A quick trip to Valencia – Paella (A review of Steenbergs Smokey Paella Spice Blend)

Posted on August 21, 2016 by julianrolfe

I need to start this quick blog with an apology! Some time ago (last year), the lovely people at Steenbergs sent me a sample box which included a small jar of Smokey Paella Blend. Partly due to two separate visits to hospital I had completely forgotten about it (the jar is small at 10g of ingredients) and discovered it recently, so here is my experience of making NOT the national dish of Spain, but THE regional dish of Valencia!

So Paella might seem a simple dish to prepare, but it can be done very badly or really well. My usual trip to the internet and trawling the bookshelf revealed some interesting facts, the main one being our view that Paella is the national dish of Spain, in fact this is not true and actually the tasty mix of rice, protein and herbs and spices comes from the Eastern region of Spain, the Albufera Lagoon (not the holiday location in Portugal)!

So, for 2 – 4 people I used the following Ingredients:

2 Chicken Breasts (as good as you can get, chopped into 1 1/2 ” ‘chunks’)
20 (approx.) Raw King Prawns (shells removed)
1/2 Large Onion (finely Chopped)
1 Red Pepper (pith and seeds removed and chopped roughly)
6″ Chorizo (sliced about £1 coin width)
A good glug of Olive Oil
1 Clove Garlic (finely chopped)
1 Glass Wine
Zest of 1/2 Lemon
2 Tomatoes (Sliced in Half)
1 Tsp Tomato Puree
Salt to taste
3 Cups Rice ( I only had Carnaroli in the cupboard)
6 Cups Chicken Stock (I used a Knorr Stock Pot which was to hand)
2 Tsp Steenbergs Smokey Paella Spice Blend

I am not suggesting my version is original by the way, I used what I had to hand in the cupboard, and took guidance from 5 or 6 pages on the Internet, as well as a couple of books I had that showed different versions of Paella.

So the 1st stage (for me), was to get some Olive Oil into a pan and start to fry the Chorizo. When you do this, the spices that flavour the Chorizo leach out into the Oil which turns a delicious Red colour. This takes a few minutes, you want the Chorizo a bit crispy to add some texture to the dish.

Now add the chopped Pepper and fry for a couple of minutes then the Onion. You can see the Red Chorizo flavour doing its stuff on the Onions above. You want to soften things so allow about 5 – 8 minutes for this stage on a medium heat. The next few stages (in my humble opinion), are where you need to take a lot of care with the timing.

For me, the knack with this dish is to make sure each element is cooked to its best, but nothing is overcooked, we have Chicken, Prawns and Rice which all cook for different times to get right and so some thought needs to go into what we do and when.

The Rice I was using, Carnaroli is an Italian Risotto Rice so if you want to be traditional then Bomba Rice should be used, but the critical factor in my case was the 18 minutes it takes to cook which needs to be factored in with the Chicken and Prawns.

So, in goes the 2 Tsp of Paella mix and the Lemon Zest, spices need cooking out a bit 1st to extract oils and flavours. Next, take your Tomato halves and grate them into the pan, this leaves the skin behind which is not digestible, then the Tomato Puree and give it a good mix.

Turn the heat up and add the wine, you want to reduce and evaporate the alcohol. Now add the Chicken with the heat still up high and cook for a couple of minutes until the outside is browned. The bulk of the cooking will take place when we add the Rice and Stock so it’s just colour and flavour we are adding at this time.

Now add the Rice, stir a bit, then add the Chicken Stock and mix again. Check for seasoning at this point, mine needed some more salt, taste again and check it’s right. DON’T mix anymore from now on. We want to be as original as possible, apparently the finished dish should have ‘holes’ in the surface and a crispy base (I didn’t manage this and suspect I could have used a higher heat), stirring will prevent this from happening and you could end up with mushy Rice.

Finally, add the prawns and push them down slightly so they are as covered as much as possible, the heat needs to be reduced to a medium simmer at this point so the Rice can ‘sponge’ up the stock and other flavours, if you remember the Rice only needed 18 minutes to cook so at this point, I needed another 14 minutes for the dish to be ready.

When the 14 minutes is up turn off the heat, cover the dish with tea towels and leave for another 5 minutes and get your plates etc. ready. You can see the final results above, I forgot to take a ‘piccy’ of the plated results as it was just too tasty to leave alone!!

