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Posts Tagged ‘Beef’

Sunday ‘Boeuf au Riz’

Posted in Beef, Food, tagged , , , , , on 10 April 2011| Leave a Comment »

Steaming hot in the casserole … this is so tasty and shows you how flavours can intensify with slow cooking. This has very few ingredients, but the three and a half hours cooking makes the flavours burst on your tongue and the beef melt (we carved it perfectly with a blunt knife). We’ll definitely be doing this again. The recipe come from the French answer to Delia: “I know how to cook” which is published by Phaidon and celebrates the tradition of cooking rather than the celebrity and glamour: tasty dish after dish using simple ingredients. Classic French cookery for the home cook rather than the chef.

Boeuf au riz (Beef with rice) – serves 6

  • 30g butter
  • 900g stewing beef, in one piece
  • 100g onion, chopped
  • 1 bouquet garni (we raided the herb garden and bundled up some rosemary, thyme, bay, parsley and oregano)
  • 750ml stock
  • 250g long grain rice

Heat the butter on medium-high heat in a heavy-based casserole.

Add the beef and brown all over.

Add the onion and bouquet garni and season generously with pepper and a little salt.

Pour in the stock, cover and cook on a low heat for 3 hours.

Rinse the rice well and add to the casserole and cook for another 30 minutes.

That’s it – enjoy!

Wine suggestion: A full-bodied Pinot Noir from Hawkes Bay in New Zealand (or somewhere else in the New World). Ours was from Morton Estate which you can pick up in Mitchell’s (say hi to Jono while you’re there).

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The Frankies Spuntino Meatballs

Posted in Beef, Food, tagged , , , , , , , on 10 January 2011| 4 Comments »

This comes from a cookbook (The Frankies Spuntino) that was a very thoughtful birthday present for Jules from my sister Claire: an authentic Italian hangout in New York. We’d never heard of it, so it was a great treat to be introduced to something new. The two Frankie’s have gone back to their roots to produce real home cooking like their mothers and grand-mothers made in Italy and this is a great read as well as a useful addition to our recipe inventory. A Spuntino is a snack or a place to eat them, so this is about flavour and comfort rather than cheffy complications – we like it!

Warning – you will need to start this recipe the day before; it is not something you’ll have time to whip up after work as it takes at least 4 hours for the big pot of sauce alone. It is well worth it and the leftover sauce is exceptionally useful for so many extra dishes, plus it is a darn sight better than those jars of tomato sauces with celebrities on the front that you buy at the shops. Julie made the sauce while I was at work on Saturday and then we made the meatballs together on Sunday.

Frankies Spuntino’s very useful tomato sauce – makes heaps!

  • 1 x US cup (237ml) good quality olive oil
  • 13 cloves garlic
  • 4 x 800g tins of Italian tomatoes (go to a good deli to get them – we got ours in Roy Fox’s)
  • Large pinch of chilli flakes
  • 2 tsps fine sea salt

Put oil and garlic into a large deep saucepan and cook over a medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, giving the odd stir, until he garlic is deep golden with streaks of brown, and fragrant. If it starts to smell bitter or is colouring too quickly take if off the heat and turn the heat down.

While the garlic is on, pour the tomatoes into a bowl (you’ll need a big one) and crush them with your hands. Discard the stem end and any basil leaves in the can.

When the garlic is done, add the chilli flakes and cook them for 30 seconds or so, to infuse the spice into the oil. Throw in the tomatoes and salt and give it a good stir. Turn the heat up to medium and bring the sauce up to a gentle simmer. Leave it there for 4 hours – stirring now and again.

Check for salt at the end. You can now cook the sauce with meat (as below), leave it covered in the fridge for at least 4 days or freeze for a few months. If you are cooking the meatballs cook them in the entire quantity of sauce and then keep the leftover sauce for later – it gives it a great flavour – though remember you did this when your veggie friends come over!

