Simplicity and Rick Stein's beef in white wine

Simplicity in life and simplicity in cooking is always the best in my books

With a world moving faster and faster, information just one click away, food already picked or slaughtered for us, billboards of wants flashing up everywhere our eyes will and can travel to…it’s no wonder stress is such a prominent condition amongst us.

For this reason I like to STOP and revel in the sound of rain pattering on the roof, take delight in the almost uncontainable squeals of my nieces laughing and snuggle in close to my dear little dachshund, Pipsqueak. These are the things that make me happy. So simple.

Today I want to share with you a wonderfully simple and incredibly flavoursome dish from one of my favourite celebrity chefs, Rick Stein. I cooked this a few days ago for my parents and we were amazed be the depth of flavour. I think the trick with this recipe is to make sure you very gently cook those onions for the 30 minutes Rick suggests. It makes them incredibly sweet and helps make this stew rich and comforting, perfect for these winter months. Impatience will not do this recipe justice, so please find your Zen self prior to the commencement of chopping.

Enjoy! 

Rick Stein's beef in white wine Oviedo style

Beef in white wine Oviedo style (Spanish)

from Spain by Rick Stein

Serves 6

Ingredients
1.5kg chuck or blade steak (I used chuck)
7 tbsp olive oil (who measures oil?)
600g onions, chopped into 1 cm pieces
10 garlic cloves, crushed
6 fresh bay leaves (I couldn’t find fresh so just used dried instead)
300ml dry white wine
300g small carrots cut into 5cm lengths
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method
Trim the meat of any fat and gristle and cut it into 3cm chunks. Season well with salt and pepper.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large flameproof casserole and fry the beef in batches until nicely browned. Set aside on a plate.

Add the remaining olive oil and the onions, garlic, bay leaves and ½ teaspoon of salt to the pan and cook very gently over a low heat for 30 minutes until the onions are soft and sweet and golden.

Return the beef to the pan, add the wine, bring to the boil and season with another ½ teaspoon of salt and some freshly ground black pepper. Cover and leave to simmer gently for 2 hours, stirring now and then.

Uncover, add the carrots, re-cover and cook for a further 30 minutes until the wine and meat juices have combined with the onions to make a thick sauce and the meat is meltingly tender. Adjust the seasoning to taste.

I served this with mash potato because I was in a real comfort mood. Rick suggests serving it with fried potatoes or patatas fritas.

Jamie Oliver's Lamb Fricassee

I love this dish AND I even stick to the recipe when making it. Shock!

To begin, lots of chopping is needed, but what a perfect way to practice your mindfulness skills while making something delicious for dinner. Once everything’s chopped it’s pretty straightforward cooking for such fabulous rewards.

The fabulous Jamie Oliver does…Spain, Italy,
Morocco, Sweden, Greece and France

  Jamie Oliver writes (or his copy editor does) a lovely introduction to this recipe leaving your mouth watering:

“Many people will find the idea of cooking lettuce in a stew weird, but to be honest, lettuce used to be really commonplace in soups and stews in Britain as well as in Greece. One thing’s for sure, you won’t regret trying this. Halfway through the cooking, the lettuce and dill won’t look their best, but this stage is all about developing bold flavours, richness and making sure the meat melts in your mouth. At the next stage you’ll be doing something to pimp it up so it looks beautiful and slaps you around the face with its flavours: by enriching this fricassee with avgolemono (mixed egg yolks and lemon), and just a touch of Greek yoghurt, you get a thickness and a shine that really bring the flavours together to perfection. Don’t miss giving this one a go.”

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do.

Jamie Oliver’s Lamb Fricassee
From his Jamie Does… cook book

Serves 6 

My own delicious lamb fricassee

Ingredients
olive oil
1.2kb boned leg of lamb, trimmed and cut into 4cm pieces
1 medium onion, peeled and finely sliced
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 bunches of spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
2 heads of cos or romaine lettuce, washed and finely shredded (I’ve also used iceberg before with good results)
a bunch of fresh dill, finely chopped (stalks and all)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
200ml Greek yoghurt

For the avgolemono sauce
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
juice of 1.5 lemons

Method
Heat a few lugs of olive oil over a medium heat in a large saucepan and add the pieces of lamb. Stir and cook for and 5 to 7 minutes, until the lamb is brown all over – you will need to do this in batches. Once done, that the meat out of the pan and add the onion, garlic and spring onions. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, but not colour, then put the meat back into the pan.

