Midweek #Miniroast Beef with Mango Chutney

I admit to being one of those people that doesn't crave a Sunday roast (yes I'm weird), although it is rather comforting on a hangover, but only if someone else has cooked it. If I cook a joint of meat it's not always accompanied by the usual trimmings of a roast dinner, and instead I like to serve it up a little differently, and usually in a way that takes less effort and makes less washing up.

Large joints of meat may seem like a great idea, but have you ever been that person that starts preparing the Sunday dinner at 4pm, forgetting that the meat is going to take 4 hours to cook? I have. Regularly.

Mini roasts are ideal for those of us that like to enjoy our day, and not have to think about cooking dinner until the evening. They are also perfectly sized for a couple, or small family, although if you find a larger mini roast (approx 600g) and bulk the rest of the meal out you can make it stretch to a family of five!

I bought my 30 day dry aged Hereford Beef miniroast from Waitrose, but they can also be found in M&S and other butchers listed in the Simply Beef & Lamb 'Find a Butcher' search.

This dish is based on a lamb recipe, but worked great with the beef. It's a great family dish and can be served on a platter, Jamie Oliver style, and everyone can tuck in!

Midweek #Miniroast Beef with Mango Chutney - serves 4/5

600g Beef miniroast
olive oil
salt & pepper 
3 tbsp good quality mango chutney

to serve
pilau rice
carrot salad
mini poppadoms

• allow the beef to come up to room temperature for an hour or so before cooking
• rub the beef with a little olive oil, salt & pepper & place into a small roasting dish
• cook in a preheated 190C oven for approx 30 (for a 600g joint cooked med/rare)
• remove from the oven and spoon the mango chutney over before returning to the oven for an additional 10 minutes, or until a thermometer reads 56 degrees C
• allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving 
• mix a little boiling water into the juices in your roasting dish & drizzle over the beef when serving

Spiced Carrot Salad - serves 4/5

handful of sultanas
3-4 large carrots, grated
tsp cumin seeds, ground
tbsp white wine vinegar
tbsp olive oil
fresh coriander, chopped
2 tbsp flaked almonds

• add the sultanas to a a small bowl & cover with boiling water
• soak for 10 minutes and then drain
• add to a bowl with the freshly ground cumin, grated carrots, vinegar, olive oil, coriander & almonds, and mix well

Look how moist and tender that beef looks. If you're going to buy a good joint of meat, whether large or small, you really don't want to ruin it by overcooking it, and the best way to avoid that is by using an accurate and quick reading thermometer, like the Thermapen. This reading was taken just before the end of cooking time and I knew that it only needed a few more minutes before the beef reached the perfect temperature for us.

Why wait until Sunday to have a roast! Make sure you look out for the Red Tractor quality mark when shopping for your Mini Roasts, which means it's traceable from the farm.

For more recipes visit Simply Beef & Lamb.

post commissioned for Simply Beef & Lamb

Roast Scotch Beef with Watercress, Horseradish & Grana Padano

Last Thursday I ventured to the capital for the biggest event in the food calendar; the annual Observer Food Monthly Awards, held at the Freemasons Hall. 

There are 10 reader categories and 5 categories decided by a Michelin starred panel of judges. Here you'll see big names such as Jamie Oliver winning an award alongside a lesser known fisherman from Padstow. All equally as deserving.

I was invited along as a guest of Scotch Beef, sponsor of the Best Sunday Lunch category, and with whom I've previously worked, on my recipe for Beef Fajita Burgers. It was a night of food and drink, with a little bit of celeb spotting thrown in for good measure. Food for the evening was created by Swedish raised Marcus Samuelsson of Red Rooster, Harlem (soon to be coming to Shoreditch), and there were cocktails aplenty.

You can find out more about the #OFMAwards, the winners, and photos of the evening at the Guardian online.

As Scotch Beef sponsored the Best Sunday Lunch category I wanted to put together a dish that takes two of the main components of a Sunday Lunch, and give it a twist. The silverside of beef was roasted with a crust of English mustard powder, sea salt and black pepper, as per the Scotch Beef website, before slicing and tossing with a salad of balsamic roasted plum tomatoes, watercress and shavings of Grana Padano, as inspired by a recipe of seared carpaccio of beef in the Jamie Oliver 'Return of the Naked Chef' book. The salad is then served in a jumbo yorkshire pudding!

If this was served on a Sunday in the pub down the road (which, incidentally, was one of the runners up in the Best Sunday Lunch category) I would be straight down there!

