Extra Beefy Beef Short Ribs

I LOVE short ribs but finding the right recipe really is a challenge. After much Internet research I still couldn't find the perfect dish. My last attempt was good but my partner (the second greediest meat eater in all the world) felt they weren't 'meaty tasting' enough so this is the inspiration for this dish.

The results were similar to a lovely beef stew. I would also say it would be a great pie filling.

Ingredients
Beef short rib (2 bone)
6 shallots finely chopped
3 garlic cloves bruised
Tomato puree or passata
Beef stock pot
Herb stock pot
Red Wine about 200ml
Beef gravey granules
Lea n Perrins or steak sauce
Seasoning

1. Heat large pan and sprinkle with olive oil. Pat ribs dry, season and brown.

2. Place ribs in bottom of slow cooker or in oven pot (if using the oven pre heat to 140c)

3. Fry shallots in the skillet until soft then add the garlic, passata (about two tbs) or puree (about 1 tbs), both stock and red wine.

4. Simmer for 15 mins and taste. Add Lea n Perrins and graveyard granules (about 1 tbs) and simmer for another 15 mins.

5. Transfer to slow cooker or pot and cook slowly on high  for about 6-7 hours.

6. Remove ribs from slow cooker and cover and skim off the fat from the sauce. Taste and add more graveyard granules as required.

7. Plate meat from the ribs - it should just call off the bone.

I served with mashed Elfe potatoes tender stem broccoli and asparagus covered with lashings of the gravey sauce. Yum.

Karen's Roasted Herby Chicken Legs with Med Veg and Baby Potatoes

Again, I took pictures of this delicious dish and again, they do not seem to be doing the food justice...so I hope that you have food-obsessed minds like me and manage to visualise the recipe, as it really is worth a go, especially at the moment in the lovely summer heat. I know it's roasted, but the flavours are really fresh and the meal isn't heavy. Plus, you can pretty much just bung it in the oven, with only a few trips back from the garden to add the ingredients, all of which can coincide with another pour of a crisp, cold summer wine...

Karen has been on and on and on at me for a good year now about this dish she and Kate used to make back in the day that she really loved and finally last night, we got the ingredients and I got some basic instructions. The results were amazing. I made a marinade for the chicken and we also used our sin-seasoning - the dirty and wrong chicken shake thingy from Bisto - it's so wrong and yet so right....

You only need one largish baking tray  - we used our trusty cast iron.

Ingredients

1. Two chicken legs ( I totally recommend the organic ones from Waitrose, they don't shrink and they taste awesome)
2. One Pepper (any colour) sliced
3. One courgette, sliced into batons
4. 2 small red onions, in large chunks
5. baby potatoes, halved if they're on the large side, as many as you like! season with chicken shake and pepper.
6. Mushrooms, halved, about a handful
7. Four tomatoes on the vine


for the marinade....

1. 1 large clove garlic roughly chopped
2. four sprigs rosemary
3. 4 sprigs oregano
4.a good slug of rapeseed or mild olive oil
5. 1/2 tsp chilli powder
6. pepper
7. Bisto chicken shake thing

Instructions.

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 and place the baking tray inside with some oil.

2. blend the marinade ingredients together, seasoning to taste.

3. score the chicken legs, skin side and flesh side then rub the marinade into it.

4. place chicken and seasoned potatoes in the baking tray and set the timer for 20 minutes. Have a glass of wine in the garden in the evening sun ;-)

5. After twenty mins, have a quick inspection and give the tray a shake. add the onions. Set the timer again for a further 20 mins. Repeat wine consumption...

6. Add the tomato, courgette, pepper and mushrooms and cook for a further twenty mins. Maybe one more glass of wine....

7. Serve with a side of mayo and season yours to taste, then eat up as the sun begins to set...

Tis the Season for Jersey Royals: Herb and Garlic Roasted Jersey Royals with Courgettes

The fact that I wanted to roast these little tats induced a look of horror on my gf's face. But, I persisted and once I had proven to her (by way of google) that it was perfectly acceptable to do so, I was allowed to go ahead.

It's a really simple recipe and so easy. Plus, taste-wise, it's something a bit quirky and in my opinion, a refreshing twist to the old roasties.

