Meal Thirty - Steak Tartare avec Frites

Well tonight I'm a third of the way through my blog so I thought I'd celebrate by cooking an absolute classic - Steak Tartare avec Frites!
I use the term "cooking" loosely, as foodies alike will already know that this dish is raw.

I've had this dish once before in an authentic Parisian bistro and it was absolutely beautiful. The flavours were strong yet delicate and as each mouthful passed, it got better and better.

So tonight I try to recreate the experience that I will never forget. Failure will have to fall on Simon Rimmer's (of TV fame) shoulders as I have used his adaptation. A couple of differences against the traditional method are that his recipe uses red onion rather than shallots and he instructs the cook to mix the egg rather than have it plonked on top of the raw pattie.

So, voila, the meal is done. Simon - it's spot on. The flavours take me right back to fair Paris.
Steak Tartare isn't everyone's cup of tea but for me, being a fan of rare steak, this really is a special dish.


Mr Rimmer? Merci beaucoup!

Ingredients:

2 x 175g aged beef fillet steaks

2 free-range egg yolks

1 lemon, juice only

100ml extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 gherkins, very finely diced

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 red onion, very finely diced

2 salted anchovy fillets, rinsed drained, very finely chopped

French fries, to serve

Method:

1. Using a very sharp knife, slice the steak into thin slices, then cut across the slices to created strips of meat.

2. Turn the strips of steak and cut across again into tiny cubes. Place into a bowl.

3. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks in a bowl. Add the lemon juice, olive oil and Worcestershire sauce and whisk well to combine.

4. Add the steak pieces to the dressing along with the gherkins, mustard, red onion and anchovies. Stir well to combine and season well with salt and black pepper.

5. To serve, place a 10cm/4" chefs' ring onto each of two plates. Spoon equal quantities of the tartare mixture into the rings and press down into the edges.

6. Remove the rings and serve with French fries alongside.

Meal Twenty Nine - Gino's Spicy Prawn Linguine with Garlic, Tomato & Herbs

Last meal of the night, I promise!

I fancied some pasta, as I've not had it for a while and after performing my usual Google search for some ingredients I had in the fridge, it came back with Gino D'Acampo's linguine dish.

This is very quick dish, but has a cracking taste to it. I'd have to say by using the right wine (Italian Pinot Grigio) this is a bloody lovely dish. Not too overpowering as it's a only a pinch of chilli - but still enough in there to say, "yeah....that's chilli!"

The wife thoroughly enjoyed this one and I had to serve her a second portion! (Steady!)

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 onion, chopped

3 garlic gloves, crushed

1 pinch of chilli flakes (or 2 ;)  )

4 tiger prawns (or king prawns if not available)

6 cherry tomatoes, halved

50ml white wine (Pinot Grigio in my case)

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

1/2 lemon, juice only

150g linguine, cooked according to packet instructions (tonight - 6 mins in boiling salted water)

Method:

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the onion and garlic for 3-4 minutes, or until softened, then add the chilli flakes and prawns. Cook until the prawns have turned pink and are just cooked through.

2. Add the tomatoes and wine and cook for 2-3 minutes, then stir in the herbs and lemon juice. Add the cooked linguine and stir well to coat.

3. Pile the linguine onto a plate and serve.

Meal Twenty Eight - Cream of Spinach Soup

This one is a favourite of mine, that as I'm trawling through the soup recipe book, I feel I have to share with you.

I'm not the world's biggest fan of coconut - but this works. It seems to blend perfectly with the iron rich spinach and best of all, this is possibly the easiest soup of the 400!

The recipe asks for 50ml of coconut cream. Ignore it, use practically the entire carton and it still won't overpower the dish. This balanced with the right amount of salt and good grinding of black pepper will have you going back for seconds.

Ingredients:

25g butter

1 small onion, chopped

675g fresh spinach, chopped

2 pints vegetable stock or bouillon

50ml coconut cream (adjust to taste - I go for the full 250ml)

freshly grated nutmeg

250ml single cream

salt and ground black pepper

fresh chopped chives to garnish (if available)

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a pan over a moderate heat and sauté the onion for a few minutes until soft. Add the spinach, cover the pan and gently cook for approximately 10 minutes until the spinach has wilted and reduced.

2. Pour the spinach mixture into a blender or food processor and add a little of the hot stock. Blend until smooth.

3. Return the mixture to the pan and add the coconut cream, with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes to thicken.

4. Add the single cream to the pan and heat through being careful not to boil. Serve hot, garnished with the chives.

5. Add a dollop of crème fraiche in the middle of the bowl and stir through for a nice little effect.

Meal Twenty Seven - Black Eyed Bean and Tomato Broth

This is the first of a couple of soup dishes from my trusty "400 Soups" recipe book. Packed full of flavour, it's quite easily a hearty meal on it's own and doesn't leave you panging for a main course.

It had a touch too much coriander for my liking, which says a lot as I love coriander! I'd probably reduce the amount by half next time in order not to overpower the dish.

