Carnivorous? Steak with parsley and garlic.

Yet again, a food which has involved an acceptance before it can be enjoyed fully. My experiences of steak have been underwhelming; their look and texture similar to that of a rubber sole and the eating experience akin to what I imagine chewing the aforementioned would be like. I thought I liked steak well done, and the sight of anything vaguely pink would be wrong; just plain wrong. However, like everything, you learn from experience and I now feel better, nay relish, the idea of a tucking into a rare steak. I have my better half once again to thank for this food epiphany, and whilst I might not be quite one of those whose steak cooking philosophy is 'knock the cow on the head and drag it past the cooker', I now see that a truly great piece of steak should not be faffed with, Indeed, it requires very little done to it, save some seasoning, some vigilance when cooking it on a very hot griddle or in a frying pan, and an essential time for rest before serving with some suitable accompaniments. I have even embraced horseradish these days, it's eyewatering tingliness marries beautifully with the meaty texture and taste of the steak.

My avoidance of creamy sauces (not a health issue, just a preference) means that this recipe, taken from 'Bocca' by Jacob Kenedy appealed because of its simplicity and the addition of a garlic and parsley 'dressing'. It provided an interesting enough side show without detracting from the main attraction.

I used rib eye here. It was delicious.

Rib eye steak with parsley and garlic, taken from 'Bocca' by Jacob Kenedy.

Ingredients:

Two rib eye steaks

Three tbsp of olive oil

Two tbsp finely chopped parsley

One clove of garlic, finely chopped

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Method:

Remove steaks from the fridge and bring to room temperature. Using some of the oil, brush both sides of the steaks and then season with salt and pepper.

To make the parsley and garlic dressing, mix the remainder of the oil with the chopped parsley and garlic. Set aside.

Prepare the griddle or cooking surface by getting it very hot. It should be only just bearable to put your hand above the cooking surface.

Once hot enough, place the steak on the griddle. Brush the top side with some of the parsley mixture. Do not move the steak about. For rare, I left the steak on the griddle for two minutes, then flipped it over for two minutes more, brushing the 'cooked' side with more of the parsley mixture. Obviously, if you prefer medium or well done, give each side longer cooking, 3 and a half to 4 for medium and 5 minutes for well done, I would suggest.

Remove to a plate and keep warm and allow to rest. I would suggest about five minutes.

Serve the steaks with whatever you fancy. On this occasion it was a dollop of horseradish and some potato wedges seasoned with thyme, but each to their own.

Curry Club - Keralan Chicken

I wasn't really a lover of curry due to an unfortunate incident with a pigeon some twenty years ago (contact me direct if you're intrigued and want the gory details) but getting with Phill all those years ago has caused me to rethink my reluctance. Phill loves curry and as a result I now appreciate the finer points of a good Indian meal. I am concerned about the healthiness of these dishes and whilst a ghee filled curry from the local Indian may not be a way to treat your body as a temple, I do know that cooked from scratch at home, a curry can be wholesome and flavourful, and very satisfying. Plus it transports your house to somewhere far flung, exotic and vibrant. I also adore the accompaniments to a good Indian meal but that might be a blog for another day.

I am a fan of Anjum Anand's cookery because of the emphasis that she places on producing Indian food which is faithful to its origins, but is not swimming in oil. This recipe, Keralan chicken, is a tasty, vibrant looking curry which is easy to prepare and can be tempered to suit the palate of your diners. I am not one of these people who like to sweat buckets while eating curry, but I do expect it to have some punch. This heat is mostly dependent on how much coconut milk you add at the end. The good thing about this dish is that you can serve up for those who like curry with a kick, then add more coconut milk to the remainder for those who like it less hot. In other words, good for kids and their delicate taste buds.

