Waiter, There's Something in My ....
January 18, 2007 at 11:22 AM
by Ashleigh
Stew! Stew, stew, wonderful stew, nothing quite like it for curing the blues ...
A few weeks ago I decided to participate in the Cook Sister/Spittoon Extra/Passionate Cook's 'Waiter Waiter, there's something in my ...' blog event.
I had intended to write about the 2 kilos of leg of lamb that I got for a really good price from a friend who visits a Turkish butcher here in Amsterdam. A note here to expats in Holland - if you want good lamb visit a Turkish butcher. Anyway, I told my mom about it and before she could help herself she uttered a gasp of dismay and the words 'but you really need mutton for a casserole!'
And she was right.
The Daube of Lamb that I made following Robert Carrier's instructions was insipid. The bacon that he instructed be added to the dish for extra suppleness just made it salty and the red wine overpowered the lamb. Really, mutton would have been better. This is the first time I've ever been let down by Mr Carrier, Cooking Goo-roo extraordinaire from the 70s. I almost cried with disappointment.
Lamb notwithstanding, I waited a couple of weeks and the supermarket had lean stewing beef on special offer. It looked wonderful so I quickly grabbed a likely looking 1 kilo package, paid an incredibly low price for it and skipped out of the supermarket with it, some leeks, some onions, a red pepper, wonderful winter carrots, floury potatoes and the rest of my shopping.
When I got home, I broke out my new 27 cm oval Le Creuset*, which had previously only been used for the No-Knead Bread, and started my casserole.
I sliced the leeks, red pepper and onions, and sauted them over a medium heat with dried thyme, marjoram and oregano in a mixture of butter and olive oil. Robert Carrier says that the trick with casseroling is not to skimp on the preparation. He says, and I concur, that careful preparation can make or break the dish.
While they gently steamed away in the pan, requiring only a brief stir now and again, I cut the beef into 2 inch cubes. Then I heated a stainless steel frying pan, used a generous amount of olive oil on the bottom of the pan and browned the meat in batches. Instead of taking the somewhat tiresome step of coating the meat in flour, I place the meat in the pan and while it browned, I dredged it with flour from my little Ikea flour shaker. It worked perfectly. As each batch browned I added it to the Le Creuset.
Then the fun part, deglazing the pan. A good splash of red wine in the pan, then using a metal egg lifter I scraped all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. I let the wine bubble fiercely over a high heat while I did this, all the while gently turning the meat, leek and onion mixture in the casserole. Once the bits were scraped up from the bottom of the pan I added two or three good dollops of tomato ketchup (I used Heinz), a squirt of soy sauce, more of Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and about 500 ml of water mixed up in a jug. I continued to cook this 'sauce' until it had thickened up, then I added it to the casserole, brought the whole thing to a gentle simmer then popped it in the oven at 150C for 2 hours.
After two hours I removed the casserole from the oven to find a deeply coloured, wonderful smelling, bubbling casserole. I added 6 medium potatoes, peeled, and 3 large carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally into thick chunks. Then back into the oven for an hour before removing to serve. If you like you can just switch the oven off and leave the casserole in it. The cast iron of my new casserole dish kept it bubbling gently for hours after the heat was turned off.
The second night I added some peas to the meat mixture and made a pie using Nigella's recipe for Processor Puff Pastry from the Domestic Goddess book. I liked the result of the recipe, but it really was a bit of a faff to produce. I'd never attempted puff or flaky pastry before, usually just settling for shortcrust because after years of practice, that comes out effortlessly and perfectly every time.
I remember when I started making pastry 15 years ago. The looking at the bowl, the cautious adding of the water, gingerly testing to see if it was holding together. I am so over that with shortcrust. Not so with puff pastry. Just the shock of adding the same amount of flour as butter was enough to add a generous layer of padding to my hips. I started working out the calories, then I just stopped. Totally on a need-to-know basis and I really don't need to know!
Puff pastry has lots of rolling involved. I used two sheets of baking paper to roll the pastry between to avoid the goo on the kitchen counter syndrome. I don't like goo on my counters. Does that make me weird?
Equal quantities (weight) of flour and butter, pinch of salt, lemon juice, cold water, process til mixed but still visibly 'chunky'. Refrigerate. Roll, fold into three, roll, fold again. Five times. Rest in freezer in between if it becomes too warm (not you, the pastry!)
The results were wonderful, crisp, light, slightly crunchy. I need to perfect my puff pastry technique so in the Pie Making Stakes, Mr Shortcrust will be taking a backseat and Mr Puff Pastry will be moving up to the driving seat for a while.
* Can I just mention how much I love my first Le Creuset. It's everything I've been looking for in a pan. Sturdy, heavy, reliable, smooth, warm... I could go on and on and on ...
Comments
Your pie looks delicious! I love pot pies, it's such great comfort food. Good luck with the puff pastry sessions, and keep us posted!
Wow, sounds delicious! And it's still a few hours until I can eat again. :) Love the pictures.
I don't have one but now have the excuse to get the wallet out!
Thanks for taking part Ashleigh, see you at the next one.
So you made the plunge and bought one? They are great, aren't they? I don't use mine nearly as much as I should, but I'd be totally lost without it.
How're you feeling?
January 18, 2007 5:35 PM