They also taste a bit different. Because the skins are on, roasted Royals taste a little bit like baked potatoes but because they're dainty, they're look like roast potatoes.

And it is the season, after all...Plus I have it on good authority this season doesn't last long, so let's make the most of our Jersey royals...

Ingredients:

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 bay leaves, finely chopped,
1 sprig of rosemary, leaves only, finely chopped
2 sprigs of thyme, leaves only, finely chopped
rapeseed or sunflower oil
Chicken salt or Oxo chicken flavour granules (wrong, but good-wrong)
1 large courgette, cut into batons
Jersey Royals
pepper

Instructions:

1. par-boil the potatoes for about 10-15 mins and drain.

2. pre-heat oven to 200 degrees.

3. place potatoes in an oven-proof dish (i prefer cast iron)

4. drizzle with the oil and shake.

5. mix up the herbs and garlic and coat the potatoes.

6. season with chicken salt and pepper.

7. roast in the oven for 20 mins and then add the courgettes, shaking them in to coat them.

8. roast for a further 15 mins and then serve.

We had ours alongside lamb cutlets and they were gorgeous! The pictures didn't come out particularly well so I won't be putting them up this time around :-(

Faux Fried Chicken with Panko Crumbs New Orleans Style

I've been trying to perfect my 'faux' fried chicken ever since my gf bought me a bag of panko crumbs (genius little things, you all have to get some). Last night, my third attempt, I got them just right. Inspired by the flavours of New Orleans style-cooking, along with a desire not to deep fry my food (at home anyway), let me present to you my "awesome" faux fried chicken.

Ingredients:

1 x pack of chicken drums and thighs (5-6 pieces is ideal)

1 x mug of panko crumbs

3 x garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1/2 red chilli, roughly chopped

4 sage leaves, roughly chopped,

1 sprig of rosemary, just the leaves

4 small sprigs of thyme, just the leaves

1/2 tsp 'mixed up salt' (a product that may only be available in the states, but ample smoke salt and pepper will work too)

2 tsps Cajun seasoning

A 'glug' of rapeseed or sunflower oil

Instructions:

1. Blend all of the ingredients above in an electric blender, except the chicken. Taste - to check the seasoning and add more as required.

2. Score your chicken drums and thighs, pat dry.

3. Rub them with the panko crumb mixture - they don't have to be evenly coated, and the coating shouldn't be too thick.

4. Place in a well oiled baking tray - I would recommend cast iron.

5. If you can, leave them to rest for about an hour. If you can't, chuck them straight into a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for about 40 minutes, checking half way through.

As you will see from the pictures, I served with purple sprouting broccoli and sliced potatoes in a cheese sauce - I'm still perfecting this one, but what I would say if you want to try it, because oh my god, it goes really well, serve the potato separately as mash, and just do the broccoli in the cheese sauce (Delia's cheat white sauce with whatever cheese you fancy is another piece of ingenuity!).

Happy faux frying :-)

Re-Discovering Lost Cuts: Roasted Hand of Pork and Creative Ways to Eat the Leftovers

Last weekend, my gf and I were mulling around the farmer's market in Beckenham, and of course were drawn like magnets to a bustling butcher's stall. Here we found a huge joint of 'Pork Hand.' It's sort of leg and shoulder and tastes like a cross between ham and shoulder - gorgeous!

The first night we roasted it (but you need to be prepared to put in the hours with this one as it needs a lot of cooking). It's pretty simple to get it right though and a perfect Sunday dinner:

1. Season the underside with salt and pepper; Sear the skin and rub in ample salt; 
2. Sear the skin in a pan; chuck in on a baking tray, cover and put in the oven at 150 degrees; 
3. Go to the pub; 
4. Check in two hours; remove cover if it needs crisping up; 
5. Go back to the pub; 
6. Return in two hours; rest (the pork not yourself); boil some potatoes for mashing and fresh spring greens; serve with gravy. Yum.

Scoffing the leftovers....

