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Tagliatelle with Bolognese Ragu

Posted: 08 March '10 by Niall

Last weekend I thought I’d make one of my favourite dishes, Bolognese.. A really simple meal that has a million and one recipes for it.

This is the best recipe for Bolognese that I know of and it produces a very tasty, authentic Italian meal. You’ll be surprised by a few of the ingredients – minced pork for instance, and milk too – and by the absence of garlic. The dish is delicious though, and much more flavoursome than the basic spag bol I would make during the week.

One of the most important things to remember is that a lot of Italian dishes start with the same three ingredients: celery, onion, and carrot. I think that the carrot gives a slight sweetness to the dish but, other than this, you won’t notice any discernible flavour from the basic ingredients – they just help to make a more robust and mouth-watering sauce.

The recipe also calls for Tagliatelle rather than Spaghetti. Depending on where you are in Italy, this is either complete blasphemy or the proper way to make Bolognese. For me, I have to say that I prefer the Tagliatelle – it feels much more authentic as it lends itself to the “mix the sauce through the pasta” approach and holds more of the sauce than Spaghetti would.

Making Bolognese Ragu really is a weekend job though as it takes over three hours to cook – but it’s worth every minute.

You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 400g minced beef
• 400g minced pork
• 100g pancetta, roughly chopped
• 100g onion, finely chopped
• 100g carrot, finely chopped
• 100g celery, finely chopped
• 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
• 1 glass of dry white wine
• 500ml fresh milk
• 200ml of chicken stock
• 3 bay leaves
• Pepper and salt
• 500g Tagliatelle

Method:

1. Place the pancetta in a large, deep saucepan with some olive oil on a low heat until the fat has melted and the pancetta has a nice golden colour.
2. Add the onion, stirring until the onion is translucent.
3. Add the carrot and celery and the bay leaves and keep cooking until the vegetables start to soften and get some colour.
4. Place the minced meat in a bowl and add some seasoning. Mix the meat together with your hands.
5. Increase the heat to just above medium and add the minced meat. Keep cooking and stirring the mixture until the meat has browned.
6. Pour in the white wine and stir through the mixture, cooking the ingredients until the wine has evaporated.
7. Reduce the heat and add the chopped tomatoes, mixing them through the meat.
8. Leave the mixture on the heat for at least 2 hours. Check your sauce regularly during this time – if the tomatoes reduce too much just add some beef stock. By the end of the two hours you should have an intense, thick tomato sauce.
9. Now, add the milk and some chicken stock, stirring them through your sauce. Leave this mixture over a low heat for another hour.
10. Remove the sauce from the heat, season to taste, and leave to rest.
11. In a separate saucepan, add some water and a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil.
12. Add your tagliatelle and cook until the pasta has softened.
13. Drain your pasta and add several spoonfuls of your Bolognese Ragu, mixing the sauce through the pasta.
14. Serve with some grated parmesan.

Enjoy!

Tags: italian food, pasta, recipe

Categories: Beef > Featured Post > Italian Food > Main Course > Recipes

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Comforting beef casserole with mashed potatoes

Posted: 22 January '10 by Ciara

I am really excited about this new recipe. I tried it for the first time this evening and we all loved it. It is packed with flavour and was the perfect thing to eat on a cold snowy evening. Sophie has been quite run down recently, so i am a bit paranoid that she should be getting as much goodness into her as possible,  and i was delighted that she loved this.

Please note that I cut my vegetables quite small and also the carrots were grated quite finely too as Sophie doesn’t really like a lot of lumps in her food, so feel free to cut up your veggies to your own liking.

The recipe comes from Nigella Lawson’s “Nigella Feasts” programme.

Serves 5

You can see more photos here.

Ingredients

Ingredients: Beef Casserole

• 3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion
• 2 carrots sliced or grated
• 2 celery stalks sliced thinly or 1 inch thick
• 3 cloves of garlic grated
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 2lbs of beef fillet stewing meat
• 1/4 cup flour
• salt & pepper
• 1/2 cup red wine or beef stock (i obviously used beef stock for Sophie)
• 1 large can whole plum tomatoes (i also blend these for Cor, who hates lumps of tomatoes in his food)
• peel of half an orange

Ingredients: Mashed Potatoes

• 6 maris piper potatoes
• 4 knobs of butter
• 30ml full fat milk

Method

Method: Beef Casserole

1. Heat oil and over a medium heat fry onion, carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves and thyme for 5-10 minutes until onion turns translucent. Remove veggies to a bowl leaving as much oil in the pot as you can.
2. Meanwhile, place flour and salt and pepper in a plastic bag along with meat. Shake until meat is coated. Place into the pot which you have just removed veggies from and cook until pieces are well browned.
3. When this is done add the wine or beef stock then add veggies, tomatoes and orange peel.
4. Bring to a simmer and then reduce to a low and cook for 3 hours. Remove bay leaves, thyme sprigs and orange peel and serve with mashed potatoes.