Again, with this dish, it's worth keeping on the stove for a little while longer than stated in order for the sauce to really thicken up and gather some extra flavour. (You can always a touch more stock and reduce down again!)

Ingredients:

400g can of black-eyed beans, drained and rinsed

1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

4 garlic gloves, chopped

1 large red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground turmeric

250g canned tomatoes, diced

1 pint chicken or vegetable stock

25g fresh coriander, roughly chopped

juice of 1/2 lemon

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a pan, add the onions, garlic and chilli and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft.

2. Stir in the cumin, turmeric, tomatoes, stock, half the coriander and the beans, and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

3. After the 30 minutes stir in the lemon juice and remaining coriander.

4. Serve immediately with some crusty bread.

Meal Twenty Six - Nathan's Three Bean Chilli

This was meant to be a vegetarian dish, and with the removal of the bacon and chorizo, could quite easily be the meatiest - meat free chilli you'll taste.

I had some bacon that needed using up, so that went in along with some mushrooms to bulk up the dish.

It packs a punch and I'm definitely going back to this dish once the blog is over. It's probably the most flavoursome dish I've come across so far.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large carrot, diced finely

2 large celery sticks, diced finely

6-7 rashers of smoked bacon, diced

1/2 ring of Spanish chorizo, cubed

1 large red pepper, finely diced

1/2 punnet of button mushrooms, sliced

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 large clove of garlic, crushed

1 tbsp sundried tomato puree

1 large red chilli, de-seeded and finely chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp smoked paprika

couple of glasses of tempranillo red wine

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp worcester sauce

400g chopped tomatoes

400g can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

400g can aduki beans, drained and rinsed

400g can black eyed beans, drained and rinsed

Method:

1. Add the chopped bacon to a pan with the vegetable oil and fry for a couple of minutes then add the chorizo. Fry for a couple of more minutes until the oil from the sausage begins to run. Add the carrot, celery, red pepper, onion and garlic and stir continuously for a good 5 minutes.

2. Add the chilli, tomato puree, mushrooms, bay leaf and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the spices (cinnamon, cumin and paprika) and stir through to coat the ingredients then add the wine, soy sauce, worcester sauce and tomatoes.

3. Simmer for about 10 minutes then add the three types of beans. Simmer for a further 30 minutes. If you feel it's a little dry, add a touch more wine! (The longer you leave this on the stove the more time the flavours have to infuse and trust me - it tastes awesome!)

4. Serve with a hot, buttered jacket potato, some lettuce and a dollop of sour cream.

Nathan's Apple Crumble

I bought some Bramley apples the other day with the intention of making a crumble. So I made one.

There's something a little bit homely about and apple crumble. The sort of dish that warms you through to the bones.

I think to make a crumble work, you have to use brown sugar with a little bit of added spice.

I think if Glade could ever bottle this fragrance, then it'd be a sure-fire Christmas best seller. 

Ingredients:

For the crumble:

300g plain flour, sieved

200g unsalted butter, cubed

175g dark brown sugar

For the filling:

4-5 Bramley apples

3-4 tbsps caster sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

a couple of drops of vanilla essence

a dash of grated nutmeg

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 deg. celsius. Cut the Bramley apples into large chunks. Add a couple of knobs of butter to a non-stick pan, and add the apples. Stir the apples coating with the melted butter. Add the vanilla essence, nutmeg, cinnamon and caster sugar.

2. Keep stirring until the apples begin to break down. Set aside to cool once the apples have begun to go a little mushy on the outside, but still firm on the inside.

3. Sieve the flour into a mixing bowl and add the brown sugar. Add the butter and rub together into a breadcrumb like texture. (Alternatively put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until you get the same consistency.

4. Pour the apple filling into an oven proof dish and then cover with the crumble mix.

5. Pop into the oven and bake for approximately 20-25 minutes or until the crumble begins to go golden brown.

6. Serve with a little whipping cream and some vanilla ice cream.

Meal Twenty Five - Louisiana Rice

Hello again strangers!

Firstly apologies for not posting for such a long time, but as mentioned previously, my work load has significantly increased and I've obviously had to prioritise. Unfortunately the blog has taken a humble second place, but after all - my day job is the one that pays the bills!

I suppose a question that some people may ask is; "What have you been eating if you've not been posting different meals to your blog?"

The answer to that; all sorts, but honestly nothing worth documenting. Would people be interested in chicken kievs with beans and salad or Jacket Potatoes and tuna? Do I need to document 3 consecutive days of Beef Bourguignon? Would people think any less of me as I caved in to a House Fried Rice from the local Chinese?

Well I'm back. In fits and starts no doubt, so I'm afraid the original plan has changed, and although I'm more than a quarter of my way through the 90 meals, I'm well behind on days with no chance of catching up. So I'm sorry. So very sorry.

Apology accepted? Good. Let's move on to tonight's dish; Louisiana Rice.

This was another recipe from my "1000 Dishes" cookbook. A bit of research on t'internet leads me to believe that it is also called "Dirty Rice". A less appealing title for a recipe I think you'll agree?

