My weekends Boeuf Bourguignon

Well, this last weekend I made Boeuf Bourguignon. It turned very well, but. It could have been better. The Beaujolais Nouveau was not really up to the task; it needed a red wine with a lot more body. The beef I used, although it said it was chuck steak it didn’t have enough flavour. Maybe chuck steak here in the USA is not the same cut as chuck steak in the UK.

I should have used shin of beef, that is my preferred cut of beef when cooking a beef dish slowly. Rump or flank steak, I should think, would be fine.

They were minor self-criticisms; it turned out quite good, very good according to the friends who shared the dish with me.

I accompanied the dish with plain boiled potatoes, extra fresh cooked carrots and fresh gardens peas. It looked very classy but I forgot to take a photo to show it off.

For wine, I served an Argentinean Malbec, a wine I’m quite partial to.

For starter nibbles there were smoked oysters on crispy toast. For after dinner Roquefort and Camembert cheese with crusty French bread or crackers, also in season cherries.

Cooking and eating won’t be so much fun for me in the next few weeks. I have to fall back onto the South Beach diet plan of eating. I want, no need, to lose 20 pounds. I’d like to do before the winter months set in.

South Beach have some very good recipes and eating ideas, but. It’s the things I love I’ll have to miss out on.

Over the next few weeks I’ll include some of the recipes I use. For those of you like me, who need to shed a few pounds it might encourage you to try as well

Boeuf Bourguignon

The promised second recipe, using a whole bottle of wine.

It has been sometime since I cooked Boeuf Bourguignon, in fact a couple of years. It’s a bit fiddly staying with the recipe, having to prepare the dish in layers. I did manage to cook the dish in my “electric wok” and another time starting the cooking in the wok. Then transferring to my slow cooker to slowly cook away while I was out for the day. If you have a good electric wok you can cook dishes on a low heat setting very successfully.

I searched the Internet for Boeuf Bourguignon and most of the recipes that came up refered to Julia Childs adaption of the traditional French recipe. Comparing her recipe with mine I thought I’d stay with my version. Maybe I’ll try Julia’s recipe another time.

I’ll be making this dish in the next few days, I’ll let you know how I got on and post a few photos.

I have to go shopping for the ingredients I don’t have.

The Brandy, the beef, the salt pork if I can get it, I’ve never cooked salt pork. Maybe I’ll just stick with thick cut streaky bacon I can get from a local shop, Fresh & Easy. The best shop here in Vegas for British provisions, they’re even doing “Mushy peas” now.

Let’s get on with the recipe

Boeuf Bourguignon:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil;

2 large slices salt pork or 6 large slices of bacon;

1 1/2 cups diced carrots;

2-pound boneless chuck or beef rump, cut into 1/4-inch thick slices; Salt and freshly ground black pepper;

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped;

1 clove garlic, minced;

2 shallots, finely chopped;

1/2 pound mushrooms, trimmed and chopped;

1/2 bottle (750-ml bottle) Burgundy or pinot noir;

1/3 cup Cognac.

Method

1. Pour the oil into a large casserole.

Add a slice salt pork. (or 3 slices bacon);

Add the diced carrots and cover them with one-third of the sliced beef in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the meat with half the onions, garlic, shallots, and mushrooms.

Cover with a layer of half the remaining beef and sprinkle with more salt and pepper.

Add the remaining onions, garlic, shallots, and mushrooms and cover with a final layer of the remaining beef.

Top with the second slice of salt pork (or remaining 3 slices of bacon). Pour in the Burgundy and Cognac to cover all.

Season with additional salt and pepper, the recipe mentions a lot of seasoning. I try to go easy on the salt as the bacon or the salt pork will make the dish salty

2. Place the casserole over high heat, and when it begins to simmer, cover and lower the heat.

Cook for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until the meat is tender when tested with a fork.

Suggested accompaniments

Vegetables: Good quality boiled potatoes is traditionally served with this dish. I would also serve roast potatoes, as that’s what I like. Extra potatoes never go to waste.

I think a dish looks more attractive if you serve with a side of colourful vegetables. Such as green vegetable, fresh garden peas would be a good choice, if in season. Carrots always add colour.

Serve with the beef a fairly full-bodied, young red wine, such as Beaujolais, Côtes du Rhône, Bordeaux-St. Émilion, or Burgundy.

Keeping for tomorrow:

This is a good dish to cook the day before. Letting it rest for a day will bring out more of the flavours. Much like a curry tastes better when left to rest over night.

