Beef Short Rib Rendang with Pandan Rice – A trip to Malayasia

Posted on August 2, 2016 by julianrolfe

I will admit from the start that whilst this dish tasted amazing it needed at least another hours cooking, so allow a good 6 hours for this beautiful dish, voted 1st in the CNN tastiest dishes in the world in 2011! The colour should be much deeper than mine, but it still tasted really good and worthy of a few words and pictures. I will have another go later in the year and make sure I have allowed more time!!

Having just got my driving back after a seizure 12 months ago, the freedom to be able to drive to my favourite oriental super market and farm shop was to much of a temptation to ignore. The Local See Woo was my 1st stop, where I filled my basket with essentials such as fresh Lemongrass, fresh Turmeric, birds eye Chillis, Galangal and Pandan leaf and Limes.

Casey Fields farm shop was next, a couple of Beef Short Ribs seemed to be in order (along with the usual shop) and I was starting to think what to cook. My herb and Spice cupboard is well stocked with essentials from my favourite supplier Steenbergs so all was in hand to get in the kitchen and start cooking.

With the weather cooling slightly something warm and fragrant was in order, so looking at various cookery books, Beef Rendang seemed an ideal candidate. I found numerous versions on the web too, and went for the one on rasamalysia.com which is easy to find HERE. You need to make up as spice paste with Shallots, Lemongrass, Garlic, Ginger, Galangal and Chillis which I did in a food processor for speed. The other recipes also added Turmeric, so as I had some fresh that went in too!

The Beef Short Ribs are BIG! I took the time to put some colour on them first, giving them a burst of heat on each side before starting on the rest of the process. I think next time I cook this dish I will try Ox Cheek which is a great cut of meat for slow braising and has slightly less fat content, and is easier to handle 🙂

There are quite a few ingredients in this dish and the Star Anise, Cardamon, Cloves are fried in a little oil to release their flavour, before adding a single ‘bashed’ Lemongrass shoot. Then the spice mix is added and fried for a few minutes, finally add the Beef, Coconut Milk, Tamarind some water, Palm Sugar and Kerisik.
Kerisik is ground Coconut that has been fried until golden brown and can be made using desiccated Coconut if you cannot find fresh, again there are lots of references on the web, you can see my 1st attempt below.Kaffir Lime leaves are also added, I could not find mine so used some lime zest instead. The whole lot now cooks and cooks and cooks, this is a low and slow dish. There are several stages to the process which I had somehow missed (they are in the Rendang Wiki link above), the 1st stage is easy as you can see above. After approximately 3 1/2 hours, the mixture had reduced and I saw the Oil on the surface and this is where I went wrong, as I removed it, rather than letting the dish carry on cooking allowing for more evaporation, colourisation, and the flavours penetrating the meat.

You can still see lots of moisture above, the dish should be much dryer but I now know for next time. I also think that using the food processor was a bad idea, as pounding in a pestle and mortar would have produced a better textured spice paste, but cooking is about learning so some more things to remember and lessons learnt.

Panadan or Screwpine leaves are indigenous to the far east and I was going to use them too flavour the rice. I have done this before but felt more kick was needed, so made a ‘tea’ using the Pandan Leaves and putting them in simmering water for a good 5 minutes, before turning off the heat and letting stand for a good 30 minutes did the trick. I used Jasmine Rice and boiled for 10 minutes in the ‘tea’ before draining and adding some fresh Coriander.

So there you have it, it almost worked if only I had left the dish cooking for longer until the meat was darker and the moisture evaporated completely. My attempt would not have won the CNN best dish award but it was still very tasty and the meat tender, the Rice with Pandan was a great addition.

………………………Until next time……………..L8ers………………..

Hola Amics, King Prawn Laksa and Mallorca?

Posted on June 6, 2015 by julianrolfe

A last-minute decision to go and find some sun, this time last week we were starting our final evening on the stunning island of Mallorca (Majorca). I have never booked a holiday two days before departure but needs must, and what a fantastic time we had.

On the day before we departed from home, a package arrived from those lovely people at Steenbergs, upon opening up the cardboard box it was an opportunity to be part of their taste panel.

Two different Tea samples, a mix for Nasi Goreng and a bottle of Lemon Oil, Organic of course and all were nestling in the vibrant orange paper, with feedback cards to let them know how each product tasted.

Unfortunately testing was going to be delayed as the plane was awaiting, but the next post will be my attempt at Nasi Goreng, with maybe a few twists along the way. I am working on some ideas on how to use some of the Lemon Oil, watch this space.

This particular dish, Prawn Laksa is derived from one by Ching He Huang, the recipe on the BBC website does have a couple of mistakes in it, namely it lists both Water and Chicken Stock in the ingredients but says to use water. I opted to forget the water and use some of the home-made Chicken Stock I prepared recently for an Indian inspired dish. Having checked on Chings’ website under the ‘free member’ section, the recipe is subtly different, but does not mention the water!