My favourite has been a sort of Southern, pulled pork with kidney beans that I whipped up this morning, so quick and easy it was done by the time I was out of the shower and ready to be packed into little takeaway containers:

1. drain a can of kidney beans but don't rinse. Cover with a little water and add about two teaspoons of fajita mix. Boil.
2. Shred the pork and mix in some Cajun spice.
3. Pack both into separate containers.
4. When lunchtime comes, heat both on a place for 2.30 mins (stirring half way through).
5. Serve with hot sauce, salsa, gauc and sour cream (or eat as it is, whatever you prefer).

So tasty, I'll be having it again tomorrow, that's if I can keep my work colleagues away from it!

Winter Warmer Chilli Pot: with Bean, Courgette and Sweet Potato

I love a good Chilli - with meat, with beans, with veg, any which way as long as it's rich, spicy and warming, especially in this cold wintery weather (yes it's chilly in New Orleans!). It's so simple to make, and with my three secret ingredients (one I have recently discovered is Vegetarian), the sauce still tastes robust and meaty so you don't feel like you're being deprived of the carne even when you're a meat eater! I use two types of beans, always Kidney beans, but the other I just get whatever I fancy on the day, in this case it was butter beans...Enjoy :-)

Ingredients:

any two types of canned beans
good quality chopped tomatoes (trust me, it makes a difference)
thick chilli sauce, like Maggi's
1 x courgette, chopped into quarters
1 x sweet potato, chopped into 2 pence size chunks
1 x red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 green chilli, finely chopped
olive oil
2-3 teaspoons Bisto original (yes, it's vegetarian!)
1-2 teaspoons Marmite
1-2 tsp ground cinnamon  (thanks to Sinne, by way of Nigella for this little gem)

For the Gaucamole:

1 x ripe avocado
garlic puree (not essential)
lemon juice (not essential)

To serve:

sour cream
grated cheese (i like to use a medium cheddar or feta for something different)

(Serves two hungry people with a small lunch leftover)

Instructions:

1. chop onion, garlic, sweet potato and courgette; drain bean and rinse.

2. fry onions in olive oil in a large saucepan until soft and translucent then add the garlic and chilli; stir for a minute before adding the beans and sweet potato.

3. Empty the chopped tomatoes into the pot and stir then add the chilli sauce to your taste (I use about 2 tablespoons).

4. Next add 2 teaspoons of Bisto, 1 teaspoon of Marmite and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon (you can add more later, but I think start small and then build up)

5. Cover and leave to simmer for about half and hour to 40 mins or until the potato starts to soften and the sauce thickens. Add the courgette after about 20 mins (check at 10 minute intervals to ensure it doesn't start to boil and to add more chilli sauce, Bisto, Marmite and Cinnamon to your taste).

6. Serve when all the ingredients are soft and the sauce is thick.

7. to serve I make a simple gaucamole that's quite mild to compliment the chilli by mashing an avocado and using a little garlic puree, a squeeze of lemon and a pinch of black pepper but simply mashing an avocado will do just fine.

8. Add some grated or crumbled cheese and a dollop of sour cream and it's good to go...

Faux York Crunchie-Butterscotch Cheesecake

This recipe is all about indulgence and it's totally up to you how far you go with the sweetness, i prefer a bit of 'tang' which is why I use quark (in addition to it allowing me to convince self it's a healthy dish!) and a bit of lime juice but it's totally up to you. My advice is add a little of the ingredients as you go with the cream cheese mixture, that way you'll get it just right!

Ingredients:

4 crunchy bars

Half pack digestives

200g butter

1 tub of quark (or cream cheese)

1 tub mascarpone

100g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp lime juice

butterscotch sauce (to top)

Instructions:

1. Mash 2 crunchies and half a pack of digestives until smooth.

2. Melt 100g of the butter and mix with the crunchy and digestive mixture. Press into the bottom of a flan dish (mine's 8 inches).

3. Mix the quark and mascarpone together until blended then melt the remaining 100g of butter and stir into the mixture with the vanilla extract and lime juice.

4. Add the icing sugar in stages so that the sweetness is to your taste.

5. Crush the remaining crunchy bars and story them into the cheese mixture.

6. Smooth onto the biscuits and refrigerate to set for about two hours.

7. Drizzle with butterscotch sauce and serve.

voila, simples!