Braised Veal Chops with Creamy Cabbage

This is adapted from a recipe for braised pork chops with cabbage that I'd read about on the web from someone called Molly Stevens' book All About Braising. I’d not actually heard about her before but found a lot of people on US sites (chowhound and the like - and the book gets 5 stars on amazon.com) were banging on about this particular recipe.. a couple of google searches later, behold I found it.  The original recipe actually calls for a pork chop but courtesy of my wonderful local (to work) butcher McKanna’s I opted for veal.  Either would work - it may not look particularly pretty but it is super-tasty.


Braised Veal Chops and Cabbage
Serves 2

2 thick bone-in veal chops
Salt and pepper
Flour, for dredging
1 tbsp olive oil
15g  butter
1 tsp celery seeds (if you can’t find, use celery salt or even some very finely chopped celery leaves, sautéed)
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 shallot, finely sliced
½  head of cabbage, sliced into thin strips or shredded
120ml vermouth
150ml chicken stock
1 tbsp cider vinegar
4 tbsp creme fraiche (low or full fat)

Season the veal chops with salt and pepper then dredge both sides with flour.

Heat the olive oil in a deep sauté pan over medium to high heat the add the chops and cook until nicely browned on both sides - probably about four minutes per side.  Set the chops aside on a plate.

Melt the butter in the same pan over a medium heat and when lightly foaming add the mustard and celery seeds and fry until they begin to pop (about one minute).

Add the shallots and cook for a couple of minutes until soft before adding the cabbage. Season with salt and pepper.

Reduce the heat and cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until the cabbage wilts.

Add the vermouth and let it simmer down for a couple of minutes before adding the stock and vinegar. Bring back to a simmer.

Add the chops, pushing some cabbage and shallot mixture up against them then cover and cook for about 20 minutes or until veal is cooked through, turning once.

Once the veal is cooked, transfer to plate.  Add the creme fraiche to the pan and simmer for about 5 minutes until the cabbage is creamy.

Spoon the cabbage on and around the chops and serve.

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Hunan Feast

Last weekend, as a thank-you for generally being lovely but for also feeding and medicating the little monsters during my recent Italy trips, I had my friends Steve & Linda over for dinner.  The last time I cooked for them it was back in February for Chinese New Year.  They seemed to enjoy the Sichuan dishes I served up that night so this time I thought I would give them a taste of Hunan.

Similar to Sichuan, Hunan cooking is known for its liberal use of chillies.  However it tends to be more "purely hot" rather than málà (hot and numbing) that distinctive taste that Sichuan cuisine is known for. 

As usual when I am cooking either Sichuan or Hunan food I turned to the excellent Fuchsia Dunlop and on this occasion The Revolutionary Chinese Cookbook.

It should be noted that all recipes below serve four with three or four other dishes, plus rice (or two people with just one or two other dishes).  There were three of us so this was more than plenty. We had: General Tso's chicken, farmhouse stir-fried pork with green peppers (which I have actually cooked before and can be found here), fisherman's prawns with Chinese chives and stir-fried broad beans with Chinese chives plus steamed rice.


General Tso's Chicken - zuo zong tang ji
This is chef Peng Chang-kuei's General Tso's Chicken, invented in Taipei, Taiwan. This version is hot and sour, more so than the Changsha (capital of Hunan) version which is closer in flavour to the sweeter Americanised dish.

4 boned, skinless chicken thighs
groundnut oil, for deep-frying
2 tsp sesame oil
For the marinade
2 tsp light soy sauce
½ tsp dark soy sauce
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp potato flour
2 tsp groundnut oil
For the sauce
1 tbsp tomato purée
½ tsp potato flour
½ tsp dark soy sauce
1½ tsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp clear rice vinegar
3 tbsp stock
8 dried red chillies
2 tsp finely chopped ginger
2 tsp finely chopped garlic

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a small bowl and set aside

Unfold the chicken thighs and lay them what would have been skin-side down, on a chopping board. If some parts are very thick slice them in half horizontally, parallel to the board.

