Ma's red wine baked beef

Yes, another beef recipe, but this one is really special - the beef drops to pieces and is really infused with the flavour of the red wine. I suggest using a really dry meaty wine, like a burgundy. And as Ina Garten advises, drink the same wine when you eat the dish. My Ma invented this recipe this year and it's already become a family classic!

Ingredients

• 2 onions
• 1 teaspoonful of olive oil
• 1.5 kg of beef - a topside joint
• 1 clove of garlic
• Ground salt, to taste
• Ground pepper, to taste
• 1 beef stock cube
• 1 bottle of red wine
• 10 or more chestnut mushrooms

Method

1. Start the day before to get really tender meat... preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. Chop the onions finely and crush the garlic.
3. Put the oil in a big pan, heat and brown the meat on all sides to seal in the juices.
4. Take the meat out and set it aside to rest a little.
5. Put the onions and garlic into the pan (you may need a little more oil) and cook them slowly until softened.
6. Cut the joint into thick slices and arrange in a baking dish or casserole.
7. Season the meat with salt and pepper, then cover it with the cooked onion and garlic.
8. Crumble the stock cube over the top.
9. Pour over the wine.
10. Cover with either tin foil or the lid and bake in the oven for four or five hours (it smells lovely while it's cooking!)
11. The next day, slice the mushrooms and add them to the meat.
12. Reheat for half an hour at 200°C.

Spiced beef

This recipe is really easy and also very tasty. I got it from a Guardian supplement, and I think it's by Dan Lepard. It has a sort of Mexican flavour, and you can serve it with tortillas, salsa and guacamole, but I served it with steamed spring greens.

Ingredients

• 3 onions
• 1.5 kg of beef (the recipe says shin, but I couldn't find it, so I just used diced casserole beef)
• 4 teaspoonfuls of ground cumin
• 4 teaspoonfuls of smoked sweet paprika powder
• 2 teaspoonfuls of chilli powder
• Half a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoonful of cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoonful of plain flour
• 1 teaspoonful of salt
• 2 teaspoonfuls of brown sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
2. Peel and slice the onions, chunkily.
3. Place the onions into the bottom of an ovenproof casserole dish that has a lid. Place the diced beef on top.
4. Mix all the rest of the ingredients together in a little bowl.
5. Sprinkle half the spice mixture over the beef.
6. Put the lid on the pot and and bake for two hours. After this time the beef should feel tender when you prod it with a fork.
7. Sprinkle the remaining spice mix over the beef, then mix the whole stew together.
8. Replace the lid and bake for a further 30 minutes, until thickened and tender.

Pot-roasted beef brisket with root vegetables

Well, I made this, but I'm not sure if I'd make it again. Not because it went wrong, but because I just didn't like the texture of the brisket. It's quite stringy, and fairly fatty too. It's just not that nice (to my taste). But I like the pot roast idea, and the vegetables were very tasty. Thanks Hugh F-S-W, but maybe no thanks too. I might just try a different cut of beef next time.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoonfuls of fresh thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoonfuls of paprika powder
• 2 teaspoonfuls of sea salt flakes
• 2 teaspoonfuls of ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of English mustard powder
• 1 teaspoon of muscovado sugar
• 2kg of beef brisket
• 2 tablespoonfuls of ground nut or sunflower oil
• 200g bacon
• 500ml of dry red wine or dark beer (I used wine)
• 200ml of beef stock
• 2 large onions
• 12 small shallots
• 10 garlic cloves
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 large carrots
• 4 medium parsnips
• 1 small celeriac
• 4 or 5 small turnips
   

