Beef Bourguignon

It has been snowy and magical, I love the snow so much, I love the way it makes the whole of the UK stand still. In any other country people would still go about their normal lives but not here, oh no....Quick it's snowing panic buy, panic buy, shut the schools, don't leave the house, woman get's some snow on her head, front page news ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
When it's freezing outside we all crave hot comfort food and beef bourguignon is perfect for this. I adapted Gordon Ramsey's recipe for this and it turned out perfectly and I really do recommend using shin beef, it's the perfect cut for this. I served mine with buttery mashed potato and celeriac, yum.

3 tsp goose fat or Butter and a splash of oil
 600g shin beef , cut into large chunks
100g smoked streaky bacon , sliced
350g Whole peeled shallots or pearl onions, peeled
250g chestnut mushrooms (about 20)
2 garlic cloves
1 bouquet garni
1 tbsp tomato purée
750ml bottle red wine

 I peeled my shallots, quartered my chestnut mushrooms, added the smoky bacon and sauteed everything in some goose fat.

I covered my chunks of shin beef in seasoned flour, browned in batches and then added them to the pan. I then added my bouquet garni, tomato past, red wine and 100ml of water and left to cook on the hob for about 2 hours half covered and then I transferred it to the oven totally covered for a further hour and a half. 

The long slow cooking of this bourguignon makes the meat literally melt in your mouth, so utterly delicious, especially when served with a pile of steaming butter celeriac mash.

Coconut Chicken Satay Wraps

I love chicken satay!!!!!!!!!  It's quick, easy and delicious and a great mid-week dinner or lazy weekend lunch.


Marinade

Tin of coconut Milk
Sliced shallot
Red chilli (with seeds)
Stick of Lemon Grass
Fresh tumeric
Ghalangal
Light Soy
Fish Sauce

Satay Sauce

The left over marinade ( strained)
Red chilli
Shallot
Garlic
Peanut Butter
Sugar
Fish Sauce
Lime Juice

You will also need some sliced chicken and wraps also salad items like cucumber, lettuce, tomato and corriander.


I marinaded the chicken in a tin of coconut milk, a stick of lemon grass, chilli, shallots, fresh tumeric, galanghal, ginger, light soy sauce and fish sauce. I covered the chicken in the marinade and put it in the fridge for fours hours. and if you plan ahead put it in over night.

I sliced up some peppers and red onion and roasted them in the oven with a bit of ground nut oil for around half an hour, the reason for the ground nut oil is it's tasteless and you don't want a Thai peanut sauce and olive oil together, yuk.

To make the satay sauce I drained the chicken and discarded all the bits from the marinade and put the coconut milk marinade to one side. I started by gently frying garlic, chilli and shallot for a few mins and then added the marinade and bought it to the boil as it had raw chicken in it.
I then turned it right down and added the peanut butter, some brown sugar,a dash of fish sauce and the squeezed a lime into it.

I was going to take pictures of the wraps and their construction but was to excited about eating them and forgot!! x

Chicken, Sweetcorn and Coconut Soup

Wow University is hard work, I didn't realise how much writing I would have to do...ridiculous.
I never been more busy in my whole entire life, if I'm not at Uni writing things then I'm at work and don't seem to do anything else at the moment. I almost forgot I had a blog, but tonite I am free!
Yesterday I made the traditional Sunday roast and so today I thought I would make a stock with the chicken carcass and use the leftover meat to make a soup.
I boiled the carcass in water along with carrots, onion, celery, peppercorns and bay leaves for around two hours.


Ingredients.

Home made chicken Stock
Roast Chicken shredded
Noodles
Corn on the Cob
2 Red Chillies (with seeds)
Knob of Ginger cut into thin batons
Small can of Coconut Milk
Splash of Mirin
Splash of Fish Sauce
Handful of Coriander















Slice the chillies and ginger, add a splash of mirrin and gently cook in a deep sided saucepan for a few minutes. Then slice the corn off the cob and add that to the pan along with the stock, coconut milk and the noodles and cook for around 4 minutes. Add the shredded chicken at the last moment so it can warm through and season with some fish sauce. Ladle into bowls and put some fresh coriander on the top. This is a great way to use leftovers, it's really good for you and the home-made chicken stock makes it taste extra amazing!















Hopefully it won't be so long until my next post but I do have four essays to do starting with sustainable fishing. x

Tomato and Mascarpone soup with Cheese and Tomato Toasties

Lord God it is bloody freezing down here in Brighton and I can't seem to stop eating tomato soup with cheese on toast at the moment. It is such a gorgeous combination though isn't it...cheese and tomato.
Especially when the cheese is all melted and dipped in hot home-made soup, yum. I only cooked enough to make a couple of bowls so feel free to increase the measurements to cook for more people.