Roast Scotch Beef with Watercress, Horseradish & Grana Padano - serves 4
silverside of Scotch Beef 
olive oil
2 tbsp English mustard powder
tsp sea salt
tsp ground black pepper

yorkshire puddings
4 eggs (weighed out of their shells)
plain flour
milk
water
salt & pepper
oil for cooking (I use Trex)

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
200g baby plum tomatoeswatercress
horseradish sauce (thinned with a little extra virgin olive oil)
Grana Padano cheese

• allow the beef to rest at room temperature for an hour & rub with a little olive oil
• mix the mustard powder, salt & pepper together & rub over the top of the meat
• roast for 25 mins per 450g + 25mins (for medium) in a preheated 180C oven
• (if you're a little unsure of your oven temperature and want to make sure you don't under or over cook your meat then I would recommend a Thermapen thermometer, which gives an accurate reading in just 3 seconds)

• whilst the beef is roasting, make the yorkshire pudding batter 
• using the weight of the eggs out of their shells, weigh an equivalent amount of plain flour, milk and self raising flour, and whisk all the ingredients together
• set aside

• Once the beef is cooked to your liking, leave it to rest
• turn the oven up to the highest temperature 
• place some fat into 4 x 6-8" round baking tins and place in the oven for 10 minutes
• pour the batter into the tins and return to the oven
• turn the oven down to 200C and cook for 25 minutes, until the yorkshire puddings are puffed up & crispy

• remove the beef from the baking dish and add 2tbsp balsamic vinegar to the juices
• add the tomatoes to the dish and roast for 15 minutes
• carve the beef into thin slices or strips
• add a handful of watercress, some beef strips, roasted tomatoes and some shavings of Grana Padano to each large yorkshire pudding
• drizzle with some of the balsamic juices and horseradish before serving

If, like me (before conducting some research) you don't know the difference between 'Scotch Beef' and 'Scottish Beef' this will explain all. 

It explains why the quality of beef you get from a Scotch Beef PGI butcher is so good. Where to buy.

this is a commissioned post for Scotch Beef

Slow Cooker Beef & Shallots in Red Wine Gravy

Once a week all 3 kids go to an after school sports activity on the same day, at the same time, and I really relish that additional hour to myself to potter around the house, or catch up on episodes of Neighbours. The kids come home absolutely starving though, so I try and have something cooking away in the slow cooker that's ready as soon as they walk through the door.

This week I made a hearty beef stew, which I served with mash, carrots and peas. I thought that a plateful of this would fill them up, but I was wrong - eldest had a bowl of cereal before his man size dinner, and youngest followed his big sister sized portion with cereal too - I think my boys have hollow legs! I guess the clean plates meant that they liked it, and I need to double my portions for next time!

If you're like me, and like doing most of your festive shopping online then you really must take a look at Premier Estates Wine, especially if your wine rack is in need of filling. They offer a case of single or mixed wine from just £24 (by using website discount code), or sparkling for just £36, and best of all it comes with free next day delivery, so you won't have to wait long!

I used just over half a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon in this dish, which made the gravy really intense, along with some of my allotment shallots.

Slow Cooker Beef & Shallots in Red Wine Gravy - serves 4/5

tbsp olive oil

700g (approx) lean stewing steak, diced

2 heaped tbsp cornflour

salt & black pepper

400g shallots, peeled

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

400ml Premier Estates Cabernet Sauvignon

400ml beef stock

3 bay leaves

• turn the slow cooker on high & add the olive oil 
• toss the beef in the cornflour and season generously with salt & pepper
• add this to the slow cooker with the shallots and garlic
• give it a good mix before pouring in the wine, beef stock & bay leaves
• cook on high for 4-5 hours, until the meat falls apart

It really was as simple as that. There's barely any prep needed, and it can be popped in the slow cooker before school and work.

I was provided with a mixed case of Premier Estates Wine to use in my recipe, and over the festive period. This post contains a referral link.

Japanese Beef Udon Soup

I don't get too experimental with meals very often, and unless I have any specific challenges to complete for this blog, I often rotate the same, or similar, meals on a weekly basis.

I was quite excited at the prospect of trying out some Japanese cooking when I received a parcel of ingredients from Japan Centre, as other than Miso soup and Udon noodles (which I used when I made healthy pot noodles), I've not eaten Japanese food, as far as I can remember. 

In the package I received the following :

• a bottle of Sake from Gekkeikan, house of the world's finest sake
• a selection of teas from Uji-no-tsuyu 
• Japanese spices from Shichimiya

After a spot of research, I decided that an Udon soup was the way to go, beefed up with slices of fillet steak spiced with Shichimi, a Japanese spice made from a blend of seven ingredients.

