My weekend of good food in pictures
Discussion
As some of you may remember i was on the hunt to pig cheeks.. sadly couldnt get them but did manage to get Ox Cheeks instead. They turned out better than expected. Cooked at 145C for 4hrs in a bottle of red and a good slug of port. fantastic
so heres the valentines meal i cooked for the mrs.
Starter - King Scallops with a pea puree, pea shoots and a smoked bacon veloute. very fresh and amazing taste. the veloute didnt foam up at all so was more of a sauce
Main - Braised ox cheeks, mash potatoe, chantenay carrots, sugar snaps and a port and red wine reduction
Dessert - Apple Tarte Tatin
Then this morning for breakfast went for an American theme.. PANCAKES !! with smoked bacon and eggs with LOTS of maple syrup
Had to go for a few mile walk after all that.
so heres the valentines meal i cooked for the mrs.
Starter - King Scallops with a pea puree, pea shoots and a smoked bacon veloute. very fresh and amazing taste. the veloute didnt foam up at all so was more of a sauce
Main - Braised ox cheeks, mash potatoe, chantenay carrots, sugar snaps and a port and red wine reduction
Dessert - Apple Tarte Tatin
Then this morning for breakfast went for an American theme.. PANCAKES !! with smoked bacon and eggs with LOTS of maple syrup
Had to go for a few mile walk after all that.
ox cheek was a bit of a mix and match recipe
1x bottle of red
1/4 - 1/2 bottle of port
heat the wine/port mix for around 10mins to cook off some of the booze. Add in 1 peeled carrot, 5 shallots, 1 celery stick, 8 juniper berries and a star anise. pop them in a dish for as long as possible before cooking. I did it all in the same day so was about 4hrs in the fridge. but if you did that part the day before it would work even better i think.
when ready to cook, flour the cheeks and brown in a large pan. put them in a cassarole dish and cover with the wine/port mix. cook off the veg that were in with the meat. put them in casserole too. Then add 500ml of good chicken stock (i cheated and used the pre done Heston one from Waitrose, was a good dark colour)
put all that together in the oven on bottom shelf at 145 degrees for 4hrs.
once cooked take the meat out of the casserole and rest on the side for 10mins (covered)
pour the cooking liquid into the pan used to brown off the meat and reduce to a thick gravy
serve with mash n veg.
cant get over how tender the meat was, you barely needed to chew it.
oh also, dont worry about any fat or anything you see when carving up. It turned to an almost jelly and just melted away in the mouth.
I bought all bits from Waitrose for this dinner
1x bottle of red
1/4 - 1/2 bottle of port
heat the wine/port mix for around 10mins to cook off some of the booze. Add in 1 peeled carrot, 5 shallots, 1 celery stick, 8 juniper berries and a star anise. pop them in a dish for as long as possible before cooking. I did it all in the same day so was about 4hrs in the fridge. but if you did that part the day before it would work even better i think.
when ready to cook, flour the cheeks and brown in a large pan. put them in a cassarole dish and cover with the wine/port mix. cook off the veg that were in with the meat. put them in casserole too. Then add 500ml of good chicken stock (i cheated and used the pre done Heston one from Waitrose, was a good dark colour)
put all that together in the oven on bottom shelf at 145 degrees for 4hrs.
once cooked take the meat out of the casserole and rest on the side for 10mins (covered)
pour the cooking liquid into the pan used to brown off the meat and reduce to a thick gravy
serve with mash n veg.
cant get over how tender the meat was, you barely needed to chew it.
oh also, dont worry about any fat or anything you see when carving up. It turned to an almost jelly and just melted away in the mouth.
I bought all bits from Waitrose for this dinner
king price of maple syrup these days!Cheese Mechanic said:
The Beujoloais in the first piccy. looks like Louis Jadot.
If so, delicious! What did you make of it OP?
had it before and loved it, so did the mrs so got another bottle cos its very easy drinking. currently my favorite redIf so, delicious! What did you make of it OP?
as for the veggies going into the gravy... no. gravy was just the wine, port, stock and whatever came out of the beef while cooking. was a very nice gravy
lepetitoeuf said:
It's extortionate. My great uncle lives in Canada and always brings over a big jar for us when he visits. Once it's in the house I just can't leave it alone.
Me neither - i bought a small bottle for (can't remember how much it was but I winced when I picked it up). But then - look at the ingredients - it's made with 60% Carob?? WTF??!!True enough - surely something in the trades descriptions act would say that a food product has to be named after the dominant ingredient? I bought (probably the same) really small jar of maple syrup cos the full price versions were in excess of 5 quid, only to find it is mainly carob syrup
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