1 tin of good quality tomatoes (I used CIRIO)
4 Medium Vine Tomatoes
2 Carrots
1 Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic
A Dollop of Mascarpone
Pinch of Sugar
Olive Oil
Basil Leaves
Cracked Black Pepper

All you need to do is chop the onion and carrot into small pieces, crush the garlic and fry gently in the olive oil until they are soft and cooked through being careful not to burn the garlic. Next add your vine tomatoes with the skin and seeds removed and fry for further few minutes and then add your tin of tomatoes and simmer all together for around 15 Min's. Now add some torn basil and a big dollop ofmascarpone and transfer to a blender or just use a stick one and blend until smooth. Then put it all back in the pan and heat gently. I drizzled some olive oil and tore some basil on top of the soup. I served mine with cheese and tomato toasties which I used my trusty toasted sandwich maker for with lovely cheddar and sliced tomatoes. It is the perfect winter warmer and satisfying enough for a lovely cosy supper by the fire (if your lucky) or otherwise maybe the radiator.

Lot's of Home-Made Bread

I have a confession to make, I had never made bread before and I really do think it's one of those things I should have done already but I always thought it would be hard and it turns out it's actually rather easy, horray!
I am currently studying 'Culinart Arts's' at university and in my lesson this week we spent four hours making different types of bread from the book 'Dough: Simple Contemporary Breads' by  Richard Bertinet and I absolutely loved it.

My lovely french stick, it was a but thin but tasted great.

Small milk rolls that I made with some left over dough.

This is a garlic, rosemary and sea salt foccacia which I made using a dough that I added semolina and olive oil to.

These are lovely little bits of dough stuffed with home-made pesto. I believe they are French but have totally forgotten what they are called!

This pretty bread is called 'Fougass' and is on the front cover of the book 'Dough: Simple Contemporary Breads'

Another lovely bread that is made by shaping your dough in to a French stick type shape and then getting a pair of scissors and snipping it down the middle and pulling the snipped parts to each side.
I am definitely going to be making bread as often as I can now I know how easy and rewarding it is.

Warm Halloumi and Harissa Salad

 













 

Here is a very simple recipe for a tasty warm halloumi salad that I think is just right for the weather, rather cold  but with some lovely sun!

Halloumi sliced ( I had 4 slices But I'm greedy)
One Red Onion
Sweet long Red Pepper
Small Vine Tomatoes
Harissa
Chopped Mint


It's just a case of pan frying the onion and peppers in a spoon of the harissa, using some of the lovely oil you get in the jar with it and cook for around five minutes before adding the tomatoes, which I sliced in half. You want the onions to almost caramelise so they get that lovely sweet flavour and when this has happened put the contents of your pan onto a plate and put the sliced halloumi in the same pan and fry on both sides. When the halloumi is all crispy on the outside and a but soft in the middle, lay it on top of your onion, pepper and tomato mixture and sprinkle over some chopped mint.

My lovely friend bought me a jar of home made harissa from a lady at her local farmers market in Lewes, East Sussex.

The harissa give the halloumi a lovely golden colour a bit like saffron, very pretty.

Chilli Jam

I know it's only October but I have started to think about Christmas already and how I can be a bit more frugal this year with the whole present buying thing. I always tend to go over board and so have decided to make every ones presents in the form of little food hampers.This is a really easy recipe for chili jam that I got from Nigella Lawson and this the first addition to food hampers!

• 150 grams long red chilli pepper
• 150 grams Red peppers
• 1 kilograms Jam sugar
• 600 ml cider vinegar

 First thing you need to Sterilise your jars and leave to cool, I did this by washing them in boiling hot water and washing up liquid and then put them in the oven for around 10mins on a low temperature.
To make the chilli jam first cut-up the chillies and put into a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped. Next add the chunks of red pepper and pulse again.
Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a pan over a low heat without stirring and although it is tempting to stir you must make sure you don't!
Next you need to add the chilli-pepper mixture into the pan and bring to the boil, then leave it boiling for ten minutes and after that take the pan off the heat and allow it cool-
After about 40 minutes or when you can see the jam is beginning to settle ladle into your jars and seal tightly.
It's a really easy recipe and looks gorgeous, when it's closer to the time I will cover with fabric, tie a ribbon around them and attach a tag with the date I made the chilli jam.