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Archive for November, 2024

Pork & Cider Hotpot

Posted in Food, Pork, tagged , , , , , , , , on 25 November 2024| Leave a Comment »

There is a bit of effort in this, but you can prep the pork well in advance ready to bake when you need it. Lovely autumnal flavours.

Wine suggestion: Thanks to the generosity of our friend David we found that Chateauneuf du Pape is a great match for this dish, but we couldn’t agree whether we preferred Bosquet les Papes “Chante le Merle”, or the Vieux Télégraphe le Crau. A tough decision, poor us!

Pork & Cider Hotpot – serves 6

  • 4 tbsp olive oil, plus a bit extra
  • 1kg diced pork shoulder
  • 20g butter, cubed, plus a bit extra
  • 4 leeks, trimmed and thickly sliced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 3 tbsp plain flour
  • 500ml dry cider
  • 400ml chicken stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ½ small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
  • small bunch of sage, leaves picked, 5 left whole and the rest chopped
  • 200ml single cream
  • 800g Maris Piper potatoes

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a deep casserole dish, then fry the pork pieces over a medium-high heat in batches until browned all over, then transfer to a plate.

Add another tbsp of oil to the pan with a little butter and fry half the leeks with a pinch of salt for 10 minutes until tender. Add the garlic, fry for a minute, then stir in the flour.

Gradually add the cider, stirring to scrape any crusty bits off the bottom. Add the stock, bay leaves and pork, then simmer, partially covered with a lid for 1-1½ hours until the meat is just tender. You can make up to this point a day in advance.

Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

Simmer the pork uncovered for a few minutes to reduce the sauce if you need, if there is too much liquid the potatoes will sink. Stir in the parsley, chopped sage, remaining leeks, and the cream, then season well. Transfer to a wide ovenproof frying pan or casserole if you have one.

Peel the potatoes and slice into 2mm thick slices – a mandoline is best for this. Arrange the potato slices in circles over the pie, then dot over the cubed butter. Bake for 1-1½ hours or until the potatoes are cooked. Brush the sage leaves with a little oil and tuck them in for the last 10 minutes. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food)

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Chilli

Posted in Food, tagged , , , , , , , , on 24 November 2024| Leave a Comment »

We always like a new chilli recipe and this one is particularly tasty. We made this on Halloween night … for some reason we always have chilli for Halloween.

Wine Suggestion: Whatever, big, juicy red you have to hand like the Achaval Ferrer Mendoza Malbec which was all brambly, velvety, rich and smooth.

Chilli – serves 4

  • 2 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 400g beef mince
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tbsp cider vinegar
  • 1-2 tsp chipotle paste
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • ¼ tsp yeast extract, like Marmite or Vegemite
  • 1 beef stock cube
  • 400g tin black beans
  • cooked rice, sour cream, sliced jalapenos from a jar, avocado & coriander, to serve

Heat the oil in a shallow saucepan over a medium heat and fry the beef mince for about 10 minutes. Add the the onion and keep frying for another 8 to 10 minutes or until the onions have softened and started to brown a bit. Add the garlic and stir for a minute.

Stir in the cumin seeds, ground coriander, oregano and a plenty of black pepper, and continue to fry for a few minutes. Add the vinegar, then the chipotle and tomato purée and stir to combine. Tip in the tomatoes and a canful of water, then add the yeast extract and crumble in the stock cube. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring now and then.

When the chilli has thickened, tip in the beans with halve the liquid from the tin. Simmer for another 20 minutes, then taste and season to taste. Serve with all the acompaniments listed above.

(Original recipe by Barney Desmazery in BBC Good Food Magazine, October 2020.)

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Baked Lamb Chops with Creamy Rosemary Sauce

Posted in Food, Lamb, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on 24 November 2024| Leave a Comment »

Quite old-fashioned but homely and tasty, perfect as the weather turns a bit colder.

Wine suggestion: the Quinta de Chocapalha Tinto, which is a blend of four classic Portuguese grapes: Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca and Castelão hit a satisfying mark here. A wine of depth, body, roundness and judicious tannins this hit the mark for the same reasons the dish did.

