A Hearty Beef Stew

 

Winter is my favourite season. I love the changing colours, the crisp mornings, the smell of wood fires, the clear blue skies. I especially love wintry food – soups and stews – dishes that nourish and warm.  Nothing brings me greater pleasure than preparing food for the ones I love, celebrating friends and family.

As I write this, my father is at the doctor’s rooms having a biopsy. The outcome will confirm whether or not he has cancer.  On the night we first learned that there may be something wrong, I prepared this dish, because it was simple and comforting. My dad is a quiet man,  he enjoys a glass of red wine from time to time and if he’s had enough he’ll regale us with stories from his childhood. One that springs to mind, is when his brother, Calvin, ran away from home with all my father’s clothes and then proceeded to steal a bus. Fun times.

I don’t know what the outcome of the biopsy will be, if it is bad news, we will deal with it. We may not be able to walk this journey for the people we love, but we can support them, nourish them.

A Hearty Beef Stew

Serves 4

Adapted from Jamie’s Dinners

Olive oil

A knob of butter

1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced

A handful of fresh sage leaves

800g free-range stewing steak or brisket cut into cubes

Maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper

Flour to dust

A few shakes, paprika

5 carrots, peeled and halved

1/2 butternut squash, peeled, deseeded and the flesh cut into cubes

500g baby potatoes, halved

3 tbsp tomato puree

1/2 bottle of red wine

300ml organic beef stock

Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated

1 clove of garlic, peeled and  finely chopped

a handful of fresh rosemary, leaves picked and roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 150C. Put a little oil and a knob of butter into a casserole pan. Add the onion and sage leaves and fry for 3-4 minutes. Toss the meat in seasoned flour made by combining 3 tbsp flour, salt and pepper, and a few shakes of paprika. Add the meat to the pan along with the vegetables, the tomato puree, the wine and the stock. Gently stir together. Season generously with Maldon salt and freshly ground black pepper (the amount of salt you add, depends on how salty your stock is. Remember that as it reduces it will become saltier, so exercise caution when seasoning). Bring to the boil, place a lid on top, then cook in the preheated oven until the meat is tender. This took roughly 2 hours in my oven, after an hour I added a little more stock and some hot water and continued cooking the stew until the meat was tender.

To serve, ladle the stew into your prettiest bowls, accompanied by some crusty bread and a glass of good red wine. Combine the lemon zest, garlic and rosemary and scatter a little over each person’s plate before eating – it will release the most amazing fragrance. Enjoy.

 

Tags: freshly ground black pepper, hearty beef stew

Warm and buttery Cinnamon Bun Scones

So yes, I fell off the blogging bandwagon.

One week I was churning out recipes like Macdonald’s burgers, and the next, I just disappeared.

I wish I could tell you that I was off in Morocco, living with a Bedouin tribe and riding camels all day, but that would be a lie. Instead I became a history/drama teacher to a group of 13/14-year-old girls. For reals.

So to make amends, I come bearing baked goods.

For the record, I hate working with yeast – every time I do, something goes horribly wrong and I end up with bread so rock hard it could be entered in the shotput category at the olympics – the good news here – is that there is no yeast in these ‘buns’ because – wait for it…they’re scones!!! Genius, hey?

The texture of these scones are all a scone should be – light, crumbly, moist. Delicious warm from the oven with lashings of butter and your favourite jam. Make them for a loved one, hell, make them for yourself. Have some scone lovin’. I dare you.