You can see the Rice is cooked, but not ‘claggy’, the Chicken was soft and just cooked, the Prawns were amazing, again soft and not rubbery, which happens if you take them too far in the cooking process.

From start to finish this Paella took about 45 minutes, including the chopping, cooking and resting. The results were delicious, there was two much for the two of us in reality, this amount could feed 4.

The Steenbergs Smokey Paella Spice mix did its stuff, I added some Garlic as we both like Garlic, and I though the Lemon Zest would complement the Prawns in a subtle way.

When my little jar is finished, I will certainly be adding it to the next order, it’s a great mix of 2 different Paprikas, Garlic, Onion, Rosemary, Saffron and Black Pepper and comes highly recommended.

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

Earl Grey is Not Just For Drinking – My Take on Kashmiri Pilaff, Mums Masala King Prawn Curry And Kachumber

Posted on July 29, 2015 by julianrolfe

Its been a while since the last posting mostly due to some health challenges which are being sorted, as a result of having to put work on pause, much time has been spent looking at cookery books, watching cooking on T.V. digging for some inspiration to get into the kitchen, and generally ‘chilling’ out (Doctors orders!). My last post was a review of ‘Steenbergs’ Nasi Goreng mix, which had been sent to me as part of a tasting panel and very good it was too. Since then I have also had the opportunity to try their Organic Lemon Oil, in a home made Chilli, you can see the rest of the ingredients below. Apologies for the picture quality in this post btw, its proof that my beloved Nokia Lumia 1020 takes better pictures than an iPhone 6 in kitchen conditions, (unless I am doing something wrong that is)!
The Chilli was the usual mix of Mince Beef, Tomatoes and a trusty can of those well known Beans but the magic was in the mix of spices above. Five (yes 5) different types of Chilli, both whole (thanks to the South Devon Chilli Farm), dried, care of Steenbergs and The Spicery (who also do Piment d’Espelette, a very special French Basque Pepper) which is quite challenging to get hold of. I might post the recipe one day but its really easy and very tasty so maybe have a go yourself using the ingredients above and just add slowly and keep tasting. The three whole chillies were Ancho Mulato, Chipotle Morita and Pasilla, soaked in hot water for about 20 minutes, I removed the seeds and chopped them up before adding to the Chilli.

Anyhow, back to the Curry and Pilaff, this is where the idea came to try another of the tasting panel samples from Steenbergs, the Fairtrade Organic Earl Grey Tea. I decided to steep the Golden Raisins (Part of the Rice Pilaff), in the Tea, about 1/2 an hour did it becoming soft, juicy and fragrant. The following ingredients will be needed for the Kashmiri Pilaff and was inspired by a similar recipe in Anjum Anands ‘New Indian’ cookbook.

2 Pouches Ready Cooked Rice (I used Basmati, this recipe is really quick!)
1/4 Tsp Cumin Seeds
5-7 c.m. Length of Cinnamon Bark
4 Cloves
1 Bay Leaf
1 Handful Ready Fried Onions (Or 1 Onion, chopped and fried until Brown and Crispy)
15-20 Grams Almond Flakes
15-20 Grams Pistachio Nuts, Lightly Crushed in a Pestle & Mortar
10 – 15 Grams Golden Raisins
1 Large Cup of Earl Grey Tea (Steenbergs Organic is very good and Drinks well too)
4 Green Cardamon Pods
1 Pinch Afghan Saffron (Steenbergs do this and it supports and excellent cause, click Saffron to find out more)
2 Tbls Hot Milk (The Saffron Steeps in this for 10 minutes to extract flavour and colour)

The whole meal takes no more than 30 minutes to prepare, including the ‘Kachumber’ salad side dish. The spices need frying to release their flavours so pop all the spices into a pan with a small amount of Ghee and cook over a medium heat until you can smell the aromas filling the kitchen, about 5 minutes. Next add the handful of crispy fried onion and cook gently for another couple of minutes just to warm through.

In a separate pan you can prepare the Prawn Curry, which is really easy and takes no time at all thanks to Mum’s Masala. The sauce base needs cooking for 5 minutes before adding the Prawns (or other protein), and then cooking for a further 5 minutes, then adding some water as per the instruction on the bottle and continuing until the protein is cooked, it’s as easy as that. I did my usual trick of adding some extra Kashmiri Chilli as I like my food slightly more spicy.

