Red Wine Jus Steak & Celeriac/Sweet Potato Fries with Honey Glazed Carrots

April 8, 2014 — Leave a comment

Simple, hearty, earthy, juicy! What more is there needed to say about this awesome dish. Easy to put together with lovely strong flavours and great textures this is proper comfort food. There aren’t much better things in food than a big, juicy, well cooked steak covered in a rich, deep red wine sauce. Enough said.

INGREDIENTS

For the Red Wine Jus & Steak

Two large filet steaks
2 chopped shallots
175 ml port
175 ml red wine
1 sprig rosemay
1 bay leaf
759 ml good beef stock
salt to tase
2 tbs butter

For the Celeriac and Sweet Potato Fries

1 large celeriac (1.3kg/3lb total weight)
2 large Sweet Potato
3-4 tbsp groundnut or vegetable oil
1 tbsp paprika

For the Honey Glazed Carrots:

4 small, thin and conical carrots
125 g unsalted butter
1 Tbsp runny clear honey
1 tbp D’Jon mustard
2 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Salt
750ml chicken stock
White Wine (OPTIONAL)

MUSIC I COOKED TO:

Preparation Method:

Pre heat an oven to 230C/Gas 8/fan 210C
Peel the celeriac, slicing off the top and bottom and sweeping down the sides with a heavy, sharp knife to remove the tough skin. Cut the celeriac into thumb-thick slices and then into chips. Peel and chip the sweet potato
Bring a very large saucepan of salted water to the boil, throw in the chips and blanch (boil rapidly, uncovered, for 1-2 minutes). Drain the chips, pat dry with kitchen towel and throw back into the saucepan. Add the oil, paprika and sea salt. Toss until well coated.
Spread the chips over a large heavy baking sheet, leaving plenty of space (you may need 2 sheets). They take around 30-35 minutes to cook – wait until they are caramalised and crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.
For the red wine jus pan fry the finely diced shallots over a medium high heat until caramelised
Add the port, red wine and herbs. Simmer until reduced by half.
Add the stock and reduce by half.
Strain through a sieve into a bowl. Add back to the pan and set aside.
Remove the green leaves from the carrots, leaving some greens still attached. Wash them well under cold running water and peel them.
In a small bowl, add the honey, the mustard and the lemon juice and stir well until combined.
Add the butter and heat over medium-high heat. When the butter has almost melted and is foaming place the carrots into the pan. Pour the honey-mustard-lemon juice mixture over the carrots and add salt to taste. Allow the carrots to cook for about 30 minutes over medium heat, until they are softened and caramelised, making sure to turn them every now and then in order to cook evenly. Continue to baste and cover them every so often with the cooking juices, when the pan starts to get a little dry you can deglaze it with some white wine if you have some to hand (or you can use a just a little water or vegetable stock). Never add too much liquid to the pan.
When they are ready, remove them from the pan and arrange them on a platter. Pour some of the melted butter-mustard sauce on top.
Heat a grill or pan to hot, smear the steaks with oil and salt and cook them, turning once, 3 mins each side.
Bring the jus back to boil and remove from heat then whisk ( ‘monte’) in the butter.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
To plate up place the steaks next to the carrots in the centre of a plate, scatter some fries next to them and drizzle over some of the red wine jus.

TWICE COOKED, TWICE FLAVOUR, CHINESE CHICKEN WITH CHILLI AND SPRING ONION

March 23, 2014 — Leave a comment

This bright, colourful, simple Chicken dish has been passed down through my mum’s family. The distinctly asian flavours and aromas are deep, and strong but quite fresh. The dish is simplicity itself to put together and cook. Julienning the ginger and vegetables beforehand will make things easier for you. If you have the time, the only difficult decision you have is whether to take a break from the cooking after the Chicken has braised in the first section of prep and let it marinade for a few hours… though obviously this turns a dish that is quite quick to cook into an all day affair (though you can obviously just leave the chicken marinating and go and do your own thing). Twice cooking the chicken is an important process for the flavours and textures – the first slow braising step imparts rich colour and flavour to the chicken as well as making the flesh succulent and tender. Roasting the chicken after this and basting it gives the chicken an indulgent crispy sticky covering that holds a real flavour punch. Served with fresh tangy spring onions ,spicy chillies and simple boiled rice this dish springs off the plate and into your mouth with a awesome medley of complimenting tastes and textures –