Method: Mashed potatoes

1. Boil potatoes for 20-25 minutes
2. Drain and mash
3. Meanwhile heat butter and milk together
4. Add slowly to potatoes continuously mashing

Enjoy!

Tags: recipe, recipes

Categories: Beef > English Food > Featured Post > Main Course > Recipes

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Beef casserole with suet dumplings

Posted: 12 January '10 by Niall

With the bitter Winter wind whistling around outside and the garden covered in a thick carpet of white snow, I thought that it was high time to make one of my favourite Winter dishes – beef casserole with dumplings.

A beef casserole is made using Chuck Steak (also called braising steak), one of the cheapest cuts of beef there is. Taken from the shoulders of the beef, the meat demands a long, slow cooking process – anything less than a couple of hours will just produce tough, stringy, and almost inedible meat – take the time and you’ll be rewarded with a tenderness that rivals a far more expensive cut. Slow-cooking the casserole will also perform an almost magical transformation, changing the watery gravy into a thick, rich, meaty sauce.

The dumplings are a great addition, and really make an already thrifty meal go that bit further. I rarely see dumplings on restaurant menus these days, but they always remind me of Mum’s cooking when I was younger. Be warned though – if losing a few pounds was one of your New Years’ resolutions, suet dumplings are certainly not going to help! Suet is the fat from around the kidneys and loins in beef and sheep and is traditionally used in dumplings and puddings to produce a bready, dense pastry. I like to add some seasoning to the dumpling mixture to provide even more flavour to the casserole – sage, in particular, works very well with red meat.

Here’s our recipe for a real rib-sticking, filling dish. When you’re in need of some comfort and warmth this Winter, I think that you should give it a go.

You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5Image 6Image 7Image 7Image 9Image 10

Ingredients

Beef Casserole

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 onions – chopped roughly
• 450g /1lb diced beef – braising/chuck etc.
• 2 carrots -chopped roughly
• 11/2 pints stock
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce or Worcester sauce
• Seasoning (the usual salt and pepper)
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried herbs – maybe sage, oregano, rosemary or thyme
• A glass of red wine (optional)

Dumplings

• 75g / 3 oz suet
• 150g / 6 oz self raising flour
• 150 ml water
• Some dried sage to flavour
• Seasoning

Method

1. Heat the oil over a low heat in a very large sauce pan.
2. Cook of the onions and carrots until the onions are soft and translucent.
3. Increase the heat to medium and add the beef, stirring the cubes to seal until the meat has browned.
4. If you wish to add a glass of red wine, do so now – it will de-glaze the saucepan, removing all of those encrusted, tasty morsels from the bottom of the pan as well as adding a deeper richness to your gravy.
5. Add the stock, seasoning, herbs, and soy sauce, bringing the contents to the boil.
6. Transfer the casserole to an ovenproof dish and cover with a lid or tin foil. Slow cook in a preheated oven gas 4/5 / 190-200*c / 350-400*f for 2 hours.
7. With around 30 minutes before the casserole has finished cooking you should start to prepare the dumplings. Mix the dumpling ingredients together in a large bowl to create a sticky dough.
8. With wet hands break off golf-ball sized pieces of dough, rolling the dough around to form the dumplings, setting each dough-ball aside until all of the dough has been used.
9. Take out the beef casserole and place the dumplings on top of the casserole and leave the casserole uncovered to bake for the last 20 minutes (or until the dumplings have become crisp and have turned a golden brown colour), turning the heat up to gas 6/ 220*c/ 450*f.
10. Spoon the casserole onto the plates, making sure that everyone gets a dumpling or two.

Enjoy.

Tags: recipe, recipes

Categories: Beef > English Food > Featured Post > Main Course > Recipes

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Vegetarians, look away now: Our steak pie recipe

Posted: 28 October '09 by Niall

With the rain lashing down and a gale blowing outside our front door, we huddled around the fire. As gloomy as this sounds, I wasn’t too down-hearted.. Winter is coming – and this means “goodbye” to salads and “hello” to more substantial dishes. I like that.

A quick trip to Forestside (McGee’s butchers, to be exact) and we were ready to go – Steak Pie was on the cards! Steak pie (but especially steak and kidney pie) is one of those meals-from-childhood that I will always remember with fondness and hanker after: tender pieces of meaty steak, rich gravy, and light, buttery pastry. What could be better..

You can see more photos hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image 4Image 5

Ingredients:

• 900g/2lb stewing steak, cut into cubes
• plain flour, seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, for dusting
• Beef dripping
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 7.5ml/1/2tbsp tomato purée
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 570ml/1 pint hot beef stock
• 500g of puff pastry (I bought JusRol Puff Pastry 1Kg block and used half – because I love pastry)
• 1 free-range egg, beaten
• Worcestershire sauce

Method:

1. Put a good three or four tablespoons of beef dripping into a large saucepan and place on a low heat
2. When the dripping has melted, add your onions and cook for 2 or 3 minutes, until the onions become slightly translucent
3. Add your cubed stewing steak to the saucepan and cook until the meat has started to colour
4. Add 3 or 4 tablespoons of the seasoned flour and stir in thoroughly, and allow the mixture to heat through for a minute or two
5. Add the beef stock to the saucepan, increase the heat slightly, and stir until the liquid has become a bubbling, thick sauce
6. Reduce the heat so that there is only a slight bubbling of the liquid and allow it to simmer gently for an hour and a half
7. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5
8. Taste the sauce at this point (chef’s prerogative!) and add a few splashes of worcestershire sauce and the tomato puree (the worcestershire sauce will really help those meaty flavours along, as does the tomato) – taste again and add more if necessary
9. Transfer the filling mixture to an ovenproof dish
10. Take some flour and dust your work area and rolling pin – with your block of pastry on the work-area, roll out the pastry so that it is slightly bigger than the area of the casserole dish, and about 1 centimetre thick
11. Drape the pastry over the meat filling
12. Beat an egg in a bowl and brush the surface of the pastry with the beatebn egg – it’ll give the finished crust a really nice golden colour
13. Place your pie in the oven cook for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the pastry has puffed up and is golden-brown

To my mind, you have to serve your steak pie with creamed potatoes to make the most of that gravy – and a glass of claret is a great addition too.

Other information:

You could use olive oil rather than beef dripping – but the dripping is so much tastier. Go on, spoil yourself and use the dripping.

Add 280g of chopped ox or lamb kidney to the stewing steak kidney for a delicious steak and kidney pie.

Tags: recipe, recipes, winter food

Categories: Beef > English Food > Featured Post > Main Course > Recipes

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Viva Lasange!

Posted: 26 July '09 by Niall

One of our favourite meals is Lasange. While it does take a little time to prepare, it’s well worth the wait – with the added benefit that the left-overs taste even better the next day!

You can view the slideshow hereImage 1Image 2Image 3Image4Image 5

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, peeled and minced
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 2 pinches of dried oregano
• 2 pinches of dried basil
• 300g minced beef
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp red wine
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 6 sheets of lasange sheets

For the sauce

• 25g butter
• 25g flour
• 300ml milk
• Pinch of ground nutmeg
• 60g Cheddar cheese, grated
• 30g Parmesan cheese, grated

To finish:

• 60g Cheddar cheese, grated
• 10g Parmesan cheese, grated

Cooking Method

Cooking Method – Meat Sauce:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 225°C.
2. Heat the olive oil in a hot pan and sweat the garlic and onion down until they are translucent.
3. Add the mince and fully brown.
4. Add the basil, oregano, and black pepper and stir thoroughly.
5. Add the wine and cook off the alcohol.
6. Add the tomatoes and bay leaf, stirring well before leaving to simmer for a further 2-3 minutes.
7. Finally add the worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, and milk before turning off the heat and setting the saucepan aside.

Cooking Method – Bechamel:

1. In one saucepan. add the butter and place over a low heat.
2. In a second saucepan, add the milk and nutmeg, warming the milk until it is just shy of boiling point.
3. Reducing the heat completely When the butter has melted, add the flour and mix together, until you have a thick paste (similar to play-doh).
4. Add a third of the milk to the play-doh, whisking to prevent any lumps forming – then add the rest of the milk a third at a time, whisking as you go. You want to get a smooth sauce.
5. Allow the sauce to cook out for another minute before adding the Cheddar cheese. Stir and remove from the heat.

Cooking Method – Assembling the lasange:

1. Spoon half of the meat sauce into the bottom of the casserole dish and place pasta sheets on top (break the sheets if necessary to avoid any overlapping).
2. Spoon the rest of the meat onto this level, and add the remaining lasange sheets.
3. Pour over the bechamel, making sure that you cover the layer below.
4. Sprinkle the remaining grated cheese and parmesan over the bechamel.
5. Place the lasange in the oven to bake for 30-35 minutes, or until golden brown.

We hope you enjoy – buon appetito!

Tags: recipes

Categories: Beef > Featured Post > Italian Food > Pasta > Recipes

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