Beef carbonnade is one of the great European stews. Brown some lardons of bacon in a large heavy-based casserole until it has released its fat, remove, then brown some large cubes of well-seasoned beef shin (preferably on the bone), taking your time and making sure each side gets nice and dark. Once the beef is all browned, remove, throw in 4 or 5 chopped onions and cook them down, scraping up the dark bits left in the pan by the beef. Add a couple of bay leaves, some thyme sprigs and a few unpeeled garlic cloves, then pour in a bottle of beer – Belgian beer is ideal, but you really just want something fresh and light rather than a stout. Coopers Pale Ale will work well. Return the meat and bacon to the pan, add a splash of beef stock or water to bring the liquid level up a bit and bring to the boil. Clap a tight-fitting lid on top and either turn it right down (a simmer mat is useful here) or put into a medium oven. Give it a stir occasionally (you'll need to watch it more closely if it's on the stovetop) and it should be done after about 2 hours. You can serve it straight from the pot with mustard, potatoes and a sharply-dressed salad but if you have the time, chill it overnight in the fridge. That way you give the flavours time to develop and you can lift any excess fat off the top before you reheat it.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Cooking Cheap Cuts of Meat
Beef carbonnade is one of the great European stews. Brown some lardons of bacon in a large heavy-based casserole until it has released its fat, remove, then brown some large cubes of well-seasoned beef shin (preferably on the bone), taking your time and making sure each side gets nice and dark. Once the beef is all browned, remove, throw in 4 or 5 chopped onions and cook them down, scraping up the dark bits left in the pan by the beef. Add a couple of bay leaves, some thyme sprigs and a few unpeeled garlic cloves, then pour in a bottle of beer – Belgian beer is ideal, but you really just want something fresh and light rather than a stout. Coopers Pale Ale will work well. Return the meat and bacon to the pan, add a splash of beef stock or water to bring the liquid level up a bit and bring to the boil. Clap a tight-fitting lid on top and either turn it right down (a simmer mat is useful here) or put into a medium oven. Give it a stir occasionally (you'll need to watch it more closely if it's on the stovetop) and it should be done after about 2 hours. You can serve it straight from the pot with mustard, potatoes and a sharply-dressed salad but if you have the time, chill it overnight in the fridge. That way you give the flavours time to develop and you can lift any excess fat off the top before you reheat it.
Moroccan Chicken with Couscous
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons honey
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 large skinless chicken breasts
8 wedges preserved lemons
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/3 cup slivered almond
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small yellow onion, halved, finely chopped
1 small red chile, deseeded, finely chopped
1 cup couscous or quinoa (needs to cook for 15 minutes)
1/3 cup fresh coriander leaves, firmly packed
Directions
Combine the lemon juice, honey, garlic. turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and cayenne pepper in a large glass or ceramic dish. Add the chicken and turn over so that it is thoroughly coated with the marinade. Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least three hours, preferably overnight, to develop the flavours.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Remove the chicken from the marinade and reserve the marinade. Place the chicken and the preserved lemon in a roasting pan. Roast in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until cooked through. Transfer the chicken and lemon to serving plate. Deglaze the pan with some of the marinade and/or chicken stock and sauce the chicken.
Heat the oil in a large sauté pan over a medium heat, add the onion and chilli and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until both have softened. Add the remaining marinade and/or some stock (total 1 cup) and bring to the boil.Remove from the heat. Add the couscous and stir to combine. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Use a fork to separate the grains. Garnish with the coriander and toasted almonds.
Greek Pork Loin with Tzatziki
6 cloves of sliced garlic
3/4 cup of olive oil
1 1/2 cups of lime or lemon juice
2 tsp salt (depending on your taste)
6 Tblspns of dried oregano
Directions
1. Mix the olive oil, sliced garlic, oregano, lime juice, and salt in a resealable large plastic bag. Seal the bag and begin to shake ingredients until they are well mixed together. Then taste marinade and make sure there is no tartness flavor. If marinade seems too tart, you must add more oil until no longer tart. Or if you don’t have enough zing, then add more of the lime juice. The salt and garlic flavors are to be up front, but not too intense. Place your meat in the sealed bag and turn the meat to coat. Leave the meat in the marinade and refrigerate, marinate for 2 to 5 hrs.
2. Get grill ready and preheat the grill at medium heat.
3. Lastly begin to oil grill grate lightly, and then throw away the marinade. Begin to grill the meat for 20 to 30 minutes, only turn the meat one time, or to your preference of the meat being done.
Serve with grilled eggplant, tsatziki and a feta salad.
Tzatziki
16 ounces (2 cups) of thick Greek yogurt
4 to 10 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup of diced or grated cucumber (Kirby or "English")
1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 teaspoons of lemon juice
Preparation:
Prepare all ingredients in advance. Combine oil and lemon juice in a medium mixing bowl. Fold the yogurt in slowly, making sure it mixes completely with the oil. Add the garlic, according to taste, and the cucumber. Stir until evenly distributed. Garnish with a bit of green and serve well chilled.
