Beef Short Ribs

Wine, meat and long slow cooking = SICK. And I mean sick in a good way of course; not vomit. Like someone said on Towie the other night, "this is such a sick club!" and they were clearly having a very nice time. Anyway, anything involving meat, doused in red wine, plus some veg, herbs and whatever, then braised slowly all afternoon to tender unctuousness .. just cannot fail.

So I had a beef short rib in my meat box from Field & Flower. It was quite long actually, a bit too long for my casserole pot. I had to do it in a roasting tin, but this was no hardship.

I seasoned the rib with salt & pepper, then browned it on all sides in the roasting tin, over the heat. This took a couple of mins. Then I let it sit on one side, while I gently softened some chopped onion, celery, carrot and garlic in a pan. I added a bit of dried thyme and a spoon of flour, and stirred that in. 

The next step was to pour red wine into the hot pan. It was about a third of a bottle. I let it boil and reduce quite a bit. Then I added some stock, about half a pint I'd say. I gently poured the contents of the pan into the roasting tin, around the rib. I added black pepper but not salt (best not to until the end).

It cooked for three hours at about 150c. I checked it every hour and added a bit more water to the liquid, so it didn't dry out. If you had it in a casserole with a lid, you might not need to worry - however, I liked cooking it uncovered because the meat and fat on the rib went a bit crispy and burnished. You do want this to happen. 

So it kept on roasting, and I topped up the liquid a couple of times. All ovens are different aren't they, so twiddle with the temperature as you see fit. 

When it was done, the bone just pulled away easily. I lifted the meat out and let it rest. Then I poured the winey, meaty, vegetables and juice into a saucepan. It would be possible to do whatever you liked to this gravy. Strain it if you want (I didn't) or increase its volume by adding more water or whatever. It was necessary to spoon off some of the fat. It tasted amazing. 

I cut the meat into two pieces, sat them on some mash, then ladled the gravy on top. 

Spicy Parsnip & Apple Soup, with Onion Bhaji Onions

A very simple soup, with a special garnish.

The soup was made by chopping, peeling and softening 2 onions, 3 apples and about 4 parsnips in a nob of butter. It felt good to say "nob" there. Then I added a spoonful of curry paste (I like Mr Hudas) and then about a litre and a half of vegetable stock. It then simmered until everything was very soft, then I whizzed it with a whizz stick.

The onion bhaji onions were made as follows: Slice 2 onions thinly. You want to get them as dry as possible, so dab them with kitchen paper. Sprinkle on salt, leave them a bit, then dab them very well again. Then sprinkle on (and don't be shy) turmeric, chilli powder, any other kind of spicy powder you are interested in, black pepper, then a generous tablespoon of gram flour. Shake the onions and toss them around with your hand to distribute everything evenly. Heat up  some oil, about 1cm deep, in a frying pan. When its really hot, in with the onions. I did them in two batches so as not to overcrowd the pan. Just make sure they are nicely spread out so they don't clump together. Keep an eye on them and when they are golden, scoop them out with a strainer.

Welcome to Slutty Kitchen 2015

Welcome to my relaunch. Here is a light snack to keep you going:

Beer Braised Pulled Pork

Pulled pork is bloody everywhere in the UK at the moment, and I have to admit that this has been getting on my nerves. It seems to be part of a tidal wave of barbecue-piri piri-barbacoa-sloppy joe-sweet chilli-chipotle-hickory-bollocks, washing over the country. I feel quite loyal to the traditional British way to do a roast pork sandwich (with stuffing, apple sauce and crackling) you see, and would quite like to shout at the americans about it.

But it does all look bloody tasty. So, with a sigh of resignation, I embarked on this recipe today. When I found it, I was attracted to it because it did not seem either overly sweet or too vinegary. This was something chuffing else.

Just give me a moment and imagine, right now, what you would say if you had to demand sex, assertively and using the strongest, most offensive language in your vocabulary. Go on, think about that, then look at this picture:

Basically, if you put "beer braised barbecue pork" into a search engine, you will come across a recipe by a man called Dave Lieberman (thanks Dave .. and by the way, does your surname mean, "loverman"? Which does figure) and you will also see that its been tweaked and blogged about by a few other people. I can't pretend to have done anything different. One difficulty I had was understanding the quantity of meat involved. As I understood it, Mr Loverman suggests a 15lb piece of meat, a quantity out of the question for most normal people. Would that fit in your oven, anyway?  How many children have you got, Mr Loverman? So I was not sure whether my 1.3 kilo piece would be overpowered. Anyway, this is what I did; and if you want to follow, you need to procure the following:

a big piece of pork shoulder, with the crackling removed. Mine was 1.3 kilos.
A spice rub, made of the following, mixed together in a bowl:
½ tablespoon of salt
40 grinds of black pepper
1 tablespoon chilli powder (less if you are scared)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
½ tablespoon chinese 5 spice
½ tablespoon smoked paprika

I'd say the salt, pepper, chilli and garlic are essentials. You could play around with the rest.

