Where my cookbooks live

Today was a MOST traumatic day which I'd been dreading for weeks: it was finally time to choose another unfortunate cookbook from the "A-Team" (the prime-time three-shelf location in the kitchen) to be relegated to the "Second Division" (the poor cousin's inferior bookshelves upstairs). It really upsets me to have to "make the cut" once in a while as I feel I'm saying a tearful good-bye to a treasured long-time companion, but I couldn't put it off any longer - the A-Teamers were simply bursting at their seams and threatening to take the whole structure down (wine rack and all...). So, with regret, this time it was Angela Hartnett's "A Taste of Home" which was fired (nice-enough but ultimately boring). But to make the shameful transition less painful, I've placed her between fellow Great British Chef contestant Shaun Hill's "The Merchant House" (wonderful but simply too cheffy for the pole position) and fellow Italian Valentina Harris' "Recipes from an Italian Terrace" (again, too boring). (Unfortunately, though, Angela now finds herself on the shelf above the collected works of her former mentor Gordon Ramsay (terrific, but not for day-to-day use) which are still kicking up a vicious rant each and every day for being "dissed" - they're "F****ING FURIOUS MATE!")

There are some books, however, that I could NEVER banish from the top spot - carrying them upstairs would be the equivalent of carrying a most-loved, respected and revered grandparent to a remote mountain and leaving them there to die... so - these are the works of:

Nigel Slater www.nigelslater.com/ - his greedy passion for food - and his "passionate" writing style - are simply second to none: he's been one of my (and fellow foodies') biggest kitchen heroes for 20 years. (I remember a Brussels dinner party in the mid-90s were everyone was cooing: "Oh, is this one of Nigel's?" "Aah - Nigel's come up trumps again!" "Yes, you just can't beat Nigel!" to which the (visiting) brother of the hostess inquired brightly: "So who is this Nigel friend of yours then - does he live in Brussels too?" Cue sheepish muttering...) 

Jamie Oliver http://www.jamieoliver.com/ - do I need to say ANYTHING?

Bill Granger http://www.bills.com.au/# - this Australian chef is another food hero of mine. His cooking is simply wonderful: inspired, innovative and experimental - but above all uncomplicated and simple.

Peter Gordon www.peter-gordon.net/- I so adore this New Zealand chef (and founder of London's legendary "The Sugar Club" and “The Providores” restaurants): He is the king of vibrant Pacific Rim flavours which are easily accessible to the home cook.

So, that's it for me today - I just looked in on Angela and she's settling in ok. (She IS giving me the dirty eye though...) But which cookbooks have prime position on your bookshelves – and why? I'd love to hear from you! 

Char siu pork...

... and Szechuan pepper salad

For yesterday's dinner I made one of my all-time favourite easy and quick meals which I've been dishing up for years - and which never fails to delight in all its Chinese(y) glory: aromatic and sticky-sweet pork accompanied by a sour-spicy salad... heaven on a plate!

500g pork loin

a thumb of ginger, peeled and grated

1 large garlic clove, crushed

2 tbs Hoisin sauce

2 tbs dark soy sauce

2 tbs honey

1 tsp five-spice powder

2 tsp light soft brown sugar

1 cucumber

1 bunch of spring onions

1 handful of chopped coriander (leaves and stems)

1 handful of chopped mint leaves

juice of 1 lime

1 tbs fish sauce 

1 tsp crushed Szechuan peppercorns

1 scant ts sesame oil

Preheat the oven to 200°.
Whisk the marinade ingredients together.
Put the pork in a ziplock bag and pour the marinade over.
Close and massage the mixture into the meat. (Ideally, leave to marinade for at least 2 hours or overnight - but it is still absolutely delicious if used straight away.)
Put a large piece of tin foil into a suitably-sized roasting dish. Add the meat and the marinade and then fold/scrunch up the tin foil to make a parcel/pouch.
Cook for ca 30 mins - it's done when a metal skewer inserted into the thickest part comes out hot to the touch.
When done, rest the covered meat while you reduce the cooking juices in a pan until they're thickened.

