve, carve the lamb which should tenderly fall from the bone. Carve into chunky pieces and slice the herbed skin. Serve on a large warmed serving platter, scattered with coriander leaves.
Serve e.g some turmeric and cumin roasted new potatoes, fresh raw green salad and a limey creamy yoghurt.

Fillet Steak, Red Bordeaux and a 60th Birthday

May 27, 2015 Comments Off read Meat

What a truly fantastic and relaxing week. May is my favourite month. Not only is it is filled with selfish Birthday treats but my favourite ingredients are coming into season! The days are light and longer, a natural prescription for the post February Vitamin D deficiencies we all seem to develop if my fellow London commuters are anything to go by! So, a May holiday break back to my favourite place in the world down at Lands End. I’ve been visiting this little village haven since I was seven where I ironically celebrated my own birthday. I will never forget the patio bbq and days spent thrashing around in the surf. Was it warmer in May 16 years ago or was I just better at embracing the cold!? However I am not the 60 year old this year that this post proudly boasts. This year, it only seemed natural that we’d return here to my pa’s mutual favourite home-away-from-home to celebrate his 60th Birthday. Smooth beer, fresh fish and chips, sea air by the lungful, feisty surf and the stickiest chocolate cake….what could we all want more!? Well….fillet steak and a flashy red bordeaux would go down nicely…?

RECOMMENDED ACCOMPANIMENT: Mellow music, sunsets dog walks on the beach, lighthearted chatter, slurping, chewing, all topped off with a competitive and crude (at times) game of scrabble. Followed by coffee and chocolate cake! Seemed to work for us anyway!?

Serves 4

Green vegetables and some hearty homemade potato wedges are a great accompaniment here! The sweet, slow cooked juicy onions act as a delicious sauce that doesn’t detract from the flavour of the steak. Fillet steak, with very little flavoursome fat, is not the most notorious for being full of flavour hence why classic blue cheese or peppercorn sauce are often used. But I wanted a sauce here that wasn’t too powerful!

4 fillet steaks
2 large white onions
2 red onions
Thyme leaves
1-2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
Salt and Pepper
Vegetables to serve
Hand cut potato wedges to serve

If you can, remove the steaks from their packaging/wrapping in the morning and place on a wire rack or plate to ‘dry’ a little in the fridge.
Start with the onions. Heat a frying pan to medium low heat. Slice the onions in half and then slice into think half moons. Heat 1-2 tbsp of light oil in the fry pan and very gently soften the onions for about 15 minutes. Keep the heat low and make sure they don’t begin to catch. You want to end up with lovely soft, sweet onions that are just begging to brown.
Season with salt and plenty of black pepper. Add the chopped garlic and the thyme leaves and cook for a further 5 minutes or so. Once ready, cover and set aside but keep warm.
Remove the steak from the fridge about 30 minutes before cooking. Season all over well with salt and pepper and drizzle over a little oil. If you like, slice a garlic clove in halve horizontally and use it to rub over the steak flesh. It just adds a subtle flavour. When ready to cook, heat a frying pan to a high heat. Fry the steaks on the below timings to your liking. As the last few seconds come around, spoon over about a 1tsp of butter per steak and baste.
Its really important to rest the steak after! I cannot stress this enough especially with fillet steak! Don’t be tempted to just slap on the plate and eat. The meat needs to rest so the juices that are forced to the centre during cooking can settle out and diffuse out within the meat. This is where the flavour is! It also provides you with those all important juices for adding to your onions.
Once cooked to your liking, place the steaks on a large piece of foil and wrap up tightly to rest and collect the juices. Rest for at least 10 minutes.
Reheat the onions if needed and cook any vegetables you wish to serve with this
After 10 minutes, open the foil and steaks. Pour and resting juices into the warm onions. Serve the steaks topped with a generous spoonful of juicy sweet onions to act as a sauce!

Cooking times:

I’m a medium rare steak lover so I always go for this timing so I’ll admit I’ve never tested the others accurately! But I presume they do the trick! All based on a 2cm thick steak. As a rough guide, add 1 minute for another cm.