When cold, cover and refrigerate. About 15 to 20 minutes before serving, bring to the simmer, cover, and simmer very slowly for 10 minutes, or when the meat is fully heated through, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

If you decide to try this dish before I get around to it. Let me know how you got on

A case of 2005 Californian Gamay Beaujolais Noveau

As all of us wine buffs know, Beaujolais Nouveau needs to be drunk pretty soon after bottling. I had this case of wine from Trader Joe’s, www.traderjoes.com (a speciality food and drink shop here in the USA) way back in 2005 and due to travelling and other stuff going on, I never got around to drinking it.

I was attempting to tidy out a few cupboards the other day and came across the case of wine. I knew it was there but it had slipped way back in the recesses of my brain. So I thought I’d have to do something with this wine, even if it’s just to clear the drains.

I tried a bottle to drink, it wasn’t too bad it still tasted like wine and not vinegar. But after a few glasses I thought, no not for drinking. Instead of just clearing the drains I thought, I must be able to cook with this. But I needed recipes that used whole bottles of wine. The first two that came to mind were “Coq au Vin” and “Boeuf Bourguignon”.

The recipes I had needed a wine with more body Like a Pinot noir or Merlot, something like a Bordaux. But for a whole bottle of best wine, that seemed extravagant. I did add a little from wine I had left over from unfinished bottles. I never throw unused wine away.

Unless of course, you’ve dribbled in the glass.

First a recipe for the Coq au vin, it’s easier. The Bourguignon can be a fiddly dish to prepare.


This can be cooked in your microwave and electric wok. You can prepare the wine mixture in your microwave. Careful not to let it bowl over using the low power or defrost settings.
Using the electric wok makes it easier to control the heat settings to simmer.


As it takes a while to cook and you need to keep an eye on what's happening, it's best to have a nice friend with you and a bottle of wine with some light snacks. Smoked oysters on crackers or thin toast are my preference.


Coq au Vin Recipe.

Ingredients

1 bottle pinot noir
 (or as I did a bottle of 2005 Beaujolais)

1 chopped carrot,                                             
1 chopped stick of celery.

1 small onion, cut into quarters


4 cloves of garlic, peeled and lightly crushed with a knife,

Plus 1 peeled and finely sliced.

1 or 2 bay leaves. Small bunch of thyme

1 tbsp butter


150g Of thick streaky bacon cut into thick chunks. 
Better if you can get a single piece.

2 tbsp plain flour


4 chicken thighs, 2 chicken legs

20 baby onions or 10 shallots, peeled but left whole.
 (drop them briefly in boiling water first to loosen the peel)


20 button mushrooms, or 10 white mushrooms, quartered.

4 tbsp cognac.

Method

1. Pour the wine into a saucepan and add the carrot, celery, onion, crushed garlic, bay leaf and 4 sprigs of thyme. Bring to the boil, let it simmer away to reduce by half, then strain and discard the flavourings.

2. Heat the butter over a medium-high heat in a large, heavy-based pan with a lid and then add the bacon. Cook until golden, then lift out with a slotted spoon and put aside. Meanwhile, tip the flour on to a plate and season well. Roll in the chicken pieces to coat them.

3. Put the chicken in the pan, in batches if necessary, and brown well on all sides, then lift out and put with the bacon. Your bacon should have given off enough fat for there still to be enough in the pan for the next stage, but if not, add another tablespoon of butter or a glug of olive oil.

4. Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the onions or shallots. Cook for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until they are beginning to caramelise, then add the mushrooms and the sliced garlic and cook for a further 4 minutes, then lift out of the pan and set aside (but not with the chicken).

5. Turn up the heat, pour a little of the reduced wine into the pan and scrape the bits off the bottom with a wooden spoon, then put in the chicken and the bacon, keeping a few bits of the bacon back as garnish. Pour over the brandy and set it alight, then, when the flames have gone out, add the rest of the wine and thyme leaves. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat, cover and simmer gently for an hour.

6. Add the onions, mushrooms and garlic and simmer for another 20 minutes, keeping the lid only half on this time. Taste for seasoning and serve with the rest of the bacon sprinkled over the top.

I served with roast small potatoes un-peeled, a mixture of red and white potatoes adds a nice touch. I washed the potatoes and boiled for 5 minutes in the microwave before roasting in a little olive oil.

I heated the oil then added the potatoes coating them with oil and cooked till starting to brown.

Any colourful vegetable adds nice touch. Asparagus is in season so that’s what I served. You can never go wrong with baby carrots and broccoli.


For a wine I'd suggest a good quality red. A Pinot Noir or a Merlot. I like the Malbec you can get from Argentina.

