Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
Steak. The one thing guaranteed to smoke out the entire flat and really test the batteries in the smoke alarm. Even with all the windows and doors open, the smell lingers for what seems like days and the entire kitchen becomes covered in grease.
It’s a good job we knew these were going to be good (they’re from Allen’s, the two we cut off the huge sirloin) otherwise they would have stayed into the freezer until barbecue season which, given this weekend’s weather, seems a fair way off.
Simply seasoned on both sides just before they went into the griddle pan and served with a chimichurri sauce, some oven chips and a traditional Argentinian salad: lettuce and tomato. There are many variations on this sauce, we just used an amalgamation based on what he had in the fridge.
Chimichurri Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons mint, chopped
1/2 clove garlic, crushed
1 shallot, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Blend ingredients together, refrigerate for around two hours before serving.
Herbed Lamb Chops with Lentils
Lamb chops, marinated in oil, lemon juice, garlic and sumac. Served with yoghurty lentils. A friend alerted me to the lentil recipe saying they were the best lentils he’d ever eaten. I’m not so sure, there’s something about the earthiness of puy lentils that doesn’t work with dairy for me. The herbs worked very well with the sumac though and I think the lentils would have been great with just some oil.
Drunken Bean Wraps
We’ve cooked this before using tequila but when I saw Jen’s recipe using dark beer, I was interested to see what the difference was.
Knowing I would be home late from work tonight, Stephen and I cooked the beans yesterday with the intention of making the wraps when we got home and turning the whole lot into quesadillas. However, I wasn’t expecting to be home as late as 8pm and just couldn’t be bothered so intead we ate the beans on their own with some quickly made corn wraps.
Luckily, this worked out really well and we didn’t miss the extra frying required for quesadillas. It’s hard to know exactly how much of an impact the dark beer had without tasting the beans alongside a version made with tequila but we definitely noticed the addition of pickled chillies, something we didn’t use previously. When I tasted the beans last night, the chillies were almost over-powering in their brine-iness but they mellowed overnight to add a background warmth with no hint of vinegar.
The only other change I made was to add lots of freshly chopped corainder just before serving as we both enjoy the fragrant lift this gives to bean dishes.
Jen commented in her post that her husband had no idea this was a meat-free dish and I think it would have taken me a while to work it out if I hadn’t known, the paprika adds a real roundness that is (obviously) reminiscent of chorizo. It certainly smelt like there was chorizo in there and while it would have added something in the way of texture, so much of the flavour is lost in long cooking that I really think it’s worth leaving it out of this dish. Hang on, a dish just as good without meat? Surely not! That’s got to be a Dinner Diary first 🙂
Macaroni Cheese
Unusually for us, we were out on both Friday and Saturday night this weekend which didn’t leave much time for weekend cooking. We had planned on cooking beef brisket today but a surfeit of cheese meant we opted for macaroni cheese instead.
I’ve only eaten it once before and was a bit underwhelmed but had high hopes for today’s dish since we had some really good cheese to add to the sauce: Stinking Bishop and Coolea. The sauce was indeed delicious but unfortunately, in my quest for a crunchy topping, I over-cooked the macaroni which meant the pasta was rather dried out. I should have put the whole thing under the grill to brown on top rather than leaving it in the oven.
We didn’t follow a recipe for this but cooked the macaroni as per the instructions on the packet and made up a white sauce at the same time. The cheese was stirred through the pasta, along with some oregano and then put into a dish with some more grated Cheddar on top and cooked for far too long.
Roasted Salmon with Herbed Lentils
The paste that Stephen made up on Sunday to go with our roasted chicken worked really well and I started wondering what else I could use it with. I didn’t get much further than lamb but a craving for salmon today had me wondering whether it would work with that too. While the paste is pretty robust, I thought I’d be OK with the stronger tasting wild salmon and, as luck would have it, Waitrose had two pieces left.
