Week 16 - Lamb (Beef) Rogan Josh

After having such a successful first curry from Jamie I was keen to try another. Once again I used the mortar and pestle as I love the ritual but really the food processor would work just as well. So if you are put off due to the number of ingredients and the time it would take.. don't be afraid!

This was a weekday meal for me and as such only had some gravy beef in the fridge. This worked just as well although next time may need to look for some lamb neck.. sounds delish. I also did not have a jar of roasted capsicum so I roasted my own! Personally I love it way better freshly roasted so I suggest you try it.

Book: Ministry of Food

Recipe: Lamb Rogan Josh

Ingredients: 

Serves 4-6

For the Curry Paste

2 cloves garlic

1 thumb-sized piece fresh root ginger

75 g jarred roasted peppers

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

2 teaspoons garam masala

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons groundnut oil

2 tablespoons tomato puree

1 fresh red chilli

1 small bunch fresh coriander

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

2 teaspoons coriander seeds

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

For the Curry

800g trimmed lamb neck (or beef)
2 medium onions
1 fresh red chilli
a thumb-sized piece of fresh root ginger
a small bunch of fresh coriander
groundnut or vegetable oil
a knob of butter
4 bay leaves
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
optional 800ml chicken stock
½ jar of rogan josh curry paste or the recipe above
2 handfuls of red lentils
200g natural yoghurt 

Method: 

For the Curry Paste

First peel the garlic and ginger. Put a frying pan on a medium to high heat and add the spices for toasting to the dry pan. Lightly toast them for a few minutes until golden brown and smelling delicious, then remove the pan from the heat.

Add the toasted spices to a pestle and mortar and grind until fine, or put them into a food processor and whiz to a powder. Either way, when you've ground them whiz the toasted spices in a food processor with the rest of the ingredients until you have a smooth paste.

For the Curry


Cut the meat into 2.5cm cubes. Peel, halve and finely chop your onions. Finely slice the chilli. Peel and finely chop the ginger. Pick the coriander leaves from half the bunch and put to one side for sprinkling over. Chop the remaining coriander including the stalks.

Put a large casserole-type pan on a medium to high heat and add a couple of lugs of oil and the butter. Add the onions, chilli, ginger, coriander stalks and bay leaves and cook for 10 minutes, until the onions are softened and golden. Add the lamb pieces and a little salt and pepper and cook until lightly browned. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook for 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes, stock or water and curry paste. Stir in the lentils. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down an simmer with the lid on for about an hour. Check the curry regularly to make sure its not sticking to the pan or drying out, and add extra water if necessary. When the meat is tender and cooked, taste and add more salt and pepper only if you think it needs it.

Serve with rice Vindaloo Beef Curry and Fail Safe Rice, some poppadums and with a few spoonfuls of yoghurt dolloped on top. Sprinkle over the coriander leaves and serve with some lemon wedges for squeezing over. Don't forget a little green salad.

Changes Made: I used beef for this one rather than lamb and missed the part about the lentils so unfortunately opted these out.

Results: Once again another lovely curry. Not as hot but still jam packed with flavour and easy to make.

Next Time: I would give the lentils a go as I think they would be great with everything else. Also lamb neck sounds delicious so would look out for that also.

Week 15 - Gnocchi with Braised Oxtail

This week's meal was so exciting to make and eat! A few months ago a friend brought into work some oxtail stew for lunch and I was intrigued! I enjoy using different cuts of meat and usually the scraps such as these can be oh so tasty! This was a recipe that was developed at one of Jamie's Fifteen restaurants and it is definitely worth the wait! Like most stews it's really little effort just the time it takes working the magic.

I have also been wanting to try some pasta or gnocchi for a while and was amazed at how good it turned out. In this case I did not have a ricer so grated my potatoes instead (after a little research) and this worked quite well with very few lumps. I think next time I will aim to buy a ricer for that smoother mouth feel.