 If you're making it the day before eating, which will improve its flavour, then lift the solidified fat off the top before reheating. Healthier without all the fat.

Another Healthy Idea

 With the price of tuna, especially here in Las Vegas, let's say the American supermarkets. Add Ahi in front of tuna and charge an extra $10 a pound. Why make burgers out of Tuna?

There must be a number of reasons, but mine are. It’s something different, especially those of you with children. Once they’re made it’s a quick an easy healthy lunch time snack or even breakfast. Serve them with brown rice and a salad for dinner. Even sweet potato fries, go on then some big fat potato wedges.

Mutrah fish market (Souq) Muscat Sultanate of Oman

I first made these while working in the Middle East; tuna was nothing like the price they charge here. I could make around 20 for $10.

I find the best place to buy fresh seafood and fish here in Las Vegas is at the Asian and Mexican stores. I went to one some months back and I thought I was in a foreign country. I suppose to me America is a foreign country.

Brixton market fish stall

I know a few markets and shopping areas in the UK like that. Brixton market in south London, mostly Caribbean.

You can get just about anything at Brixton market

You'll even see some famous faces shopping there

With a designer bag

There's always time for a pot of Tea

Streatham, just up the road Middle eastern and international, not English, Earls Court anything Australian or New Zealand.

 The Melton road going out of Leicester and you could be in India. Close your eyes and just smell the spices.

With the biggest Saree shop I've ever seen.

Diwhali, the festival of lights, is celebrated as fervently as any where in the world.

During the Holy month of Ramadan the whole area is like a ghost between the hours of sunrise and sunset.

I’ve wandered away the tuna burger. You can make a batch of these and have them ready in the freezer. Be careful not to squash them before they’re frozen. I wrap them individually in cling film and put them in a plastic container.

The Tuna Burger

What You Need

½ lb Tuna (250 grms)

1 or 2 cloves of garlic, depending how garlicky you like your food.

Finely chop or mince the cloves

Piece of finely grated/chopped fresh ginger, amount to your taste.

Light soy sauce to taste. Not too much as the burger will be too wet.

A handful of chopped coriander/cilantro.

Olive or canola oil.

Burger rolls or ciabatta bread or any bread you prefer.

Lettuce, tomatoes and avocado to serve.

Thai sweet chilli sauce for dipping.

Optional.

Finely chopped onions, fish sauce. For a Thai taste you could add finely chopped Thai ingredients, such as, lemon grass, galangal, Thai basil or kaffir lime leaves.

What to do.

Dice the tuna as small as possible, or Mince* the tuna.

*If you mince the Tuna, have it slightly frozen, the same goes for mincing

Liver.  Having it slightly frozen will stop it going to pulp.

*Mince = Ground.

In a big enough bowl to get your hands in, mix together the tuna, coriander, garlic, ginger and soy sauce and any optional ingredients.

These quantities should make 6 to 8 burgers, depending how big you make them.

If you’re not in a rush to eat the burger. Leave the mixture to stand for a while to let all the flavours come together.

Then mould them into the burger size that suits you. I’m not that fussy, I just mould them into the shape of the palms of my hands squeezed together. You could use proper burger size moulds.

If you’re going to cook them straight away, place them in the freezer for ten minutes to firm up before frying in olive or canola oil.

Heat the oil in a good non-stick pan and cook the burgers for 2 minutes or so both sides or cooked to your liking.

Serve on the warmed bun or bread, topped with lettuce, tomato and avocado. You could be quite adventurous and make the salad more substantial with maybe, chopped celery and red bell peppers.

I prefer them on an open a ciabatta with some of the salad on the side and the Thai sweet chilli sauce as dip.


© John Bromley www.myworldandyourewelcome.blogspot.com

The Humble Banana and the Mighty Egg

I never quite know whether to believe a lot of the stuff that’s put out the Internet as truth. It can be a bit like listening to the opinions of the guys in the bar after a few drinks.

The humble egg is either much maligned or praised beyond recognition. They either give you food poisoning or make you fat and give you high cholesterol. Or, they are the food of fitness fanatics and body builders.

I feel that probably they are somewhere in between, leaning towards the fitness brigade.

Bananas are one of the healthiest foods around. I read some years back in the Readers Digest, that if the malnourished children of the world were fed bananas malnutrition could be eliminated. 

Nobody listens though.

It’s not easy to think of a way to serve bananas as part of meal as a dessert or at breakfast. Picture a soft white banana lying between two big red strawberries or purple plums. Not an attractive sight. Normally we’d just cut them up and have them with ice cream or custard. I also use them as the basis to any smoothie I make.