Blue: 1 minute each side
Rare: 1½ minutes each side
Medium rare: 2 minutes each side
Medium: 2¼ minutes each side
Medium-well done: 2½ – 3 minutes each side.

Steak Choice:

Everyone seems to have their favourite steak cut and there are many that are simply not popularly seen especially in supermarkets. Each cut has a purpose and is great for different occasions, recipes or side dishes and sauces. Below is a very brief guide to help with some of the more well known and eaten cuts. First, a few things to note when choosing.

FAT: The fat content is important for two reasons. It is where the flavour is! When it cooks, the fat melts into the meat. This not only adds flavour but helps keep the steak succulent!

LOCATION: The more tender the steak, the less work the muscle has done. Therefore, a relatively unused muscles such as the loin will be more tender, and therefore usually more expensive

Sirloin: melt-in-the-mouth and succulent with some fat marbling. Lots of flavour but lacks flavour compared to a rib eye for example.

Rump (and my favourite cut): A large steak with huge flavour. It needs a long time to hang and a good cooking time as it can be tough if rare.

Fillet/Loin: Buttery tender and soft. Little or no fat so therefore very little flavour. It also cannot be hung and aged for long. My advice on a day to day basis is to opt for any other steak for economical and flavour reasons as you’ll be much more satisfied!

Rib eye: Lots of fat marbling provides a rich flavour.

Minute steak: Thin, cheap, can be cooked quickly. It can be tough however but if often seen for use in sandwiches!

T bone: The cut is part sirloin, part fillet so the cooking time is hard to judge…and then there is the cumbersome bone…

Spanish Lamb Shanks

May 13, 2015 Comments Off read Meat

adore slow cooked dishes especially as it usually involves a a budget friendly cut such as lamb shanks. My favourite way to cook meat, besides the barbeque obviously…But while the first May bank holiday weekend delivered us a beautifully sunny and fresh evening, the morning hadn’t been as promising for a barbie. My sodden raincoat and squelching trainers sat drying in the sun were evidence enough. With not much time in my working week to knock out a slow cooked creation, the bank holiday offered the perfect opportunity. So a slow cooked, tender, succulent lamb shank in a glossy, sticky sauce studded with manly chunks of chorizo and vege was a definite good alternative. Scattered with fresh mint served on some creamy silky parsnip mash we went to bed with happy stomaches. Oh and we might have finished the meal with some bank holiday brownies. Ahem….

Serves 4

4 lamb shanks
300ml hot beef stock
350ml red wine (Rioja is suggested)
200ml balsamic vinegar
4-6 garlic cloves
2 bay leaves
Handful of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
125g chorizo, sliced
1 red onion, cut into wedges
2 carrots, sliced into chunks horizontally
Fresh mint to serve
Olive oil
Freshly cracked black pepper and salt

Preheat the oven to 150°C. Heat a large casserole dish on a medium high heat and add a good splash of olive oil. Season the lamb shanks well and brown on all sides in the pan until golden and crisp in places then remove to a plate.
Using the same pan, heat the wine and vinegar and boil for about 5 minutes to simmer off the sharpness of the liquids.
Add the bay leaves, rosemary, some seasoning and the hot stock. Peel the garlic cloves and crush lightly with the back of a knife. Finally add these and the lamb shanks submerged in the liquid.
Place in the oven for 2 hours with the lid on.
After 2 hours, remove from the oven and baste. Add the chopped onion, carrot and chorizo and turn the oven up to 180°C. Remove the lid and place in the oven for a further hour to brown and reduce the sauce.
After this time the meat should be deliciously tender and falling off the bone. Remove the dish from the oven. Place the lamb shanks onto a warm plate and cover with foil while you deal with the sauce. Bring the liquid to a boil on the hob and simmer for about 5-10 minutes to reduce and thicken the sauce (Add 1 tbsp of cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp of cold water if needed and whisk this in to thicken further). Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Place the lamb shanks back in the glossy sauce and pop in the oven to keep warm while you prepare the side dishes. I served mine with creamy parsnip mash and purple sprouting broccoli.