Quickly back to Mallorca, we stayed in a delightful hotel in Alcudia, north of the island. It was an all-inclusive style and I have to say the food was some of the best I have had. There was a WHOLE Suckling Pig one evening, I did not have my camera to capture the evidence but it went down a treat.

Anyhow, back to the Laksa, which takes a few stages to complete the 1st being the spice paste.

Take a couple of small Onions, 3 Cloves of Garlic, 2 Lemons Grass stalks (the proper fresh ones from Chinese supermarkets), 1 piece of fresh Turmeric (if you can get it, it makes a difference), a couple of inches of Galangal, 1 tsp Coriander Powder and the same of Cumin, 1 tbls Shrimp Paste, a few Birds Eye Chilli’s (I used three), and whizz in a processor with 50 ml of Coconut Milk into a smooth paste.

The end result is in the white tin to the left of the picture above, in the smaller tin are 4 King Prawns, marinading in a couple of spoon full’s of the mixture, which are then coated in CornFlour and fried until crispy for a tasty, crispy garnish.

The Laksa paste needs frying in a little oil, it will start to darken slightly, I cooked mine for about 5-6 minutes to release the flavours, cook out the spices and evaporate some of the water. It smelt amazing.

After the mix is cooked out, add a few Kaffir Lime leaves, the remaining Coconut Milk (about 250 mls), and Chicken Stock about 1 pint, a couple of tbls of Fish sauce and 1 tbls Palm Sugar, simmer vigorously for about 20 – 25 minutes. I also added two more finely shredded Birds Eye Chilli’s after tasting, to increase the potency slightly!! I also added some grated Lime zest, about 1/2 a Limes worth.

You are looking for a consistency YOU are happy with, not too runny but not too thick as you will be adding more ingredients to finish the dish off at the end.

Whilst the broth is simmering you can prep the garnishes, pick some Coriander leaves, finely shred some Red Chilli (nice colour contrast) and slice some Spring Onion on the angle. You will also need some Lime Wedges which are used as a condiment. The Prawns, and Noodles (fresh please), only take two minutes or so to cook, the marinating prawns can be coated in Corn Flour and deep fried before draining on kitchen paper.

We are onto the final straight, add the Prawns, and cook your noodles according to the instructions, mine were fresh and just needed a kettle of boiling water to be poured over them, left for a minute or so and thoroughly drained, When the Prawns are cooked, add the noodles and stir through for 30 secs to 1 minute maximum to coat.

Serve how you wish, I used a simple bowl with the Laksa spooned in, and then added the Chilli, Spring Onion, Coriander and the Lime Wedge. The crispy Prawns were hung on the side, next time I cook this dish I will do a few more this way as they were stunningly delicious!!

Wowzer, ’nuff said it’s gorgeous, tasty, vibrant, spicy and downright amazeballs.

Even more important, the governor through the same, words like Wow, Mmmmmm (not a word I know but hey), it’s a blinding dish and well worth the effort.

The next post, hopefully very soon will be my interpretation of Nasi Goreng, I have had a few ideas buzzing in my head on how I might do things so…..

………………………..Until next time………………..l8ers

Kroeung (រឿង) – A quick trip to Cambodia (Again)!

Posted on September 22, 2014 by julianrolfe

This blog maybe becoming a ‘sorry’ site, with probably too many apologies for staying in particular regions of the world. So far we have been to Lebanon and the Middle East a fair bit, interspersed with Spain, Mexico and more recently the lands in Asia, which are particularly fragrant.

In my last post I promised to move away, but just could not resist one last recipe, and another tasty curry from the land of the Khmer.

Khmer, or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. With approximately 16 million speakers, it is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language (afterVietnamese). This dish can be found in Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey and as is usual, for me at least is an excuse to visit the local Asian Supermarket for fresh and unusual ingredients.

The 1st task is to create the Khmer ‘Kroeung’, or spice paste. The main components of this amazing mix are Lemongrass, Shallots, Garlic, Chilli’s, Kaffir Lime Leaves, Galangal, FRESH Turmeric and Shrimp paste. The Turmeric was a new one for me, fresh, is more earthy and less vibrant to look at before cooking, compared to the powder form.

Purists might opt for a pestle and mortar and pound each element to a smooth paste, I cheated and whizzed it in a small food processor designed for these type of tasks. A little water and sunflower oil helped the paste on its way, you can see the finished results above.

The protein for this dish was boneless pork shoulder, from our favourite Casey Fields Farm shop, those lads do an awesome job with their meat. Also needed will be Thai Aubergines (the little green beasties above, about the size of a golfball), a fresh Coconut, Tamarind, Fish Sauce, Palm Sugar, Coconut Milk and Thai Basil.Once browned in some oil, the Pork needs slowly simmering in the spicy mix with some water to slacken it a little, about 1 hour should do it. The mix then needs reducing a bit and the rest of the ingredients are added. The smell filling the kitchen was amazing.

The finishing touches include the freshly grated Coconut, I used the water from the Coconut to help slacken the mixture and add more flavour, the Fresh Pineapple which is cut into 1 inch chunks and Red Kampot Pepper (from Cambodia)!. The dish was served with some wilted Pak Choi, and plain Rice (and a delicious Riesling)!

