Sometimes I think about becoming a vegetarian, but then I think about the things I really enjoy . . . like steak and I realise I could never really do it. Become a vegetarian. I enjoy a good steak once in a while far too much to ever give it up. No offense to vegetarians, I know they have their reasons, but I am a meat lover, albeit free range and organic if possible. I try to only eat happy meat.
This recipe today is the perfect recipe for when you are wanting to indulge in a good steak with your partner. I like meat that has hung a bit longer and which is organic and free range. You can tell good meat by its colour. It won't be overly bright red . . . and it will be moist, but not overly moist, and not overly dry either.
It should be a dark red, not bright red . . . without a lot of liquid in the package, and the fat on the edge should be creamy white, almost waxy looking in appearance. Nicely marbled, without any obvious bits of tough sinew. (I hate sinew.)
There are many thoughts of school on salting prior to cooking or not. I, personally, salt prior to cooking. If you let your steak rest properly before serving, any juices that might escape will be reabsorbed by the meat when it relaxes . . . salt just enhances the flavour of good meat.
Personally we like our steaks medium rare. They are tender and delicious. Not bleeding, but nice and pink in the centre, with a good sear on the outside.
Mmmm . . . now that's a good looking steak . . . . perfectly done to my taste.
The sauce is beautiful also . . . with lovely rich flavours that help to bring out the best of the meat and not overpower it. I am a real pepper lover . . . that heat and bite really goes well with a good piece of beef, and the richness of the cream and butter and whiskey, well . . . what can I say? Perfectly sized for just two. This could be your new romantic dinner option.
*Steak with a Whiskey Peppercorn Sauce*
Serves 2
2 TBS butter
2 TBS mixed peppercorns
Make the sauce first and keep warm. Heat the 1 TBS olive oil in a
saucepan. Add the shallots and garlic. Sweat, stirring occasionally,
over low heat and uncovered, until they are softened. Season to taste
with salt and black pepper. Add the stock to the pan. Bring to a boil
and cook on high for 15 minutes until reduced by half. Strain into a
clean saucepan. Whisk in the butter, cream, and peppercorns. Cook for a
few minutes longer, then set aside and keep warm.
Brush the steaks on both sides with a bit of oil and season with salt and black pepper. Heat a grill pan until very hot. Cook for 3 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for a further 3 minutes for medium rare. Let rest for a few minutes before serving on warm plates with the sauce spooned over top.
I served with chips and onions rings and a crisp wedge of iceberg lettuce with my Creamy Cheddar Salad Dressing. We were both very happy campers. Bon Appetit!
Cheesy Rigatoni. Just those two words are enough to set your taste buds to tingling. Add some tuna and some broccoli and you have a dish made in heaven! This is easily absolutely the best Tuna Casserole I have ever eaten.
This casserole I am sharing today is adapted from a recipe by James McNair that I found in a cookbook entitled "From Our House to Yours: Comfort Food to Give and Share", by Joyce Goldstein. It is rich and delicious.
I used the basic recipe for the pasta and sauce and then I added my own twist to it. I also cut the recipe perfectly in half for just us, and it worked well.
In fact I would say that half of the recipe would easily feed four people just right.
I made half the recipe, which should have fed two to three people. We only managed to finish half the dish.
So definitely make it when you have a table full of hearty hungry eaters in the house to feed.
Its really a very simple make. You just cook the pasta and then layer it in a baking dish.
Next you make a rich bechamel sauce, using both regular and evaporated milks. You can use the skimmed evaporated milk which will cut down on the fat somewhat . . . but really . . .
With all the cheese involved why bother! There are four kinds of cheese. Emmenthaler (a Swiss type of cheese) and Gruyere (another type of Swiss-ish cheese) . . . both of which have great melting properties.
The Emmenthaler is a bit nuttier and sweeter I think . . . then there is a sharp Cheddar (I used a vintage one) and Parmigiano Reggiano. All cheeses I had leftover from Christmas.
I also had leftover cooked broccoli I wanted to use up, which is why I just threw it on top, added a tin of good quality tuna drained.
Those were layered over the pasta and the sauce gets spooned over top. All the cheese is layered on top of the sauce, creating a ooey gooey blanket of yumminess!
*Baked Rigatoni with Four Cheeses*
Serves 4 to 6
1 tin of albacore tuna in water, drained (7 ounces) broken into chunks
2 cups cooked broccoli florets
Heat a large saucepan of generously salted water to
the boil. Add the pasta and cook, stirring frequently, until done to al
dente, according to the package directions. Drain well, rinse in cold
water and drain again. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to
180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter a 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Spread the
pasta out in the dish. Top with the flaked tuna and broccoli.
Melt
the butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour and whisk together,
cooking over low heat for about five minutes. Remove and set aside.
