Cooking for Love

Loving the seasons: Purple Sprouting Broccoli

2011-03-15T17:44:00.000Z

I love to cook what’s fresh, local, and in season. Most of the year that’s pretty easy to do. So easy in fact, I almost consider it cheating just a little. You don’t have to think much about what you’d like to make. Just go to a farmer’s market or open your food box and see what’s available. Whatever you happen to find, it will be delicious because it’s fresh and in season.

January through early March in the UK is known as the Little Hunger. It’s called that because there just isn’t much in season at all. It’s still too cold for above ground vegetables to be ready, and the root veggies are getting a little tired and sad. So we make do with potatoes, beets, parsnips and other strange roots. I have to think that some of them were first eaten simply because there was nothing else to eat. Who would look at celeriac and say mmmm…tasty…can’t wait to tuck into that! It’s actually pretty good, but not nice to look at, and as the one doing the cooking, you have to psych yourself up to serve it!

Last week the first signs of spring appeared in my veggie box in the form of purple sprouting broccoli. I had never seen nor heard of purple sprouting broccoli before moving here two years ago. I was intrigued, but dubious at first. Was this just another genetic mutation to make broccoli look pretty just to get people to pay a premium for it? It’s certainly nice to look at, but is it tasty?

The answer is yes! It is delicious! As it turns out, it’s the original version of broccoli, and the heads at the end of the long thin stalks are actually immature flowers. It’s also power packed with nutrients, as are most brightly coloured vegetables are. It has a slightly more delicate flavour than the green broccoli we’re used to, and lacks the bitterness that sometimes makes people want to smother their broccoli in cheesy gooey sauce.

I’ve browsed through some recipes online for preparing it in different ways, but it’s such a tasty veg, I prefer to leave it alone. Incidentally, there are very few recipes to be found apart from steaming and serving with a little lemon juice and butter.

I prefer to go even more natural with mine. I steam it until the stalks are bright green and crisp, and the purple heads are really shining. There is a global tendency to over-cook broccoli until it turns to mush. Purple sprouting broccoli is much more delicate than sturdy green broccoli, and it only takes a minute or two in the steamer basket until it’s ready. I serve with a tiny bit of sea salt.

Tonight, it will be a colourful accompaniment to pork tenderloin and a butternut squash mash. A meal that represents the changing of the seasons, embracing the best of the cold winter months, and the first fresh signs of springtime that remind us of what we have to look forward to in the coming months!

Winter warmers

2011-01-01T13:00:00.000Z

My grandfather used to make the best beef stew. It was hearty, chunky, and clearly made out of love. He would make it on a cold, wet winter’s day, and serve it up with a big slice of my grandmother’s buttery cornbread. His beef stew would warm you from the inside out in ways that other soups and stews just can't. The big chunky bites of potato, beef, and celery paired with the slightly acidic tomatoes and the bite of the chili powder make this a dish you love to eat. The many different textures and individual flavours make each bite its own unique little treat. This dish was pure love in a bowl.

This time of year in London, it starts getting dark before 4 pm, and the cold, grey, wet days seem endless. We spend a lot of energy this time of year just trying to get warm. We wrap up with hats and scarves, turn up the heat in certain rooms and shut the doors, and we cook warm hearty winter meals. There is a stall in the street market that is offering beef stew, and Mark is hungry for it. Not wanting to eat a bowl of stew shivering on the sidewalk, I offered to make some for him in the cozy warmth of our own home. I’m not sure what his version of beef stew looks like, and I’ve never made him mine. So it is with a tentative but genuine heart, I make him my beef stew.

Start by browning two small oxtail segments in olive oil, followed by 1.5 lbs (.75 kilos) of cubed beef (1 to 1 ½ inches square) in a large dutch oven pot. Remove the meat and set aside.

In the same pot, sautee 1 cup each of chopped shallots, celery, and carrots (sometimes called the holy trinity – although I can’t imagine these three without garlic. So what would that be - the holy quad?) Salt, and sweat these until slightly softened. Add 6 large garlic cloves, crushed and coarsely chopped. Remove from the pot and set aside.

Deglaze with a little red wine, and add the meat back to the pot. Season with paprika, chilli powder, salt, black pepper, fresh rosemary (only a very little bit), thyme, two sage leaves, and flat leaf parsley – all finely chopped. Add 2 cups water and simmer. Add the trinity and garlic.

Add 4 cups of coarsely chopped fresh tomatoes.

Peel and chop 3 large potatoes into 1 inch squares. Add about 2/3 of the potatoes now, and reserve the rest for later. The potatoes added early will cook down and help to thicken the stew, while the ones added later won’t cook as long, and will stay nice big hearty chunks.

Cover with water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 1 hour.

Add the remaining potatoes, transfer to a hot oven (400F/220C) and cook for 2 hours.

Serve in a bowl over mashed potatoes made relatively dry. The mashed potatoes add a smooth element of texture to the big chunky bits of the stew. Like a warm blanket.

This is a dish that only improves with age, so make a little extra and store in the fridge for a few days. When re-heating, take the time to do it stove top rather than microwave. Give a chance for all of those flavors which have been maturing for a few days to blend perfectly together.

I hope you enjoy this hearty winter warmer from the inside out!

Love the holidays: It’s beginning to smell like Christmas

2010-12-23T08:05:00.000Z

Just about the only time of year I like baking is at Christmas. I don't have much of a sweet tooth, and baking calls for following recipes - something I really don't do. However, there is something about a house full cinnamon and sugar that wakes up my holiday spirit. To really get into it, I’ll turn on the Christmas lights, put on some Christmas tunes, and get the delicious smells of Christmas started with some stovetop mulled spices.

WhileI learned about filling the home with warm and comfortable scents from my mother – she would brew a pot of coffee on Sunday mornings despite the fact that nobody in the house drank it -- I learned about mulling spices from my grandmother. To this day, I don’t know her exact recipe, but I’m happy to share my own.

Stovetop mulled spices
In a very small pot, pour in ¼ cup each of water, orange juice, and cranberry juice. Add two sticks of cinnamon, a dash or two of nutmeg, several cloves, one vanilla bean and a teaspoon of sugar. Dried oranges are also a wonderful addition. Keep warm on your stovetop on the coolest setting, adding water from time to time as the liquid cooks off. The pot can be kept on a back burner over the pilot light for days and will keep the house smelling wonderful!