Baked lamb chops with a creamy rosemary sauce – serves 4

  • 8 lamb loin chops
  • 1 small onion, peeled and chopped

For the sauce:

  • 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 rounded tbsp rosemary leaves
  • 25g butter
  • 25g plain flour
  • 175ml milk
  • 175ml veg stock
  • 2 tbsp double cream

Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan.

Place the lamb chops in a shallow roasting tin and arrange the onion around them.

Season with salt and pepper and bake on the top shelf of the oven for about 45 minutes or until the fat is crisp.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a small saucepan and sweat the onions over a very gentle heat for 5 minutes. Bruise the rosemary leaves with a pestle and mortar, then chop them very finely and add them to the onion. Continue to cook gently for another 15 minutes, but don’t let the onions colour too much. Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth, then gradually add the milk followed by the stock, stirring constantly. Season with salt and peper and allow to simmer very gently for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat and liquidise half and combine with the rest along with the cream. Check the seasoning and pour into a warm serving jug – cover the surface with cling film to prevent a skin forming.

Serve the chops with the sauce poured over.

(Original recipe from Delia Online)

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Spanish Lamb with Sherry

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Lamb, Spanish, tagged , , , , , , , on 19 November 2024| Leave a Comment »

This is delicious and goes perfectly with a bowl of warm couscous. It’s better to ask for the meat in one piece so you can cut it into big chunks yourself – the pre-cubed stuff is usually cut too small and will disappear into the sauce.

Wine Suggestion: If you’d like to keep to the theme a good, dry Oloroso sherry works well, but if you’d rather a red like we did tonight, something from a warm vineyard region may hit the mark … just make sure it’s balanced and not too hot from alcohol. Our choice was a treasured bottle brought from OZ many years ago of Hanging Rock’s Heathcote Shiraz. Dense and textured in youth this opens up and retains a freshness and layered velvetiness over many years of cellar aging too.

Spanish lamb with sherry – serves 4

  • 1kg lamb shoulder, trimmed of excess fat, then cubed
  • 1½ tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, roughly chopped
  • 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced
  • 1 yellow pepper, deseeded and sliced
  • 1 green pepper, deseeded and sliced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely grated
  • ½ tsp paprika
  • 250ml medium sherry
  • 250ml lamb stock
  • generous pinch of saffron threads
  • 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
  • 1½ tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
  • couscous, to serve

Heat 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a large casserole and brown the lamb in batches, then set aside.

Add the ½ tbsp of oil to the casserole, then add the onions and peppers and cook until the onions are golden and the peppers have softened. Add the garlic and paprika and stir for a minutes, then add the sherry and bring to a simmer.

Return the lamb to the casserole, along with the stock, saffron, sherry vinegar and honey. Season and bring to just under the boil. Turn the heat down, cover the pan with a lid and cook very gently for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally.

Remove the lid from the casserole and continue to cook for another 30 minutes to reduce the liquid to a gravy-like consistency and the lamb should be very tender.

Serve with some warm couscous.

(Original recipe by Diana Henry in BBC Good Food Magazine, October, 2017.)

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Potato, Fennel & Smoked Trout Bake

Posted in Fish, Food, Gluten-free, Potato, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 18 November 2024| Leave a Comment »

Such a lovely recipe, and you can of course use smoked salmon. We like smoked trout from Goatsbridge which is a local supplier. Recipe inspiration from the new Ottolenghi book – Comfort. You must have a green salad and a glass of white wine to serve. If you have a mandolin it will cut the potatoes and fennel just right.

Wine Suggestion: We served an oddity/one-off from Chateau Hureau from Saumur in the Loire. They grew a low quantity of Chenin Blanc grapes in 2022 due to frost so decided to make a Blanc de Noirs from Cabernet Franc for a bit of fun. Only available at cellar door it’s both crisp and fresh, but significantly has bags of texture which this dish needs. Look for whites with a touch of skin contact, or aged on lees as a substitute.