Meatballs to serve 6 (if there is less than 6 people still make the whole batch as they keep in the fridge and can be frozen)

This recipe uses American cup measures so we’ve given you a rough equivalent – I don’t think you need to be too fussy for this recipe

  • 4 slices bread
  • 2 lbs minced beef
  • 3 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 1/4 cup (or about 60ml) finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 1/4 cup grated Pecorino cheese plus about a cup (237ml) for serving
  • 1/4 cup raisins
  • 1/4 cup pinenuts
  • 1 1/2 tsps fine sea salt
  • 15 turns white pepper
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) dried breadcrumbs
  • Tomato sauce (see above)

Heat the oven to 160C/325F. Put the fresh bread in a bowl, cover with water, and let it soak for a minute or so. Pour off the water and wring out the bread, then crumble and tear it into pieces.

Combine the bread with all the remaining ingredients, except the tomato sauce, in the order listed. Add the dried breadcrumbs last to adjust for wetness: the mixture should be moist wet, not sloppy wet (our mixture was sloppy wet so we added more dried breadcrumbs).

Shape the meat mixture into biggish meatballs and space them evenly on a baking tray. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The meatballs will be firm but still juicy and gently yielding when cooked through.

At this point you can cool the meatballs and leave them in the fridge for a couple of days or freeze them for later.

Meanwhile, heat the tomato sauce in a saute pan large enough to take the meatballs easily.

Put the meatballs into the sauce and turn the heat up a little bit. Simmer for half an hour or so until they soak up a bit of sauce. They don’t get better the longer you leave them so don’t abandon them altogether.

Serve 3 meatballs per person in plenty of red sauce , and cover each portion with a load of grated Pecorino.

Save the leftover sauce and use it anytime tomato sauce is required eg pizza, pasta, lasagne, etc.

Yum yum!

Wine suggestion: something red and Italian is the obvious choice and will give you the right amount of acidity to balance the tomato sauce – nothing too fancy!

 

 

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A very happy New Year

Posted in Beef, Food, tagged , , , , , on 2 January 2011| Leave a Comment »

Over the last few years we’ve celebrated New Years by staying in and cooking something really nice and drinking a special bottle of wine; just the two of us! We then go out on New Year’s day to have a big lunch with friends. This year we cooked a rib of beef on the bone: in reality this is a roast beef for 2 people. Perfect with the quality of the beef really shining (we bought some well hung, organic beef from our butcher Tom) because the cooking is so simple.

Jamie’s Ultimate rib of beef with rosemary and garlic roast potatoes – to serve 2

For the potatoes:

  • 600g waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
  • a sprig of rosemary
  • olive oil, or duck or goose fat
  • 5 cloves of garlic, skin on and smashed

For the beef:

  • 3 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
  • zest and juice of  1 lemon
  • a small bunch of rosemary tied together to make a little brush
  • olive oil
  • 1 x 1.2kg rib of beef

Put the garlic, lemon zest and tip of rosemary brush in a pestle and mortar, add a glug of olive oil and bash together. Use the brush to rub half of this marinade over your steak and leave for at least an hour.

Preheat oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.

Put potatoes cubes in a big pot of cold salted water and bring to the boil. Drain immediately in a colander and return to dry pot to dry out.

Crush rosemary leaves and add to a roasting tray with the potatoes, crushed garlic cloves and some oil. Season and toss together until well coated. Put in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden and crispy – give them a shake every now and again.

Heat ovenproof griddle pan on the hob until white hot. Season the steak really well and fry it in the pan without moving for a couple of minutes. Turn it over, baste it with the leftover marinade and put it in the oven for 20 minutes. Turn the steak over every 5 minutes and continue to baste with the marinade. This should cook it to medium. When cooked squeeze over some lemon juice and rest for 5 minutes.

Carve and serve with the roasties – delicious!

Wine Suggestion: treat yourself to a really good Bordeaux.

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Chilli hotpot

Posted in Beef, Food, tagged , , , , on 29 December 2010| 5 Comments »

Here’s a good tasty winter dish for those of you who can still face cooking after all the Christmas entertaining. Indeed if you still have some entertaining to do this is a great prepare ahead recipe which all cooks in one dish so no need for separate sides other than some steamed greens. We did not prepare ahead and so our guests ended up eating rather late…hopefully they felt it was worth the wait!