After making this amazing dish in under 15 minutes, I'm wondering why I don't make dishes like this more often, as it's the ultimate healthy fast food, and perfect for a lunch on a busy day.

Japanese Beef Udon Soup - serves 2

marinade

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp Sake

1/2 tsp Shichimi 

170g fillet steak

tbsp sesame oil

600ml water

1 dashi bag

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp Sake

75g button chestnut mushrooms, sliced

175g dried Udon noodles

bunch of spring onions, sliced

• make the marinade by mixing the soy sauce, sake & Shichimi together in a bowl
• add the fillet steak and toss to coat in the marinade
• refrigerate for a few hours or overnight
• heat the sesame oil in a frying pan over a high heat
• add the steak and fry for a couple minutes on each side
• set aside to rest whilst preparing the udon soup
• bring the water to the boil in a saucepan
• add the dashi bag and simmer for 2-3 minutes
• remove the dashi bag from the pan
• add the soy sauce, sake, mushrooms, noodles and 3/4 of the spring onions
• simmer for 3-4 minutes until the noodles are cooked through
• slice the steak
• divide the soup into two portions and top with the steak and remaining spring onions

left to right : dashi bags, matcha tea, sake, arare, tea selection, shichimi pepper, sansho pepper

For the chance to win a 4 night trip to Japan, with 11 runner up prizes, make sure you pop over to the Visit Japan Facebook page here.

this recipe was commissioned for Visit Japan

Slow Cooker Chinese Beef

For a few months I was without a slow cooker, after I overloaded my extremely small one with a joint for pulled pork and burnt all of the inside. I now have two large 6.5 litre slow cookers that I use to feed my son's football team (and opponents) sausage and bean chilli on a budget - 60 sausages + numerous cans of beans = 30 happy boys.

I now use my slow cooker as often as I can to make fuss free dinners for the family. This Chinese beef is one of those easy meals that takes very little preparation, and if you use a large joint (I used 1.6kg) it can easily stretch to two meals for a family of 4/5.

Slow Cooker Chinese Beef

Beef roasting joint (1-2kg)

200ml Hoisin sauce

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tbsp honey

75ml dark soy sauce

bunch of spring onions, sliced

sesame seeds

• Heat a frying pan and place the beef in it to seal all sides
• Transfer the beef to the slow cooker
• Add the the Hoisin, garlic, honey and soy sauce
• Spoon the sauce over the beef and cook on high for 4-5 hours until tender, basting with the sauce every so often
• Remove the beef from the slow cooker and pull apart with two forks & set aside
• Add the sauce to a saucepan and bring to the boil and simmer until reduced in volume and thickened
• Add the beef into the sauce and toss to coat
• Serve over a bed of steamed rice and scattered with spring onions and sesame seeds

Serve any leftovers with noodles and stir fried vegetables.

How often do use your slow cooker, and what's your favourite slow cooker recipe?

I have lots more slow cooker recipes on this blog, and Aly from Bug, Bird Bee runs a Slow Cooker Sunday linky, where you can find some great recipes, such as this slow cooker vegetable lasagna.

recipe created for Tesco

BEKO Freezer Guard (and a Beef Chilli)

At this time of the year freezer space is at a premium in this house as I like to prepare as much as I can for our Christmas dinner in advance. To make room for the part baked roasties, pigs in blankets, home made ice creams and more I first need to get rid of the bits and bobs that are lurking in the drawers. We do have an extra fridge freezer in the garage that works perfectly fine for most of the year, but a couple of years ago it was extremely cold during December and the freezer decided that it was going to defrost itself, along with all of my Christmas meat! I'm now wary of using it in the winter just in case the contents defrost and then refreeze without me knowing.

Beko now have a solution for the problem caused by freezers being in unheated rooms such as garages or outbuildings. Their Freezer Guard technology overcomes the issue of freezers that stop working when the outside temperature drops below zero, and there is a range of freezers and fridge freezers that will work at temperatures as low as -15C.

If you have space in your freezer this Christmas you might want to make room for a few extra meals ready for when days are hectic and you don't feel like cooking a meal from scratch. For the past week we've been eating a fair bit of sausage chilli from the freezer as I made 30 portions last weekend for Sam's football team and the opposition, but due to the weather the match was cancelled. Thankfully the whole family love it and I've been serving it in various ways, and it certainly makes mealtimes much easier.

At the weekend I cooked up a batch of beef chilli ready for the busy week ahead, and portioned them out with some boiled basmati rice. Cass shares some of her top tips for getting started with your batch cooking.