Louisiana falls within the States that have a lot of Cajun influence, so I knew that this dish would pack a punch.

This was a risky dish to try out. Not for myself as such, but for my good wife, as she has an intense dislike for one of the ingredients - liver! So, of course I told her that it was in the recipe, didn't I?....Alas, I forgot?!

I thought I might listen to her thoughts after she was halfway through the dish and in honesty, I was pleasantly surprised by her response. Although initially horrified that it contained liver, she really enjoyed the dish and promptly scoffed down the second half. (Do women scoff or is it just Sam?)

This meal can be eaten as a main dish, but after a long day at work I really needed a second portion as did my other half, and she's not a big eater.

I would therefore recommend that this be an accompaniment to another dish. Maybe some enchiladas or another spicy dish.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp vegetable oil (olive oil works just as well)

250g minced pork

250g chopped chicken liver

1 onion, finely chopped

1 green pepper, finely diced

2 celery sticks, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

125g long grain rice

450ml chicken stock

Method:

Method to follow. X

Meal Twenty Four - Slow Cooked Beef Bourguignon

This recipe was my first go with our slow cooker. Sam has used it before for a beautiful buttered chicken curry, but this was my first attempt.

For those who have never used one - get one! They're so easy to use, as my method below shows!

The flavours were superb and the gravy just appears from nowhere. To begin with the sauce, before you put the mixture in the slow cooker, looks rather anaemic and weak, but after 8 hours you end up with a beautifully rich gravy that's taken on all the flavours of the meat, peppers and shallots.

I'll definitely be using it again and it may well make an appearance in the coming weeks. You can literally put your ingredients in in the morning, then your dinner is done for you when you walk in at night. A very useful tool!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup plain flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

2lbs stewing steak

4 rashers smoked bacon, cubed

4 knobs butter

1 onion, chopped finely

1 red pepper, diced

3 garlic gloves, finely diced

1lb baby button mushrooms

1lb shallots

4 carrots, peeled and finely diced

2 glasses of red wine

2 bay leaves

a handful of fresh flat leafed parsley

1 tsp dried thyme

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt and black pepper. Coat the meat in the mixture.

2. Dry fry the bacon in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium to high heat. Add a couple of knobs of butter.

3. Add the meat and brown well on all sides.

4. Add the chopped onion, shallots, carrots, mushrooms, red pepper and garlic. Saute for about 10 minutes or until the chopped onion is soft.

5. Add the wine, bay leaves, parsley and thyme and continue to cook for a few minutes.

6. Transfer the ingredients to a slow cooker (mine is 3.5 litres) and cook on low for 6-8 hours. ( A long time but well worth it!!)

7. When ready, garnish with more fresh parsley and serve with crusty French bread.

Meal Twenty Three - Nathan's Fully Loaded Skins

I can only apologise to those who have been following my blog. There has been  a bit of inactivity of late as work commitments have taken preference.

I'm still going to cover the 90 dishes, but I'll just have to play a bit of catch up every now and again.

Today I've gone for some loaded potato skins. Tasty and filling. Two vital parts of a meal.

Sam bought me some baking potatoes from our local greengrocers - Covent Garden and I've been meaning to use them for a while.
After a visit from my Mum today, whilst in the middle of doing this dish, I had to show her the size of these potatoes. They were huge! About the size of one of my shoes, and I'm sure my friend Eddie can vouch for me, that my shoes are large and cumbersome! (He's been "safeguarding" a pair of clown shoes for me at his house for ages now.)

My Mum's comment was, "Back in my day, they'd be thrown for cow potatoes!"

She's right though, some of larger potatoes would have gone for stock feed, but we've had such a poor couple of years, weather-wise, that we're eating absolutely everything at the moment. Some of the regular sized potatoes have doubled in price. So all in in all, beggars can't be choosers.

Ingredients:

3 large potatoes

4-5 rashers of smoked bacon, cubed

4-5 spring onions, roughly chopped

2 knobs of butter

1/2 pot of creamed cheese

handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped

handful of grated mozzarella

handful of grated Parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Pop the potatoes in a pre-heated oven (approx. 180 deg. Celsius) and depending on size, bake for a couple of hours. (or until you think they're ready.)

2. Dry fry the bacon until golden, then add the spring onions along with the butter and continue to fry for a couple of minutes or until the onions begin to take on colour.

3. Once the potatoes are ready, cut on half and scoop out the flesh into a large bowl without damaging the skins. Return the skins to the oven for another 10 minutes to allow the skins to crisp up.

4. Mash the flesh of the potatoes to remove any lumps, then add the cooked bacon, spring onions, melted butter/fat, creamed cheese and parsley. Mix together until the creamed cheese has dispersed throughout.

5. Take the skins out of the oven, and add the filling. Pop the skins onto an oven proof baking tray, and then sprinkle liberally with the mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.

6. Return to the oven for another 20-25 minutes or until golden.

7. Serve with salad of choice.