Monday, August 27, 2018

Tropical Mango and Orange Tiramisu

If you don’t like Christmas pudding and want a more modern, fresh dessert, try this. It will feed four. Increase the quantities proportionally if you have more people. Do taste both the juice and the cream and sugar mixture before using and, if it is quite sharp, do add a little more sugar or honey
1 packet boudoir (finger) biscuits – Juice of 4 oranges – 50ml orange, Amarula or Limoncello liqueur - 2 fresh ripe mangos, peeled and sliced – 1 tub of mascarpone cheese – 200ml cream – 150g sugar, vanilla if possible or add 1 t of vanilla extract – juice and pulp of 4 granadillas (passion fruit)
Mix the orange juice with the liqueur and dip the finger biscuits into it. Make one layer in the bottom of a pretty dessert dish. Mix the mascarpone with the cream and the vanilla sugar and spread a layer over the biscuits, then follow with a layer of mango slices and some of the granadilla pulp. Make another layer and finish by pouring over the rest of the juice and topping off with the rest of the granadilla pulp. Cover with cling film and keep in the fridge overnight until you are ready to serve
Posted by MENU at 4:42 pm 0 comments

Spinach & Cheese Roulade

Dinner with friends
We had a lovely dinner with friends in Camps Bay last week – gosh, how the wind can howl there - and our hostess cooked some lovely food. Her starter was something we think you might like to consider for Christmas entertaining – quite retro but really delicious, and it has the usual added advantage that you can make it in advance: a very light, fluffy and moist Spinach and cheese roulade filled with herby cream cheese and smoked trout
Here is Lynne’s recipe: We used frozen spinach; if you want to use fresh, 700g should be enough. Wash well, cook, squeeze out all the moisture then chop finely. You can buy a herb cheese like Boursin and mix it with plain cream cheese. Do season well
1 box Frozen spinach, defrosted – 4 large eggs, separated – 25g cheddar cheese finely grated – salt and freshly ground pepper – a good grating of nutmeg
Filling: 200g tub of good cream cheese – 10g each of fresh parsley, thyme and dill, finely chopped – 200g slices of smoked salmon or salmon trout
Preheat your oven to 200ºC. Mix the herbs with the cream cheese and put into the fridge until the roulade is ready
Line a 33 x 23cm Swiss roll tin with baking paper, folding at the corners. Squeeze as much moisture out of the spinach as you can, then stir in the egg yolks, cheese and seasoning. Beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff then, using a large metal spoon, stir in a quarter of the egg white. Then carefully fold in the rest of the egg white, a third at a time, try to keep the mixture light and airy. Spread onto the tin and bake for 15 minutes until firm to the touch. Cover with a clean lightly damp tea towel and leave to cool. Then turn it out onto the tea towel and carefully remove the baking paper. Spread on the cream cheese and then cover with the smoked salmon. Roll it up first by folding over a small edge of the roulade and then, using the tea towel, carefully roll it up. Do not try to roll too tightly and expect it to crack slightly. Plate it and cover with cling film until you are ready to serve. This makes at least 6 large slices
Posted by MENU at 4:36 pm 0 comments

