Scotch Eggs by Maureen Plotts Horvath

The picnics I remember were the one’s my mother put together for eating on the side of the road on our trips to the Transkei, South Africa back in the sixties. It was close to an 8 hour trip and we would stop around noon for cold chicken, “Perks” steak pies, pasta salad and Scotch eggs washed down with home made lemonade. The Scotch eggs were my favorite….

As many hard boiled eggs as there are people. Wrap each egg in home made sausage meat, then roll in breadcrumbs and fry in about 1/2 inch of vegetable or olive oil until golden brown all over and sausage meat cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Split in half to serve at room temperature, with salt & pepper and HP sauce for dipping.

 

MAUREEN’S ROLLED CARPACCIO WITH CAPERS ON A BED OF SHAVED PARMIGIANO REGGIANO

125 g Filet steak semi-frozen and sliced thinly in strips
90 g Parmigiano Regiano shaved in curls
1/3 jar of large capers
Zest & juice of 1 Meyer lemon
Leaves from sprig of fresh Thyme
2 tblsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Lay the sliced steak on a cutting board, and brush with 1 tblsp of extra virgin olive oil. Take one slice at a time, lay down one large caper and roll into a ball. Repeat with all the meat slices. Place the rolled balls in a bowl and pour over the lemon juice and the zest. Cover and allow to marinate for 15 minutes.

Arrange the shaved PR on a platter, then the rolled Carpaccio, garnish with more capers and Thyme leaves. Drizzle the remaining extra virgin olive oil over the Carpaccio.

Rabbit Stew by Sarah Topps

Right here is my entry for ‘tomato’ week. It isn’t the main ingredient but is certainly a big contribution to this delicious rich stew.

Rabbit can often be dry and boring but locally, it is stewed with herbs and tomatoes until the meat nearly falls off the bones. It makes a delicious, tender dish that reminds us of the woods and mountains.

1 rabbit cut into portions
8 fresh tomatoes
3 finely diced onions
2 celery sticks
3 carrots finely diced
4 rashers bacon or 1 packet panchetta
4 bay leaves
15 juniper berries
4 colves of garlic sliced
1 large stick of cinammon
3 sprigs of rosemary
3 sprigs of marjaram or thyme
1/2 bottle of good red wine
25g butter

1. Gently fry the finely diced bacon with the butter for about 3-5 minutes or until soft.
2. Lay the rabbit pieces in the pot so that each piece of meat will sit on the pot bottom. If they don’t fit, do this in as many batches as it takes then sauté over high heat. You want to create new flavors through the browning of the meat. If the pot is not hot enough, or you put too much meat or there is too much meat and it gives off its juices, then no browning will occur and all you will have achieved is drying out the meat.
3. Season the rabbit then place it in a covered dish.
4. Now add the cinnamon and juniper berries to the bacon then the onion, carrot and celery. Fry over medium-high heat, moving constantly.
5. If you have the rabbit liver, chop it and add to the pan and let it colour. It will turn from red to grey.
6. When the liver has turned in colour, add the wine and let it bubble, cooking out all the alcohol.
7. Add the can or fresh tomatoes.
8. Now add the herbs, possibly tied in a buch to make it easier to remove later. Place the rabbit dive in and join his garnish. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the flame to obtain a very gentle simmering.
9. Let it cook for at least one hour or as long as it takes for the rabbit to be really soft and almost starts to fall off the bone.
10. Now you can either leave the sauce as it is, puree for a smoother effect or add a knob of butter and reduce slightly for a glossy finish. Whatever you do, it certainly will be full of flavour and very delicious. Enjoy!

Spicy Orange Beef Filet by Amber

Adapted from Ching-He Huang’s Chinese Food Made Easy.

 

250 grams of beef filet
Peanut Oil
Fresh White Mushrooms
2-5 Green Onions
3 oranges

Marinate
Juice from TWO oranges
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
2 tablespoons of Vodka
1-2 tablespoons of honey or brown sugar (TO TASTE!! Depends on our sweet or sour your oranges are.)
1 clove of garlic, minced.
1/2 tsp of black pepper
1/2 red pepper flakes

Garnish: Cilantro leaves

Make marinade, add beef filets and set aside. Slice green onion and mushrooms long ways. Lightly oil and fry until softened. Remove and set aside. Slice orange and grill slices just to get a little color. set aside. When meat is marinated (at least 30 minutes) remove from marinate and dry slightly. Lightly coat with flour. (optional) Heat pan til very hot. Fry meat til it has reached your desired temperature and remove. add marinade to pan and reduce until slightly thick. Coat cooked beef with thickened sauce, but watch out to over cook. Compose dish with all the ingredients.

Serve with rice or a nice green salad. We did not since we also had a pasta dish.

Sino-Indian Sweet and Salty Pork Chops by Mary Leonardi-Cattolica Sansen

for when you can’t decide if you want Indian or Chinese

adapted from At Home With Madhur Jaffrey

 

For the rub:
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 Tbsp. whole coriander
2 tsp whole cumin
1 2″ cinnamon stick
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

For the meat
2 lbs thin pork chops (I used braciole)
1 med. onion, chopped
1 tsp finely grated fresh ginger
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
4 Tbsp peanut or olive oil.
1 cup of water

Grind all of the ingredients for the rub, until fine. Sprinkle over both sides of the pork chops and refrigerate for 6 to 24 hours.

