SRD's recipe of the day

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Re: Boeuf Bordelaise -- SRD's recipe of the day

Postby snoopysue » Fri Mar 29, 2013 10:22 am

SRD wrote:[ When I could eat wheat I used to love the hot pork and stuffing sandwiches from the shop in Cradley Heath.


I could just eat one of those!
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Re: Boeuf Bordelaise -- SRD's recipe of the day

Postby rockyfowler » Fri Mar 29, 2013 10:23 am

Although there are local products to play with that are made with specifically local recipes, unfortunately many of these contain wheat in some form or other so I don't use BC sausages, black pudding etc. When I could eat wheat I used to love the hot pork and stuffing sandwiches from the shop in Cradley Heath.

I remember that used to be the old family firm Bellfields -and had a shop in dudley all the stars from the Hippodrome used them really nice. They retired years ago and the shop in cradley Heath not very good now :(
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Rabbit with sage & lemon -- SRD's recipe of the day

Postby SRD » Mon Apr 01, 2013 7:49 am

A request for bunny for Easter Day had been received so I jointed it and dry marinated it for 6 hours with chopped fresh sage, coarse chopped garlic and half a lemon chopped into small pieces.
The marinade ingredients were brushed off and the joints browned in olive oil (butter would have given a richer flavour but may have burnt). The joints were transferred to a casserole and the marinade ingredients fried 'til they took a little colour and transferred to the casserole. The frying pan was deglazed with a dryish sherry and the liquor poured over the joints. 200ml of a good stock (I had duck giblet stock in the freezer) was added, the lid put on the casserole and then it went into the oven which I set to 120C. It was an oldish beast so I gave it a couple of hours before stirring in a teaspoon of slaked cornflour. After another 30 minutes or so to cook out the flour and thicken the sauce I served it on a bed of savoy cabbage stir-fried in butter with a teaspoon of caraway seeds stirred in and some plain boiled charlotte potatoes.
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Re: Pork with Apricot & Soy -- SRD's recipe of the day

Postby SRD » Fri Apr 05, 2013 7:16 am

Here's a simple pork recipe.
I picked up a pork fillet, well reduced, from the fresh meat counter the other day and, as is my wont, cut it in half (half of one, around 250gms, is usually enough for the two of us) and bunged it in the freezer 'til inspiration struck. It's an easy cut to cook, although it needs basting as there's little fat on it, and there's no waste at all.

At this time of year we usually find ourselves with half a pot of apricot jam on the shelf; we use it to stick the marzipan to the Christmas and Simnel cakes after which, not being great cake eaters, it sits on the shelf 'til late Autumn at which point it usually has a layer of mould across it.

I mixed a couple of teaspoons of soy sauce with a couple of tablespoons of apricot jam and heated it gently to make it runny and to combine the ingredients. This was poured over the defrosted pork fillet and left to marinade for around 6 hours, turning the fillet occasionally. One could cut slashes into the surface to increase the marinade area but I didn't as I considered the marinade, which I was going to use as a sauce, pretty strongly flavoured.

I scraped the majority of the marinade off and kept it to one side before putting the fillet in a small roasting tray and cooking it from cold (in a fan-assist oven) up to 140C for 20 minutes, then I turned it in the rapidly caramelising dregs of the marinade in the tin and cooked it for a further 20 minutes at 160C before turning it again and giving it a quick blast (around 10 minutes) at 180C.

I brought the remains of the marinade up to bubbling, thinly sliced the pork fillet and poured the sauce over it. I served it with sautéed potatoes and Helda beans.
Last edited by SRD on Sat Jun 03, 2017 6:55 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: Pork with Apricot & Soy -- SRD's recipe of the day

Postby Rob » Fri Apr 05, 2013 12:52 pm

Nice SRD but what are helda beans and how do you do sautéed potatoes?
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Re: Pork with Apricot & Soy -- SRD's recipe of the day

Postby SRD » Sat Apr 06, 2013 7:08 am

Rob wrote:Nice SRD but what are helda beans and how do you do sautéed potatoes?
Helda beans are a fleshy, stringless, runner bean. Generally imported and a bit pricey but nicely flavoured and with virtually no waste. They keep well, sealed in a bag, in the salad drawer of the fridge.

