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Beef Stroganov

Posted on by JC — No Comments ↓

Here’s one of those old classics that is somewhat out of vogue with the modern style, being a rich dairy sauce. Nonetheless, a good one takes a bit of beating and it is quick and easy to make. So, I think it deserves to be kept in focus. I like to serve this with flat ribbon noodles and a steamed green vegetable such as broccoli.

Planning

serves: 4
preparation time: 20 mins
cooking time: 15 mins

Ingredients

  • 75g butter
  • 2 large onions, peeled, halved & thinly sliced
  • 250g button mushrooms (quartered if large)
  • 750g beef fillet, trimmed & cut into 7mm strips
  • 250ml sour cream
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • salt & pepper

Method

Melt half the butter in a large sauté pan and gently cook the onions for about 5 minutes, or until they start to colour a little. Add the mushrooms and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring frequently to cook them evenly. Remove the vegetable mixture to a plate and set aside.

In the same pan, melt the remaining butter over higher heat and add the beef strips. Sauté these for 4 minutes stirring constantly to brown them evenly. Return the onion and mushroom mixture to the pan, season with salt and pepper, and stir to mix with the beef. Cook for a further minute.

Mix the mustard together with the sour cream and stir this into the beef and vegetables. When all is well blended, cook over high heat for a minute but do not allow the sauce to boil. Remove from the heat and adjust the seasoning to taste.


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Posted in Meat Tagged with:

Bar Braisé aux Aromats

Posted on by JC — No Comments ↓

Sea bass is certainly one of the finest fish available and is particularly good accompanied by a beurre blanc sauce, as here.

This is an adaptation of a recipe from Classic French Cooking published by Time Life. In the original, the bass is braised whole then skinned and filleted, which makes for a somewhat difficult and messy presentation operation. This achieves a neater result with the same flavour by poaching skinned fillets. In both cases, a beurre blanc is made from the cooking liquid.

Planning

serves: 4
preparation time: 15 mins
cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients

  • 2 1½-2 lb sea bass cleaned
  • 4 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
  • 2 shallots, finely chopped
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 large clove garlic, chopped
  • 2 tbs fresh parsley
  • ~20 fresh rosemary needles
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ½ pt dry white wine
  • 4 oz chilled butter cubed
  • 2-3 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • salt and pepper

Method

Prepare the bass. Remove the fillets from both fish and skin them. (I find a flat-bladed ham knoife particularly effective for the skinning operation. if you have one.) Remove as many pin bones as possible with tweezers of pliers; whatever you have available. Cover the fillets with cling film and keep them cool in the fridge.

Make the poaching stock. Put the fish frame (skip the head) and all the ingredients down to and including the white wine into a pan. Add about a pint of water to cover and bring this to a simmer. Lower the heat to gentlly simmer the stock for 25 minutes (no more) skimming any scum from the surface. Strain it through a fine sieve. This can be done ahead of time.

Cooking the fish. Select a pan large enough to hold the fillets in a single layer, pour in the poaching liquid and bring it back to the boil. Add the fillets; the liquid should just cover them. Let it come back up to a simmer and poach very gently until barely set. Remove thefillets and keep them warm while you make the sauce.

Making the sauce. Pour off about 10 fl oz of the poaching liquid and boil it in a wide pan to reduce by half. Whisk in the chilled butter a few pieces at a time, trying to keep the sauce just below boiling point. Now lift the sauce with the lemon juice to taste. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Spoon some of the sauce over the fillets and serve the rest in a sauce boat.


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Posted in Fish Tagged with:

Baked Jerusalem Artihokes

Posted on by JC — No Comments ↓

Untried as yet – from Jamie Oliver’s American publication.

Planning

serves: 4
preparation time: 20 mins
cooking time: 30 mins

Ingredients

  • 300ml double cream or crème fraîche
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled & finely chopped
  • 1 hfl fresh thyme, leaves picked
  • 3 hfl grated Parmesan
  • salt & pepper
  • 1kg Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and sliced 5mm thick
  • 2 hfl fresh bread crumbs
  • olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7.

In a bowl, mix the cream, lemon juice, garlic, half the thyme and most of the Parmesan. Season well to taste. Toss in the sliced artichokes, mix well and place everything in an ovenproof baking dish.

Mix the bread crumbs with the remaining thyme and Parmesan and add a little salt & pepper. Sprinkle this mixture over the artichoke mixture and drizzle with a little olive oil. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes or until the artichokes are tender and the bread crumbs are golden.


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Posted in Untested, Veggies Tagged with:

Authentic Paella Valenciana

Posted on by JC — No Comments ↓

This is apparently how an authentic Paella from the Valencia region (where it was developed) is made. The claim that it is the authentic version was made on an Alicante website and it also appears to match precisely the one that we ate in Parcent when visiting the Jalon valley. So, I am inclined to believe the claim.

I haven’t ever cooked this quantity but it looks big. A cup of rice is ample for 3 people so this would serve 8 and you’d need an appropriate paella (pan).

Planning

serves: 8
preparation time: 30 mins
cooking time: 50 mins

Ingredients

  • 1 medium chicken
  • 1 medium rabbit
  • 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 165g wide green beans (Spanish: bachoqueta)
  • 130g large white lima beans (Spanish: garrafon)
  • 1 tsp saffron
  • 3 cups of Valencia/Paella rice
  • 8 cups chicken broth or hot water
  • olive oil (enough to cover the paella pan)
  • salt
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika

Method

First, heat the oil and when it is hot enough add the rabbit and chicken and fry unitl lightly browned. Then add the white and green beans and cook them together with the meat. While they are cooking, make a clearance in the middle of the paella pan and fry the chopped tomatoes until they look a little pasty. Quickly stir in the paprika then add the hot water or broth until it is almost to the top of the paella pans edge.

Cook all the ingredients for about 20 minutes over a high fire. Season to taste with salt. After 20 minutes add the rice distributing it evenly and making sure the rice is covered with liquid. The fire should be fairly high, not interrupting the boil. It takes about 20 minutes for the paella rice to cook. Do not stir the rice once you have added it to the paella pans, just change its position so that the fire gets to all patrs equally. All the broth should be absorbed when finished. Take the paella off the fire and let stand for about 10 minutes covering the top with newspaper. If the rice has been cooked correctly, the rice grains should be loose, not clumped or have a mushy texture. The rice should be toasted on the bottom of teh pan, though.

For a pleasant table presentation, small wedges of lemon can decorate the border with branches of rosemary in the middle. Traditionally, you dig into the paella with wooden spoons and eat directly from the pan.


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Posted in Poultry Tagged with:

Asparagus Soup

Posted on by JC — No Comments ↓

This is a terrific way to use up the great tasting stems of asparagus when the tips have been used in another dish (such as in Vegetables for Fish). The other main ingredient being home made chicken stock from chicken trimmings, this is effectively a free course.

Planning

serves: 4
preparation time: 5 mins
cooking time: 40 mins

Ingredients

  • 2 bundles asparagus stems
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 oz butter
  • 1 pt light chicken stock
  • salt and pepper

Method

Sweat the onion in butter until soft and translucent. While the onion is cooking, chop the asparagus stems into lengths of about 1 cm. Add these to the onion and sweat over moderate heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent them from colouring.

Pour in the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 25 minutes. Liquidize the soup until very smooth and pour back into the pan through a sieve to remove the fibrous ends of the asparagus stems. Rub the solids through the sieve (I find a pestle particularly effective) as much as possible. If necessary, thin the soup to the required consistency with a little water. Reheat the soup to serving temperature and adjust the seasoning.


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Posted in Soups Tagged with: