Sunday, October 15, 2006
Eastern Lamb, Mexican Chicken and Pot Roast Beef
Oh, and for thoes of you with SatNavs I have just foind a brill place to get hold of Europe-wide POIs for speed cameras etc. Just go to SCDB at http://www.scdb.info/en/
Eastern Lamb
0.5 kg diced lamb
pieces of lamb bone (the ones end of legs are good)
1 onion, stick celery, small carrot
4 mushrooms
2 mild chillis (I am a wimp so seeds and ribs removed!)
2 cloves garlic
teaspoon sumac
2 bay leaves
3 pieces dried tangerine peel
Slosh orange juice
Lamb stock cube dissolved in boiling water
Brown bones in heavy lidded caserole dish. Take out and brown meat. Take out and brown finely diced veg and garlic. Put meat back, add sumac and 2 teaspoons flour. Add bones, orange juice then stock to cover with bay leaves and peel. Cook in low oven for 2-3 hours (much better if cooked day before and then reheated) take marrow from bones and add back before reheating. Serve with cous-cous or rice.
Mexican Chicken
2 shredded chicken legs and thighs
1 onion, stick celery, small carrot
2 cloves garlic
2 chopped chillis (seeds and ribs removed to taste)
2 tins chopped tomatoes
Sweat veg, add tomatoes and cook down on a low light for about an hour. Add chicken and serve wrapped in tortillas.
Tip: Wrap the filling in tortillas, put them in overnproof dish and spinkle well with cheese. Brown in oven.
Pot-Roast brisket
Get a joint of brisket. This is a pretty cheap joint - one to do 8 is just under £4!!! Weight does not really matter - just make sure it is over a kilo.You need a heavy ovenproof pan/dish preferably with a lid (you can always make one out of foil if need be) I have a cast iron casserole dish that I have had for years. A really worthwhile investment as it deals with the cheapest cuts of meat.Melt some good beef dripping in the bottom. Add 2 roughly chopped large onions, 2 chopped sticks of celery, 2 chopped garlic cloves and 2 chopped carrots (optional). Coat in the oil then place the beef on top of veg, add a wineglass glass of red wine and a wineglass glass of water (wine not essential - you can use all water) Put lid on and cook slowly in oven at mark 3 for 3-4 hours. Check after 2 hours and if the liquid is going down too fast drop temp. to Mark 2. Take from oven and let the meat rest on a carving board for at least 30 mins (cover with foil) Just thicken the juices by reducing and you have a totally stunning sauce!! Cooked like this the meat is juicy and really, really tasty. What you will not be able to do is cut nice neat slices as it will fall apart.
Tip: To make it a bit more special, make a paste with some soy sauce, crushed garlic, ground ginger and maybe a bit of turmeric. Paint the beef with it and brown in the oil before adding the onions.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
EBBP from Hungary.....
Been away for the weekend camping (took a marinade with me I discovered in Zambia - oil, pepper and cumin - wonderful with pork when barbecuing!) and when I got home my parcel had arrived!
Don't have much time tonight and will be away for a couple of nights so this will be pretty short. But I'll make it up later!
Gizella put together a really nice parcel for me - and I suspect used up most of Hungary's postage stamps!! :)
The contents included:
A kind of shortbread biscuit with jam in the middle? (these were not mentioned in Gizelle's letter but my friend says they are delish!)
Homemade wild plum jam (Gizella must have read my mind - she does not use a lot of sugar which appeals to me)
2 packets of paprika (one hot, one sweet) and a recipe for Porkolt which is a traditional Hungarian stew (will try this and report nack)
A list of cocktails printed on a little shopping bag (Just out of site in the piccie. Gizella likes to have cocktails for desert)
Some cocktail sippers, shakers, bar spoons etc. (I sense a theme here! LOL)
Brandy and sour cherry bonbons (which I have had to hide from my wife)
Bottle of Unicum (stop sniggering in the back you native English speakers) This is a spicy Hungarian digesetif
All packed in a wine box!
And here is a picture. Will do more later in the week. Thanks Gizella!
Monday, July 24, 2006
The cost of cleaning a conservatory roof...
All recipes are for four averagely hungry people. Total cooking time was probably 15 mins for the lot with preparation of maybe 15 mins. Good food ‘aint neccesarily difficult and time consuming!
Creamy devilled black pudding
Two black puddings (the ones here are the size and shape of a large kidney)
Diced pancetta (or bacon – I buy the Asda SmartPrice bacon bits, cut each pack in 3 and freeze)
Small piece of salami or chorizo (diced small)
Small pot single cream
Pan fry the bacon (I use a wok for most of these things), add the black pudding and fry for a few moments (not too long or it will go to mush) and add a little chilli sauce according to taste. The idea is to give it a touch of heat, not burn your mouth!) then lower the gas to minimum and pour in the cream. Heat gently for a few moments but not too long or the cream will separate, and throw in the salami before plating up.
