Back to basics 2 - Roast lamb dinner

I've never cooked a roast dinner before in the traditional sense. I've cooked roast chicken with all the trimmings (thanks to Simon Hopkinson, delicious) and pie with veg and gravy a thousand times, although in my family a Sunday Roast constituted lamb or beef, occasionally pork and never chicken, so it doesn't count in my book.  I've even cooked a Christmas dinner before, but that was in China, the meat was cooked on the BBQ and I was hammered, so I can't even remember cooking much of it.  It was apparently very nice.

Why have I never cooked a roast dinner before? Probably out of fear of not doing it as well as my nana.  Nana used to cook us a roast every Sunday, and still does whenever I go to visit. Everyone thinks their family's Sunday dinner is the best, but my nana's is definitely the best. She's cooked it so many times I think she's becoming a roast dinner.  She drinks the cabbage water after the cabbage is cooked (apparently it's very good for you), and sticks her bare hands into the oven takes her roasties while it's still 200 degrees. My nana's Sunday lunch tastes unlike any other roast I've ever eaten.  Others may shudder; the slightest hint of pink sees the meat banished back into the oven for another two hours until it's murdered, and her vegetables are cooked until all the goodness is boiled out of them, sweetened with sugar and salted with, well...salt.  Sounds gross? Well, it's not.  It's bloody lush.  

So when I came up to visit my sister last week and she asked me to make here a Sunday lunch I bloody well went for it.  I wanted to jazz it up a bit but my creative flair, or whatever there is of it, had to take a back seat, as Helen wanted it all done as Nana makes it. I couldn't even honey glaze the carrots, although I was allowed to cook the lamb as it should be - rosy pink in the middle. 

I crammed a lamb shoulder with the deliciousness it deserves, ample amounts of garlic and rosemary, and served it with home-made mint sauce, roasties, roast parsnips, carrots, peas, a yummy gravy made with the meat juices and of course, Yorkshire puddings.  I know, I know, they're meant to go with beef, but what's a roast dinner without Yorkshires? 

Chocolate fondant and ice cream for dessert and that's a damn fine lunch.

Helen tucking in

Sunday lunch plus chocolate fondant makes for a full family

Food faves - Steak Frites

Another post series here - don't know whether this is down to my anal habit to categorise things or just because this post would look a bit silly on its own.  All the dishes in this series I've cooked countless times, because I love them.  Again, they're mainly simple dishes, down purely to my love of uncomplicated good food, cooked well.  

The first dish is my ultimate favourite and unbelievably simple steak and chips.

 I remember the first time I cooked it properly.  I was living in France and absolutely in my element.  I was still clinging to Elizabeth David's 'French Provincial Cooking' and Simon Hopkinson's 'Roast Chicken and Other Stories' (is there a post where I don't mention him?! I'm obsessed!) where I took all my recipes when I wasn't cooking Japanese food.  I went to the market for two pieces of entrecôte, bought a cast iron grill pan and hung onto their every word.  I made sure it was room temperature, seasoned with black pepper, brushed with oil and lay it on to the super hot pan.  After a couple of minutes (timed to the second at the time), I turned it over, added a big knob of butter to the pan and watched as it foamed up and turned a delicious nut brown.  Another minute or two and a sprinkling of sea salt and it was done.  So easy. And just beautiful.

Over the years I've improved it and made sauces to go with it but I've never strayed too far away from the original, because I just love it is.  My Dad made us tournedos rossini once and I loved it, but have never been able to make it myself.  Once I get the steak home I just can't bring myself to do it - it's just calling for a simple sauce, a few chips and a salad.  I will get round to the bigger stuff one day when I'm all grown up I'm sure.

One of my favourite things to serve with steak is aligot, a horrendously rich and gooey and yummy mashed potato dish with tomme de cantal cheese blended into it.  One plate of that stuff and you're floored, but I'll save that for another day...

On this occasion it was good old steak frites, made with onglet on the recommendation of the butcher as I was on a budget.  A little tough but so flavourful, I see why they call it butcher always wants to keep it to himself.  Accompanied by my take on beurre Café de Paris, a green salad and homemade bread, followed by chocolate pots, it was the perfect meal.  And then we followed it with a 5 hour marathon of Come Dine With Me.  Get in.  

Back to basics 1 - cheese soufflé and vinaigrette

Okay, so I'm going to start a series of posts dedicated to simple and classic food, done well.  Each week I cook food of varying degrees of difficulty from all over the world, but there still remain a few gaping holes in my repetoire that all budding amateur cooks need to master.  These are timeless dishes that I've always wanted to know how to make.  They're not always difficult, and often use the simplest of ingredients, which is another reason I'm cooking them- my cupboards are almost always empty, save the staples.