Using a sharp knife make a few shallow criss-cross cuts into the meat to help the flavours penetrate then cut into bit sized pieces about 5cm or so in thickness

Put the chicken pieces into a bowl, pour over the marinade and toss until well coated.

In a large pan or wok, heat enough groundnut oil for deep-frying (it doesn't have to be too deep as you can easily do this in batches) to 180-200C. Add the chicken and fry until golden - remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Mix the tomato purée and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl, then add the potato flour, soy sauces, rice vinegar and set aside.

Use a pair of scissors to snip the dried chillies into 2cm pieces.

Heat a wok with 2-3 tablespoons of groundnut oil. Add the dried chillies and stir-fry briefly until they are fragrant and just changing colour (they will turn dark but don't let them burn). Add the ginger and garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds longer, until fragrant.

Pour in the combined sauce ingredients and stir until the sauce thickens. Return the chicken to the wok and stir well to coat the pieces in sauce. 

Remove the wok from the heat and stir in the sesame oil. Serve with steamed rice and other dishes.

Fisherman's Prawns with Chinese Chives - yu jia chao xia qiu

500g prepared raw large prawns (you can use frozen but thaw first)

100g Chinese chives, trimmed and cut into 1¼ inch pieces

2 tsp garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp dried chilli flakes (or if you have them 1 tbsp chopped salted chillies)
1 tsp Chinkiang vinegar
1 fresh red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced
salt
1 tsp sesame oil
200ml groundnut oil for cooking
For marinade

1 tsp salt
1 tbsp potato flour
1 small egg white

Put the prawns in a bowl with the marinade ingredients, mix well and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large pan or wok over a high flame until it reaches 150C (about 300 F). Drain off excess egg white from the prawns in a colander or sieve then add them to the wok and fry briefly until pinkish but not fully cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Drain off all but 3 tbsp of the oil.  Add garlic and chilli flakes and stir-fry briefly until fragrant.  Add the prawns, stirring well, followed by the vinegar.  

Add the chives and fresh chilli and stir-fry unil they are barely cooked.  Season with salt to taste, remove from the heat, stir in sesame oil and serve.

Stir-fried Broad Beans with Chinese Chives - jiu cai can dou

100g fresh Chinese chives, washed trimmed and cut into 1¼ inch lengths

200g shelled broad beans (about 800g in the pod)

2tsp finely chopped fresh red chilli (or chopped salted chillies, again if you have them)

2tsp finely chopped fresh ginger

2 tbsp groundnut oil

salt

Blanch the beans in boiling water for about 1 minute so barely cooked, drain and set aside.

Heat a wok over a high flame until smoke rises then add the oil and swirl around.

Add the chillies and ginger and stir-fry briefly until fragrant before adding the beans and stir-fry until hot & sizzling. Add salt to taste.

Throw in the chives and stir-fry a little longer until just tender and serve immediately.

And just as a reminder, here's what the farmhouse pork looks like:

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Gujerati-style cabbage with carrots and Mushroom and potatoes with garlic & ginger

I’ve had Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking book - an offshoot from a BBC series in the early 80’s - seemingly forever.  I used to cook from it growing up  - in fact it is the first book I properly remember cooking from - and was always amazed at the lengthy lists of ingredients. I remember feeling Madhur was educating me in the method of Indian cooking: why onions & garlic are seemingly “overcooked”, the merits of frying whole spices and so on.

I don’t remember if the book was a gift from my mum when I moved out all those years ago or if I simply nicked it figuring I’d use it more but regardless it is well used and loved, and certainly looks it, I don't think there's one clean page.

The following are two very good vegetable dishes adapted from this book: the cabbage & carrots in particular, a revelation.

By the way, this is essentially the same book I believe but my copy (or at least the copy I took with me when I moved away from home many many years ago) looks like this.


Gujerati-style Cabbage & Carrots
Serves 2 with rice and 1 other dish     

175g cabbage
175g carrots
½ fresh hot green chili
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
pinch asafoetida
1½ tsp black mustard seed
1 whole hot dried red chili
½  tsp salt
¼ tsp sugar
2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander1½ tsp lemon juice

Core the cabbage (this is about a quarter of a medium cabbage) and shred finely. Peel and coarsely grate the carrots. Cut the green chili into thin, long strips. 

