Braised Ox Cheeks with Mashed Potato
At the threat of angering our vegetarian readers even further (not that I realised we had any until today), today we cooked some ox cheeks.
I first saw ox cheeks in Waitrose a few weeks ago and had wanted to use them in a pie but they didn’t have any left when I went back to buy them. It’s taken me a while to track them down since and, having already satisfied our craving for pie, we decided to casserole them. Today actually felt much more like barbecue weather than the winter-warmer that is casserole but since we had been marinating these since last night we continued with our original plan.
We found this recipe which includes ox cheeks but paired with beef fillet. The recipe also called for the use of commercial vaccuum bags, litres of veal stock and a smoker, none of which we had so we ignored all of that and simply did the following, which is a cut-down version which turned out very well. There is still a requirement to marinate overnight though, which meant some forward planning. Also there is a the small matter of 3 and a half hours cooking time.
Ingredients:
2 ox cheeks
1 stick celery, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
a few peppercorns
375ml port
500ml red wine
1 litre beef stock
Pour the port, wine, celery, carrots, onion, bay, peppercorns and thyme into a large bowl. Add the ox cheeks, then cover and marinate in the fridge overnight.
Then remove the ox cheeks from the marinade and strain the marinade, keeping both the marinade liquid and also the vegetables and herbs. Heat some oil in a flameproof casserole or large, heavy-based saucepan and brown the ox cheeks all over. Then remove them and fry the reserved vegetables for a few minutes. When they are softened, add the marinade liquid and boil until it has reduced in volume by half. Then add the beef stock and the ox cheeks and bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer. Simmer for 3 and a half hours.
After this time, the ox cheeks should be really soft. Remove them and turn up the heat to reduce the cooking liquor. This took ages for us and didn’t thicken at all, so when it had reduced enough to concentrate the flavour a bit, we thickened it with some cornflour. After the waiting for the sauce to reduce, the ox cheeks were cold too, so we added them back into the sauce for a while to warm them back up before serving.
The ox cheeks were really good; the meat had a nice crust to it from the initial browning and the slow cooking meant they were meltingly tender. The sauce had a huge amount of flavour too considering there were very few ingredients used. The picture shows just one of the cheeks, we actually ate two between us although the second was smaller. A definite winner and would be perfect in a pie.
Halibut in a Cream and Saffron Sauce with Fondant Potatoes
You could call this a disaster, given that it didn’t turn out anything like we expected it to. It wasn’t brilliant but it was definitely edible and, with a little tweaking, could be a good dish.
We started off by making the fondant potatoes, using this Gordon Ramsay recipe. It’s quite a lengthy process and I’m not sure we got it completely right; the potatoes were cooked through but didn’t seem to take on much flavour from the stock. The texture was rather reminiscient of boiled potatoes which I found a little off-putting.
Next came the sauce which was straightforward: soften some shallots in butter for around three minutes, add some saffron and deglaze with dry sherry. Cook for about three minutes, add about a glass of wine, cook until the alchohol has evaporated, add a small pot of cream, some salt and pepper, some cayenne pepper and then keep warm until needed. At this point we added some cooked mussels (we couldn’t find raw), for decoration purposes really. Not entirely necessary as they didn’t add anything flavour-wise. Somewhere along the way, Stephen decided it was too thin so tried to thicken it with cornflour which turned it rather gloopy. The flavour was good though so I think the essence was right.
The fish was dusted with some paprika and salt flour before being fried for around 10 minutes. This was the best part of the dish, the fish was perfectly cooked and had a good crust thanks to the flour.
So, not a bad effort but sadly not perfect. We also forgot the vegetables which didn’t help.
Cannelloni
To my astonishment, it seems that it’s been almost a month since we last ate pasta. For a pasta lover like me this is practically unheard of and explains the craving I’ve had for most of the week.
A simple puttanesca or carbonara really wouldn’t have been fitting in these circumstances so I started thinking of dishes that required a little more time and energy. Lasagne was my first and obvious thought, it’s my favourite pasta dish and I particularly love the extra depth of flavour that the ragu takes on from baking in the oven.
I had a whole day to devote to cooking today though so decided to make the most of the opportunity and explore something new. I initially opted for a lasagne made with a veal ragu but sadly the butcher only carries Dutch veal which we both avoid.