I initially thought about serving the salmon with new potatoes but it doesn’i seem warm enough for those yet; puy lentils (with more of the paste stirred through) matched the salmon in earthiness while lemon juice and red-wine vinegar provided the balance.
It worked out well, not that you would know that from the picture. Definitely a case of substance over style.
This doesn’t really require a recipe but here’s what I did:
Make up the paste by blending plenty of parsley, mint and coriander together with some garlic, oil and lemon zest. Set half aside and use the other half to spread over the salmon. Bake until just cooked through.
Take the other half of the paste and let it down with some more olive oil, lemon juice and a splash of red-wine vinegar. Stir this through the hot lentils and leave to cool.
Lamb Cutlets with Cannelini Beans and Leeks
The official title for the beans is actually “Warm leek and white bean salad with mustard dressing” but that seemed just a little too wordy and unnecessary to me so I’ve taken the liberty of abbreviating. I’m pretty sure Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall doesn’t read Dinner Diary so I think I’ll get away with it. I wish he was a reader though because then I could say what I really mean which is: HUGH! What’s with floweriness? It’s not what I’ve come to expect from someone who has a best-selling book named simply “Meat”.
Anyway, this recipe was recommended to me by a friend and seemed perfect for the quick dinner of lamb chops we had planned for tonight. The recipe uses tinned beans which I’m not keen on so I soaked some cannelini beans overnight and cooked those this afternoon, before adding them to the leeks and cooking as per the instructions. I think I need to get over my tinned-bean fear though since I find dried beans can cook rather unevenly which I imagine isn’t an issue with the pre-cooked version.
Despite some of the beans being rather a little on the tough side, this worked really well. The mustard, while not an entirely traditional accompaniment to lamb, was a good match and added a real bite to the beans. The lamb was simply seasoned with salt and pepper and then fried.
Hugh mentions this is a good dish to serve cold and I think it would work well for packed lunches, especially with some good toast.
Chickpea Curry
Having gone wild in the ethnic aisle on Saturday, we went a bit wild in the kitchen later on and ended up with rather a lot of leftovers, some of which Stephen took for lunch today. In order to use everything else up this evening, we made a quick chickpea curry, following this recipe.
It was very quick and easy to put together which worried me slightly but, after a weekend of intensive cooking, I was happy for something straight-forward. The dish did suffer for this though and while it was edible, it didn’t have a huge depth of flavour. I don’t think I’d cook it again but it did fill us up and helped to empty the fridge.
Herbed Chicken with Persian Jewelled Rice
We fancied roast chicken for lunch but with today marking the official arrival of Spring (and the weather actually co-operating), we wanted something lighter than the traditional Sunday Roast.
Stephen made up a marinade consisting of olives, lemon zest, coriander, parsley, mint, onion and garlic. This was blended with oil and salt and pepper in the food processor before being slathered liberally all over the slashed chicken.
As an accompaniment, we decided on jewelled rice, a dish we’ve always wanted to make but been put off by the long ingredient list and complicated method. We got up early this morning though and, having thoroughly spring-cleaned our garden, had plenty of time to spend in the kitchen.
The rice dish is lengthy and does have a number of steps but it’s really worth spending the time on, if only for the crunchy, buttery pieces of rice that stick to the bottom of the pan (the ‘tahdeeg’) and get sprinkled on top at the end. It’s a dish that’s heavy on the sweetness which I find challenging but it did work really well with the heady, slightly bitter paste that the chicken was cooked in.
Stephen also made up a ‘gravy’ from the pan juices the chicken was cooked in which was brilliant. All he did was deglaze the roasting dish with some water, add a squeeze of lemon juice and then thicken it, but it made the most amazing, deep, meaty, fragrant dressing for the chicken.
