Recipe CVI - Pork Belly Stew with Honey and Beans

How do you know when a recipe is fully rounded or not? When you have adapted it three or four times to reach the right flavour and ingredients. This recipe will take some time before it reaches its roundedness, but here is a good base from which to adapt. It is extraordinarily simple to make and your house will smell utterly delicious for hours.

Ingredients (for four people):

A medium-sized ceramic or cast iron casserole dish with a lid

Some butter for frying

500g sliced pork belly, cut into strips or left whole - your choice

4 potatoes

4 large cloves of garlic

1 onion

A cup of broad beans (but chick peas, lentils or something similar will also do)

A cup of yellow peas*

A bouquet garni (fresh herbs - sage, rosemary, thyme, etc...)

Some coarsely ground black pepper

2 tablespoons of honey

Salt and water

*fresh yellow peas are rock hard and you should either leave them to soak in water overnight before you use them, or you should cook them for at the very least 2 hours. I chose the latter, as it fit the recipe.

Instructions:

Switch the oven on to about 170°C. Put 2 of the garlic cloves in some butter and allow it to brown. Then remove the garlic from the oil. This will give your casserole a hint of garlic without overpowering it.

Then add the pork with a dusting of salt. Brown it until sealed, then add the black pepper, onion, the rest of the garlic and bouquet garni.

Give it a stir, allow the onion to sweat a little, then put in the yellow peas, broad beans, potatoes and honey. Give it a very good mixing so the yellow peas sink to the bottom. Add water until almost to the level of the ingredients, a good shake of the salt pot and bring it to the boil.

You can then put it into the oven. Give it a minimum of 2 hours, keep trying the yellow peas as they will be the last to be ready. Everything else will be so succulent and moist, and should have a prevailing taste of honey without being overbearing.

Take it out of the oven every 30-45 minutes to fill up with water and to add a sprinkle of salt.

Recipe CV - Chicken Breast in Creamy Bacon and Mushroom Sauce

Sorry for the recent lack of posts - I've had quite a lot to do recently renovating the house, painting and whatnot, and then there's the little matter of work. But now I have a dry run through to October, so I hope to pick up a little more momentum...

This recipe is so easy and a real crowd pleaser, going really well alongside the rocket salad recipe of last time. I bought a metallic frying pan last year specifically for meats. One of those that gets rustier the longer you use them. They cook meat really well and I couldn't ever imagine not using one for this type of dinner. 

Ingredients:

2 to 4 chicken breasts

Some thinly diced bacon

An onion

Some sliced mushrooms

Some cream

Some black peppercorns

Some Italian pasta or Greek krithiraki, potatoes or rice

*no salt!!!

Instructions:

Slice the chicken breast exactly as you like it. I prefer large pieces for this, but there is something to be said for fork-sized pieces. Fry the chicken breast in a little olive oil. Keep turning and pressing all the time. Season the chicken with some of the pepper. Add the bacon and onions for about five minutes before transferring them to their own pan.

Add the mushrooms and a little more pepper. After some time you will need to add the cream. Do you want to reduce the sauce? Put it in early. Do you want to have a lot of cream? Put it in 5-10 minutes before serving.

In the meantime, boil the pasta, and keep turning the chicken!!

To present, this is the perfect recipe to think about ways of making the dish attractive and appetising. I like to serve the sauce in a round mini-bowl on the plate, so people can make up their minds where to pour it. Some like it on their meat, some on their side dishes, me all over...

The sauce is salty enough, so don't worry about that. It is just the base - do some experimenting: you could also add ground or whole green peppercorns, white wine or so many other things to it.

Recipe CIV - Rocket Salad

A few days ago, I read something from a Mr Lobstermuncher of Beckenham, Kent, along the lines of "Rocket Salad is rubbish", or words to that effect. Anyhow, I beg to disagree, Mr Lobstermuncher. Rocket salad is really tasty, but that means doing something with it. I have often wondered why kids don't want to eat veggies and salad - if they're so dull and lifeless, I wouldn't want to eat them either. I mean, you wouldn't have ever drunk tonic on its own unless you had spent some time convalescing in the 19th century, so that's why people add vodka or gin. The same goes for salads. Most leaf salads are quite bitter if you do nothing to them. Here's a little suggestion using ingredients nearly everyone has in their kitchens, or are easy to obtain.

