Roast Pork
Is there a patron saint of cooking? I’m not sure and Google was inconclusive. If there is such a thing and indeed, if I believed in such things, then I imagine she (it’s got to be a she, right?) was looking down on us this weekend. After not spending much time in the kitchen recently, we managed to produce the third really good meal in as many days. I don’t think we did anything drastically differently today and yes, I know roast pork isn’t all that difficult but for whatever reason, everything seemed to work brilliantly this time.
The meat (from Waitrose) had lots of flavour and remained juicy with super-crackly crackling. Having said I didn’t do anything differently, I did remember to cook the meat on the highest setting for the first 30 minutes before turning the oven down to 180 degrees which I don’t always remember to do. The potatoes and parsnips were crisp with lots of crunchy edges and fluffy insides (vegetable oil only today instead of a combination of vegetable and olive) and the vegetables were fresh and just interesting enough to compliment the meat without taking over (a dash of fennel seeds in the garlicky greens helped this). Oh, and that’s mashed celeriac in the middle which was wonderfully creamy and smooth.
I had planned to make stuffing but forgot so I guess that patron saint might have got distracted but otherwise, a glorious end to a brilliant weekend.
Ox Cheek Daube
Beef daube is not something I’ve eaten or cooked before so when a friend mentioned she was cooking it this weekend, I started looking at recipes. I was looking for something that would sit happily in the oven all afternoon while we decorated the tree and this was perfect. Like all slow-roast or braised dishes, there’s a little work upfront and then all you need is patience while you wait for the end result (or, in our case, sustenance in the form of mince pies).
I looked at three or four different recipes which varied rather a lot so I just took the parts I liked best from each and combined them. I didn’t have time to let the meat sit in the wine for three days so skipped that but was keen on the combination of red wine and brandy so kept that element. The addition of orange is not something I would have thought of but really helped to cut through the richness of the wine and the brandy and added a festive note too which was fitting.
Olives appeared in all the recipes I read and I would have added them if we had any but I’m glad I didn’t. I can’t imagine how the texture would have worked but I think I would have liked the flavour.
We used ox cheeks because I happened to spot some in Waitrose but the recipes I found online also used beef shin or braising steak. We both really enjoyed this and ended up eating far too much. I’m happy with the combination of flavours we used but felt the orange was just a little too strong and would reduce the zest a little next time.
Ox Cheek Daube
Serves Two, generously
700g beef
Salt and pepper
Flour
Oil
1 large onion, sliced
2 sticks celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic
4 stems thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tsp fennel seeds
4 anchovies
1 tbsp tomato puree
500ml bottle red wine
2 tbsps brandy
300ml beef stock
Zest of one orange, finely chopped
Juice of half an orange
Start by chopping up the beef and tossing in the seasoned flour. Brown the meat in batches and then remove from the pan and blot away the excess oil with some kitchen paper.
In the same pan, add more oil if necessary and then soften the onion, celery and garlic with the thyme, fennel seeds and the bay leaves for about 10 minutes. You want the onions to take on a little colour but not so much that they start to caramelise. Add the anchovies and tomato puree and cook until the anchovies melt.
Return the meat to the pan and then add the wine and the brandy. Let this bubble away until the volume has reduced by half. Now add the beef stock, the orange zest and the juice and bring to the boil. Once everything is boiling, transfer to the oven for three hours.
Mince Pies
One of my favourite things about Christmas are the traditions that go alongside the presents and the turkey. I like a big tree with too-many decorations on it (I get this from my mum, her tree is so overloaded that you can’t really see the branches and it often falls over), I like strings of fairy-lights covering every available surface and I like decorating the house while listening to Christmas music and eating mince pies. We did that yesterday and baked the first batch of mince pies from the mincemeat we made a couple of weeks ago. We used the same recipe we use every year but this time, the spicing was a little light and there was too much apple coming through. Easy enough to rectify though and a good job we checked in advance of the big day.
Hettie Potter’s suet-free Mincemeat
Makes about 2kg
250g soft dark sugar
250ml medium dry cider
1 kg cooking apples, peeled, halved and quartered
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
250g currants
250g raisins
75g glace cherries, roughly chopped
75g blanched almonds, finely chopped
rind and juice of 1/2 lemon
6 tbsp brandy or rum
In large saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the cider over a gentle heat. Add the roughly chopped apples to the saucepan. Add all the ingredients, apart from brandy/rum and simmer for around 30 min until everything has a pulpy consistency. Take off the heat and when it has cooled slightly stir in brandy/rum.
Duck Breast with the Best Sautéed Potatoes
We have had a couple of memorable successes with duck breasts before, particularly with rösti, but recent rösti attempts have been less successful so we decided on sautéed potatoes to accompany these instead. Armed with a large bag of potatotes and the last two duck breasts from the shelf in Waitrose, we set about preparing. We served it with a redcurrant and red wine sauce and some sautéed greens of the sort that we ate for seven days in a row a few weeks back.