Lamb with Garlic, Anchovy and Rosemary

We had another favourite, roast lamb, and this might be an alternative main course for some of you for Christmas dinner. We have sold anchovies and now anchovy paste, for many years and we have often been told how delicious they can be as a marinade for lamb – most often from Italy - so Lynne decided to try it. Be assured, it does NOT have a fishy taste at all, just a very deep savoury flavour, and with the large amount of garlic and rosemary, you end up with a really lovely jus. It went very well with a bottle of Morgenhof Cabernet sauvignon Reserve 2001
2 to 2.5 kilo leg of lamb – 9 anchovies or one tube of anchovy paste – 6 garlic cloves, crushed – 2.5 tablespoons of fresh rosemary, chopped - ¼ cup of olive oil – sea salt – freshly ground black pepper – bottle of semi sweet wine (we used Robertson Beaukett)
Turn your oven to 200°C. In a pestle and mortar, crush the anchovies with the garlic and the rosemary till you have a good rough paste. Moisten with the olive oil and then season. Cut several 4 cm slashes in the surface of the lamb and then rub the paste all over it
Place the lamb on a grid in a roasting tray, pour a little water into the base of the pan and put it on the centre shelf of the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Then pour over 100ml white wine and baste the lamb. Reduce the heat to 180°C and leave the lamb to cook for 1½ to 2 hours (dependent on its weight and how well you like it cooked). Baste the lamb regularly with a little more of the wine and the juices in the bottom of the pan and do add a little water to the pan if it becomes dry. Remove the lamb from the oven, cover with foil and rest for 15 minutes. Pour off as much of the fat in the bottom of the pan as you can, then deglaze it and use the juices mixed with corn flour, more wine and water to make a really good gravy
Lynne served this with crisp duck fat roast potatoes, baby peas and roasted butternut with nutmeg
Posted by MENU at 4:30 pm 0 comments

Smoked trout rolls with avocado and watercress

We have enjoyed so many canapés this year that we will be preparing a couple of them for Christmas day, and we suggest that you think back and do the same. Keep it simple and preferably prepare the day before. Our favourites have been prawn tempura with chilli dipping sauce and something with smoked trout and salmon, perhaps gravadlax, which can be made a week ahead
200g smoked trout pieces – 150g good rich cream cheese - 2 t finely chopped chives – 2 t finely chopped dill – freshly ground black pepper - salt to taste
Then 200g smoked trout ribbons – 1 ripe avocado – juice of a lemon – lemon or lime – watercress – savoury biscuits
Blend the first 6 ingredients together, then taste and season with salt if necessary. Put a spoonful of the trout paté into one end of a 5 cm strip of trout and roll up. Fix with a toothpick until they stay rolled up, then remove.
Serve two or three each on a plate decorated with 2 slices of avocado that have been dipped in lemon, a slice of lemon or lime and some watercress. Add two or three good savoury biscuits like Woolworth’s Rosemary and Olive Oil crackers
Posted by MENU at 4:22 pm 0 comments

Sweet Pepper, Basil and Cream Sauce

Sonia Cabano gave us a copy of her new book “Relish – Easy sauces, seasonings and condiments to make at home” recently and we have to share one of the recipes for pasta with you. We haven’t made it yet, but will definitely… soon. We quote:
For 300-450g dried pasta, enough to serve 4-6 people, use:
2 medium onions, finely chopped – 2T 30ml butter (1T = 15ml) - 15ml olive oil – 2 each medium green, red and yellow sweet peppers, chopped small – salt and ground black pepper to taste – 150ml double cream – 6 large basil leaves, finely chopped – 2 T (30ml) chopped fresh parsley – 4 T (60ml) freshly grated parmesan
  1. Cook the onions in the butter and olive oil until golden and soft
  2. Add the diced peppers and cook until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Stir occasionally. Season very well
  3. Add the cream, turn the heat high and allow to bubble until the cream as reduced by half
  4. Add the basil, parsley and Parmesan and toss with hot cooked pasta
Serve immediately
Posted by MENU at 4:16 pm 0 comments

Pisco Sour

We had very small limes, each of which gave us just about 200ml of juice. Lynne made the sugar syrup by combining 4T sugar with 50g water and stirring them together till the sugar melted, then boiled the syrup for 5 minutes. Boil quite hard but do not stir. If it starts to colour (you do NOT want caramel), remove it from the heat immediately and start again. We made the cocktail in the small blender container which comes with our stick blender. You can use a liquidizer or just whisk the egg white till stiff and add it to the other ingredients. This makes enough for two, served in whisky tumblers. Pisco is difficult to find in South Africa, so we have used the nearest easily found replacements. You can add different alcohols like rum or whiskey if you like, but they give a different flavour.
Sour recipe
1 egg white - juice of 8 small limes - 100ml sugar syrup - 2 tots of Cane Spirit, Vodka or Grappa