My favourite pie to bake (and eat) growing up was apple pie. I love making it because you don’t really have to follow a recipe very closely, and it just tastes so fresh. It’s usually considered a summer pie, served warm with a big scoop of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla ice cream dripping off the sides. It’s a deliciously golden two crust pie, with tart apples and very little sugar to let the apples shine through. However, amping up the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, and adding a rich crumble topping and some cranberries can make apple pie perfect for the holidays. I’ve transformed the traditional American Apple pie recipe into an indulgent holiday treat. I’ve opted to go for individual mini pies, as this version is a bit gooier, and far too sweet for a full slice! (Or maybe not!)

Holiday Apple Pie
Of course, you have to make a decision on pie crust. Do I want flour all over me and my kitchen? Whether homemade or store bought is up to you. I’ll not bore you with the crust recipe here, as it’s not really the star of this show! This pie has a bottom crust and a crumble topping.

I start with about 3 – 4 cups of thinly sliced peeled and cored apples. Granny Smith apples are best, as they are quite firm, and their tartness balances the sugar. Typically, I will soak them in cold water and lemon juice to keep them crisp and from turning brown. For the Christmas version, I opted for the juice of two oranges instead of lemon juice. Squeeze the oranges into a large bowl, fill with water, and as you slice, add your apples. Soak in the fridge for about an hour.

It’s at this time, that I make my pie crust, and arrange it in little individual pie tins. It’s more work than making one big pie, but you’ve got time – the apples have to soak anyway! Pinch the edges of the crusts for a pretty finish.

For the pie mixture, combine 6 tablespoons of granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon cinnamon, and a dash of nutmeg in a small bowl. Drain your apples, and dry out the bowl they’ve been soaking in. Alternating small amounts of apples and flour mixture at a time, transfer all of the apples and dry mix to the large bowl. Mix well.

For Holiday Apple Pie, I’ve added fresh cranberries. You’ll need only about 1 cup of fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped. Careful as you chop them – those little guys will shoot out from under your knife if you’re not watching! Best to use a very sharp knife for this, but again, please be careful!

The crumble topping is made by using 2 cups flour, 1 cup loosely packed brown sugar, and 1 cup of unsalted butter, cut into small cubes. I find it’s easiest to work if the butter isn’t too soft.

Combine the dry ingredients, wash your hands, and dig in! With your fingers, cut in the butter until the entire mixture resembles crumbles smaller than peas. If you’ve just had a manicure, or if you have one, a pastry blade on your mixer will also work. I personally prefer the finger method, as you can control how and what is mixed and to what extent. Don’t worry – it will wash off!

Now for the fun part! Time to fill the pies.

Place a large spoonful of apple mixture in the bottom of your pie tin. If your apples have stayed really crisp, you can arrange them in a pretty little fanned circle. Add a small handful of cranberries, a dab of butter, and cover with more apple mix. You’ll want the apple mix to be heaping up above the rim of the tin. Don’t be afraid to make a proper mound of apples. They will cook down more than you expect. Add a few more cranberries to the beautiful peak of apples you’ve just created and top it with another dab of butter (it's the holidays, right?)

Generously top it all with the crumble mixture. The more you add, the more butter you’ll need in your crumble. Top with a little arrangement of chopped cranberries – purely for aesthetics of course! Give it light sprinkling of granulated sugar which will caramelise, and give it a crunchy topping!

Place pies on a cookie sheet and bake at 450F (220c) for about 10 minutes, and then reduce heat to 325F (180c) for about 20 minutes or until your crumble has crumbled, and your crust has browned.

The cookie sheet is critical for a number of reasons. 1. It’s a lot easier to take 8 mini pies out of the oven at once rather than one at a time. 2. Fruit pies are notoriously messy and will very likely overrun the sides and 3. Cranberries like to explode and contribute to the mess referred to in number 2!

When the pies are done, please let them cool for at least an hour before digging in. I know you’ll be tempted, but they will be extremely hot, and if you burn your tongue, you won’t be able to taste them at all!

Serve warm with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. 1 small container of whipping cream, combined with 2 T powdered sugar and ½ teaspoon cinnamon – whipped until fluffy enough to form light peaks. Don’t whip too long or it will become hard and not as nice.

Dig in on a cold December night and let the holidays in to all of your senses!

Merry Christmas and enjoy!!

NOT cooking for love

2010-12-12T16:22:00.011Z

I’m sure you will have noticed an absence from my blog as of late, and I must apologise. I have been very busy NOT cooking for love. We are expecting a new addition to the Cooking for Love household, and are so excited! However, cooking unfortunately had to take a back seat for a while. It’s a little bit of a cruel punishment that something so wonderful is happening, but it’s kept me from my very favourite thing to do. Cooking was just one thing I could not even contemplate!

My cooking process usually begins with opening the fridge to see what’s inside and make my decisions from there. But the act of opening the refrigerator door, much less even thinking about or looking at its contents was enough to make my entire system turn itself upside down! If I was able to get past those obstacles, the smell of food cooking was just too much to bear. And if I could get past all of that, actually enjoying the meal became a feat of accomplishment!

I can easily understand my body rejecting things that aren’t good for it, but all was able to tolerate was plain pasta with lemon juice. Sometimes, and I mean sometimes, I could crush a few cherry tomatoes into it. Shave a little parmesean on the top, and it’s a really nice light summer lunch – morning sickness or not! You would think that I would crave all of my favourite nutrient packed fruits and vegetables, but that just wasn’t the case. The ultimate goal was to get something down that would stay on my stomach and potentially not have much flavour if I did happen to ‘return’ it later on

But you (and Mister Cooking for Love) will be happy to know, firmly seated in our second trimester, I am cooking again!

Mark has been really great, and even cooked his famous SpagBog (Australian for Spaghetti with meat sauce) several times, never complaining, and happily took my suggestion that he order takeout for himself. He even made the most wonderful powdered chicken broth soup, served lovingly to the green woman in bed at 6:30 pm a number of times!

Perhaps the biggest insult to him is that the smell of dish soap absolutely set me off! This was not something I conjured up just to get out of doing dishes. I went through countless bottles trying to find one scent that didn’t absolutely repel me. I searched pretty much until my super sniffer calmed down a bit and smells no longer made me ill. He is such a gem, and endured all of this with a smile!

My first second trimester meal was the biggest dish of love I have ever made. It didn’t really matter what it was, I was just so happy to be cooking – and enjoying it!! I made roasted vegetable tortilla soup and tostadas. They took ages to make, but were delicious and so very worth it because Mark, the little Roo, and I definitely deserved it!