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Mix the first six ingredients in a bowl to make a spice blend.
3. Rub the spice blend all over the beef.
4. Chop the bacon into little bits.
5. Heat the oil in a large casserole dish. Well, I didn't exactly do this, because my casserole dish can't go on the hob, so I did all the hob stuff in a large frying pan, and then transferred to the casserole dish later.
6. Fry the bacon in the oil over a high heat until it's crisp, then remove it with a slotted spoon and drain on some kitchen paper.
7. Pour off all but three tablespoonfuls of fat from the pan/casserole (good luck).
8. Put the beef in the pan over a medium heat and brown on all sides. Then take out the meat and put it on a plate. (Keep that plate handy.)
9. Peel and thinly slice the onion.
10. Peel the shallots and garlic cloves.
11. Put the wine (or beer) into the pan and bring it to the boil, scraping up any meaty bits that are clagged to the pan.
12. Boil for about five minutes, until the liquid has reduced to about 150ml (though I'm not sure how you're supposed to tell - just until it's reduced a bit).
13. If you're using a separate pan for the hob, transfer the contents of the hob pan into your casserole dish now.
14. Add the stock and the bacon to the casserole dish, with half the onions, shallots and garlic, and a bay leaf.
15. Put the beef into the casserole dish, then scatter the remaining onion, shallots, garlic and bay leaves all around it.
16. Put a lid on the casserole and put it in the oven for an hour.
17. Take it out, turn the beef over, put the lid back on and bake for another hour. If it looks a bit dry at this stage, add 100ml of water.
18. Peel the carrots, parsnips and celeriac, and chop into chunks.
19. Lift out the beef and put it on a plate.
20. Put the root vegetables (including the whole turnips) into the casserole dish. Stir around, then put the beef back on top.
21. Cover and put it back in the oven for 45 minutes. It's done when the vegetables are tender (the beef should be tender too, of course).
22. Take out the beef and vegetables to serve. Taste the gravy and adjust the seasoning if you like, then pour that over the top on each plate.

Beef meatballs with lemon and celeriac

This is Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe for a surprisingly light dish that has a delicate and (to me) unusual flavour. I think it's a recipe from Jerusalem. It makes about 20 meatballs, enough for four people, which you can serve with rice.

Ingredients

• 400g of lean minced beef
• 1 medium onion
• 120g of breadcrumbs (I bought ready-made crumbs - I've been stung by trying to make my own in the past)
• 20g of flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to garnish
• 1 egg
• ½ a teaspoon of ground allspice
• 2 tablespoonfuls of olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• A generous grind or three of black pepper
• 1 small celeriac
• 3 cloves of garlic
• ½ a teaspoon of ground turmeric
• ½ a teaspoon of ground cumin
• ½ a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoonfuls of fennel seeds
• ¾ a teaspoon of ground smoked paprika
• 500ml chicken stock
• 3½ tablespoonsful of lemon juice
• 60g of Greek yoghurt
   

Method

1. Peel and finely chop the onion.
2. Finely chop the parsley.
3. Crack the egg into a little bowl and beat it with a fork for a bit.
4. Put the beef, onion, breadcrumbs, parsley, egg, allspice, half a teaspoon of salt and some pepper into a large bowl.
5. Mix together with your hands and form the mixture into little meatballs.
6. OK, so far so good. Now chop the celeriac into little thin batons (5cm by 1.5cm says the recipe).
7. Crush the fennel seeds slightly.
8. Peel and crush the garlic.
9. Heat the oil in a large frying pan (that has a lid).
10. Sear the meatballs all over for about five minutes.
11. Remove the meatballs from the pan.
12. Put the celeriac, garlic and all the remaining spices into the pan. Cook on a high heat, stirring, for two minutes.
13. Put the meatballs back in the pan, along with the stock, lemon juice, the other half-teaspoon of salt and some pepper to taste.
14. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and put the lid on.
15. Simmer for 30 minutes.
16. Take off the lid and let it bubble away for another 10 minutes, until the sauce is quite thick.
17. Remove the pan from the heat, and let it settle for a few minutes. Taste it to see if you want to adjust the seasoning, then serve with a dollop for yoghurt and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.

Scotch beef casserole

OK so this is the easiest and most delicious beef casserole I've ever made. The recipe came from the Scotch Beef marketing board, so I suppose they know what they're talking about.