I mentioned ‘Kachumber Salad’ was to be included with this particular meal, a very simple dish mine was a Jack Hawkins Tomato thinly sliced, 1/4 of a Cucumber, de-seeded and thinly sliced, 1 small Red Onion thinly sliced, 3/4 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds, dry roasted in a frying pan, a glug of Rice Wine Vinegar, about 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon of Kashmiri Chilli powder, 1/4 teasppon of Chilli Flakes and some chopped Coriander leaves, that’t it.

The kitchen should now be smelling very aromatic indeed, the spices nicely cooked, the Onion adding a sweetness and crispy texture to the Pilaff, the next stage is too add the Rice. For speed I chose a couple of packets of pre-cooked Basmati Rice which are easily available and take no time at all to prepare, in this case all we need to do is squeeze each pouch to separate the grains and tip the Rice into the pan, mixing thoroughly with the spices and Ghee.

Almost done now, the rest of the ingredients can be added, the Saffron Milk, Nuts and Earl Grey Tea steeped Golden Raisins (remember to drain the Raisins 1st, you don’t want to add the Tea into the Rice!!).

So it seems the Saffron is quite significant, which I found out whilst doing my usual research for this post. This saffron comes from a women’s association in Afghanistan which is promoting growing saffron as a viable alternative to opium growing. Now that’s really cool, but there is another twist in this story which only became clear when I looked at a map of the region. Kashmir is the north western region of South Asia and borders Afghanistan so geographically related, not something I had realised when I started this tasty dish.

So there you have it, once you have added the rest of the ingredients you only need a couple more minutes and everything is good to go. Again apologies for the pictures, I will be going back to the trusty Nokia in future as the results are some much better,

The Kasmiri Pilaff was delicious, had good texture and the Earl Grey steeped Raisins were amazing adding a slightly fruity shot of flavour with a citrus note. The Curry was as good as before and the Kachumber salad provided some contrast and a cooling element. In fact the mixing of hot and cold temperatures and sweet and spicy food works extremely well, as I have found out before with an Ottolenghi inspired dish that I did last year.

So thanks to Anjum (and Rick Stein for the Kachumber), have a go, it’s delish.

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

So the Saffron is quite significant, which I found out whilst doing my usual research for this post. This saffron comes from a women’s association in Afghanistan which is promoting growing saffron as a viable alternative to opium growing. Now that’s cool, but there is another twist in this story which only became clear when I looked at a map of the region.Kashmir is the north western region of South Asia and borders Afghanistan

Nasi Goreng, Testing Steenbergs Spice Blend – (Awesome)

Posted on June 7, 2015 by julianrolfe

As you will notice I tend not to use spice blends or ready made sauces in my cooking, there are a few exceptions such as رأس الحانوت (Ras el Hanout), which is a North African version of Garam Masala as used in Indian cuisine, and the recent use of the award winning Mums Masala Sauce which was very good and well worth the venture.

Before my recent break abroad, I received a parcel in the post from the lovely people at Steenbergs. I have had the pleasure of meeting Sophie and Axel the owners, and toured their premises as part of a review a while back, so some sample testers with the opportunity to provide feedback was an offer I could not resist. My first ‘test’ is a Spice blend for Nasi Goreng, a mix of 8 spices which were nestling in the jar below (obviously the picture is after the cooking!!).

You may recall a Delia Smith series when she ‘cheated’ making some typical dishes but using some shortcuts to reduce the time in the kitchen, well this is my version of ‘Cheats’ Nasi Goreng, otherwise known as Indonesian Fried Rice.

The shortcuts make use of pre-prepared rice (I used Basmati), some Fried Onions I had picked up at my oriental supermarket earlier in the week, (they were an epiphany and I think I will be using them more often), and the Nasi Goreng Spice mix.

Having done some research on Nasi Goreng there were some other ingredients I would need to use in order to add some authenticity, (I am not saying the spice blend was not authentic, far from it), but traditional Nasi Goreng contains at least one more key ingredient, Kecap Manis (Indonesian Soy Sauce).

Kecap Manis has the addition of Palm Sugar, and has been featured before on my blog, in dishes such as Babi Kecap. It is thick and gloopy and was the only other ingredient that would be cooked with the Rice and Spices, well expect for some spring onions, cut at an angle!!

