Yesterday I pan fried the oxtail until it was sealed on the outside. I then fried up some diced celery, onion, garlic and carrots, added the meat back in and covered it up with some beef stock. I added some thyme and some rosemary and let the whole lot simmer for four hours.
I left it in the fridge to cool overnight, and then this afternoon I topped it up with a bit of water and a glass of red wine, simmered it for another half an hour. Then I made some rosemary and garlic doughballs (dumplings) and added that in for last 5 minutes or so. It was good. And the house smelled so nice while it was all cooking.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Slow Roasted Lamb by liz-isabella
Yesterday I did a slow roasted lamb dish via Nigella. Lamb chops chopped up, in a roasting pan with diced raw potatoes. Over that a mix of olive oil, rosemary, garlic, and chilli. Slow roasted at about 150 degrees for around an hour and a half. It was lovely, all juicy and tasty. I had it with brussel sprouts and broccoli and felt virtuous and stuffed.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Peach Torte by Alecto the Night Owl
1 c butter
1 egg
1/2 c sugar
2 c flour
2 tsps baking powder
pinch if salt
Cream butter and sugar together. Add the beaten egg. Add sifted dry ingredients. Take out enough for topping - 3 cookie-sized balls. Press into a 10" or 11" springform pan.
Filling:
1 28 oz can of peaches
2 small packages of cooked chocolate pudding (can use mousse)
Make pudding/mousse per instructions. Drain the peaches and line the bottom of the pan. Cover with the pudding/mousse. Flatten out the dough balls and arrange on the top in a pleasing manner. Bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes. Serve garnished with whipped cream or creme fraiche. This is good still warm from the oven or cold.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Mujaddra (Rice & Lentils) by bookseller
Cook both rice and lentils -- maybe the same amount of each, doesn't matter -- as you normally would (though maybe don't put them on the heat till the onions are about halfway done). Slice up about twice or three times as many onions as you think you'll need, getting them as thin as possible, and separating them into rings. Pour an unconscionable amount of olive oil (must be olive oil) into a pan, and cook the onions over the lowest possible heat. Getting them as dark as they can go will take quite a long time, easily an hour, maybe more, but you really don't have to poke them or fuss with them; just come in and check every 20 minutes or so; stir the darker ones in with the lighter ones, make sure nothing's sticking. When at least half of them are a really dark brown (and the other half are deep gold), mix the contents of the pan -- onions and onion-y olive oil -- together with the rice and lentils (which are still warm), and season everything with salt and black pepper and (if you're me) some cumin seeds that you have toasted in a dry pan till fragrant, and ground. Good warm, good cold, good plain, good with extra bits in, good with green eggs and ham, good all around. Too high in carbs for me to indulge often, sadly, but great comfort food. And as comfort food goes, actually not bad for you.
FWIW, my recipe, which I started making in college, comes from the Frugal Gourmet, who may have been a perv but put out some good cookbooks.
FWIW, my recipe, which I started making in college, comes from the Frugal Gourmet, who may have been a perv but put out some good cookbooks.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Magic Bulgur by bookseller
Saute 1 diced onion in 4 tablespoons butter. You could use olive oil, and you could probably cut the amount in half. Recipe says to add a couple stalks of celery; I'd rather get root canal with a rusty can opener. Stir the onion around over medium heat until it's translucent.
The stir in 1 cup bulgur -- I like the coarse grind, recipe doesn't specify. If you're looking for more of a porridge-y texture, fine would probably be the way to go. Add a pinch each of kosher/sea salt and black pepper, and stir this all for about 1 minute, till the bulgur starts to smell a little toasty.
Add 1.5 cups chicken broth or water, cover the pan, and let everything simmer (that probably means turning down the heat under the pan) for 15 minutes or so, until the bulgur is tender. At this point, if you'd like to cook it ahead and reheat it, you can. Stop, scrape everything into a bowl, stick it in the fridge. Later, you can heat it up in a bit more oil or butter (which will make it crisper and toastier and altogether more delicious) or you can steam it in a covered pan with a little bit of stock or water, which will still be tasty, but hey, steaming v. butter...choose your own sin.
