Month: October 2015

Boeuf Bourguignon

~ momwheresmylunch ~ 4 Comments

I’ve just purchased a slow cooker and this was the first dish I cooked in it. It was divine and everyone ate it. The meat was cooked on high for 6 hours and was very tender. You can also do this in the oven if you don’t have a slow cooker in a covered casserole. I used cornflour instead of plain flour so that the dish would be gluten free.

The same techniques works well with venison but add Guinness instead of red wine and also add a handful of stoned prunes.

IMG_3596[1]

175grams/ 6 ounces streaky bacon rashers

1-2 teasp olive oil

900grams/ 2lb braising steak cut into 4cm (1 ½ inch) cubes

12 small shallots – I used a red onion

1 tablespoon cornflour

300 millilitres/ 1 ¼ cup / 10 fl ounces Beaujolais or other red wine

300 millilitres/ 1 ¼ cup / 10 fl ounces beef stock

115grams / 4ounces button mushrooms

1 Bay leaf

1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence -I just used parsley

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mashed potatoes to serve

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160C/325F

Fry bacon until lightly browned, drain on kitchen paper and transfer to casserole

Fry beef in batches to brown

Reduce the heat to medium and fry off the shallots

Transfer to casserole with a slotted spoon and stir the cornflour into the remaining fat of the frying pan. If the pan is dry mix the cornflour with a little wine or stock. Pour the wine and stock and bring to the boil stirring constantly until smooth.

Add the mushroom and bay leaf and dried herbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pour the contents of the pans over the meat and shallots in the casserole. Cover and cook for two hours in the oven until the meat is very tender.

If you are using a slow cooker you can brown the meat if you wish and simply place all the ingredients into the slow cooker and turn it on. I wouldn’t add the cornflour, use a slurry instead when the dish is cooked

If your sauce is still too runny add a slurry of a tablespoon of cornflour and 2 tablespoons of water to the dish and whisk in and your sauce will thicken. I also used a tablespoon of gravy browning to darken my sauce in case the kids were suspicious about the colour!

Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with mash

Chocolate and Pumpkin Muffins

~ momwheresmylunch ~ Leave a comment

Not to be defeated by the lack of canned pumpkin purée, here in Ireland I decided to make my home pumpkin purée. I mean how hard it could be? I have many years of puréeing baby food for fussy eaters under my belt! The result was amazing and all those yummy recipes with canned pumpkin were no longer out of my reach! Of course my kids don’t really know there is pumpkin in these muffins we just call them Hallowe’en muffins and they are a big success! The pumpkin spice recipe too is easy to follow and will keep forever. Enjoy!

IMG_3588[1]

Ingredients

218 grams/ 1 ¾ cups plain flour (all purpose)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoons cinnamon

½ teaspoon pumpkin spice (recipe follows)

½ teaspoon salt

2 eggs

150 grams/ 3/4 cup sugar

330 grams /1 ½ cups pumpkin purée (recipe follows)

110 grams/ ½ cup brown sugar

125 millilitres /½ cup sunflower oil

125 millilitres/½ cup milk

175 grams/1 cup chocolate chips

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
  2. Mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin spice and salt in a bowl.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, sugar, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, vegetable oil and milk until smooth.
  4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until they are combined.
  5. Stir in chocolate chips.
  6. Use muffin liners and using a muffin scoop fill each about 3/4 of the way.
  7. Bake for 18 minutes. Check muffins are cooked when an inserted skewer comes out clean.

Pumpkin Spice

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon,

2 teaspoons ground ginger,

2 teaspoons ground nutmeg,

1 ½ teaspoons ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cloves.

Method:

Mix the spices together in a small bowl and Store the mixture in a clean small jar

Adapted from Betty Crocker

Homemade Pumpkin Purée

Ingredients:

1 medium baking pumpkin

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F

Place pumpkin on a parchment lined baking sheet and place into oven. Bake until a knife can easily be inserted into the skin of the pumpkin, about 1 hour. If the knife cannot be inserted easily continue baking in 15 minute increments.

Remove the pumpkin from the oven and allow to cool for about 30 minutes.

Slice the pumpkin in half with a knife, and then scoop out the seeds and membrane from the inside of the pumpkin, saving the seeds for roasting if you like.

Scoop out the soft pumpkin flesh with a large spoon and place into blender and purée.

Strain to remove any remaining stringy pieces and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days or in the freezer for several months.

Saucy Sauces

~ momwheresmylunch ~ Leave a comment

We eat a lot of chicken in our house and  I mean a lot, so it makes a change to have a variety of sauces that will even  change the humble chicken goujon  into something even more appetising!

The Perfect Orange sauce
IMG_3476[1]

I have searched for years for the perfect orange sauce and this is it! The addition of lemon juice really brings out the citrus flavour! It’s great over chicken and pork. You can now even attempt the classic duck a la orange and impress your family and friends. Freshly squeezed orange juice is great in this recipe but you can cheat too by using regular store bought orange juice. This recipe is super fast if you have cup measures so think about investing in some!

½ cup/ 100g grams of white sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cornflour (cornstarch)

1 ¼ cups/ 300millilitres of orange juice

¼ cup/ 60 millilitres lemon juice ½ cup water

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon each of grated orange and lemon zest (optional)

In a saucepan mix all your dry ingredients, then stir in your juice and water. Cook over a low heat stirring constantly until the mixture boils. Allow to boil for about three minutes.  Add the tablespoon of butter to get rid of the scum. Any leftover sauce can be frozen!

 

Pesto Cream Sauce

This sauce was served to us in a restaurant on holiday this summer with fresh tuna. The chef was reluctant to part with his recipe but I am glad that I eventually persuaded him as it has become a much asked for sauce in our house! I serve it with chicken and with pasta.

Fresh Pesto

2 cups/ about 70 grams fresh basil leaves, packed

½ cup/50 grams freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano cheese

½ cup/120 millilitres extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup/ 45 grams pine nuts roasted (pignoli)

3 garlic cloves minced, about 3 teaspoons – adjust to your taste

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Heat a small frying pan over a low heat; cook the pine nuts until golden shaking occasionally. Place the basil leaves and pine nuts into a food processor and blitz, then add garlic and cheese and blitz again. Scrape down the sides and slowly add the olive oil in a steady stream to emulsify your pesto. Stir in some salt and pepper to taste. It will keep in the fridge for two weeks.

For the Pesto Cream

IMG_3525[1]

Use your fresh pesto (above) or cheat by using store bought pesto from the chilled section.

Allow 1 heaped teaspoon and¼ cup/ 60 millilitres of cream per person.

Cook off the pesto in a saucepan until you can smell the garlic, about 30 seconds, then add the cream and bring to a boil whisking continuously. As soon as its boils reduce the heat and allow it to reduce to create a pouring sauce consistency.

 

Vermouth and Tarragon Cream

IMG_3532[1]

This is adapted from Nigella’s Tarragon Chicken. Tesco stock Vermouth here in Cork and I use Vermouth Bianco.  You can make yourself a Manhattan cocktail while you cook. This is great served with chicken!

½ cup/120 millilitres of vermouth or white wine

½ cup/120 millilitres cream of cream

2 good sized spring onions, thinly sliced (scallions)

Olive oil

1 clove of garlic chopped finely

½ teaspoon freeze dried or dried tarragon

Fresh tarragon chopped to serve – optional

Fry off the garlic, tarragon and spring onions over a medium heat in the olive oil making sure it doesn’t burn. Add the vermouth and allow to bubble up to burn off the alcohol, then add the cream and bring to a boil whisking continuously. As soon as its boils reduce the heat and allow it to reduce to create a pouring sauce consistency.