For the salad, simply peel and deseed the cucumber and cut into thin half moon slices.
Cut the spring onions into rings. Add the herbs.
Whisk all the remaining ingredients together and mix with the salad.

Notes:
This dish is supposed to feed 4 - but in our house (even with added rice) there's only ever just enough for two adults and one child!
I buy all my Chinese spices from Kam Yuen Supermarket off Bvd Ansbach/opposite the Bourse www.kamyuen.be - it's also brilliant for Indian spices.

Bargain Hunter's Game Delight - at Lidl

My first post-holiday trip to Lidl has left me with a bulging bag of goodies - all in "the name of  the game"! I am most excited about the two 500g packs of wild boar stewing meat - fantastic value at €6.99 per half kilo. (During the holidays they were even on offer for €5.99!) Next new and impressive item was a 600g bag of frozen wild mushrooms - for €3.69! (They also do 300g bags of ceps or chanterelles for the same price.) I wouldn't dream of buying frozen white mushrooms, but these were amazing: heady with their musky, woody aroma, meaty - and they retained their shape and texture brilliantly after being sweated off.

I also couldn't resist 250g of wild boar pate with cognac - an absolute steal at €1.99. And just to push the boat out, I bought a 150g jar of red fruit confit for €1.59 as well - and a big round (360g) of lovely fromage de brebis coated in thyme and rosemary (€ 5.99). With these items I could easily serve a four-course "game meal" (pate, mushrooms, wild boar stew, cheese) for six for under €5 per head (that sum would include a bit of salad, bread + potatoes)!

After looking through loads of lovely wild boar casserole recipes I came up with this Belgian beer version (to serve 6) which is absolutely stunning. And as wild boar is obviously not that easy to come by and usually much more expensive (but please DO check your local (British/French/German) Lidl branches for offers!) this would work nicely with venison - and beef or lamb:

1 kg of cubed wild boar (quite big pieces ie 5 cm)
2 tbs of seasoned flour
3 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
300g of wild mushrooms, chopped/sliced roughly*
2 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 tsp of thyme (dried)
250 ml of dark beer/ale/biere brun
400 ml of beef stock (from a cube)
4 tbs of vegetable oil

3 tbs each of:
creme fraiche
red fruit jam/jelly (not strawberry or raspberry though)
cognac

Preheat the oven to °160.
Put the meat in a large ziplock bag with seasoning and mix well to coat.
Heat 1 tbs of oil and sweat off the onions and garlic. Transfer to a large casserole dish.
Heat another tbs of oil and sweat off the mushrooms (if using frozen ones, there will be a bit more liquid - but it all evaporates in a few minutes). Add to the onion mix.
Heat the rest of the oil and brown the meat. Deglaze the pan with the stock, stirring to loosen all the lovely "brown  bits". Add to the casserole together with the stock, beer and herbs/spices and seasoning.
Bring to the boil, cover with the lid and transfer to the oven.
Cook for 2 hours. Check the meat - it should be tender. If not, cook for another 30 mins.
Add the jam, creme fraiche and cognac and stir to combine. Check seasoning.

Serve with mashed potatoes.

Notes:
* You can, of course, use normal mushrooms - but ideally jazzed up with a few (soaked) dried mushrooms for extra flavour (use the soaking liquid for the stock!) Aldi do a great value 100g of mixed wild ones for under 4 Euro.

Yesterday I added a leftover large parsnip and a chunk of celeriac (boiled together) to the potatoes - lovely!