I first saw this way to serve bananas in a woman’s magazine years ago, before anyone had heard of probiotics and Active 8 cultures. Yoghurt though has been a staple food in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern diet for centuries.

This relatively simple to prepare dish is ideal for a healthy breakfast and it makes a healthy dessert.

Baked Banana with Yoghurt.

What you need;

Fresh good quality banana or bananas, depending on how many you need.

Yoghurt, low or fat free plain yoghurt preferably with probiotic “Active8” cultures.

Honey, optional.

What to do;

You don’t need to use your big kitchen oven, the kitchen top small oven grill is fine to use.

Set the oven to about 350F degrees around 160C.

This temperature works fine for my small oven, different ovens may vary.

It’s best not to try and have the oven too hot, the banana will split and you’ll lose all the nice banana juices.

I line my oven tray with kitchen foil, shiny side down, to help stop the direct heat onto the bananas and to catch any juices that leak out. You can pour them onto your banana if they haven’t burnt.

When the oven has reached the working temperature place your bananas on the grill rack and bake for about 15 minutes. The skin will turn a browny black colour. Test by gently squeezing with your finger and thumb (trying not to burn yourself), you want the banana to feel quite soft before the skin splits. Once they are ready, they go too soft very quickly. It’ll take a few tries to get them how you like them. A little trial and error may be needed.

When they are ready split lengthways with point of a sharp knife, open them up and serve with a few dollops of yoghurt and a little honey if you like.

This idea for baking bananas can also be served as an after dinner dessert. 

Why the baked banana recipe?

The South Beach diet website had an article about foods to avoid that can raise your cholesterol count. They weren’t very complimentary about the humble egg. Us Brits were told to “go to work on an egg”, in the 1960’s, until we all died off in the 80’s with salmonella poisoning. But some of us survived.

I think Doctor Who came along in the Tardis and turned the clock back and we were all okay.

 In 1988 we were told eggs would give you “salmonella food poisoning”. A government minister, Edwina Currie lost her job over the comment.

It was a shame she messed up over the egg controversy. She was, as far as politicians go, quite good.

 According the American Heart Association our daily intake of Cholesterol should not exceed 300mg. If we have a high cholesterol count we should stay below 200mg. The article said there is 213mg of cholesterol hiding inside the egg. It doesn’t say how big an egg or how it’s cooked.

South Beach diet suggests having whole grain cereal and fruit instead.

I have Shredded wheat (the Original health food breakfast before food faddies came along) with banana or strawberries when in season as a starter. Before my healthy full English breakfast, poached or fried egg (in olive oil), grilled English bacon (Canadian here is the USA), Heinz baked beans, grilled or sautéed (posh for frying, using olive oil) mushrooms and a grilled tomato with a couple of slices of whole-wheat toast with olive oil spread.

Tiffin or Scotch Eggs

Don’t get me wrong, the South Beach diet website is excellent, full of information and recipes. I just wish these health websites would not contradict themselves a few days later.

Phase one of the South Beach diet, is quite a drastic change in your eating lifestyle, well it was for me. But they do advocate having an egg of some description 11 out of the 14 days for breakfast.

A few days after the warning about eggs and high cholesterol there was an article telling us the Seven (7) reasons to eat eggs, 3 or 4 days a week. The mighty egg is packed with all the good stuff we need, a good source of low calorie protein, minerals and vitamin A and B.

Just be careful how you have your egg.

 Poached egg on a bed of spinach and mushrooms

There’s one breakfast restaurant I go to that boasts the omelettes are made with 6 yes six eggs, crazy. I never have an omelette there. When I make an omelette at home I use one large egg and egg white from a carton.

Then there’s the cheese, bacon, ham or what ever else you may like. So I can see how an egg can get a bad press. But the humble egg has so much going for it, I feel it isn’t something we should leave out of our eating plan. When I fry an egg or make an omelette I use olive oil, it makes the omelette taste better and if you’re frying an egg you need some oil.

Happy Eating

© John A Bromley. www.myworldandyourewelcome.blogspot.com

Something Different

THE VERY FIRST HUG

A long time ago in days of yore, when the World was very young, it was cold, so very very cold. At the top of the World it was even colder, it was so cold people like us would not be able to live there.

If we could have been there we would have seen that everything was white. Different shades of white but all the same, white! 

Sometimes the white was very dark almost like black white other times it would look like grey white. When the whiteness looked very dark you would never think there was ever a daytime.

For a few months of the year the sky would become lighter and on these days the whiteness would glisten and sparkle like diamonds and silver. On these lighter days sometimes the sun would break through the grey skies. The sun made the whiteness wondrous to see. 