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken:

Small whole chicken
Cup of Water
Cup of chicken stock
3 small yellow onions
4 spring onions
5 garlic cloves, peeled, bruised
6cm piece fresh ginger
3 star anise
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 cup Chinese rice wine
6 tbsp Light soya
4 tbsp Dark soya sauce
2 long red chilli, thinly sliced
heaped tbsp sesame seeds
Steamed jasmine rice to serve

For the marinade:

1 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
1/4 teaspoon Chang’s sesame oil

For basting:

500ml of Chicken stock.

Preparation Method:

Wash chicken and pat dry skin and body cavity with kitchen paper towel. OR leave to air dry for about 30-40 mins.
Butcher the Chicken into its disassembled pieces – breast, wings and legs and thighs.
Slice the ginger and onion into thin strips around 5-6 cm long.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the ginger and yellow onion until starting to colour. Add half the sliced chilli and fry for around a minute.
Place garlic + chicken pieces in pan in a single layer. Brown on one side, then turn over all the pieces and brown the other side.
Sprinkle rice wine onto chicken and add stock and water into wok with chicken. Then add soya sauce (light and dark), oyster sauce, star anise and the sugar.
Turn heat to medium-low then cover wok and braise chicken until cooked; turning frequently to avoid burning skin. When the liquid in the wok becomes thicker then leave uncovered and continues to cook on low heat and spooning the liquid onto chicken to colour the skin. This gives the chicken a lovely brown colour on the skin and cook the meat in a way which is succulent and tender. It takes appox. 35 mins. to cook the chicken.
At this stage – if you want you can let the dish cool and place into the fridge with all the pan juices for 4hrs (or even up to 12hrs.) – Though it will add flavour to the dish, its not really necessary.
Transfer to a roasting pan, skin side up. Pat dry with paper towel.
Meanwhile, make marinade Combine hoisin sauce, honey, five spice, soy sauce, chilli and sesame oil in a bowl. Reserve 1 tablespoon mixture.
Roast for 10 minutes or until browned. Remove from oven. Rotate chicken. Brush chicken with remaining marinade. Cook for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and dark brown. Baste throughout with chicken stock and any leftover marinade.
Meanwhile toast some sesame seeds in a pan.
Transfer the chicken to a plate. Cover with foil. Set aside to rest for 10 minutes.
Thinly slice remaining spring onion. Place individual portion of chicken on a plate, sprinkle a pinch of toasted sesame seeds on top. Garnish chicken with spring onion and chilli.
Serve with rice and drizzle over some of the pan juices.

MUSIC I COOKED TO:

ROAST DUCK LEG, HERBED PLUM, MUSTARD APRICOT AND CRUSHED MINTED PEAS WITH FONDANT SWEET POTATO

March 20, 2014 — Leave a comment

This warming, slow roasting dish is bursting with flavour, and a veritable rainbow of amazing colours, coming from the rich sauce, sweet glazed fruit, earthy sweet potato and zingy vibrant peas – all of which are a great match for the meaty duck. You will definitely find yourself gnawing like a barbarian at the leg bones on this recipe. Duck legs are pretty cheap, full of deep flavours and rich fat, and perfect for cooking several at a time. Any left over fruit can be kept in the fridge and is awesome with cold meats and strong cheese. Timing is everything with this recipe and there are quite a few processes to juggle/remember to do at the right time, but if you’re organised, and careful, there is nothing thats actually too technically difficult in there. So go get stuck in with this great, hearty, colourful dish –

INGREDIENTS

For the duck breast with plums + apricots

2 good quality duck legs
5 tsp fresh rosemary sprigs
3 tsp chopped lemon thyme
3 tsp freshly ground ground black pepper
1½ tsp sea salt
4 purple plums, halved, stones removed
1 tbsp olive oil
can of apricot halves in juice, drained
5 tbsp caster sugar
500 ml red wine
300ml chicken stock
2 tsp runny honey
1 red onion
4 cloves of garlic – 2 roughly chopped
2 tsp plain flour