Persian Jewelled Rice (from Diana Henry’s “Crazy Water Pickled Lemons”)
Serves Two
150g basmati rice
Salt and Pepper
1 orange
1 carrot
15g almonds, cut into slivers
1.4 tsp saffron threads
3/4 tsp dried rose petals (we didn’t have these so substituted rose water)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Seeds of 5 cardamom pods, crushed
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
20g unsalted butter
1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
15g pistachios, chopped
15g raisins, soaked in warm water and drained
15g dried barberries (we didn’t have these so left them out)
Tahdeeg
2 tbsp vegetable oil
15g unsalted butter
Wash the rice, cover with lightly salted water and soak for 3 hours.
Remove the peel from the oranges, leaving the pith behind, and cut into julienne strips. Cover with cold water, bring to the boil and cook for two minutes, then drain and rinse.
Peel the carrots and cut them into narrow strips.
Toast the almonds in a dry pan.
Soak the saffron in 1 tbsp of boiling water.
Mix the rose petals, cinnamon and cardamom together.
Heat the oil and butter in a frying pan and saute the carrot for about 4 minutes until it is softening. Add the sugar and the orange peel and cook for a further minute. Pour on the saffron water and add the almonds, pistachios and dried fruits. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil, drain and rinse the rice and add to the boiling water. Bring the rice back to the boil and cook fairly vigorously for no more than 3 minutes, then test it – the grains should be beginning to soften on the outside but remain firm in the centre. Drain the rice and rinse in tepid water.
To create the tahdeeg: In a separate pan, heat the butter and oil and, when sizzling, spoon on a layer of rice. Separate a quarter of the carrot mix and put aside. Layer up the remainder with the rice, sprinkling the rice on gently and seasoning with the spice mix and salt and pepper.
Make three holes in the ice with a spoon handle, wrap the saucepan lid in a tea-towel and cover the pan. Leave on a high heat for 4 minutes and then cook on a low heat for 15 minutes.
Once the rice has cooked, put the saucepan onto a cold surface to make it easier to remove the crust later. Spoon the rice on to a hot serving dish and garnish with the reserved carrot mix.
Kaalee Mirch Cha Mutton, Moong Dal, “Sag” Aloo and Chapatis
We got a bit over-excited in the ‘ethnic’ section of our local supermarket this morning and ended up with enormous bags of yellow moong dal and chapati flour. With Indian food a given for this evening’s dinner (particularly with an afternoon with IPL cricket on in the background) we just needed to decide on a main course and for that we went back to Camelia Panhabi’s 50 Great Curries of India.
This lamb dish stuck out because it was different to any Indian lamb we’ve cooked before, due to the inclusion of mint. The ingredient list is long but it’s easy to put together, just as long as you’ve got all the ingredients ready before you start. “Mutton” in India usually refers to goat rather than sheep, but as that is hard to get hold of here, we went for lamb – and the recipe actually specified lamb too.
The mint was indeed noticeable in the finished dish and it jarred against the other earthy flavours for me to begin with but as I got used to it, I enjoyed the fragrant lift it provided.
The dal (not pictured) was much soupier in consistency than I’m used to and was heavy on the chilli but it worked well as a dressing for the rice and provided some much needed liquid to the dry curry.
The “sag” aloo was really only there to use up some leftover potatoes and cabbage. We almost forgot about the chapatis but since there isn’t any yeast, they were easy to make at the last minute.
Kaalee Mirch Cha Mutton
Serves Two
1 cup coriander leaves
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup fresh grated coconut
10 unsalted cashew nuts
3 green chillies
Pinch mustard seeds
2 tablespoons oil
1cm cinamon
2 green cardamon pods
2 cloves
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Thumb sized piece of ginger, chopped
500g diced lamb
1/5 tsp turmeric powder
3/4 tsp coriander seed, crushed
1/2 tsp cumin seed, crushed
50ml natural yoghurt
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper, ground
1/4 tsp garam masala
1/2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
In a food processer, blend the coriander leaves, mint leaves, coconut, nuts, green chillies, mustard seeds with 30ml water.