Beef Chilli - serves 4-6

tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, finely diced

1 clove garlic, crushed

700g lean minced beef

1-2 tsp chilli powder (depending on taste)

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 green pepper, diced

1 courgette, diced

1 can of chopped tomatoes

1 can of kidney beans, drained

2 tbsp tomato puree

• Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat
• Add the onion and fry gently until starting to brown
• Stir in the garlic and then the mince & spices
• Fry the mince for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until browned
• Add in the pepper & courgettes and cook for 2 minutes 
• Stir in the tomatoes, kidney beans & tomato puree
• Mix well and bring to the boil
• Turn the heat down & simmer with the lid on for around 30 minutes

This post has been commissioned by BEKO

Middle Eastern Beef & Shallots

I've been doing the Paleo diet for 3 weeks now (give or take the odd bit of wine at weekends & a nibble of chocolate here & there) and have so far lost 6lbs, which I'm pretty pleased with. Although I have mostly been eating different meals to the rest of the family I have been trying to make many of the family meals Paleo friendly, and just add pasta, rice or potatoes for everyone else.

After trying a Middle Eastern dish recently I bought some Baharat spice and made a very simple beef dish, slowly roasted in the oven, with a sauce that's naturally thick and needs no flour to thicken. The husband had his with rice but I served mine on some sautéed chard, which a friend with an allotment kindly gave me.

Middle Eastern Beef & Shallots  - serves 2/3

450g shallots, peeled

olive oil

salt & pepper

400g diced beef

2 tsp Baharat spice

2 cloves garlic, crushed

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

• Add the whole shallots, drizzle of oil and salt & pepper to an lidded ovenproof casserole dish
• Cook in a preheated 180C oven for 30 minutes
• Remove from the oven and stir in the beef, spice and garlic, stirring well
• Add the tomatoes, mix well and return to the oven
• Lower the temperature to 160C and cook for approx 1.5 hours, until the beef is tender

For tips on owning an allotment please visit my friend's site here.

Moroccan Meatballs with Chickpeas

One of my current favourite good value 'fillers' to add to meals are chickpeas, and not the ones you get in a tin. Oh no, these days I buy the dried chickpeas, soak them overnight and then boil them for around 45 minutes. I then keep them in the fridge until I need them or freeze them, and they work out so much cheaper than the canned chickpeas.

They are high in protein, and low in fat so are a great everyday food that can be added to soups, stews and salads and can be used to make falafel and hummus.

In this recipe I added them to the sauce to bulk it out a little instead of serving with pasta. The spices in both the meatballs and the sauce are a great winter warmer.

Moroccan Meatballs with Chickpeas - serves 4/5

Meatballs
1 slice of wholemeal bread
100ml milk
500g minced beef
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin

Sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cinnamon
400g can of chopped tomatoes
300g chickpeas
40g dried apricots, chopped

• Tear the bread into small pieces in a bowl & cover with the milk
• Mix the mince together with the onion and spices
• Squeeze the bread and break it up until it looks like weetabix
• Add to the mince and mix well - it's easier to do this with your hands
• Take approximately a tablespoon of mince and form into a ball
• Place on a lined baking sheet and repeat with the remaining mince - it makes around 24 meatballs
• Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 15 minutes
• Meanwhile make the sauce by heating the oil in a large pan
• Add the garlic & onion and fry over a low heat until softened
• Add the spices and stir for 2 minutes
• Add the tomatoes, chickpeas and apricots and simmer over a medium heat for around 20 minutes
• Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer over a low heat for around 10-15 minutes

Serve with flatbread and hummus.

This is my entry into the Co-op Electrical Winter Warmer competition

I was provided with the minced beef as part of a meat Hamper from Country Valley Foods

Chilli Beef Pie (with Marmite chocolate!)

Marmite. You either love it or you hate it. 80% of this household loves it, and the husband can't stand it. I have occasionally slipped the odd cheeky spoonful into stews without him realising though.

When I was challenged by Marmite to to cook up a dish using their 'Very Peculiar' chocolate I was determined to make a dish that I knew the husband would love, before I broke the news of the secret ingredients.

 

I had already decided that I would make a beef chilli before the hamper arrived containing many of the ingredients I needed, including the Marmite chocolate.

 

I was a little dubious about trying it but I was surprised how good it was, a deliciously smooth milk chocolate with a hint of saltiness, a perfect combination.

Once that bar of chocolate had been devoured it was time to get onto the serious business of cooking dinner. As it's 'puff pastry' week in Great British Bake Off I decided that I would make the beef chilli into a pie with a homemade puff pastry lid. You can find the recipe for the Rosemary Puff Pastry here.