After further consideration, I decided on cannelloni. We’ve only ever made spinach and ricotta cannelloni (although this early DD entry was based on a cannelloni recipe which, helpfully, I omitted) so I was keen to do a meat version and explore some different flavour combinations, settling on a combination of minced beef and pork.
Serves Four
Ragu
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
3 cloves garlic, crushed
700g minced beef and pork
Generous scraping nutmeg
2 tablespoons chopped herbs (I used sage, thyme, parsley and rosemary)
200ml beef stock
200ml Madeira
100ml milk
2 tablespoons worcester sauce
2 tablespoons tomato puree
Tomato sauce
Bechamel sauce
Cannelloni
Parmesan
To make the ragu, start by sweating the onion, carrot, celery and garlic with some salt and the bay leaves. I do this gently, with a lid on, for about 10 minutes – basically until it’s just about to start browning. Remove from the pan and set aside.
In the same pan, add a little more oil, add the meat, season and brown. When this is done, add the reserved ingredients back to the pan and combine. Season lightly with a little more salt and a generous twist of black pepper.
At this point, I’m not sure if it matters a huge amount what order the ingredients go in but I like to add the dry ingredients like the nutmeg and the herbs first so the meat can really absorb them. Then I’ll add the worcester sauce and the concentrated stock (unless you’re using fresh stock, obviously!) and allow the meat to suck up those up for a few minutes before adding the really wet ingredients.
So, if you’re using the same (non-scientific!) method, the next step is to deglaze with the Madeira (you could of course use wine or sherry) and allow it to bubble for about 30 seconds before adding the water (that makes up the 250ml of stock) and the milk.
At this point it looks like a huge amount of liquid and, as happened today, sometimes the milk will look as if it’s curdled. Don’t worry about the appearance; once it’s reduced down then everything will combine and you’ll be left with a rich, velvety sauce. I had plenty of time today so left the sauce to reduce down on a very low heat for four hours. I think if you’re using milk then it really needs this amount of time to combine properly and for the milk to properly tenderise the meat. Using milk makes a huge difference to the texture and I think it’s really worthwhile, if you don’t have that amount of time then it’s probably best to leave the milk out.
Tomato Sauce
The recipes I consulted varied drastically on the use of tomatoes; I love the combination of meat ragu, tomatoes, pasta and bechamel though so decided to include them. I used my normal method and chopped up six large tomatoes, added them to a saucepan with some oil and salt and cooked them down until I had the consistency I wanted. This took about half an hour – after about 20 minutes I added some tomato puree just to thicken slightly.
Bechamel
I use an all-in-one method for bechamel. There are plenty of other versions, the longer ones usually including bay and nutmeg but I didn’t think that was necessary today given all the other flavours that were going on. I’m also not very good at making proper bechamel and I know the all-in-one method works for me.
25g flour
40g butter
425ml milk
salt and pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan, stir continuously until the contents have come to the boil and thickened. Cook for a further three minutes.
Assembly
Luckily, Stephen was home by this point as this is really a two-person job. We blanched the cannelloni tubes in boiling water for four minutes before filling with the ragu sauce. This part is tricky but we improvised with a Ziplock back that had been snipped at the bottom, in place of a piping bag. The tubes were then layered in the bottom of the dish and topped with the remaining meat ragu and the tomato sauce. The bechamel sauce was then poured over the entire contents of the dish and topped with plenty of grated Parmesan before baking in the oven for 30 minutes.
That all sounds incredibly labour intensive but it really wasn’t, although it is very much a two-stage job. I cooked the ragu and made the tomato sauce this morning and then made the bechamel sauce and stuffed the pasta later on in the afternoon (with Stephen’s help). It could all be done reasonably far in advance and then left in the fridge until needed if you wanted to get ahead.
It’s definitely worth the time and effort although you’ll need plenty of patience as well. The smell of the ragu simmering away all day was glorious but a real testament to my willpower! As I said before, I’ve no idea how authentic this version is as the recipes I found varied so much, from the use of tomatoes to the combining of the ragu and bechamel before filling the cannelloni tubes. I simply took the elements I liked from each recipe and combined them to come up with this recipe. It worked out well though and we were both happy with the result, the ragu was intensely savoury from the herbs but the Madeira and nutmeg added a sweet note too.