I will try and keep my promise this time, this is the last Far Eastern dish for a while. It’s worth hunting out the ingredients as the taste is stunning, creamy, rich, hot and very tasty. If you google Khmer Pork Curry with Pineapple & Coconut you will find a variety of recipes, better still, buy Rick’s book as there are loads of other delights to try, it’s a worthwhile investment if you like this kind of food.

Until next time…………….L8ers…………

Gà nướng sả, Gỏi đu đủ & nước chấm – Lemongrass Chicken, Papaya Salad and an awesome dressing!

Posted on June 29, 2014 by julianrolfe

So the conversation went, “Hun”, yep, “I fancy a Salad”, ok, “not ANY old Salad though”, uh huh, what sort of Salad, “One of your punchy, spicy, healthy ones”, OK………

In the car and of to my favourite Oriental Store to buy the ingredients, I had spent some time researching recipes and flavour combinations and come up with a couple of interesting dishes. I have covered Yin & Yang in previous posts so won’t repeat again suffice to say this was going to be spicy, sweet etc. There are some ‘specialist’ ingredients in this recipe including Green Papaya (NOT the orange flesh version in supermarkets), Dried Shrimp, Thai Sweet Basil and Galangal. The Papaya is Long, rather than round. You will also need 1 Chicken Breast per person, 1 serving of Vermicelli Rice Noodles per person, Shallots, Lime, Lemongrass, Garlic, Thai Red Chilli, Beansprouts, Carrot, Cucumber, Palm Sugar, Thai Fish Sauce, Coriander Seeds, fresh Coriander and Mint, Salt and Pepper.

There are loads of recipes on the internet for Vietnamese Cuisine, click to the left you can find details about popular recipes, then just pick one, stick the name in your favourite search engine and away you go! I decided to try and take the best bits of a number of ideas and incorporate them in the final dish. You will need some shallots, they need shallow frying until crisp, DON’T throw away the oil, as its going to be used once you have also THINLY sliced some Garlic, and also fried until crisp. Drain both on kitchen paper and set aside. The remaining Oil is jam packed with flavour which we will use with the following marinade, (this element doesn’t appear in the recipes I found whilst researching but it would be a shame not to include such a flavour enhancement!).

For two people I used 2 stalks of Lemongrass thinly sliced, 2 cloves of Garlic, 3 Red Thai Chilli’s, some slices of Galangal and a tablespoon of freshly roasted Coriander Seeds (Steenbergs are my favourite), season with Salt and Pepper. You can pound with a pestle and mortar or use a grinder/blender to blitz as finely as possible, which is a lot quicker. Add some of the oil you used to fry the Shallots and Garlic to loosen the marinade, which should end up looking something like this.

The Chicken Breasts need marinating for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, I went for about 2 hours. The nước chấm sauce is served with many Vietnamese dishes and adds punch and depth of flavour.

The general rule of thumb is 1 part Fish Sauce (Nam Pla), 1 part Sugar (Palm Sugar is preferred), 2 parts Water and Lime Juice (I used 1 whole Lime). You can then add some extra flavours to enhance, in my case 1 thinly sliced Red Thai Chilli, 4 Slices of Galangal, 1 sliced Garlic Clove, and 1 tablespoon of Tamarind concentrate. You can put the fish sauce and palm sugar in the microwave for a few seconds to help it dissolve. Set aside in the fridge once made to enable the flavours to develop. Before you serve it run it through a strainer to remove the bits.

The Green Papaya Salad is mainly a construction job, the Papaya is quite long, you can just see it at the top of the post, on the top left hand side of the picture, its not the same as many of the Papaya you get in supermarkets that have orange flesh. I used one for two people along with a 5 inch length of Cucumber, seeds removed and julienned, 1/2 a carrot, a handful of Beansprouts, 3 thinly sliced Shallots, a couple of Spring Onions, again thinly sliced, and about 10 cherry tomatoes, halved. Herbs were chiffonade of Mint, Thai Sweet Basil and Coriander, a good handful of each. Using a mandolin with Julienne setting speeds up the chopping!

I Baked the Chicken in the oven for 30 Minutes, and rested for 5 minutes. Whilst the Chicken is resting, take two servings of Vermicelli Rice Noodles, place in a bowl and cover with boiling water, follow the instructions on the packet, mine said 3 minutes. Slice the Chicken, place the Noodles on the plate, and the sliced Chicken on top, sprinkle some more chiffonade of Thai Sweet Basil on top. Take your prepared salad and GENTLY bruise with a rolling pin, releasing some of the tomato juices, add some of the nước chấm dressing and sprinkle some crispy Shallots, Garlic, Roasted Peanuts and if you can get them, some Dried Shrimp that has been fried and crushed.

Delicious; understatement, the boss was well chuffed (as was I). The Chicken (proper from our local supplier Casey Fields), was so juicy and tender, and punchy flavours of Lemongrass, Chilli and Garlic, the Salad refreshing, crunchy and stunning. You can add some more nước chấm dressing to lift it even more.

