Category: Bay Leaves

Rich Beef Casserole (East Meets West)

October 30, 2014

Normally, at this time of year, this is this food I am always wanting and cooking, but as I begin to write this post apparently here in the Uk tomorrow for Halloween, it is going to be 20c! Well, I am going to post this anyway as soon enough, it will turn chilly! 

 
I still cannot believe, in some tiny way that this Casserole that I came up with months ago was the best I had ever made.  Yes, it was! I am hesitant to admit it as it involves the contents of Chinese sauces. But by the by, it still was the best I had ever made. 

   It was one of the first recipes I thought about doing when I was first produced with this Recipe development project for Lee Kum Kee.  I suppose it is because I remember Chef’s pairing Oysters with fillet steak and creating rich sauces with those oysters.  It was an acquired taste, but one that was around for a while.  Shockingly, years ago I worked with a chef who still thought he was in that era and was trying to recreate a recipe by using tinned Oysters to create a sauce for steak! Yak! 

    Anyway, I set to making this Beef Casserole and am pleased to say that it worked the first time. The lovely flavour of the Oyster sauce pairs beautifully with the Beef and along with that earthy taste of the Chestnut mushrooms and Soy bouncing off that, this was a delightful, rich Bowl of Beef casserole which I will always make now. It’s my little “rule breaking” dish that Im quite fond of! Sometimes maybe rules have to be broken, well… just a little.




Rich Beef Casserole:



Ingredients:

(Serves 4) Takes Approximately 3 hours

–  2 Tbsp of Rapeseed or Olive oil
–  Knob of Unsalted Butter–  400g Shin Beef/Casserole steak cut to 1 1/2 inch cubes
–  2 Tbsp of Plain flour to coat the Beef
–  Salt and cracked black pepper to season
–  1 onion sliced
–  2 Garlic Cloves bashed not chopped
–  1 Celery stick diced fine
–  2 Carrots Chopped Roughly into 1/2 inch pieces
–  1/2 Swede Chopped Roughly into 1/2 inch pieces
–  1 Beef stock cube (may need 2 depending on how intense your stock is) 
–  Small sprig of Thyme taken off stalks and chopped finely
–  2 Bay Leaves
– 1 Tbsp of Tomato Puree
–  250ml of  Chianti Red Wine
–  2-3 Tbsp of Lee Kum Kee Oyster Sauce
–  2 Tbsp of Lee Kum Kee Deluxe Soy Sauce

Method:

–  Preheat your Oven to 160c

–  Place your Chopped Beef onto a chopping board or plate and dry off all moisture with a Kitchen Towel.

–  Season the Beef and also coat with the flour.

–  In a Heavy Bottomed Casserole Pot heat 1 tbsp of oil until sizzling and start to add the Beef. Do not overcrowd as it will not Brown properly.

–  Once all Beef has browned, take out and place onto a plate. Heat the remanding oil into the same Pot and a knob of butter. When Sizzling add the Onions, Celery, carrots and swede and allow to brown also.

–  At this stage add the Beef back into the Pot, stir and add the Red wine. Pop in the Beef stock, Tomato Puree and herbs and Cover with Water. Bring to a simmer on the hob.

–  Place into the Hot Oven for 2 hours.

–  After the 2 Hours Add the Oyster Sauce and Soy Sauce, Stir and place back into the oven for another hour or until Meat and Vegetables are tender.

– At this stage, you may need to balance flavours, i.e if needs a little sugar or more Soy Sauce.

–  This dish is great served with Mashed potato or Boiled Rice.




The Roast Pork challenge begins!

January 29, 2014

One thing I am very passionate about is not wasting food.  A Love/hate relationship I have.  
  Being creative and seeing what you can come up with from your leftovers is just fab!  I have written about this sort of thing before and will continue throughout my Blog. It excites me seeing the outcome of meals that you can produce.  Some of my best dishes/recipes have been created when doing this and Im sure some of you will agree too. 
  At the moment Sainsbury’s are currrently doing a campaign to Make your Roast go further, So I popped in, bought a generous sized British pork shoulder joint and this is the first dish. Obviously… The Sunday Roast… Bring on the “Porkathon”!




Roast British Pork Shoulder with spiced Cider Gravy:

Ingredients (Pork Joint):

-Pork Shoulder 
-1 onion
-1/2 a leek
-1 Carrot
-3 Bay leaves
-3-4 Garlic cloves crushed
– a scattering of Fennel seeds
-Small sprig of Rosemary
-Tspn of Dijon mustard
-Tspn of honey
-Approximately 2-300ml of dry Apple cider( drank the rest of the bottle )
-Water
-Rapeseed Oil or whatever oil/fat you prefer to roast your meats in.
– You could even put some apples at the bottom of the tray with the veg if they need using up.