Cinnamon Bun Scones

Makes about 10

Adapted from Joy the Baker

3 cups flour

2 tbsp sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3/4 tsp salt

185g  cold butter, cut into cubes

1 xl free-range egg, beaten

3/4 cup buttermilk, chilled (not as in relaxed, but cold)

1 tsp good quality vanilla extract

For the Filling

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (optional)

pinch of salt

2 tbsp butter melted, and a little extra for brushing the buns before baking.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Grease a square baking pan.  In a small bowl mix the sugars, cinnamon and salt for the filling. Have your melted butter ready too, in a separate little bowl or jug.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt to remove any lumps (I hate sieving and find this much easier). Add the cubed, cold butter and rub it in with your finger tips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  In another bowl, whisk together the egg, buttermilk and vanilla extract.  Add the liquid ingredients to the flour mixture – I like to cut it in with a knife and then use my hands to knead it into a dough. Do not knead too much – or your scones will be tough – you just want to bring the ingredients together in a gentle lovin’ way.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll it out into a rectangle – you don’t want it rolled out flat – these are scones remember – so the dough thickness should be a little less than 2cm high.  Brush the dough with melted butter and then sprinkle over the cinnamon sugar mixture – it may seem like a lot – but use it all.  Then roll up your dough – you want a cylinder shape. Using a sharp, floured knife, cut rolls about 2 cm wide and lay them flat and close together in your baking pan. They should look like palmiers with the cinnamon sugar swirling through. Brush the tops with melted butter and bake for 13-15 minutes depending on your oven. Keep an eye on them, you do not want these babies to burn. 

These are best served the day they are made and can be reheated in the microwave.

Crushed Raspberry and Rosewater Ricotta Cheesecakes

Do you ever have those days where you wake up and want to do everything?

The sentence above could be so horribly misinterpreted.

Yesterday I woke up and I wanted to do the following:

Read Anna Karenina

Drink tea Russian style, with a dollop of jam

Learn to speak Italian

Write a new play

Experiment with molecular gastronomy

Stalk Alan Rickman

Did I do any of the above?

No.

I made cheesecakes.  Light, fluffy, healthy, baby cheesecakes.  So-pretty-they-could-be-on-the-cover-of-Vogue-Magazine-cheesecakes, low-fat cheesecakes, with the most fragrant and luscious raspberry topping, perfumed with roses. Sexy cheesecakes, cheesecakes to woo.

Let’s be serious for a minute.

These are good, and they’re not fattening, so you could eat them all and probably not gain any weight.

They’re also really quick and easy.

You’re going to have to bake them in cupcake cases, if you want to serve them in the cases go right ahead, it’s not like you need my permission.

Crushed Raspberry and Rosewater Ricotta Cheesecakes

From House and Leisure: The Food Issue

Makes 12 cupcake size cheesecakes

500g Fresh, soft Ricotta cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup Caster Sugar

4 xl Free-range eggs

For the topping:

125g Raspberries (I used fresh raspberries, but frozen will do)

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp rosewater

Preheat the oven to 190C. Beat the ricotta, caster sugar and eggs together, until smooth, thick and fluffy. Spoon the batter into a muffin pan, lined with paper cupcake cases.

Crush the raspberries roughly with the sugar and rosewater (not too much, you still want some texture) Spoon over each cheesecake, then lightly press down with the back of a spoon. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until set. Cool, then refrigerate until ready to serve. Dust with icing sugar if desired and serve with fresh raspberries.

 

 

 

Tags: alan rickman, anna karenina, cup caster sugar, molecular gastronomy, vogue magazine

Strawberry, Peanut Brittle, Avocado and Goats’ Cheese Salad

So on Monday, I turned 33 years of age.

I know.

WTF.

I’m not ready for 33 – can I just put that out there? Like I have a choice.

33 is beginning to feel just a little too grown up, you know?

On the night prior to turning 33, I lay awake unable to sleep, all of these crazy things running through my mind – like, am I eating enough blueberries, OMG I don’t have a pension, What about my biological clock, do I need to freeze my eggs, do my ovaries still work, should I colour the grey out of my hair, do I need Botox? I don’t want Botox! Am I too neurotic? Am I not neurotic enough?  Is this normal? Am I normal? Should I become a Buddhist? I don’t know!

It was 3.39am when I gave myself a darn good talking to.

You’re 33, get a grip.

Yeah, right.

My friends gave me a card, with their condolences:

That is exactly how I feel.

Gotta love friends.

So I did what I always do when I get really freaked out.

I made salad.