Stir in the shredded lettuce and most of the dill and cook for a few more minutes, stirring constantly, until the lettuce has wilted. Add a few good pinches of salt and pepper and just enough water to cover the stew. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down to a really low simmer, cover with a lid, and let it tick away for 1.5 to 2 hours. After this time remove the lid and cook for a further 30 minutes, or until the lamb is beautifully cooked and pulls apart easily (nine times out of ten the lamb will be perfect after this time, but it does depend on your size of pot and the age of your lamb). Keep an eye on it as it cooks and add a splash of water if it looks like it’s drying out.

When you’re happy with the consistency, make the avgolemono sauce by whisking together the eggs and lemon juice until combined, then stir in a dessertspoon of Greek yoghurt and a splash of water if need be. The yoghurt isn’t traditional, but it adds a nice creaminess Jamie Oliver loves. Your stew should be happily simmering away, so take it off the heat and very gently stir the avgolemono through it. You don’t want to over-stir or the eggs will begin to set. Pop the lid on and leave for a few minutes.

Have a taste and add another pinch of salt and pepper or a squeeze of lemon juice if it needs it. Sprinkle over your reserved dill, then take the pan straight to the table so that everyone can help themselves. Serve with a tomato salad, the rest of the Greek yoghurt for dolloping over, and crusty bread or mash to mop up that delicious meaty sauce.

Babysitting and a hearty chicken & quinoa stew

Brisbane is slowly heading into winter. Slowly. I love winter and the reason is twofold. One, I don't have to wade my way through the humidity with clothes sticking to areas of my body that they were never meant to meet. And two, I get to enjoy making - and eating - delicious slow cooked stews and other warm, comforting, not necessarily meant for everyday consumption, food. How can you not like winter in Brisbane?

This change in temperature has prompted me to make my sister's family a hearty chicken and quinoa stew. Simple, healthy and comforting.

So why does my adorable sister and her family get this? For the last few days I've had to move in with them due to my parents having a mini break up at Noosa. So why does this 36 year old need to be babysat by her sister? Basically we all decided, my psychiatrist included, that I tend to go to very dark places when on my own. So, here enters wonderful family and friends who agree to take me in while I find my feet again, and while my poor parents have a break.

The one thing I can do as a thank you is cook a meal. My sister and brother-in-law are flat out with work and looking after their three wonderful daughters, who are 8, 5 and 2. A meal cooked for them all is one less job they need to complete, right? Also, those girls mean everything to me so I'm extremely happy to be with them and helping out (although only in a small way). And the excitement in those girls eyes when I came with my suitcase was quite simply priceless.

This dish is for all you busy people out there. It's so simple and super tasty. Even if you aren't a cook this one is worth a try.

Hearty chicken and quinoa stew

Hearty chicken and quinoa stew
Adapted from Cookin' Canuck
Serves 8

Ingredients
1kg chicken breast
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, diced
4 cups (500ml) chicken stock
400g can diced tomato
700g butternut pumpkin, cubed
1 cup uncooked quinoa, washed
1 tbsp dried mixed herbs
1/2 cup firmly packed, roughly chopped olives
400g can cannellini beans
400g can butter beans
salt and pepper
1/4 cup chopped parsley, leave some for garnish
lemon wedges to serve

Method
Gently fry the onions and garlic together until translucent. Add in the chicken, stock, tomatoes, pumpkin, quinoa and mixed herbs. Bring to the boil and simmer until chicken is cooked through.

Remove chicken and shred. Add back into the stew. Add olives and beans, cook for a further 10 minutes. Turn heat off, add chopped parsley.