Tortilla soup

For the soup, start with boiling a whole chicken in a full pot of water until the meat falls off the bone. To the water, add a spice mixture consisting of the following, pulverised with a mortar and pestle:

Dried pasilla and ancho chiles, Achiote seeds, Epazote, Garlic, Paprika, Red pepper flakes (to taste), Sea salt

Once the chicken is cooked, remove from the pot, and reserve the stock in a bowl.

Light a fire in the grill, and roast red sweet peppers, summer corn (it was the end of summer by the way), and tomatoes outside on the grill. For the peppers, you just want to get a really nice char on the outsides, so you want the flame on the fire to be high, rather than the radiant heat of coals. The corn will go from a pale yellow to a deep buttery yellow as it cooks, and it’s nice to get a little char on some of the kernels as well. Score the tomatoes so they don't explode. They have to be watched very closely, as they cook quite quickly, and will turn to mush if you cook them too long. Remove them from the heat just as they start to split.

Once the peppers are roasted, you’ll need to peel the skins off. This can be done several ways – I find the easiest is to cut the end off the peppers and then slice in half. Clean out the seeds, and run under cold water. With your hands, rub until the skin is removed.

Remove the kernels of corn from the cobs by running a sharp knife down the ear, shaving off the kernels as you go.

In a large pot, sautee 1 large chopped yellow onion, 1 cup celery and 5 -10 minced garlic cloves with a little olive oil. Add these ingredients one at a time, starting with the celery (will take the longest to cook), followed by the onions and finally the garlic. Salt them as they cook, and remember, you simply want to sweat them, not brown them.

Cut the roasted red peppers into ½ inch squares and add to the pot. Next, add your roasted tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes, or until all ingredients are cooked through, and then add your stock leftover from roasting the chicken. NOTE: As I am allergic to corn, I only added it to Mark’s bowl as a topping, but you could easily add your corn at this time.

While this is simmering, it’s time to come back to that ugly chicken sitting on your cutting board. With two forks, remove the skin and discard. Then begin shredding the meat by pulling it from the bone until the chicken is clean. You’ll have a mixture of light and dark meat. If you have any large pieces, cut down into smaller bits with a knife.

Add to simmering soup and cook for about 30 mins on medium heat. Season with more of the mixture from above if needed.

Serve in a bowl, and squeeze ½ lime over the top. The lime will become too sweet and sometimes even bitter if you cook it into the soup, but squeezing over the top of the soup when it’s served gives the dish a nice citrus tang that compliments the deep smoky flavours of the roasted vegetables. Garnish with any combination of fresh avocado, roasted corn, sliced dried peppers, cilantro, shredded chicken, tortilla strips, and a wedge of lime.

Tostadas are also a nice complement as a starter

Enjoy!

For the love of barbecue - rapido style

2010-09-04T23:15:00.000+01:00

Sometimes you just get a craving and it has to be satisfied - immediately. It usually comes without warning, and for some of the strangest reasons.
A funny thing happened today. I was doing a search to find out whether my cousin had won his hometown football game, and a Houston Press article about my family's brisket popped up complete with a photo of a chopped beef sandwich and the Bellville Meat Market sign in the background. The photo was one of those close-ups that engage all the senses where you can see, taste, smell, and feel the food in the photograph. The top bun is cocked back just a little bit to show off the goods inside. It's almost smiling at you, inviting you to come on in and have a taste. It was so good that I wanted, no I needed a chopped beef sandwich immediately.
Back in Texas, this would have been a craving easily satisfied. I could take my pick of any number of barbecue houses in Houston, or make the hour's drive from Houston to Bellville to enjoy a barbecue sandwich in the company of my brothers, grandmother, a cousin or two and just about anyone else who else might happen to wander into the store.
In London - not so easy. I have two options: A place called Bodeans where I would be served a sticky sweet variation of catsup over meat that they have roasted and called BBQ...or I could make my own.
As a rule, I am always happier with the make your own option. The problem was, I wanted it NOW! I did not want to wait hours for a mediocre cut of British meat to smoke itself into a passable brisket. That's not what cravings are about. Cravings are about instant gratification. So I improvised.
I took a small rib steak, seasoned with brisket rub (from home), and seared it on both sides in a pan with hot olive oil. My instinct was that if I wasn't going to smoke it, I should braise it, but again - there's that pesky long slow cooking process. So I took a massive shortcut. I simmered it in water and spices.
I would never forgive myself for allowing liquid smoke to enter my kitchen, so to replicate the smoky flavor that makes brisket, well brisket, I toasted some dried pasilla and ancho chiles and crushed them into a powder. I added black pepper, sea salt, dried Mexican oregano, garlic, a dash of allspice, and a beef bouillon cube (probably could have done without the cube). I let that simmer for about about 30 minutes, or until the potato salad and Poffenberger family barbecue sauce was made. I then removed the steak and chopped it into tiny bits, and put the chopped meat into a shallow pan with a few ladles of sauce and simmered for about 15 more minutes.
I served the meat and sauce on a warm white bread bun with pickles and thinly sliced red onion. The result was far from perfect, but it tasted good, and did satisfy a craving. The flavors were mostly there, and pretty good for a serious shortcut. Surprisingly, the peppers did add a hint of smoke and gave a plain steak a bit of the depth that a nice slow cooked brisket has, but ultimately it was chewy and definitely needed cooking for several more hours to get it to the right texture, and at least 4 hours of smoke to make it taste right.
However, the sauce hit the nail on the head! My grandmother has long been recognised as the queen of barbecue sauce, and subsequent generations of Poffenbergers have adapted her closely guarded recipe to their tastes. We may make our own variations, but we all keep to the basic ethos of her sauce: "keep it fresh, a little on the sweet side, a little on the tangy side, and always make it with love" The result is barbecue sauce just as you like it. I prefer a higher proportion of vinegar in mine. My sister-in-law adds juice to give it a bit of tart. My mom's is much heavier on the onion, and my grandmother's is a bit thinner, but with a cleaner, more subtle flavor that complements the meat rather than smothers it. My grandfather most often would barbecue chicken, so her sauce is best suited to the lighter taste of chicken as opposed to beef. We all make it just as we like it, and it's perfect every time!
So I would say that the moral of the story is that when you crave a taste from home, you can always find a way to get there - but the long way around is always much more satisfying than the shortcut.