You know the kind of thing I mean. Classics - beef bourguignon, moussaka, steak and chips, a traditional roast dinner. Beyond this are a whole whack of other components and techniques that go into making a dish - puff pastry for a steak and ale pie, meringues for your baked alaska, custard for creme brûlée.  I suppose they're the kind of thing fellow foodies ask if you've made before and you always answer 'of course, all the time!' for fear of looking stupid.  Each time I perfect one of these dishes or master a skill, I feel like I've ticked another box and am one step closer to being a good cook.  Before me lines up another list of tasks to tick off the list, always slightly more difficult than the last - beef wellington, lobster bisque, meat glaze, millefeuille, pannacotta....

First up to the plate was cheese soufflé with a green salad and vinaigrette. Appalling, I know, but I have never made a soufflé before or for that matter a vinaigrette. What can I say? In China I was too busy cooking Chinese food, in uni I was too busy experimenting and in France I spent more time in the patisserie than anything else (plus I was going through this crazy Japanese cooking phase).

I think people shy away from dishes like soufflé because of an over-dramatised fear of it collapsing, which is the culinary equivalent of having 'failure' in giant letters stamped on your face. But it really wasn't that difficult, and I don't think it should be reserved for special occasions, fancy restaurants and trips back to the 80s.  Stick to the recipe as it largely relies on precision and timing, which is not usually my bag.  I stayed safe with Delia for this one (I'm not a big fan but she knows the staples), and it worked wonderfully.  Cheesy, light and fluffy, it went brilliantly with the salad and sharp vinaigrette (note: why have I never made vinaigrette before?! I think I have to put this down to always intending on doing it, then realising I have to chop more stuff when I'm already too hungry, so just dash oil and vinegar on my lettuce - oops).  Did it rise? Well, ish.  I'll let you judge for yourself...

Welsh wonders...rarebit and a welshcake

It was St. David's Day yesterday, and what a better way to celebrate my Welsh heritage with a traditional slap up Welsh meal. 

Wales doesn't exactly evoke images of gastronomic heaven, given that our national dishes essentially comprise of cheese on toast, seaweed and fruitcake.

What goes in Wales's favour however, is our itsy bitsy size and a varied landscape: verdent, lush rolling hills (thanks to that lovely rain we all relish), lots of sea, and a bucket load of countryside which enable us to benefit from wonderfully fresh and local food.  As a result, we have a range of produce which is becoming rather well known in the UK, including (but certainly not limited to) delicious cheeses, beautiful Angelesy sea salt and the jewel in the crown, succulent, spring lamb.

I think the Welsh food board should employ me as chief marketer after that plug.

With all that in mind, what did I cook for St. David's Day when I returned home from work last night? Welsh rarebit and welshcakes.  Not exactly making the most of the amazing produce I so dutifully praised a minute ago.  To be honest it was a bit of a last minute decision, only actually realising it was St. David's day the evening before, and having to make do with the very small amount of food in our cupboards.  I'm not even sure if the cheese was Welsh!  But the thought was there, and I'll make sure I do it properly next time. 

I jazzed it up to make it a proper meal, and instead of doing the rarebit on toast, I spread it on pork, and served it with braised cabbage and mash.  I thought the pork would go well with the rarebit, especially as I used cider instead beer, and a little more mustard, making for a classic combination.  Rarebit, for those who aren't aware, is basically a white cheese sauce. 

I won't write the recipe as I attempted that and it turned out terribly! I'm terrible at recipe writing as I usually add my ingredients to taste and don't write them down, which I should.  Essentially I made the rarebit by making a roux of butter and flour in a saucepan, added cider gradually to make a smooth sauce, and then somewhere along the way chucked in mustard, worcestershire sauce, cheddar cheese, a little double cream, breadcrumbs and salt and pepper, to make a thick paste, and spread them on grilled pork chops.  It's important to make sure the paste is quite thick, hence the addition of the breadcrumbs, because otherwise it'll melt all over the damn place.  I served them with creamy mashed potato and braised savoy cabbage à la my nana with some red wine vinegar to make a very hearty and delish St. David's day meal.  I finished them with Welsh cakes and ice-cream for dessert, for which I can give you the recipe, and is by the way super easy.

Welsh Cakes
Makes 10...ish.

225g self raising flour
110g butter
1 egg
1 tsp mixed spice (or a combination of cinnamon and nutmeg, as I didn't have any)
85g caster sugar
A handful of sultanas
A little milk

-Rub the softened butter into the flour and mixed spice to make breadcrumbs, then add the sugar, egg and sultanas.  Mix together to make a dough, and add a splash of milk if a little dry.
-Role out the pastry until about 5mm think and use one of those wavy cutter things to cut into rounds.
-You'll need to have a heavy, preferably cast iron griddle pan to cook the Welsh cakes (perhaps I should have mentioned that before), if you don't have one, use a frying pan I suppose, but I've never done it that way before, so don't blame me if it messes up.  Wipe the pan with a thin layer of butter.
- Heat the pan to a medium heat and place on the Welsh cakes.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes on either side until brown, although I like mine burnt, so I leave them there a little longer.  Make sure you watch the heat as you want them to cook through evenly.
-Remove from pan and dust with caster sugar, or make a jam sandwich if you like.
-Eat them all at once and watch yourself get fat.