Ingredients

• 25g of pearl barley
• 675g of lean Scotch beef braising steak.
• ½ a swede (the orangey-coloured root vegetable, which seems to go under many pseudonyms)
• 1 leek
• 5 baby carrots
• 250g of haggis (I used vegetarian haggis - you can also try black pudding)
• 12 button mushrooms
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
• 275ml of dark stout or other flavoursome beer (I used Guinness)
• 300ml of beef stock
• 2 tablespoonfuls of horseradish sauce
• A generous grind or five of black pepper
   

Method

1. Put the pearl barley into a bowl and cover with water. Leave it to soak while you're preparing everything else (I think it might need to be longer - but to be honest I forgot to do this, and just put the barley in dry, and it turned out to be fine. But that was probably just lucky).
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
3. Cut the steak into little chunks.
4. Peel the swede and cut it into little chunks.
5. Cut the leek into chunks.
6. Peel the carrots.
7. Take the skin off the haggis and cut it into chunks.
8. Drain the water from the pearl barley.
9. Put all the ingredients into a large casserole dish and mix together.
10. Bake in the oven for 1 and a ½ to 2 hours (or longer) until the meat is tender. Put a lid on the dish if it looks like it's drying out.
11. At this point it's done, but all a little al dente for me. If you want really falling-apart meat, turn the oven down to 150°C and bake for another hour or two.
12. Serve with mashed swede, parsnips and potatoes.

Viennese goulash

I’m in love with all things Austrian at the moment, and found this recipe on the Vienna now or never website. Lots of countries seem to have their own take on goulash – Czech is my personal favourite – but none are like the true Budapest goulash soup, thin and zingy. This Viennese one is really called ‘fiaker goulash’, and ‘fiaker’ seems to mean a type of horse-drawn cab. Perhaps this was a quick dish for those on the go back in the days of the Austro-Hungarian empire? Although it took me all day to cook, once made it was ideal for heating up during the week for a quick meal. It’s a really dense meat stew, tasty and rich, but I have to say that it looks like dog food. The sausages go with it surprisingly well, but I omitted the eggs and gherkins from my version, as it just seemed to be getting too odd. You’ll probably want to serve it with some fresh greens to counteract the intense meat hit. The recipe says it serves four, but you could eke it out to six or even eight if you gave a small intense portion of goulash along with salad or vegetables and bread. Here’s the version of it that I made.

Ingredients

• 1kg stewing beef (you’re going to be cooking it for so long that the toughest old ox will be tender by the end of it)
• 6 Frankfurter sausages
• 750g onions (that worked out to five onions for me)
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of paprika powder (I think mine is the sweet variety)
• 1 teaspoon of hot chilli powder
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon tomato purée
• 1 tablespoon dried marjoram
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• Salt
• Ground pepper

Method

1. Cut the onions into strips, the meat into cubes, and crush the garlic.
2. Heat the oil in a large non-stick pan over a medium heat, and fry the onions until golden brown.
3. Add the paprika, chilli and tomato paste, stir, and quickly pour in the vinegar and a little water.
4. Mix the cubed meat with salt and pepper, and add to the pan.
5. Stir in the garlic, marjoram, bay leaves and caraway seeds.
6. Pour in enough cold water to cover the meat, and stir.
7. Simmer on a low to medium heat,  half covered, for about 2 ½ hours. Stir from time to time, and add water if it gets too dry. I found myself adding quite a bit of water. 
8. Now then, at this point, when the meat’s cooked, you have a very tasty-looking stew, but the recipe tells you to put it in a moderately warm oven for about 1 hour. I did that, and ended up with a rather dry, dog-food looking dish. Next time I make it, I mean to omit the extra hour in the oven for sure.
9. When you’re ready to serve, zap the Frankfurters in the microwave according to the packet instructions. Alternatively, simmer them lovingly in a pan for 10 minutes. Cook them, at any rate.
10. Slice the sausages and serve them with the goulash. Eat heartily, then re-mount the box of your fiaker and earn some fares.