Blend the egg white till it is light and fluffy and just getting to peaks. Add some of the sugar syrup and blend quickly, then add the lime juice and the alcohol. Taste and add more syrup to your taste if it is too sour
Posted by MENU at 4:08 pm 0 comments

Duck in Orange Cream Glaze

Tonight, we had duck breasts. Lynne glazed them with the new Protea Hill Farm Cream – the balsamic reduction made from their wonderful fruit vinegars. She used the Orange Cream as a glaze and, if you want to try the recipe, we have this on our stall at the markets or you can order it from us on line. Collect from our home or we can post it to you. We have not given exact quantities, it is very much a ‘taste and see’ recipe and is for 2 duck breasts, adjust quantities as necessary
Butter – canola oil – 2 duck breasts – juice & grated rind of one orange – 100ml good chicken stock – Five Spice powder – Protea Hill Farm orange Cream balsamic reduction – honey – salt and pepper

In a heavy bottomed frying pan, melt a little butter, enough to coat the base of the pan. (Do add half and half oil and butter, or just oil if you have health concerns). Season the duck all over with the pepper and salt and a light dusting of Five Spice or Quatre Epice powder. When the pan is hot, place the duck breasts skin side down and let them cook on a medium heat till the fat renders down completely and the skin is nice and brown and caramelized, but not burnt. Turn them over and continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Duck is much better served pink as, if it is overcooked, it can be tough. Remove the duck breasts, coat the skin with a little Orange Cream and put them into the oven at 180°C for 10 minutes then remove, put into foil and rest for 10 minutes. Add the orange juice and stock to the pan and let it deglaze and emulsify with the juices in the pan. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding a teaspoonful of the 0range Cream and do add a little honey if the juice is too sharp. Prepare your vegetables and then, at the last minute, slice the duck and place on the warm plate. Pour over the sauce from the pan and serve. It had a wonderful flavour, was beautifully tender and we matched it with one of the best current bargains in wine: Drostdyhof Chardonnay 2010, which won a Gold medal in the Decanter Awards in England and cost us R30 at Checkers. The duck breasts came from the Neighbourgoods Butcher, Salvin Hirschfield. Talk to him at the market on Saturday, if you’re in Cape Town
Posted by MENU at 4:01 pm 0 comments

"Beginning of summer" Broad Bean Ciabatta

Broad Beans in Season
Lynne increased her likelihood of acquiring carpal tunnel syndrome recently by depodding over 5 kilos of fresh broad beans, but it is so worth it. Despite the black fingernails which persist for weeks, we so love eating these ‘once a year’ seasonal beans. Many people are asking why we can’t have them readily available throughout the year, frozen like peas, as they are in Europe and America. Perhaps this is something local farmers could grow as a winter crop? Ours came from a wine estate, where they are grown between the vines as a cover crop whose roots put nitrogen into the soil. The plants will now be ploughed into the soil as compost, but the beans can be a viable crop and they are not difficult to pick, as we discovered. We steam them in a closed dish in the microwave for one and a half minutes, then take them out of their skins and eat immediately, but they are good in other dishes. This is our favourite way to eat them
400g depodded and skinned cooked broad beans – 6 to 8 large slices of ciabatta bread – garlic – 2 T good olive oil – juice of half a lemon– 1 T fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped – sea salt and ground black pepper - parmesan cheese.