The oxtail is the hero of the dish with a rich flavoursome stew and the gnocchi gives it a variance in texture which was a delight to eat, 10/10 all round!

Book: Jamie at Home

Recipe: Gnocchi with Braised Oxtail

Ingredients: 

Serves 6

For the Gnocchi

6 medium potatoes
olive oil
½ a nutmeg, grated
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large free range egg yolk
1-2 handfulls of plain or 00 flour
semolina flour

For the Braised Oxtail

olive oil
1 oxtail, cur into 10cm/4 inch chunks
1 stick celery. finely chopped
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 leek, trimmed and finely chopped
½ a bottle of white wine
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, crushed
1 tablespoon juniper berries, crushed
½ a cinnamon stick
1 dried red chilli, crushed
sea salt and black pepper
1 large tablespoon tomato puree
4 x 400g tins plum tomatoes
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
a handful of fresh sage leaves
a knob of butter
optional: parmesan cheese

Method: 

Gnocchi

Preheat oven to 220°c. Rub potatoes with olive oil, prick them with a fork and lay them in a roasting tray. Put in the preheated oven and bake for an our until the potatoes are fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Allow them to cool slightly then when they are still nice and hot, use a tea towel to pick up your potatoes one at a time, cut them in half and carefully scoop the flesh out of the skins into a mouli or ricer. When you have a lovely and smooth mashed potto put it into a bowl. Add the nutmeg, a tablespoon of salt, a pinch of pepper, the egg yolk and enough of the flour to bind your mixture - you may not need much at all (I needed a lot). Mix together and kneed with your hands until you have a dry doughy consistency. Add a little water or flour if needed. If unsure test one by chucking it in some boiling water - if it falls apart, add a but more flour to the dough.

Once you have your gnocchi dough, divide it into 3 pieces and roll each piece out on a floured surface into long tubes the thickness of a sausage, cut each of the tubes into 2.5cm/1 inch pieces. Place them on a bed of semolina flour on a tray and put in the fridge for at least 10-20 minutes to set.

Oxtail

Once the gnocchi is in the fridge reduce the heat to 150°c . Get a large ovenproof saucepan hot and add a splash of olive oil. Sear the oxtail until brown on all sides, then add the celery, onion, carrot and leek. Cook gently until golden brown and add the wine an your crushed spices, cinnamon, chilli, tomato puree and the tins of tomatoes. Top up with a little water - you just need enough to cover the meat - and put a lid on. Put the pan in the oven for 4 to 4½ hours, until the meat is falling off the bone. Remove from the oven and lift the meat out of the stew. 

When cool enough to handle, shred all the meat off the bones. Pick through the meat with your fingers to make sure that no bony bits remain, then put the meat back in the pot. Add the oregano, simmer for 15 minutes and season to taste. Meanwhile, put a pan of salted water on to boil and cook your gnocchi for 4 minutes, or until they float. While your gnocchi are cooking, fry the sage leaves in the butter until crispy and dark green, then drain them on kitchen paper. Carefully drain your gnocchi, toss in the oxtail stew with some fried sage leaves and serve with some freshly shaved parmesan if you like. 

Changes Made: Grating my potato rather than using a ricer. 

Results: Absolutely amazing.. put down the computer and start to cook!

Next Time: May try to invest in a ricer as they are cheap these days and would have made life much easier.

Week 14 - Burgers and Sliders

Well I had a craving for burgers that cheap take away was just not going to cut it.  After realising I had no mince in the freezer I decided to give a go at grinding my own in my Jamie Oliver food processor. I actually cannot believe how easy it was and how delicious it was using better quality meat in my burgers.

These turned out great and are an easy midweek meal to try.

Freshly ground meat

Caramelising the onion

Only the best mayo!