Damn I make good soup

2010-08-22T09:30:00.000+01:00

My answer to an over-abundance of vegetables that I don’t know what to do with is to make soup. I haven’t always made soups – I found them a little daunting, but once I tried it, I found they’re really simple, packed full of flavour and a great solution to a problem that is not such a bad problem to have.
My soups have ranged from my Super C Three pepper soup to Rustic Potato and Leek Soup, the less successful If it’s Green, I’m Keen Soup, and today’s Damn I Make Good Soup Zucchini Soup!
I opened my organic food box from Abel and Cole today to find that I had about 8 more zucchini’s to add to the 10 I already had in the refrigerator. Yikes! What to do? What else, but make soup! It’s a sunny summer day, and typically these days don’t make me crave soup, but I had to do something with all of those vegetables!
I started with a whole yellow onion (always a yellow onion for cooking – they have the best flavour and add a little sweetness to the dish). I chopped the onion, and put it in the pot with a little bit of olive oil. I sweated them until just soft, and added four cloves of garlic. While that was cooking, I chopped a mountain of zucchini into small cubes, and added them to the pot. I sautéed them until just soft and a little browned in places, and added my stock. Now the stock is what put the damn in this soup!
I had just ordered a ridiculous amount of dried chiles and spices from the Cool Chile Company, a London based answer to all of my hopes and dreams! With my little mortar and pestle, I crushed a vegetable stock cube, achiote seeds, sea salt, chile powder, ground cumin, Mexican oregano, red pepper flakes, a dash of paprika, and a pinch of sugar. From this, I made my stock. I added it to the vegetables, and brought it all to a boil. After it had cooked for about 15 minutes, I added the juice of a whole lemon to add some acid, and to bring out the fresh summer flavour of the zucchini. I cooked that down until the liquid had reduced to half, and blended with a hand blender. The result was a creamy (without the cream) fresh and tasty summer zucchini soup that made me say damn I make good soup!

Berries Berries Berries!

2010-07-17T11:44:00.001+01:00

I am a lover of berries! Berries of every kind – I’ve not met a berry that I didn’t instantly fall head over heels in love with! How could you not – they come in the richest colours nature has to offer, and tempt you with their shiny exteriors that just look as though they’re about to burst with sweet and tart flavour. And the best part is that they really do burst in your mouth with such intense flavour they bring a big goofy smile to your face – I call it the berry smile! My favourite dessert is and always will be simple berries and cream.

When you eat a berry, it might start out sweet and then around the edges you experience the sassy tartness that makes it a berry!’ Others are tart all the way through and you challenge yourself to eat each little individual package of pure love over and over again!

We are at the height of summer, and consequently, the height of berry season. I ordered for myself a punnet of every berry that was on offer. I have shiny ruby red strawberries so sweet that you really should stop at just a couple – but of course you can’t! Strawberries come in a perfect little package of love. They are heart shaped, have a perfect handle, and you even ‘kiss’ them when you bite into their fleshy red meat. Strawberries are far and away the most substantial of the berry family. And also the most widely recognised.

Little indigo blueberries subtly release a little bit of joy that is just modesty all over. You’d never guess what a power punch of antioxidant and vitamins come in that unassuming little package.

Fuzzy hot pink raspberries scream out for attention. They’re like your high maintenance friend. You love them to death and they’re always great fun, but it takes too much to keep them fresh and happy. I feel a little sorry for raspberries – so delicious and feminine, but they have no staying power and quickly wilt down into a sad little lump of mush.

To my utter joy, I have two new berries to try. Red currants – perfect little shiny crimson balls that burst with a tartness that makes one of your eyes wink and your eyebrow shoot up uncontrollably so that you look completely lopsided for a moment, but it quickly wears off and you eat another! They look like little jewels on their vine, and take the prize in the ‘shiny pretty things’ category. Looking at them just makes we want to bake them into muffins!

The other is jostaberries. Jostaberries you say? Is that the Rastafarian of the berry family? Maybe! So they’re apparently a cross between a black currant and a gooseberry. They look like miniature wild grapes, and are strikingly similar – except you can eat the skin. They are an opaque black berry on the outside, but are green flesh similar to a grape on the inside. The flavour is a little musty and a little tart at once. Haven’t been able to sort out how one might eat these other than individually, but I’m on the case.

Blackberries might very well be my favourite. Maybe it’s the childhood memories of picking dewberries (smaller version of blackberries found native to fence lines in Texas). It was always a challenge to make sure more ended up in your bucket than in your mouth! Our grandmother had a deal with us. If we would pick two cups of dewberries each, she’d make us our very own pie. Somehow those pies still always got shared. My brothers and I would head out with an empty cool-whip container in hand to the fence, or the creek, or wherever else we had spotted a thicket of ripe berries. It would take us hours, lips and fingers stained purple in the process of filling our little container. It just this moment occurred to me that she probably sent us out to get us out of her hair for a while! Smart lady! The resulting cobbler was the perfect mix of flaky crust, tart berries, and a just enough sugar to make it taste like a pie. Served with ice cream, it is pure love.

Blackberry or Dewberry Cobbler (From the little brown recipe box)

You’ll need pie crust to top the cobbler – whether homemade or store bought is your choice. I’ll not pass judgment!

Sugar mixture :Combine 2 cups sugar and 2/3 cups flour

Wash and drain about 10 cups of berries (can be cut in half to 5 cups berries, 1 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour)

Brush the bottom of a glass baking dish with butter

Distribute a single layer of berries across the bottom of the dish

Sprinkle with the sugar and flour mixture

Repeat until all berries have been used, ensuring you end with a layer of flour and sugar

Dot the top of the mixture with butter

Cut crust into strips about ½ inch thick and place over berries, weaving into a lattice

Brush crust with milk and sprinkle with sugar

Bake at 425F (220C) until crust just turns brown (about 10 minutes) then reduce heat to 300F (150C) and bake until fully browned.

The berries will be very hot when removed from the oven, so it’s best to let it cool. Serve with vanilla ice cream and a summer evening

Fresh and Fabulous!

2010-07-10T15:50:00.001+01:00

In the land of plenty, the concept of ‘in season’ doesn’t mean that much. You can get juicy oranges in November, potatoes in July, and summer squash year round. I suppose the fruit and vegetables taste to us like they should, because it’s all we’ve never known. But to be honest, they’re a little bland.

I’ve campaigned long and hard against can openers and frozen food (in fact, I’m a bit militant about it if I’m honest). I can tell instantly if a piece of meat has been frozen, and I can tell you, it’s not good. I’ve bought fresh for years – but I’ve never really bought fresh and in season.

The farmers’ markets that line the streets on the weekends in London are amazing. You could live well without ever setting foot in a proper grocery store. You can buy handmade cheeses, fresh meats, bread, and especially – fresh, seasonal fruit and veg.

