Entrecôte steak

Sunday, 8th May

It has been some time since I managed to cook a steak properly, but tonight was the night. A perfect juicy, flavourful medium entrecôte. The trick being to quickly sear it then finish it in a hot oven, but only for a 3 minutes or so. Even the red wine and onion sauce that deglazed the pan was good, although a touch more liquid would have been welcome. And pretty damn good saute potatoes as well. Yum yum.

Steak and Kidney Pie

Saturday, 7th May

A classic and something I haven't had for far too long. I love kidney, so I make it half and half with the steak. The gravy has onions, some red wine and stock with a dash of Worcester sauce. No vegetables needed. I only made a small pie and this was half of it. Naturally I ate the other half as well. Bliss on a plate.

Buta no Kakuni

Sunday, 1st May

Japanese Braised Pork, Traditional Japanese Recipe Book p94.
Another recipe I have made several attempts at but have yet to get right. The pork should cook slowly for a long time and come out juicy and very tender.  Mine cooks slowly for a long time and comes out tough and dry. The sauce tasted good although, again, it was much too dark.
As a side vegetable I sliced yellow courgette and stir fried it in sunflower oil with a dash of sesame oil and finished with a little ponzu shoyu (a citrus and soy sauce) and toasted sesame seeds (too many).

Veal Escalope with Boccatini

Friday, 29th April

Another attempt at veal escalope, which worked much better. Flattened the veal and dusted it with flour, then gently pan fried it in butter with sage, for about 2 minutes each side. Added some lemon juice after turning the escalopes. Sauce for the pasta is very simply gently sauteed onions and garlic, with diced tomato and chopped basil added shortly before serving.
The tomato sauce was very good, but the pasta needed more of a coating, so we poured on extra olive oil at the table. The meat came out pretty well, although still not as tender as I would like. Veal with lemon and sage is a great combination.
A very nice caprese salad as a starter and a good bottle of Prosecco, made for a delicious meal.

Chicken and Shitake on rice

Wednesday, 27th April

This should be Oyakodon (Chicken and Egg Rice - literally "parent and child rice bowl"), but I didn't have any eggs, and I don't really like egg anyway. So I improvised with mushroom, but used the basic recipe from Traditional Japanese Recipe Book, p22. Gently sautee onion, add chicken that had been previously quickly blanched in boiling water, add stock, mirin, and soy. Cook through, add shitake and cook for a couple of minutes, top with sliced spring onion and serve over rice. I wonder if the Japanese use a much paler sort of soy sauce than we get here, because my sauces always turn out much darker than the ones shown in the pictures with the recipes.
Anyway this was very good and the chicken and mushroom combination was excellent.

Lamb braised in White Wine

Friday, 22nd April (evening)

Done in the slow cooker while I was out. Braised the lamb in white wine with bacon, onions, garlic and rosemary. Served with sauteed potatoes.
The lamb came out wonderfully tender, but still with a nice meaty texture and flavour. The slow cooking helped the sweetness of the onions to come through, and cooked them perfectly without reducing them to mush. A hearty Turkey Flats Shiraz washed it down well.

Rhubarb Crumble

Friday, 22nd April (morning)

I put a rhubarb plant in a pot on the balcony last year and this year is seems to be doing very well. A nice little crop already, just enough for an individual crumble. Yummy!