This salad is all kinds of deliciousness. Don’t be afraid of the peanut brittle, it’s genius.

Strawberry, Peanut Brittle, Avocado and Goats’ Cheese Salad

makes one large salad

Adapted from Spatula Magazine

 

300g rocket, washed and spun. Try and use wild rocket, if you can.

2 ripe avocados, de-pipped and cut into squares – or scooped if you prefer a more rustic look.

2 cups strawberries, rinsed, hulled and quartered.

1 generous cup peanut brittle, loosely crushed ( this is the therapeutic part – when you get to bash it with a rolling-pin)

1 cup of goats’ cheese crumbled.

3 tbsp (or more) of balsamic glaze

Maldon salt and pepper to taste

For the Balsamic Glaze:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp brown sugar

Start by making the glaze. Heat the balsamic vinegar and brown sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer for 6-8 minutes (I let mine go for 10 minutes, I’m a rebel), stirring occasionally until slightly reduced and syrupy (it will thicken further on standing). Remove, cover and set aside to cool.

For the salad: Combine all of the ingredients, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with the balsamic glaze.

devour.

 

A Bald Blue Woman And The Very Best Blueberry Muffins

Have you ever just craved a fresh start? Sometimes there’s nothing better than wiping the slate clean and beginning again. And I don’t just mean the big new year fresh starts, the little one’s can be equally rewarding, the first page of a diary, a small resolve, starting the day in a good way – whatever that means for you.

I was despairing because my start to 2012 was not what I’d expected. No champagne, frivolity, midnight festivity – instead I lay in bed with aching joints, a rasping cough and a temperature so high I started hallucinating. At one stage I looked up through glassy eyes to see a bald, blue lady sitting on the edge of my bed. She was wearing the brightest orange lipstick – her lips like two plumped up tangerine segments. I remember thinking, “Girlfriend, orange is not a good colour if your skin is bright blue’, but I said nothing.  We just looked at each other. And that was ok.

Sure, I wanted to be well when I welcomed the New Year in – I wanted lots of things. But the thing about a fresh start is that it doesn’t need a big celebration, it needs no fanfare – it can be something life changing, or something very small and pleasure inducing. So once I’d recovered I made blueberry muffins for breakfast – because the thought of a warm, light, moist, blueberry studded cake seemed like a good start to a new day, filled with hope and promise.

So Happy New Year delicious people. It’s belated, but the thing with fresh starts is that that doesn’t matter.

I wish you all much love, light, health, prosperity and all the fresh starts you desire in 2012.

Blueberry Muffins

makes 12

2 xl free-range eggs

1 cup milk (I used low-fat)

1/4 cup/60ml  melted butter or margarine

1 1/2 cups flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries ( I used fresh, as they’re in season now)

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C and get out three mixing bowls.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and melted butter.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and 2 tbsp of sugar. Stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until combined. You don’t want to overmix. In the third mixing bowl, combine the blueberries, 1/4 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of sugar. Gently fold the blueberry mix into the muffin batter. Spoon into a greased muffin tray and bake for approximately 2o minutes. Best served warm with butter and jam if you like them a little sweeter.

 

Tags: blueberry muffins, frozen blueberries, orange lipstick

Roasted Carrot Puree with Caraway, Feta and Mint

A couple of years ago, the local media ran a story about a daikon radish in Tokyo. It seems this humble root, managed to grow in one of the most densely populated cities in the world – and not  only that – the radish grew through the concrete of a busy sidewalk.  The story stuck with me, it struck a chord. If anything, that story was a lesson in resilience. Lately, I have felt somewhat less resilient, compared to that daikon, I’m just below the concrete ceiling, deciding whether or not I have the will to break through.

In the last few weeks, my skin has felt paper-thin and porous. I’ve become a tap-root,  imbibing  everything around me to the point of oversaturation. I’ve felt angry and sad, I’ve felt despair, I’ve  questioned so many things. I have seen one of my dearest friends, lose her baby at 22 weeks and as I looked at pictures of her, with her tiny, perfectly formed hands and feet, I have felt that life, despite all its wonder, can be so terribly cruel. 

