Steak

Sunday tea, its been a lovely warm spring day. Started off with a walk with the dog by the Thames, listening to sea birds shouting and robins and blackbirds singing.

After a visit from mum, got the steaks out for tea.

One a nice piece of Fillet steak, the other a piece of rose veal that looked like a sirloin.

Drizzled both with liquid smoke to give a hint of barbeque.

Then rubbed with olive oil some bbq seasoning and a dab of Webers dark cocoa rub with chilli.

Allow them to get up to room temperature and relax and absorb the flavours before slapping on a hot dry pan for 3 minutes a side. Dab of butter then into a warm oven to rest before serving.

Today with boiled baby new potatoes and salad.

Belief

No food this time, well maybe food for thought.

I am  a follower of Jesus the Messiah. The Christ, Yeshua Ha Moshiach.

Why is that, well, in my view the weight of evidence points to the fact that there is a creator of everything, this creator is God.

This God wants us to know him, but, he is perfect and has absolute standards.

so, In order for us to know him, we have to meet these standards, he arranged a way for that to happen way before this world was even made. He knew that we would not be able to meet his standards and so He the Creator of the universe became a man to redress our fallen state and all we have to do is accept this and take him up on his offer.

It is a bit more complicated but that is the essence of it.

Jesus is that God, he became a man and suffered horribly that we don’t have to.

If you wish to know more please email me at; Peteshomecooking@gmail.com

So once a year I go to Derbyshire to  a conference held by Moriel ministries. an organisation created by James Jacob Prasch.

So why mention this, firstly because through The Moriel website ;

I came to know the teaching of WilliamRandles ( Pastor Bill ) I thoroughly recommend his teaching, it is very thorough, biblically sound and very easy to listen to.

It can be found at his website here ; http://www.believersingracevideos.com/Recent-Messages/

as well as his blog;  https://billrandles.wordpress.com/

These two lovely men of God have very different styles of delivery and really open up the Word of God ( The Bible ) and give an added depth to anyones knowledge.

Jacob’s moriel website can be found here:

https://www.moriel.org/

and the excellent moriel tv produced, edited and uploaded by my very good friend and brother in the Lord Tim Wirth can be gotten here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAFAz3Yau0kVYdr1nZ4IFTQ

Maybe at some time I will post my story and why I believe in Christ Jesus but for now check out these guys

Apples

crumble

In this case, a crumble.

Wonderful in the autumn,delicious seasonal apples for this is use a combination of Bramleys for cooking and a desert apple barely softened for crunch.

There are so many ways you can tweak this and make it your own;

add sultanas and raisins maybe, or some nutmeg.

Strawberries and or rhubarb.

Blackberries

Lemon zest

The world is your oyster.

This one was a pretty simple apple one with brown sugar which I caramelised a little ( always thinking of depth of flavour in layers )

Its really easy and very effective so how?

for a fair sized crumble,

2-3 bramley apples, 2 cox’s or other sweet dessert apples.

just over 500 grams of fruit give or take

200 grams brown sugar

400 grams Plain flour

250 grams Butter

pinch of nutmeg

To be honest I guess the weights as I largely cook by sight, sound, smell, touch and taste.

Peel and core the apples, keep the dessert apples under water and separate from the bramleys.

cook the bramleys for a few minutes in water  to soften them up and strain them.

use them and the dessert apples to line a casserole or similar sprinkle with sugar.

Rub the butter into the flour to make something resembling breadcrumbs, stir in the sugar use the mix to coat the apples. cook the crumble mix in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes until the  crumbs are lovely and golden brown and serve with cream, custard, or in this instance ice cream.

 

 

 

Eggs Benedict

Well not eggsactly but almost.

Poached eggs on a toasted bagel with swiss cheese and ham.

Pre dog walk breakfast so I need plenty of fuel to give the dog some exercise,

so I sliced the ham and emmental cheese.

got the pan on the boil, small 1 litre pan 3/4 full of water with half a capful of white wine vinegar ( a must when the egg isn’t really fresh ) this one was a couple of days old.

Break the egg into a small bowl and let it get to near room temperature,

bring the water to the boil and swirl it around with a whisk.

Pop the bagel under the grill and lightly brown it.

Put the egg into the centre of the swirly water then put the ham and cheese onto the bagel then pop it back under the grill to melt the cheese.

the egg should cook for around 2 1/2 to 3 minutes.

Then get the bagel out, lift the egg from the water and dry it a bit.

Assemble on a plate.

there are some very nice ones to be bought or made with hollandaise sauce and whatever may take the individual chef’s fancy but this does me fine.

And the dog ( Tilly ) came back exhausted.

Food-spedition.

At least twice a year I like to go to London to visit, see the sights and eat.

I do like a selfridges brass rail reuben, but am going to try others too for comparison.

Then there is sushi and all manner of great foods from around the world, London is so multicultural and has so much to offer. One page here can’t do it justice.

We even found a katana that was designed  on a theme around the late David Bowie.

So I’ll focus on the Reuben for now and a nice day out.

The Brass rail is a salt beef bar in Selfridges, generally crowded as befits a good quality establishment serving very good food.

The salt beef is excellent and the Reuben here is sublime;

So what is a Reuben;

Basically, salt beef in a sandwich ( I recommend the rye bread ) with a sliced pickle, saurkraut swiss cheese and russian sauce.

very delicious and a must have for me.

There is also a place  also that does a nice line in cakes either some tiny bites, decorated oreo cookies or something more spectacular.

Steak. The greatest of meats

Well, maybe one of them. You can’t beat a good steak, unless of course its with a really good roast or a nicely grilled chicken or well,  meat, but this one is just about the steak.