Potato, fennel & smoked trout bake – serves 4

  • 200ml milk
  • 425ml double cream
  • 2 anchovies, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, lightly smashed with skin on
  • 1 lemon, skin finely shaved into strips
  • 2 tsp fennel seeds, finely ground
  • 850g Yukon gold or red potatoes, peeled and sliced into ½ cm thick slices
  • 1-2 large fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 10g dill fronds, roughly chopped
  • 20g chives, finely chopped
  • 20g parsley leaves, finely chopped
  • 1½ tbsp unsalted butter, softened
  • 200g smoked trout (or smoked salmon) slices, roughly torn

for the lemon butter sauce:

  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp capers, roughly chopped
  • 40g unsalted butter, fridge cold and roughly chopped

Heat the oven to 170C fan.

Put the milk, cream, anchovies, garlic, lemon strips and ground fennel into a small saucepan. Place over a low heat and warm for 10 minutes, making sure it never comes to the boil. Give it a stir now and then and press on the solids to get plenty of flavour out of them. Remove from the heat.

Put the potato and fennel slices into a saucepan and cover with cold, salted water. Bring to the boil and cook for 6-7 minutes or until just tender. Drain and set aside.

Whisk the egg yolks with ¾ tsp of salt and a good grind of pepper in a large bowl. Strain the infused milk into the eggs, pressing on the solids against the sieve. Whisk to combine.

Combine all the herbs in bowl. Measure out 2 tbsp and reserve for the butter sauce.

Grease an ovenproof dish with ½ tbsp of the butter. Spoon a third of the potato and fennel over the base and grind over some pepper. Sprinkle over half the herbs and lay half the smoked trout over the top. Repeat with half the remaining potatoes and fennel, season with pepper, then add all the remanining trout and the rest of the herbs. Arrange a final layer of potato and fennel on top and carefully pour over the egg mixture. Grind over some more pepper and dot over the remaining butter. Bake for 45 minutes or until set and just golden. Remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile make the lemon butter sauce. Put the lemon juice into a small saucepan on a medium-high heat and bring to a bubble. Allow to bubble for 1 minute, then add the capers and butter, a few pieces at a time. Whisk until smooth and creamy, then remove from the heat and stir in the reserved herbs and some more pepper. Spoon over the dish and serve warm with a green salad.

(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Comfort by Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh, Verena Lochmuller & Tara Wigley, Ebury Press, 2024.)

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Sausages & Lentils

Posted in Uncategorized on 17 November 2024| Leave a Comment »

We recommend a trip to your local Polski shop for some smoked sausages, plus you’ll be able to find lots of other goodies while you’re there. Our local one has some very friendly and helpful staff willing to help navigate the differences in sausages… of which they have many.

Wine Suggestion: This dish works well with Spanish reds, especially Tempranillo based ones and the one we enjoyed tonight was the Cantos de Valpiedra from Rioja which we find particlaurly refined and elegant with a gentle undercurrent of warm spices.

Sausages & lentils – serves 6

  • 300g dried Puy lentils
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 600g cooked Polish smoked sausages e.g. Kielbasa
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
  • 1 green pepper, deseeded and cut into 1cm dice
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1 tbsp thyme leaves, roughly chopped
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 400g Swiss chard, stalks cut into 1cm dice, leaves roughly shredded
  • 1 tbsp tomato purée
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 litre chicken stock
  • 20g parsley
  • 50g shop-bought crispy onions, to serve (optional)

FOR THE MUSTARD CRÈME FRAÎCHE:

  • 75g crème fraîche
  • 1½  tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1½  tsp wholegrain mustard

Rinse the lentils well, then cover with lots of cold water and set aside.

Mix all the ingredients together for the mustard crème fraîche and put it in the fridge until needed.

Heat ½ tbsp of olive oil in a large casserole, over a medium-high heat. Add the sausages and cook until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Add another 2½ tbsp of oil to the pan and add the onion, celery and green pepper. Cook for 12-15 minutes or until the vegetables are turning golden. Add the garlic, thyme, bay leaf and chard stalks and cook for another few minutes. Add the tomato purée and cumin and cook for a further minute.

Drain the lentils and add them to the pan, along with the stock, 1½ tsp of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes, covered, until the lentils are cooked through. Use a stick blender to blitz one side of the pot for maximum 30 seconds, to break some of the lentils up. Add the chard leaves and stir them in.