Port, Sherry, Madeira, etc…
As part of my studying for the fortified wines module of my wine diploma, I’ve been tasting a fair number of fortified wines as you can see. The exam is tomorrow, after which a lot of these will be thrown away (some are empty or almost empty, some are past their best for having been open for too long and some are just rubbish) and only certain of them kept, so it seemed like a good time for a family portrait.
One of the interesting discoveries for me was Madeira. Not the cooking-quality Sainsbury’s Madeira at the front, but the decent examples behind and to the right of it – Sercial, Verdelho and Malmsey. Another wine that I had never tasted before is the lusciously sweet Rutherglen Muscat from Australia which is over on the right next to the comedy bottle of Commandaria.
Out of all that lot, the ones that I’ve bought normally in the past are the various dry styles of Sherry and maybe the occassional Port (the reason there is no Tawny Port in the picture is that is always disappears quickly and was recycled ages ago!). I might explore a few different types in the future once this lot is a memory 🙂
Chicken wrapped in Parma Ham
I wasn’t particularly excited about this but we had two leftover chicken breasts following yesterday’s green curry and were stuck for something else to do with them. I’d love to say that it turned out brilliantly but unfortunately it didn’t. We seasoned the chicken breasts with pepper and parmesan cheese before wrapping them in Parma ham and baking them in the oven for 25 minutes. They weren’t dry but just a bit dull, even with the parmesan and the ham it still felt like eating a boring chicken breast. The sauteed potatoes were good though.
Thai Green Curry With Chicken
This is an old favourite and one that we eat often, or so I thought. It turns out we last ate it in September which is really quite a while ago.
Like last time, we speeded things up again (by adding the vegetables earlier and cooking the curry for a shorter time) and it seemed not to make a lot of difference. It was hard to tell what impact it had last time since we were using old curry paste so it was good to check again. The full recipe is here.
The Enterprise
A couple of weeks ago, Stephen and I met some friends for dinner in Sloane Square which, in my experience, is rather lacking in decent places to eat. Luckily, I had done my research in advance and was armed with a recommendation for The Enterprise which describes itself as “charming and homely” with a menu serving modern, British food.
We arrived just before 7 and the small bar area was already full, the restaurant wasn’t far off it either. I was slightly concerned that the dining area was rather too formal for a catch-up with friends but they all assured me they were happy to stay and we were shown to a table by the kitchen. Providing there is decent ventilation so my clothes don’t become too smelly, this is my favourite place to sit. I’m naturally quite nosey but more than anythingh, I love to to watch the chefs preparing food and responding to the incoming tickets.
There were five of us in total and we took pictures of all the food, sadly I’ve left it far too long between visiting and posting (as usual) and can’t remember what everyone ate or what they thought of it. Luckily, I can remember what Stephen and I ate so can tell you about that.
I started with whitebait, it’s one of my subconscious rules: if whitebait is on the menu then I always have it. I have loved whitebait for as long as I can remember and am delighted that it appears on menus more frequently these days. This was a particularly good example, the fish were just the right size: plump and juicy and coated with exactly the right amount of batter; there was a decent cayenne hit too.
Stephen ordered smoked salmon which came with capers and pickled cucumbers, a perfect combination. The fish was meaty and not too smoked, well balanced by the vinegary capers and cucumber. A slice of soft brown bread (while perhaps too retro for The Enterprise) would have been a welcome addition.
To follow, Stephen ordered the game pie. I suspect he has a similar rule about pie as I do about whitebait, it’s certainly one of his favourites. He remarked that the pie was gamier in flavour than he expected but enjoyable nonetheless.
I opted for the special of pork belly and chorizo, I didn’t really bother to check the menu once I’d seen it if I’m honest. With two of my favourite things on one plate, there was never going to be another option for me. The pork belly didn’t disappoinit; full of flavour and accompanied by a rich, deep jus, I couldn’t work out all the flavours in this though. Slightly disappointing was the lack of crackling, there was a little but it was heartbreaking to leave behind so much of the lovely skin that could so easily have been crunched up.