I’ve talked about my organic grocery delivery and the mixed fruit and veg box from Abel and Cole before. It’s varied contents have forced me to expand my palate. From the Kohl Rabe that I had to write to the grocers and ask what it was to something as simple as parsnips, my tastebuds have had an enlightenment over the past 18 months to new and different foods – and I don’t mean fish and chips!

But it’s not just the different vegetables I might not have tried before that have made such an impact on my way of thinking. It’s eating fresh foods in the seasons in which they were grown that have changed my way of cooking and eating forever.

Growing up, my grandfather always kept a garden. I would look forward to the bags of yellow squash he’d bring over. To me, yellow squash IS Summer. I realise now why they tasted so amazing – they had been off the vine a matter of days if not hours when we ate them, not weeks or even months.

On our recent trip home, my dad took Mark and I fishing near my parents' home in Rockport. While my mom and I grew up together in the kitchen, my dad and I grew up together on the water. I could write a book on what he’s taught me with a fishing pole in hand. For me, it’s one of the most peaceful experiences – watching the sun come up over the bay, wading through the Texas Gulf Coast, hunting for our lunch. We caught three beautiful speckled trout that morning. In fact, those were the only fish we caught, but they were perfect! Within hours, they had been cleaned, grilled, and were on our plates for lunch. They were amazing – because they were so fresh!

Today I made a summer lunch. We ate it outside on a warm, sunny, and breezy July day. I made my favourite three pepper soup with plenty of lime to keep the flavours fresh. With a mountain of fresh heirloom tomatoes, I made a simple and colourful tomato salad with a dressing of olive oil and lemon juice. The tomatoes were so sweet and rich, they almost could have been dessert! And for our carnivorous side, I made little open face toasted ham sandwiches on a round of whole grain bread, a dressing of fresh mayonnaise, mustard, and pepper sauce, farm fresh ham, a sliver of halloumi, and a tomato on top. Mark’s salad included a little avocado, which he distributed among all of the offerings on his plate. Sadly, as I wanted to avoid a giant swollen face and a trip to the hospital, I left the avocado off mine. The result was a meal to savour, which we did, while taking a break from laundry, hedge trimming, rose pruning, and dead lawn watering.

The recipes for fresh fare (if you can call them that) are simple. It’s not the seasonings you put in and on the food – it’s the fact they’re so fresh that make the difference. I’ve learned what real food is supposed to taste like, and I’m hooked!

The little brown recipe box

2010-07-03T11:25:00.001+01:00

My mother gave me her recipe box. That simple sentence doesn’t do justice to the enormity of that simple act. My mother gave me the recipe box that the women in her family made for her full of family recipes passed down for generations – some of them dating back to the time when they crossed the prairie in the Conestoga wagon looking for a new home on the Oklahoma plains. They gave them to her on her wedding day. These recipes are our family. I learned to cook using these recipes. We both learned to cook using these recipes.

She and I grew up together in the kitchen of that little house that didn’t seem so little back then. We baked fluffy biscuits, cinnamon rolls and countless cookies, rolling them out on the butcher block my dad made for her as a wedding gift. The recipe cards themselves show the accumulation of years worth of butter, flour, eggs, and the occasional two year old wielding a red ink pen. Some have been so lovingly used that they are no longer readable. But I know what’s there…it’s love.

It was a treasured moment for the two of us. We read through each and every card in that little box. We recalled stories about each recipe – laughing, remembering, and even crying a little! The accumulated recipes of a lifetime, passed from one generation to the next. The flavours of home of one family coming together with the flavours of home from another to make a new family – ours.

These recipes are the legacy of a family who has travelled far from home, but has always maintained that figurative place of ‘home’ in our hearts. They are a treasure that I cherish, and a little bit of home right here in England. She didn't just give me her recipe box - she gave me her heart. Thank you.

Enduring Love

2010-06-14T13:55:00.002+01:00

So we are finally back home in Texas, and I am happy to be home! My state has delivered wide open skies, lush green landscapes that go for miles, and even a massive Texas thunderstorm (14 inches in 3 hours to be exact). My best friend’s wedding is tomorrow, and was meant to be set on a beautiful little platform over the Guadalupe River in Gruene, TX. The Guadalupe is a lazy river, popular in summer with ‘locals’ from across the state who love to lay back in an inner tube with an ice cold beer and float down the river.

Fourteen inches of rain in three hours equates to some pretty nasty flash floods. As I sit on the balcony of our hotel overlooking the river and intended wedding site, I am listening to raging rapids. It’s pleasant, as moving water always is, but it’s not supposed to be something I can hear right now. I am also looking directly at three buses used to transport tubers from one end of the river to the other submerged and partially submerged right behind the wedding altar – at least what used to be the altar – that’s somewhere downstream now.

But all is not lost, and love will prevail. An understandably upset bride to be and her groom took a walk last night through the inches deep mud along their wedding site, and devised a plan. I love this couple. They are truly one another’s complement. Two free spirits who love life and who love each other. I’ve never been a part of a wedding that so captured the personalities of the bride and groom individually, and the couple collectively.

Both are outdoor enthusiasts. They own a river guiding business called Live Love Paddle. They will commit their lives to each other on the banks of one of the most scenic rivers in Texas on a summer morning, surrounded by their friends and family who can’t help but love them. They will feed their guests breakfast tacos, bloody marys, and mimosas in true Texas style – and exploiting a shared love of that perfect combination of fresh and fiery flavours called salsa! To embrace the love of living, they had arranged a river float for their guests, leaving no detail unattended. Mother Nature has thrown a little kink in the works, the river is closed and the wedding plans have had to change slightly, but a wedding is cause for celebration, and nothing can stop celebrating the love these two share and the love we all feel for the two of them!

This post is obviously more about love than food, but rest assured, I have plenty to say on that topic as well, and more to come! But for right now – congratulations Casey and Beverley – I love you both! And may the love you feel for each other be forever hotter than fire roasted habanero salsa!

The Wounded Soldier

2010-05-23T10:17:00.001+01:00

So my beloved has done what all men do when they reach a certain age, and haven't realised it yet. He has torn up his knee playing an aggressive young man's game. Australian rules football is played on a pitch that is twice as wide as an American football field, and at least double the length. The guys wear no pads or protection, and they constantly run around kicking a football to each other. Oh...and it's FULL TACKLE. Sometimes it is really hard to watch. It's hardest to watch when you see your other half lying on the ground writhing in pain.

At that moment, the world stops. You tell yourself "don't cry, don't cry". Never have you seen him in so much pain, and you physically feel it yourself.