Extras

Book: http://www.jamieoliver.com

Recipe: Burgers and Sliders

Ingredients: 

Serves 4

For the burger mix

olive oil
2 medium red onions, peeled and finely chopped
6 Jacob's crackers, or 4 slices of bread, crusts removed
500 g quality lean minced beef
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 heaped teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large free-range egg
1 handful Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

For the spicy mayo

2 teaspoons low-fat mayonnaise, made with free-range eggs
2 teaspoons fat-free natural yoghurt
1 teaspoon tomato ketchup
1 good pinch smoked paprika or cayenne pepper
juice of ½ lemon

To serve

6 rashers higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon
6 large burger buns, or 18 small burger buns
1 soft round lettuce, leaves washed and spun dry
4 tomatoes, sliced
6 gherkins, sliced
a few pickled chillies

Method: 

You can make these burgers or sliders in an oven at full whack, on the barbecue or in a hot pan. If you're using the oven or barbecue, preheat it now.

Put a splash of olive oil into a large frying pan on a low heat and add your chopped onions. Fry for 10 minutes or until the onions have softened, then put to one side to cool completely. Blitz your crackers or bread in a food processor until you get a fine consistency. Oil a clean baking tray and put aside. Put the cooled onions into a large bowl with the rest of the burger ingredients. Use clean hands to scrunch the mixture together really well, then divide into 6 equal balls for burgers and 18 equal balls for sliders.

Wet your hands and roll the balls into burger-shaped patties about 2cm thick. Place your burgers or sliders on the oiled baking tray and pat with a little olive oil. Cover them with cling film and put the tray into the fridge for at least an hour, or until the patties firm up. This is a good time to make your spicy mayo, so put all the ingredients into a bowl, mix well and put to one side.

If using a frying pan or griddle pan, put it on a high heat now and let it get really hot. However you decide to cook your burgers, they'll want around 3 or 4 minutes per side – you may have to cook them in batches if your pan isn't big enough. When your burgers or sliders are nearly cooked on one side, add the rashers of bacon – whichever way you're cooking them – then flip the burgers and cook the bacon until golden and crisp. When the burgers are cooked to your liking and it's all looking really good, halve your burger buns and warm them through. Put the bacon on a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain.

When everything comes together pop your burgers or sliders on to their buns, add all your lovely toppings and your spicy mayo (you know how to put a burger together!), then tuck in with a lovely fresh salad, baked potato or potato wedges.

Changes Made: I decided to caramelise my onions - I used brown onions and popped them on the stove top for around 40minutes to reduce. I also ran out of mince so just made my own in the food processor. 

Results: Yum! They were just what I felt like, and mincing my own steak made these extra special. I also loved the kick that they cayenne pepper gave to the mayo.

Next Time: If mincing steak make sure that it is a bit fattier as this one was pretty lean and dried out a little. 

Week 11 - Mighty Meaty Stifado

The weather in Adelaide turned chilly for a few days so I was in search for something that would warm me up from the inside. I love cooking things in the slow cooker but have not tried many on the stove top.

This recipe was full of things I would never have thought to put into a stew like cloves and all spice. It smelt amazing when marinating the meat and the finished product was so rich and refined. It definitely warmed me from the inside out and left me with the warm and fuzzy's.

I love the fact that any meat will do, as it cooks for so long you can go budget!

Add the onions

Reducing it down 

Finished product!

Book: Jamie Does...

Recipe: Mighty Meaty Stifado

Ingredients: 

Serves 6

Marinade

1½ teaspoons allspice berries or whole pimento
6 cloves
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
3 fresh bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon dried oregano
125ml dry Greek red wine
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Stifado

600g stewing beef, trimmed and cut into 4cm pieces
600g trimmed pork shoulder, cut into 4cm pieces
olive oil
3 red onions, peeled and quartered
1 tablespoon raisins, roughly chopped
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato puree
juice of ½ a lemon
a bunch of flat-leaf parsley

Method: 

Marinade

Bash the allspice berries, cloves and a pinch of salt in a pestle and mortar. Add the peeled garlic and keep bashing until your have a paste. Tip it into a bowl, tear in the by leaves and add the rest of the marinade ingredients. Toss in the meat until well coated, then cover with glad wrap and put into the fridge for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