Sautéeing is a term for shallow frying and, technically, sautéed potatoes are a firm variety, par boiled, allowed to cool then sliced into 1/4" rounds, shallow fried in very hot oil for a minute or so, drained off then fried again until cooked. This should produce a scaldingly hot, soft inner with a puffy, crisp outer. But most people, including me, just cut cold cooked potatoes into chunks and fry them 'til nicely browned.
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Re: Greek style broad bean salad -- SRD's recipe of the day

Postby SRD » Sun Jul 14, 2013 7:44 am

With fresh broad beans available it sometimes seems a shame to do anything else but lightly boil them and serve with new roast lamb but I love broad beans all year round and always have frozen ones in the freezer. Here's my version of an Eastern Mediterranean salad (I've had it in Greek, Turkish & Lebanese restaurants).
A good handful of broad beans per person (the baby ones are best).
50 grams of feta cheese per person
Dill or fennel leaves (or you can use the dill mustard sauce that's available in some supermarkets & delis) those who don't like the slightly aniseedy taste of dill can use flat leaf parsley but it really won't be the same.
Lemon juice.
Olive oil (preferably Greek, it's lighter than Italian or Spanish).
Lightly cook the broad beans (frozen ones only really need bringing up to the boil).
Whilst they're cooking dice the feta into 1 cm cubes.
Drain the beans and stir in about a teaspoon of chopped dill leaves per person (a level teaspoon of the dill mustard sauce per person if using that).
Dress with plenty of lemon juice and a good slug of olive oil.
Pour into the serving dish and dot with the cubes of feta.
Decorate with dill fronds and serve with chunks of crusty bread.
It's meant to be served warmish or cold but not hot as the cheese melts.
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Wheat free shortbread

Postby SRD » Wed Nov 27, 2013 8:38 am

Whilst we're on the subject of biscuits; I found this recipe for a wheat free shortbread the other day. Note that it isn't gluten free but if anyone is trying to avoid wheat it works pretty well. Wheat eaters also enjoyed it.
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Potatoes Parmentier

Postby SRD » Sun Aug 02, 2015 7:13 am

There are lots of versions of this but this is my take on a classic French recipe.
Cut a quantity of floury potatoes into 1cm dice put them in a saucepan, add a lightly crushed garlic clove and cover with water. Bring to the boil and cook for a couple of minutes, drain, remove the garlic and leaving the lid off the pan allow them to dry.
For each portion add half a teaspoon each of finely chopped rosemary leaves and olive oil, season with salt and pepper and toss through to lightly coat the pieces of potato.
Turn the potatoes out onto a metal baking trayor an ovenproof frying pan and fry until they are just taking on a little colour. Place in an oven set at 200C (or 180C for a fan oven) and roast for up to 30 minutes 'til nicely browned & crisp.
Meanwhile finely chop a teaspoon of parsley with quarter of a teaspoon of lemon zest per portion. When the potatoes are done stir in the chopped parsley & lemon and serve.

They're especially good with roast chicken but I served them dotted through griddled spring onions and topped with thin slices of roast lamb fillet dressed with a bit more of the parsley & lemon mixed with a little olive oil.
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Re: SRD's recipe of the day

Postby snoopysue » Sun Aug 02, 2015 7:49 am

I do a version of this. One the potatoes have been boiled (just enough so the outer surfaces are soft), and drained I shake the pan to fluff up the edges - then add olive oil and crushed carlic and whatever herbs are appropriate. Then in the oven until the fluffed up edges are nice and crispy.
I'll have to try the lemon at the end!
The best thing about these is they keep warm in the oven until my husband has finished barbequeing the meat (that's always a bit of a moveable feast!).
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Marmalade

Postby SRD » Thu Jan 21, 2016 8:10 am

For many years I bought my marmalade (thick cut Seville for weekdays & Seville, ginger & ginger wine for Sundays) from a lady at Frome Farmers Market. A couple of years ago she retired to Norfolk so I stocked up before she left but those supplies are now running short so yesterday I made marmalade using the following recipe:
Marmalade
Ingredients
1.3kg Seville orange
2 lemons, juice only
1 kg jam sugar (with added pectin)
1.6kg preserving sugar (special granular shape to aid dissolving)

Method
Put the whole oranges and lemon juice in a large preserving pan and cover with 2 litres/4 pints water - if it does not cover the fruit, use a smaller pan. If necessary weight the oranges with a heat-proof plate to keep them submerged. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer very gently for around 2 hours, or until the peel can be easily pierced with a fork.

