Beef Tagine

The reason for the tweaking isn’t because I think I can improve her recipe; far from it.  In fact, this version was born out of an evening’s dinner with a Brother-In-Law who doesn’t like lamb, coupled with my urge to haul out last year’s Christmas present – a clay tagine pot from my Wife.

Give this version (or Nigella’s original) a go and your house will be full of the smells of Christmas while it cooks.  You won’t regret it!

Beef Tagine Recipe – Ingredients & Method

• 1kg Diced stewing beef
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 Onions, peeled and chopped
• 250g Dried dates (de-stoned)
• 200ml Red Wine
• 250ml Water
• 1 tsp of each of the following: Cinnamon, Turmeric, Ginger and Cumin
• 5 Cloves
• 2 Tomatoes, cut into 1/2 moon shapes (half down the middle, then half again, then once more)
• Salt & pepper, to taste

1. Start off by heating your oil in a wide pan or tagine pot.  Throw in your onions and stir for 10 minutes to soften.
2. Add in your spices and stir.
3. Turn up the heat, add the meat, and stir occasionally to brown.
4. Add the liquids and dates then reduce the heat to a minimum, pop the lid on, and leave for 1.5 hours.
5. Add the tomatoes, stir, then back on with the lid for another 30 minutes.

You’re done!  I hope you enjoy it – but don’t thank me, thank Nigella!

Czarnina - Duck Blood Soup

Despite the fact that I didn’t take my camera with me on my recent trip to Poland (hence the less than flattering photo), and the fact that this is hardly festive (actually, in retrospect, the cloves and allspice give this a great Christmas smell), I couldn’t resist sharing with you this crazy sounding but delicious sweet and sour soup made from duck’s blood.

Czarnina is pretty much a traditional Polish dish, yet shows just how much we in the Western world (UK, in my case) have become detached from our food.  All meat has blood in it, but the mere mention of a soup where blood is the primary ingredient still never fails to raise an eyebrow (even, in my “testing”, with people who gladly eat black pudding).  Indeed, I bet that’s what grabbed your attention in the headline.

There seems to be a thousand variations on this soup all around Poland.  I’ve tweaked my Mother In Law’s recipe slightly here to simplify it a bit (she’ll probably kill me), but I promise you’ll love it.  Still, it may turn out to be more of a theoretical exercise, since the chance of getting hold of a bottle of fresh duck blood (sold at practically every farmers’ market in Poland) may be easier said than done.  Still, if you have your own duck, or access to a freshly killed duck…

Polish Czarnina Soup Recipe – Ingredients & Method

• Fresh ducks blood (about 450ml or 2 cups)
• 200ml (just less than 1 cup) white wine vinegar
• 4 tbsp plain flour
• Various duck parts (offal included)
• Marjoram
• 5 Allspice buds
• 5 Cloves
• 1 Pear
• Handful of dried fruits including cherries and prunes
• Salt & Pepper, to taste
• Sugar, to taste

1. If your duck blood is fresh, mix with the vinegar to prevent it clotting.  If you’re buying it, it’s probably already mixed with vinegar anyway.
2. Next step is to make a stock from the duck parts; throw them in a large pot with about 2.5 litres of water and the spices and slowly bring to the boil, taking any scum from the surface, before reducing the heat down to a simmer and leaving for 1 more hour or until the meat is tender.
3. This is how my mother in law did the next bit; remove all the duck pieces and remove from the heat.  Next, add in the fruit, blood, and flour (gradually) while stirring to thicken.
4. Remove the meat from the bones and add back into the soup.  Offal was served separately as a “chef’s perk”!
5. Taste and season with salt, pepper and sugar as required.

My Mother In Law served it with potato dumplings, but you could use pasta.  Let me know what you think to it!

This pie recipe fits nicely with the theme of this months seasonal food blogging challenge “In The Bag“, where the ingredients are eggs, leeks, and cheese – all of which make an appearance here.  I’ve opted for plain haddock in the recipe instead of smoked (which I’d have preffered) due to my wife’s pregnancy; apparently smoked food is a no-no, which is unfortunate for a lady from a country where smoked sausage is pretty much a staple food.  Feel free to use some smoked fish if you prefer, though.