Serve one shank per person in a warm bowl a top some creamy mash with some vege and sauce. Scatter over some fresh mint and enjoy!

WINE: Nothing seems more appropriate here than a native Spanish vino and something substantial to complement the lamb. Try a Rioja such as the La Rioja Alta, 2008 Viña Alberdi Reserva available at Armit Wines.

Sticky Soy and Sesame Pork

May 9, 2015 Comments Off read Meat

peedy and delicious. If you get embarrassingly excited at the idea of sticky sweetly glazed tender strips of pork on soft oozing coconut rice then I suggest you give this recipe a try. Another long week at work, Friday nights recipe choice had high expectations to satisfy a variety of needs. I craved nothing more than comfort, flavour and relative speed. If you serve this on plain rice then you’ll have an even speedier dinner in minutes but I can never resist a coconut infused creation. Except coconut water. Whats the fad about? Dishwater disguised in a eco-friendly carton. Having been found on numerous occasions unashamedly desperately corkscrewing a hole into a fresh coconut only to slurp the fresh juicy ‘milk’ from inside with a straw this is a far healthier (economical) and dramatic way to get your coconut hit! Its fresh and delicious. Plus you get the joyful task of angrily throwing the empty coconut onto a hard floor (outside recommended) to crack it open to access the meaty pure white flesh. Perfect for grating into curries, porridge, use in cakes (see here) or into your coconut rice!

Serves 2

Sticky Pork

1 pork fillet, sliced into thumb sized slices
1 knob ginger, chopped
1 small red chilli, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 spring onions, chopped
1 bunch coriander, stems and leaves chopped separately
1 heaped tsp cornflour
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp runny honey
1 tsp sesame oil
½ tsp rice wine vinegar
Sunflower oil
2 tbsp sesame seeds
50g salted peanuts, crushed lightly

Coconut Rice

4 oz brown rice
1 can coconut milk
Good handful desiccated coconut
1 lime, zest
Handful chopped coriander to serve
Green vegetables to serve

Begin with the rice. Warm the coconut milk in a saucepan with about ½ cup of water (you may need to add more water as it cooks). Bring to a light simmer but be very careful as the milk will boil over if left unattended on a high heat.
Let it simmer on a fast simmer for about 25 minutes. You want to end up with cooked rice that has absorbed mostly all the liquid but is still loose so it oozes on a plate. Keep an eye out and add more water if it dries out before fully cooked.
When cooked and still oozing, add the desiccated coconut, chopped coriander and lime zest and keep warm.
Start on the pork which is a pretty speedy process so have your green vege and warming plate ready to go not soon after!
Combine the cornflour with 2 tbsp of cold water in a jug. Add the soy sauce, sesame, vinegar and honey and mix well.
Heat a frying pan or wok on a medium high heat. Quickly flash fry the chopped chilli, spring onion, garlic, ginger and coriander stalks in a splash of sunflower oil until softened. Add the pork and turn up the heat to get a nice colour on the outside.
Fry for about 5 minutes or so until the pork is just cooked but still soft and not dry. Immediately add the soy mixture and stir quickly.
This will thicken and bubble and glaze the pork. If it turns too thick too quickly loosen with a splash more water!
Remove from the heat to prevent it overcooking and add the chopped peanuts and sesame seeds.
Serve atop your coconut rice scattered with extra coriander, any spare sesame seeds alongside your green vegetables with a wedge of lime.

Rump Steak, Herb Fire Sauce

November 13, 2014 Comments Off read Meat

Work has been stressful recently I’m not going to lie. So after another long and challenging day I eagerly donned my well worn trainers, embarrassing (but necessary) high vis and rucksack and took to the road and ran home. I love running home after work, its a great way to relax blow the cobwebs from my mind and cleanse my lungs….until I hit Earls Court that is and the bus fumes. Alas.