With the help of a few good friends, we got him into a taxi, and we were off to the hospital. When he didn't refuse the offer of a wheelchair from a friendly hospital volunteer, I knew it was bad. Two weeks later, his knee is still bigger than his thigh, and we can't do an MRI until the swelling goes down a bit, but it looks as though some ligaments are torn. He heard a snap when it happened.

He injured his knee on a Saturday, and Sunday we stayed indoors all day. I set him up on the pull out couch in the living room, and anything he could have needed was in reach. All that was missing was a bell for me to come running after! I poo pooed over his every wince, and nursed his hurts as best I could. But Monday, I had to go away for work for three days.

I knew he would live if left alone, but I hated leaving him like that. So I made a week's worth of his favourite meals and snacks, which only had to be heated up in plastic containers (so they wouldn't get hot) and could be put into a tote bag to hobble back to his cocoon on crutches. I set up the table with paper plates and set silverware out ready for him to just sit down and eat, only having to carry around the minimum.

He joked that he could just as easily dial up a pizza or other takeaway. It was then that I realised I wasn't cooking all that food for him...I was cooking it for myself! The only way I was going to be comfortable leaving him was if I left him with a full stomach - or at least the tools required to have a full stomach!

I had to laugh at myself...cooking for love. Always cooking for love.

Home Cooking

2010-05-01T12:33:00.003+01:00

It only recently occurred to me that I am an expat. I don’t know why it’s taken me that long to come to that realization, but it has! I’ve met a lot of expats from all over the world, and when asked what they miss most from home, the answer will always be some sort of food, found only at home, and desperately missed. Their eyes glaze over, and for a moment, they’re back at their mother’s kitchen table eating whatever food that might be.

Every time Mark goes home to Australia, he goes with a shopping list for various friends, including his own breakfast cereal, brought back in a Cost-co size box. My first trip back home from London, I came back with a suitcase full of food and nothing but food! I even went so far as to plan my days around which restaurants I would enjoy which dishes, not wanting to ‘waste’ a single meal!

Flavours and smells can instantly transport you back to a place, a time, or even a feeling. And the flavours from home can instantly cure a bout of homesickness. For us expats, home has had to become more of a feeling than a place, since transporting back and forth across oceans is time consuming and more than a little expensive. To be able to be transported back to the warmth of ‘home’ with just a mouthful of food is one of life’s purest pleasures!

On our last trip, I came back with seven jars of salsa, and have worked my way through two jars already in two weeks. When my parents visited last Fall, they brought me salsa from home, and my dad had the gall to try to eat some of it!! I’ve tried repeatedly to make salsa, and still haven’t gotten it right. This Friday, I have the task of bringing a regional dish from home to a meeting at work – as an ice breaker. (That’s a first for me!) Since steamy enchiladas are slightly impractical, I plan to bring salsa. Not willing to give up one of my coveted jars of good American salsa (and partially because my pride won’t let me bring something I didn’t make myself), my weekend project is to make salsa until I finally get it right!

So it’s off to the markets for me to buy copious amounts of fresh tomatoes, onions, garlic, and yes, even cilantro -- or coriander, as they call it here. I’ll update my progress!

UPDATE
So I made some salsa. It tastes right, but it doesn't look right at all. I think it might be my hand blender. Might see if I can find a proper food processor today if any of the shops are open. Thanks to all of you who sent your recipes! I incorporated a little of all of it together to make my salsa!

Spicy Love

2010-03-27T13:56:00.000Z

Texans are passionate about their Mexican food, and this one is no exception. If I'm completely honest, it might just border on addiction. The flavors are about as warm and sensuous as food can be. Good Mexican food uses only the freshest of ingredients -- tomatoes, avocadoes, peppers both spicy and sweet, rich dark chocolate, fresh fruits, and native vanilla. The colours are equally vibrant -- the reds, greens, and rich rust colors of roasted chiles. All together, they make for some wonderful combinations and the end result is just a plate full of delicious love!

Unfortunately, the words 'London' and 'Good Mexican Food' just don't go together. They're like opposite ends of a magnet. The generally accepted salsa here is more like a chunky version of the cocktail sauce served with shrimp -- yet its even sweeter. I've had lots of suggestions of places to go for 'good' Mexican food in London. I've been both pleasantly surprised - Crazy Homies (thanks Stephanie!) and completely bewildered -- Wahaca (what are you people thinking?) As a result, I've tried to satisfy my cravings by cooking at home.

Unless you grew up in a Latin family or ever worked in a Mexican restaurant (two things I have not done), Mexican food can be really tricky to get right at home. And let's be honest, the Tex-Mex version of Mexican food is just about as unhealthy as food can get. That enchilada gravy they pour over the #3 combination plate starts life as pure beef fat that's melted down to form the base of the gravy. So gross, but so good! Cooking at home, I always strive to re-work my favorites to make them healthy enough to eat every day.

I make a mean pico de gallo, but have really struggled with getting salsa right. I've tried a number of different variations, and ultimately have found that it's pretty important to get the peppers right. It's not just about the heat, the flavor is important too. In London, most chile peppers are of Indian or African origin. Some look like serranos, but they really don't substitute well in Mexican salsa. I've heard rumors that jalapenos can be found, but I've yet to come across them. The peppers really do add flavor, and I think that's part of what I'm missing. So when I cook Mexican at home, I default to my tried and true pico.

My favorite healthy Mexican dish to make at home is tacos. They're so easy, and the options are limitless. I make two varieties - veggie and chicken. (Since we're talking healthy here, I'll leave out the beef and shrimp!) Obviously the starting point is the outer part of the taco itself. You have to ditch the crunchy shell, which is really just a big fried chip. I opt for tortillas instead, and have found that whole wheat tortillas add another dimension of flavor right from the start. You do have to be careful with tortillas, though. They vary widely in calories and fat, so it's important to read labels.

(I do have to preface this by saying that I absolutely hate cilantro/corriander. To me it tastes like stink bugs smell. It is a critical ingredient and many people love it. I don't, and therefore don't include it in my recipes!)