So for this dish, for two hungry people you will need.

2 Packets Pre-prepared Rice
1 Large Chicken Breast (or any other protein you fancy) cut into 1 inch pieces
1 Lemon Grass Stalk
2 Inches Galangal
2 Cloves garlic
10 grms Steenbergs Nasi Goreng Spice Blend
6 Birds Eye Chilli’s (seeds removed and chopped very finely)
1 Bunch Coriander (Chopped Finely)
2 Eggs
1 small cup (approx.) Crispy Fried Onions
3 Spring Onions, cut at an angle
1 Lime (used as a condiment in the finished dish)
2 Tbls (approx.) Kecap Manis
Salt and Pepper to taste

The Chicken needs marinading in the Galangal, Garlic and 1/2 the Birds Eye Chilli (3), and the Lemongrass, chop everything as small as you can and add along with 1/4 of the Kecap manis, stir and put aside whilst you prepare the other ingredients.

Nasi Goreng usually (always), has an Egg component. Rick Stein added a Fried Egg to his version of the dish, I was going to adopt a different approach and make a ‘Coriander’ Omelette, with some Birds Eye Chilli’s to add some spice.

Take your 2 Eggs and whisk, adding a really good hand full (check the picture above, you want lots), of chopped Coriander, add Salt to Season and the remainder of finely chopped birds eye Chilli’s (3). So the result was not too greasy, I put some oil in to a frying pan, and then wiped it with kitchen paper just to leave a thin layer. Use a medium heat as you don’t want to overcook the Omelette, flip and then cut into small squares about 1 c.m. as you can see in the picture above, next to the Spring Onions with the Nasi Goreng mix looking impatient!!

In order to ‘taste test’ the Steenbergs spice blend I needed to separate the cooking stages, the marinated Chicken cooked in one pan, whilst the impatient Spice Blend got added to the Basmati Rice, with the Spring Onion (another texture component), the Chicken should be cooked in 2 – 3 minutes, whilst the Rice is getting its treat in the other pan.

Add the remaining Kecap Manis to the Rice and mix well, remember we want to preserve as best we can, the different flavours elements to get the most out of this dish.

Halfway through cooking the Chicken I used an Egg Slice to half the Chicken pieces, giving them a final 30 seconds to 1 minute to finish. You don’t want to overdo this stage, the Chicken should be soft and moist, not dry and chewy.

There are some further garnishes you can add to the finished dish, Sliced Cucumber, and the same of Tomato. I had some speciality ‘Kumato‘ variety from the Isle Of Wight, and some Organic from Riverford, use the best you can get as it adds even more interest to this flavourful medley.

Almost done now, this dish is actually very quick to put together.

The cooked Chicken is added to the Rice at the last minute, the Coriander Omelette added, and everything ‘gently’ combined, you don’t want to mix the flavours together, the Chicken will have some spice and pungency, the Rice, flavoured with the spice blend and Kecap Manis will have its own flavour profile. The Omelette adding its own to the dish, with more hits of Chilli and the fragrant Coriander.

When plating up, you can arrange the Cucumber Overlaying the Tomato (or Vice Versa!), the Kumato variety are the darker slices, then sprinkle the fried crispy Onion over the top and add a wedge of Lime to season as you like.

So, my verdict on the Nasi Goreng spice blend provided by Steenbergs, absolutely amazing. As with their Ras el Hanout which I use lots of, each component is blended separately so not only do you get taste and flavour, you get texture as well.

As I said from the outset, I am not a fan of spice blends but this one WILL be added to my next Steenbergs order. The speed at which the Nasi Goreng was produced, along with the really lovely flavour which resulted is well worth the investment.

If you want to try some and have a go at the recipe above then look HERE

Thanks to Sophie and Axel for the sample, now onto the Organic Lemon Oil.

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

Making Good Taste Better – Welcome to Steenbergs!

Posted on June 12, 2014 by julianrolfe

As many of you already know, I am quite fussy about sourcing ingredients from artisan, ethical and small businesses rather than the usual brands that have taken over the UK like a rabid pestilence (you know who I mean!). With the recent (and historic) food scandals around meat, my 1st port of call for protein is always Casey Fields Farm Shop, part of Vicar’s Game who can supply almost anything (and knows exactly from where, and what it comes from!). But in order to enhance ANY recipe then you need Herbs and Spices, this maybe just Salt or Pepper but even the most basic of additions to a meal need some consideration to get the best flavor.

