Goose Breast

Friday, 24th January 2014

None of this really worked. Even the photo is crap.
I tried the standard approach of quickly searing the meat and then finishing in the oven, but it didn't work. The skin was not nearly cooked enough and was inedible. The meat was mostly rather chewy although, like the curate's egg, OK in parts. The roast potatoes and and turnip didn't brown. The leek was OK, but putting cranberries from a jar in was a mistake as they were far too sweet. Might work with fresh cranberries, but those weren't available. Meh.

Beef Wellington

Sunday, 29th December 2013

We had our Christmas dinner together today, and I did Beef Wellington, which is something we had thought about for a long time. It turned out to be pretty straightforward and, barring the preparation, the cooking time was only about 40 minutes, so relatively quick to put together after the ceremony of the unwrapping of the gifts (which took quite a bit longer than 40 minutes!).
The beef was seasoned and seared quickly on both sides and allowed to cool. I also made mushroom duxelles - chop shallot, garlic and mushroom, fry in butter until the liquid is gone, then add a little wine and deglaze and again allow the liquid to boil away. These also need to be cooled. I made the pastry parcel with a slice of pate (pheasant in this case) duxelles and the beef. Seal the edges with beaten egg and glaze with more egg. Bake with the sealed edges underneath for about 20 minutes and allow to rest for a further 10 minutes.
I had two separate pieces of filet and was originally planning to do two individual Beef Wellingtons but, as one piece was quite a bit bigger than the other, I decided to put them both together in one pastry parcel. Good decision as the smaller piece of meat was much less good and a bit sinewy. We got to share the larger, good piece, which was beautifully lean and tender.
I improvised a sauce by reducing red wine and stock, with a spoonful of the mushroom duxelles, a chopped shallot and some tomato puree. The result was too tomatoey, so I added more stock, some port and reduced it again, and thickened it with a little cornflower. Came out pretty nicely, but could have been richer.
This was served with bratkartoffeln, buttered leeks and salsify (Schwarzwurzel) with lemon juice and nutmeg. Delicious.

Slow Braised Beef Shin

Sunday, 8th December 2013

Turn on the slow cooker with a little wine in it, to warm up. Season a slice of Beef Shin or Leg generously and then brown it for several minutes on both sides in a hot pan. Move it to the slow cooker, and add onion to the pan and brown it for a few minutes. Add a generous amount of red wine and deglaze the pan and then some stock, bay leaves and rosemary. Reduce by about a third and pour it all into to the slow cooker. Add some whole, unpeeled cloves of garlic. Cook on medium for several hours. Add some quartered mushrooms and whole button onions and cook for another hour.
On this occasion, I decided to serve the gravy as it was, but I should have removed some of it from the pot and thickened it.
I served this with mash, which was OK, and leeks, which I burnt and which were horrible. A wide pasta would probably have been better. Still the beef, mushrooms and onions were very good. The whole cloves of garlic do not overpower the dish when cooked this way, but are still pretty garlicky when you squeeze them out of their skins to eat.

Iberico Pork Cutlet with Leek & Roquefort Sauce

Friday, 12th July 2013

Based on this recipe but with pork cutlets instead of veal. Otherwise I stuck to the recipe pretty closely. The meat could have been pinker in the middle but was still tender and juicy, and the sauce was lovely and rich. The pasta we had was thicker than normal and, despite having cooked for longer than it should, was still a little firm and could have used even a minute or two more.

Chicken and peppers in rice.

Friday, 23rd November 2012

Brown the chicken and quickly fry the slice peppers then set aside. Fry the rice with onion and then add wine, stock and tomatoes, bring to the boil and return the chicken a peppers. Simmer until the liquid has mostly gone.
I server this with a salad of leeks, sliced red pepper and olives, and anchovy stuffed mushrooms. The salad was delicious and definitely the best part.