Stifado

When ready to start cooking, heat a few lugs of olive oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Add the peeled onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until softened and golden. Add the meat and its marinade, then the raisins, tomatoes and puree, and pour in just enough water to cover everything. Season well and bring everything to the boil, then reduce to a low heat, put the lid on and leave to summer for 1½ hours. Take the lid off and cook for a further 45minutes or until the meat is really tender and beginning to fall apart and the sauce is thick and delicious. Keep an eye on it and add a splash of water if it looks a bit dry. Have a taste and add the lemon juice and more seasoning if necessary. Finely chop the parsley leaves and sprinkle them all over, then finish with a drizzle of good extra virgin oil. 

This can be served with pilaf rice or mashed potato with hot crusty bread.

Changes Made: Nothing!

Results: This was one fantastic and very different stew.. cook it now!

Next Time: Nothing :)

Week 10 - Vindaloo Beef Curry

After coming home from Thailand I was keen to try my new skills from a Thai cooking class. One thing that I learnt was just how easy curry paste is to make and how different it tastes when done fresh. Gone are the days of store bought paste! This was a great, easy recipe that really anyone could do. It came out amazing and was a big hit in the house.

The rice is a recipe/method I use every time to make rice, it's really simple and always turns out perfect. Try adding things like chicken stock and cloves for an enhanced flavour!

You can make this curry with a jar of paste if time short, but I really recommend that you give the paste a go, you wont be sorry.

Grinding those spices

Curry paste!

Coating the beef with paste

Finished produce

Book: Minstry of Food

Recipe: Vindaloo Paste, Curry and Fail Safe Rice

Ingredients: 

Serves 4-6

Paste

1 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 cloves
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (or curry powder)
2 cloves garlic
a thumb size of fresh ginger
4 dried chillies
1 tablespoon tumeric
½ teaspoon sea salt
3 tablespoons groundnut (peanut) oil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 fresh red chillies
a small bunch fresh coriander

Curry

2 medium onions
4 cloves garlic
1-2 fresh chillies, to your taste
a thumb size of fresh ginger
a small bunch fresh coriander
4 ripe tomatoes
groundnut oil
a knob of butter
800g diced pork shoulder (or any meat)
½ a 283g jar of vindaloo curry paste or curry paste above
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon runny honey
200g natural yoghurt
1 lemon

Method: 

Paste

Peel the garlic and ginger. Put a frying pan on a medium to high heat and add the peppercorns, garlic, coriander seeds, fennel seeds and fenugreek seeds to a dry pan. Lightly toast them for a few minutes until golden brown and smelling delicious then remove pan from the heat. Add toasted spices to a pestle and mortar and grind until fine (you could use a food processor also). Add the rest of the ingredients and grind until you have a smooth paste.

Curry

Peel, halve and finely slice your onions. Peel and finely slice the chilli. Peel and finely slice the ginger. Pick the coriander leaves and finely chop the stalks. Cut the tomatoes into quarters.

Get a large casserole-type pan on a medium to high hear and add a couple of lugs of groundnut oil and the butter. Add onions, garlic, chilli, ginger and coriander stalks and cook for 10 minutes, until softened and golden. Add the pork and curry paste, stir well to coat everything with the paste and season with salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes, balsamic, honey and about 400g of water, enough to cover everything and stir again. Bring to the boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 45 minutes with the lid on. Check the curry regularly to make sure it's not sticking to the pan and add extra water if necessary. Only when the meat is tender and cooked, taste and season with salt and pepper - season carefully.

Rice

Put a large pan of salted water on a high heat and bring to a boil. Rinse rice in a colander under running water for 1 minute or until the water runs clear. Add rice to boiling water  and wait for the grains to start dancing around. From that point, boil for 5 minutes. Drain rice and pour 2.5cm of water back into the pan. Cover the rice in the colander with foil or a lid and place on top of the simmering water and let the rice steam over it for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover until ready to serve. It should stay warm for 20 minutes.