Taco fixings
Whole wheat tortillas
thinly shredded iceberg lettuce
your favorite salsa or pico de gallo
shredded cheese (experiment with different kinds of cheeses such as a mild white cheddar or lighter cheeses like Wensleydale)

Grilled chicken tacos
Skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 lime
cumin (comino)
seasoned salt or a combination of salt, cayenne pepper or chili powder
2 garlic cloves - crushed, not diced (Just smash them with the flat side of your knife and peel away the skin. this will release the oils and the flavor. If you dice them too small, they'll burn in the pan)

Place a small amount of olive oil in the bottom of a large heavy skillet.
Heat pan to very hot
Season both sides of the chicken breast with the salt and chili powder combination
Once the pan is hot, place the chicken breasts in the oil.
Sear on one side for about 1 minute and turn. Sear on the other side for 1 minute as well.
Turn heat down to medium and pour a small amount of water into the pan. The water will both deglaze the pan, and provide a buffer between the chicken and the pan like oil would, but without the fat that oil adds.
Squeeze the juice of the entire lime into the water in the pan
Add the crushed garlic cloves to the pan
Add a few dashes of cumin to the water in the pan
Take a lid that is too small for the plan and place over the chicken breasts making a little dome around the chicken.
Your pan will likely 'dry out' from time to time. When this happens, I add a little more water You'll have to kep an eye on it and add more water periodically. You don't want to add too much at once and end up 'boiling' the chicken.
Flip the chicken after about 10 minutes.
It will be done when the inside is white and juicy and no longer pink.
Move to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes
You can then either slice into strips (and make something more like a fajita), dice or shred the chicken for the tacos.

Veggie tacos
1 each sweet red, yellow, and orange peppers, seeded, cored, and sliced into long strips about 1/4 wide
1 clove garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, sliced into strips
Cumin
Salt

In a large skillet heat a small amount of olive oil (about 1 tsp)
Add the onions and sautee until softened somewhat
Add the peppers and minced garlic
Sprinkle with the cumin and salt to taste
Sautee until peppers are softened but not mushy

Again, your pan will likely 'dry out' . When this happens, add a little bit of water to keep the veggies from sticking to the pan. It works like oil, but it's not fat like oil. You'll have to kep an eye on it and add more water periodically. You don't want to add too much at once and end up 'boiling' the peppers.

Assemble your tacos cheese first to form a moisture seal on the tortilla, next comes the meat, salsa, lettuce, and pico. Fold in half your hands, take a big bite and let the happiness flow!!

My organic vegetable box

2010-03-07T13:31:00.000Z

In London, home grocery delivery is far from a luxury – it’s a necessity of life. The overwhelming majority of Londoners don’t drive, which means that simple errands such as a grocery run are complicated by the logistics of getting all of that stuff home. For a year, I thought that grocery delivery was unnecessary, and to be honest, I just didn’t trust anyone to pick out my fruit and vegetables for me. We’re lucky enough to live near a large grocery store, but for a year, my Sundays have included the weekly grocery trip, followed by trudging home like a pack mule laden with bags of groceries hanging off my shoulders and my wheelie cart.

Then I found a flyer for an organic food delivery service. Three things caught my eye about this service.

1. It was organic and locally sourced, so the fruit and veg would be fresh and surely delicious. These people care about their produce so much they won’t even put pesticides on it!

2. The delivery fee was only 99p as opposed to upwards of £6 ($9) for some of the other delivery services.

3. They were offering £50 off your grocery bill if you ordered from them four weeks in a row.

So what did I have to lose?

As it turns out, they are wonderful! Each Friday I come home to a box of seasonal mixed fruit and vegetables, along with whatever meat, dairy, and other items (even beer and wine) that I have ordered.

As the vegetables are seasonal, and as it’s winter – a particularly harsh one at that -- we’ve been getting a lot of root vegetables. Naturally, that includes more potatoes than two people really need to eat. But it also includes some really alien looking things as well. Fortunately, it lists what’s been included in the box, so I at least have a name to attach to that weird growth sitting in the bottom of the box. After that, Google has become a kitchen staple.

I have ‘discovered’ such vegetables as celeriac, which does not look like celery. It looks like Wilson from Castaway – towards the end of the movie. Swede looks like a really big turnip, but tastes a bit like carrots. And Jerusalem Artichokes (which apparently have nothing to do with Jerusalem or artichokes) should only be eaten if you live alone!

But there are heaps of delicious (and recognisable) foods on offer too. I have fallen in love with blood oranges (from Spain), and am always in search of new ways to do something with all of those apples. I got three amazing looking green artichokes in my box this week and I am so excited about taking my first crack at an artichoke which hasn’t been marinated in oil for six months! The one drawback of organic food is that it goes off quite quickly, so the pressure is on to do something with it fast! (Soup is a great solution for vegetables that have reached their last day – quiche is another).

Experimenting with ways to enjoy apples that didn’t involve immense amounts of butter and sugar, I came up with the recipe below. One of my favourite snacks is apples and cheddar, so I took that concept, and adapted it for dinner. As with most of my recipes, it’s really simple, and is designed to highlight the natural flavours of the ingredients. You might have alternative tastes, and wish to embellish it a bit more. Feel free!

The dish below should be served warm and goes great as a side dish to roast chicken. It’s not meant to be sweet, and the apples really lose a lot of their tart in the cooking process.

Apple Cheddar Bake

6 medium apples (and/or) pears, sliced into thin half-moon shaped slices

Juice of ½ lemon, sprinkled over apples

Sharp (Mature) cheddar (white cheddar is recommended, as it’s less oily than yellow cheddar) sliced to be same size and width as the apple slices

Salt to taste

Mix the apples, lemon juice, and salt

Layer in a ring mold or cake pan in concentric circles placing a slice of cheese after every five apple slices or so until you’ve covered the entire pan.

Bake at 350F (180 C) for about 25 minutes or until apples are fully cooked, and cheese has melted. Top with a light drizzle of honey, and allow to cool before plating.

I’ve been back and forth on the argument for/against buying organic. As I get older, I’m much more conscious of what I put into my body. And since I’m also now largely responsible for what goes into Mark’s body too, I feel even more compelled to go organic. But is it worth it? For some items, the cost is significantly different. For others, it’s negligible. I think that foods like meat and dairy really should be organic. It’s been proven that children are hitting puberty much earlier as a direct result of the hormones that are put into our food. That goes doubly so for chicken. If we have come anywhere close to creating a bionic species, it’s got to be the chicken that goes onto our plates. But do I really need to buy organic canned beans? Does it matter if the crackers or cereal I buy are organic?

Organic vegetables definitely go off much faster, but I have found that they really do have much more flavour than the conventional variety. So I will continue to have my organic grocery box delivered, I will continue to panic every Friday when ALL THOSE vegetables show up, and then as each week progresses, I will continue to have fun finding new ways to use familiar ingredients, and new ways to make something tasty out of something really strange! And ultimately, I will continue to feel good about what I’m feeding us – whether eating organic is necessary or not, it’s been a lot of fun!

The way to a man's heart...