When the bulgur is hot and you're ready to eat, stir in about 2 tablespoons good plain yogurt (I'd go with Greek, personally) and the same amount of chopped parsley (my choice) or dill (if you want a northern European flavor -- which would be very good with fish). In my vegetarian days, I used to make entire extremely happy meals out of a bowl of this stuff and some steamed veg -- cabbage and carrots in particular. But I also love it as a side to any kind of plain fish or seafood, either grilled or steamed, and I bet it would be great with lamb chops, in which case a raw zucchini salad with a sharp oregano vinaigrette, and maybe a few soaked currants in the bulgar, would be pretty fab.
Oooh, you know what I bet would be great? Make this up, but with butter and yogurt only, no onions or pepper, no parsley or dill, no savory ingredients. Eat it hot with some cold stewed fruit, like a classic eastern European kompot of apples or pears and dried apricots and prunes stewed with sugar or honey, a vanilla bean and some lemon rind, and either water or juice or red wine. That would make some kind of fabulous breakfast. With a nice glass tea, you'd be ready to go pick mushrooms in the forest with Zasha and Yevgeny.
ETA In fact, with a little forward planning, this would be an extremely easy breakfast. Not only does the kompot keep well, but I know from personal experience that it also freezes well, like in little 1/4-cup twists of Baggie. We already know the bulgar can be made ahead. The night before, take one of your Baggies outa the freezer, and leave it to thaw in the fridge overnight. In the morning, nuke some bulgur till it's hot, stir in a little yogurt, and top it with your cold, syrupy fruit. If you are determined to get fancy and cause your breakfast guest to adore you, toast a few heart-healthy walnut halves while the bulgur is nuking, chop them roughly and sprinkle them on top.
Your guest will never leave.
The stir in 1 cup bulgur -- I like the coarse grind, recipe doesn't specify. If you're looking for more of a porridge-y texture, fine would probably be the way to go. Add a pinch each of kosher/sea salt and black pepper, and stir this all for about 1 minute, till the bulgur starts to smell a little toasty.
Add 1.5 cups chicken broth or water, cover the pan, and let everything simmer (that probably means turning down the heat under the pan) for 15 minutes or so, until the bulgur is tender. At this point, if you'd like to cook it ahead and reheat it, you can. Stop, scrape everything into a bowl, stick it in the fridge. Later, you can heat it up in a bit more oil or butter (which will make it crisper and toastier and altogether more delicious) or you can steam it in a covered pan with a little bit of stock or water, which will still be tasty, but hey, steaming v. butter...choose your own sin.
When the bulgur is hot and you're ready to eat, stir in about 2 tablespoons good plain yogurt (I'd go with Greek, personally) and the same amount of chopped parsley (my choice) or dill (if you want a northern European flavor -- which would be very good with fish). In my vegetarian days, I used to make entire extremely happy meals out of a bowl of this stuff and some steamed veg -- cabbage and carrots in particular. But I also love it as a side to any kind of plain fish or seafood, either grilled or steamed, and I bet it would be great with lamb chops, in which case a raw zucchini salad with a sharp oregano vinaigrette, and maybe a few soaked currants in the bulgar, would be pretty fab.
Oooh, you know what I bet would be great? Make this up, but with butter and yogurt only, no onions or pepper, no parsley or dill, no savory ingredients. Eat it hot with some cold stewed fruit, like a classic eastern European kompot of apples or pears and dried apricots and prunes stewed with sugar or honey, a vanilla bean and some lemon rind, and either water or juice or red wine. That would make some kind of fabulous breakfast. With a nice glass tea, you'd be ready to go pick mushrooms in the forest with Zasha and Yevgeny.
ETA In fact, with a little forward planning, this would be an extremely easy breakfast. Not only does the kompot keep well, but I know from personal experience that it also freezes well, like in little 1/4-cup twists of Baggie. We already know the bulgar can be made ahead. The night before, take one of your Baggies outa the freezer, and leave it to thaw in the fridge overnight. In the morning, nuke some bulgur till it's hot, stir in a little yogurt, and top it with your cold, syrupy fruit. If you are determined to get fancy and cause your breakfast guest to adore you, toast a few heart-healthy walnut halves while the bulgur is nuking, chop them roughly and sprinkle them on top.
Your guest will never leave.
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