Serve the curry with rice, natural yoghurt, coriander leaves and lemon wedges.

Changes Made: I did not have any fenugreek or curry powder so omitted this ingredient. I also used beef rather than pork.

Results: Oh my goodness! This was flavour central, I had thought that the paste was a little wet, but turned out so good. I loved the yoghurt and lemon and for someone who does not really like coriander it really balanced out the whole dish.

Next Time: Nothing! Success!

Week 2 - Cajun Steak

This week's recipe was picked by my lovely OH (Other Half) who naturally, like many men out there love's his meat! I just knew flicking through my Jamie books that this was one he would go for pretty quickly and low and behold it's week 2!

Baked beans are one of those things that sit in your cupboard for months or even years and while we don't mind eating they are just a little... boring. I love the idea of taking this family staple and turning it into something special and cannot wait to see how it turns out. 

This will also be my first 15 minute meal since buying the book so I am really interested in how long it takes to cook and will be timing myself.

Note: due to oncoming headache this weeks photo's are not so good.. my bad!

mmm.. Beans

Fresh from the oven all cheesy and gooey

Seasoned sirloin

Frying off the steak

The finished dish

Book: Jamie's 15 Minute Meals

Recipe: Cajun Steak with Smoky Baked Beans & Collard Greens


Ingredients: 

Serves 4

Greens
2 rashers pancetta
olive oil
1 big bunch of mixed fresh herbs, such as bay, thyme and rosemary
1 carrot
4 spring onion
½ bunch of radishes
1 chicken stock cube

Beans
2 x 400g tins of mixed beans
350g passata
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco
2 tablespoon Tomato sauce
2 tablespoon HP sauce
1 teaspoon runny honey
1 heaped teaspoon english mustard
40g cheddar cheese

Steak
2 x 250g sirloin steaks, fat removed
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 tsp dried thyme

Chilli Vinegar
1 fresh chilli
1 bottle white wine vinegar


Method:

Before you start it is recommended (in order to complete in 15 minutes) that the ingredients are out, kettle boiled, oven at full whack 240°C, large lidded pan at medium-hgh heat, medium ovenproof fry pan medium heat, large fry pan high heat.

Start the pancetta, out it into the lidded pan with 1 tablespoon of oil, then pick in the herb leaves. Trim, finely slice and add the carrot, spring onions and radishes, stirring regularly. Drain and rinse the bans and put into the medium frying pan with 2 tablespoons of oil to fry and crisp up. 

Slice the kale (if needed) and add to the lidded pan, crumble in the stock cube and pour over 300ml of boiling water, then put the lid on. Stir the remaining bean ingredients (except the cheese) into the beans pan and bring to the boil. Grate over cheddar then place into the oven until golden and sizzling. 

Rub the steaks with salt, pepper, paprika and thyme. Put them into the really hot large fry pan with 1 tablespoon of oil, turning every minute until cooked to your liking. Slice the chilli and add to the bottle of vinegar with a couple of bay leaves then add a drizzle to the greens before serving. Carve the steaks on a board at the table and serve with the beans, greens and a splurge of mustard. 

Changes Made: Could not find kale, not even sure if we can get it here is Australia and after some research found pak choy to be an adequate substitute, not really in the cajun theme but oh well! Also BBQ sauce in place of HP.

Results: Delish! This dish worked really well and just goes to show how good baked beans can be! The collard greens ended up a bit soupy but the flavour was really good. 

Unfortunately a head ache made me forget to time myself but I think it would have been close to 25min. Jamie recommended to have all ingredients out and ready to go, which I did not, and wanted you to have 3 separate pans on the go to begin with which I don't even own. Overall I think this is a totally doable weeknight dinner and one the men will love. 

Next Time: Use mustard, not hot english mustard as my baked beans had quite a kick! Also less water for the greens. Not much to change on a simply good meal.