 

Chilli Beef Pie

400g Lean beef, diced

20g plain flour

1/2 tsp Paprika

1 tbsp Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

A few slices of fresh chilli, finely chopped 

100g Chestnut mushrooms, sliced

390g can chopped tomatoes

Beef stock cube

100ml water

1 tsp Marmite

50g Marmite chocolate, grated

• Toss the beef in the flour and paprika
• Heat the olive oil in an ovenproof saucepan
• Add the onions, garlic and chilli and fry gently for 2-3 minutes
• Add the beef and fry for a few minutes until browned
• Stir in the mushrooms, tomatoes, stock cube, water and marmite.
• Cover with foil or place a lid on and cook in a preheated 140 C oven for 1.5 hours until the beef is tender
• Stir in the grated chocolate
• (At this point you could serve the chilli with rice if preferred)
• Tip the chilli into a pie dish, brush around the edges with beaten egg and lay the pastry over
• Brush with more beaten egg
• Turn the oven up to 200 C and bake the pie for approx 30 minutes, or until golden brown

 

The pie was lovely & rich and best of all the husband ate it....and LOVED it! 

I was sent the hamper of ingredients for the purpose of this challenge

The Great Bloggers Bake Off - week 7 - Rosemary Puff Pastry

Week 7 of Great British Bake Off has arrived. This week we saw a wide variety of suet puddings, sweet, savoury, rolled, pudding shaped, with ice cream, with gravy...all very different.

Then there were the choux religieuses...a few nuns heads rolled, the creme patissiere was runny, but it was still anyone's game.

Last up was puff pastry, with each baker making a trio of puff desserts. Tips picked up :

• The colder the butter & the hotter the oven the better the rise
• If the pastry is weighted down it results in a thinner, crispier pastry

Sadly it was Glenn's turn to go this week, I personally think it has been coming for a while even though I really liked him. Everyone will need to up their game as we go into the quarter final next week.


I've often thought of giving puff pastry a go but I heard that it takes a lot of time and patience, neither of which I generally have a lot of, and with a slab of puff pastry being only £1 what is the point? My Mum used to make rough puff pastry back in the day but I imagine the ready made stuff wasn't so readily available in the 70's & 80's.

With a choice of choux pastry, suet pudding and puff pastry this week I thought that the pastry would be the best option though, as that could be a dinner sorted, rather than just a dessert (which my waistline really doesn't need any more of).

After browsing books & online the general rule of puff pastry seems to be equal quantities of butter and flour and half the quantity of water - ie 500g butter, 500g flour and 250ml water - which seems simple enough to remember. Recipes also mention long chilling times for the pastry, but I didn't have the time for all that, dinner needed to be on the table in just a few hours so I opted to do a quick 20-30 minute chill in the freezer in between each roll.

As I love savoury shortcrust pastry or dumplings with added rosemary I decided to add some to this puff pastry - which is something that you can't do with shop bought!

Rosemary Puff Pastry

250g cold Butter
250g Plain Flour
pinch of salt
1 tbsp of fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
125ml cold water

• Rub half of the butter into the flour until it looks like fine breadcrumbs
• Stir in the salt & rosemary
• Stir in the water until it comes together and then knead for a minute or 2
• Pat into a ball, wrap in clingfilm & place in the fridge for an hour
• Flatten the remaining butter out until approx 1.5 cm in thickness
• Roll the pastry out until it's large enough to wrap around the butter completely
• Place the butter in the centre of the pastry and fold in the corners to cover the butter
• Roll out unto a rectangle
• Fold the bottom 1/3 of the pastry up and the top 1/3 down until you get a rough square
• Turn the pastry 90 degrees and repeat with the rolling into a rectangle and folding
• At this point the pastry needs chilling so place in the fridge for an hour if you have time or 20 minutes in the freezer
• Repeat the rolling & folding (twice between each chill) until you have a nice smooth rectangular block
• I lost count of the number of times I did this but guessing I folded around 10 times looking at the number of layers which can be seen in my pastry off cuts below.

I used just over half of this pastry for a chilli beef pie (full recipe coming soon) and the rest for a cheese & bacon tart, which Jack helped to make.

My pastry shrunk away from the edge of the dish a bit and I wonder if this is why some recipes that I've seen mention adding strips of pastry around the edge of the dish to sit the pastry lid on top. Next time I will try it....

 

I was really pleased how crisp and light the pastry turned out & I will definitely be making it again - possibly in a larger batch next time & freeze it in smaller blocks ready for use. If I have the time I will chill it down more & hopefully get a better rise. 

So now it's over to you, what have you been making this week?

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