For the Mustard Apricot Glaze

1 & 2/3 cups lemon juice
2 cups sugar
1 tsp english mustard/50g mustard powder
4 star anise
3 sprigs lemon thyme

For the crushed minted peas:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 handful fresh mint, leaves picked
1 pound (500 grams) frozen peas
2 large knobs butter
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Fondant Sweet Potatoes:

2 Sweet potatoes
cold water
1 tablespoon light olive oil
sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
1 tablespoon butter
2 rosemary sprigs, fresh
1l chicken stock

Preparation Method:

Preheat oven to 190°C, fan 170°C, gas mark 5. Season the duck legs all over with salt, pepper, chopped garlic and the rosemary sprigs and brown in a hot pan on both sides. Set aside.
Peel the sweet potatoes and slice off pointed ends to create flat bases. Slice in half so you have 4 total pieces. Make as even to each other as possible in terms of height and width – around 3cm wide by 6cm tall. Place in a bowl and cover with cold water. Soak for 10 minutes and place on paper towels. Pat dry.
Heat vegetable oil in the same pan on the stove. When the oil begins to shimmer and move in the pan, add the potatoes, prettiest side down. Cook for 4 minutes and season the top with salt and pepper.
Turn the potatoes over and cook the other side for 4 minutes or until browned and slightly crisp. Season this side with salt and pepper as well.
Use tongs and a paper towel to blot out the remaining oil and add butter and rosemary sprigs to the pan. When the butter melts and begins to brown, use tongs and brush rosemary over all of the potatoes. Transfer your potatoes, butter and herbs to a shallow pyrex oven dish.
Pour in the chicken stock, so that it almost covers the potatoes and place in the oven. You will need to cook them for roughly 60-70 minutes or until the a knife can pierce the entire potato.
Add the HALF the red wine to the pan on the stove (the same one used for the potatoes and browning the duck) and simmer until reduced by half. Add the chicken stock, more rosemary, 2 garlic cloves and the red onion peeled and quartered and a 1 tbsp of sugar .
Return the duck legs to the pan, skin-side up. Drizzle the honey on top liberally. Place the oven-proof pan into the oven and cover with tin foil. This will cook in the oven for one hour or until the meat is tender.
Meanwhile, for the Mustard Apricot Glaze, make a thin syrup of the lemon juice, ½ cup of water, and the sugar, and whisk in the mustard. In the same saucepan place the fruit, star anise, lemon thyme and bring to the boil and then simmer for 4 minutes. Remove the fruit from the heat and put it in a bowl. Pour the mixture over the apricots. Cover and set aside to soak.
Place the plums on a baking sheet. Mix the chopped lemon thyme, black pepper and salt with the olive oil and sugar until well combined, then gently rub the mixture over the plums.
After an hour and when the duck is cooked remove it from the oven and set aside, still covered in the foil, and leave to stand. Turn the oven temp down to 160°C, fan 140°C, gas mark 3. Spread the apricots and plums in a shallow ovenproof dish, and bake in the oven for the 20 minutes until lightly caramelised.
Meanwhile transfer the peas to a medium saucepan and stir in the olive oil and herbs, plenty of salt and a pinch of pepper.
Cook the crushed peas on a medium heat with the lid on for 3 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, then taste and correct the seasoning if you need to.
Crush the peas roughly in a food processor or with a masher. Do not purée them, as it is important to retain much of the texture.
Remove the duck leg from the pan and place on a plate, and cover in foil. Place the pan with the remaining sauce on the hob at a medium heat. Add 3 tbsp of the juice from the apricot can, 3 tbsp of caster sugar, and the rest of the red wine – then scatter in 2 tsp of plain flour. Stir, leave to simmer and reduce for a few minutes until you have a thick gravy like sauce.
Remove the sweet potatoes from the oven and remove from the stock. Mix half cup of the stock into the sauce reducing on the hob.
Remove the apricots and plums from the oven and set aside.
To serve, spoon the peas on to four serving plates arrange on the plate alongside the duck leg – place two roasted plum halves and one of the apricots on each plate, and then the fondant sweet potatoes by the duck. Strain the pan reduction and drizzle a very SMALL amount onto the duck (it will be quite salty and strong – so not too much).