So for Herbs, Spices and other flavor enhancers my 1st port of call is STEENBERGS, in fact it probably is my ONLY place of call, unless I forget to order something when my current stock is depleted!

Steenbergs Organic is a family-run, friendly firm committed to Fairtrade, the environment and people. It was set up in 2003 by Axel and Sophie Steenberg in North Yorkshire and this week I had the privilege of popping in on my way to a meeting in Darlington. Just to be clear, I was not asked to do a review, received no gifts or favours (other than sharing a nice cup of tea with Axel), but from a personally perspective wanted to understand more about a supplier I use on a regular basis, and pass on my own view of the experience.

Sourcing Herbs and Spice’s is not easy, as I was to find out from Axel as we went from room to room. It was a 3 1/2 drive to Melmerby, near Ripon in North Yorkshire where Steenbergs are located, after I arrived, I completed the mandatory health/sickness declaration, donned a cloak and hair net, and we started the tour. Sophie, Axel’s partner (in both marriage and business), was busy applying the finishing touches to a box of the distinctive glass jars that are used to store the various products, the final blue seal. Legislation has an interesting impact on importing food products. You would imagine that Cardamom, Pepper, Sumac etc. would arrive in ‘romantic’ hessian sacks, but no, thanks to the EU and other legislative bodies, vacuum packing is the order of the day and the 1st task as soon as a shipment arrives, is to remove the plastic to prevent the product from sweating and going off!

Steenbergs have in excess of 200 items, I mentioned Salt and Pepper earlier and you are spoilt for choice (and flavor). Kala Namak – Indian Black Salt, Pyramid Finger Salt From Pakistan, Murray River Pink Salt from Australia, Lava Red Hawaiian Sea Salt enriched with A natural mineral called “Alaea” (baked volcanic red clay), they all have different flavor profiles and searching on Steenbergs VERY comprehensive website you can find details and descriptions on how to match the product with food, and importantly details about the sourcing. On the Pepper front you can choose from Tasmanian Mountain Pepper Leaf ( a new one for me!), Southern Sumatran Lampung Black Pepper, Madagascan Wild Pepper, Tasmanian Mountain Pepper (Very Hot), Piper retrofactum (Long Pepper from Indonesia) as well as ‘normal’ varieties.

Steenbergs, because of the size and family nature of the business are VERY flexible about obtaining new Herbs and Spices. Because they are not buying bulk anonymous products by the Ton, but locating ingredients at source in smaller quantities, they are keen to try and locate unusual and difficult to get ingredients for their customers, a really personal touch.

Whilst we were touring the facility I asked a question about Saffron, the most expensive Spice in the world. Steenbergs have several on offer including one from AFGHANISTAN, please click and find out how they are helping change a village and impacting on the illegal drug trade, its a truly amazing story.

The aromas as we walked around the factory were intoxicating, the machine above delivers precise amounts of Herbs or Spices into the jars before labeling, the picture was taken as a Madras Curry Powder mix was going through the process, mmmmmm.

Steenbergs sell Herbs, Spices and their own blends, which introduced another really interesting (and artisan) feature. If you look at the majority of Spice blends in the shops, the powder is the same size (with a very few exceptions), Steenbergs blends are personal to them, so the Ras al-Hanut (one of my favourites), has over 20 different ingredients AND they are texturally different, making for a better eating experience.

Whilst on the subject of Ras al-Hanut, if you take some butter puff pastry, preferable home-made but quality shop bought is OK, some decent Sausage Meat from a Butcher (NOT the pink stuff that fills cheap Sausages), add a tablespoon of Steenbergs Ras al-Hanut and mix well you are on your way to the BEST SAUSAGE ROLLS EVER, please try them they are just fantastic.When I made the sausage rolls above as an experiment, and gave one to the ‘boss’ to try, the look on her face said it all, expletives excused bl@@dy delicious!!

So, some of the values that drive the Steenbergs business include ensuring there is personality in the Spice Mixes, Family Village sourcing and having an impact on local communities, flexibility, connecting to real people in remote places, not driven by price….