A word about ingredients: Make sure your spices are fresh and use the best chicken you can afford. I used free range chicken breasts here which have been loitering in the freezer for a couple of months after being bought at a bargain price. Chicken thighs would be equally as good and you can often buy good quality chicken thighs at the price that you buy some horribly factory farmed, insipid tasting chicken breasts. I know times are tight (which is why you find me hovering around the 'chuck outs' in the supermarket, ready to stock my freezer with stuff that I would never be able to afford if it were full price) but to my mind there is no point in cooking with chicken if it does not taste like chicken.

Anyway, who put that soapbox there? This is a lovely recipe in my opinion and great with plain basmati rice and naan. I hope you decide to try it.

Keralan Chicken - from adapted from 'Indian Food Made Easy' by Anjum Anand.

serves 6

20g fresh ginger, peeled and chopped

7 large cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped

3 tbsp vegetable oil

2 medium onions, peeled and chopped

salt to taste

750g chicken pieces, skinned and jointed

2 medium–large tomatoes, puréed (or half a tin of plum or cherry tomatoes)

coriander stalks (from coriander, used to garnish)

12 large curry leaves

150 - 200ml coconut milk

spice blend

1 heaped tbsp coriander seeds or ground coriander

1½ tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp turmeric

1 tsp garam masala

½ -1 tsp red chilli powder

½ tsp black peppercorns

2 tsp fennel seeds

salt and pepper to taste

finely chopped coriander to garnish

Using a blender, make a fine paste of the spice blend with the ginger, garlic and 100ml water.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large non-stick saucepan and fry the onion until brown, around 8–10 minutes. Stir in the spice paste and salt and cook over a moderate-high heat until completely reduced, then fry over a low heat for 1–2 minutes.

Add the chicken and lightly brown for 2 minutes, then add the curry leaves, tomatoes and 200ml water. Bring to the boil, cover and cook over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes.

Uncover – there should still be lots of gravy in the pan; boil off over a high heat while tossing the chicken in the reducing gravy. When you have 1cm of gravy left, stir in the coconut milk and a good splash of water for a creamy curry, then bring back to a gentle boil. Check and adjust the seasoning and chilli. Serve with unleavened rice bread, normal Indian breads or rice.

Scouse - but not necessarily 'yer ma's'...

...and I use that this disclaimer because everybody's version of this Liverpool stew is different. They might have some similarities, but they'll be those here who will be horrified at the inclusion of no beef (which I can't understand; it's always been a scrag end of lamb dish for me) and the fact that I have used stock instead of good old corpy lemmo (= corporation lemonade = water, to the uninitiated) but the premise of this stew is that it is food to feed the masses, to fill you up and to be cooked on a budget with whatever you have to hand. It's feel good, comfort food. Honest and uncomplicated, if you will.

Obligatory accompaniments: Crusty bread and butter, and red cabbage.

Scouse

Ingredients (which can be varied to suit...)

A couple of tbsp of oil

Some diced lamb (I used two lamb necks, probably about 600g worth)

Three tablespoons of seasoned flour

Two onions, sliced

Three carrots, cut into medium chunks

Half a swede, diced into smallish pieces

Potatoes - I used about a kilo, peeled, chopped into mostly medium chunks, but some smaller ones (to thicken the stew as those potatoes 'fall' when cooked

800 ml lamb stock

A few drops of Worcestershire sauce

Herbs - I used thyme and parsley

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

Coat the lamb in the flour and brown off in batches in a suitable pot. Remove to a plate.

Add onions and cook through until translucent

Return the lamb to the pot.

Add the carrots, swede, potatoes and thyme. Mix everything together. Cook over a gentle heat for a couple of minutes.

Add the Worcestershire sauce, then add the hot lamb stock. It should just cover the ingredients.

Either place the stew in the oven, at 180c for a couple of hours, checking from time to time, or cook on the hob, covered, over a gentle heat for a couple of hours, but keep checking to make sure the stew does not boil dry.

Check seasoning. Sprinkle with the remaining parsley.

Serve with the accompaniments I suggest.

Tiene buen sabor! Albondigas! (Or meatballs and tomato sauce to you and me).