I’ll apologise in advance for my non-precise measurements below.  I didn’t measure as I cooked and to be honest neither should you; just go with what looks right (this isn’t baking; you can’t really mess it up).  I don’t know the size of the dish you’re going to use so can’t really tell you how much potatoes you’ll need to cover it.

Fish Pie Recipe – Ingredients

• 4 Haddock Fillets (smoked if preferred, or a mixture of the two)
• 3 Carrots, finely diced
• 3 Hard Boiled Eggs, quartered.
• 1 Stick Celery, finely sliced
• 1 Leek, finely sliced
• Floury Potatoes such as Maris Piper, peeled and chopped.
• 25g (0.88 oz) Butter
• 25g (0.88 oz)Plain Flour
• Milk
• Mature Cheddar Cheese
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• Nutmeg, to taste

Here goes one of the easiest recipes you’ve ever done.  Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees c (355 degrees f) to start off.

1. First off put the fish fillets, diced carrot, celery and leek into a frying pan.  Pour over enough milk to cover, bring to a simmer and leave it for 10 minutes.  At the same time boil your peeled potatoes until soft.
2. Sieve the cooked stuff which will leave you with a) a jug of fishy milk and b) some fish and vegetables.  Put the fish and veg into your baking dish and leave the milk in a jug for now.
3. Mash your potato.  There’s nothing complicated about this; add salt and pepper, a nob of butter and a slosh of the fishy milk.  You’re looking for a mash that isn’t over-worked; it doesn’t want to sink into the fish while cooking or you’ll just end up with a mess.
4. Fish now hopefully cooled, pick apart into flakes with your fingers, removing any bones you come across at the same time.  Remove the skin, too.
5. Now for the sauce.  Butter and flour into a small pot over a medium heat, stir until melted and combined (a thick and gloopy mixture).  Now pour in your milk about 100ml at a time, always stirring and allowing to thicken before adding more.  Stop when the required thickness (like syrup) is reached; this will be about 500ml of milk.  Season well with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg.
6. Pour your sauce into your fish mixture and stir well; at this stage add your quartered eggs randomly through the mix (I add them now to stop them breaking up with any stirring or such-like).  Slowly heap the mashed potato on to the top, making sure not to leave any gaps especially near the edges; smoothing the surface with the back of a spoon seems to help prevent any leakages.  Cover liberally with grated cheddar cheese.
7. Into the oven for about 30 minutes until golden on top, then serve and enjoy!

Perfect Lamb Steak

I’m still surprised by how many people say (and presumably believe) that they eat ready meals after work because they “haven’t got time” to cook.  What a load of rubbish!  This lamb steak recipe takes around 20 minutes including the time to peel the veggies, so there’s really no excuse.  A lamb steak served atop root vegetable mash and finished off with a red wine sauce beats microwave lasagne hands down every time, doesn’t it?

And about that meat.  When Donald Russell asked me if I would be interested in sampling some of their Valentines Lamb Steaks for review, my first impression was “Are you kidding?  Of course I’d be interested!”.  Donald Russell are renowned as purveyors of high quality grass fed beef and lamb (and more), so I literally jumped at the chance.

My package turned up last week in a big polystyrene box filled with dry ice sachets to keep the meat frozen; inside was a box rather like lingerie is delivered in – a sheet of delicate tissue paper inside wrapped up the goodies.  Upon defrosting and unwrapping the lamb the first thing apparent was the deep red colour (a stark contrast to “supermarket pink”); presumably a result of the ageing process.  I’m also happy to report that the flavour was rich and deep; very lamby (of course) but with slight gamey undertones.  The texture was also delicious, with my teeth sinking through the meat without obstruction by gristly fat or such-like.

Based on this sample I urge you to check out Donald Russell if you like good quality meat; it is certainly not cheap – currently £41.60 for a pack of 8 Valentines Lamb Steaks – but that still works out at  just a little over £5 per person, which hardly breaks the bank.

Anyways, on with the recipe!