A kinda Mexican supper

I've always been obsessed with Mexican food - mainly because, until recently, I've never had "the real thing": in my years in the UK there were only horrid Tex-Mex chain restaurants - a travesty of chicken goop and nachos smothered with fluorescent yellow cheese - only "helped down" by copious jugs of margaritas... There was a welcome respite though during a trip to California: we had the most gorgeous, fresh burritos in a student café in Height-Ashbury/San Francisco and in a surfers' shack outside San Diego.  But we were very disappointed when we ventured south to Ensenada - although that was our fault as you really can't expect genuine Mexican food in this touristy border town... And I haven't been very lucky in Brussels either - there is a take-away that American friends swear by http://www.mexigo.be (but you have to order a week in advance and so far I've always chosen "unwisely"....). But while in London two weeks ago we went to a branch of Thomasina Miers' wonderful Wahaca restaurants http://www.wahaca.co.uk/ which has restored my faith in this brilliant cuisine: spicy slow-cooked pork tostadas, velvety vegetarian tortillas, crispy chicken taquitos - YUMMEE!

And at home, my version of chicken burritos is unashamedly "non-authentic" in every shape or form - but it is extremely delicious and the whole family adores it (it's evolved/adapted from a recipe by the great Australian chef Bill Granger):

a large bunch of coriander (leaves and stems)
2 tsps paprika (I use the sweet smoked variety)
1 tsp cumin
zest of a lime
3 tbs olive oil
black pepper and salt
red chili, seeded and chopped (to your taste)
750g chicken (breast or thigh), chopped into bite-sized chunks

With a food processor whizz up all the ingredients except the chicken into a rough paste. Mix thoroughly with the meat and leave to marinate (up to a few hours).

Heat a non-stick frying pan over high heat and fry off the chicken pieces (you might have to do them in batches).

Serves four.

Tomato salsa:
5 - 6 tomatoes, deseeded and cut into small dice
1/2 cucumber, deseeded and cut into small dice
a small red onion, cut into small dice
juice of 1/2 lemon

Combine all ingredients.

Black bean salsa (based on a Thomasina Miers recipe):
100g dried black beans (or 1 400g tin)
a small tin (140g) of sweetcorn, drained
a bunch of spring onions, finely sliced

dressing:
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
juice of 1/2 a lime
a generous pinch of cumin
2 tbs olive oil
seasoning

Soak the black beans overnight in water. Drain and add an onion, a few cloves of garlic and a few bay leaves. Cover with  at least 10cm of water and bring to the boil. Simmer for at least 2 1/2 hours until just soft, topping up with water if needed - then drain.

Mix with the rest of the ingredients, whizz up the dressing and stir into the salsa.

To assemble:
8 tortillas, heated in a non-stick frying pan for ca 15 secs on each side
8 taco shells, heated as per instructions (I use the microwave...)
a cup of thick plain yogurt or soured cream
a small handful of chopped coriander (stems and leaves)

Notes:
You can also use white fish (cut into strips) instead of chicken.

I hadn't found tinned black beans in Belgium yet - but have just been told by a friend that Pueblo Latino in 1030 Brussels (St.Gilles) http://www.seetiz.be/fr/shops/brussels/3-pueblo_latino sell them! And all the Turkish and Morocccan supermarket/grocers sell dried ones.

If you forget to soak your dried beans overnight, you can boil them in the water vigorously for 10 mins, then leave to soak for a few hours. Then boil until just soft (which will be ca 30 mins longer with this process).

An ode to Lakeland Plastics

Before regular cooking commences tomorrow, I HAVE to let you know that, last week in the UK, I was finally able - after a far too long exile - to pray at the altar of Lakeland Plastics again!! For the uninitiated, Lakeland (www.lakeland.co.uk) is "the home of creative kitchenware" where one can find the latest and most useful utensils, gadgets and appliances: stepping into one of their stores is like entering an Aladdin's Cave of "shiny things" that one didn't even know existed - but simply has to have NOW! So here's my haul:

