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Posts Tagged ‘Shallots’

Georgian Kidney Bean Salad

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Side dish, Vegan, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on 6 November 2022| 2 Comments »

We’ve made a salad like this before but this one is fresher and makes a great side dish for a crowd. We served it with some spicy baked salmon.

Georgian kidney bean salad – serves 6 to 8

  • 2 x 400g tins kidney beans (we used 300g dried kidney beans, rinse then soak in 3 times the volume of cold water for 5 hours. Drain and put into a saucepan covered by an inch with cold water, then boil hard for 30 minutes, stirring to prevent any sticking)
  • 50g flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
  • 2 heaped tsp dried mint
  • 2 banana shallots, very thinly sliced into rings
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp pul biber chilli flakes
  • Maldon salt & fresh ground black pepper

If you are using tinned beans, drain them rinse well under a cold tap to get rid of the briny liquid. Shake the beans dry, then tip into a large bowl.

Add the rest of the ingredints to the bowl and fold together gently, you don’t want to crush the beans. Season well with salt and pepper, stir again and leave at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.

Stir well again before serving.

(Original recipe from Persiana Everyday by Sabrina Ghayour, Aster, 2022.)

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Pot-roast Beef

Posted in Beef, Food, tagged , , , , , , , , , on 14 November 2021| Leave a Comment »

We don’t cook roast beef too often, because we’re lucky enough to have good friends who do! However we liked the look of this one as it all cooks in one pot and so thought we’d give it a go. It’s a very forgiving dish to cook – easy to get right and with loads of veg cooked in the same dish. Some greens on the side is all you need.

Wine Suggestion: A good, honest Bordeaux blend is what works here. For us it was the Chateau Monconseil Gazin from Blaye which always over-delivers in panache and lovely fruit for the value pricing.

Pot-roast beef – serves 4

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 12 shallots, peeled
  • 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
  • 2 large carrots, cut into chunks
  • 400g baby potatoes, halved
  • 2 tsp mustard powder
  • 1kg silverside or beef topside, extra fat removed
  • 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 sprig of thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 150ml red wine
  • 600ml beef stock
  • 2 tsp butter
  • 2 tsp plain flour
  • 1-2 tsp redcurrant jelly

Preheat the oven to 160C/Fan 140C/Gas 3.

Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish with a lid. Add the shallots, celery, carrots and potatoes. Cook over a high heat until everything is starting to brown, then remove from the dish with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Mix the mustard powder with salt and pepper, then use this to dust the beef. Add the beef to the casserole and brown on all sides, you can add a little more oil if needed.

Arrange the browned vegetables around the beef, then add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves. Pour in the wine and bring to the boil and allow to bubble for a few minutes, then add the stock and bring to the boil again.

Cover the dish with the lid and place in the oven to 2 hours, turning the beef over halfway through. Remove the beef from the oven and check that it’s tender, then transfer the beef and vegetables to a warm platter and cover loosely with foil.

Knead the butter and flour together to make a paste, then whisk this into the cooking liquid, a little at a time, until thickened. Taste for seasoning, then stir in the redcurrant jelly, to taste. Serve the gravy with the meat and vegetables.

(Original recipe from The Hairy Bikers’ One Pot Wonders by Si King & Dave Myers, Seven Dials 2019.)

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Broad Beans with Pancetta

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Side dish, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on 10 May 2018| 1 Comment »

Broadbeans with pancetta

A tasty side dish that works at any time of the year provided you’ve a stash of broad beans in the freezer.

Broad beans with pancetta – serves 4

  • 500g frozen broad beans
  • 70g cubetti di pancetta
  • 2 shallots, finely chopped
  • a small bunch of flatleaf parsley, chopped

Cook the beans in boiling water for 2 minutes then drain and remove from the skins.

Fry the pancetta in a dry pan until the fat runs, then turn the heat up and brown well. Add the shallots for a couple of minutes to soften, then add the broad beans to heat through. Stir through the parsley and season before serving.

 

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Pimp Your Peas with Roasted Shallots & Mint

Posted in Food, Gluten-free, Side dish, tagged , , , , , , , , on 2 January 2018| 1 Comment »

Peas with roasted shallots

This is a handy side dish for a roast dinner and adds a bit of interest to a bag of frozen peas, which our freezer is never without.

Peas with Roasted Shallots & Mint – serves 8

  • 550g shallots, peeled and halved
  • 85g golden caster sugar
  • 1 kg frozen peas
  • a bunch of fresh mint, chopped
  • 3 tbsp good quality olive oil
  • juice of ½ lemon

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

Toss the shallots in the sugar. Heat a large ovenproof frying pan until hot, then add the sugary shallots. Cook for a few minutes to caramelise the outside, then transfer to the oven for 5 mins to cook through.