Serve with a wedge of lemon and parsley on top.

You don't get much easier than that.

Winter warmers - Beef Cheeks Ragu

I love Twitter and the little community of friends I have made. Although I'm not a die hard twitterer, I still like to pop on and see the latest news my new mates are up to, follow a few organisations that I love and shout out for advice if needed.

My beloved and I were hosting his family for dinner last night. It was going to be a cold night (yes, even for Brisbane for those of you sniggering that we don't know anything about the cold) and a cold night for us in our little Queenslander equates to a bloody cold night. Similar to living in a tent, but safer if it rained…just.

To compensate for the ice-box living quarters, I wanted my in-laws to fill there bellies with tasty warm food. I felt a tasty ragu would do the trick.

Enter Twitter.

I sent out a tweet asking if anyone had a tasty ragu recipe. The lovely @melkettle came back promptly with a yes, followed by a photo of a recipe from the OzHarvest book (a fantastic organisation that distributes excess food to charities):

Ragu recipe from the OzHarvest cook book.

As I have a love of slow cooked beef cheeks - you can find my other recipe here - and I needed to make it for 8 people, a little ingredient substituting was in order.

This recipe was so tasty and easy to have bubbling away until my guests arrived. All I need to do was cook the pasta on their arrival.

Beef Cheeks Ragu
Adapted from the OzHarvest cook book
serves 10 (easily)

Beef cheeks and porcini mushroom ragu

Ingredients
50g butter
olive oil
100g speck, cut into small batons
2 onions, finely chopped
8 garlic cloves, chopped
300g swiss brown mushrooms, finely chopped
60g dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in water for about 10 mins then chopped
1 to 1.2 kg beef cheeks, cut each cheek into about 3 or 4 pieces
8 vine-ripend tomatoes, roughly chopped, juices saved
1litre of beef stock
3 bay leaves
leaves from a few sprigs of thyme
2 x 500g packets of linguini (or your pasta of choice)

Method
Melt the butter with a good couple of glugs of olive oil in a deep frying pan - I used my dutch oven - and cook speck for a few minutes. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently until soft. Add the mushrooms and porcini and cook for about 5 minutes, or until they have released their juices and these have been reabsorbed. Remove from pan.

Without washing the pan, return it to the heat and add another good glug of olive oil. When it starts to shimmer (just before smoking point) add the beef cheeks. You might need to do this in a few lots for this portion sizing. I had to do it in 3 lots. Fry them until they are brown. Add all beef cheeks back into pan and add the mushroom mix, stir. Then add the tomatoes with their juices, stock and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and then gently simmer for 4 hours with no lid on.

After 4 hours - or until the cheeks are very easy to pull apart - remove the beef cheeks form the pan and shred the meat by using a fork. No need to be perfect here, just get in and shred away. Return shredded meat to pan. At this point taste the dish and season. I cooked for another 2 hours with the lid on. This isn't necessary, but my guests weren't coming for a while so I thought I would just leave everything to bubble away on the lowest my stove could go until they arrived. Also, if you prefer and less 'saucy' sauce, keep the lid off so you can steam off the liquid.

I served this with some rustic country style bread from my local bakery and a simple salad of rocket, pear, parmesan, a splash of balsamic vinegar and olive oil with a little salt and pepper.

I will certainly be making it again.

Beef cheeks ragu, served with a rocket salad
and rustic country style bread

SRKitchen on tour - French onion soup, beef cheeks and strawberry mousse

Join me while I give you my account of how I prepare to take The Self-Raising Kitchen 'on tour' and cook for a party of seven.

A work colleague turned awesome friend Tracy (@gadgetgirltracy) and her rockin' partner Angela (@nerfenstein), saw my previous SRKitchen 'on tour' post and wanted to know how to get in on the action. You see the rules are simple, you pay for the ingredients, I cook for you and a group friends/family/other(?) of your choosing in your house. Easy!

Once a date was set (or a second date in our case) planning started and I was looking forward to a cooking tour to the Gold Coast.

