Gyuudon

Thursday, 21st June 2012

In celebration of the longest day, I decided to have another crack at Gyuudon (beef bowl) this time following the Cooking with Dog recipe as closely as I could.
Didn't manage to get the beef thin enough of course, but it was a nice quality piece of meat, to it came out flavoursome and tender.
The white in my egg was maybe a little softer than it should have been but the waterfall effect across the beef looks cool!
I'm not usually a fan of eggs, but the flavours here combined really well. And I did manage to get a good balance of sweet and spicy. Very tasty indeed!

Gyuudon

Tuesday 22.03.2011

Gyuudon (Beef Bowl) is a nice simple and tasty Japanese dish. How to Make Gyudon. I left out the egg from this recipe, partially because I don't usually like eggs but mostly because I didn't have any.  My beef was not nearly thin enough and came out a little chewy.  But, as the dog says, the secret is getting the balance of salty and sweet right, which I did manage, so the flavour was very good.

Beef Stew and Dumplings

Thursday, 10th February

Leg of Beef Stew with herb dumplings, done in the slow cooker.  Coat the leg slices in seasoned flour and fry until browed on both sides.  Remove the meat and add red wine to the pan, then stock and tomato puree.  Put the meat in the slow cooker with some whole shallots and cover with the liquid.  Cook on high for 6-7 hours, or longer on medium.  Make dumpling dough with 1/3 suet and 2/3 flour and add herbs and baking powder.  Divide into small balls. Put some diced veggies and small potatoes into the pot and then the dumplings, making sure they go half way down into the liquid but aren't squished.  Cook for another hour or more.
My dumplings were lovely and fluffy but I was a bit generous with the suet so a little too fatty. The meat could have done with another hour even but was still very tasty. A richer sauce (beer?) would have been better.

Goulash

Sunday, 9th January

Goulash - The Cookery Year p246.  Brown onions and floured stewing steak.  Add a glass of red wine and let it bubble away, then add enough stock to cover the meat.  Blend chopped tomatos, tomato puree, paprika and a little sugar and add that to the pot.  Simmer for two hours.  Didn't have any sour cream so I had to miss that out. Although heretical, I also added some diced celery root and the beginning and thinly sliced red pepper at the end, for textural variation.  Really tasty, but I added too much stock so the sauce could have been thicker.  Most of the meat was nicely tender but one or two pieces were a bit tough. Not sure why that would be.