Add the sausages to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the leaves have wilted and the sausages are warmed through. Stir in the parsley and divide between warm bowls. Spoon the crème fraîche on top and the crispy onions if you have them.

(Original recipe from Ottolenghi Comfort by Yotam Ottolenghi, Helen Goh, Verena Lochmuller & Tara Wigley, Ebury Press, 2024.)

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Miso Butter Greens Pasta

Posted in Food, Pasta, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 11 November 2024| Leave a Comment »

Lovely flavours and smells in this. We don’t have a blender but a food processor did an ok job – a blender will give a smoother sauce.

Wine Suggestion: We think this dish suits a white with a complex mix of fruit, herbal and mineral flavours and some of the best with this combination come from Sicily. Tonight the Casematte Grillo Pharis which is grown facing the straights of Messina and made in a combination of large oak barrels and concrete. Smooth and deep with a lovely Sicilian citrus twiest at the end.

Miso butter greens pasta – serves 4

  • 60g unsalted butter
  • 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • ½ tsp fennel seeds
  • ½ tsp chilli flakes
  • 100g broccoli, chopped
  • 400g cavolo nero, discard the stalks and slice the leaves
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • 2½ tbsp white miso paste
  • 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 500g orecchiette
  • extra virgin olive oil, to serve

Melt the butter in a large pot on a medium-high heat. Wait until it bubbles, then add the garlic, fennel seeds and chilli flakes. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes until the garlic smells cooked.

Add the broccoli, cavolo nero, salt and 250ml of water. Stir, then cover and turn the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring every few minutes, for 8-10 minutes or until the greens have wilted and become tender.

Scrape the contents of the pan into a blender or food processor and add the miso and olive oil. Blend until smooth, you can add a little water if you need.

Rince out the greens pan, fill with water and bring to the boil (don’t add salt as the miso is salty). Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions and reserve a mug of the pasta cooking water before draining.

Drain the pasta, then return to the pot and add the sauce. Add enought of the cooking water to get the sauce to a nice consistency. Taste and season with salt if needed.

Spoon onto a serving platter and drizzle with olive oil.

(Original recipe from Dinner by Meera Sodha, Penguin: Fig Tree, 2024.)

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Lamb Rogan Josh with Fragrant Steamed Rice

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Indian, Lamb, tagged , , , , , , , on 9 November 2024| Leave a Comment »

This has lovely flavours and best cooked a couple of days in advance. Make sure to cook the lamb until it is really soft and tender.

Wine Suggestion: this dish works great with Aussie Shiraz, like Kilikanoon’s excellent Killerman’s Run which has the obligatory pluminess over a very refined and fresh backbone with gentle pepper spices.

Lamb Rogan Josh – serves 4

  • 4 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • 700g lamb neck, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 1 small cinnamon stick
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 large onions, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 5cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated
  • 1 tbsp of ground coriander
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • ¼ tsp ground cardamom
  • 15g bunch of fresh coriander, finely chopped
  • 200ml thick Greek yoghurt, plus extra to serve
  • 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 100g red lentils
  • 300ml chicken stock
  • steamed rice, to serve
  • mango chutney, to serve
  • extra fresh coriander, to serve

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large pan. Add the lamb in batches and fry until well browned, then set aside.

Add another 2 tbsp of olive oil to the pan, then fry the cloves, cinnamon stick and bay leaves for a few seconds. Add the onions and stir-fry for 6-7 minutes, until browned. Add the garlic, chilli and ginger and fry for 2 minutes, then add the ground spices with the fresh coriander and fry for another minute, stirring.

Add the yoghurt, 1 tbsp at a time, frying for about 30 seconds between each addition and stirring constantly.

Tip the lamb back into the pan and stir in the tomatoes with the lentils and stock. Season to taste, then cover and simmer gently for 2 hours or until very soft and tender. The sauce should have reduced and thickened.

Serve the lamb with steamed rice, mango chutney and some fresh coriander.

(Original recipe from Neven Maguire’s Comple Family Cookbook, Gill Books, 2016.)