My run usually involves daydreaming about recipes and what I’m going to cook along with other things. After a long week and some serious after work power yoga sessions I’ve been eating healthy but quick to make suppers and I craved a steak and a little time spent in the kitchen. So….I made a well needed detour past the butchers and nabbed myself a lovely dark, dry piece of rump steak with an unhealthily large piece of flavoursome fat along the back and continued my run home…noticably faster.

Inspired by a chimichurri sauce this to be honest was made on the spot with leftover herbs, plenty of chilli and some lime. I have tried to remember what was added so use this as a guide. Add a touch of anything to balance the flavours and eat with joy! I packed a lot of chilli into mine…it was hot!

Serves 2

Green Sauce

Large handful flat leaf parsley
Large handful fresh basil
Large handful coriander
½ tsp chilli flakes
¼ red chilli (if a hot one)
1 garlic clove
¼ red onion, chopped
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 btsp lime juice
3 tbsp rapeseed oil

To serve

2 large sweet potatoes, chopped into wedges
2 rump steaks
Green beans, asparagus, broccoli or choice of vegetables

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Place the potato wedges on a baking tray, season generously and drizzle with oil. Roast for about 30-40 minutes until tender and crispy round the edges.
Meanwhile make the sauce. Add all the ingredients except the oil, lime and vinegar to a food processor and season. Blend until chopped. Add the lime and vinegar and blend again. Add enough oil to loosen and bring the sauce together into a thick but spoonable ‘paste’. You don’t want it too runny – more like a salsa.
Heat a frying pan until hot and add a dash of oil. Season the steaks with freshly cracked black pepper and salt. Sear the steak on their edge on the fat side for about 1 minute to render down the fat and allow you to fry the steak in this lovely flavoursome oil. The time will depend on how much fat you have on your steak.
Once rendered and crisp, fry your steak for about 2 to 2 ½ minutes each side for a piece around 2 ½ cm thick (this will give you medium rare). Once cooked leave to rest wrapped tightly in foil for 5 minutes.
When ready to serve, slice your rested steak and drizzle with any resting juices. Serve alongside the roasted potato wedges and any vegetables of your choice. Spoon over your punchy sauce and enjoy!

Drink with nothing but a cold beer of water……..I opted for beer.

Indian Lamb Cutlets, ‘Speedy’ Black Daal, Roti and a Mango Salad

October 29, 2014 Comments Off read Meat, Vegetables and Salads

After countless (well 4) visits to London’s Dishoom – a modern buzzing Indian restaurant – it was only a matter of time before I attempted an Indian themed supper blog post. The first time I visited this spice scented hub I was recommended to sample their ‘house black daal’. I was blown away. It was delicious: ‘dark, rich and deeply flavoured’ (their words) It certainly was. I’ve since geekily been dreaming about it and so I have attempted my own version here with homemade (albeit thicker) roti.

Made with black lentils (urda dal) unlike your normal daal, they are hard to find it seems? Ok I admit I didn’t look that hard but if they are casually (and naively) added to your shopping list don’t expect them to conveniently locate themselves on the shelf for you. In my haste I ended up buying a packet of ready to serve (I KNOW! This won’t become a habit, it was my only option) Merchant Black Beluga Lentils which have a slightly more gelatinous texture when cooked. I used these to make my own ‘speedy’ daal. I hear Dishoom simmer theirs long and slow for 24 hours which clearly makes these the ‘bees knees’ but my version was surprisingly and deliciously a very close match. Packed with spice and comforting cinnamon for a devine creation served loose textured with homemade roti. Daal can actually be served as a main dish but I made mine here as a side to a fresh lime dressed salad full of mango, mint, shaved fennel and radish and the most tender and succulent Indian spiced lamb cutlets I’ve had to date.

NOTE: I’m always thoroughly impressed at the quality of the meat at my local butchers back home. It really drums home the emphasis to buy your meat locally and not from your average Tesco not just for local support but the quality is infinitely better.