Lightly toast the bread on both sides then give one side a light brush with the cut edge of a clove of garlic. Mash the beans roughly with the oil, mint, lemon and seasoning. Spread onto the bread slices, roughly grate over the cheese and serve as a light snack or as a starter
Posted by MENU at 3:53 pm 0 comments

Pork Chops

Inspired by the simple but great treatment of good ingredients at Johan’s, Lynne decided to do something simple with pork chops this week. You can use chicken as a substitute
4 pork steaks or chops – juice of one large lemon – 2 crushed cloves of garlic – 1 T olive oil – good grinding of black peppercorns – salt

In an ovenproof dish, cover the pork with the lemon juice, garlic, oil and pepper. Put in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours. Salt the pork and put into a hot oven to roast for 10 plus minutes or until the pork is cooked through. Drain off the juices and make a good jus with them. We use a little more water, some cornflower and a little good stock. Cover with foil and rest for at least 10 minutes. Serve with crisp duck fat roast potatoes, steamed courgettes and broccoli
Posted by MENU at 3:47 pm 0 comments

Barracuda in ginger and garlic

We have had great difficulty finding any good quality fish or fresh seafood while visiting Durban, until we visited the magnificent Checkers in Ballito which has an impressive fish counter – we only wish ours in Sea Point could match it in the freshness and availability of fish. We bought two sizable barracuda steaks on Saturday and Lynne marinated them in chilli, chopped garlic and ginger, then we pan-fried them and had them with baked potatoes and a salad. A Braai would have been good but sadly it was drizzling and pitch dark when we wanted to eat at 7
2 Barracuda or similar (swordfish, tuna) steaks - 2cm piece of fresh ginger – 1 large garlic clove – 1 tsp zhoug (Israeli/Yemeni chilli spice)– 1 T hot water– 1 T oil – good squeeze of lemon juice – salt and pepper
Grate the ginger and the garlic, pour hot water on the zhoug powder then stir in the oil and mix with the ginger and garlic. Spread over both sides of the fish and leave to marinate for at least an hour. Fry quickly on both sides then season, add a squeeze of lemon and serve

Posted by MENU at 3:44 pm 0 comments

The Best Chilli con Carne recipe

We are currently in the grip of more cold, wintry weather, so it is back to the kitchen for spicy warming food. Lynne’s favourite Chilli recipe is also probably the oldest cookbook recipe she uses – The International Cookbook bought from WH Smith in 1967. This is a Tex Mex chilli, not a true Mexican one. We do use tinned beans, as they are so cheap and they save so much time and energy. If you don’t do pork, you can leave out the bacon, but it is the secret ingredient, bringing out lots of flavour
350g dried or 2 tins red kidney beans -2 large onions, finely chopped – 2 cloves of garlic, crushed - 2 tablespoons olive oil - 450g lean minced beef – 30g chopped streaky bacon or pancetta 1 bottle of tomato passata or 1 tin of whole tomatoes, roughly chopped - 2 fresh red chillies– 1 t powdered Cumin - Freshly ground black pepper – Salt
If you are using dried kidney beans, soak them overnight in cold water. The following day, bring the beans to a boil in plain water, then discard that water. Cover the beans with more water and boil until they are soft
Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan and fry the onions until soft. Stir in the garlic, the meat and the bacon and continue frying, stirring occasionally, until the meat has browned. Blend in the drained kidney beans, add the passata or tomatoes with their juice, and season to taste with chilli, pepper and cumin
Cover the pan with a lid and cook on a low heat for at least an hour and a half, (the meat must be getting soft, the onions and tomato melting and all the flavours must be coming together) stirring occasionally and checking that it doesn’t dry out. Add a little water if it begins to dry. You can bury it in a slow oven as well. Taste and, if it is not hot enough, add some more chilli or a little hot chilli sauce. Only add salt at the end as the bacon usually adds enough
Serve with guacamole, a chopped tomato, spring onion and coriander salsa, rice or crusty bread and a tossed green salad. Serves 6

Tip: If you want a darker flavour, add one or two squares of good dark chocolate
Posted by MENU at 3:22 pm 0 comments

Risotto of Chicken and Broad Beans

Drift Farm at the Biscuit Mill has had superb young broad beans for the last couple of weeks. They inspired Lynne to make this risotto and she now uses the Masterchef method of shaking the pan instead of stirring it. She finds it much easier and far less tiring and you do still get a lovely creamy risotto. Do make sure that your cooking temperature is not too high; the rice should simmer, not boil. It should not ever stick to the bottom and should stay nice and liquid and creamy
1 T olive oil – 1 T butter - 1 small onion, finely chopped - 2 cloves of garlic, crushed - 500g Arborio or Carnaroli rice – a large pot of good chicken stock– 150ml dry white wine -1 t fresh thyme leaves – 1kg broad beans – 400g cooked chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces – 1 T butter – 100g grated parmesan cheese – pepper and salt