• 3 clip-shut storage boxes (buy 2 get 1 free)
• 25 sealing clips (I use those for EVERYTHING)
• oven gloves made from Kevlar (SO brilliant - my old ones lasted 10 years)
• miniature whisk (free with the 3 storage boxes)
• 15cm paring knife (can't have too many knives!)
• OXO 500ml angled measuring jug (I also have the small 60ml one)
• fizz keeper for "pop bottles" (this one is really for me - not the kids)
• julienne peeler (perfect for my Japanese/Asian salads and/or decorations - AND only £2.99)
• stopper for champagne/Sekt/sparkly (REALLY works - even for a few days)
• fruit&veg fridge cushion - no more "moulding" (fingers crossed on that one...)
• microwave saucepan - WITH integrated strainer!
• OXO flexible omelette/pancake turner - perfect action
• 10 4cm high stackable boxes (simply the best - I "lost" my last one recently)

What I forgot to buy:

• non-slip silicone pastry mat (62x42cm) - perfect for kneading and rolling dough/pastry (I inherited my old one from my mother, but after 40 years of use it is sadly no longer in top condition)

But here are some items that I DIDN'T buy:

• The "Bag Master": a contraption for "filling freezer bags easily" £6.99 (I'll just pop them in a high jug as before...)
• The "Banana Guard: no more bruising!" £5.49 (I thought they already came in a "peely guard"??)
• Electric Plate Warmer £34.99 (my husbands covets this one, I don't - sorry!)

My chicken biryani

I simply could not live without Indian food - I cook it at least once a week. I grew up in (Northern) Germany when and where Indian food and spices were completely unheard of. The first time I was introduced to Indian cuisine was in the UK in 1988 when my then boyfriend (now husband) took my for my first meal at "an Indian" - and I was completely blown away by it! (I did try to eat the potpourri at the counter as well though - but we all learn from our mistakes...) So the next 12+ years in London were a culinary orgy of bhajis, brinjals and baltis - happy times! However this turned to a barren wasteland once we moved to Brussels - because there is not even a single HALF-DECENT Indian restaurant in the whole of Brussels - a city that is brimming over with numerous wonderful Thai, Vietnamese and Japanese restaurants and take-aways... (I would SO love to be proven wrong on this - so if any Brussels-dwellers have found "the mother lode", please let me know!) And that's why I love to serve Indian food to friends - especially non-English ones: it's just lovely to hear them exclaim: "Wow - I've never tasted anything like this before!"

Today I cooked one of my "usual" Indian lunch buffets for six: poppadoms with pickles and a lime-drenched salad, cauliflower pakoras, lamb rogan josh, pumpkin, red lentil and spinach dhal, naan breads and coconut and pineapple ice cream (all recipes to follow another time) - and my absolute long-time favourite: my version of chicken biryani. It's simply fantastic - and actually really easy: don't be put off by the (quite) long list of ingredients - everything can be done in stages: for example, I make the chicken curry at least a day in advance, then during the day I assemble the spices for the sweet and savoury liquids and let them steep at leisure. So here goes:

CHICKEN CURRY

3 tbs of vegetable oil

4 onions

thumb of ginger

3-4 cloves of garlic

300 – 450 g of cubed chicken (breast/thigh)

4 tbsp tomato puree

2 tsp tumeric

2 tbsp garam masala

Fry off the chicken in a bit of oil. Remove from pan/casserole.

Blitz the onions, ginger and garlic into a rough paste in a food processor. Fry in oil until soft, then add the spices for a few minutes. Add the tomato puree and simmer for a few more minutes. Add chicken and a few tablespoons of water and simmer again for 8 - 10 mins. The curry will smell quite “raw” and unrefined at this stage – that's perfectly normal as it will get finished off in the oven!

SAVOURY LIQUID

3 black cardamom pods (bruised)*

12 peppercorns

1 large stick of cinnamon

10 cloves

grated nutmeg

1 tsp fennel seeds

4 bay leaves

750 ml chicken stock

Put all the spices into sauce pan with the chicken stock and bring to the boil. Turn off the heat and leave to infuse.