Serves 2

Daal

1 x 200g packet of beluga black lentils
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 x garlic cloves, finely chopped
½ red chilli, chopped
Knob ginger, grated
1 tsp turmeric
1 small tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp tomato puree
Small handful chopped coriander
1 tbsp salted butter

Put the lentils in a pan with the cinnamon stick and cloves and cover with enough boiling water just to cover. Simmer for about 10 minutes to allow the spices to infuse and the lentils to continue to turn mushy.
Meanwhile fry the onion in a little oil until soft. Add the garlic, chilli and ginger and fry for a few more minutes until everything is soft and the raw each has been cooked out.
Add all the dry spices and fry for 2 minutes.
Add and cook out the tomato puree and then remove from the heat.
Drain the lentil and keep any cooking water. Remove the cinnamon stick and the cloves ideally if you can.
Use a masher to coarsely mash the lentil to break them down.
Add enough of the drained juices (and more boiling water as I had to do) to create a creamy loose texture.
Stir in the spice mix and coriander.
Make sure it is sloppy in texture before whisking in a knob of butter for a glossy finish to the dish.
Serve scattered with coriander and with homemade roti.

Lamb Cutlets

1 heaped tsp garam masala
1 ½ heaped tsp dukka (see here or buy locally)
6 lamb cutlets

Marinade the lamb in the spices with a tbsp or so of oil.
When ready to cook at the very last minute, heat a pan until hot (use the one that cooked the daal spices for a nice base flavour)
First render the fat from the outside by standing eat cutlet on its side until the fat is crispy. Then cook for 2 minutes each side on a high heat for deliciously pick meat and crispy outside.
Leave to rest for 5 minutes wrapped in foil.

Mango Salad

1 mango, peeled and sliced
½ fennel bulb, shaved or thinly chopped
6 radishes, sliced
½ red onion, sliced thinly
Cucumber, sliced
Handful mint, chopped
Handful coriander, chopped
Juice 1 lime

Mix the ingredients together and squeeze over the lime. Drizzle with a little oil is needed.

Roti

225g self raising flour
140ml water
1 tbsp Nigella seeds
Salt and pepper

Mix the flour, seasoning and seeds together in a bowl.
Mix in the water or enough to bind the mixture together to form a dough. Use a fork to do this.
Knead lightly until smooth and rest in a bowl for 30 minutes or so.
Roll out on a floured surface very thinly.
Heat a frying pan until hot. Fry for a few minutes on each side untileach is golden and beginning to char. The roti will puff up and form lovely bubbles.
If not eating immediately, once cooked, pop in a preheated warm oven to keep warm and supple until ready to dip generously in your daal.

A food wine and a venison fillet….

October 14, 2014 Comments Off read Meat

I adore this wine (one we sell at work…you can get it here, hint hint). However recent drinking has reinforced my opinion that this is definitely a food wine (i.e. to accompany a deliciously made supper) as I enjoyably and freely found out as I scrambled clumsily to finish making dinner for my guests while sipping merrily on this spicy syrah (on an empty stomach…you see where I’m going with this!?) Its full of flavour and packed with spice but its 14% with some chewy tannins so it needs a good piece of steak or similar.

We enjoyed ours with a piece of pan fried, charred venison fillet/loin, garlicky and creamy cauliflower puree and some buttery green beans. I was intending on making a Syrah butter sauce….but….we drank it. Oops.

Serves 1-2 (depending on the size of the venison)

1 venison fillet
Pinch fresh thyme leaves
1 tbsp whole black peppercorns
1 garlic clove
4 juniper berries
Salt and pepper
Olive oil

In a pestle and mortar crush the peppercorns and the berries until ground. Place in a bowl with the thyme and some seasoning.
Add about 1-2 tbsp of light olive oil and rub the venison fillet in it.
Chop the garlic clove in half horizontally and use it to rub the sides of the fillet (it didn’t like to use it in the actual marinade as it burns easily when cooked)
Leave to marinade for about 1 hour or longer
When ready to cook, heat a frying pan until hot.
Sear the meat in the pan with a little oil on all sides until a nice crispy outside coating has formed. Do this for literally 7-8 minutes for a lovely blushing pink medium cooked fillet.
Once done, remove to a piece of foil and wrap tightly. Leave to rest for 10minutes before slicing on the horizontal and pouring over any resting juices.