Ingredients:

Some rocket salad

Some olive oil

Some balsamic vinegar

(Oil : Balsamic ratio = 3 : 2)

1-2 tsp brown sugar in a bowl

20-30 raisins or sultanas

4-5 hazelnuts

Some ground black pepper

2 cloves of garlic (cut into pieces)

Some grated slices of hard cheese like Cheddar, Parmesan, Manchego, Leicester, etc...

Instructions:

Take the olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, the pepper and garlic, and pour them in the bowl with the sugar. Give them a gentle swirl with a spoon until it's all mixed up.

Take your hazelnuts and crush them with your finger, sprinkling half into the bowl with the salad, and half into the oil and vinegar mix. Cut up half of the sultanas and put them in the oil and the whole ones in the salad. Mix up the salad, then taste the oil mixture and add more of what you think (maybe sugar, maybe oil or vinegar), then pour it all over the rocket salad and toss until all the leaves are saturated.

Finally, add the cheese on top and serve with your main course!

Cherry tomatoes go very well with this dish, as do Mozzarella, basil, chives and a lot of other ingredients. If someone says, "But I don't like .....," just remember that when it's mixed up with other ingredients, it probably tastes fine. But you're going to put people off for life if you serve certain things on their own!

Recipe CIII - Cooking with Churned Butter

Churned butter (or beurre de baratte) is very, very easy to make, and it's healthier because the carcinogens found in ordinary butter are not present. You bring some very thick cream to a little under room temperature and put it in the mixer. After a little magic with some salt and ice, you'll have churned butter. I buy mine from a French delicatessen in Luxembourg, but in the end doing it at home is more satisfying and there are plenty of recipes for making it on this marvellous informative behemoth we call the Internet. Today I am going to make three things using churned butter and show you how it can enhance your cooking.

Ingredients:

2 spoonfuls of slightly melted churned butter or beurre de baratte

Some pork ribs

Salt and freshly milled pepper

A tablespoonful of churned butter

Some corn on the cob

2 cloves of garlic

Some fresh or dried herbs (I had to use dried because my fresh herbs have been suffering in the heat)

A pinch of chili powder

Some sheets of tin foil and a fork

A tablespoonful of churned butter

Some cream

Some boiled potatoes

Instructions:

Put some of the butter in a roasting tin. Take your pork ribs and spread some softened butter on the outside of the meat. Then sprinkle some crushed pepper over the top. Put it in the oven on a medium temperature (170°C) for about an hour, turning up the heat for the last 5 to 10 minutes to crisp the meat up.

Put the butter and all ingredients into a small pot and crush thoroughly until they form a consistent mix.

Take some silver tin foil and cut it to the size needed to wrap one cob of corn. In the middle where the cob will be placed, spread the butter mix so when you put the cob on it, the total outside will be covered with the butter. Wrap it up and put it in the oven too, for about 20 to 30 minutes. 

Peel and cut up some starchy potatoes, boil them in salted water and once thoroughly cooked, drain the water and add some churned butter and a small pot of cream. Mash well and serve as the bed for the pork.

Remove the pork and the corn from the oven and serve immediately.

Using churned butter enhances the flavour too. It makes everything taste that little more complete and provides some excellent flavour of its own to all meals. With your own input you can also use it as a dip or a spread.

Recipe CII - Cherry Pithivier

There are three countries in Europe renowned for their desserts and pâtisseries: the Austrians for their café cakes, the British for their puddings and pies, and the French for their imaginative desserts. This is where the French and the British overlap. If it were British, the Pithivier would be called the Bakewell Pie, as opposed to the tart and pudding versions, as it looks like a fruit pie but is with puff pastry, and it also contains frangipane.