Tacle Mandarin Stir Fried Beef and with Snow Peas by Mary Leonardi-Cattolica Sansen

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated Cookbook:2,000 recipes From 20 Years of America’s Most Trusted Food Magazine

 

Sauce

3/4 cup Tacle Mandarin juice (5-6 mandarins)
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp light brown sugar
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tsp cornstarch

Combine ingredients and set aside.

Beef Stir-fry

2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tsp light brown sugar
12 oz flank steak sliced thin on the diagonal
3 Tbsp minced garlic
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 Tbsp black bean sauce
1 tsp mandarin zest
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp peanut oil
1 large onion, halved and sliced lengthwise into 1/2″ strips
10 oz snow peas with stems and strings removed

Combine the soy sauce and sugar in a medium bowl, add the beef and mix well. Allow to marinate for 30-60 minutes.

Combine garlic, ginger bean sauce, mandarin juice pepper flakes and 1 tsp of the oil and set aside. Meanwhile heat 1 tsp of the remaining oil over medium high heat, add half the beef, leave undisturbed for 1 minute, then stir-fry until evenly browned on all sides. Remove to another bowl. Repeat with remaining beef. Put remaining tablespoon of oil in the pan and add the onion, stir frying until slightly softened 3-5 minutes. Add snow peas and stir-fry for 1 minute more. Add the water and continue to cook the vegetables until crisp-tender. Move the vegetables to the edges of the pan and add the garlic, ginger, bean sauce, zest and pepper flake mixture. Smash into the pan and let cook until fragrant, about 20 seconds. Add the beef and any juices and mix thoroughly with vegetables. Cook together for another minute.

Whisk the mandarin juice sauce to recombine, add to the beef mixture combining thoroughly and cook for another minute.

Serve immediately with white rice.

Follow with Tacle Mandarin Olive Oil Cake and Candied Tacle Mandarins.

beef straccetti with asparagus and spring onions

Reblogged from madonna del piatto:

• 

Umbria Agricultural Fair: majestic Chianina bull, an ancient breed from Central Italy wheighing up to 1700 kg/ 3700 lb and up to 1.8 m / 6 feet tall

STRACCETTI DI MANZO CON ASPARAGI.

Spring, spring, spring! Quick, quick, quick! Who wants to be inside with this beautiful weather? Who wants a complicated dinner when there’s lavender to prune, petunias to plant, dry leaves to sweep and finally forget?

Read more… 327 more words

A great recipe for Asparagus and beef. A must try.

BROILED SPICY STEAK WITH GARLIC CHIPS ON GORGONZOLA CROSTINI

From Food52.com

A&M’s Testing Notes: This recipe is chock-full of flavor, not to mention some great new techniques. We don’t know about you, but we both find compound butter lots of fun to make and this version, which incorporates.. Read more and for the recipe..

 

Cheat’s French Cassoulet – Crock Pot or Le Creuset

From Food.com

Cheat’s French Cassoulet – Crock Pot or Le Creuset

French Tart‘s Note:This great Cheat’s recipe has all the elements of a traditional French Cassoulet – assorted meats, beans, carrots, tomatoes, wine & …

To  read more and the recipe….

Rosalba’s Roast Pork with Herbs Lemon Zest and Mustard

Roast Pork with Herbs Lemon Zest and Mustard (sorry no photo – yet), but trust me, it is so delicious!

Loin of Pork (skin intact and no smaller than 2 kg if you want excellent crackling)
Oil
Salt
Warm water for topping up

For the stuffing:

English Mustard
Lemon Peel – chopped
Garlic – chopped
Bunch of mixed herbs: Thyme, Rosemary, Sage – chopped
Freshly ground salt and pepper

Score through the rind (I use a stanley knife) at even intervals
With a sharp knife separate about 2/3 of the rind from the meat, in order to create a pocket for the herb stuffing
Rub the newly exposed meat area with English Mustard
Mix together Lemon peel, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper and place under rind and over mustard
Tie rind over meat well to hold as much of the stuffing in place
Rub the whole joint with oil, and then with salt, especially over rind. This will produce a lovely crackling

Preheat oven to to 220 C / 425 F

Place Joint on a roasting rack in the centre of the oven

Pour some water on the tray (this helps to both keep the pork moist and people from being smoked out of the kitchen). Keep topping up every time it dries up (it will get very smoky if this isn’t done)

Cook the pork for 25 minutes x each 500 grams + 20 minutes at the end (I tend to skip the last 20 minutes in order to retain moisture…especially if I cook a very large joint, because it continues cooking when I let it rest in the warm oven)
After the initial 30 minutes turn temperature down to 180 C / 350 F. The initial high temperature helps kick off the crackling. The temps given are for a convection oven.

Once cooked, allow to cool down a little. I place it back in the oven with the door open. I personally love the stuffing, so once sliced, I spread the stuffing over the meat.

Enjoy!