And that’s where my memory deserts me; I know there was fish and chips (with those stupid, Jenga style chips that are becoming increasingly popular) and seabass with Meditteranean vegetables, I even have pictures of them, I just can’t remember what was said about them. Next time, I’ll make notes.
I would definitely recommend the Enterprise if you are in the area. Slightly smarter than your average gastropub (which is reflected in the price) but the food was consistenly good and well thought-out.
Pork Hock and Butterbean Stew
We spotted pork hocks in Waitrose on Saturday so grabbed one without knowing what we were going to do with it. A quick look in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s “Meat” book suggested it wasn’t much use for anything apart from flavouring stock. This didn’t seem quite right as I’m sure I’d seen other recipes where people has used the hock for both flavouring and eating.
A Google search confirmed my suspicion and threw up a few different ideas, we settled on a Spanish style stew. It turned out well; there was plenty of meat on the bone that was delicious and moist and the paprika gave a lovely sweet and smoky flavour. It wasn’t at all greasy or gelatinous as Hugh suggested.
Serves Three (two generous meals and one portion of lunch leftovers)
1 pork hock
1 large onion, sliced
Salt
1 red pepper, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
Parsley stalks, chopped
Tablespoon paprika
Salt and pepper
125ml sherry
750ml chicken stock
150g butterbeans, soaked overnight
1 tin chopped tomatoes
Tomato puree
Bay leaf
Parsley, chopped, to serve
Start by covering the pork in cold water, bring to the boil and then drain. This removes any impurities.
Next, soften the onion, pepper and garlic with some salt for about 10 minutes. Add the parsley stalks and cook for a further five minutes before stirring in the paprika. Deglaze the pan with the sherry and allow to bubble for a minute or two.
Now add the rest of the ingredients, including the pork hock, bring to the boil and then simmer for two and a hlaf hours. Remove the pork hock, shred the meat and add this and the bone back to the pot. Cook for a further half an hour. You could cook it for longer but this is all the time we had. Just before serving, check for seasoning and add the chopped parsley.
Serve with plenty of crusty bread.
Breaded Tilapia and Chips with Homemade Tartare Sauce
Over the past 24 hours we’ve been through many different potential menus for the weekend. The main driver for this was that we couldn’t find the ingredients for our first choices, but I think we still over-thought it quite a bit. In the end we settled on breaded fish for this evening and shuffled and re-organised everything else around it.
We bought two tilapia fillets and some oven chips (I know – cheating – but we don’t have a deep fat fryer yet) and tried our hand at making our own tartare sauce. The tilapia turned out rather well, but the tartare sauce didn’t emulsify properly and was too runny but still tasted good (if a little like capery salad dressing). We ate some steamed brocolli with this, which also went well with the pseudo-tartare sauce.
As we made up the fish recipe as we went along, this is an approximation:
Ingredients:
2 tilapia fillets
4 tbsp plain flour
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (these are easy to make by putting bits of white bread into a food processor)
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp vegetable oil
10g butter
Method:
Mix the paprika into the flour, then season with salt and pepper. Put onto a plate (this needs a lot of plates…). Pour the beaten egg onto a second plate. Spread the breadcrumbs out on a third plate. Then dust the fish fillets quite generously with the flour. When that is done, dip them into the beaten egg and finally coat them in the breadcrumbs.
When they are both breaded, heat up a frying pan to medium heat. When the frying pan is hot, add the oil and the butter and when the butter has melted, add the fish. Cook for 4 minutes on each side, then serve.
Saffron Scented Roast Lamb and Rosewater Meringues with Pistachios and Pomegranate
We had friends over for dinner last night so, not knowing what to cook, I picked up Nigella’s “Feast”. I wanted something that was going to sit happily in the oven for a couple of hours and not require too much attention. The book fell open on the saffron scented lamb recipe which seemed like a sign.
It was certainly an easy dish to cook and full of flavour, even though I forgot to marinate the lamb overnight. The flavour of the marinade was well complimented by the saffron sauce too.
To follow, we used our normal meringue recipe with some added rosewater and some toasted pistachios. Served with some whipped cream and some pomegranate seeds. This was good but the flavour of the rosewater didn’t come through as strongly as I hoped, next time I’ll use two teaspoons instead of one.