It turned out very well indeed. The duck breast was cooked pinkish, just how we wanted it to be, the sauce had (almost) just the right amount of everything in it and the potatoes turned out to be the best ever. The potatoes were the big revelation from this meal; we have cooked them many times and I think it was the addition of garlic this time round that made a big difference. Along with letting them crisp up slowly while the sauce and duck cooked.
Duck breasts
Ingredients:
2 duck breasts
salt and pepper
Method:
Score the skin side a few times, this will allow the fat to cook out more easily. Heat a frying pan on medium heat and put the duck breasts in skin side down. Cook for about ten minutes; the fat will render out from under the skin and should leave the skin nice and crispy and you’ll end up with lots of fat in the pan. Then turn them over and cook for another five. Remove and let them rest.
Redcurrant and Juniper Sauce
Ingredients:
3 shallots, finely chopped
glass of red wine
half glass of chicken stock
tablespoon of redcurrant jelly
sprig of thyme
bay leaf
5 juniper berries
salt and pepper
red wine vinegar (1/2 tsp or so)
1 tsp cornflour
Method:
Pour the red wine into a small saucepan along with the stock, thyme, bay, juniper and redcurrant jelly. Bring to the boil and lower the heat to a simmer and leave it for another ten minutes. Taste and add salt, pepper and vinegar to taste as you see fit. Mix the cornflour with a dash of water and then add it to the sauce to thicken it, stirring all the time.
Sautéed Potatoes
Ingredients:
Potatoes (preferably a fairly waxy variety; we used Désirée)
Half a medium to large onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper
olive oil
Method:
Slice the potatoes and boil or steam until almost cooked. Slice into 1cm cubes. While this is happening, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over low to medium heat. Add the onion and allow to soften for five minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 5 minutes. Just allow these to soften, not brown – there will be plenty of opportunity for that later! Then add the cubed potatoes, with a little extra oil if it looks like it needs it. Season liberally with salt and pepper and thyme. Cook on a low heat for 20 to 30 minutes, shaking the pan and turning the potatoes frequently to allow them to brown on all sides. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper or herbs as you see fit.
Chicken and Cannellini Beans
While I get on with clearing the backlog, here’s a quick and easy dish you can throw together in no time. I cooked this on Monday night while waiting for something from the freezer to heat up. It went into the fridge overnight and just needed heating up the next day. You could eat it the same day but the flavour is better if left overnight. Some chorizo would have been really good in here but I didn’t have any so just increased the paprika, Not quite the same but close enough in an emergency.
Chicken and Cannellini Beans
Serves Two
250g cannellini beans
4 chicken thighs
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 large onion, roughly chopped
Parsley stalks, chopped
1 red pepper, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Sprig thyme
2 bay leaves
2 tsps paprika
1 tbsp tomato puree
Large glass white wine
250ml chicken stock
Tin chopped tomatoes
If you’re using dried beans then start these straight away and cook according to the instructions on the packet. These will take much longer to cook than the rest of the dish so if you don’t have any already cooked but don’t want to use tinned beans then you can just add these to the finished dish – either after the final 30 minutes cooking time or when you reheat it the next day.
Start by browning the seasoned chicken thighs in olive oil and then removing to a plate. Blot with kitchen paper to remove the excess oil.
Using the same pan, soften the onions, some parsley stalks and the pepper for about eight minutes. Then add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves and cook for another two minutes. Next add the paprika and stir to incorporate.
Add a good squeeze of tomato puree and stir again so that everything is coated. Cook for a couple of minutes before adding the wine. Let this bubble away until the alcohol has cooked out and then return the chicken to the pan along with the chicken stock, tomatoes and cooked beans.
Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and cook for 30 minutes. Stir the parsley through before serving.
A Tale of Two Curries
I wasn’t going to post this since the pictures came out so badly but our friends who came and ate this with us asked for the pork recipe so here it is. We don’t have a very large dining table so don’t entertain at home as much as we would like to. When we do have people for dinner then we tend to cook one-pot dishes such as these that can be eaten on laps so people can spread out around the kitchen. It works quite well but we’re both looking forward to having more space so we can do traditional Thai banquet-style dinners.
The other thing about having people over is that, while it’s okay for us to eat slightly cold food while we try to get good pictures of the food, it’s not something we tend to inflict on our guests, hence the hastily snapped pictures. It’s a shame that neither of these dishes look all that appetising since they were actually pretty good, especially the pork. As with most Thai curries, the cooking of the dish itself is quick and easy, it’s the making of the pastes that takes the time.
We cooked both of these dishes intending to serve six people, with some rice and vegetables but there wasn’t really enough. I’d say this was probably enough to feed four, generously. I would therefore like to apologise to my guests (if they’re reading) and hope you didn’t have to stop off for more food on the way home!
