May 2014 - Slow-cooked beef with ras el hanout

You would think that in "The Baking Issue" I would find heaps of things I wanted to make but no. I really struggled to find something to make. Although I am not sure if it is because of the recipes or if it because I am lacking a bit of cooking mojo at the moment. In the end I decided on two recipes.

One of  those was Jamie Oliver's Wine-braised chicken with roasted grapes. I have made a savoury with sautéed grapes before and it was really good. I have all the ingredients to make it but I decided to make the other one as it is a slow-cooked dish and since it was the weekend it would be better to make that one. The chicken dish takes a lot less time and could easily be a week day meal. 

So I decided on the Slow-cooked beef with ras el hanout. To be honest, it wasn't my thing. I am not sure what the problem was. There was plenty of flavour and a nice bite to it with the chilli but I just didn't enjoy it. I haven't tried the leftovers, perhaps the flavours have developed more since. I will give it a try tomorrow night and see if it is any better. I hope so. I did only make half the recipe so at least I don't have a huge amount of leftovers. 

 Slow-cooked beef with ras el hanout

1 kg chuck steak, cut into 2.5 cm pieces

2 small onions, diced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp ras el hanout

2 small red chillis, deseeded & finely chopped

1/4 tsp salt & pepper

4 tomatoes, deseeded and flesh grated

1 1/2 preserved lemon quarters, rinsed, defleshed and finely chopped

2 tsp honey

handful of chopped coriander 

handful of chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 140C

Combine all ingredients in a casserole dish. Cover and cook for 3 1/2 hours or until meat is tender. 

Once cooked serve with some extra chopped herbs. 

Peppered Beef Stir-fry

I made this for the Cooks Club Challenge over on Taste. This month it has been recipes from the 30 Minute Meals collection. There is still some time left in the month so if you are an Aussie pop on over, make a recipe and post a photo. This month the prize is a copy of the Sydney Seafood School cookbook by Roberta Muir. I am not really big on seafood but I am sure there is someone out there that would love the book.

I am going to admit to being a food magazine snob. When I search for a recipe on Taste I tend to bypass recipes from Super Food Ideas. I have found that so many of them call for a jar of this and/or a packet of that. Some of them really aren't recipes at all as far as I am concerned just combining pre-prepared items. I have found the occasional good one and this Peppered Beef Stir-fry is one of them. I actually had some char siu sauce in the fridge, who know how long it had been there, so it was definitely time to use it up. I would suggest that 1/3 cup is too much though. I think that 1/4 cup would be plenty. I also didn't put the left over marinade in as there was enough still on the meat. I used snow peas, asparagus and spinach for the vegetables and served with noodles. I really enjoyed this. The pepper came through nicely even with the strong flavours from the char siu sauce and soy sauce. It was nice and quick for a mid-week meal. I would definitely make it again. 

Asado in Black Sauce with Chocolate

I haven't bought an issue of Feast magazine in a long time. I did buy the first 6 or 8 issues but found that it wasn't really my thing. I found that a majority of the recipes called for speciality ingredients that I just could not get easily or, because they were perishable, not at all. There were no substitutes offered for those speciality ingredients. The reason given for this was to encourage people to seek out the ingredients in areas they wouldn't normally go. This is fine if you are in a city but when in a regional area it is a lot more difficult and can end up very expensive. Most of the time when I would go looking for ingredients online there out be only one thing that I would want to purchase from the particular online store, or I would pad out orders to make the postage seem worthwhile. However all that ended up happening was I got a bunch of stuff in my pantry that I didn't really want. So I stopped seeking the ingredients out and then stopped buying the magazine altogether.

Occasionally a cover would catch my eye and I would flick through it but I was never struck enough to purchase. However, this time I was caught by two things. The idea on the front cover of how to make my own mozzarella and haloumi, which I haven't done yet, and the Asado in black sauce with chocolate recipe. The picture just looked fantastic and I have always been interested in how chocolate works in savoury dishes. This was really, really easy to make. I know from previous recipes that my butcher does up packs of beef short ribs so I just bought some of them instead of asking for asado. Besides the ribs all I had to do was to buy some red wine. It turned out to be an expensive trip as they had one of my favourite wines on special, 2 for $40 when they are $32 each so I bought 4...oops. Since the recipe only used 1 cup I didn't buy anything else for cooking with. The meat ended up fall off the bone and the chocolate added an amazing richness to the sauce. Just a little bit of sweetness but so much depth. I was actually surprised at just how much it added to the over all dish. I wasn't really sure what to serve with it and looked around for something to go with it. In the end though I decided to go with something simple on the side so as not to take away from the flavour of the ribs and served with steamed broccoli and corn on the cob. I highly recommend this dish and I will definitely be making this again. 

Asado in Black Sauce with Chocolate 

1 kg asado beef ribs (or short ribs) 

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 

60 ml olive oil 

1 onion, finely chopped 

1 celery stick finely chopped 

1 large carrot, finely chopped

110 g dark brown sugar (I didn't have dark so used regular)

70 g tomato paste 

1 c (250 ml) red wine

2 c (500 ml) beef stock 

20 g 70% dark chocolate, finely chopped

Grind 3 garlic cloves, oregano, allspice, cayenne and 1/2 tsp salt into a paste. Rub all over meat, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. 

Brown on each side in batches, set aside. Cook onion, celery, carrot and the remaining garlic until softened. Add sugar and cook 2 min. Add tomato paste, cook 2 min. Return ribs with wine & stock, bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 2 hours or until tender. (I think it would be good at about 160 C in the oven too). 

Remove ribs. Boil sauce until reduced 1/3. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Pour over ribs to serve. 

Smoky Beef Chilli Con Carne

For Sylvia, hope that you enjoy this. 