2010-02-27T09:20:00.002Z

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. If anyone has proven that to be true, I think it has to be me. What I never expected is that I would find the way to my own heart through his stomach too! I love to cook, and I'm fortunate to have such an enthusiastic participant. He'll eat anything and is often the test subject for my trials and errors. No matter what I put in front of him, he looks upon his plate as though I've given him the golden ticket to the chocolate factory, and declares each and every meal as the best he's ever had. Well, almost every meal....

The first time I cooked for him, I made brussels sprouts. I served him five and he ate (precisely) two and a half. The third time I served them he told me he really doesn't like brussels sprouts. I had to admire his tenacity in choking them down the first two times. But by the third time, he had spotted a trend he did not want to continue! I loved him a little more for that.

Our first Christmas together, I felt really bad for him that he was stuck thousands of miles away from home and family, and I wanted to bring a little bit of Australian Christmas to Texas for him. Since I couldn't change the season to Summer, I thought I'd make a traditional Australian Christmas meal. I had no idea what that might be, so I set to Googling 'traditional Australian Christmas'. Time after time, the words 'Steak and Kidney Pie' appeared. I thought that sounded disgusting, but they are part of the Commonwealth after all, and the British eat some really, well, different things, so it made some sense.

Being a butcher's daughter, only the best would do for my guy's steak and kidney pie! I drove out to my family's meat market and asked my brother for a pound of ribeye cubed, and a pound of kidney. I wish I could adequately describe the face he made, and I can't repeat his words here, but they were along the lines of 'WHY'??? After I explained, he reluctantly agreed and went off to find a kidney. Ten minutes later, he called me to the back where I found a neat little pile of cubed ribeye, and a gooey mound of congealed grodiness. He said "before I mix these together, is this really what you want to do." I told him yes, and after we both poked, prodded and gagged a little bit at the kidney, we mixed that beautiful steak with that purpley black mound of goo.

I managed to secretly assemble the pie and packed it up to take to my family's Christmas at my parents' house. I need to mention here that this was the first time Mark was meeting my family all together, which can be a little intimidating to say the least. He is rather quiet and studious...and we are not! The pie went to the oven and filled the house with a stench that he had the good manners to ignore. I served it to him with a big smile and a Merry Christmas, while my entire family looked on expectantly. Was this Australian guy our sister brought home really going to eat that stuff?

He tucked in to the first bite and swallowed. Then in rapid succession, he inhaled seven more bites by the time I could get down one. I spit mine out the second it hit my tongue, and knocked the fork out of his hands. At that moment, I knew that he loved me. Nobody would choke down that amount of nastiness for anything but love!

We've had a lot of fun telling that story over and again, and my dad has had a lot of fun telling people "The thing about kidney is you really have to cook the piss out of it!" Mark later told me that they do not eat steak and kidney pie for Christmas in Australia -- they barbecue!!

Mealtime is my favorite time of the day. I find it cathartic to come home from a long day at work and get lost in preparing dinner. Its a time when I'm generally focused on the two of us, and what I'm going to treat us with that night. As I said, Mark is always so enthusiastic about my meals, and I completely eat up the praise he lavishes once his belly is full. His return is doing the dishes. He does the dishes every night without exception. No matter how many pots, pans, bowls, and kitchen apparatus I dirty, he shoos me away and cleans it all up. I love that time, as it's the time of day when we come together, and we're both doing someting for one another.

We've talked a lot about this concept of cooking for love, and exploring the reasons (beyond sustenance) why people cook. There is one thing that is clear...I've cooked my way into his heart, and he's eaten his way into mine! We just have to be careful not to love each other fat!

Sunday Roast

2010-02-21T12:37:00.003Z

My favorite family memories are of Sunday Roast at my grandparents house after church. The entire family would gather at their house, and by entire family, I mean various aunts, uncles, cousins, and any strays that would happen to come along. The menu was always the same -- a sizzling slow cooked roast, with perfect gravy made from the drippings. On the side were the creamiest mashed potatoes that ever were made, green beans sauteed with bacon, and ambrosia salad -- a 'fruit' salad that was heavier on the marshmallows, maraschino cherries, and coconut than actual fruit. My brother loved it so much that he always tried to eat only the ambrosia instead of the rest of the meal!
After lunch, we kids would run through the woods like wild banshees exploring dry creek beds, playing hide and seek, and generally scaring the daylights out of my grandfather's cows. Sometimes the uncles would bring out their guitars and sit around the table singing the Beach Boys in perfect harmony. It was as a family should be...big, loud, boisterous, at times confrontational, but always happy.
Somewhere along the way, we stopped gathering at my grandparents for roast on Sunday. Probably had something to do with being a teenager and having much more important things to do with a Sunday afternoon. It wasn't until I moved to London and learned about that great English cultural icon, Sunday Roast, that I remembered how 'warm' a family roast can be.
Sunday Roast is a long held tradition here, so deeply rooted in the culture, that passing a Sunday away in the Pub is just natural, and is more about the food than the ale.
A native Texan, and a butcher's daughter, meat (and specifically beef) has played a very big role in my life. I can spot a bad steak on sight, much less taste. Britian has many charms, but her beef is not one of them. It's tough, grainy, far too lean, and generally flavorless. I had resigned myself to foregoing red meat altogether...and then I discovered lamb.
Lamb in Texas is only ok. It has a over-powering gamey flavor that I just have never cared for. Lamb in Great Britain is simply fantastic. It's everything beef is in Texas. It's fresh, rich, tender, and absolutely delicious. We've had quite a few cold rainy Sundays, and I've started experimenting with Lamb.
I prefer the bone in leg roast, as the bone gives so much more flavor to the meat. I start by crushing about 6 -8 heads of garlic, and stuffing the bits into the roast. As it's relatively lean, I do cover it in a small amount of olive oil. I then salt and pepper, and cover it with fresh sprigs of rosemary. All of this I place into a dutch oven, fatty side up (as it cooks, the fat seeps through the meat, adding even more flavor.) I then pour a bit more olive oil into the bottom of the pot, and place some more rosemary sprigs under the roast. Cover with a lid, and cook at very low heat (150 degrees celsisus or 300 Farenheit) for about 3 hours, or until the roast is pink in the middle. Let it rest for 5 - 10 minutes before slicing.
For a really tasty side, you can add some cubed root vegetables (potatoes, parsnips, carrots, or even butternut squash) for the last hour of cooking. They all absorb the rosemary and garlic, and are delicious.
We've come to look forward to our Sunday roasts, and they've become a staple in our house. I love that I'm simultaneously reviving an old family tradition, embracing a tradition of my new home's culture, and starting our own family tradition all in just one simple, hearty meal.