Wednesday, 22 August
I complete menu discussions with Tracy and we decide on:

Entree

French onion soup with gruyère bread

Mains

Slow cooked beef cheeks with soft polenta and greens

Dessert

Strawberry mousse with Persian fairy floss (ok, she didn't know about the fairy floss)

Friday, 24 August
5.00pm: The official work week has finished so it's time to get my cook's hat on. I'm off to search for Persian fairy floss and ingredients for the strawberry mousse so I can make it first think in the morning.

Thanks to the awesome world of twitter (@TIFFINbitesized @nataschamirosch @Fridayology @digellabakes @thewordonfood @trisharoe1) I found lots of places in Brisbane selling Persian Fairy Floss. I purchased mine at Greenslopes IGA. The other suggestions were: Rosalie markets, Black Pearl Epicure, Zone Fresh at Windsor, Delicatezza at Michelton and Sourced Grocer at Teneriffe. I'm sure there are plenty more.

THE DAY Saturday, 25 August
8.45am: Coffee is made. Thanks, beloved. An essential element to the day.

9.00am: Strawberries being pureed and the mousse making has started.

Strawberries, lemon juice and sugar blitzed in the food processor

9.30am: Mousse completed and in the fridge to set.

Strawberry mousse ready to set in the fridge. If you are looking
for this recipe I used this one from the Easy French Food blog.
Would I use it again? I most certainly would.

9.50am: Time to make my shopping list.

You see this was one of my more calmer and saner meal plans so I was pretty relaxed about getting everything done, even though I had to drive to the Gold Coast (although it is only 40 mins from my house). 

10.20am: I'm in the car and off to my local fruit shop, butcher and supermarket.

11.20am: DISASTER has struck! My butcher has 12 beef cheeks (which is enough for about 3 'on tour' meals) but they are FROZEN. I will not use the microwave to defrost as it ruins the quality and taste of the meat, in my opinion. So it is time for a luke warm bath for my cheeky bits of beef.

Got frozen meat and don't want to use the microwave?
Leave the meat in a luke warm tub of water. Keep checking
the water and replacing it if it turns cold.

12.00pm: still waiting, waiting, waiting for my cheeks.

12.14pm: another coffee is made.

12.30pm: Preparing to slice onions in food processor to save my eyes.

There is something about me and onions. We are not friends. I love eating them and using them in my cooking, but when is comes to cutting them I cry like a five year old who just had her ice cream full off the cone and onto the footpath. I can even be sitting in another room of someone cutting onions, crying.

12.50pm: time to pack the car. Beef cheeks have defrosted enough. Woo hoo!

The load heading to the Gold Coast. Please take special note of
the casserole dish in the right corner of this photo and read on.

1.16pm: I'm on the road and hoping like crazy that everything makes it in one piece.

1.59pm: Made it! Now it's time to give hugs and kisses to my two beautiful hosts, get unpacked and get started.

But first, check out my view from the kitchen.

Tracy and Angela have a spectacular house on a canal, Gold Coast.

And my office for the afternoon. Bliss!

Tracy and Angela's beautiful kitchen that I've already managed to mess up.

2.30pm: Cooking needs to start. The beef cheeks need at least 3 hours to cook. I'm planning on entree to be served at 6.30, and mains about 7pm. Therefore I want the beef cheeks in the oven by 4pm at the latest to give me 30 mins gap.

2.55pm: Chopping of onion, garlic, herbs etc done, now to brown meat. CRAP I've left my casserole dish at home. Do you remember in the photo the red dish in the corner of the photo? Yes, well it hasn't moved from that location. Oh well, I have another pot that can go in the oven that will have to do.

3.25pm: beef cheeks are ready for the oven. Perfect timing and I've given myself some great wriggle room if the cheeks aren't tender enough by 6pm.

If you are looking for the beef cheeks recipe I used please go here.

Beef cheeks in stock, red wine and herbs ready for a 3 hour stint in the oven.

Time to start the soup.

There's nothing better than the smell of butter and onions cooking. With this recipe you get to fill your house with this smell for a good 30 minutes while you caramelise the onions for the soup.