This dish took a while to prepare, but done in stages its easy. Fry the Shallots and Garlic first as using the Oil in the Marinade adds more flavour. The Salad can be made in advance, but crush and add the dressing at the LAST minute.

Have a go at this one, it will leave you feeling fantastic.

Till next time…………….L8ers…

Thơm cay salad gà Với Mì – Vietnamese Fragrant Spicy Chicken Salad with Noodles

Posted on May 4, 2014 by julianrolfe

Another mind trip to the Far East, in this case Vietnam has inspired me to look for some more healthy, fresh and taste bud exploding food. Trawling through Rick Steins ‘French Odyssey’, and Uyen Luu’s ‘My Vietnamese Kitchen’ produced a couple of interesting recipes, this is my adaption and interpretation of them both. France had a massive influence on Vietnam, it was a part of the French Colonial Empire until 1954, when Viet Minh (league for the independence of Vietnam) won a decisive victory against French forces at the gruelling Battle of Dien Bien Phu.

For this lip smacking recipe you are going to need a few ingredients, there are 3 stages to make this work. Buy THE BEST chicken you can afford, I chose two supremes from our local awesome farm shop Casey Fields, its not injected with anything so has great TEXTURE, unlike the stuff in supermarkets, its makes a difference in this dish, due to the very texture.

Poaching Liquor

1 1/2 inches of Galangal or Ginger if you can’t get it
1 Stalk Lemongrass, bashed with a rolling pin and halved widthways
3 Star Anise
4 Kaffir Lime Leaves
1 Shallot, quartered
1 Red Thai Chilli
1 Green Thai Chilli
1 Garlic Clove, quartered
1 1/2 Litres water

Chuck all the poaching ingredients and water into a saucepan, bring to a boil and place the Chicken in the liquor, allowing to simmer gentle for 8 – 10 minutes lid on, then take off the heat and let cool right down which can take 2 – 3 hours. This ensures the Chicken is cooked, but remains moist and soaks up the flavours. You are going to use the liquor again, so DON’T throw it away!!

The next stage is to prepare the sauce, this imparts the Sour, Bitter, Sweet, Spicy, Salty which is typical of Vietnamese Cuisine, this is the balance of 5 elements, spicy (metal), sour (wood), bitter (fire), salty (water) and sweet (Earth), corresponding to: five organs the gall bladder, small intestine, large intestine, stomach, and urinary bladder. Its all about the Yin Yang balance and you can find more about is HERE.

THE Sauce

4 Tbls Fish Sauce (Nam Pla)
2 Tbls Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Fresh Lime (juiced)
2 Tbls Palm Sugar
1/2 – 1 Garlic Clove very finely sliced
2 Finely Sliced Thai Red Chilli’s
1 Slivered Thai Green Chilli (add when finished as a colour balance)
1 Halved and Sliced Shallot
1/2 – 1 Tsp Corn Flour mixed with a little water

ALL +/- to taste.

Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan except the Corn Flour and heat until the Palm Sugar has melted into the sauce, then TASTE TASTE TASTE, you are looking to strike a balance between each of the elements, your palate will tell you what you need to add more off, in my case I needed more Lime Juice and more Palm Sugar, but keep adjusting CAREFULLY until its tastes right for you. When you are happy with the flavour and the sauce is hot (temperature wise!), thicken with some Corn Flour and Water, you are looking for a ‘gloomy’ slightly thickened texture that would coat the back of a spoon and stick. Finally, add the slivered Green Thai Chilli and set aside to cool.

We are almost ready now, and just a couple of stages to go….. Sorry my food is not that often as simple as opening a can of beans!

We need to add some texture elements to the dish, which come in the form of Roasted and Salted Peanuts and Hoe Fun Rice Stick Noodles. I used raw peanuts, removed their skins by rubbing between fingers (a but laborious, but kind of relaxing), and then placing them in a hot frying pan with a SMALL amount of oil and sprinkled with sea salt cooking until they change colour from Pale blond, to light brown.

Hoe Fun Rice Stick Noodles are made from Rice Flour and Water, and readily available, similar to Vermicelli Noodles, just thicker and flat in shape. We are going to cook them two ways, the first requires a handful to be soaked in cold water for 15 minutes, this will soften them, but not noticeable. Remember the poaching liquor for the Chicken, well take the Chicken out and place the Liquor into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Plunge the Noodles in the boiling liquor for no MORE than 1 Minute, then remove, strain and sprinkle 4 – 5 DRIPS of Sesame Seed Oil to lubricate and prevent them from sticking together too much. Be CAUTIOUS with the Sesame Oil, its very pungent and its supposed to be a background flavour in this dish, too much and Yuch, so its no more than about 4 – 5 drops and mix in with the cooked Noodles, you have been warned.For the Salad you will need the following ingredients