Pefect Lamb Steak with Root Veg Mash – Ingredients

• Lamb steaks (1 or 2 per person, depending how greedy you are)
• 1 small sprig of fresh rosemary per steak
• Red Wine
• Butter
• Mixed root vegetables, including potato.  I used 50/50 potatoes and carrots, and would suggest sticking to the same ratio (50% potatoes to whatever veggies you choose).  Swede or parsnips would work equally well, as would any combination.
• Salt & Pepper, to taste

Pefect Lamb Steak with Root Veg Mash – Method

1. Peel your veggies and bring a pot of salted water up to the boil, then place your veggies inside.  Boil until softened.
2. Meanwhile, place a frying pan / griddle pan over a high heat.  Rub your steaks with olive oil on either side, then place in the pan.  If the temperature is right you’ll hear a satisfying sizzle when they hit the pan (if not, lift them out and let the temperature build up a little).
3. While the lamb is cooking grind black pepper on to the top size of the steak.  Place a sprig of rosemary on the top of each one and push down to make sure it sticks.
4. Fry the lamb for a couple of minutes (you should have a good colour on the underside by now) before flipping it over.  Another couple of minutes and you can remove it from the pan – but feel free to leave it a couple of minutes longer if you don’t like your meat served pink.
5. If you’re on schedule your veggies won’t be quite ready yet, which is perfect; you need time for the lamb to rest for a minute while you prepare the sauce.  Take the pan off the heat for a second (important – I nearly set myself on fire once by building up too much heat in a dry pan) pour in a good glug (1/2 a glass or so) of red wine.  Return to the heat and while this bubbles away (this is de-glazing, if you’ve never done it before) scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to remove all of the sticky black bits – this is where all of the flavour is!
6. After a couple of minutes your red wine should have reduced in volume by about half.  Add in a knob of butter and a twist of salt and pepper and stir around.
7. Serve your root vegetable mash straight onto the plates and place the lamb steaks on top.  Drizzle a few tablespoons of the sauce directly onto the lamb / mash.

You’re done.  I hope you enjoy this simple but effective lamb dish!

I normally eat traditional “thin ribs” – the kind you have down your chest and don’t have much meat on.  This week though my butcher gave me the choice (thick or thin); thick ribs being the same as back ribs, that is from the upper back of the animal and holding the most meat, too.  Luckily, they cook in pretty much the same way.

And on a slight tangent, make sure you check out this month’s (June) edition of the BBC Olive magazine, where you’ll find me in an interview rabbiting on about a local pub (which is honestly great) and wild food.  Also featured is Julia from A Slice of Cherry Pie, co-host of our monthly seasonal food blogging event “In The Bag”.  This month we’re using Asparagus, Parmesan and Eggs, and we’d love for you to join in!

Back Ribs in a Sweet Chilli Sauce Recipe – Ingredients

Note:  Quantities given are approximates.  Realistically I’d say “a squirt of ketchup” or “a good glug of soy sauce” – basically add until it looks right – thick and gloopy!  If there isn’t enough sauce to go round, simply make more!

• 4 Back Ribs
• 3 Tbsp Ketchup
• 2 Tbsp Honey
• 2 Tbsp Muscavado Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
• 2 Cloves garlic, finely grated
• 1 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar
• 1 Red Chilli, finely chopped (seeds in or out depending how hot you like it!)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Back Ribs in a Sweet Chilli Sauce Recipe – Method

Another note:  Don’t worry if you don’t have time for the marinade – you can just use it as a sauce.  Marinating really helps to tenderize the meat, though.

1. Bring a saucepan to the boil and add ribs – cook for around 20 minutes until ribs begin to tenderize.  Allow to cool.
2. Mix together all marinade ingredients and coat ribs.  Leave overnight in refridgerator.
3. Throw your ribs over a grill, barbecue, or simply in a tray in the oven and cook until the sauce is sticky as in the picture.  Make sure to use up all the remaining marinade during the cooking process!

That’s all there is to it.  I love ‘em and I hope you will, too!

Here’s something else. When the Scots say “neeps” what they mean is a “turnip” (“tur-neep”. It’s all in the accent!). But what the Scots call a turnip is what the English call a swede – so for a lot of us it’s not a turnip at all. Got that?

I’ve taken the Scottish theme even further by drizzling the haggis with a whiskey, honey and cream sauce. It might sound odd but wait until you try it – it works really well, honest!

Oh, and I promise not to mention what haggis is made from out of respect for the faint hearted

Recipe serves 4 in ramekins as in the picture – but feel free to de construct and serve as a man size, plated up portion!