Smoky Beef Chilli Con Carne 

by Katie Quinn

from Delicious magazine June 2013

2 large dried ancho chillies 

1 kg beef chuck steak, cut into 3 cm pieces 

2 tbsp plain flour, seasoned 

2 tbsp olive oil (I would use grapeseed)

1 onion, finely chopped 

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp smoked paprika 

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 

2 chipotle chillies in abodo sauce, chopped, 1 tbsp sauce reserved 

1/3 c bourbon

1 bay leaf 

1 L (4 c) beef stock 

2 red capsicums, seeds removed and chopped 

2 x 400 g cans chopped tomatoes 

2 tbsp tomato paste 

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder
425 g can black beans, rinsed and drained

425 g can red kidney beads, rinsed and drained 

Steamed rice, sour cream, grated cheese and flat leaf parsley, to serve. 

Cover ancho with boiling water and leave for 30 min, drain remove seeds and slice finely. 

Coat beef with flour and brown using 1 tbsp oil in batches, remove and set aside. 

In remaining oil cook onion and garlic until soft, add cumin, paprika, oregano, cinnamon and cayenne and cook for 1 minute. Return beef to the pan. 

Add all the remaining ingredients except for the beans. Bring to boil then simmer, with lid ajar for 2.5 hours. Add beans and simmer for a further 30 min or until thickened. Season as required and serve. 

A long list of ingredients for what is actually a fairly easy recipe. I hope to get it made one day.

January 2013 - Posh cheeseburgers

Like every year this delicious magazine is a double issue for December and January so you get the pleasure of another recipe from this delightful issue. 

I have been back and forward through this issue so many time trying to decided what to make for January. I have decided and changed my mind so many times. 

The first recipe that caught my eye when looking through this issue was the jellied ham. It just looked perfect, nice and Christmasy. Finely chopped ham, cornichons and capers in jelly made from gelatine leaves and chicken stock. I really wanted to make it but I don't have any home made chicken stock in the freezer at the moment. I should have made some while I was off work during the Christmas/new year period. I will keep the recipe noted for when I next make stock. 

The next recipe I really wanted to make was the sweet & spicy duck with pineapple chutney. If you have been reading my blog for a while you may have noticed that I always seem to pick out duck recipes as ones I would like to try. I know full well that I will not get a chance as I cannot get duck here. Well, I can, but only frozen whole ducks and all I really want are duck breasts. The only time I did see them here was in one of the supermarkets and one of the trays contained very obviously off meat. I had a hard time convincing the meat department person that it was off so I decided that I wouldn't buy any of their other duck or, in fact, any meat there at all. Besides I have my excellent butcher to buy meat from. As per usual the duck recipe is a pipe dream. However I might make the pineapple chutney at some stage. 

The other recipe that I really, really wanted to make and will make soon is the Lamb meatballs with barberries, yoghurt and herbs. I bought barberries some time ago for some reason that I cannot remember now. I will make this so that I can use them. 

In the end I decided to make the posh cheeseburger. The recipe used eye fillet, I didn't have any but did have a thick cut porterhouse. Next time though I would use scotch fillet as I much prefer that cut. I marinated the steak overnight rather than just for an hour. I made the slow roasted tomatoes but I guess the romas that I bought weren't all that good as they took a lot longer to cook and were a bit 'meh' taste wise. Instead of onion jam put some of my home made chilli sauce on and used some of the cheese I got on my recent foodie trip instead of bocconcini. I really enjoyed it. I could have added some more chilli, garlic and thyme to the meat marinade. It was good but would have love a bit more of a flavour hit. I would probably use either roasted cherry tomatoes or bought semi-dried tomatoes next time.

Posh Cheeseburgers

2 cloves garlic, crushed 

1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes

2 tsp thyme leaves 

2 tbsp olive oil

400 g porterhouse or scotch fillet

4 crusty bread rolls, toasted

Sweet chilli sauce, rocket, semi-dried or roasted tomatoes, bocconcini, aioli and shaved parmesan, to serve

Combine garlic, chilli and thyme in a bowl and mix well. Add steak and turn to coat. Marinade at least an hour or preferably overnight.

Pre-heat oven to 200 C. 

Heat a frypan over high heat. Sear beef until just browned on each side and then place in the oven for 10 - 12 minutes. Remove and rest for at least 10 minutes. 

Spread each roll with aioli top with rocket, tomato, top with finely sliced pieces of steak and then add cheeses and drizzle with sweet chilli sauce. 

Soy & Maple Beef with rice

I subscribed to the Australian Healthy Food Guide a while ago. It is a nice little magazine with some great tips and tricks in it. There is also plenty of recipes however I will admit that until this issue I hadn't made any of the recipes. In fact I didn't even make the recipe that was in the magazine. What I made was based on the recipe in the magazine but the balance of flavours just didn't seem to be right to me and I changed some of the vegetables in it. If I made it again I would add some chilli to it as well as it needed some zing.

Soy & Maple Beef 

500 g beef, very thinly sliced 

1/4 c maple syrup

1 tbsp kecap manis 

1 tbsp grated ginger

2 cloves garlic, crushed 

2  tbsp oil

1 red onion, cut into wedges 

1 red capsicum, roughly chopped (I didn't have one but would add it in) 

1 carrot, finely sliced (I used a mandolin) 

2 sticks celery, finely sliced

small head broccoli cut into florets

handful snow peas, trimmed and halved

Brown rice to serve

Combine maple syrup, kecap manis, ginger and garlic in a bowl. Add beef and leave to marinate for an hour. 

Heat half the oil in a wok. Fry beef in batches and then set aside. 

To the wok add the remaining oil then add onion and cook until starting to soften add capsicum, carrot, celery and broccoli and stir fry for a few minutes. Return beef to the pan with the snow peas and a bit of the leftover marinade. Cook to heat through. Serve with rice. 

October 2011 - Vietnamese Steak with Watercress

Finally getting around to posting October's delicious magazine recipe. I made this a week ago but just hadn't gotten around to writing any posts the past week. It was a long week this past one, I hope that the next one will be better. 