THE Salad

1 Chicken Breast/Supreme per person (Poached as above and left to cool)
1 Handfull Roasted Salted Peanuts per person (cooked as above)
1 Half Cucumber, Seeds removed per 2 people (so 1/4 lengthways), thinly sliced
2 Spring Onions per person, cut at the angle
1 Handful Bean Sprouts per person
1 Handful Hoe Fun Rice Stick Noodles (cooked as above)
2 Tbls Sesame Seeds, toasted in a frying pan
5 Mint Leaves Chiffonade per person
1/2 Bunch Coriander thinly chopped per person
1 Handful Hoe Fun Rice Noodles (Deep Fry them at 190 Degrees and they puff up and go crispy, drain on kitchen paper)
10 Muntok White Peppercorns, freshly ground (pestle & mortar if you have one), and sprinkled over at the last minute

You can see most of the Ingredients in the picture above. Firstly take the Chicken, pull it apart into thin strips and place on a plate, drizzle some of the dressing over the Chicken and then add the thinly Sliced Cucumber and Spring Onion. Drizzle some more dressing and then the Chiffonade of Mint, it should look something like this.

Next job is to Spread over the Bean Sprout’s, Coriander, Peanuts, Sesame Seeds and the rest of the Sauce, take the handful of Rice Noodles straight from the packet and put into the fryer, they will cook in seconds, puffing up buzzing. Drain on Kitchen paper, sprinkle with some Sea Salt and place on top of the Salad. The last step is to season with WHITE pepper, I use Muntok Pepper from Steenbergs, freshly ground in a pestle and mortar seconds before serving, its adds another flavour dimension and really adds to the dish, adding a hot slightly Bitter element, so important in Vietnamese Cuisine.

So there you have it, Vietnamese Fragrant Spicy Chicken Salad with Noodles, it is a seriously tasty dish, takes a bit of effort but well worth it. Be warned though, it is quite spicy, not quite as much as the Weeping Tiger Salad I published recently but could still bring tears to your eyes so if you prefer it slightly milder, less Chilli.

My next feature is going to be a braised Pork Cheek dish I have been working on, Far Eastern influences but the main flavour profile is Tutts Clump Cider, should be on the blog later this week.

Enjoy,

L8ers…………..

เสือร้องไห้ Sueh-ah Rong Hai (Weeping Tiger Beef) – Another Venture to the Far East, and a way to get your 9 a day!

Posted on April 6, 2014 by julianrolfe

If you have a minor craving for something a bit spicy then this is definitely a dish worth considering! Maybe I should rephrase the last sentence, If you have a craving for Blisteringly Hot, Sour, Salty and slightly Sweet then gather the following ingredients as you are in for a treat.

Weeping or Crying Tiger Beef is a Thai Salad that can brings tears to your eyes, if you have been unwell, like I have over the past couple of weeks and fancy something tasty and healthy then I can highly recommend this dish.

Marinade

1 Sirloin Steak per person, the best you can afford
2 teaspoons white pepper (I used Muntok from Steenbergs)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons palm sugar
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 Inch Galangal, grated

Put all the ingredients into a dish and let the Steaks marinade for at least 2 hours, you can prepare the Salad dressing etc. whilst waiting for the meat to soak up all the flavours.

Dressing

2 tablespoons Sugar
1/2 cup fresh Lime Juice
3 – 4 tablespoons Fish Sauce (to taste)
4 – 6 Shallots, finely sliced
4 – 6 Thai Chilis very finely sliced
2 stalks Lemongrass, remove outer stalk and slice very thin or grind
1 inch Galangal, finely grated

Add all the ingredients to a bowl and set aside for at least an hour, stirring from time to time to ensure the Sugar is completely dissolved.

Salad

1 Mango, cut into 1 inch approx. pieces.
1 Baby Gem Letture, leaves separated and quartered
1 large red Onion, thinly slivered
1 bunch Spring Onion, cut to ½ inch lengths at an angle
1 handful Bean Sprouts
1 Cucumber, peeled & seeded cut in half lengthwise
1 small handful French Green Beans, cooked in salted water for 6 minutes and then cooled under running cold water
10 – 15 sliced Cherry Tomatoes
1 lemon, cut in half lengthwise and very thinly sliced
1 Handful Roasted Peanuts, lightly crushed to garnish

Take a bowl and add all the ingredients except the Red Onion, Cucumber and Lemon, which are placed in a separate bowl and sprinkled with half the dressing and put aside for 15 minutes. The French Beans can be cut into 1 inch approx. lengths. I used Peanuts that still had skins on, so they were de-skinned and roasted fresh, and then seasoned with some Maldon Sea Salt and lightly crushed.

Set your oven to 100 degrees and put in a plate to warm up, the Steaks will need to rest once they are cooked for 10 minutes, this stage is important to enable the meat to relax and become meltingly tender.

Cook the Steaks in a frying pan on a high heat for 2-3 minutes each side, you want them rare to medium rare so still slightly red in the middle, once cooked pop into the oven and wait patiently for 10 minutes.

Whilst the meat is relaxing, add the marinated Cucumber, Lemon and Onion mix to the Salad and add the Dressing making sure that everything gets a good coating, then after ten minutes, thinly slice the Beef, lay onto the Salad and sprinkle with the Peanuts.