Combine the milk and evaporated milk in a large saucepan and heat just
to the boil. Pour all at once into the pan with the flour/butter
mixture and whisk together until smooth. Season with some salt, ppper
and nutmeg. Place over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, until
the mixture begins to bubble and thicken. Pour this evenly over top of
the tuna, pasta and broccoli in the casserole dish. Mix together all
of the cheeses and sprinkle them evenly over top of all.
Bake in the preheated oven for about half an hour. Place under a heated grill to gild the cheese if desired.
Note - you can leave out the tuna and broccoli if you wish.
Even my so called pasta-hating other half gobbled this up. In his words, it wasn't so bad. Now, knowing him and his taste for pasta, that was a high compliment indeed.
This is incredibly delicious. Rich. Creamy. Probably the best Tuna Casserole I have ever eaten!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
One thing I love most about Winter is that we get to enjoy lovely homemade soups with abandon. There is no time like the present to be enjoying these beautiful forms of sustenance!
Everything I know about making soup, I learned from my mother. She made beautiful soups. As a family we loved her soups and one of the first things we always looked forward after we grew up and went home for a visit, was a hot bowl of one of her homemade soups.
Mum never skimmed the fat from her soups. She always told us those little beads of fat floating on top were the vitamins. I do skim the fat, but I always smile while I am doing it, thinking of all the vitamins . . . .
One of my favourite memories is from when I was living on my own after my divorce. I had a rented room in someone else's house. It was January and I had come down with the "man" flu . . . horrible, soul wrenching, energy draining flu.
I was in bed for several days, not caring if I was dead or alive. There came a knock on the door one day and there stood my mother with a lovely container of her homemade chicken soup. Nectar of the Gods. And filled with vitamins, no doubt! 😉 But when you're sick . . . who cares.
A good homemade soup is one of the most beautiful examples of love you can share with someone you care about . . .it is indeed soup for the soul.
This version I am showing you today starts with a delicious homemade stock which is made from the carcass of a roasted chicken. I always freeze my roast chicken carcasses specifically for the purpose of making soups.
You don't always feel like making the soup right away, so freezing them makes good sense. I just pop them into an empty bread bag, tie it shut and pop it into the freezer.
I also cut up my own chickens to use in dishes and save the backs and necks, also for the purpose of making flavourful stocks. All get frozen for future use.
Breasts in one container, legs in another, wings in another, and backs & necks. Its a cheaper way of having chicken portions to hand, and just makes economic sense to me.
For this delicious soup I combined my own homemade stock, pearl barley, grated parsnips, and cabbage with perfectly delicious results. You can use ready made stock as well if you want.
You will still end up with a fabulously tasty soup. Perfect for these cold winter days and for whatever ails you.
*Roast Chicken Soup with Barley, Parsnips and Cabbage*
Serves 4
a generous sprig of thyme
2 TBS chopped fresh parsley
140g pearl barley (3/4 cup)
Put the chicken stock into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Add
the spring of thyme, parsley and pearl barley and reduce to a simmer.
Cover and cook for about forty five minutes. Add the vegetables,bring
to the boil again and then reduce to a simmer. Cook for a further 15 to
20 minutes, until all of the vegetables and the barley are very soft.
Add the chicken and heat through. Season to taste with salt and black
pepper, squeeze the lemon juice over top and serve.
You can make your own chicken broth quite easily with the carcass of your leftover roast chicken. Homemade is always better than ready made in my opinion.
*Roast Chicken Broth*
Makes 3 to 4 litres (2 to 3 quarts)
1 tsp sea salt
a handful of fresh parsley sprigs, and other soft herbs such at thyme, oregano, savoury, sage or marjoram
Any leftovers can also be frozen, ready to haul out at the first sign of a sniffle. Almost as good as a mother's hug when you are feeling a bit under the weather. Bon Appetit!
On the weekends, new year or not, I crave something homemade and comforting . . . and in the Winter this means something which reminds me of home.
There is nothing like an old fashioned bake to chase away the Winter apres-holiday blues!
I especially love bakes such as gingerbreads . . . they smell delicious when they are baking.
Infusing your home with the delightful smells of ginger (natch), cinnamon, allspice, cardamom . . .
I don't know about you, but these warm baking spices make me think of hugs and my mama's lap . . .
They also make me think of my Gran because this delicious crumb cake is very like something which she would have baked.
A simple crumb mixture which forms not only the basis for a deliciously spiced and moist cake, but also a fabulous buttery crumb topping . . . but that is not all . . .
It is accompanied by a lovely sweet, buttery creamy sauce that you spoon warm, over top of the cake . . . this is oh so tasty.
If you only bake one thing this weekend, let it be this . . . you will not regret it, I promise you.