Another recipe which gladdens my Spanish genes. When I was young, the meatball thing never appealed, but I think that is because you go them in a tin, they were covered in some indiscernible gunk and I imagined that they tasted as good as they looked. Luckily, things have moved on and I am a great fan of the meatball, especially as they make my children happy and they are not necessarily expensive to prepare, though I am a great believer that you should buy the best ingredients you can afford.

This is ideal Tapas food I suppose, and though I adore the whole Tapas thing, it's a bit of a faff when it's me, Phill, Lola and Finn, so I eked this out with some potato wedges which went equally well with the tomato sauce - I suppose I had inadvertently created patatas bravas by putting the two together. The sauce does have some punch, and I toned this sauce down from the original which suggested the addition of two red chillies as well as the cayenne pepper and paprika. Blow your mind stuff and not something that is necessarily going to find favour with two discerning mini gourmands. The cayenne pepper and paprika gives a decent kick which is tempered somewhat by the addition of potato and meat, but if something a whole lot milder is more your thing, either leave out the cayenne altogether or just put a pinch in.

The original recipe called for caul fat to wrap the albondigas in; not necessarily the easiest thing to get hold of - I decided to risk not using is. I was expecting meatball catastrophe but it didn't happen. They held together fine. Just ensure your meat mixture is well combined and squidgy to the touch.

Albondigas - adapted from Modern Spanish Cooking by Sam and Eddie Hart

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

500g beef mince

1 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp cayenne pepper

10g sea salt

4 turns freshly ground black pepper

30g fresh breadcrumbs (I blitzed up a thick crust from the end of a wholemeal loaf

a tbsp of parsley (optional)

1 egg, beaten

2 - 3 tbsp olive oil

For the tomato sauce:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 spanish onion, peeled and chopped

4 garlic cloves

1 tsp dried thyme

2 bay leaves

1 green pepper, diced

1 red pepper, diced

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp cayenne pepper

100g peeled plum tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Method:

To make the tomato sauce, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes or so. Add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves and fry until fragrant (take care not to burn the garlic) and then add the peppers and fry for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the paprika and the cayenne and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or so. Add the tomatoes and bring to the boil. Lower the heat and reduce the sauce slowly for about 25 minutes or until the sauce is thick and pulpy. Taste, and season accordingly. Keep hot or reheat just before serving.

For the meatballs. Combine all the ingredients together by hand or use the food processor (be careful not to blitz too far; you want texture). Add the beaten egg to bind the mixture.

With wet hands, form the mixture into balls. You're aiming for between 15 and 20 meatballs here.

To cook, heat the olive oil in the frying pan. Add the meatballs and fry over a medium/high heat to brown the meatballs all over.

Serve with the tomato sauce.

Fantástico.

A hint of something exotic as the nights draw in - Tunisian Orange Cake

...and no, I don't know why it's Tunisian. Maybe its the evocative smell of cinnamon and cloves in the kitchen as the syrup for this lovely cake boils hints at exotic roots. What I do know is that this cake is remarkably good, and stays in good condition for a few days.

I was intrigued by the idea of making a cake with breadcrumbs, and it produced a cake with an interesting texture, reminiscent of a bread and butter pudding when served warm. It was a sensation of nutty, sticky squidginess which you should try, at least once. The other irresistable quality about this cake is that I found the recipe in 'Where shall we go for dinner?' by Tamasin Day Lewis. Every cake from her recipe books has been a triumph, so the pedigree for this cake is, in my opinion, pretty damn good.

Serving suggestions: warm with vanilla ice cream, room temperature with some creme fraiche laced with cointreau or triple sec, and later on in the week, submerged in custard. All are heavenly!

Ingredients

 
For the cake:

120g slightly stale white breadcrumbs
400g caster sugar
200g ground almonds
3 tsp baking powder
400ml sunflower oil
8 eggs
finely grated zest of 2 oranges

finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemonFor the citrus syrup:

juice of 2 oranges
juice of 1 lemon
150g caster sugar
4 cloves
1 cinnamon stick, or a tsp of ground cinnamon

1 star anise (optional)
Method
Line the base of a 20cm round and 5cm deep tin with greaseproof paper, then grease and flour the tin.