De-pod the broad beans, boil them for two minutes, drain; take off the hard skins of very large beans and discard them. In a separate pan, heat the stock and have a ladle ready. Fry the onion in the oil in a heavy bottomed pan until soft but not brown, add the garlic and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the rice and stir till it is all covered in the oil and butter. Pour on the wine and let it bubble and reduce for a few minutes. Cook on a medium heat, not a high one. Start ladling on the stock, a ladle at a time. Shake the pan rather than stir and when the stock is reducing, add another ladle. Keep giving the pan a good shake every now and then. Stir if you prefer to. When you see the rice is nearly ready, and getting nice and creamy, add the thyme, the chicken and the broad beans. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. With good stock, you usually don’t need extra salt. Continue shaking the pan to incorporate everything and when the rice is cooked but still has a little bite, remove from the heat, stir in the butter and the cheese and rest for five minutes before serving. Serves 4
Posted by MENU at 3:15 pm 0 comments

Stuffed Pasta Shells with Salmon, Ricotta & Spinach

Lynne discovered some amazing huge pasta shells at Checkers and decided to use them for friends who were coming to supper. Using a classic recipe of stuffing the shells with ricotta and spinach, she added some tinned Canadian salmon for added protein and made a separate tomato and red pepper sauce as a base. What went wrong? Lynne has decided she just doesn’t like the taste of ricotta cheese, which she found bitter, unlike all the others who enjoyed the dish. Here is the recipe, if you want to try it. Next time (and there will be a next time - as we cooked the whole packet of pasta, which was far too much and now have half of it frozen, waiting to be stuffed with a different filling. Perhaps a thick cream sauce with prawns, or a mushroom and spinach filling?

For the tomato and pepper sauce
1 T olive oil - 1 large onion, finely chopped – 2 cloves of garlic, chopped – 1 tin of chopped tomatoes - 1 large red pepper, sliced - 3 stalks of thyme – salt – freshly ground black pepper – sugar
Gently sweat the onion in the oil till soft, then add the garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the pepper and the tomatoes and thyme and cook covered until they have broken down and made a nice thick sauce. Do stir occasionally and season. It the mixture is too acid, add a teaspoon or two of sugar. This is often necessary with local tinned tomatoes. If the mixture looks too thick, do add a little water
Pasta recipe
Conchiglioni – very large pasta shells – 350g fresh ricotta cheese – 2 fresh egg, lightly beaten – 180g fresh spinach – 1 tin of salmon – salt and pepper – nutmeg – half a cup of grated parmesan cheese – 200g mozzarella or taleggio

Cook the pasta according to instructions until it is ‘al dente’ (still with a bite, not floppy and soft). You will need about 5 shells per person and the cooked pasta left over will freeze. Cook the spinach briefly, then strain well and dry it off as much as you can. (You can use Swiss chard but real spinach is far better). Finely chop then add to the ricotta with the eggs, seasoning and several gratings of nutmeg. Drain the can of salmon; flake it and stir into the cheese and spinach mix. Use this to stuff the pasta shells. In a large ceramic serving dish that will go into the oven, put a 2cm layer of the tomato sauce then arrange your pasta shells. Top with the parmesan and slices of the soft cheese. Cover with foil and put into the oven at 180°C for half an hour before serving. You can serve with extra tomato and pepper sauce
Posted by MENU at 3:04 pm 0 comments