Caramelising onions for the delicious French onion soup.

I discovered later in the evening, somewhere around dessert, that one of our guests hates onions. Excellent, and here I am offering onion soup! I was assured that she loved the soup, however.

See below for the recipe to this one by the iconic Delia Smith.

4.00pm: I have enough time to gossip with my hosts.

5.30pm: Time to get serious as the first guest, Tracy's mum, arrives. I need to start prepping the beans and broccoli. I want to get these part cooked in boiling water and then place them in ice water so later on all I need to do is fry them with a little butter to heat them up before serving. I'm also getting the french stick sliced and gruyere cheese grated ready for grilling. These will go in the bowls for the soup.

6.15pm: I check the cheeks and I'm very excited as they are just falling apart, as planned, of course. At this point I leave the pot out of the oven until I serve as it will stay hot for a while. Time to free up the oven so I can grill the cheesy bread for the soup.

6:40pm: All guests have arrived. It's time to plate up the entree.

I pour the soup in a terrine that sits in the middle of the table for people
to help themselves. If they like, they can then easily dig in for seconds.

I give each person a bowl with a grilled gruyere cheese
crouton on top. The soup is then ladled on top ready for devouring.

6.50pm: My guests seem to be happily consuming the soup so I focus my efforts on making the polenta with grated parmesan and butter, and frying off the beans and broccoli.

7:30pm: Mains are ready.

Slow cooked beef cheeks with polenta

Looking back, I would have thickened the gravy the cheeks cooked in. Last time I made this dish I was working with a crap oven that used to suck the life (ie juices) out of everything so was left with very little gravy. However, with Tracy and Angela's awesome oven the cheeks quite happily cooked in plenty of juices. It would have been nice to have this thickened a little with some cornflour. I know for next time.

About 8.30pm: Sorry, I started loosing track of time around this point. Time for dessert.

Strawberry mousse topped with Persian vanilla fairy floss.

The evening for me drew to a close just before 9.30pm. I had the car repacked and had even scored a special gift from Tracy and Angela. They very generously bought me a voucher for an Indian cooking class and a strawberry plant. No doubt you will be hearing about the cooking class soon and getting a few recipes as well.

I had such a wonderful night with my hosts and their family. I love cooking for my own loved ones, but it felt extra special being invited into Tracy and Angela's home to cook for their family when I had never met any of them before.

My seven beautiful guests that allowed me to cook for them.

So to the seven wonderful guests who humoured me on Saturday evening, and sat down to eat a meal from a self-trained cook and person they had never met, I thank you so very much. We had a laugh, some very good belly laughs actually, and that is exactly what family and food should be about.

I love this shot. Great family fun!

French onion soup
By Delia Smith

Ingredients

700g onions, thinly sliced

2 tbls olive oil

50g butter

2 cloves garlic,crushed

½ level teaspoongranulated sugar

1.2 litres good beefstock

275 ml dry white wine

2 tbls Brandy

salt and pepper

To serve:

French bread or baguette, cut into 1 inch (2.5 cm)

Gruyère, grated

  

Method

In a large thick-based saucepan heat the butter and oiltogether. Add the onions, garlic and sugar, and cook over a low heat, stirringoccasionally, for about 30 minutes or until the bottom of the pan is coveredwith nutty brown, caramelised film. (This browning process improves both thecolour and flavour.)

Next add the stock and white wine, bring to the boil andsimmer, covered, over a low heat for about 1 hour. Season to taste and, if youfeel in need of something extra warming, add 1-2 tablespoons of brandy.

SRKitchen version: When I’m ready to serve I grill the breadwith the grated gruyère in the oven. If you prefer crunchier (and proper)croutons, drizzle olive oil over the bread and bake in a high oven for about 10mins, or until brown.

Place the croutons in each bowl and either you ladle the soupinto each bowl or put it in a lovely terrine and let your guests dig in and serve themselves.

SRKitchen school: A touch of French - Cassoulet

It is warming, comforting, yummy and just a little bit naughty. That is the Cassoulet; a slow cooked casserole from the south of France.


