food, reviews and of course coffee
Lovely amusing article on the barbecue in Australia from the BBC.
Scotland has the haggis, Turkey has the donor kebab, England has the Yorkshire pudding and from the land down under I give you… the overdone sausage.
I am being a tad unfair perhaps since multi-cultural Australia boasts some of the most mouth-watering food in the world. But that just makes it all the more intriguing why one of Australia’s great national dishes comes partly incinerated.
Photo source.
So there I was with a beautiful piece of 28 day matured rump steak and I ruined it…
Basically I roasted it in the oven (as it hadn’t fully defrosted) and as a result it came out dry and tough.
A silly mistake and next time I will ensure it is properly defrosted.
Normally I use a hot griddle and can tell how well cooked the steak is by the resistance you get, the harder the resistance the more cooked it is. Cooking in the oven, ensured that the steak dried out and was therefore quite tough and chewy.
Just put a joint of beef into the oven for lunch today.
I turned the oven to its highest setting, placed the beef joint onto a bed of chopped vegetables, once I placed the roasting tray in the oven, I turned the temperature down to about 180℃ .
Next stage is to start to prepare the potatoes and the veg.
Since Christmas I have been trying a few new and different cheeses. One I have particularly liked was Ossau Iraty, a traditional ewes milk cheese from the Basque region of South-West France.
It’s a firm cheese with a sweet, fruity flavour.
One big lobster which was “entertaining” patrons in a New York restaurant has been set free.
The BBC reports
A lobster believed to be some 140 years old is to be freed from the confines of a tank at a New York restaurant.
George the giant lobster, weighing 9kg (20lb), will be returned to the ocean, from where he was caught two weeks ago.
But animal rights group Peta sought the lobster’s release, and will now put it back into the waters off Maine.
Over Christmas I ate a fair bit of cheese and tried some new cheeses out. One I particularly enjoyed the Cenarth Organic Caerffili from Sainsbury.
It was a mild lemony cheese with a buttery and silky texture. It came in a (proper) wax layer and was delicious.
If you read this blog you will know that I am a fan of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s recipes (and his books
However I did not think much of his recent breakfast column in the Guardian today.
Fruity, nutty bread, herby baked eggs and savoury drop scones invite you to linger, put on another pot of coffee, read all of the paper, throw more logs on the fire. Perhaps you’ll enjoy it so much you’ll make a date with yourself to do it more often.
Sorry didn’t appeal to me.
I do agree with Hugh over rushing breakfast, it is important not to eat a hastily spooned bowl of cereal or a slice of toast nibbled as you walk to the car.
As I got a decent pancake pan for Christmas, I have been using it to make omelettes for breakfast.
In order to make an omelette you need to break some eggs, whisk together. Some people add water, others add milk, I add nothing. I also use organic free-range eggs as they taste much better than cheap eggs.
Heat the pan, add a little oil or butter. Add the whisked egg (three eggs if you must ask). As the eggs set add a filling if you so choose. I normally grate a little cheese on, sometimes some lightly cooked mushrooms.
Once the eggs are nearly set (they will continue to cook on the plate) slide and flip onto a plate.
Serve with some granary toast and fresh coffee.
Now that’s what I call a breakfast!
Nice and simple dish.
Take some good quality salmon fillets, remove the skin. You don’t need to remove the skin, but I prefer to do so.
Place in a roasting tray. Add some finely chopped parsley and place a knob of unsalted butter on each fillet.
Roast in a hot oven for about ten minutes.
Serve with steamed new potatoes and a side salad.
Currently roasting a chicken.
Chicken is an organic free range bird, stuffed with a sausagemeat stuffing and draped with pancetta bacon.
Going to serve it with traditional accompaniments including roast potatoes, roast parsnips and steamed vegetables.
This is the dish I made today for putting in the freezer. It can be a stew or the basis for a beef and ale pie.
I took some diced organic beef. This is browned in batches in a very hot pan. It is vital for the stew for flavour and colour that you brown the beef and don’t initially “stew” or “steam” the beef. So keep the temperature of the pan high and brown small batches.
Once the beef is browned I added diced carrot, parsnip and onion. These were softened in the pan I used for the beef. Once this was slightly softened and coated in the juices from the pan I added back the beef.
I then poured in a bottle of ale, I used Old Speckled Hen and a pint of beef stock.
Add herbs and seasoning to taste.
Simmer and cook for three hours or until the beef is tender.