Courgette Soufflé

BE BRAVE
Soufflés are regarded as something terribly difficult to make and they just are not. If you have been watching Masterchef, you would have seen a good Master class on them and learnt the tip of properly greasing the dish: how to carefully fold in the egg whites so that you don’t knock the stuffing out of them. What you need is a thick flavoured sauce into which you stir egg yolks while the sauce is warm (not hot) and then gently fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. They do need to go into a hot oven and they must not be disturbed until they are nearly finished. And – you can reheat the cheese variety the next day for what is known as a twice baked soufflé, to be served with a cheese sauce. You can make savoury or sweet soufflés. Do be brave and have a go – you will be surprised how easy they are. Two tips – use eggs that are slightly old and that have been taken out of the fridge to get to room temperature
6 medium courgettes – 4 eggs, separated – 175g grated parmesan or pecorino cheese
A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg – a dash of Tabasco - sea salt - a grinding or two of black pepper – a little vegetable oil

Roughly grate the courgettes, put them in a sieve and plunge it into boiling salted water for 1 minute, then plunge into ice cold water to refresh. Drain well and pat dry. Stir into the egg yolks, add the cheese, nutmeg, Tabasco, salt and pepper. Grease a small soufflé dish with the oil or use individual ramekins. Stiffly whip the egg whites then fold them carefully into the courgette mixture. Bake in a moderate oven at 180ºC until they are puffed up and golden on the outside. As a variation you could add some flaked cooked fish or some slivers of cooked meat or chicken
Posted by MENU at 2:57 pm 0 comments

Venison in Port

The supermarkets have lots of venison at the moment and this is one of our favourite ways to cook it. We know it is traditional to tenderise the venison in buttermilk, but we find that this softens it too much. The port works very well indeed to tenderise the meat; it does not taste too sweet when roasted and it isn’t necessary to use an expensive, old bottle. You do need to start this a day or two before you plan to cook it, because it does need to marinate for at least 24 hours or longer

A small leg of venison (Springbok) 1.5 to 2kg – a bottle of red port - 1 tablespoon wine vinegar - 1 sliced onion - 1 teaspoon crushed coriander seeds - 1 teaspoon crushed Juniper Berries - 2 crushed cloves of garlic - a large sprig of thyme or marjoram - ground black pepper – salt – strips of bacon or beef fat

Pour the port over the venison in a deep china or glass bowl and marinate with all the ingredients (except the bacon or fat) for at least 24–36 hours. Dry off the meat and roast, covering the roast with some strips of fat to protect it. Venison is a very lean meat and does need protecting or it will dry out. You can use the marinade (strained) to make delicious gravy to serve with the roast. Traditionally, it is served with matchstick potatoes, and good winter vegetables like roast parsnips, butternut and some green peas
Posted by MENU at 2:51 pm 0 comments

Moroccan Lamb Kebabs flavoured with Ras Al Hanout

We sold lots of unusual spices and spice mixes at Main Ingredient. One of our most popular was Ras al Hanout – the quintessential spice mix from Morocco which is used in tagines and many other dishes. This is a rub for kebabs and is very easy to prepare

25g Ras al Hanout Spice - 1 clove of garlic - 1 t grated fresh ginger - 1 shallot - 1 T chopped flat parsley - ½ teaspoon of flaked sea salt - 800g lean lamb cut into cubes

Warm the Ras al Hanout mix in a dry frying pan for a minute to release the flavours, then add them to a pestle and mortar in which you have put the garlic, parsley, finely chopped shallot and the ginger and salt. Crush well together, then spread onto lamb cubes and put onto wooden skewers. Put them into a Pyrex dish in the fridge overnight and onto the barbeque the next day. This will allow the flavours to permeate the meat. You can also put this mixture onto chicken, beef or goat. When the kebabs come off the fire, slide the meat off the skewers and wrap it in warm pita bread or tortilla wraps - very good finger food! Serve with salads, harissa, plain yogurt and preserved lemons
Posted by MENU at 2:45 pm 0 comments