Garlic Sumac Prawns with Lemon Rice
1 onion, halved and finely sliced
300g long-grain rice
550ml water or stock
1 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tbsp lemon zest; or
1 wedge of preserved lemon rind, diced
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
12 medium prawns, peeled, deveined with tails left
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp sumac and extra for serving
2 tbsp chopped parsley
2 tbsp chopped mint
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Heat two tablespoons of oil in a frypan and cook onion gently for five minutes. Rinse the rice under cold running water, shake dry and add to the onions, tossing well. Add water, salt, turmeric, lemon juice and zest ( or preserved lemon) and bring to the boil. Cover tightly, reduce the heat to very low and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and leave to rest, covered, while cooking the prawns. Heat remaining oil in frypan and cook garlic over medium heat. Add prawns, cayenne, coriander and sumac, tossing well until the prawns are cooked and the garlic is golden and nutty. Toss parsley and mint through rice, top with prawns, garlic, a final dusting of sumac and lemon wedges for squeezing.
Thai Beef Salad
1 lemon grass, cut into 2cm pieces
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 cup coriander leaves
1 small red chilli, seeds removed and chopped, (use 2 chillies if you like
it spicy)
2 tablespoons lime or lemon juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon palm or brown sugar
6 spring onions or 3 shallots, sliced
200 g rocket or mixed lettuce leaves, washed and drained
2 Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
2 tablespoons mint leaves, finely sliced
DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, stir together the dressing ingredients until well combined
and the sugar is dissolved. Adjust the flavor, if desired, by adding more
sugar and/or fish sauce. Set aside.
minutes on each side, until it is cooked medium. Remove from heat and slice into thin strips. You can add the meat and its juices to the sauce and refrigerate, tightly covered, for at least 3 hours, or just serve it straight away.
the cucumber on top of the lettuce, and then pour the meat and dressing over.
Top with the cherry tomatoes and garnish with fresh cilantro leaves.
quality. This is important when cutting raw meat and when carving roasts.
Tandoori Chicken
4 skinned Chicken Quarters
Make 3-4 cuts in each chicken quarter using a knife. Put the chicken in an ovenproof dish. Rub lemon juice into the incisions. Cover it. Let it marinate for about 30 minutes. Combine garlic, ginger, tumeric, green chilli and water in a blender. Grind to make a smooth paste like mixture. Combine the paste to yogurt, ground cumin, garam masala, paprika, salt, (powedered tumeric or food colouring if using) and the melted ghee. Mix all the ingredients well. Spread them over marinated chicken pieces. Coat the pieces with the yogurt marinade. Cover it. Let it marinate at room temperature for about 5 hours. Turn once or twice maximum. Place chicken in a oven at 325 F. Let it roast for 1 hour. Bast frequently and turn once. The chicken should be tender and most of the marinade should be evaporated. Then grill the chicken over hot charcoal. Garnish it with lemon wedges and onion rings.
Indian Pea Soup
1 cup green peas
3 shallots
2 green chilies
3 tbs chopped potato
1 chopped tomato
5-6 mint strips
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp cumin powder
4 whole peppercorns
1/2 tsp grated ginger
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Salt to taste
1 tsp olive oil
2 tbs yogurt
1 tsp gram flour
In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil. On low flame fry 1 tsp gram flour and black peppercorns for few seconds. Sauté shallots,garlic ,ginger and green chilies untill softened. Add salt, cinnamon powder and cumin powder while stirring. Now, add tomato, potatoes and mint leaves and let them boil for 4-5 minutes.
Mix little water to the yogurt, whisk so that no lumps are formed making a thin paste. Pour it into the boiling mixture. Keep stirring.Adding yogurt and tomato gives a little tang to balance out the sweetness of peas. And also, yogurt and gram flour make a good broth for the soup. Reduce the heat, cover with a lid and let simmer for 10-15 minutes until potatoes are tender. Add peas and cook for another 5 minutes.
Carefully blend the above mixture until smooth. Reheat the puree, stirring from time to time and adding a little more water if necessary to prevent the soup becoming too thick or sticking to the bottom of the pan. Cook for another 7-8 minutes.Garnish with mint leaves and serve steamingly hot.
Rogan Josh
* Around 600-700 grams of leg of lamb - chopped into bite-sized chunks.
* 2 tablespoons each of Grated Ginger and Garlic (maybe some more if you want)
* 2 teaspoons salt.
* 1 teaspoon turmeric
* 3 teaspoons garam masala
* 2 teaspoons ground coriander
* 2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 2 dessert spoons of plain natural yoghurt
* 1 teaspoon of red chillie powder
* 2 medium onions - finely chopped
* A tin of tomatoes
Fry the onions in some vegetable oil until translucent, then add the garlic and ginger.
Add all the quantities of ground spices and keep frying - the mixture should be dryish. Fry for a few minutes then add the chunks of fresh leg of lamb.
You should stir-fry for around 5 mins on high-ish heat until the meat has fully browned. Then throw in the tinned tomato. Mash or chop it before you put it in.
Stir it all about and let it cook for a few mins before adding a couple of large dollops of plain natural yoghurt. Stir it all in and then put the flame on high to bring it to a boil.
Then put the lid on and immediately transfer to the lowest possible flame burner. After half hour - take the lid off and give it a stir - and then put lid back on and let it simmer for another half hour. Repeat this for around one and half hours - and you will notice that the consistency of the mixture is a bit thicker - and the colour is bit redder/browner.
Then put the lid on and immediately transfer to the lowest possible flame burner and then go off and do something else for half and hour. Come back after half hour - take the lid off and give it a stir - and then put lid back on and let it simmer for another half hour. Repeat this for around one and half hours - and you will notice that the consistency of the mixture is a bit thicker - and the colour is bit redder/browner.
Sprinkle on a generous handful of freshly chopped coriander leaf and stir it in. Let it rest with the lid on for 5 minutes.