I tend to let mine rest at room temperature for at least an hour, and cook it either au naturel or dabbed with a little olive oil and some gentle seasoning.

Now and then with a dab of BBQ sauce maybe just to give it some extra flavour.

Occasionally with a rub of either Beef stack or liquid smoke for depth.

I personally just drop the prepared item into a really hot pan for 3-4 minutes both sides

( for rare / med ) then take it out and add a dab of butter and rest it in a low oven for a couple of minutes then eat it.

With chips, salad, saute potatoes, a baked spud or sweet potatoes veg or even just in a sandwich at work.

So here goes:

Meatballs and Spaghetti

A pete’s home cooked family favourite,

delicious moist meatballs with a rich tomato based sauce with either spaghetti or sometimes with rice.

For the meatballs;

• 500 grams ground beef (mince ) with a reasonably low fat content.
• dash of liquid smoke
• salt and pepper
• 1 egg
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• about 100 grams of white breadcrumbs
• 3 desertspoons of evaporated milk

For the sauce;

• 1 carton tomato Passata ( sieved tomatoes )
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 a medium red onion
• 1/2 a teaspoon of Schwartz Italian Herb mix
• salt + pepper
• around 10 button mushrooms ( halved )
• good handful chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon tomato puree
• Beef stock ( about a desertspoon full )

In a bowl, mix the meatball ingredients.

DO NOT overwork this, handle lightly and roll into ping pong ball sized balls and set aside.  ( what I do here is to line a tray with foil ( for when the balls are browned and hot) then cover it with cling film for when the balls are raw.

Put the water on for the Spaghetti, or prep the rice to cook. ( I wont deal with these here this is just for timing )

In a nice robust frying pan;

Fry the balls in around 4 desertspoons of oil, the aim is to give them a good colour and seal them NOT to cook them at this time.

Remove the cling film from the tray and discard.

When they have a nice brown crisp coat all around lift them out and reserve them on the foil tray.

In the same pan soften the onions in the oil from cooking the meatballs, maybe add about 2 more spoons.

Add the tomato passata, and rinse the carton with about 50 mls of water

Then add the garlic, seasoning, herbs and mushrooms and a couple of splashes of Worcestershire sauce.

Add the tomato puree and beef stock cook for 10 minutes then add the meatballs back.

Put the spaghetti on if you haven’t ( I am aiming for it to cook for about 15 minutes now )

cook the meatballs and sauce for about 15 minutes moving them about gently ( not stirring vigorously)

serve when the spaghetti is ready.

Very nice with a sprinkling or Parmesan or gran Podano cheese.

I added some softened peppers to this one for an added texture and flavour profile.

Meatballs with Peppers

second Meatballs

Paella

My take on the Classic dish from Valencia.

Rich with chicken and seafood and a lovely golden yellow bejewelled with peppers and sweetcorn, with lovely layers of flavour and depth.

This  one fed around 10 with enough left to share for lunch at work next day too.

2 Chicken breasts

500 grams Raw tiger prawns

1 kilo  Fresh mussels

Tin sweetcorn

Red pepper

red onion

2 cloves garlic

2 litres of chicken stock infused with saffron

Glass of dry white wine

250 grams mushrooms

Bunch parsley chopped ( about 75 grams )

100 grams bacon or chorizo

600 grams spanish paella  rice ( bomba or bahaia maybe )

salt and  pepper

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

Pinch of mixed herbs ( I prefer schwartz Italian herb mix )

1 cup frozen peas

3 dashes worcestershire sauce

So first I prep everything, clean the mussels, make the stock, cut up the chicken, onions etc so that everything is ready and accessible.

Then sweat down the onions and mushrooms and add the garlic quite late so that it doesn’t burn ( this makes it bitter ) remove to a separate bowl

Then ;

• brown off the chicken, but not too much it will make it tough and dry mix in the bacon or chorizo
• Remove this  from the pan but keep the juices in the pan, a slotted spoon would help.
• Melt about 50 grams butter in the pan ( I use my old faithful wok ) and toast the rice, about 2-3 minutes.
• Add 3 ladles of stock ( and a glass of wine if you are using it ) stir well but gently.

reduce the stock a little then add some more ( 2 more ladles )

• add the onion / mushroom mix back.
• season and add the herbs and  worcestershire sauce add more stock gradually, stirring continuously.
• add back the chicken
• after around 40 minutes stirring and adding stir in the sweetcorn then add the mussels and prawns and cover.
• cook for around 10 more minutes
• stir in the chopped parsley
• check and adjust  seasoning
• serve with lemon wedges. 

  I added some lobster tails to this one for an added flavour.

  

  

  chop and prep

  

  Mussels and chicken

  

  chorizo and prawns

Sunday off

Its been a very long month since payday before Christmas and I had to work yesterday. So having finally been paid ( but watching the pennies ) and only having one day off decided to just chill and eat. 

So after sundays shopping, I had a gorgeous river trout from morrisons ( kudos to them by the way for excellent customer care ) 

I stuffed it with lemons and almonds then served it with some sliced pear and shaved parmegianno. Wonderful earthy winter flavours

Drizzled them with some pugluan olive oil infused with thyme. Wonderful.

Then for tea, I continued my experiments with steaks.

So a 28 day matured ribeye steak marinated in my secret blend of spices for 4 hours then cooked medium rare and served with a melange of peppers, mushrooms and onions with garlic and topped with grilled parmegianno then some roasted cubed potatoes sauteed.

It was the best one yet.

Buono appetito

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