There were a number of recipes that I was interested in making from this issue and I hope to go back and get them made over the next little while. The first of these is Ben O'Donoghue's Yoghurt-marinated fish wrapped in zucchini. Such an unusual sounding combination. It says to use firm white fish fillets but I wonder if it could be made with salmon. I might try it out and see what happens. 

I was also interested in two different dishes in the Tuesday Night Cooking feature. The first is a Thai Pork Vermicelli Salad. Made with marinated pork tenderloin and vermicelli noodles it will be a wonderful meal during summer and will be just as good cold as warm I am sure. I have made a number of different salads using vermicelli in the pasta and they are always very light and refreshing. I am sure this one will be also. 

The other recipe in the Tuesday Night Cooking feature was the Middle Eastern Lamb Tart. It is a free form tart using filo spread with hummus and then topped with a spiced lamb mince mixture. It looks like it would be easy to make even though I have never had a lot of luck with filo pastry. Perhaps with something like this it would be okay since I am not having to try and line a dish with it. I think that you could probably do your mince mixture ahead of time to make the final cooking even quicker. 

In the end though I decided to go with Bill Granger's Vietnamese Steak with Watercress. It was a very simple meal to make that had a lot of flavour. It was a tad oily for me so I would probably cut down on that a bit next time but it was definitely very good. I added some blanched halved sugar snap peas as well as the asparagus to up the vegetable content a bit. 

Vietnamese Steak with Watercress

Ingredients: 

• 600 g sirloin steak, cut into 4 cm x 4 cm pieces
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped 
• 2 tsp white sugar 
• 1 1/2 tbsp light olive oil 
• Pinch ground white pepper (I used about 1/4 tsp) 
• 2 bunches asparagus, trimmed, sliced on an angle  (blanched)
• handful sugar snap peas, trimmed, halved on an angle (blanched)
• Large handful watercress
• 1/4 c white wine 
• 2 tbsp soy sauce 
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 20 g softened unsalted butter

Method: 

• Crush garlic with sea salt in a mortar, combine with garlic, sugar, 1 tbsp oil, white pepper, 1 tsp salt and steak. Cover and let marinate for at least an hour. 
• Heat pan over high heat and add remaining oil (I used grapeseed here).
•  Cook beef and marinade, without touching for 1 minuted. Turn beef and cook for a further 1 minute. Shake the pan for 30 seconds to cook the sides. Remove beef from pan, keep warm. 
• Add wine, soy & fish sauces and butter to fry pan and cook until reduced and thickened. 
• Combine asparagus, snap peas and watercress on a plater, top with pieces of steak and then drizzle with the sauce. 

Oxtail & Beetroot Pie

The past week has been awful. It is so incredibly hard to be half a world away when  you lose a family member. I wish that I could be there right now with the rest of my family. Alas, I cannot. 

I made this two weekends ago. It was a lot of work but I do think it was worth it. However, it could easily be made a lot simpler with the use of chuck steak or gravy beef in place of the oxtail. This would eliminate the need for the soaking and the blanching. I will admit that I didn't make the pastry. I placed the filling in a dish and topped with puff pastry. I served it with a sweet potato & swede mash and steamed green beans

Recipe:  Oxtail & Beetroot Pie

Delicious: June 2011 - Steak in a Tomato & Caper Sauce

I had every intention of getting something, actually several things, made from this issue of Delicious magazine early in the month. It just never seemed to happen though. I had even bought what I didn't already have for Jessica Brook & Phoebe Wood's Kumara, Chorizo & Goat's Cheese Tart. I had planned on making this one Sunday for lunch and having the left overs for lunch over the coming week. However, for whatever reason, it just didn't happen. I have decided that I am not overly keen on goat's cheese for the most part so I had decided to use some marinated bocconcini that I had found on special. When I didn't get the tart made, I used the bocconcini on a pizza and in some toasted pizza wraps so that it didn't go to waste. I still have the chorizo in the fridge but it is vac packed so it will be fine for a while yet. 

I was also keen on Alice Hart's Carrot & Coriander Fritters with Haloumi and Sweet Lemon Dressing. Although I would have traded out the coriander, probably for thyme or mint perhaps even just plain old parsley. It was a bit of a reminder of Bill's Corn Fritters and I thought that you could probably make a great lunch dish or a light dinner with the addition of some saladish items. 

Matthew Evans' Beef & Barley Soup was another that I had earmarked to make. I just love barley in a soup and usually make some kind of beef & barley soup each winter by just throwing things in a pot. This one was served with an orange gremolata, which seemed like an interesting addition. I will definitely be giving this one a try some time soon. 

In the end I decided to make Louise FitzRoy's Sirloin Steak in a Tomato & Caper Sauce. The main reason that I chose this recipe was that time was getting on and I was starting to get hungry on Friday night and this was a very easy recipe but one that would be packed with flavour. I had a couple of scotch fillet steaks in the freezer so I pulled them out and zapped them carefully in the microwave to defrost. I don't normally defrost raw meat in the microwave as it is so easy to go over board and start cooking it. Some times it just cannot be helped though. This was such an easy dish to make and it really did pack a punch in the flavour stakes. I had some left over mashed potato that I re-heated, steamed some spinach and heated some frozen mixed vegetables to go with it. It was the perfect easy Friday night meal. 

Steak in a Tomato & Caper Sauce 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup (60ml) olive oil
• 4 x 150g sirloin steaks
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 6 anchovy fillets on oil, drained
• 2 tbsp capers, rinsed, drained
• Small handful flat leaf parsley, finely chopped, plus extra leaves to serve
• 400g can tomatoes
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• Mashed potato, to serve

Method: 

• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a frypan over high heat and sear steaks for 1 minute on each side then set aside.
• Reduce heat to medium, add remaining oil and cook garlic, anchovies, capers and parsley, stirring until anchovies melt. 
• Add tomatoes and oregano and simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until thickened.
• Return steaks and any juices to the pan cover with the sauce, simmer for 6-8 minutes. 
• Season, then serve with mash and parsley leaves. 