The diamond and silver would sparkle from a deep orange in the morning to a blushing pink as the sun went back to sleep.

But most of the time everything was a freezing cold grey darkness. 
You would think that nothing could live there but you would be wrong. Some very clever and strong animals did live there. The smallest was a rabbit, the rabbit had to be very clever or they would be caught and eaten by the bigger animals. You may wonder what the rabbit could eat, as the rabbits we know only eat grass and greenery and of course carrots. 

These rabbits were different, they would eat anything they could find left over by the other animals. Can you think what colour the rabbit would be?

The animal the rabbit had to be most afraid was the white fox. 

The fox was also very clever, who would lie in wait hoping to catch a rabbit. Otherwise he would have to live off the scraps left behind by a bigger animal or even catch a fish.

Sometimes in the wind you would hear a howling noise. You could never be sure if this was an animal or the wind, it may have just been the wind. But there was an animal, the very secretive white wolf that would travel hundreds of miles looking for food.

Then there was the biggest animal of them all, a giant of animal. If it stood up and raised its enormous arms it would measure 10 feet high.

We will call this giant animal Polar, as that’s where it is from. If you had seen his face, you would think he looks nasty and angry. This is because he is. If he smells or sees or even thinks there is another animal nearby. He becomes even angrier. What he didn’t know is that he was so angry because he was lonely.

This giant of an animal would move slowly and surprisingly silently for its size. When it had to, like chasing an enemy or something to eat, it could move very quickly roaring like a giant train. Which would frighten the animal being chased so much it would freeze to a standstill. When Polar was close enough it would strike it dead with a powerful blow with his enormous paws.

This freezing cold country wasn’t all a snow-covered land. It was also the frozen ocean where underneath the ice you could see fish swimming. In most places the ice was so thick you couldn’t break through. In other places you could break through the ice to make a hole to catch a fish. The rabbit was too small to make a hole but would some times be able to find a few scraps of fish left behind. If the fox was careful it could make a hole where the ice was thin enough. But had to be very careful or he would fall in. It was a very lucky day for the fox if he caught a fish. Like the rabbit it would look for the scraps of fish and bones.

It was the giant Polar who made the big holes where he would wait and catch the fish as they swam by. You would wonder how such a big animal could react so quickly when catching the fish. It was while lying there next to his hole that Polar would feel the angriest. Or as we know, he was lonely.

It was when the cold was not so cold and the sky was lighter, even a little sunshine that Polar felt the angriest. He had no friends, any other animal was so afraid of him they would run and hide if they knew he was around. Polar had only seen one face and that was his own. When he broke the hole in the ice and the cold seawater became still, it was as shiny as a mirror.

Polar would look in the mirror and see two black eyes and a black nose. 

If he opened his lips like a smile he would see his big vicious teeth, yellow with sharp points and blood red gums. It would not be pretty like a smile we know.

He would lie there and stare at his reflection for a long time, not bothering to catch a fish. Maybe a fox or a white rabbit would creep as close as they dare hoping Polar would catch a fish and leave a few scraps behind. If they made the slightest sound, Polar would jump up so quickly and roar so loud the ice would shake around them.

Two evil black eyes and big black nose with the nostril flaring to his heavy breathing, he opened his lips to snarl at his reflection. Again he smashed his paw into the hole to wipe away his face. Polar stood up with an almighty roar that shook the ice he was standing on. He roared so loud he broke the ice and fell through into the water. Polar was a very swimmer,  he swam to where the ice was thick enough for him to clamber out of the freezing water. His coat was made of a special fur that kept him warm and dry. With an almighty shaking of his body, just like your dog will do, he shook the water from his coat.

Polar stood up to his full height and looked into the distance. 

At first he just stared, then becoming puzzled. He thought he saw something moving in the distance. There was something moving, it was a ghostly white shape coming towards him. When the shape got closer he could see it was as nearly big as him.

He watched the ghostly whiteness coming slowly towards him. At first he felt angry, he was not used to intruders coming into his world. Then he became confused.  As the ghostly shape came nearer he saw the same black holes he saw in is own reflection, two black eyes and a shiny black nose. 

The difference with this shape was that it also smiled at him showing big white shiny teeth but not a look of anger. Something he had never seen before a look of love. As the shape came closer Polar liked what he saw and also smiled, something he had never done before.

Looking at the new white shape Polar realised it was the same as him not just a reflection.

This new shape was a little smaller, looked more gentle and softer. As they came within arms reach of one another, they stretched out their huge arms and paws. 

Pulling one another together into their arms………The Very first Hug.

© John A Bromley all rights reserved