Warm half the sugar in a very low oven. Pour off the cooking water from the oranges into a jug and tip the oranges into a bowl. Return cooking liquid to the pan. Allow oranges to cool until they are easy to handle, then cut in half. Scoop out all the pips and pith and add to the reserved orange liquid in the pan. Bring to the boil for 6 minutes, then strain this liquid through a sieve into a bowl and press the pulp through with a wooden spoon - it is high in pectin so gives marmalade a good set.

Pour half this liquid into a preserving pan. Cut the peel, with a sharp knife, into coarse shreds. Add half the peel to the liquid in the preserving pan with the warm sugar. Stir over a low heat until all the sugar has dissolved, for about 10 minutes, then bring to the boil and bubble rapidly for 15- 25 minutes until setting point is reached.

Take pan off the heat and skim any scum from the surface. (To dissolve any excess scum, drop a small knob of butter on to the surface, and gently stir.) Leave the marmalade to stand in the pan for 20 minutes to cool a little and allow the peel to settle; then pot in sterilised jars, seal and label. Repeat from step 3 for second batch, warming the other half of the sugar first.

You can use ordinary granulated sugar but I find the added pectin allows less cooking thus giving a fresher flavour, if you prefer a more 'Oxford' style marmalade use only non-pectin sugar and allow it to cook a bit longer to get a darker finish.
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Re: SRD's recipe of the day

Postby SRD » Sat Jun 03, 2017 7:19 am

Despite what I said a few months ago we've started eating more cakes, maybe Bake Off is infectious although we've never watched it, so I've started baking my own cakes adjusting recipes to be wheat-free. The following is gluten-free as well.
COFFEE & WALNUT CUPCAKES
The weights look odd because it's based on pound cake ratios.

Makes approx 12 cakes

Ingredients:
2 extra large free range eggs, weighed in their shells (ours weighed 160g)
160g butter
160g caster sugar
110g self-raising gluten free flour
50g ground almonds
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum (not completely necessary but it helps lighten the mix)
50g chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons instant coffee dissolved in 2 teaspoons boiling water, cooled

For the coffee icing
200g icing sugar, sieved
100g butter
2 teaspoons instant coffee dissolved in 2 teaspoons boiling water, cooled

Method
Line a large 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners. Preheat the oven to 170C
Sling all the ingredients except the walnuts and egg shells into a food processor and blitz until a smooth batter is formed. Stir in most of the chopped walnuts reserving enough to decorate the tops of the cakes. Discard the egg shells.
Spoon the mixture into the muffin cases, filling each about 1/2 full. Place in the pre-heated oven for around 20 minutes(approx) or until risen, golden brown and springy to touch.
Remove to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. Prepare the buttercream icing by beating the soft margarine, icing sugar and cooled coffee together to form a smooth thick cream. Pipe over the top of each cake using a large star nozzle.
Sprinkle over the remaining chopped walnuts to finish.
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Aubergine Tagine

Postby SRD » Tue May 28, 2019 7:33 am

I was given one of those stripey tagines that Lakeland sell and, with the use of a heat diffuser, it cooks very well on the small gas ring but it does need careful handling to prevent cracking although the surface glaze took on a crackle look after the first use.
Apart from an initial extra softening of hard spices like cumin or mustards seed and giving onion and garlic an extra bit of cooking to remove the harshness I tend to bung everything in at once, put on the lid and leave it to itself for an hour before giving everything a good stir.

I picked up some cheap aubergines in the market last week and with the idea that we should be eating less meat anyway and more specifically the visit of a friend's vegan daughter in mind I hunted for a spicy recipe to use. This is my adaptation of various ones you can find online.

Aubergine Tagine

Ingredients
2 aubergines cut into large chunks
3 tbsp olive oil olive oil
1 tsp black mustard seed
1 lge onion sliced vertically
2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp ras el hanout
2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
good pinch of saffron
300ml hot vegetable or chicken stock
2 preserved lemons rind of both sliced, pulp roughly chopped
100g dried apricots, halved
200g chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp clear honey
juice ½ lemon
zest 1 lemon
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
2 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tbsp finely chopped mint
Greek yogurt, to serve (optional)
Wholemeal bulghar wheat, rice or couscous prepared according to packet instructions to serve (optional)

Method
Heat a heavy-based shallow lidded pan or flameproof tagine with the oil, add the mustard seeds & fry 'til they start to pop then add the onions, ginger and spices, and fry gently until softened and golden.