Heat the oil, then add the cinamon, cardamoms and cloves. After 1 minutes, add the onions and saute for 15 minutes until the onions are beginning to brown. Then add the garlic, ginger and lamb. Turn the heat to medium-high and fry the lamb for 5 minutes. Add the turmeric, coriander and cumin powders and stir continuosly for a few minutes so that it is coated with the spices.
Turn the heat down low and slowly add the yoghurt, fry for a couple of minutes. Add the green puree, 200ml water and 1 teaspoon salt, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 45 minutes over a low heat. Add the lemon juice and check the seasoning.
When ready to serve, sprinkle with black pepper and garam masala. Stir and serve garnished with fresh, chopped coriander leaves.
Moong Dal
200g yellow moong dal
2 large tomatoes, chopped
2 green chillies, chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Salt
1 tbs coriander leaves, chopped
8 curry leaves
1 tbs oil
Wash the dal and leave to soak for 15 minutes.
Add the dal to 1 litre of boiling water along with the tomatoes, chillies, ginger, two-thirds of the garlic, the cloves and the turmeric. Return to the boil and add salt. Cook for 30 minutes.
Remove from the heat and blend until the grains are completely mashed. Add the coriander and curry leaves and cook for 5 minutes.
Heat the oil, add the garlic and fry until golder. Pour into the dal and serve.
Sag Aloo
We loosely followed this recipe, increasing the spices and substituting cabbage for spinach since we had some leftover.
Chapatis
Makes four
140g chapati flour
85ml tepid water
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil (or ghee, if you have it)
1/4 tsp salt
Mix the flour, oil and salt. Add the water to make a thick dough. Knead until soft and pliable then set aside for 10 minutes.
Divide dough into golf ball sized pieces, dust with dry flour and roll out until approximately 15cm in diameter.
Heat a frying pan and add oil. Place chapati in pan, cook each side for 90 seconds until small bubbles appear and the chapati has turned brown. Brush with oil and serve.
Hamburgers
Stephen and I have been ill all week and existing on plain pasta and dry toast. While I like to think our readers are fascinated by what we eat every night, even I’m not stupid enough to think anyone is interested in looking at pictures of that, hence the lack of posts.
Knowing we were both feeling better and in need of something more interesting than just plain carbs, we decided to make hamburgers for dinner. I also wanted to see whether last week’s success with hamburger buns was a one-off and test them with beef instead of pulses.
I made one batch yesterday but they were a disaster: the complication of converting the original recipe into metric and then quartering it was beyond me and I ended up using enough water for 16 buns instead of the four I was planning to make. Maths never was my strongest subject.
Luckily, I got home early enough today to start again. This effort was slightly more successful but still not as good as last week. The buns were too heavy and stuck to the (oiled) greaseproof paper meaning that they baked unevenly. The hamburgers were good though, if a little on the large side. I kept this recipe quite simple: seasoned minced beef, Dijon mustard, English mustard and Tabasco.
We also attempted to make fries which were OK but the potatoes were old and had that strange, sweet note to them. We cut them using a mandoline which meant they were slightly flat and I think we probably fried too many at once as they weren’t all crunchy.
I’ve copied the bun recipe below (including the conversion to metric and the scaling down from 16 to four) for when I feel ready to get back to baking.
Hamburger Buns
Serves Four
1/4 tablespoon yeast
285g white flour
1 egg
70ml water (possibly a little more if the dough won’t come together)
15g melted butter
15g honey
1/4 tablespoon salt
Sesame seeds
1. Combine the yeast and flour. Blend in the egg, water, buter and honey and knead to a smooth dough – this should take about seven minutes using a hand blender and a dough hook. Add the salt and knead until smooth and elastic. Cover and leave to rise in the fridge until doubled in size.
2. Divide the chilled and risen dough into four and shape into balls. Put them on a baking tray lined with oiled greaseproof paper, cover with oiled cling-film and leave to rise until doubled in size – about 30 minutes at room temperature.
3. Once risen, flatten the balls into hamburger size shapes, cover and leave to rise again – about 30 minutes at room temperature.
4. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and cook at 180 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until browned.