 

 

Meatloaf with Red Quinoa & Mushroom Sauce

It is a bit late to be starting a new blog post now but my bedroom is freezing cold and I need to let the heater in there do its job for a little while before going to bed. It is probably not as cold as it could be tonight but still cold enough that I don't want to be trying to sleep in a cold room. I did finally succumb last night and pulled out my heavy wool doona for the first time this winter. I was definitely warmer last night than I had been the night before and it was definitely colder last night. 

This is a recipe that I have been meaning to post for over a month now. It was the first thing that I made with my purchase of red quinoa. When I first purchased it I did a google search to see what I could come up with to make with it and I came across this meatloaf recipe over at Simple Recipes. It definitely sounded like a good way to start testing the red quinoa out. I do love meat loaf especially that you end up with a bunch of left overs that can be used to make meatloaf sandwiches for lunch during the coming week. I decided to make a few changes to the recipe. My mum almost always did a mushroom sauce with meatloaf. Hers usually involved a tin of cream of mushroom soup which is fine for family size but too much for a smaller one. I have done it with a sachet of mushroom cup-a-soup. However for this one I just sautéed a handful of mushrooms in some garlic olive oil and added some cream, a little bit of dijon mustard and some salt and pepper. It was just perfect with the meatloaf. I served this with harvard beets & carrots, peas and mash. It was a wonderful meal. I think next time I will do it in my mini loaf pans. I had intended on adding in the tomatoes, I forgot but next time would add them for a bit of extra moisture.

Meatloaf with Read Quinoa

Ingredients

• 450 g lean beef mince
• 450 g lean pork mince
• 1 cup red quinoa, rinsed and pre-soaked in water for about 30 minutes
• 1 small onion finely chopped and sautéed in some oil until soft
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp chilli paste, or to taste
• 2 tsp mixed herbs
• Dash worcestershire sauce
• ½ bunch fresh parsley, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients together. 
• Place in a oven safe dish and bake for 40 minutes at 175 C.

 

I am so tired and I am heading off to bed very shortly but I just wanted to get something posted. I was looking through things last night and realised that I have so many things that I have made from Sydney Food that I haven't yet blogged about. I also have a number of other things that I want to post too. It has been hard to go back to work after a couple of weeks off. Haven't been feeling well or sleeping well either so it is all just a bit of a "perfect storm" of blah at the moment. 

I made this a while ago now. I couldn't get any veal at the time but my wonderful butcher gave me some wonderfully tender beef although I can't remember exactly which cut he gave me now. ***oops*** I would definitely make this again. The left overs were very good too. I served with spicy roast sweet potato and steamed broccoli & cauliflower. 

Parmesan veal schnitzel with creamed potatoes

Ingredients: 

• 8 veal escallops
• 1 cup fresh breadcrumbs (I made them from wholemeal bread)
• 1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup parsley 
• 2 tbsp finely chopped thyme 
• 1 teaspoon sea salt 
• freshly ground black pepper 
• 1/4 cup milk 
• 2 eggs 
• 1 cup plain (all-purpose) flour 
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Method:

• Place veal escallops on a board and flatten with a mallet. Place breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well. Place milk and eggs in a bowl and beat lightly together. Place flour in a bowl.
• Dip veal first in the flour, then egg wash and finally in breadcrumb mixture. Continue until all veal is coated.
• Heat olive oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Place veal in frying pan in a single layer, being careful not to crowd, and cook for two minutes until golden brown on one side. Turn veal and cook for a further two minutes. Remove from pan and keep warm until all the veal escallops are cooked. Serve with creamed potatoes.

Creamed potatoes 

Ingredients

• 800g potatoes suitable for mashing
• 1 cup cream (I used natural yoghurt)
• 75g butter 
• 1 tsp sea salt

Method:  

• Place potatoes in boiling water and cook until tender. 
• Remove from heat, drain and mash potatoes in saucepan. 
• Beat yoghurt & butter into potatoes with a wooden spoon until smooth. Season with salt to taste. 

Fine Steak Sandwich with Garlic Crème

I went out for breakfast this morning at a local cafe. Just a simple breakfast of poached eggs on toast but it was wonderful not to have to make it myself. It was also good to have poached eggs. I have never had much luck doing poached eggs. I even tried those silicone poach pods and didn't have any luck with them either. I will have to try again though since there is a poached eggs with spinach recipe in Sydney Food but for now I was happy that someone else was making it for me. The leisurely breakfast was followed by a walk around the shops and then bought some lunch and went to the park for a bit of a picnic. I wasn't quite the picnic lunch that I had envisioned earlier in the week with this Beetroot and Feta Tart that I found over at nami-nami but it was still very good and nice and relaxing half day out.

So I am still catching up with recipes made a while ago. I really enjoyed these steak sandwiches, also called the Perfect Steak Sandwich. I could not find any nice ciabatta when I was shopping so used some bread that I already had and toasted it, although ciabatta would have been much nicer. I loved the balsamic caramelised onions, which are very easy to make. In fact I made extra so that I could use them with other things. They are particularly good on pizzas. The garlic crème, a mayonnaise flavoured with garlic and balsamic vinegar was very tasty, although it does not have a long shelf life. You could add some balsamic and roasted garlic to some store bought mayonnaise for something a bit longer lasting. Although the roasted garlic will have a milder flavour. Neil Perry's signature mayonnaise is a very good store bought one that has a similar consistency and taste to a homemade mayonnaise. I used grapeseed oil in place of the canola oil. I didn't have any rocket but did use some baby spinach leaves I had in the fridge. I got a piece of sirloin steak sliced fairly thinly from my wonderful local butcher, I managed to cook it probably a minute too long. It was a perfect lunch time meal or for a light main meal. 