Don’t be put off by the long list of instructions and ingredients – it’s all very straightforward and you will probably have most of the ingredients in the cupboard already.

Cottage chilli hotpot to feed 6 (generously)

  • 800g braising steak, cubed
  • 2 tbsp plain flour, well seasoned
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 300 ml red wine
  • 2 red onions, cut into chunks
  • 2 carrots, cut into chunks
  • 4 garlic cloves, skin removed
  • 2 red peppers, cut into chunks
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and sliced
  • few thyme sprigs, plus 1 tbsp leaves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp each ground cumin and coriander
  • 1/2 tsp each cinnamon and chilli flakes
  • 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tsp caster or granulated sugar
  • 250ml beef stock
  • 400g tin kidney beans, drained
  • 1 kg potatoes e.g. Maris Piper
  • knob of butter

Toss the beef in the flour, then brown half in a pan, using 1 tbsp oil. Remove to a bowl when browned. Add 100ml wine to the pan and scrape all the sticky bits off the bottom of the pan. Reduce a little before pouring over the cooked beef. Wipe the pan and repeat with the rest of the beef and another 100ml wine.

Finely chop the onions, carrots and garlic in a food processor.

Add 2 tbsp oil to the pan and tip in the chopped veg, peppers, fresh chilli, thyme sprigs and bay. Fry for 10 mins. Tip in the spices, cook for 1 min, then add the rest of the wine and reduce by half. Add the tomatoes, sugar, beef, winey juices and stock, season, then simmer for 1 1/2 – 2 hrs until the meat is really soft. Stir in the beans and allow to cool.

Peel and slice the potatoes about 5mm thick, then boil for 5 mins. Drain, then tip back into the pan. Add the butter and thyme leaves, season, then toss to coat (be gentle so you don’t break them up too much). Tip the chilli into a big dish, then layer the potatoes on top. Dot with butter. You can now leave it and bake it later on or heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and bake for 50 mins – 1 hr, until the sauce is bubbling and potatoes golden.

We served this with buttered savoy cabbage – you could also have some soured cream if you like.

Find the original recipe on the BBC Good Food Website.

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Greek Feast – Stifado

Posted in Beef, Food, Greek, tagged , , , , , , on 7 November 2010| 3 Comments »

This was so easy and super tasty. All the prep can be done before your friends arrive and then it just simmers away and makes the house smell lovely. Serve with steamed potatoes.

Warning: The meat is supposed to be marinated for 24-48 hours – I only realised this on Saturday afternoon so mine was marinated for about 5 hours – still was fab.

Moshari stifado (Veal Stifado but we used beef) – Serves 6

  • Make a marinade from: 120ml olive oil, 250ml dry red wine, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 3 bay leaves, 20 black peppercorns, 10 allspice berries, 4 garlic cloves.
  • Add 1kg stewing beef pieces, turn to coat, cover and let marinate in the refrigerator, turning occasionally, for 1 to 2 days.
  • Blanch 2kg small pearl onions or shallots in boiling water for 1 minute, drain and peel.
  • Heat 250ml olive oil in a large heavy pan over a medium heat. Add onions in batches and cook each batch for 8 – 10 minutes until lightly browned all over. Remove each batch with a slotted spoon.
  • Remove meat from marinade and strain liquid into bowl – reserve the flavourings
  • Add meat to pan used to cook the onion and cook for about 8 minutes until lightly browned all over.
  • Pour in reserved marinade and season with salt & pepper. Add 2 of the bay leaves, 6 of the peppercorns and 6 of the allspice berries.
  • Add 750ml puréed fresh or canned tomatoes (we used pasatta). Cover, bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.
  • Add the onions and 3 of the reserved garlic cloves. Recover and simmer for 1.5 hours until meat and onions are tender and the sauce is very thick.
  • If the sauce has not reduced enough, remove meat and onions with a slotted spoon and then boil the sauce rapidly. Stir meat and onions back in before serving.

Julie

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