I took great delight in deliciously devouring my first Cassoulet in the beautiful town of Carcassonne, France in 2006.

The beautiful Cité in Carcassonne, France
(photo by SRKitchen, 2006)

I was with my dear friend, Asha, and we'd decided to leave the depressing grey skies of London (where we lived at the time) to enjoy a long weekend in this breathtaking, world heritage listed, fortified walled town -- or Cité -- to enjoy a European winter fairyland.

Asha & I felt like we had stepped onto the set of a
Disney production in Carcassonne, France
(photo by SRKitchen, 2006)

You will find a plethora of cassoulet recipes on the internet, all varying in ingredients and the number of days it can take to make them. Basically, it is a casserole of beans, meats and herbs. 


A connoisseur of the cassoulet, Jean-Claude Rodriguez, describes the cassoulet as a sharing dish. "When a cassoulet arrives at the table, bubbling with aromas, something magical happens -- it's Communion around a dish." I absolutely adore this description. 

Traditional French dish - Cassoulet
(photo by Chris McCurley)

So when Asha asked for her second cooking lesson in The Self-Raising Kitchen, she decided she wanted to try her hand at the Cassoulet; a far cry from her first lesson making the humble omelette.


I don't think I made it easy for Asha, however. I had made cassoulets previously, but this time I wanted to experiment a little with several recipes. I used this one, this one and I had written out a different herb crust topping on my cooking notes, of which I have no recollection where I got it from.


Although the quantities can easily be varied, please note you will need a very large dish for this. We ended up having to take some of the meat and juice out, which I put into a saucepan and left simmering on the stove while the casserole dish cooked in the oven.


Asha did a superb job experimenting with me to make this recipe. We hope you like it.

Cassoulet

by The Self-Raising Kitchen

Serves 10

Serving up the Cassoulet
(photo by Chris McCurley)

Ingredients
2 large brown onions
8 garlic cloves
2/3 cups white beans (cannelini, haricot, butter beans)
400g speck (you can buy speck from most supermarkets in their specialty meat sections)
750g pork belly
1 chicken* (ask your butcher to cut the meat off the frame and keep this to make a stock. Cut up the chicken into palm size portions, where you can.)
3 garlic sausages (if your can't find substitute with pork sausages)
2 rosemary sprigs
4 bay leaves
4 thyme sprigs
1 tin diced tomato (400ml)
375ml white wine
4 cups of good quality (or homemade) chicken stock
salt


*Please note: Traditionally duck is used. If you can't purchase duck, or you're looking for something a little more cost effective, chicken is a great substitute.


Garlic and herb crust ingredients
4 cups fresh breadcrumbs 
1.5 tbsp flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
50g butter, melted
1 tbsp thyme, chopped


Method
If using dried beans, place in bowl and cover beans with plenty of cold water. Leave over night.


Preheat oven to 140 degrees celsius.  Cut speck into 2cm batons. Cut pork belly into 4cm batons. Heat oil in a large casserole dish over high heat. Cook pork in small portions to allow meat to brown and not broil in its own juices. Set aside. Do this each for the speck, chicken and whole sausages. Cut sausages into quarters.


Add onion and garlic, stirring, for 5 minutes or until soft. Add stock, wine, tomato and herbs to the dish. Add salt to taste. Stir.


Add beans, pork, speck, chicken and sausages. Bake in a preheated oven, covered, for 1.5 hours or until meat is tender.


Towards the end of the 1.5 hours, combine the breadcrumbs, flat-leaf parsley, garlic, thyme and melted butter in a bowl. Ensure breadcrumbs are coated with butter, but not oily. Sprinkle this mixture over the cassoulet and bake, uncovered, for a further 30-40 minutes or until the top is crisp and golden. Remove from the oven and serve with some fresh bread to sop up the juices.

Cassoulet - the sharing dish
(photo by Chris McCurley)

I would like to make a special thank you to Chris McCurley for taking such sensational photos for this post. You are welcome at my house for dinner anytime, Chris.