C’est tout, more of a construction job than cooking but the results are stunning, with HOT, Spicy, Salty, Sour and slightly Sweet it will knock you taste buds into the next century.

You will need to adjust the balance of the flavours as especially Chillis can vary quite a lot, so make sure you taste the dressing to make sure the balance is right.

Special thanks to Vicars Game in Ashampstead, who continue to source the most wonderful Meat, Game and Poultry.

Until next time,

L8ers

Jacobs Ladder – Slow Braised Beef Short Ribs In a Fragrant Sauce

Posted on December 2, 2013 by julianrolfe

As you will notice, many of my recipes are a bit time consuming, mostly due to the complex flavours I like to experience on my palate, but also the cuts of meat I like to experiment with.

Earlier in the week I had been thumbing through some cookery books trying to find something to make at the weekend and came across a couple of recipes, further bolstered by a trawl on the internet I headed out to our favourite meat supplier, who has never disappointed with unusual and different cuts of meat.

These bad boys (to use a Tom Kerridge phrase!), are Beef Short Ribs and are extremely good value if you can find a supplier. In this case £4.89 yes, that cheap for 1.25 KG’s of taste sensation. They are also known as Jacobs Ladder, which is a reference in the book of Genesis, and in my case, one of my favourite rock songs by the group RUSH, a Canadian rock band.

The dish I am about to describe will take a couple of days to complete, as the preparation and cooking is done in several stages, most of the time is spent cooking/resting, the hands on prep is about 30-40 minutes max. I started on the Saturday afternoon for a Sunday evening tea. You will need the following for two hungry people:

1.25KG’s Beef Short Ribs
1 Tbs Coriander Seeds
1/2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
1/2 Tsp Lampung Black Peppercorns (available from Steenbergs), or whatever is in your cupboard
1/2 Tsp Muntok White Peppercorns (available from Steenbergs), or whatever is in your cupboard
1 Black Cardamom
1 Star Anise
4 Whole Cloves
3-4 Shallots roughly chopped
4cm piece Lemongrass (bash with a rolling pin or knife to break apart)
4cm piece Galangal roughly sliced
4cm piece Fresh Ginger roughly sliced
6 Red Chillis
1 Head Garlic sliced in half
2 Litres Chicken Stock (preferable Low Salt & Organic, Kallo is great and readily available)
1 Tbs Fish Sauce
1 Tbs Light Soy
1 Tbs dark Soy
2 Tbs Shaoxing Rice wine
1 Tbs Rice Wine Vinegar
4 Tbs Tamarind
2 Tbs Palm Sugar
4 Kaffir Lime Leaves
1 Tsp Shrimp Paste
1 Bunch Coriander
1/2 Lime Juiced

Stage 1

Take all the dry spices and roast them gently in a frying pan without any oil until you can smell the evocative aromas filling the kitchen. This process causes the oils in the spices to develop, if you look at the Cloves, you will notice they will have expanded considerably.

Now that the spices are toasty the next stage is to season the ribs with Salt & Pepper and seal in some flavourless oil such as Ground Nut or whatever you have available. We are trying to get some colour on the meat and also release some of the sugars which turns the meat brown. You can click HERE for a really geeky explanation of the Maillard reaction which is what we are trying to achieve.

Mine looked like this after this stage and took 10-15 minutes making sure you turn the meat and cook each side.

Stage 2

We now need to put some oil in a dutch oven or decent size saucepan, the Ribs’s are going to braise for 4 1/2 hours at 125 Deg (fan), 145 Deg (Convection) and the meat needs to be covered so use this as you guide as to the size of pan to use.

Firstly, fry the shallots until the develop some colour, about 5 – 10 minutes. Then, add the toasted dry spices and continue to fry gently, you will start to smell the heady aromas fill the air. Then add the sliced Galangal, Ginger and Lemongrass, continuing to cook gently, then the two halved Garlic heads, and Chilli’s.

At this stage it should look something like the picture above. You want to cook the spice mix gently so nothing burns but hard enough to extract the flavour oils from the ingredients. Now set your oven to 125 deg/145deg to warm up.

After 10 – 15 minutes start to add the wet ingredients, starting with the Soy Sauce, Fish Sauce, Rice Wine etc. Then a bunch of coriander, finish with the sugar, then the Chicken Stock at the end and put the Ribs in, ensuring the are covered completely. Finally add the Lime juice.

You now need to get a piece of Tin Foil, doubled in half, that covers, and overlaps your pan. This is going to be used to seal the pan with the lid firmly pressed on top. Then place in the oven, set the timer for 4 /12 hours and go and put your feet up!!

Stage 3

After 4 1/2 hours, remove the pan from the oven and take out the ribs and place in a container and stick in the fridge, covered with foil or a Plastic container with lid. Drain the remaining sauce through a strainer and also place in the fridge overnight.

