Just back from France
Discussion
And here's some stuff wot I made. Shout if you'd like to know how. I can't claim that they are original recipes as they are poached and adapted from various cookbooks but I can give you a run down of what I did.
Cuttlefish and chorizo baked in a tomato sauce.
Rabbit with prunes.
Baked dorade with pepper, tomato and anchovies.
'Bullfighters' beef stew.
Seafood ragu.
Observations:
You can get a decent bottle of red in the supermarket for €4 if you know what to look for.
Cheese is very cheap and definitely gives you wacky dreams
Eating moules frites 3 times in 4 days does not diminish its brilliance
Breton cider is potent and very cheap
A 2 inch thick piece of Charolais ribeye works very well on a searing hot BBQ for 5 minutes each side and will feed 3 for €12
Cuttlefish and chorizo baked in a tomato sauce.
Rabbit with prunes.
Baked dorade with pepper, tomato and anchovies.
'Bullfighters' beef stew.
Seafood ragu.
Observations:
You can get a decent bottle of red in the supermarket for €4 if you know what to look for.
Cheese is very cheap and definitely gives you wacky dreams
Eating moules frites 3 times in 4 days does not diminish its brilliance
Breton cider is potent and very cheap
A 2 inch thick piece of Charolais ribeye works very well on a searing hot BBQ for 5 minutes each side and will feed 3 for €12
For 4
About a kilo of good quality stewing steak - I used some I found at the butcher that I think was shin (chopped into pieces)
Carrots (cut into big slices diagonally)
Black olives
Garlic (3 or 4 cloves, bashed)
Smoked bacon or lardons (sliced up if the former)
Small onions or shallots (halved)
A bottle of good solid red from SW France
Bouquet garni
In a big bowl put the beef, carrots, onions and garlic and wine and leave for about 4 hours. When you're ready to go, strain the wine off and retain it for cooking. Brown the beef in oil, then add the bacon/lardons. (I used a large cast iron pot on the hob but it you use a casserole in the oven, I guess frying in a frying pan for each stage and transferring to the dish would work?)
Add the carrots and onions and fry for another 5 minutes or so. Then add the wine, bouquet garni and black olives. Cook on a low heat for about 2 hours or until the beef is tender (I extended the cooking time to allow more time for drinking wine in the garden)
Once done, if the sauce need thickening, do so, if not, season and spoon into bowls and eat with crusty bread.
Its worth noting that using a whole bottle of wine makes the sauce very rich. Its also a slighty unexpected colour - not the deep brown that you'd expect from a beef stew or from a pie in the UK, its slightly purpley in colour from the wine. To reduce the richness I guess you could go half and half with beef stock if you wanted. I also added some mushrooms to mine towards the end of cooking as I found them in a grocer and they looked nice!
This would probably also work in a slow cooker.
About a kilo of good quality stewing steak - I used some I found at the butcher that I think was shin (chopped into pieces)
Carrots (cut into big slices diagonally)
Black olives
Garlic (3 or 4 cloves, bashed)
Smoked bacon or lardons (sliced up if the former)
Small onions or shallots (halved)
A bottle of good solid red from SW France
Bouquet garni
In a big bowl put the beef, carrots, onions and garlic and wine and leave for about 4 hours. When you're ready to go, strain the wine off and retain it for cooking. Brown the beef in oil, then add the bacon/lardons. (I used a large cast iron pot on the hob but it you use a casserole in the oven, I guess frying in a frying pan for each stage and transferring to the dish would work?)
Add the carrots and onions and fry for another 5 minutes or so. Then add the wine, bouquet garni and black olives. Cook on a low heat for about 2 hours or until the beef is tender (I extended the cooking time to allow more time for drinking wine in the garden)
Once done, if the sauce need thickening, do so, if not, season and spoon into bowls and eat with crusty bread.
Its worth noting that using a whole bottle of wine makes the sauce very rich. Its also a slighty unexpected colour - not the deep brown that you'd expect from a beef stew or from a pie in the UK, its slightly purpley in colour from the wine. To reduce the richness I guess you could go half and half with beef stock if you wanted. I also added some mushrooms to mine towards the end of cooking as I found them in a grocer and they looked nice!