Making cakes is not an exact science, and these measurements are open for your interpretation. My grandmother (bless her) used to just slop handfuls into mixtures until the flavour was just right.

Ingredients:

2 rolls of puff pastry, unless you want to waste a morning making your own

A cupful of cherries (I de-pipped mine, but you are welcome to leave them in - but inform hour guests!!)

Half a packet of butter, diced int blocks and allowed to reach room temperature

3 tablespoons of fine sugar

3 times the amount of crushed almonds

1 full egg and 2 egg yolks in different containers

A small amount of cherry schnapps

2 bowls of differing sizes (e.g. 10 and 12 inches / 25 and 30 centimetres in diameter) to cut out the shape of the pastry

1 sheet of oven-proof paper

Instructions:

Switch on the oven to 200°C.

Roll out the first dough sheet, and using the larger of the two bowls, gently cut around the outside. Do the same with the second sheet and smaller bowl.

Place one of the sheets they came in on a large plate (a pizza plate is a good one) and put the larger dough circle on it, followed by the second sheet and the smaller circle. Put them in the fridge while you do the next bit.

Get the butter and sugar, and using your fingers, mix them up until they are well- integrated and the mixture is fluffy and light. Add the cherry schnapps, and slowly add the flour, one egg yolk and the whole egg. Blend in until it goes the colour and texture of a scrambled egg.

Fold in the almonds bit-by-bit, making sure the mixture thickens without becoming too dry.

Put some oven-proof paper onto a baking tray. Take the pastry out of the fridge. Place the smaller of the circles on to the oven-proof paper. Smear the almond mixture over it, leaving about one inch (2.5 cm) free at the edge of the circle. Put the cherries evenly into the mixture. You could stir them in, but this way ensures you get an even spread. Around the outside of the pastry, brush some of the egg yolk on.

Place the larger of the circles on top and press together with your fingers without flattening it. Use the remainder of the egg yolk to brush over the top.

With a knife, pierce the very centre of the pastry and then make swirling, radiating lines with it.

Place it in the oven for 10 minutes at 200°C, then turn it down to 175°C for a further 30 minutes.

Leave it to cool, but while it is still warm, serve it with some thick cream or ice cream and a nice cup of coffee or tea.

This is what the inside of the second one I made looks like. The first one I haven't cut open yet because it's for tomorrow and you can only have some if you're able to get to Luxembourg!

Recipe CI - Pesto from Garden Herbs

We had a party at the weekend, and my herb garden came in pretty useful for marinades. This one is so easy to make and also so very tasty. It goes incredibly well with chicken or pasta.

Ingredients:

Rosemary

Oregano

Sage

Any other herbs you wish

1 small onion

4 cloves of garlic

Some hard cheese like Manchego, Cheddar or Pecorino

Some freshly ground black pepper

Some salt

A good amount of olive oil

Instructions:

Put everything in a blender and give them a good spin for at least two minutes.

Done!

Recipe C - Beef in Red Wine

This is the one-hundredth recipe and I want to do something special. So I decided to go back to the first one, and use a log of beef, onions, garlic and herbs. But to celebrate, I threw in a bottle of wine. 

Ingredients:

500g-1kg beef

2 onions

4 cloves of garlic

Some carrots

Some celery, but as I don't like celery, I used fennel, but leek would go well too

1 bottle of red wine

10 coarsely ground peppercorns

A bouquet garni (pick a nice assortment of fresh herbs from the garden)

Instructions:

Take all the ingredients, nicely cut, and put them in a bowl. Place the beef on top.

Pour the red wine over the top and put it (covered) in the fridge for between 6 and 14 hours.

Switch on the oven at 160°C.

Remove the beef from the marinade. Fry the outside gently in butter to seal it.

As you see from this photo, the herbs made an impression on the beef...

Remove the other ingredients from the red wine using a sieve, pouring the red wine into another bowl for later. Fry them gently in the butter from the beef.

Put the vegetables and the beef into a casserole dish, then pour over the wine.

Put it in the oven for as long as you like.

It will be very, very tender and very easy to carve, although it will reduce by half, so plan that when you buy your meat.