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Spicy Roast Potatoes with Tomato, Pepper & Harissa Sauce

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 4 November 2024| Leave a Comment »

A tasty side dish that is similar to Spanish Patatas Bravas but with the flavours changed up. Usefully you can make the sauce in advance and re-heat just before serving.

Spicy Roast Potatoes with Tomato, Pepper & Harissa Sauce – serves 6

  • 1kg potatoes, peeled and cut into 2.5cm chunks
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 3 tbsp garlic oil
  • a handful of fresh coriander leaves, chopped, to serve
  • crumbled feta, to serve

FOR THE SAUCE:

  • olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves, bashed and thinly sliced
  • 250g (drained weight) roasted red peppers from a jar, roughly chopped
  • 400g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 heaped tbsp rose harissa
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar

Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas 7.

Line a baking tray with paper. Mix the spices with the garlic oil. Put the potatoes into a large bowl, pour over the spice mixture and toss to coat. Spread them out evenly on the tray, season with some salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes or until crispy and cooked through.

To make the sauce, drizzle some olive oil into a saucpean, add the garlic and cook over a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add the peppers, tomatoes and harissa and season well with salt. Cook for another couple of minutes. Stir in the sugar and cook over a medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove from the heat and whizz until smooth, then taste and adjust the seasoning.

Serve the potatoes on a platter with the sauce poured over and feta and coriander scattered over the top.

(Original recipe from Flavour by Sabrina Ghayour, Aster*, 2023.)

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BBQ Trout with Spinach & Cream

Posted in Barbecue, Fish, Food, Gluten-free, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 2 November 2024| Leave a Comment »

This recipe works well using fillets that have been grilled with fennel seeds and a bit of dill rubbed into the oiled sides before putting on the barbecue. However as we had a whole fish we adapted cooked it whole with some rosemary and lemon. Either way it’s handy to have a temperature probe to make sure the fish is up to 60C and therefore cooked. You can of course pop a pan on your hot barbecue and cook the spinach on there too, we usually cook the sauce indoors.

Serve with steamed, waxy (or baby) potatoes. And a big shout-out to Goatsbridge trout farm for the magnificent fish we bought online from them; superb!

Wine suggestion: Oaky Chardonnay all the way with this, so choose what ever is best in your local wine merchant.

BBQ trout with spinach & cream, serves 4 (depending on the size of the fish … our left-overs lasted all week)

  • 1 large trout (1.5-2kg), scaled and gutted
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 6 bay leaves
  • 2 garlic cloves, bashed
  • 1 lemon, sliced into rounds
  • a few springs of rosemary, fennel or marjoram

For the spinach & cream:

  • a knob of butter
  • 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
  • 250g spinach, washed and thick stalks discarded
  • 150ml double cream
  • a small pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Take the fish out of the fridge at least an hour before you want to cook it.

Light your barbecue, you will need a gentle heat to cook the fish through. Scrub the bars of the grill with a wire brush so it’s nice and clean, then lightly oil the bars. Let the grill get really hot before you put the fish onto it so the skin doesn’t skick and crisps up.

When the barbecue is ready to cook on, rub the olive oil all over the fish and season all over with salt and pepper. Put the bay leaves, garlic and lemom slices into the fish belly. Lay the fish onto the hot grill and cook for 2 to 3 minutes – then check the underside to ensure it’s not cooking too fast or burning – if it looks ok, continue to cook for 12-15 minutes on the first side, then use a couple of spatulas to turn the fish over, don’t worry too much if the skin tears a bit. Scatter over the herbs, then cook on the other side for the same amount of time. The fish is cooked when the the flesh flakes away easily from the bone – we find a temperature probe helpful too.

Gently lift the fish off the grill and serve with buttery new potatoes and the spinach with cream below.

FOR THE SPINACH & CREAM:

Put a large frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the butter. When the butter bubbles, add the garlic and allow it to sizzle for about a minute, without colouring.

Roughly chop the spinach if needed, then stir it into the garlicky butter until it wilts right down. Add the cream, nutmeg andn plenty of salt and pepper, then stir until thickened.

(Original recipes from Outside by Gill Meller, Hardie Grant Quadrille, 2022.)

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