You will also need:
a bottle of beer
½ cup tomato ketchup
2 tablespoons french mustard
3 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
⅓ cup dark brown sugar

Rub the powder all over the meat. Get your oven really hot; I had my fan oven at 220c. Place the pork in a roasting tin and cook it, uncovered, for 40 minutes.
Pour the beer over the pork, into the roasting tin. Cover it all with foil, and poke a few holes in the foil. Reduce the oven temperature to 150c (fan) and cook for 2½ hours more.
Remove from the oven, lift out the meat and put it on a big plate, or dish you plan to serve it in. Pour the beer and juices from the tin into a saucepan, and add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer it on the hob until it has reduced by half; it will go thick, dark, and syrupy.

While the sauce is reducing, get two forks and shred, or pull the meat apart. It should be very soft and tender. When the sauce is ready, just pour it over and mix in. Your sticky, delicious, aromatic and rich pulled pork is now done.

As you can see, I ate mine the way it is eaten in the US; on a white roll with some coleslaw. I could not waste the crackling of course. I put that on a baking sheet and cooked it on the shelf below the pork, for its final hour. Then, while the sauce was cooking, I whacked the oven up to 220c and within 20 minutes or so, I had a slab of crackling so golden and crunchy that when I cut it, bits of it flew up into my face.

The pork tasted almost like hoisin. The whole thing reminded me of the classic crispy duck with pancakes. Something about the dark, sticky soft meat, encased in soft and pappy white dough, all with some cool salad, to bring crispness and crunch. Maybe I am a pulled pork fan after all. Now I am dreaming that we could all live in a kind of multicultural foodie utopia! It could work!

Thankyou, America. Although with regards crackling, sage & onion stuffing and apple sauce: you still don't know what you are missing.. I will have to introduce you another time.

Spicy and sour pork with noodles

I adapted this from a Jamie Oliver recipe where he makes a sour sauce made of rhubarb to cook the pork in, but I did not have any rhubarb. So I used a lot of lime juice instead.

Stage one - cut your pork belly into big chunks, and cook it in a marinade made of honey (4tbsp), soy sauce (4 tbsp? Possibly too much), 2 red chillies, 4 cloves garlic, a thumb of ginger, and juice of 3 limes. Cook it at 180c for 1 hr 30 mins, covered.

When it is cooked, get a frying pan on a low heat and fry the pieces (or just a few of them) gently for about 30 mins. Very very slowly, and keep turning them over. This will render even more fat out, and make them sticky and unctuous.

Let them rest a little bit while you assemble the rest. Hot noodles in bowl. Pork pieces on top. A spoon or two of the marinade. Then scatter over fresh coriander leaves, chopped red chilli, sliced spring onion, cucumber shavings, then squeeze over more lime juice. 

Dangerous Chow Mein

I cooked some noodles, and stir fried some sliced chicken breast. After a few minutes, I added a splosh of soy and a splash of rice wine, and let them bubble away. The chicken became brown, and sticky. I then added sliced spring onions, finely chopped ginger and garlic, and slices of red chilli. Then the drained, cooked noodles went in. Finally I had some chow mein sauce from the chinese supermarket, and totally overdoing it, added that too. Perhaps this final step was not absolutely necessary.

I have chilli, garlic & ginger fumes coming out of my nose. This really was bloody delicious.

No-Knead Bread

This beautiful loaf is the easiest bread I have ever made, perhaps the tastiest too. Definitely a revelation, as it took the equivalent of what - 5 minutes, 10 minutes effort? And it turned out like the sort of bread labelled "artisan" or "rustic". A very, very crisp crust. And big holes. Proper.

By all means stick "no knead bread" or "5 minute bread" in google, and loads of links and people's recipes will come up. I looked at how Cuts777inthehizzy, did his, and you can watch him here if you want.

BASICALLY anyway, all you need are four ingredients. Mix them in a bowl. Just mix. Don't knead. Save yourself.

3 cups bread flour
1.5 cups water
1 tsp salt
quarter tsp dried yeast

You will also need a heavy casserole pot with a lid, and an oven which can reach 230c.

Cover the dough and leave it in a warm or warm-ish place (the kitchen worktop should be fine) for anything from 12-20 hours. The dough should appear rather sloppy. Apparently it is the sloppiness, the high water content, which makes the crust crispier.

After the long proving, turn (or plop) the dough out on a floured surface. Again, no need to knead. Shape it into a round, which will fit neatly into your pot.

Now comes a second proving, which, based on everything I have read online, you can leave out if you really cannot wait any longer, and you will still get a lovely loaf. But if you want to go all the way, give it another 2 hours to prove again.

Preheat the oven (230c) AND preheat the cooking pot too. Put the dough in the pot and put the lid on. Bake for a total of 45 mins, and remove the lid for the final 15-20 minutes.

I am sure there are possibilities here for amazing pizza dough, rolls or mini ciabattas. Or just toasted doorsteps smothered in butter with poached eggs on top (drool) .. enjoy!