Haggis, Neeps and Tatties Recipe – Ingredients

• 1 Haggis
• 1/2 Swede (Turnip, if you’re Scottish. But then you’ll probably know far better than me how this should be done).
• 2 Potatoes (good mashing potatoes such as King Edwards or Maris Piper)
• 50 ml Scotch Whiskey
• 50 ml Double Cream
• 1 tbsp Honey
• Salt & Pepper to season

Haggis, Neeps and Tatties Recipe – Method

1. Peel swede and potatoes and bring to the boil in a pan of salted water until softened
2. Separate and mash separately – add butter and milk for the right consistency.
3. Cook haggis according to manufacturers instructions (I know that’s a cop out, but if it’s a good enough method for Delia, it’s good enough for me) – which for mine meant about 10 minutes in a microwave before mashing up with a fork.
4. Spoon the mixture into a ramekin – potato followed by swede then finally haggis, in roughly equal layers.
5. Meanwhile reduce the whiskey in a pan by about half. Add the cream and honey, stir well and bubble until thick and syrupy. Add a good dose of pepper and a little salt, then drizzle over the haggis.

I really don’t know why but the strong Scotch sauce (which tastes quite awful on its own, unless you really like that kind of thing) really brings out the best in the haggis. Now serve to the non believers and enjoy!

Poaching is a great way of cooking meat but for some reason not many people think of doing it. Perhaps it’s because they think that we’re boiling all of the flavour away; nothing could be further from the truth!

This recipe is a variation on one I saw on TV a year or so ago and have to say tastes delicious. It’s also a great way to use up all the ingredients I bought for this months “In The Bag” seasonal food blogging event, being held by Julia over at A Slice of Cherry Pie!

To recap quickly, the ingredients for this month’s bag are watercress, feta cheese and jersey royal potatoes.  The game is kind of like “Ready Steady Cook” – we choose ‘em, you cook ‘em.

You’ll have to excuse the small, low resolution photograph. I cooked this one round at my parent’s house a few weeks ago and didn’t take my camera (not that my photography is great at the best of times – it still tasted great though, honest). Just one tweak necessary though; I used feta cheese as per the ITB bag – but would recommend a mature white cheddar, instead.

The recipe itself is so simple…Just boil the chopped up cauliflower with half an onion until soft, drain and then puree with a little butter and cream.  Meanwhile the fillet steak is poached for 10 minutes in a good red wine, and then served atop the cauliflower cheese.

You can adorn the dish with whatever vegetables you want, but of course I had to go seasonal and chose watercress (always great with beef anyway), some carrots that were lying around and jersey royal potatoes.  For simplicity I ladled some of the poaching wine into a saucepan, stirred in a good knob of butter and seasoned.  Reduce by about 1/3 until thickened and serve.

It ain’t haute cuisine but it sure tastes good!

This is one of those quick and easy dishes that still tastes delicious. Celeriac can sometimes have a quite bland taste when mashed but the secret weapon here is lemon juice (and I learned that while reading this recipe). It might sound odd but it really brings out that great earthy taste.

The sauce is a simple reduction of white wine used to de-glaze the pan, with a little butter stirred in to add richness and thicken. I also added marjoram for a little extra flavour but I’m sure it’ll taste just as good without!

Pork Chop on Mashed Celeriac Recipe – Ingredients

• 1 Pork Chop per person, seasoned with salt and pepper. The fat should be scored and salt rubbed in.
• 1 Celeriac root, peeled and chopped into 1 inch squares.
• Potatoes (aim for 1/3 the weight of the celeriac but you don’t have to be exact).
• 1 glass of white wine
• 25g butter

Pork Chop on Mashed Celeriac Recipe – Method

1. Bring a pan of salted water to the boil. Add celeriac and potato and boil until soft (about 1/2 an hour for the celeriac. Don’t over cook as it soaks up water, making your mash tasteless)
2. Meanwhile heat a little olive oil in a pan over a high heat and pre-heat your oven to 220 degrees c. Add you pork chop to the pan and fry quickly on one side until browned, then turn over and place the pan in the oven for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
3. Drain the celeriac and potato and then put back in the pot. Add the juice of 1 lemon, a good pinch of pepper and mash well. Taste and add more salt if needed.
4. Take a reasonable size scoop of the mash and place in the middle of the plate. Place the pork chop on top.
5. With the pan still hot turn on the hob and pour in 1 glass of wine – it should start to bubble rapidly (if not, turn up the heat). Scrape all the sticky blackness (this is the flavour!) from the bottom of the pan and add in the butter. When reduced to the desired consistency take the pan from the heat and spoon over your pork.