Take your Pork shoulder joint out of the fridge to bring up to room temperature for no more than 30 minutes.

Preheat your Oven on 220c as you want your oven to be nice and hot to crispen the skin. This will make awesome crackling. 


Place all of the vegetables and herbs as above into a deep roasting tray. You will notice there is a little bit of red onion on the picture as it just needed using up, just like the rest of the tray veg.
 Score the pork skin with a Stanley knife and rub in sea salt keeping it dry. Before your Pork goes on, add a drizzle of rapeseed oil over the veg. Place the Pork joint on top as so…


Then pop the Pork into the oven for about 20-25 mins depending on the size of your joint. 
After that time, take out the pork and it should start to look something like this?…

Turn your oven down to 160c, add a few splashes of your Cider into the roasting tray, plus a little water. Now, also at this point I then brush around the meat only, some honey and dijon mustard. It only coats the outer meat, but makes those nice end bits tasty!  It also makes a our great gravy at the end! 
Cover with foil and roast for anything between 2-3 hours depending on the size of your meat. 
Always note: keep checking your joint adding more water to the roasting tin and the cider to keep it moist and for your Gravy at the end. This will give lots of gooey black bits (hey aren’t burnt) that add loads and loads of flavour.
Once you have checked your joint is done, take out to rest for 20-30 mins.
Whilst it is resting, you can get on with the Cider Gravy…
Take the vegetables out from the roasting tray, place over a low heat to allow a sticky, bubbling goodness to erupt. Add plain flour to thicken,whisking in and add water to a gravy thickness. You could always add more pork or chicken stock if needed.

Ya can’t beat a good ‘ol Sunday Roast! 









My warming beef stew with a hint of the med

February 12, 2013

Over The weekend in The Uk…As the “High meets the Low”, and brings in the Snow…I decided to cook a warm Hearty meal again but not too heavy.  I personally Do not mind the snow, as I have mentioned before that I love seasonal change and of course the food brought with it.  But maybe some of my readers would appreciate a bit “more warmth”. As some might have that thought of the Lovely foods abroad as we start looking at those Flights and Hotels and jetting away for summer. (I know You are out there!).

 So My perfect recipe I thought for this is…

 My Warming Beef Stew with a hint of the med.(Half English Stew and Greek Beef Stifado).


ChezJ9 © 2013.



Recipe : 

(Serves 4)

Beef Shin or Chuck diced 400g
Olive oil 
2 Onions roughly chopped
Plain flour to coat the meat
seasoning 
approx 250ml good quality Beef Stock (strong) any questions on this please comment me?
Red wine (Chianti) 250ml
2 tblsps of Tomato puree 
A good pinch of oregano I had dried but if fresh, use half at the beginning and half at the end.
2 or 3 Bay leaves dry or fresh again
Dash of Balsamic vinegar
2-3 Carrots
2-3 Parsnips
1 medium sized Leek sliced very chunky 3/4 inch thick
2 chestnut mushrooms finely chopped
Fresh Basil and Parsley to serve.


Pat Your meat with a good quality kitchen towel or Tea towel as your meat needs to be nice and dry to help it brown.  Then coat it lightly in plain flour with some salt and cracked black pepper. Not too much salt as you can always add later on.
 In a hot Deep stewing/casserole pan start to brown off the meat using the olive oil. Once it has a nice browning around the edges take out and place on Kitchen paper. 
 Start frying of half of the chopped onions until starting to brown. Add the Bay leaves, oregano, Beef, Tomato puree, dash of balsamic vinegar, Beef stock and the Red wine. Give a good stir and keep on a simmering heat. Always keep checking your stew to take off any scum from the flour also in fear of drying out. if so just keep tasting and adding water and if need be more wine and beef stock. 
 Once the meat is starting to become soft add your carrots, then after 8 minutes your parsnips and about 5 minutes after, your leeks and mushrooms go in.

If you find at any point it’s too tart, then add a touch of cinnamon.  When it is ready to serve add the chopped Basil and Parsley.

As this is such a versatile dish, you could serve with Crusty Bread, Polenta, Rice or In my case…Mashed Potato (Maris Pipers). I added Cream, Butter, seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon of Horseradish sauce (The best you can find). 

Please at any point if you feel you don’t understand somethings on this recipe? just contact me? as it sounds a long, complicated dish but once you get the hang of these sorts of dishes…they will come as a breeze to you 🙂