This would probably also work in a slow cooker.
dougc said:
For 4
About a kilo of good quality stewing steak - I used some I found at the butcher that I think was shin (chopped into pieces)
Carrots (cut into big slices diagonally)
Black olives
Garlic (3 or 4 cloves, bashed)
Smoked bacon or lardons (sliced up if the former)
Small onions or shallots (halved)
A bottle of good solid red from SW France
Bouquet garni
In a big bowl put the beef, carrots, onions and garlic and wine and leave for about 4 hours. When you're ready to go, strain the wine off and retain it for cooking. Brown the beef in oil, then add the bacon/lardons. (I used a large cast iron pot on the hob but it you use a casserole in the oven, I guess frying in a frying pan for each stage and transferring to the dish would work?)
Add the carrots and onions and fry for another 5 minutes or so. Then add the wine, bouquet garni and black olives. Cook on a low heat for about 2 hours or until the beef is tender (I extended the cooking time to allow more time for drinking wine in the garden)
Once done, if the sauce need thickening, do so, if not, season and spoon into bowls and eat with crusty bread.
Its worth noting that using a whole bottle of wine makes the sauce very rich. Its also a slighty unexpected colour - not the deep brown that you'd expect from a beef stew or from a pie in the UK, its slightly purpley in colour from the wine. To reduce the richness I guess you could go half and half with beef stock if you wanted. I also added some mushrooms to mine towards the end of cooking as I found them in a grocer and they looked nice!
This would probably also work in a slow cooker.
Adapted from Rick Stein by any chance? A cracking dish, perfect for when the evenings are closing in.About a kilo of good quality stewing steak - I used some I found at the butcher that I think was shin (chopped into pieces)
Carrots (cut into big slices diagonally)
Black olives
Garlic (3 or 4 cloves, bashed)
Smoked bacon or lardons (sliced up if the former)
Small onions or shallots (halved)
A bottle of good solid red from SW France
Bouquet garni
In a big bowl put the beef, carrots, onions and garlic and wine and leave for about 4 hours. When you're ready to go, strain the wine off and retain it for cooking. Brown the beef in oil, then add the bacon/lardons. (I used a large cast iron pot on the hob but it you use a casserole in the oven, I guess frying in a frying pan for each stage and transferring to the dish would work?)
Add the carrots and onions and fry for another 5 minutes or so. Then add the wine, bouquet garni and black olives. Cook on a low heat for about 2 hours or until the beef is tender (I extended the cooking time to allow more time for drinking wine in the garden)
Once done, if the sauce need thickening, do so, if not, season and spoon into bowls and eat with crusty bread.
Its worth noting that using a whole bottle of wine makes the sauce very rich. Its also a slighty unexpected colour - not the deep brown that you'd expect from a beef stew or from a pie in the UK, its slightly purpley in colour from the wine. To reduce the richness I guess you could go half and half with beef stock if you wanted. I also added some mushrooms to mine towards the end of cooking as I found them in a grocer and they looked nice!
This would probably also work in a slow cooker.
Spot on. He puts cinnamon in his which I did the first time I made it and didn't thereafter. I also left the beef in the wine for about 12 hours and once it had cooked it was a little bit too melty - reminded me of the cans of stewed steak I used to eat when I went camping as a kid so through a little trial and error, I found that reducing the marinade time changed the texture. Have tried it with onions before too and I reckon shallots are a better bet.
dougc said:
Spot on. He puts cinnamon in his which I did the first time I made it and didn't thereafter. I also left the beef in the wine for about 12 hours and once it had cooked it was a little bit too melty - reminded me of the cans of stewed steak I used to eat when I went camping as a kid so through a little trial and error, I found that reducing the marinade time changed the texture. Have tried it with onions before too and I reckon shallots are a better bet.
Indeed. You need the added sweetness they give to the sauce to counter the bitterness of the reduced wine. I found that the cooking time for the olives was also a bit too long as they melted slightly and over powered the dish somewhat.I tend to use the cheap and cheerful olives in a tin which are quite hard in consistency and don't break down so haven't come across that.
I had toyed with the idea of cooking horse this year as I've never tried it and would like to give it a go and had this recipe in mind for it. Anyone ever tried cooking it?
I had toyed with the idea of cooking horse this year as I've never tried it and would like to give it a go and had this recipe in mind for it. Anyone ever tried cooking it?
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