Delicious April 2011 - Braised Oxtail with Orecchiette

Hmmm...I don't seem to be making much from my old Delicious magazines lately. At the end of last year I had planned on making something from a different magazine at least once a week but I really haven't been doing that. So I will have to start doing that again starting next week. In fact I might see if I can find a nice easy soup recipe for tonight. Something that I have everything for...hmm that might be a bit harder. Oh well maybe find something to make for tomorrow night and I can eat some of my multitude of leftovers for dinner tonight. 

Issue #103 had a number of things in it that I was interested in making. The first was Marmalade-braised red cabbage that I had planned on serving with a pork belly roast. I really like cooked cabbage and am always on the lookout for different ways to cook it. However, the price of a decent-looking marmalade really put me off. I don't like marmalade to eat that much and I only needed 1/4 cup for the recipe so I wasn't all that interested in spending money on a largish jar of something that was just going to sit in the fridge and not get used again for goodness knows how long. 

I then considered a couple of different meals from the Tuesday Night Cooking section, Fried Haloumi with Chorizo & Cherry Tomato Salsa was the first. It sounded so good and easy with a bit of spice to it. However I make similar things frequently so it wasn't really something new for me. The other that I considered was the Welsh Rarebit Steak. Interesting combination and very easy to make. Although, when using a lovely piece of eye-fillet from my favourite butcher I tend not to do much with it other than pan-frying it to medium-rare rubbed with a bit of olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper as I really prefer to savour it without toying around with it too much. 

I really want to make something special this weekend. Not for any particular reason. I didn't have company coming but just wanted to spend some time making something new, something slow, something that would be luscious and a bit decadent. While some of the desserts and/or cakes featured in this issue would have fit into all those categories I really wanted something savoury, a meal. That is when I decided on Guillaume Brahimi's Braised Oxtail with Orecchiette. Oh, and what a good decision it was. It took me two days to make it and while it took a while to make it certainly wasn't intensive. It definitely was luscious and decadent though. The richness that all the red wine in the dish made it perfect. The carrot puree in it added some sweetness. All round it was just a perfect meal. I made half the recipe and will get three serves out of it. So a full recipe would be perfect for a dinner party, and it is definitely show off food. I didn't have the orecchiette pasta to go with it so decided that I would use the pasta press attachment for my KitchenAid and make some fresh pasta to go with this fabulous sauce. This is definitely one to try.

Braised Oxtail with Orecchiette

Serves 6 

Ingredients: 

• 100ml olive oil 
• 2 kg oxtail pieces 
• 100 g unsalted butter 
• 300 g mirepoix (1 each celery stalk, carrot and onion finely chopped) 
• 1/2 bunch thyme 
• 2 fresh bay leaves 
• 1 tsp white peppercorns (I only had black peppercorns) 
• 2 roma tomatoes, quartered
• 2 L (8 cups) red wine (I used a Shiraz) 
• 4 carrots, thinly sliced
• 500 g orecchiette
• Freshly ground white pepper
• 70 g Parmigiano Reggiano, shaved (I finely grated)
• Flat-leaf parsley, leaves very thinly sliced to garish (I only had curly parsley)

Method:

• Heat 75 ml oil over high heat and add oxtail in batches cooking until browned on all sides. 
• Melt butter, in the same pan, add the mirepoix  and cook, stirring, until golden. 
• Return oxtail to pan with thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns, tomato and wine. Bring to the boil and then reduce to barely simmering. 
• Cover and continue to cook for 3 1/2 to 4 hours or until meat is falling from the bones.
• Allow to cool then remove meat from bones and keep separate to stock.
• Cover and refrigerate stock overnight. 
• Place sliced carrots into a saucepan and cover with cold water and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes or until quite soft. 
• Drain carrots then puree in a food processor and pass through a fine sieve. Refrigerate until required.
• Remove as much fat as possible from the top of the stock and then heat until just liquid enough to pass through a sieve into a clean pan.  Draining as well as possible.
• Bring to the boil and reduce to about 1 cup. Reduce heat to low and add oxtail meat and carrot puree and warm through.
• Meanwhile cook pasta in a large pot of water with the remaining oil and some salt. Drain well.
• Add the sauce to the pasta, season with salt and white pepper, and stir gently to coat the pasta with the sauce. 
• Garnish with cheese and parsley just before serving. 

Green Papaya Salad with Char-grilled Beef

I am off to my cousin's 18th birthday party tonight but I thought that I would just get a quick post in before I do.

I have found myself sitting around doing quite a bit of contemplating over the past couple of days. Some times that is not a good thing, other times it is great to consider all the options. My current contemplations have been of the not good kind. The kind where you doubt the decisions you are making, wondering what the hell you are doing and why you are doing it. Oh and the all time most useless contemplation of all...what is going on in someone else's head....sigh. It is not like you will ever be able to answer that last one with any sort of accuracy so why even start. I just can't seem to help it sometimes though. All I can do is try not to let the negativity get the better of me and just go with the flow.

There are a few recipes in Sydney Food that I was wondering if I would ever get the chance to make. There are a couple of seafood dishes that I am not sure of. I probably would be able to get everything but I just don't know what the quality of the ingredients will be like. I guess I will just have to wait and see, there is still plenty of time since it is only April. This Green Papaya Salad with Char-grilled Beef was one of those recipes that I really didn't think that I would get a chance to make. I had never seen green papaya (or paw paw) here before. I thought that if I did take a trip away somewhere I might be able to do it then, depending on where I was, but I really didn't think I would get it made and was already trying to figure out what sort of substitutions could be made. I was really surprised one day not so long ago when I walked into one of our local fruit and veg shops to find a variety of more unusual ingredients including about 4 green paw paws. There was a nice small one so I quickly changed my plans and grabbed it and then went across the street to my favourite butcher to get a lovely piece of sirloin to use. Oh, it was so worth making. I was so pleased with the result. There was a fabulous combination of flavours and it was so fresh. I was a little disappointed that it wasn't as good the next day as leftovers, but I guess you can't have everything. I would definitely make this one again, I just hope that our fruit & veg shop with continue to get these ingredients in. 