Steenbergs have some very large well known brands as their customers, and some famous people and chefs too. I won’t say who due to client confidentiality but unfortunately I had to depart and get to Darlington, so said farewell to Axel and his family of workers. If you want to impart and enhance flavour in your cooking then I know what I do, please give them a go, thanks Axel and Sophie for allowing me behind the scenes (and for the tea!).

Till next time……L8ers

Foodie Memories of 2013, Puglia & The Pukka Pakistani

Posted on January 5, 2014 by julianrolfe

As the new year starts, some thoughts on what happened in my foodie life during 2013, and the culinary skills learnt and food eaten seems appropriate.

It all started in May, and my weeks ‘vacation’ to Masseria Montenapoleone in Puglia, Southern Italy. Learning to cook with a local traditional Mama, on an Organic Farm, loads of new skills and techniques were learnt, including how to create Orcchiette by hand, NO pasta machine in site.

This was followed by Strascinate, Braciole, Foccacia, Risotto & Polpettie di Carne, the week flew by but much was learnt about how to get the best from simple ingredients.

I have always been a bit of a foodie, but the week in Italy only encouraged me to be more adventurous and experiment with new tastes, flavours and recipes. You can find the start of the original posting here http://wp.me/p3LgUf-r

June, July and August was influenced by a number of chefs, the awesome Bethany Kehdy, Yotam Ottolenghi, Tomasina Miers and William Harcourt-Cooze to name a few! The direction of travel was mainly the Middle East and South America.

One of my favourite dishes was the one above, care of Bethany, Aubergine Veal and Yoghurt Crumble and was served with Bejewelled Rice.

The Middle Eastern Chicken on Flatbread with Fattoush was also a delicious venture into the Middle East, a truly delightful meal.

The next venture was Spain, care of Omar Allibhoy and his book, ‘The Tapas Revolution’. Various dished were prepared including Pinchos, Tortilla, Braised Pork Cheeks, Mackerel Escabeche and Padron Peppers.

During 2013 I started a new job and it became a bit of an excuse to try some baking, cakes at team meetings became quite popular! There were a couple of particular favourites, but the one that seemed to create the greatest impact was my variation on a Chocolate Brownie, but layered with Fresh Raspberries.

This is before the final layer of cake mix was put over the top. Despite it seeming to weigh quite heavy, it was extremely light, thanks to the Balloon Whisk attachment on the Kenwood Chef which was used to whip the cake mix to a frenzy.

On the dessert and pie front practise and guidance from Richard Bertinet’s book ‘Pastry’, enabled the delivery of some classic dishes such as the Frangipane and Apple Tart above, and the Chicken Pie below!

I have only made Rough Puff Pastry once, so the first attempt at proper Puff Pastry, whilst time consuming was well worth it, the results were awesome (even if I say so myself!). The Pie which was made from scratch was the best I have ever made, and I will be repeating the exercise sometime in 2014, but with a different filling.

After a fantastic meal in a Thai Restaurant on business, I was keen to recreate a particular favourite dish of mine, Massamam Curry. Having an Oriental Store no more than 45 minutes away enabled authentic and fresh ingredients to be sourced and the flavours were truly delicious.

Then we ventured to Pakistan, I was booked on a course with the amazing cook Sumayya Jamil and learnt some more skills around making Massala’s and got to cook a genuine Biryani from scratch (amongst other amazing dishes). I really recommend her courses, SJ has a breadth of knowledge passed down the family, and its a really great way to learn new skills, and get to better understand a lesser known cuisine.

So my whistle stop tour of the year is complete, food inspirations in no particular order from Bethany Kehdy, Ren Behan, Yotam Otolenghi, Richard Bertinet, Maria Elia, Rachel Khoo, Omar Allibhoy, Stephane Renaud, Sumayya Jamil and many others, with various visits to restaurants has inspired me to continue the adventure.

It goes without saying that my foodie adventure is only possible thanks to some fantastic suppliers, Caseys Farm Shop where the protein comes from, Riverfords for Organic Fruit & Veg, the BEST Spices and specialist products like Freekeh and Mograbieh, from Steenbergs and Ottolenghi’s online stores.

Here’s to more foodie life in 2014, thanks for following.

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.

