ASIAN BRAISED BEEF

BRAISED BEEF WITH COCONUT AND SPICE

SERVES 2-4

1 red onion, roughly chopped

2 sticks lemongrass, peeled of a layer

1 garlic clove

1-2 red chillies, roughly chopped

15g ginger, grated

1 tbsp light oil, for frying

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground turmeric

500g beef shin, bone in

400ml tin coconut milk

200ml water

1 tbsp fish sauce
1 cinnamon stick

In a food processor or pestle and mortar, blend the red onion, lemongrass, garlic, chillies and ginger together until you have a rough paste.

Heat the olive oil in a deep frying pan and add the paste. Stir in the ground spices and fry for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the beef shin and coat in the spiced paste. Fry for 2 minutes over a high heat so the beef begins to brown, then add the remaining 5 ingredients. Gently simmer for 2-3 hours until the beef is falling apart and the liquid has reduced. Serve with wilted greens and sticky rice.

OX CHEEK RAGU

Melt. Slurp. Sigh... This is trattoria food at its most drool-worthy. The ox cheek turns from tough to tender over 6 hours and reduces down into a sauce so succulent you'll want to write a novel about it. 

This recipe - a new favourite - is ideal for feeding lots of people on the cheap - 500g of cheek cost me a fiver and was enough for 4 friends with giant appetites. It takes a while to cook - slow and low - but the only physical strain is putting it in the oven, taking it out and sharing it around. 

OX CHEEK RAGU WITH PAPPARADELLE

serves 4

ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

500g ox cheek

1 large white onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 sticks celery, finely sliced

1 large red chilli, finely chopped

250ml water

300ml beer (I used smoked beer. Wine will work well too)

1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes

1 bay leaf
2 sprigs fresh thyme

1/2 tsp salt

black pepper

400g papparadelle

Parmesan, grated, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180C. 

Heat the oil in a large, heavy based casserole and brown the cheeks all over. When brown and crisp, set aside. 

Add the onion to the oil and soften, following with the garlic, celery and chilli. Place the cheeks back in the pan and pour in the liquids. Add the chopped tomatoes, bay and thyme and season well. 

Lay a sheet of baking paper over the pan and cover with a lid so that the moisture is locked in.

Place the pan in the oven and leave for at least 4 hours to simmer away and slow-cook the meat. It will look like stew at this point but the meat will fall apart at the lightest touch.

Take the pan from the oven and remove the lid and baking paper. Leave the pan uncovered over a medium heat for approx. 20 minutes to reduce the excess liquid.

Just before serving, cook the pasta. Add sauce to the pasta and mix through. Serve piping hot with a generous helping of Parmesan.

THE STORY OF THE UNDERCOOKED HOTPOT

One of life's most awkward moments: Your mouth is full, you are really trying to enjoy what's in there, but with every forced bite, the expression on your face is telling too much; there is no more time for petty white lies:

Here tells the story of my latest experiment.
My first attempt at a Lancashire hotpot didn't go quite the way I wanted it to.
To say the least...


Well, let's just say I feel sorry for the friend I fed it to! The problem certainly had nothing to do with the recipe. In fact, I was very lucky to get my hands on such an authentic one. It was more to do with the way it was cooked! As a proud cook always says, 'It wasn't me, it was the ingredients...'

The true cause of the disaster was, in fact, time. Another excuse but undeniably true. A hotpot should be slaved over, loving waited for, and welcomingly eaten.

An impatient chef is no friend to this dear dish.

I wouldn't dare go into details but I would like to apologise to Mrs. Bamford, for putting her recipe to shame. I will try again...and again...and again, until the meat falls apart at the smallest chew, the vegetables are juicy and the sauce is thick and scrumptious.

By putting this recipe up here, I ask those who will cook it to do it the justice it deserves.

MRS BAMFORD'S LANCASHIRE HOTPOT.

Serves 6:
400g beef or lamb, stewing meat.
3 carrots,
3 large potatoes,
2 brown onions,
beef stock (1 or 2 cubes or 50ml fresh stock)
Shortcrust pastry.

Slowly cook the stewing meat at 160 degrees C for 2 hrs with stock and 3 tablespoons of water.
Roughly chop carrot, onion and potatoes and when the meat is done, repeatedly layer the vegetables and meat, finishing with the potatoes in deep, heavy based dish. Add more water if you think it is needed and season well. Cook for 1 hr at a medium heat with the lid on.
After an hour, check the moisture, and add a little more stock if needed. Another hour with the lid on.
Add the pastry and cook for a further 15 minutes. And Voila! You should have in front of you what should be deliciously warming Lancashire hotpot - unless your face has already given the game away...