Pork and Green Peppercorn Curry
From David Thompson’s “Thai Food”
300g pork shin (I used leg since shin is almost impossible to find)
2 cups coconut milk
Lemongrass offcuts (from paste)
Pinch of salt
1.5 cups coconut cream
1 tsp palm sugar
2 tbsps fish sauce
2 tbsps picked green peppercorns
3 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
Handful holy basil leaves
1 long red chilli, deseeded and juliennned
Paste
6-10 long red chillies, deseeded, soaked and drained
Large pinch salt
6 tbsps chopped lemongrass
1 tbsp grated lime zest
2 tbsps scraped and chopped corinader root
1 tsp coriander seeds, roasted
1 tsp cumin seeds, roasted
First, make the paste.
Bring the coconut milk to a boil in the pan. Add pork, lemongrass offcuts and salt. Add water to cover, if necessary. Simmer until pork is tender (about 30 minutes) and leave to cool in stock. When cook, remove, reserve the stock and trim and slice the meat into 1cm pieces.
Add the coconut cream to a clean pan and then add the paste and fry over a medium heat until fragrant, about two minutes. Season with the palm sugar and fish sauce and then add the pork. Moisten with the reserved stock if necessary. Finish with the remaining ingredients and check seasoning before serving.
Chicken and Vegetable Curry
From David Thompson’s “Thai Food”
500g skinless chicken thighs
4 cups stock
Selection of vegetables (mushrooms, basil leaves, bamboo shoots, eggplants, beans)
Paste
20 dried red chillies, deseeded, soaked and drained
Large pinch salt
4 tbsps chopped lemongrass
4 tbsps chopped shallot
2 tbsps chopped garlic
2 tsps shrimp paste
Start by making the paste.
Slice the chicken, combine with the paste and fry until fragrant – about two minutes.
Add the stock and bring to the boil. Add vegetables and simmer until cooked. Check the seasoning and then serve.
Saag Gosht
Saag gosht is our favourite Indian dish and one we fight over when we go out or order a takeaway. I usually remember first and “bagsy” it then offer to share it with Stephen but really we should both order it as I’m not very good at sharing food. I thought it would be a good dish to use up a half shoulder of lamb that was taking up a lot of space in the freezer and reasoned that there would be enough for both of us.
The recipe was from Camellia Panjabi’s “50 Great Curries of India” which is fast becoming my favourite Indian recipe book. I find it much easier to follow than Madhur Jaffrey and have preferred the results. The only complaint I had about this is that it still wasn’t hot enough for me. I’ve found this with MJ’s recipes a lot and always increase the spicing but this is the first time I’ve noticed it here so need to allow for that next time. Otherwise, a really successful dish; less oily than a take-away but I prefer that anyway. Served with chapatis and moong dal.
Palak Gosht
Serves Four
700g lamn
2 x 0.5cm pieces of fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
2 green chillies
100ml yoghurt
1/4 tsp cumin, ground
200g spinach
Oil
1 bay leaf
1 black cardamom
2 cloves
225g onions, chopped
1 tsp coriander seed, ground
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp salt
Puree the ginger, garlic and green chilli in a blender. Whisk the yoghurt and add to the puree along with the cumin powder.
Marinate the lamb in this mixture for an hour, longer if possible. Blanch the spinach in boiling water with salt then drain and puree.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the bay leaf, cardamom and cloves. When the oil is really hot, add the onions. Fry for 15 minutes over a low to medium heat.
Add the coriander powder and saute for 2 minutes, stirring continuously. Add the cumin, fry for 10 seconds and then add a little water. Allow the spices to cook for a couple of minutes.
Add the meat and it’s marinade, stir and cook for 10 minutes until the yoghurt is absorbed. Saute the meat for 3 minutes and then add the tomatoes and tomato puree and cook for a further 2 minutes. Add 250ml hot water and 3/4 tsp salt. Turn the heat to low, cover with a lid and leave to simmer for a couple of hours. Just before serving, add the spinach and cook for a further 5 minutes. Check for seasoning and serve.
Peri Peri Chicken
I’ve been working on this recipe for ages, months in fact and finally got round to making it a couple of weeks ago and it didn’t turn out well. I wonder if it’s because I spent so much time on it or if the combination of ingredients we just ill-conceived in the first place. I’m determined to get this right though so I’m posting this a reminder of what not to do next time. Except I can’t remember the quantities so I’ll probably have to start from scratch. If anyone has a tried-and-tested recipe then please do let me know!
Peri-Peri Chicken
Garlic
Coriander leaf
Coriander seed
Lime juice
Red chilli
Paprika
Slash chicken all over, rub with marinade and refrigerate overnight. Grill or barbecue until cooked through.