Green Papaya Salad with Char-grilled Beef

Serves 2

Ingredients: 

• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 red chilli, finely chopped 
• 1 tbsp palm sugar 
• 3 tbsp lime juice 
• 2 tbsp fish sauce 
• 1 1/2 c julienned green papaya
• 1/2 c julienned cucumber 
• 2 green onions, finely sliced 
• 1/4 c Thai basil leaves (I used a combination of lemon basil & sweet basil) 
• 1/4 c mint leaves 
• 1/4 c coriander leaves (I used parsley) 
• 2 sirloin steaks 
• peanut oil 
• cracked black pepper 

Method: 

• Combine garlic, chilli, palm sugar, lime juice and fish sauce and stir until sugar has dissolved. 
• Add papaya, cucumber, green onions, basil, mint and coriander and toss to combine. 
• Oil steaks and season with pepper. 
• BBQ or grill until done to your liking then rest for 5 minutes before slicing thinly. 
• Divide salad between serving plates and top with slices of beef.

August 2003 - Beef Stir-fry with Rice Noodles

Well, I haven't managed to make much of a start on posting yet. I have gotten quite a bit of the actual cooking done though. I guess that it is a start. Something I noticed looking through this month's magazines was that on all but two of the covers are some very delicious looking desserts. The Malted chocolate pudding with Mars bar custard looks incredible. There were two reasons that I didn't make it the first being that I didn't have everything needed for the recipe and and second, I really don't need any desserts at the moment. 

The first recipe that I actually considered making was Jill Dupleix's Hokk Bol (Chinese pork noodles). Jill describes it as an Asian version of spaghetti bolognese. I was intrigued by it but at the same time I wasn't convinced that I would actually like it. There were only two things that I didn't have to make it, hoisin sauce (which I normally have) and Shaohsing rice wine, which I know in small quantities can be substituted with sherry. In the end I just decided to not to take the chance with the lovely pork mince I have in the freezer. 

I decided to make something quick one night after work and Valli Little's Beef stir-fry with rice noodles was just the thing.  I didn't have a leek, so just used onion. I had no tamari, so just used light soy sauce and used sherry in place of the shaohsing. The end result was a but gluggy, perhaps I didn't have the heat high enough when cooking. It was also quite salty, water may have been a better option than stock. It was nice though and was very quick and easy to make from store foods. 

 

July 2010 - Smoky Texan Short Ribs

Wow, another month as been and gone, it really is incredible how fast this year is passing by. It feels like I only started this blog yesterday.

I was interested in making the Spinach, brie and mushroom freeform pie. However since I had planned on making the creamy chicken, pea and bacon pies from the 2009 issue I didn't want to have two pies in a row.

The next recipe that I considered making was Justin North's Beef braised in stout with winter mushrooms and crushed potatoes. This sounded like a really good recipe which involved marinading the beef overnight in stout and various other ingredients. However I had made a couple of, non-blog  related, casseroles so thought I would try something different.

Finally I decided to make Adrian Richardson's Smoky Texan Short Ribs. These were really nice, although I was feeling a bit under the weather when I ate them so I didn't enjoy them as much as I may have if I was feeling ship shape. These were easy to make and I got some of the biggest and meatiest ribs from my local butcher. I think that I could have trimmed them a bit but they were great as they were.

Smoky Texan Short Ribs

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 3 onions, roughly chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 4 small red chillies, deseeded, roughly chopped
• 1/2 firmly packed cup (110 g) brown sugar
• 2 tbsp smoked paprika 
• 2 tbsp ground ginger
• 1/4 c (60 ml) soy sauce
• 1/4 c chopped coriander leaves 
• 2 cups (500 ml) red wine
• 1/4 c (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil 
• 1/4 c (60 ml) sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar 
• 2.5 kg beef short ribs cut across the bone into 10 cm pieces

Method

• Place all ingredients except ribs in a processor with 1 tbsp each of salt and pepper. Pulse to combine. 
• Arrange ribs in a large shallow container and pour marinade over turning to evenly coat. 
• Cover and marinate for up to 48 hours (I didn't 36 hours) 
• Preheat oven to 160 C. 
• Transfer ribs to roasting pan and cover with foil. 
• Bake 1 1/2 to 2 hours basting with marinade every 20 minutes. 
• Remove from oven and allow to cool. (This can be done up to 4 days ahead)
• Preheat bbq or chargrill to medium-high and grill ribs for 3 minutes each side or until sticky and warmed though. 

April 2004 - Quick Beef Stroganoff

This is the second magazine in a row where the cover recipe looks so good that it is hard to resist making it. However the amount of chocolate in The Ultimate Chocoholics Muffin is just too much for me to eat at the moment.

I was going to make the Country Chicken & Vegetable Pie. It looks so good and was one of only two recipes that I had marked in this issue. The creamy filling topped by a lard and butter pastry looks pretty glorious. It seems to be an easy recipe and I am sure that it would be tasty. I hope to make it one day. I seem to be building up a lot of recipes that I want to come back to. These are all added to the huge amount of recipes that I have bookmarked from other blogs and websites. Then, of course, there are the ones that I have already tried but are so good that they have to be made again. There just does not seem to been enough days to make all these incredible recipes. This is especially so when I almost always end up with leftovers. It would be a lot easier if I could make just exactly enough to feed me.