Cook the peas in boiling salted water for 2 mins until tender, drain and mix with the shallots, mint, olive oil and lemon juice. Season and serve.

(Original recipe from BBC Good Food.)

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Rare Roast Beef with Rosemary, Bay & Shallots

Posted in Beef, Food, Gluten-free, Roast, tagged , , , , , , , , on 2 October 2016| Leave a Comment »

Roast BeefHow to make friends and influence people – serve them roast beef! We love it rare.

Wine Suggestion: a classic dish requires a classic match; good red Bordeaux. Specifically we love left-bank Bordeaux from a good vintage which has all the power but is never heavy; we don’t want to overwhelm the beef as it should be the star. 2009 and 2010 are surprisingly drinking very well and show how good they are but we’ve found the 2005’s are only just opening up. Interestingly we prefer more youthful vintages with this dish and think that the joy of primary fruit with just a little development makes a better match. For this meal we dug into the cellar and pulled out a Chateau Chasse-Spleen 2005 which was still quite tight and structured but the load of tannin in the wine worked perfectly with the proteins in the beef.

Rare roast beef with rosemary, bay & shallots – serves 4

  • rolled sirloin joint, about 1.1kg
  • 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 4 sprigs rosemary
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 16 shallots
  • 500g baby new potatoes
  • olive oil

Preheat the oven to 220ºC/Fan 200ºC/Gas 7.

Make a bed with the rosemary and bay leaves in the bottom of a large roasting tin.

Smear the beef with mustard, salt and pepper and set on top of the bed of herbs. Make sure the herbs are well tucked in to prevent them burning.

Put the shallots and potatoes around the beef. Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes and shallots and toss with your hands to coat.

Roast the beef in the oven for 20 minutes, then turn down to 190ºC/Fan 170ºC/Gas 5. Cook for a further 20-25 minutes, then remove from the oven and rest for 10 minutes while keeping the potatoes & shallots warm.

(Original recipe in BBC Olive Magazine, March 2011.)

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Mussels in Creamy Sauce

Posted in Food, Shellfish, tagged , , , , , , on 27 February 2016| Leave a Comment »

Mussels in a creamy sauce

We can’t get enough of mussels and love them in any kind of sauce. This is a nice easy one to serve 2 with some crusty bread (or hot chips!).

Wine Suggestion: try to find a good Alvarinho from Vinho Verde in Portugal. We’re big fans of Soalheiro whose wines have a delicious vibrancy and freshness that really work with mussels.

Mussels in a Creamy Sauce – serves 2

  • 1kg mussels
  • 250ml white wine
  • 25g butter
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 3 parsley stalks
  • few thyme sprigs
  • 3 tbsp finely chopped shallot
  • 100ml single cream
  • 2 tbsp chopped parsley leaves

Scrub the mussels under cold water, scraping off any beards or barnacles. Discard any that are damaged or those that don’t close completely when tapped against the sink.

Put the mussels in a large pan with the wine, butter, bay leaf, parsley stalks, thyme and shallot. Cover, bring to the boil and cook for 4-5 minutes or until the mussels have opened. Drain, keeping the cooking liquor, and discard any mussels that have not opened. Discard the parsley stalks and bay leaf.

Put the cooked mussels into two serving bowls and keep warm. Return the cooking liquor to the pot and boil rapidly until slightly thickened. Now pour in the cream and add the chopped parsley and cook gently until thickened further. Season, then pour over the mussels and serve immediately.

(Original recipe by Greg Wallace for BBC Good Food Magazine, February 2008.)

 

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Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Shallots

Posted in Food, Side dish, Vegetarian, tagged , , , , , , on 26 January 2015| 5 Comments »

Roasted brussel sprouts with shallots

 

This is one of the many Brussel Sprout recipes that celebrate this much maligned veg. We think that in the right dish and cooked properly they are fab and roasting them with shallots brings out great flavours. A good autumn/winter side dish for roasted or barbecued meats.

Roasted Brussels sprouts with shallots – serves 4

  • 400g Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
  • 350g shallots, peeled and halved
  • 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
  • several sprigs of thyme
  • a squeeze of lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas Mark 5.

Put the Brussels sprouts and shallots into a large roasting dish, drizzle with the oil, season with salt and pepper and toss to coat, then tuck in the thyme sprigs.

Roast for approximately 35 minutes, giving the tray a shake half way through, until everything is crispy and caramelised.

Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice.

(Original recipe from River Cottage Veg Everyday by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Bloomsbury, 2011.)

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