Beef Casserole with Mustard and Herb Dumplings
We went to a friend’s place on Saturday night and he cooked beef stew which was lovely. It was particularly lovely as he cooked it outside, over an open fire and we ate it sitting around another, different fire. I’m sure the stew itself would have been just as lovely if we’d eaten it inside but it’s not often you get to eat around a fire (unless you go camping a lot which I don’t) so that made the whole thing even more, well, lovely really.
As happens often when I’ve eaten at someone else’s house, I came home with the urge to cook the same thing myself. Not because I wanted to do it differently or because I thought I could do it better but because I like cooking and miss the process when I’m eating other people’s food. It’s probably also because I tend to be polite when I’m eating elsewhere and not help myself to a second portion so I want to eat more of the same. Having said that, I don’t think I was that polite on Saturday night; in addition to the lovely fires and lovely food there was also lovely mulled wine (cooked on yet another fire) which tends to help (or hinder, depending on your point of view) with the politeness.
Anyway, I wanted to make beef stew (or casserole, I don’t know what the difference is but we always called it casserole when I was growing up so that’s what I call it) and I also wanted to make mustard dumplings so I did. In addition to the mustard in the dumplings, I also put mustard into the casserole itself which I don’t usually do but I thought would work well. I could have done with more mustard in the casserole itself and less in the dumplings (I’ve adjusted the ratios below) but I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. The mustard in the casserole gave a suggestion of warmth while the flavour of the dumplings was fresher and lighter, not something you would usually associate with suet-heavy dough but reflective of the difference in cooking time. I think I’d use Dijon mustard in both next time, instead of the English mustard in the dumplings.
Beef Casserole
Serves Two – generously
500g stewing beef (shin is really good, if you can find it)
Seasoned flour (flour with salt and pepper added)
1 large onion, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
Large sprig thyme
Half bottle red wine
1 litre beef stock
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 large carrots, chopped
Large handful button mushrooms
Start by tossing the beef in the seasoned flour and then dusting off any excess (don’t do this in advance as the meat will start to absorb the flour and it will become sticky). Add half the meat to a hot pan and fry until dark brown, remove to a plate and then brown the second half. You don’t want to add too much at once or the beef won’t fry but will stew instead defeating the purpose of “browning”. You want the meat to really brown too because that adds flavour and seals the meat ahead of the long cooking time.
If there are any very brown bits stuck to the pan that are likely to burn then (carefully) remove and discard. Add a little more oil, heat and then cook the onions for a couple of minutes over a medium heat. Next add the celery, garlic, bay leaves and thyme and cook for about five minutes – you want the onions to just start browning but not take on so much colour that they begin to caramelise and become too sweet.
Return the meat to the pan and combine with the vegetables. Now add the red wine and bubble for a couple of minutes until the alcohol has burnt off. Stir in the mustard, add the stock, season and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and cook for 3 hours, checking regularly to ensure there is enough liquid to coat the meat. I actually transferred the casserole dish to the oven at this point as our gas feed is high and I can’t always get it low enough to simmer without boiling. It went in at 150 degrees.
After the three hours I turned off the heat, allowed the casserole to cool down and then refrigerated it overnight. The next day, I added a little more water, the carrots and mushrooms, brought it up to a boil and then cooked it for another hour. You could of course do this all in one go though and then serve. Ten minutes before you want to serve, add the dumplings (if you’re using them) and then sprinkle over the parsley before serving.
Mustard and Herb Dumplings
50g self-raising flour
25g suet
Salt and pepper
Handful chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
2.5 tablespoons water
Combine all the ingredients together and form the dough into dumpling shapes. This mixture will make four regular sized (a little larger than a golf ball) dumplings but I made eight smaller ones instead. As mine were smaller, I dropped them into the lidded casserole dish 10 minutes before serving but you would need to increase that to 20 minutes for larger dumplings.
Indian Style Salmon – Again
This is a variation on this recipe, but with yoghurt and fresh ginger added to make a wet marinade. It worked really well and I think I might have preferred it to the dry version. I suppose I would say that though, since Stephen came up with the dry version and this was my idea. The spices were slightly diluted by the addition of the yoghurt but they seemed to blend together better.
Served with puy lentils (I really wanted dal and I think it would have been better but I didn’t have enough time to make any) and more garlicky greens. We ate almost a whole bag of spring greens tonight, I fear we may have to go cold turkey before the addiction kicks in for real, this was the seventh meal in a row to include them.
Indian Style Baked Salmon
Serves Two
2 salmon fillets
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
3 cardomom pods
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 – 1 tsp fresh ginger
Pinch of salt
Squeeze of lemon juice
2 tablespoons natural yoghurt
Combine all the dried spices with the salt and pound in a pestle and mortar. Add the spices to the yoghurt and lemon juice and coat the fish. Leave to marinate for two hours.
Bake the fish at 250 degrees for 12 minutes.