Dont’ be so cheeky, Evuna & Sapporo

Posted on September 14, 2013 by julianrolfe

Another manic week has flown by and went something like; Drive to London, get replacement laptop, drive to Manchester, eat in nice restaurant, next day all day team meeting (made them my chocolate and raspberry special, went down very well!), fly to Glasgow, attend breakfast meeting, have update session with colleagues, fly back to Manchester, eat in another nice restaurant, next day present to decision makers with colleague, drive back home……..!

I had a clean out in the herb/spice cupboard a couple of weeks back and placed an order on my favourite specialist supplier Steenbergs, luckily they arrived in time for last weekends cookery experiment and I was looking forward to trying something a little different.

What I love about Steenbergs is that you know where the contents originate from, unlike the anonymous brands in the supermarkets. Amongst the regular well known products I also ordered some more unusual spices, you may notice Kala Namak (Black Salt), Ajwain (Bishops Weed) and Blue Mallow (Creeping Charlie) this is in readiness for a cookery course I am attending in November run by Sumayya Jamil, known as the Pukka Paki if you are on twitter.

I have recently become a ‘cheek’ fan, after being blown away by one of the Tapas dishes I cooked for our Silver Wedding Anniversary a couple of weeks ago. I remember having an Ox Cheek in the freezer that I bought a couple of months back, it was ideal for a slow cooking experiment I wanted to have a go at.

This is an asian inspired dish, with a hint of mexico thrown in for good measure and embraced by the french love of red wine!

Cooking Ox cheeks is a Long, Slow process. It took about 7 hours to complete this particular culinary delight but blimey, it was really worth it, and with new spices to add depth and flavour, lets get started.

You will need; Onions, Carrot, Celery, Tomatoes, Chipotle Chilli’s, Red Wine, Beef Stock, Red Wine Vinegar, Tomato Puree, Star Anise (I ending up using 2), Black Peppercorns (I used 10 Lampung Indonesian), Clove (about 2-3) Cinnamon Stick (a quarter of a stick), Parsley and Thyme and some Maldon Sea Salt. You will also need some seasoned plain flour to dredge the Ox Cheek in prior to cooking.

Before starting, put the kettle so you can soak the Chipotle Chillis (2) for 20 minutes, and get the Beef Stock ready, fresh is fab but I used a Low Salt Organic Kallo stock cube which you can get in most supermarkets, you need 1/2 pint. Also, set you oven to 125 degrees (fan).

First, cut the cheek into approximately 1 inch cubes and dredge with the seasoned salt. Take a large casserole or dutch oven and fry the cheeks in butter and olive oil until browned, and remove from the pan.

Chop the Onion, Carrot and Celery into small chunks and add to the pan, cooking on a lowish heat for 5 -10 minutes until soft. Add the peppercorns (crushed), 2 Star Anise, 2 – 3 Cloves, a quarter length of Cinnamon stick and cook for a couple of minutes, the aroma’s will delight your senses. Add the Thyme and Parsley next, and a tablespoon of Tomato Puree cooking for a further 2 – 3 minutes.

Now put the cheeks back into the pan, chop the chipotle chilli’s in half and add them too, half a bottle of Red Wine goes in and simmer, reducing by half, then add the Beef Stock and about 2 tablespoons of Red Wine Vinegar.

At this stage it should look something like the picture above, and be filling the kitchen with fantastic aroma’s. You now need to make a ‘Cartouche’ out of greaseproof or baking parchment. Take a square of paper larger than the pan and scrumple it up, then un-scrumple and put into the pan so the paper is touching the total surface of the liquid, and it should also come up the sides, a bit like a lid. The cartouche prevents a skin forming on the surface of the liquid. Finally, put the lid on the pan and place in the oven for 5 – 6 hours, I checked mine at the 3 hour level to see how the sauce was reducing.

To accompany this very rich dish I decided on Saffron and Garlic Infused Mash Potato, and French Beans wrapped in Panchetta. Take a quarter cup of Full Cream Milk, and add a pinch of Saffron and a couple of lightly crushed Garlic Cloves, I prepared mine when the Ox Cheeks went into the Oven, and stuck the jug in the fridge to infuse for several hours.

After 5 – 6 hours, take the Cheeks out of the oven, put back on the hob on a low heat and remove the lid and cartouche. Its now a judgement on how thick you want your sauce to be, I cooked slowly whilst the potatoes were boiling so approximately 30 minutes.

