Category Archives: Food & drink

Perfect Roast Beef

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Tonight, we’re having roast beef and all the trimmings. That means it’s time to dig out my dog-eared copy of Floyd on Britain and Ireland, a paperback I’ve had for 20 years, and is long out of print.

Keith Floyd is one of my culinary heroes. Yes, I know, but that’s my thing and you won’t change my mind.

His recipe for roast beef is a thing of wonder. I’ve followed advice from many other chefs and cookbooks, but I always come back to this one. It’s bombproof, as far as I’m concerned (see my slightly careless variations on the blueprint), or as Floyd himself puts it:

My personal way of roasting beef that never fails is to rub into the fat a combination of two tablespoons of flour, one tablespoon of mustard powder and plenty of freshly-milled black pepper…

I actually add salt as well and rub the mixture all over the joint to make a crust that holds in all the delicious juices.

Make sure the joint is at room temperature before you start, and pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6, 200C or 400F. Floyd recommends you use beef dripping to brown the joint in a frying pan; I never have beef dripping, so I use whatever oil I have to hand.

He recommends the beef is put on a rack in a roasting tin; I usually put it straight in the tin or raise it on some halved onions, which can help the gravy. Whichever way, make sure the fat is uppermost.

After 20 minutes, lower the temperature to gas mark 3, 160C or 325F. Cook for a further 15-20 minutes per pound, but you should really invest in a meat thermometer to get the joint just how you like it.

Floyd says you should baste the joint regularly; I can’t be bothered.

Remove the joint from the oven when cooked, cover with foil and keep warm. Increase the oven’s temperature to finish your roast potatoes and cook your Yorkshire pudding(s).

It took less than 24 hours for my bubble to be burst

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Last night I wrote the second of my ‘Essentials’ blogs. Today, I find no less than Marco Pierre White puts me right:

When cooking I don’t always season with salt, especially when it comes to meat. Instead, I like to season using chicken stock cubes (Knorr is my preference). I add a pinch or two when cooking all meat sauces and gravies and also when making vegetable soups. Firstly, this is more forgiving than salt and, secondly, when finishing sauces you don’t have to reduce them so much to reach their desired flavour…

Marco Pierre White in Hell’s Kitchen, page 11.

Essentials No 2 – Marigold Vegetable Bouillon

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Along with Dry White Vermouth and Ruby Port, my other essential standby for sauces and gravies is Marigold Vegetable Bouillon. Added as vegetable stock (made with hot water) or as a pinch or two stirred into lower volumes, it somehow brings flavours together.

Aside from its inherent saltiness, there’s little to criticise. Nothing unpleasant like most stock cubes, and because it’s vegetable in origin, it works happily with meat and fish dishes, too.

There are two types available, an Organic variation as well as the ordinary one. Strangely enough, the two recipes are very different. My choice? Difficult one this. I’m always going backwards and forwards – FWIW, I have the Organic one in my cupboard at the moment.

Last night’s menu

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Last night I served a five-course meal, just for fun. I’m not going to give you the recipes because I took them directly from books. I only publish recipes I’ve changed substantially.

So here goes:

Starters

    Griddled Aubergine with Mint
    Grilled Mushrooms with Mozzarella
    Steamed Purple Sprouting Broccoli and Green Beans with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Lemon Juice (all from Jamie’s Italy)

Pasta course

    Gnocchi di Ricotta e Salsa di Gorgonzola (from Complete Italian Cookery Course by Ursula Ferrigno)

Main Course

    Manzo Brasato in Barolo – Beef Braised in Barolo (from Complete Italian Cookery Course by Ursula Ferrigno)
    Stoved Salsify (from The Crank’s Vegetarian Bible by Nadine Abensur)
    Fried Courgettes with Lemon and Anchovies (from Jamie’s Italy)

Cheese Course

    Dolcellate
    Gorgonzola
    Provelone
    Manchego
    Country-style Bread (from Waitrose)

Dessert

    Pavlova with Strawberries and Raspberries (made by my wife, Sam, from Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course)

Essentials 1 – vermouth and port

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So many recipes call for red or white wine, but opening a whole bottle for a gravy or sauce is madness as you may not want to finish the rest of the bottle.

Since I cooked a Jamie Oliver recipe for baked fennel that suggested dry white vermouth as an alternative to white wine, I’ve kept a bottle for when I need only a small amount of white wine. It’s a great alternative that works in just about any recipe that doesn’t rely on the wine as the primary flavour.

I also keep a bottle of ruby port open for adding to gravies, sauces and casseroles. It’s not as direct a substitute for red wine as vermouth is for white wine – it’s sweet, so has a very different basic character – but think of how many times the word ‘port’ has got your mouth watering on a restaurant menu.

Port is bubbling away in a casserole as I write this.

Not only are vermouth and port longer-lived than wine, they’re also very much cheaper, so I feel much more like adding them to everyday cooking. Everybody wins!

It’s winter, says the veg box

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Our vegetable box really reflects the seasons. This week, the preponderance of root vegetables – celeriac, swede, sweet potatoes and large maincrop carrots – plus a cauliflower, tells me it’s winter.

I love this seasonal thing. It’s constantly prodding me to rethink what I’m cooking, rather than letting me settle gently into a rut.

We enjoyed fantastic Spanish food over Christmas

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First, I need to declare my interest in the supplier of the Spanish food we bought for over Christmas. Delicioso is a client of ours at Web Positioning Centre.

Having been working on their online marketing during the run-up to Christmas I’ve spent a lot of time looking at the products, and just had to buy some.

The biggest hits were the Mixed Charcuterie and the Chorizo Primera. Just brilliant – as good as anything I’ve had in this country, in fact.

We’re still making our way through the Manchego cheese and the hand-made Red-legged Partridge Paté – both really good.

Finally, the 50-Year-old Sherry Vinegar is worth every penny for someone as fussy about vinegar as me. For my money, a good Sherry Vinegar is up there with all but the silliest priced Balsamics.

If you’re after great Spanish food and ingredients, take a look at the Delicioso site. We’ve been delighted with what we’ve sampled so far.

Using up Christmas duck

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Maybe a couple of days too late for most people – and maybe not strictly a recipe – but what the heck, I’ve had my waistline to see to! :-)

Shred your leftover duck like they do with crispy duck in Chinese restaurants. Grab the most interesting rolls you can find, and pop them into the oven to warm/crisp.

Split the rolls, spread with hoisin sauce, load with shredded duck and top with watercress.

Delicious!