Heat the oil in a pan over a medium-high flame and when hot, put in the asafoetida.  A second later, put in the mustard seeds and as soon as they begin to pop (not long) put in the dried red chili which should turn dark red in a few seconds.

Now put in the cabbage, carrots and green chili. Turn the heat down to medium and stir around for half a minute or so before adding the salt, sugar and chopped coriander.

Stir and cook for another 5 minutes or until the vegetables are just done and retain some of their crispness. Add the lemon juice, stirring to mix before serving. 

In this second recipe I used probably about half as many mushrooms as I had much less than I thought, and twice as many tomatoes as I can’t read!  More mushrooms would definitely be a good idea but in all honesty the tomatoes seemed about right.  A spot of spinach would probably work quite well here too. Also, I didn’t parboil and peel the potatoes before frying lightly as the recipe suggested which again suits me as I tend to like a bit of skin on my spud.

Potatoes & Mushrooms cooked with Ginger & Garlic

Serves 2 with rice and 1 other dish

140g potatoes, chopped into 1 inch pieces

100g mushrooms, cut into pieces the same size as the potatoes
¾" piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
3 larges cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1½ tbsp plus 115ml water
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp turmeric
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
½ tsp whole cumin seeds
2 whole cardamom pods
140g tomatoes, finely chopped - I used about 275g and didn’t bother peeling them
½ tsp ground cumin seeds
¼ tsp ground coriander seeds
⅛ tsp cayenne
⅛ tsp garam masala1 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander

Put the ginger and garlic into a spice grinder or similar along with 1½ tbsp of water. Blend until you have a fine puree.

Put the diced potatoes in a bowl and sprinkle with approx about 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon turmeric over them. Toss to mix and set aside.

Heat the oil in a heavy, wide pan over a medium flame. When it is hot, put in the potatoes, and stir and fry until they are lightly browned on all sides. Then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Put the whole cumin seeds and cardamom pods into the same pan and stir for 3-4 seconds before adding the tomatoes, the ginger-garlic puree, and the ground cumin and coriander. Stir and fry until it all becomes thick and the oil separates.

Add the rest of the turmeric and the cayenne. Stir once or twice then add 115ml of water, the potatoes, mushrooms and salt. Stir well and bring to a simmer. Cover, turning the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove the cover and turn heat up slightly then keep gently stirring until you have a thick sauce. Stir in the garam masala and taste for salt. Serve garnished with the coriander.

Note - you can remove the whole cardamom pods before you serve in case you forget they are in whilst eating.

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Gang keo goung... aka green prawn curry with fresh dill

Actually the title's not strictly accurate as I ran out of green curry paste and so it is half red and half green.. the recipe below though just refers to green. As may be apparent I often choose to cook based on what I may have left over from other dishes I’ve cooked - this is a case in point with the “leftover” being dill - which is, I found out some time ago in one of my favourite books, Curry, also called Laotian coriander.

This is a really easy recipe, and with the aid of store cupboard & freezer essentials (well my storecupboard & freezer!) all you may need to get in is the dill to make it. I’ve adapted this recipe from the aforementioned book - really effort should be made to make the “kore” or Laotian curry paste from scratch but I couldn't get my hands on any coriander root, so went ahead with the published suggestion of shop bought Thai curry paste. I've also added a green chilli to give a bit more warmth to the sauce and mushrooms, which I'm sure are far from authentic but I like the combination of mushrooms and prawns and had some so threw them in.


Laotian Prawn Curry with Fresh Dill
Serves 2

1 ½ tbsp groundnut (or vegetable) oil
2 ½ tbsp Thai curry paste
1 ½ tsp shrimp paste
1 ½ tsp palm sugar (or failing that golden granulated sugar or similar)
250 ml coconut milk (thick is best but I only had light unfortunately)
250 ml chicken or veg stock
3 kaffir lime leaves, bruised (these can be found frozen in Oriental supermarkets and can be stored in your freezer)
1 tbsp fish sauce (or to taste, you may want to start with 1 tsp and go from there)
1 large (or equivalent) waxy potato, scrubbed and cut into 1 inch pieces
10-12 raw king or tiger prawns (I use Waitrose frozen king prawns and defrost them before use)
3 medium / large chestnut mushrooms, chopped (to be same size as potatoes)
1 green birdseye chilli
1 small bunch dill 

Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat, add the curry paste and stir-fry for a couple of minutes until it is golden and fragrant. Add the shrimp paste, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon, and the sugar continuing to stir-fry for another minute.