Total cost of ingredients: £1.70
Basil chicken with tagliatelli
Two chicken breasts
Large onion finely sliced
100g sliced mushrooms*
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
Tagliatelli
Cut the chicken into strips and place in a bowl. Add the garlic, 2 teaspoons of basil oil, some marjoram, some dried basil and a little salt/pepper. Mix together and let stand – an hour is enough. Heat wok and put in a drop of basil oil then sauté the onions. Add the chicken and when it’s cooked, add the mushrooms. Adjust seasoning. Meanwhile cook the pasta a dente and drain, add a glug of basil oil and then the chicken mix. Mix together and serve with some fresh parmesan and a piece of ciabatta.
Total cost of ingredients: £3.00
* Use button mushrooms by all means. But if you can put up with the less attractive appearance, those big field mushrooms give a much better taste!
Yogurty Aniseedy Strawberries!
250g strawberries sliced
150g natural yogurt (Asda SmartPrice!)
Maple syrup or honey
2 teaspoon pastis (or pernod)
Add tablespoon of syrup or honey and pastis to yogurt and stir together. Chuck in strawberries and mix together. Put in freezer for 90 minutes, stirring half way through. the aim is for it not to freeze solid but o get very cold and yummy!
Total cost of ingredients: £1.60
The last dish was especially good and knocked together on a whim.
All washed down with a nice bottle of rose. Then some more of that white Bordeaux. Then 30 year old cognac (just a taste you understand) Then red wine….. I’m sure you get the picture and if I find whoever it was who was hitting my head from the inside at 4am this morning they are in trouble!!
Saturday, July 22, 2006
First, Take One Onion.....
Firstly, a word about the title of this blog. They were words uttered by my daughter Leanne (always a faddy eater) in a fit of pique when presented with yet another of my fabulous creations. "You are incapable of cooking without using onions!" she wailed. "As far as you are concerned any recipe starts with the words 'First, Take One Onion' Agggghhhhhh."
You know what? I don't think she is wrong!
Who am I? My name is Steve and I'm 51 years of age. I live with Carol (you REALLY think I am going to tell you her age?!) in a little place called Brierfield at the foot of Pendle Hill 'twixt Burnley and Nelson in Lancashire. Kids have struck out on their own now and are happily married. Leanne (23) to Lee and Matt (26) to Nicola. Matt was responsible for the two rogues you will hear much about - CJ who is almost 8 and Jack who is 3 (Grandkids are fun - get some!)
I am the Major Bids Manager for a large IT company nowadays. But in the past I have done varied things - deep breath:
- Ran away to sea at 15 (well, joined the Navy. But doesn't run away sound better?) and became a cook
- Met Carol so decided to leave Navy
- Worked for a couple of catering companies as a chef at places like Gestetner and Capital Radio (yes, Kenny Everett WAS as crazy as you think)
- Decided to get into sales so became a Man from the Pru
- Decided insurance was a dying art (Geddit?) so got into IT
- Been succesful in IT (i.e. they have not found me out yet!)
I have found over the last few years that my interest in cooking has mushroomed (come on, keep with the program!) and Carol has to fight to get near the kitchen - and she is no mean cook herself. We both like to eat good food and I am basically tight so cooking a wonderful meal for very little money is my Valhalla! (All said tongue-in-cheek of course!)
We both have pretty wide tastes and like to experiment in addition to enjoying basics like egg 'n chips! Tonight we had:
Homemade spicy salmon and crab cakes served on a crispy roll garnished with a little mayonaise and ketchup, served with homemade potato wedges in their skins cooked with a very small amount of Herb de Provence oil and a sprinkling of garlic salt. Washed down with a nicely chilled white bordeaux.
That is a fairly normal meal for us - why eat ready prepared stuff that is expensive and sometimes crap when you can eat something homemade that is just as quick to prepare but less expensive and most times better!
Our motto is to try stuff. Sometimes it is a disaster - that is what bins and then takeaways are for!
Finally, why suddenly start this blog? Well, I came across http://cooksister.typepad.com/cook_sister/2006/07/ebbp5_the_taste.html - sorta like a Secret Santa for people who like food! I'd like to join in but suspect that one of the qualifying criteria will be to have my own food blog. So here I am! I live a very busy life (in fact, my days are shorter than most peoples, Honest!) But I will try and keep this up.
"Eat, Drink and be Merry Gentlemen. For tomorrow we die!"
Happy Eating!