You will have noticed in the 1st picture, there is a decent amount of fat on the ribs, the slow braising will have rendered the fat into the sauce and in the morning you will have a ‘fat lid’, sitting on the sauce. The following morning, take the meat and sauce out of the fridge, gently remove the fat and strain the sauce to remove as much of the fat as possible.

This is what mine looked like before sieving the sauce to remove the remaining bits of fat which you can see floating on the surface. The colour has changed significantly into a deep rich brown colour, partly as a result of the browning stage (Monsr Maillard again!).

Once this is done, the meat on the left needs to go into the sauce, to marinade for a few more hours to further develop the flavours. Cover the pot with cling film or foil and pop it back into the fridge until you are ready to complete the final stage. It will take about 45 – 60 minutes at 160 deg/180deg before the ribs are ready to eat, so you can plan when dinner is served and when you need to be back in the kitchen.

Stage 4

Almost done! Set the oven to 160deg/180deg and remove the meat/sauce from the fridge about an hour before you are ready to cook to bring it up to room temperature. To go with the beef I was going to do some equally fragrant Rice and Bok Choi.

Take a saucepan, and put some water on to boil, you will need a Jasmine Tea bag, 1 star anise, kaffir lime leaves (2) and a couple of slices of Galangal. I left the tea bag in the water for a couple of minutes before removing, the remainder of the spices had a good 30 minutes in the pan. Thats the infusion completed, just follow the instructions on the rice packet, mine needed about 10 minutes.

The Bok Choi was quartered lengthways, and put in a pan with a glug of hot oil, followed by a splash of water to create a steam. I chucked in a couple of cloves of garlic that had been bashed, a splash of Shaoxing Rice Wine, similar of light Soy sauce and a little sugar to counterbalance the salty Soy.

Finish the Bok Choy with a twist of fresh cracked pepper and you are done. The beef can be removed from the pot, and set aside in a covered dish and left in a warm oven whilst you finish off the sauce. You may find its still a bit thin so you can reduce it on a hob, and use a little Cornflour or Arrowroot and water to thicken. Drain the rice and you are ready to serve.

To add some further texture elements I dry fried some Cashew nuts and Red Chilli for a bit of punch, and fried some prawn crackers and dusted with 5 spice powder to accompany the ribs. All you need to do now is serve the meat/rice/sauce and vegetable on a warm plate and experience a tasty, sumptuous exotic meal, all prepared by your own hands and not breaking the bank!

So there you have it, Beef Short Ribs, with a fragrant sauce and assorted accompaniments, delicious.

Go on, have a go yourself.

แกงมัสมั่น – Kaeng Matsaman or Thai Massaman Curry ‘via Djerba’!

Posted on November 17, 2013 by julianrolfe

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted a blog, illness, and holiday eating up time like a ‘Hungry Monk’! Holiday took the family to the island of Djerba, nestling off the coast of Tunisia it was truly awesome. I’ve been to Tunisia 3 times, my 21st birthday (many years ago), a tour with the boss a few years back where we visited many historic sites from the roman occupation and a couple of Star Wars sets too, now was the time to take our son for a weeks all-inclusive winter sun. We were not let down, the weather was +30 degs every day and the food was truly awesome.

Traditional food such as the Couscous Royale was on offer, you can see the spicy Merguez sausages and Chicken pieces sitting atop the Couscous, truly delicious. There were several different local dishes available each day for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner so if you wanted a truly Tunisian experience, you could immerse yourself completely.

From previous trips to Tunisia, and to be honest Egypt and Morocco, the bread is always freshly baked daily with lots of variety on offer, again we were not disappointed with a large selection always available.

One of the many benefits of a climate that encourages plants to grow, is the array of salads available, especially the tomatoes. The hotel restaurant seemed to always have at least 3 massive coolers, full of different salads, vitamin heaven especially with winter coming.

We were truly spoilt with food, many of the hot items were freshly prepared in front of you and there was enough variety for even the fussiest of eaters not to ever go hungry. At Breakfast, even the Head Chef was mucking in with his team, frying eggs and chatting with everyone, rather than hiding away in the background.

Oh, I forgot to mention the Desserts! There were 3 of the above chilled tables absolutely covered with a variety of desserts as well as a freezer cabinet with Ice Cream, Fruit and……… The Desserts were seriously awesome, and changed for each service so there was always something different to finish off lunch and dinner.

Way back in August I had probably the best curry I have eaten, at Chaophraya in Manchester. Thai Massaman Curry is a complex heady beast, with a list of ingredients as long as your arm. I wanted the boss to experience this fantastic dish, and as a trip to Manchester is out of the question at the moment why not recreate it at home!

In doing the research for this particular delight there are a significant number of recipes on the Internet and in my cook books, my version is based on what was described on the menu at Chaophraya, and a combination of several other recipes and cooking processes including in no particular order Rick Stein (Far Eastern Odyssey), Pim Techamuanvivit (Massaman Nuea Beef Massaman Curry) and Bee Yinn Low (Beef Massaman Curry).

The first job is to prepare the spice paste and your going to need a few ingredients! Please note that other ingredients are also needed to finish the dish so please read the whole blog before starting anything 😉 The quantities are enough for 4-6 people (or two hungry ones)!