Reduce the heat to low and add the coconut milk, stock, lime leaves, chilli (leave this whole, it's to add gentle warmth and flavour rather than heat), fish sauce and potatoes. Three-quarters cover the pot and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Add the mushrooms, stir well and leave to cook for a further 5 minutes then add the prawns, stir well and cook for another 3-5 minutes, depending on the size of the prawns, but until they are pink.

Serve hot with rice (sticky rice to be more authentic), garnished generously with the dill fronds.

Postscript: while cooking this I noticed a distinct lack of cats so had a quick look around. I'd been wondering why I kept finding strange dips in my clematis pot and bits of compost around it.. it seems someone likes to make themselves a bed:

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Review: Heston's Waitrose Steak Pie and Malt Salt

So the cupboards are a little bare which made it time to delve into the freezer. A while ago I bought one of the “Heston does Waitrose” pies (okay, it’s the “Heston from Waitrose” range but same same), specifically the Steak, Ale & Kombu Pie. 

Despite being waaay behind everyone else who has probably reviewed the whole range (it came out last November after all) I thought I may as well do a little write-up and at the same time also review another recent purchase, Malt Salt.

I should point out that there is little I like more than buying strange ingredients and condiments so when I first read about this stuff last year I wanted to give it a go. I bought some Velveeta “cheese” at the same time, having read about it so frequently on US food blogs & forums I had to get some. Suffice to say that so far I’ve been too scared to do anything with it, an oblong block of processed cheese wrapped in foil and stored in a cardboard box just seems so, well, wrong. Old Bay Seasoning from the same order will be tried out later in the week however. If it’s good enough for Nigella it’s good enough for me.

So onto the pie. I bought this on offer, I think it was £2.49 at the time. So first thing’s first - I think that’s not bad for a quality ingredient pie. Full whack of £3.49 however may become a little prohibitive when talking in numbers for all but a very occasional “I can’t be bothered to do much cooking” mid-week treat.

Despite the filling appearing to be a slightly odd colour initially, it is in fact rather good: buttery shortcrust pastry filled with a rich steak and ale sauce topped with crisp puff pastry.  I like the fact that there are two pastries: the shortcrust shell being crisp yet giving and the puff lid just as I like it with the exterior being light and flaky and the interior moist and rich.  The pie is well seasoned too with that umami richness that clearly the kombu was used for, and the filling generous.  

I sautéed some Charlotte potatoes to go with the pie and with which of course to try out my “Malt Salt”.  This is basically vinegar flavoured salt invented by an American company to stop fish & chips being “as cold and soggy as a Seattle winter”.  I actually like soggy chips: by which I mean I like perfectly cooked, crispy chip-shop chips made soggy by the copious amounts of vinegar I add.  If the paper stays intact on a cone of chips, then I clearly haven’t doused them with enough vinegar.  As I said, I like buying strange ingredients and condiments, even if those things make no sense when combined with my preferences.  Sautéed potatoes on the other hand - different matter.  Now those I don’t like soggy.

Surprisingly the stuff works, you do indeed get the sinus clearing blast of chip shop malt vinegar (OK so I probably used too much but what can I say, I like the taste of vinegar) but the potato stayed crispy.  Now I rarely have fried potato but when I do, I will probably sprinkle some of this on it.  What I won’t be ordering is the same companies “Bacon Salt” because while bacon is good (I have a bacon jam recipe to post!) I don’t believe that “Everything should taste like bacon”.