So I took a time out, because I’m not feeling as strong as I did before.  I bruise easier. Tears flow at the drop of a hat. I wish I could tell you that I’ve been on a spiritual quest, holed up in some cave reading Sartre and drinking green tea, doing yoga and meditating beneath a slice of moon. The truth of the matter, is that I’ve spent a lot of time lying on my couch, watching trashy tv and reading magazines, in my pyjamas, ugly crying to sad songs and eating cereal straight out the box.

On thursday, I was given a bunch of carrots, fresh from the ground. I liked the idea of carrots that fresh. They smelt sweet. They lay on the counter for a couple of days, until, I couldn’t bear the thought of them going to waste any longer, and made this dish. This would be lovely as part of a mezze platter, a starter, or a light meal/snack for two. The earthy sweetness of the roasted carrot and the fresh mint is altogether uplifting and comforting.

Roasted Carrot Puree with Caraway, Feta and Mint

serves 2

Adapted from Casa Moro by Sam and Sam Clark

350-400g organic carrots, scrubbed

2-3 tbsp olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

1 tsp caraway seeds, roughly ground in a mortar

1 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped

50g feta cheese

Pita bread for serving

Preheat the oven to 200C. Slice the carrots into rounds, no more than 2cm thick. Toss with half the olive oil and some salt and pepper, and place in a roasting tin. Cover with foil and roast for about 45 minutes, or until completely tender. Remove and cool for a little, before mashing or whizzing in a food processor. Transfer the pureed carrot to a bowl, stir in the caraway, the mint and the remaining olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. To serve, spread the puree on a plate, crumble over the feta and sprinkle over a little fresh mint if you like. Drizzle with a little more olive oil. Serve with pita bread triangles, made by brushing pita bread with olive oil and toasting in the oven until crisp.

Smoked Fish Quiche

I really don’t want to talk about Quiche.

Do I have to?

Are you going to make me?

I also don’t particularly want you to look at this picture.

You’re looking right at it aren’t you?

See a problem?

You’re seeing the problem, aren’t you? In fact you’re seeing multiple problems. Take a moment. There you go.

Want to know what the problem is?

I poured some of the egg mixture into the side of the pan, that’s why it’s all burnt on one side.

want to know what else I did wrong?

I rolled the pastry to thick, and it’s kind of uneven.

You know why?

Because I’m impatient. And I’m not a Capricorn.

So I don’t want to talk about it. Just let it be. Like The Beatles.

One more thing. This quiche is a pretty good one. I’ve been making it for years. But you’ve gotta like smoked fish, otherwise don’t bother.

Enough already with the damn quiche!

Smoked Fish Quiche

serves 8 or 4 really hungry people

For the pastry:

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup self-raising flour

1 tsp dry mustard (I used Coleman’s Hot English Mustard)

90g cold butter

1/4 cup sour cream

2 tbsp lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best)

For the Filling:

400g smoked fish (I used a box of frozen haddock)

1 red pepper, chopped

1/2 bunch of spring onions, sliced

1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

3 xl free-range eggs

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

Salt and ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 200C.

For the pastry, sift the flours and mustard into a bowl, rub in the butter with your fingers, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add sour cream and then enough lemon juice to mix to a firm dough. Roll out to fit your dish or tin – try to roll it quite thinly. Trim the edges, cover pastry with greaseproof paper.  Pour some dried beans or rice over the paper to evenly cover the pastry in your dish. Bake at 200C for  7 minutes. Remove the paper and beans and bake for a further 7 minutes. This process is called ‘baking blind’.  Go figure.

Reduce the heat to 180C.

For the filling, poach the fish in boiling water. Once cooked, drain and flake, being sure to remove any little bones. Combine the fish with the chopped pepper, spring onions and cheese. In a large jug, whisk together the eggs, sour cream and milk. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.  Spread the fish mixture over the pastry case and carefully pour in the egg mixture. Bake at 180C for about 30 minutes.