While the chicken pie looked really good, a couple of weeks ago I was looking for something quick and easy to make for in dinner after work. In the end I settled on the other recipe that I had marked in issue #26. Valli Little's Quick Beef Stroganoff was very easy to make, was quick and very tasty. Valli's serving suggestion was boiled potatoes and gherkins. I didn't want heavy potatoes with it so I steamed a piece of spaghetti squash and some green beans to serve with it. I enjoyed it enough to say that I would make it again when I am looking for a simple after work meal. It also helps that I normally have all the ingredients for it in my fridge/freezer, with the exception of the sour cream but it is not hard to pick that up on the way home.

Quick Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

• 600g fillet steak, thinly slice (I used eye fillet)
  
• 1 1/2 tbs flour
• 2 tsp smoked sweet paprika
• 1 1/2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs unsalted butter
• 1 large onion, finely sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tsp chopped thyme
• 250g button mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 cup (60ml) brandy
• 150ml beef stock
• 300ml sour cream

Method

• Toss meat in a bowl with flour and paprika to coat.
  
• Heat oil in a large frypan over high heat and fry steak quickly in batches for 1-2 minutes or until seared on all sides. Remove and set aside.
• Reduce heat to medium-high, add butter and onion and cook for a few minutes until the onion starts to soften and colour.
  
• Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then thyme and mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes.
  
• Add brandy and stock and allow to bubble for a further minute.
  
• Stir in sour cream, steak and any meat juices, then season with salt and pepper.

March 2004 - Steak Teriyaki

There is much to like in issue #25 and a lot of different recipes to choose from. The cover recipe a warm sweet potato, bean & blue cheese salad with crispy prosciutto looked so very good, the only problem is that I am not keen on blue cheese. I will eat small amounts of it and have made a nice blue cheese dressing in the past but chunks of it in a salad are just not to my liking.

I came close to making Geoff Lindsay's Steamed silken bean curd with chinese black vinegar and chilli. It looked really good in the picture in the magazine and some thing that would be nice, light and easy to make for dinner one night. I have not really done a lot with tofu and I am interested in using it some more. I decided though that I would leave my experimentations with tofu for a dish with more flavourings.

Interesting diversion, there was some rather large explosions happening outside which scared my cats and intrigued me. When I went out the front door there was a bunch of fireworks going off somewhere very nearby my house. I am still intrigued as I was under the impression that fireworks were illegal to possess and use in Australia for the average person. I will have to chat with the neighbours tomorrow and find out if they know anything further. There was a number of other people out in the street watching.

Back to the issue at hand. There is a great article on Sophie Grigson accompanied by some terrific recipes, a number of which I want to make. I am having visitors next week so I am thinking of making the pot-roast pork with star anise, ginger, tamarind and port. It sounds so luscious, although I am not exactly sure what ruby port is, I will have to do some googling on that. There are two different desserts one of which I am champing at the bit to try, raspberry & earl grey jellies. It just sounds so good. I would have made them for this post but there is a dessert recipe in a later issue that just had to be made this month.

The regular feature, simple food, is Easy Asian by Jill Dupleix in this issue. The Steak Teriyaki recipe sounded so easy. I love the teriyaki flavours, I have used the pre-made supermarket sauces but decided that it would be great to make this one. I decided not to serve it with the bean sprouts that Jill did as I can only buy bean sprouts in pre-packed bags that usually look wet and slimy to me. I had a beautiful thick cut piece of scotch fillet steak. I managed not to overcook this one, instead I undercooked it. It was fine to eat but was just more rare than I would have liked. I am starting to get frustrated with cooking steaks at the moment. I just cannot seem to get them cooked just to my liking lately. I used to have no problems. My trouble started when I moved and changed from a gas hob to a very old electric hob. I just cannot seem to get the hang of cooking steak on it. I ended up serving it with jasmine rice and greens sautéed with chilli and oyster sauce. I really enjoyed the whole meal and I am sure that I will make this one again.

Steak Teriyaki

• 4 x 150 g scotch fillet or eye fillet steaks
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil (I used rice bran oil)
  

Teriyaki Sauce

• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbps sake or dry sherry
• 1/4 cup soy sauce (I used light soy sauce)
• 1 tsp caster sugar

Method:

• Combine ingredients for sauce and stir to dissolve sugar. Set aside.
  
• Heat oil in fry pan over a medium to high heat.
  
• Brown steaks on all sides quickly and then cook to your liking then remove from pan to rest.
  
• Remove pan from heat and add ingredients for sauce.
  
• Return to the heat and bring to a boil and cook for stirring until sauce thickens a bit, about 2 or 3 minutes.
  
• Slice steak and arrange on bed of rice. Drizzle sauce over and serve.
  

March 2002 - Individual Beef Wellington

Well it has taken me a while to get started on the recipes for March. I have been wanting to get in and get everything done but the days just seem to fly by and I keep putting things off. I was even late going through all of the magazines for the month and picking out recipes. I did, however, borrow the scanner from work last weekend and scanned all the magazine covers for the month rather than having some rather dodgy photographs of them.

Hopefully after today my photography will improve a bit too as I finally got my new camera, the Panasonic Lumix FZ35. I decided to go with one of the super zoom cameras rather than a DSLR as there is so much more involved in being a DSLR owner, like all the lenses, flashes etc that go with it. After a month of stuffing around from the place that I bought it, it finally arrived today and after only using it to take about 20 pictures this evening I am already in love with it. I cannot wait to get started photographing some food with it. Hopefully that will happen tomorrow.

I have to admit that I struggled to find something that I really wanted to make from this issue. I am not really sure why, initially I thought it was the mood I was in when looking through it but I looked through it a number of times. There is some wonderful looking food in it but nothing jumped out and grabbed me and screamed "make me, make me now". The scones with jam and cream on the cover look really nice but it is a recipe that involves rubbing in butter but since I have been converted to making them with cream and lemonade I will never make them any other way. When all you have to do is mix 3 cups of flour, 6 tsp baking powder, 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of lemonade and press out, cut out and bake for 15 - 20 minutes why would you bother rubbing in butter and all the mess that involves? Jill Dupleix's Crash Hot Potatoes are very good. I make them regularly and really this is all about going back and making different things.