SWEET LIQUID

4 tbsp milk

5 green cardamon pods (bruised)

saffron (I use two of the tiny little red containers of the powder – fine for this)

2 tbsp of rosewater

Mix together with a whisk.

TO FINISH

300g basmati rice

Preheat the oven to 200°. Reheat the savoury liquid until hot. Sweat off the rice in your casserole dish until opaque.  Add the chicken curry, then pour over the savoury liquid (you can pass it through a sieve but I like to leave the spices in). Pour over the sweet liquid into the middle, bring up to boil, seal with tin foil and lid and cook in the oven for 40 – 45 mins. 

(feeds 6)

Notes:

* I used to make this with the usual green cardamon pods which are perfectly fine – until I found the black ones one day in a Chinese supermarket and they do add another musky/earthy dimension to the dish!

Don't be alarmed when you pour the liquid into the casserole - it will look like a soup with no rice but trust me: it will absorb all the liquid! 

Let the stew season commence!

Today has seen the "official opening" of my annual stew and casserole season! I love stews because they are comforting, economical and, above all, really easy to make: you can knock them up with really hardly any preparation - and after that, the oven does all the work! I also tend to cook a lot of stews which are done in two stages: you prepare and marinate your meat at leisure the day/night before, shove it in the fridge and then do the rest the next day - how easy is that? Stews are also the ideal dinner/lunch party food because they are even better when prepared a day (or two or three) in advance as the flavours just keep improving in the fridge - that means your main course is done and dusted before you even enter the kitchen on the day!

So this year I'm kicking off with a Caribbean-style beef and rum casserole. You might recoil in disbelieving horror when you look at the ingredients: beef with - a giant glass of rum, three limes and soy sauce?? But trust me - it all comes together in the most amazing culinary marriage (and the rum-my smells emanating from the oven during cooking are wonderfully homely.) You DO need to serve it with a "sweet" side though to get the ultimate flavour combination on your plate - if you haven't got/can't get pumpkin/squash, sweet potatoes are another great option (oven-roasted or mashed).

1,5 kg stewing steak
2 tbs seasoned flour
4 tbs olive oil
3 medium onions
4 garlic cloves
3 bay leaves
1 ts dried oregano (or a few fresh sprigs if you have them)
400 ml beef stock (from a stock cube)

Marinade:
1 or 2 red chillies, deseeded and sliced (or only half of one - as I (wimpishly) do)
finely grated zest and juice of 3 limes
250 ml dark rum
1tbs dark soy sauce
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tbs crushed black peppercorns
3 bay leaves
1 ts dried oregano (or a few fresh sprigs if you have them)

Oven-baked squash:
4 tbs olive oil
1 small(ish) squash or pumpkin
a generous grating of nutmeg

Cut the beef into bite-sized pieces and put them in a deep, non-metallic dish. Mix all the marinade ingredients together and pour over the beef. Toss well to coat. Cover with cling film and marinate in the fridge overnight.

Preheat the oven to 160°.

Chop the onions and garlic. Sweat them off in in a large frying pan with a tbs of the olive oil until soft. Transfer to a casserole.

Drain the beef (reserving the marinade) and put into a plastic (ziplock) bag. Add the flour, seal tightly and shake to coat evenly.

Heat more of the oil and fry off half of the beef. It doesn't have to be browned completely - just cooked through. Repeat with the rest of the meat and add to the casserole. Add the bay leaves and oregano.

Pour the reserved  marinade and the stock into the pan, bring to the boil and stir to de-glaze the pan juices. Pour  into the casserole and stir to combine. Put the lid on and bring to the boil. Transfer to the oven and cook for three hours.

Squash:
Cut into large cubes and toss with the olive oil and nutmeg in a roasting tin. Add to the oven after 2 hours.

(Serves four)

Notes:
I like to cook my stews gently at a low temperature. But there's absolutely nothing wrong if you're pushed for time to increase to 180° for two hours. (I would, however, never cook casseroles above that temperature).