*Ginger Crumb Cake with Butter Sauce*
Serves 9
Preheat the oven to 190*C/365*F/ gas mark 5. Butter an 8 inch square baking tin and line with paper. Set aside.
Cream
together the butter and sugar in a bowl, until well combined. Sift the
flour into the bowl, along with the ginger, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom
and salt. Mix together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is well
blended and crumbly. Remove 54g (1/3 cup) and set aside. Whisk together
the buttermilk, molasses and beaten egg. Stir the bicarbonate of soda
into the main bowl of crumbs. Add the wet mixture to this and blend
well. Pour into the prepared tin and then sprinkle the reserves 54g
(1/3 cup) of crumbs evenly over top.
Bake in
the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in
the centre comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly
touched.
In a small saucepan, combine all of
the sauce ingredietns. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring
constantly. Reduce to a simmer, and simmer over low heat, stirring
occasionally for 4 minutes.
You will want to break out the teapot with this one. A nice hot cuppa is the perfect go with. Enjoy this as a part of your morning weekend brunch, or as Elevenses with your tea, or as a delicious pudding for after dinner. Whenever you choose to enjoy this, you are sure to fall in love. Destined to become a family favourite! Bon Appetit!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
I am a real lover of scones. They speak to my food loving heart on every level.
Flakey and slightly sweet, ready to be spread with something you enjoy, or even all on their own, served with hot cups of tea, herbal or otherwise.
They are as comfortable gracing the table on special occasions such as a High Tea as they are sitting on an afterschool tea plate for when you have those late afternoon munchies.
This recipe has been adapted from one I found in my recipe box, handwritten on a piece of paper, a long, long time ago. I can't really tell you where it came from.
There is no photo, just the recipe, penned in my lazy scrawl. I know that I only ever copied out recipes that were solidly appealing however and so I knew it had to be a winner.
There were several things about this recipe which called my name. First the amount of butter and way of incorporating it told me that these would be flaky . . .
and the use of an egg wash and sprinkle of brown sugar on the scones prior to baking sounded, well . . . incredibly yummy!
I have often sprinkled a bit of caster sugar on top or demerara sugar (turbinado sugar), but the brown sugar has a truly lovely effect.
It kind of melts with the egg wash and makes a nice sugary crust.
Another thing that appealed was the use of fresh orange zest combined with tiny bejeweled black currants . . .
the smell of the orange zest is amazing, both when you are putting them together and then again when they are baking!
The use of heavy cream and butter ensures a lovely flaky rise in the finished product . . .
They puffed up really nicely.
You also don't need to use any cutters to cut them out, just a sharp knife, so there is no waste or re-rolling of scraps which also helps them to rise evenly.
The recipe recommends serving them warm and eating on the day.
In all truth however, they are pretty tasty cold and yes, even the day after baking. (I had one for breakfast this morning.)
Todd enjoyed his split and spread with strawberry jam. I enjoyed mine, just as it was. No embellishments whatsoever. These are fabulously tasty!
*Orange and Currant Scones*
Makes 12
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Line a baking tray with nonstick baking parchment. Set aside.
Sift the flour into a bowl along with the sugar and baking powder. Stir in the orange zest. Drop in the butter an rub it in with your fingertips, using a snapping motion or using a pastry blender until you have a mixture resembling coarse bread crumbs. (No piece of butter should be larger than a pea.)
Sift the flour into a bowl along with the sugar and baking powder. Stir in the orange zest. Drop in the butter an rub it in with your fingertips, using a snapping motion or using a pastry blender until you have a mixture resembling coarse bread crumbs. (No piece of butter should be larger than a pea.)
Make a well in the centre and add the cream and
beaten egg. Mix in with your hand until you have a shaggy type of
dough.Tip onto a lightly flour surface and gently mix in the dried
currants, kneading together just to incorporate the fruit.
Pat out to a
rectangle, roughly 3/4 inch thick and 9 by 12 inches in size. Make 3
cups down the length of the dough and 4 cuts crosswise, giving you 12
squares. Place well spaced apart on the baking sheet. Brush the tops
with some of the beaten egg/water mixture and sprinkle each with some
brown sugar.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, turning the baking sheet around halfway through the baking time, to evenly brown and cook. Let stand on the baking sheet for several minutes before moving to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Best if eaten within the first 24 hours.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, turning the baking sheet around halfway through the baking time, to evenly brown and cook. Let stand on the baking sheet for several minutes before moving to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Best if eaten within the first 24 hours.
The recipe does call for dried currants, but you could also use raisins if you wanted to or chopped dried cranberries. I think the cranberries would work really well with the orange zest! It's the weekend, why not bake something tasty today! Bon Appetit!
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