Pamela’s Chicken and Pistachio Paté

8 thin slices of Parma or Prosciutto ham – 2 T butter – 2 T olive oil – 80g finely diced bacon – 1 onion, finely chopped – 2 cloves of garlic, crushed – 500g chicken livers – 3 bay leaves – 80ml brandy or sherry – 125 g butter, softened – 50 g pistachio nuts, toasted
You will need a loaf tin, which you line neatly with cling film or foil. Then carefully line it with the slices of ham, so that it hangs over the sides, making sure each slice overlaps. Heat the butter and oil together and fry the bacon, onion and garlic for 5 to 6 minutes, or until soft but not browned

Trim the livers of any veins, fat or filaments. Add them to the pan with the bay leaves and cook for 3 to 4 minutes until they are brown on the outside but still pink inside. Add the brandy or sherry and simmer stirring continuously for 3 minutes or until the liquid has almost disappeared. Remove the bay leaf. Put the mixture into a food processor and blend to a very fine texture. Gradually add the rest of the butter and blend till smooth. Season, then stir in the pistachios. Spoon the mixture into the tin and fold the ham over the top to enclose it. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. You can keep this in the fridge for a couple of days; the flavour will improve and it will be easier to slice. Cut into slices and serve with crisp French bread, toast points or melba toast
Posted by MENU at 2:26 pm 0 comments

Peking Braised Beef

1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil - 500g beef (Shin, brisket, sirloin, even fillet) in one piece - Spring Onions, sliced diagonally into 7.5 cm pieces - 2 slices fresh, peeled ginger -half a small onion or one shallot, chopped finely
Braising Sauce
400ml good chicken stock - 2 whole star anise - 2 oz sugar - 1.5 tablespoons dark soy sauce - 1 tablespoon Shao Xing rice wine - Half a cinnamon stick - 2 teaspoons sesame paste (Tahini) - 1 tablespoon Hoi Sin sauce -2 teaspoons Szechuan Pepper
Heat the oil in a heavy pan. Brown the beef. Then add the spring onions, ginger and onion to the pan and continue to fry for 5 minutes. Add the braising sauce ingredients. Bring the liquid to the boil, skim off any excess fat and turn down the heat until it is just a very slow simmer. Cover and braise for 1½ hours or until the beef is quite tender. Baste and turn the beef a couple of times during the cooking
Remove the beef and slice thinly. Serve the slices on a bed of noodles, cover the meat with sauce and serve with braised Pak Choi – a Chinese vegetable somewhere between Swiss chard and cos lettuce
You can serve this cold. The sauce will turn into a jelly if you use beef shin

If you wish to double up the quantities, buy two pieces of meat of 500 grams rather than one large one. This will serve 4 to 6 and more if served with other Chinese dishes
Posted by MENU at 2:19 pm 0 comments

Fennel Ratatouille with Puy Lentils

Originally published on Friday September 29, 2006

 Lynne promised a Puy lentil recipe for last week’s newsletter, then forgot to deliver. Apologies. We served this (low GI) dish with roast lamb on Heritage Day. The Puy lentils are delicious and the only reason they are cooked separately from the ratatouille is that they colour it the most alarming shade of khaki green if you cook them together.

1 small aubergine – salt - 1 onion – 1 T olive oil - 1 fennel bulb - 3 courgettes – 3 tomatoes - 3 cloves garlic – small bunch of thyme, chopped – 50 ml white wine – 100g Puy lentils - sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook in a stove top casserole with a tightly fitting lid. Chop the aubergine into 3 cm chunks, salt and leave for 20 minutes to get rid of any bitter juices. Rinse well. Chop the onion into 2cm chunks and fry in the oil till it just begins to take colour. Chop the rest of the vegetables into rough chunks, then add to the casserole. Crush the garlic and add it too, along with the thyme. Season, cover and allow to simmer gently in their own juices for 20 minutes until the vegetables are softening, stirring once or twice. At the same time, cover the lentils with water, add the wine (don’t salt) and simmer until soft then drain and add to the fennel stew. Adjust the seasoning and serve
Posted by MENU at 2:18 pm 0 comments
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