I like James Martin’s approach to Mash Potato, adding loads of butter not forgetting the infused Milk from the fridge, passing through a tea strainer to remove the Garlic and Saffron Stems. Served with a decent bottle of Red Wine this dish is outstanding, the boss, who was not keen on the idea of eating Ox Cheeks loved it, as did I. Its a long slow cook but the results are fantastic, I shall be revisiting this one in the winter months for sure.

Evuna – A Little Taste Of Spain

The 1st stop during my manic week was Evuna in Manchester. After a busy day the thought of some light Spanish Tapas was very appealing, so a table reserved for 7:45 was just what the Doctor ordered. Evuna is located in Deansgate, Manchester and was a 15 minute walk from the hotel. Spanish waiters and waitresses make this place special, they know what they are talking about and provide fantastic service. Evuna is quite unique as they also specialise in importing excellent wines from Spain, which you can purchase to take away, as well as drink with your meal.

Gallego Merluza (Galacian Style Hake), and Albondigas were delightful. The Hake was coated in a very light batter and served with a delicious Vegetable stew, very very tasty, the Albondigas (Pork & Beef), served in a Wine and Tomato sauce were equally delish. The restaurant style is very homely, with shelves of wine acting as a atmospheric backdrop. Evuna has Wine events throughout the year, and specials on the menu each week, I had a very tasty red to go with my food.

To accompany the Hake and Albondigas I had ‘Las mejillas de cerdo’ (guess what, Pork Cheeks), I just had to try them after cooking my own, and the Ox version the previous day. These were downright fantastic, light, soft and jam packed with flavour i had made a good choice. The Patatas (Evuna’s style chips) were served with a mayonnaise which worked very well.

All in all, a fantastic evening with great food. Well recommended and worth a second visit, maybe a third and fourth!

Sapporo – Teppanyaki Done Well

I landed back in Manchester on Wednesday evening, and was looking forward to trying Sapporo, a Teppanyaki Restaurant 10 minutes taxi from the hotel. Teppanyaki is a Japanese style of show cooking that is done on a hot plate like the one below at Sapporo. All the guests sit around the outside whilst the Chef prepares the food in front of you.

For my starter, it was really difficult to choose as there is so much on offer. Hiyashi Wakame (seaweed in a sesame dressing), Gyoza (Grilled dumplings served with soy dipping sauce), Ebi Tempura (King Prawn in a very light and crispy batter), in the end I opted for Nigiri Sushi (in my case fried Soft Shell Crab, Rice and Nori Seaweed, topped with spicy Tobiko sauce), Tobiko is Flying Fish Roe!

OMG, It’s impossible to describe how tasty they were just mind blowingly fantastic and the presentation was stunning as you can see in the picture above.

On to the mains and this was where the fun really started. Our Chef had done his ‘mise en place’ whilst we were devouring our starters, and as we finished we were all asked how we liked our food cooked (where needed), and he started to cook the saute potatoes which was part of the show.

Lightly seasoned, the Chef beckoned us in turn, to open our mouths as he flipped portions of Saute Potato into the air, what a laugh that was, some missed, eventually hit the spot with a couple of people catching with their hands, It was great fun. The Chef served each of us with the Potato’s which we started to eat as he prepared Stir Fried Vegetable.

We were warned to stand back as he turned the overhead light out and flamed the hot plate, whoosh and the flames licked the ceiling!

We were the served the Vegetable’s which we also started to eat, this is the way they do it Teppanyaki Style, as each element is served you start to eat, like Chinese Cuisine, Meat is a small part of a healthy vegetable ensemble. The Chef then prepared egg fried rice, juggling eggs from a bowl, into his Chef’s hat and then finally onto a cook slide which broke the egg almost in two as he layed yolk onto the hot plate in the shape of a heart…!

The protein element of my main was Yakitori Chicken dressed with Tare Sauce (which is generally made up of Mirin, Sake, Soy sauce and Sugar). Again another winner, beautiful tender grilled skewered Chicken, interlaced with Spring Onion delicately dressed with the sweet sharp pungent sauce.

Having never been to a Japanese Restaurant, this experience is one I am definitely going to have again and have already suggested a team night out, at the earliest opportunity. 10/10.

Next time, I will update you on the Ribs & Barbecue Sauce from Scratch….. Have a great week Peeps.

Julian Rolfe

My Foodie Life

Tag Archives: Steenbergs