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Cooking steak on a griddle pan

There is a skill in cooking a steak on a griddle, especially if you want it to turn out well and tasty.

My technique is not perfect, but I get some good results.

Firstly I heat the pan, the heat will be the guide to whether I am cooking a rare, medium or well done steak, though it must be even with a well done steak quite hot.

I take the steak, preferably at room temperature and rub seasoning and oil into the steak. This could be just olive oil, or oil and black pepper or cajun spices and sunflower oil.

I do not add oil to the griddle.

Once the pan is hot, I then griddle the steak.

This ensures I get the nice chargrill lines on my steak.

I have also used this method with lamb and chicken.

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Book Choice NOT – Delia’s How to Cheat at Cooking

This week my book choice is NOT Delia’s How to Cheat at Cooking.

Normally I would recommend a book of recipes that I have either enjoyed reading or using to cook from.

This book is one I would not recommend.

Why?

Well can using frozen mashed potato really be called cooking?

The whole process reminds me of a 1970s cookbook I found at my mother-in-law’s which had wonderful recipes which required white sauce mix, frozen pastry cases and tinned vegetables.

That is not cooking that is food construction.

Delia’s How to Cheat at Cooking is not a cooking book it is a food construction book.

You can get it from Amazon if you want to see how to construct food. They also sell books about cooking as well.

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Turn your easter eggs into a cake

Too much chocolate in the house?

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recommends in the Guardian this week to turn them into a cake.

Freaked out by the mountain of Easter eggs knocking around the house this weekend? Never fear – turn them into a cake instead

To be honest, nice idea, but the picture in the magazine looked foul.

Turn your easter eggs into a cake

Happy Easter and all that.

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Coleslaw variations

I have been trying some different variations on the coleslaw I usually make.

One variation was to use savoy cabbage over the pointed or white cabbage I usually use which worked well and looked very nice as well as tasting slightly different.

My latest variation was to use red onion as well as a traditional onion and add some finely grated parsnip to the mix which added a subtle difference to the flavour.

Coleslaw

You can add a variety of root vegetables and brassicas to coleslaw so why not try something different to the usual cabbage, carrot and onion.

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Pasta with Pork and Cream

Cooked a nice simple pasta dish tonight.

In a hot pan, cook off some pancetta, now add some diced (or sliced) pork and brown.

Now add some finely chopped red onion and add some Italian herbs.

In another hot pan, add a splash of olive oil then cook some sliced mushrooms, they will cook and taste much better than cooking them with the pork and onions.

Cook some fresh pasta in a pan of rolling boiling water.

To the mushrooms add some freshly chopped parsley.

Then add the mushrooms to the pork, add a tub of creme frache, some grated parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.

Drain the cooked pasta, and add the pork and cream mixture on top.

Add some more grated parmesan to taste.

Serve.

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Spare Ribs

I quite like spare ribs but after eating some from the local chinese last night, decided I much prefer making my own.

The ones from the chinese were nice and meaty, but two major things wrong with them, firsty they were re-heated  which means that they certainly don’t taste as good as they could, secondly the sauce was too sweet and lacked flavour.

The ones I have made are freshly cooked and that makes a (huge) difference. I also make my own sauce and that generally can be a lot tastier (and lots less salty) than other sauces you can buy.

My sauce is made from honey, balsamic vinegar, sunflower oil, tomato puree (though ketchup works just as well) and I add spices, usually Cajun to add heat and flavour.

Space Ribs

I cook them with  some chopped red onion in a hot oven for about twenty minutes.

I do need to find a better source for my ribs as I much prefer meaty ribs.

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Brioche for Breakfast

For breakfast these days I seem to be eating an inordinate amount of brioche.

Brioche is a highly enriched French bread, whose high egg and butter content give it a rich and tender crumb. It has a dark, golden, and flaky crust from an egg wash applied before and after proofing.

I find I eat them plain, without butter or jam, but with coffee.

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Chicken with Lentils and Vegetables

Here is a nice supper dish for these cold and wet March nights.

Chicken with Lentils and Vegetables

Roast some chicken thighs (or half a chicken or whatever cut you like) with some pancetta on top to baste and add flavour. I did roast the chicken on a bed of veg including carrot, onions, mushrooms and red pepper.

Roast some vegetables, I roasted sweet potato slices.

Serve with puy lentils, for these I softened in a frying pan, some finely chopped onion with pancetta. When the onion was nicely soft, I added some red wine and beef stock before simmering it down. Beef stock over chicken stock just because of the colour rather than flavour. I then reduced and reduced this.

When I was happy with the sauce I whisked in some butter (with a fork as it happens rather than a whisk) and then added a tin of Epicure Organic Puy Lentils. I needed to add a bit more stock at this point.

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Avocado Salad

This is a really nice salad, and very quick to put together.

In a frying pan cook off some cubed pancetta, though any smoked bacon will do.

Slice some Romaine lettuce (or use leaves from your favourite).

Cube some avocado.

Place the lettuce in a bowl, add the avocado and drained bacon.

Dress with some white wine vinegar, olive oil and ground black pepper.

Serve.

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Tex-Mex

Last night cooked some text-mex style food, I say tex-mex style as it was more of a homage to Cajun and Mexican cooking than authentic cooking.

We had Jambalaya, which I have a technique for, which I picked up from a programme on Cajun cooking some while back.

In a large frying pan, I fry off some smoked bacon (I use pancetta as I have it in the house) with some onions and red pepper.

Fiddes Payne Cajun SeasoningWhen the onions are softened I add some Cajun spices. I am currently using and enjoying Fiddes Payne Cajun Seasoning, there are other seasonings available.

I cook off the spices before adding some spicy sausage, I used a Polish Kabanos, partly as that was available and yes I know it is not very deep south, and after that has cooked off slightly, I go ahead and deglaze the pan with some vinegar (usually balsamic vinegar).

I then add a tin of chopped tomatoes and some tomate puree and leave to simmer for about twenty minutes.

Whilst that is cooking I cook some rice, I use basmati, partly as it only takes ten minutes to cook and mainly as that is what I have in the cupboard.

When the rice is cooked, I stir the tomato mixture and the rice together and serve.

You could make it spicier by adding fresh chillis, I don’t.