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Lamb & Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

I had some lamb leftover after last night's dinner but wasn't sure what to do with it and for some reason I didn't really fancy pasta (and that never usually happens). On the way back work wandering around the supermarket I came across some beefsteak tomatoes - now these aren't something I would usually buy as they're generally fairly tasteless but these looked red, ripe and juicy and just right for filling with some herby meat & rice.

Tomatoes stuffed with lamb, rice and herbs

Serves 2

2 beef tomatoes

small pinch sugar

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

small onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

100g minced lamb

½ tsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp tomato purée

25g long grain rice

50ml chicken stock

2 tbsp chopped dill

1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley

1½ tsp chopped mint

Heat oven to 180C (I think that's about 160C for fan and Gas Mark 4).

Slice the tops off the tomatoes and put to one side. Scoop out the pulp from the tomatoes carefully with a teaspoon, making sure you don’t break the skin. Leave a shell of about ½ cm thick.

Finely chop the pulp (discarding any overly fibrous bits) and put in a bowl to one side along with any juices.

Sprinkle the insides of the tomatoes with a little sugar (this will take away the acidity), then place them on a baking tray.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onion, then gently cook for about 5 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and cook for a further 5 until both are soft and translucent (don’t let them colour - a small sprinkle of salt can help).

Add the lamb & cinnamon turn up the heat, then fry until the meat is browned. Add the tomato purée and tomato pulp with the juices, the rice and the stock. Season generously.

Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 mins or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed. Take off the heat then cool for a few minutes before stirring in the herbs.

Stuff the tomatoes with the meat & lamb mixture then pop their lids on and drizzle over the remaining olive oil.

Put 3 tbsp water into the tray, then bake for 35 mins.

Serve hot or cold with salad and, if you like, crusty bread.

Edit: A nice variation would be a little cubed feta mixed in with the lamb / rice mixture, substituting the dill for some fresh oregano.
Also, I had one of these the next day at room temperature with some salad: resting a day definitely made them a lot more flavourful so I would recommend cooking ahead if at all possible (although they're still very good if you can't).

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Spicy Lamb Mince & Crushed Broad Beans

This is adapted from a recipe in the Telegraph that I saw online recently - that version didn’t use potato but I thought the beans probably needed bulking out and as it turned out I think I was right.  Floury potatoes such as Maris Piper could, I guess, be used instead so that it has more of a fluffy mash consistency but I think the waxiness of the Charlottes goes well with the slightly waxy texture of the beans.  Further additions I made included a dash of wine and a little harissa as well as using less oil as I didn’t think the amounts in the original recipe were necessary.

This could also of course be cooked outside of broad bean season by defrosted some frozen beans and then treating the same as fresh.

Crushed broad beans & Charlotte potatoes with spiced minced lamb
Serves 2

potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
800g broad beans still in their pods
½ tbsp olive oil
picked leaves from 1 small sprig of mint, chopped
sea salt & freshly ground white pepper
1tsp olive oil
200g minced lamb
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
½ small glass white wine
½ tsp rose harissa
salt & freshly ground pepper
leaves from 2 sprigs of dill

Put the potatoes onto boil in salted water and cook until tender.

Pod the beans and cook in boiling water with a pinch of salt for two minutes. Drain and run under cold water to “shock” (halt the cooking process). Pinch out the beans from their pale green outer jackets discarding the skins (or eat them as you go along if you're me).

Mash the potatoes with two-thirds of the beans, the chopped mint, ½ tbsp of olive oil and then season to taste with salt and a little white pepper.

Set to one side to keep warm, as well as the remaining beans in a separate container.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan, then add the lamb. Cook quite gently for about five minutes, breaking up the clusters of mince with a wooden spoon or fork. After about 5 minutes turn the heat up a little for a further five minutes. 

Once the mince is golden, add the spices and garlic and continue to fry, until it is all beginning to crisp and is fragrant, ensuring that the spices don’t get burnt.

Add most of the dill leaves and stir around for a minute before adding the wine and harissa. Let the wine bubble away until reduced right down (a minute or so). Season to taste.

Divide the potato bean mixture between two plates and flatten down slightly in a vaguely circular shape before spooning over the lamb. Scatter the remaining set-aside beans over the lot with the remaining fronds of dill.

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