Meanwhile, add the saffron to the stock to soak. Stir the preserved lemon rind and pulp, apricots, tomatoes, honey and lemon juice into the onions with the saffron stock. Snugly fit the aubergines in, cover with a lid and simmer for 1 hour or until the aubergines are tender and the sauce thickened. Season to taste.

Mix together the lemon zest, sesame seeds and chopped herbs, and sprinkle over the tagine. Serve with Greek yogurt and wholemeal bulghar wheat, rice or couscous if you like.
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Re: SRD's recipe of the day

Postby SRD » Thu Jun 11, 2020 7:21 am

Now that the hot weather is over I thought I'd pop down some of the salads I've been preparing.
To start with here's a Spanish style tuna, potato, onion & tomato salad.
Ingredients:
Tuna
Tomatoes sliced
Waxy potatoes sliced cooked and kept warm
Onion slices
Anchovies
Roasted red peppers cut into strips
Black olives

Dressing:
80 ml Mayo
60ml Olive oil
20ml Garlic oil
5ml Lemon juice
5ml Chopped capers
15ml Parsley, minced

Method:
Layer tomatoes, potatoes & tuna on a plate, dress with pepper strips, anchovies & dressing.
Season to taste.
That's the formal recipe and here are my thoughts. We like the jars of tuna in olive oil from Waitrose, it's more expensive but far superior to any other brand except Sainsbury's who used to do a smilar product in a jar but our local branch stopped stocking it years ago. If I'm making a lunch for the two of us I share a jar of tuna between us, if it's for a main meal I'd use a jar each.
For the potatoes I use Charlottes as they are the main variety I use for waxy potatoes, the Spanish hardly cook them at all, I've had them distinctly crisp, but we prefer them more cooked. Slicing hot potatoes can be tricky so I slice them first (I never bother to peel them) before cooking but this means you have to be careful not to boil them too hard or they fall apart. But they are supposed to be warm on the plate.
We like onions in our salad to be strong so use ordinary cooking onions but you can use red onions or the mild white ones if you prefer.
I usually use the anchovy fillets in oil one gets in jars but the ones you can buy loose from deli counters work very well.
I often miss the black olives out but the ones I use are the Olives a la Greque marinated ones.
If I'm in a hurry I don't bother with making the dressing up, just use some of the oil the tuna came in, usually the tomatoes provide sufficient acidity to cut it.
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Re: SRD's recipe of the day

Postby SRD » Fri Jun 26, 2020 7:33 am

How many of you remember those tins of "Russian Salad" the contents of which used to turn up on salad plates when I was a lad? Diced vegetables in a mayonnaise sauce with a bit of a sour bite from gherkins, it was similar to Sandwich Spread but with bigger chunks. Nowadays I only see Russian Salad on the menus of some Tapas bars, for some reason it's a favourite with the Spanish. Anyway, in my quest recently for something to liven up my salad repertoire I googled and came up with the following:
RUSSIAN SALAD

Olivier salad, also known as Russian Salad, was originally invented at the Hermitage restaurant in Moscow in the 1860's.

Ingredients:
3 golden potatoes (I use Charlottes)
3 medium carrots
1cup frozen peas
4 hardboiled eggs
6 small dill pickles (gherkins)
1cup olive oil mayonnaise (I use Hellmans)
¾ cup diced smoked ham (optional)
finely chopped dill, to garnish

Method:
Cook the potatoes & carrots 'til just cooked, cool & dice.
Meanwhile, cook your frozen peas according to package directions.
Chop pickles finely.
Add the ham if using.
Peel and dice your hardboiled eggs.
Mix everything together gently before you add the mayonnaise.

I found that dicing the veg first and carefully cooking (do for a minute, test, do for a minute, test etc.) each variety in the microwave separately you can achieve that just cooked firmness that is important in this dish. Emptying the cooked veg into cold water also stops them carrying on cooking.
Rather than adding the mayonnaise at the end I add each ingredient to it stirring gently with each new addition
Some recipes call for turnip as well but I don't have any so I added a handful of raw diced radishes at the pickle stage.

We had this last night (without the ham) spooned into lettuce leaves and served with slices of cold roast beef.
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