10 Red Chillies
1 Tbsp Coriander Seeds
1/2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
6 Cardamom Pods
8 Cloves
5cm Piece Cinnamon
2 Pieces Mace
7 Garlic Cloves
8 Shallots
Thumbnail Piece Galangal Chopped
4 c.m. Lemongrass chopped
2 Star Anise
2 kaffir Lime Leaves vein removed
1 Tsp Fennel Seeds
15 Black Peppercorns
15 White Peppercorns
Tbsp Coriander Stalks chopped
1 Tsp Shrimp Paste (roasted in a frying pan)
1 Tsp Salt
5 Tbsp Coconut Milk

We are fortunate to have an oriental grocery not far from us, so were able to get fresh Coriander, Lemongrass, Galangal and Thai Sweet Bail which is used later on in the recipe. Barts do both Galangal and Lemongrass and is available at most supermarkets if you can’t get fresh, along with Palm Sugar and Tamarind, although you will pay more compared to an oriental shop where prices are considerably cheaper.

This is where I decided to use some different techniques, rather than just frying the Garlic, Chilli’s and Shallots, they were wrapped in tin foil and baked in a hot oven for 20 minutes (200 deg fan oven, 220 convection). Leave them to cool and then you can remove the skin on the Shallots and Garlic, remove the stalks from the Chilli’s, and using the back of a knife, by sliding from short end to long, you can ease out the seeds and membrane really easily and then roughly chop.

All the dry ‘hard’ spices are roasted in a frying pan, the other ‘wet’ ingredients such as the Galangal, Lemongrass and Coriander Stalk are chopped roughly. The Kaffir Lime Leaves need their hard centre stalk removed.

You can see the dry spices ready for a pounding, the smells in the kitchen were fragrant and intoxicating to say the least! Once you have sorted out the dry spices, do the same with the wet spices, Nutmeg and Shrimp Paste and them combine and bash like crazy, this breaks up the fibres in the Lemongrass and Galangal, you can finish off in a food processor or spice blender (I did!).

Once your spices are blended you can cover and stick in the fridge whilst we start the next stage. For the Massaman Curry you will need the following further ingredients (for 2 hungry people) .

500 Grams Lamb or Beef
1 Can (400Ml) Coconut Milk
Thumbnail piece of Galangal grated
8 whole Shallots
Good handful of Unsalted Peanuts or Cashew Nuts (My preference)
5-6 Green Cardamom pods
3 Black Cardamom pods
2 c.m. Cinnamon Stick
2 Tbsp Fish Sauce (Nam Pla) + extra to taste at end
3-5 Tbsp Tamarind Water + extra to taste at end
1 Tbsp Palm Sugar + extra to taste at end
Flavourless oil such as Ground Nut
3-4 Waxy potatoes cut into chunks
Handful of green beens (optional)
Handful of Pea Aubergines (optional)
Thai Sweet Basil to finish (chiffonade, cut into very thin strips)

First, trim the meat of any excess fat and put into a bowl with the Coconut Milk, Grated Galangal and 2 Tbsp of fish sauce and set aside for at least 30 minutes, or preferable a couple of hours in the fridge.

Take a decent saucepan or dutch oven and place on a medium heat, put in a couple of tablespoons of oil and add half the spice mix, stirring as it cooks until the mixture and oil start to split. It will look something like this.

Then add about a 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of the Coconut milk from the marinating mix and cook through exactly the same, until the mixture splits, then add the meat and the rest of the Coconut milk, the Cinnamon, Cardamom, your chosen Nuts, Palm Sugar, 2 Tbsp Fish Sauce, Tamarind and bring up to a gentle simmer. The mixture needs to cook gently for a couple of hours, I stuck mine in the oven at 130 deg fan for the 1st hour, with the lid off, then gave it a stir, put the lid on, and back into the oven for the second hour, it looked like this. The smell was MMMmmmmmmmmmmm!

After the 2 hours have passed, add the Potatoes, Green Beans and Pea Aubergines (if used), and cook for a further 30 minutes until the vegetable are cooked through.

The taste should be spicy (not too hot, but very spicy), salty, sweet, with an ever so slightly sour aftertaste, in this order. You can adjust the balance by adding Tamarind for sour, Fish Sauce for salty and Palm Sugar for sweet

I finished mine off with a sprinkling of toasted Cashew Nuts, some chiffonade of fresh red Chilli and Sweet Thai Basil, another wowzer dish it tasted fantastic and looked like thisTo go with the Massaman Curry I served some plain Rice, with chopped fresh Coriander to help temper the gutsy flavours of the dish.

A word of caution though, most of the recipes I looked at called for many more chillies than I used, so check the strength of yours first by slicing the tiniest piece and give it the taste test before committing as once they are in, you cannot take them out.

I hope you give this one a go, its worth the effort if you love food that has bags of flavour.

Till next time, alla ysalmak from Tunisia or laaeo phohp gan mai from Thailand.♥

Julian Rolfe

My Foodie Life

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