There is a feature on the delicious staff's favourite Nigella recipes. The Anglicised Involtini sounds really nice but it seemed to be one that would be a bit difficult to cut back. I came very close to making Jill Dupleix's Hash Browns with Bacon Rolls, as it just sounds so good and the picture of it looks divine. However, in the end I decided to go with the very last recipe in the magazine as recipe by Ian Parmenter. Aussies might remember Ian Parmenter from that wonderful little show on the ABC called Consuming Passions. It was only a short show, before the news if I remember correctly, and he was a colourful character. He made interesting food and he made an good impression on me. I count him as on of the foodie influences on me.

The recipe is Individual Beef Wellington. I had never made Beef Wellington but I was quite interested, I mean meat and pastry in one meal. I decided that to make it properly I would have to have some really good meat. I am quite spoilt for choice where I live for butchers, there are quite a lot and most of them are very good. There is one however who is extra special (and not just because they used to purchase pigs from my family when we had a pig farm). Their meat is always wonderful. About 6 weeks ago the building where their shop was burnt down. It was one of the oldest buildings in our town and housed 6 business and 13 people in the flats upstairs. It was and continues to be a sad and sorry site.

The butcher shop was on the very corner and there has been a butcher in that shop for the past 60 or so years. The latest one having taken over the business a number of years ago now but he had worked there for the previous owner. A couple of weeks ago, they reopened their business in a new temporary location so I decided that this would be the perfect opportunity to support them and get some great meat. I got two of the biggest and best looking pieces of eye fillet, 300g each. The recipe only asked for 150 g pieces so I cut the both in half and now I have some wonderful eye fillet in the freezer for use at a later date. The recipe also called for pate. I was hesitant to use this and in the end only used a tiny little bit as the smell was very off-putting and I was worried about ruining such a wonderful piece of meat. I did quite enjoy the meal but to be honest I think that the eye fillet didn't really need the flavourings and it would have been just as good (if not better) seasoned and pan-fried until medium rare. Oh, and I overcooked it, it was still nice and tender but not as good as if it had been medium rare.

Individual Beef Wellington

• 2 tbsp olive oil
  
• 4 generous pieces of beef fillet (about 150 g each)
  
• 2 tbsp brandy
  
• 150 g mushrooms, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped spring onions
• 4 sheets puff pastry
• 4 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
• 50 g chicken liver pate
• 1 egg yolk, beaten

Method

• Sear fillets on all sides using half the oil. Pour over brandy and ignite. Once extinguished set aside.
  
• Fry mushrooms and onion in remaining oil but do not allow to sweat.
• Pre-heat oven to 200 C.
  
• Sprinkle some breadcrumbs in the middle of the pastry sheets. Top with beef, pate and mushrooms.
  
• Fold pastry up and seal to enclose, trim and garnish with trimmings and brush with egg yolk.
  
• Bake on a tray for 20 - 25 minutes.

I served it with peas and steamed spaghetti squash.

January 2004 - Beef Fillet with Spicy Potatoes and Horseradish and Herb Cream

I am pleased with the progress that I am making so far. I have all my recipes for the rest of January and February picked out, although there are several different options in some magazines. Now I just have to make the food. I don't see that this is going to be a problem as I just love to cook and since I live on my own there is no one else there to do it if I don't. I also have been reasonably careful about choosing recipes that are easy to make for one person, or two portions so that I have some leftovers.

In the January 2004 magazine there were a number of options to choose from - Bill Granger's Chicken Noodle Salad but I have eaten a lot of chicken lately and I needed something different. Kingsley Sullivan's Baked Eggs recipe almost won out and I will make it one day but I wanted something for dinner not breakfast. I finally decided on another Valli Little recipe - Beef Fillet with Spicy Potatoes and Horseradish & Herb Cream. This had to be one of the best meals that I have made in a long time. It was full of a huge variety of flavours and they blended well to produce a very enjoyable meal. I did, unfortunately, over cook the beef fillet so it was no longer pink inside but the meat was not dry to tough thankfully. My favourite part though would have to be the horseradish & herb cream. The smooth, creaminess of the creme fraiche was enhanced by the horseradish and chives to produce a glorious sauce that had me going back for seconds when finishing up the potatoes. I look forward to using the rest of it soon.

Beef Fillet with Spicy Potatoes and Horseradish and Herb Cream

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 5 tbs (100ml) olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tbs finely chopped thyme leaves
• 650g beef fillet, trimmed of fat and sinew
• 2 red capsicum
• 750g potatoes (pontiac, desiree), peeled, cut into 3cm cubes
• 1 tbs sweet smoked paprika
• 150ml creme fraiche
• 2 tbs horseradish sauce
• 2 tbs chopped fresh chives
• 2 tbs balsamic vinegar
• 100g baby rocket (I used baby spinach)
  

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
   
2. Combine 1 tablespoon olive oil, the garlic and half the thyme, then rub into the beef. Set aside to marinate for 15 minutes.
   
3. Grill the capsicum until the skin is blackened and charred. Place in a plastic bag and leave until cool, then remove skin and seeds.
   
4. Slice capsicum into thin strips and set aside.
   
5. Heat a lightly oiled large frypan over high heat, add beef and cook on all sides to brown. Transfer to a baking tray and season with salt and pepper. Cook in oven for 10 minutes (it will still be quite rare, so cook a little longer if preferred). Cool.
   
6. Place potatoes in a bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil, the paprika and remaining thyme. Spread potatoes on a large lined baking tray, and roast for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through and crisp.
   
7. Place creme fraiche, horseradish and chives in a bowl, and season with salt and pepper.
   
8. To serve, combine remaining olive oil and vinegar, season, toss with capsicum strips and rocket. Slice beef into 0.5cm slices. Place potatoes on plates, top with salad, then beef. Drizzle with horseradish cream.