That’s all there is to it. Enjoy!

What does it say about our society that we can’t even manage to meet up for one single day a week? Food is always better when enjoyed with company. And what better company than your family?

Top 5 Tips for a Perfect Sunday Roast

1. The roast potatoes. If any body says “I use Aunt Bessie’s” I’ll SCREAM! Good roasts are one of the easiest things in the world; boil until soft, shake around in a colander to bash the sides a bit, empty into a roasting tray. A tiny dribble of oil (but I don’t even do this nowadays), a good sprinkling of Maldon sea salt and some chopped up herbs, then into the oven at 210 degrees turning during cooking until golden brown.
2. Perfect vegetables. Here’s a simple one – chop up carrots and parsnips into equal size chunks. Boil until softened, throw into a roasting dish with a bit of oil. Drizzle with honey, toss around, and roast until golden. Absolutely delicious.
3. Yorkshire Puddings. So many people – my Sister and Mother included, think that Yorkshire’s are too difficult to make at home. Ready made ones (the like you pop in the oven) are so easy, they say. Pah! Those tiny things aren’t worth adorning my plate. I follow a simple Gary Rhodes recipe and it works wonders – the key is to put the tray with oil in the oven first (so that the oil is red hot) and then work fast before the oil cools down. Oh, and don’t open the oven until they’re ready!
4. The Meat. Just one tip for you here – leave that meat to stand for 20 minutes before serving! Always do this. If not your juices will spill out the moment you try carving it; do this and they stay in the meat, adding to the flavour. Don’t worry about your meat going cold, either – the gravy will soon warm it up again.
5. Gravy. I kind of cheat with mine and it ends up coming out half home made, but delicious. When the meat comes out, the roasting tray goes over the hob and on with the heat. Sprinkle in a little plain flour and scrape around quickly until browned. In with a glass or 2 of wine (of the relevant colour) to de glaze the pan. Reduce till slightly thickened (coating the back of the spoon) and in with a little stock (I’ll use a cube or liquid stock for this). Reduce a little further, season, and you’re just about done. Any variation works and mine usually involves garlic somewhere along the line. Just don’t touch the Bisto!

Answer me one question. How on earth am I supposed to lose some of the weight gained over Christmas when people keeping forcing me to eat food like this? I mean, it’s not like I can say no – it’s rude, and most of all it’s in my blood; I’m British therefore I eat fish and chips…

Fish and Chips Recipe – Ingredients

• 1kg Maris Piper or King Edward Potatoes
• 1 fillet of fish per person. Traditionally, select Haddock or Cod – but in this age of sustainability awareness choose an alternative such as Pollock.

For The Batter:

• 200g Self Raising Flour
• 275ml Beer
• Salt and Pepper to taste

English Fish and Chips Recipe – Method

For The Chips…

1. Prepare the potatoes by peeling, and cutting into chips approximately 1.5cm thick.
2. Part boil the chips in salted water until slightly softened, this will take about 5 minutes.
3. Heat enough oil in a deep pan (or deep fat fryer) to completely cover the chips, to approximately 190 degrees.
4. Prepare the potatoes by peeling, and cutting into chips approximately 1.5cm square.
5. Dry with a kitchen towel, and place in the hot oil until golden brown on the exterior. Dry again with kitchen towel before serving.

For The Fish…

1. Combine all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl.
2. Add the milk and eggs, and whisk briskly until frothy.
3. Heat enough oil in a deep pan (or deep fat fryer) to completely cover the fish, to approximately 190 degrees.
4. Sprinkle the fish in flour (to dry the surface), and dip in the batter. 5. Put fish in the hot oil, and cook until exterior is golden brown and crunchy.

And Finally…

Serve on sheets of old newspaper for a truly authentic feel. Serve with malt vinegar, mushy peas, salt, and the best ketchup you can find. Enjoy!