Mix the breadcrumbs with the sugar, almonds and baking powder. Whisk the oil with the eggs, then pour into the dry ingredients and then mix well. Add the orange and lemon zest. Pour the mixture into the tin, place in a cold oven and turn on the heat to 180C.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until the cake is golden brown (about 45 minutes). Check with a skewer by inserting it into the middle, if it comes out clean it’s done. Cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a plate.

Meanwhile, make the citrus syrup. Put all the ingredients into a saucepan and bring gently to the boil, stirring until the sugar has completely dissolved. Simmer for 3 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick and cloves from the syrup.

While the cake is still warm, pierce it several times with a skewer, then spoon the hot syrup over the cake allowing it to run into the holes. Leave to cool. Spoon any excess syrup over the cake every now and then until it is all soaked up.

Cottage pie - with a twist!

Not that there is anything wrong with an ordinary of course but when I ran across this wonderful James Martin recipe several years ago it was begging to be tried. I had only discovered horseradish back then; it was never something i had encountered in my cooking (which at that time was limited) or eating (not limited but....) though my partner than and now used to have a massive dollop of it with his roast beef and I knew he liked it, so whilst I was still at the stage of the relationship where I still felt the need to impress (!) I decided this was the recipe with which I would ring the changes.

A note about mash: A very personal thing if you ask me. It's not about silky 'pommes puree' it's about the mash I had as a kid which is thick not 'loose', mimics the shape of cumulus clouds on the plate and is made with full fat milk or cream and a dollop of butter. Mash is unashamedly comfort food. Pipe it on if you like to make it look pretty, but it's all about it's untidiness for me. Dollop it on the top and press it down with the tines of a fork or a pallet knife. And no matter how I try, there is nothing as good as my mum's mash. It obviously has an added extra ingredient that I will never be able to find.

And horseradish: Add to taste. Over the years I have come to prefer a more spiky flavoured mash for this, so you need to add a little and taste, and then adjust as necessary.

Comforting Cottage Pie (adapted from James Martin's fabulous recipe!) Serves 4 hungry people.

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 30 mins
Cook 1-2 hours

Ingredients

1 tbsp oil
1 large onion chopped

2 cloves garlic finely chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
560g/1¼ lb beef mince
400g/14oz can tomatoes
290ml/10fl oz beef stock
1 bay leaf
fresh thyme leaves from 1 sprig (or a tsp of dried)
2 tbsp tomato puree
salt and freshly ground black pepper

some finely chopped parsley (optional - I like parsley!)

For the topping

750g/1½ lb potatoes, peeled and chopped
225g/8oz parsnips, peeled and chopped
2 tsp creamed horseradish
75g/2½oz butter
55ml/2fl oz milk

Or however you like to make your mash. I aim for parsnips to make up a third of the total of 'mash' and then add the horseradish to taste. Don't forget to season.

Preparation method

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onion and carrot and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until soft.

Add the minced beef and cook for 3 minutes to brown.

Add the tomatoes, purée, beef stock, bay leaf and thyme.

Cover and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes or so depending on how you like your mince. I like mine not dry, but with some 'wetness'. It's important that the mince mixture does reduce so it is robust enough to hold the mince that you are going to dollop onto it later.  Season. It is important that you check at this stage for taste. You are looking for something quite tasty to compete with the mash.

Meanwhile, to make the topping, boil the potatoes and parsnips in water until soft. Drain and mash with the butter and milk. Stir in the horseradish and season with salt and pepper. Once again, very important to taste at this stage.

Spoon the meat into an ovenproof dish. Top with the mash, dot with some butter and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.

And what's more, if you have any left over bung it in the fridge and then reheat for another meal. If it's at all possible it tastes even better second time around! The joy of leftovers!