Big Bean Casserole

Ingredients

 400g Jonny Beans soaked over night (or dried broad beans)

110 g of speck cut into 8mm dice

2 x medium onions, carrots, celery  all cut into 5mm rings

3 cloves of garlic coarsely chopped

500g Belly Pork scored  into 40mm2

12 chicken wings

300g smoked continental sausage cut into 20mm slices

1L of chicken stock about.

3 bay leaves.

Tbspn black peppercorns, salt to taste 

Method 

Boil beans in soaking water for ten minutes, drain, rinse and reserve.

In a large pan fry off the speck until the fats run and the dice colours, draw off and put in casserole. Fry chicken wings in batches so each side takes on a good colour and pack tightly into bottom of casserole.

Lower heat and sweat off onion, carrot, celery and garlic.

Pack drained beans on top of the wings, scatter peppercorns and bay leaves.

Spreading onions, carrot, celery, garlic over top of beans.

Pour in sufficient stock to cover beans well. 

Push belly pork into mixture until the rind is only just above the water.

Cover and cook in a fan oven 180°C for 2 hours. After one hour remove cover. After a further half hour push the sausage slice into the water, check the beans are soft. 

Check seasoning and Serve.

Vension Shank

 Been some time since I recorded anything here. Not that I havent produced some knockout dishes, just didnt get round to recording them or as ever taking any photos. Yet another missed photo opportunity. If only I could capture the smells to share with you. So another venison, shank this time, again in the slow cooker.

•  1 shank of venison on the bone
  
• 4/5 Tbspn olive oil
• 2 large onions
• 2 good sized carrots
• 4 cloves garlic
• tspn pepper corns
• 12 juniper berries
• 150mm ish of orange peel (without pith)
• 700ml full bodied red wine
• bouquet garni - 2stlk celery+leaves, 2 bay leaves, parsley, thyme, sage, rosemary
• 8 charlotte potatoes, small left with skin on
  

Oil in skillet, get the pan really hot and sear all of the flesh on the shank to a good deep brown, place in the slow cooker. Turn down the heat, throw in the peeled thick sliced onions to sweat off, stir from time to time. Snuggle the bouquet garni, with herbs cased in the celery stalks cut in half lengthways and tied up with string, down against the shank. Peel and cut the carrots into 25mm long roundels, again snuggled down against the shank. Scatter over the coarsely chopped garlic, juniper berries peppercorns and salt to taste. When onions have softened tip in the red wine, cook briefly, stir then tip onions and wine over the shank so the onions cover the shank. Make sure carrots are under liquid.

Cover slow cooker set to low and cook for 7hrs. Around 3.5hrs turn shank onto other side, you may need to turn once more to ensure the tight ball of flesh that has shrunk up the bone gets cooking time in the liquid. Two hours before serving push the potatoes down into the liquid, remove the bouquet garni. by the seven hours you will feel that the meat has soften and easily pulls away. You will probably want to take out some of the juice, blend with flour then stir back in to thicken the richly smelling juices. Enjoy.
 

 

Slow Cook Chicken with Celery and Apple

This is my version of this dish which is good for a slow-cooker. Put the aromatics into the pot, parsley, thyme, bay leaf, garlic and lemon peel. You can see the quantities that I used you must adjust to suit the size of your pot and servings. 

Peel and core brambly apples, I used three, coarsely chop two and scatter over aromatics. Slice the remainder apple and reserve.

Clean and coarsely chop a head of celery and finely chop the leaves, scatter into pan.

together with a medium onion chopped

Optionally I used 3/4lb of belly pork, scored at 35mm centres and buried into the apple and celery. Meanwhile brown off chicken pieces in olive oil. I used 8 wings I happened to have.

Pour 1L of cider, I used Scrumpy into the pot, remembering to slacken the frying pan residues and also add. Push the chicken pieces down into the sides and across the top. Then scatter the reserved apple slices across the top

Season well to taste, cover and cook! I used 5hrs at the low setting and I guess 3.5hrs on high.

 

 

All done, just enjoy. You might want to take off some of the liquid and reduce it but that is down to you.

Simple easy and tasty.

Bean Salad with Confit Duck

 Quick and simple yet turned out refreshing and tasty. A can of red kidney beans and a can of cannelloni beans, rinse well, drain and put into a bowl. Finely chop a medium onion, add to bowl with a Tblspn of white wine vinegar. Very finely chop a green chilli, without the seeds, together with half a cup of chopped parsley, add to bowl. Shred a duck leg confit into thin strips, add to bowl, season to taste add 2Tblspn olive oil and mix well. Leave to absorb flavours, enjoy

my Chill Con Carne

There are a lot of chilli con carne recipes out there, often with wide ranging ingredient plus a couple of exotics like chocolate or coffee. I wanted to get back to what a more simple traditional dish may have been like. It seems to shout out for a slow cook pot. So here is my take on it.

Ingredients
1kg Shin of beef
lard or oil
500gm dried red kidney beans
3 onions sliced
3 cloves garlic sliced
I red pepper
3 red chillies
bunch fresh coriander leaves
1.5 pint good stock
2 tspn ground cumin
2 tspn dried oregano
salt and pepper
1Tbspn treacle
6 plum tomatoes

First off soak the kidney beans over night. Wash and drain until water runs clear then put them on the stove, bring to the boil, and this is important, rapid boil for at least ten minutes.
Meanwhile cut the shin into a small dice. Most recipes call for mince, for one you never know what is in 'mince' and secondly I wanted to get more texture out of the beef. Put about two tablespoons oil in a pan over a high heat fry off the beef in batches until the moisture is driven off and the meat just begins to colour. Transfer to the cookpot and carry on with the next batch, adding more oil as needed. Drain the kidney beans, rinse well, then add to the meat in the cookpot

When the meat has browned and transferred into cookpot, reduce pan to low heat, put in the onion and garlic slices, stir and let them sweat. They will take on colour from the meat but do not brown them.

 

Cover and leave on the low heat until softened.

Prepare the peppers and chillies, deseed then medium chop. Cut the old ends of the coriander and fine chop about four tablespoons of stalks and leaves. 

When onion and garlic has softened but not coloured, turn heat up high, drive of any moisture then and put in the peppers, chille, cumin and oregano, stir and leave for a few moments.

 

Now add about 1.5pints of a good stock and the coriander, let it come to the simmer and leave for a couple of minutes.

Mix the meat and the kidney beans together then add the stock, spices, peppers, chillies and coriander.

The liquid should just about cover the beans, add a little more if necessary. To ensure the beans cook thoroughly I have kept the water level high and I set the cooker onto high for eight hours. This was too long and six hours should be sufficient, depending on how old your beans are.

Halfway through the cooking time, give the pot a good stir and reduce to the low setting for the remainder time. Test for tender beans and meat that falls apart in your mouth or give a little longer cooking. Drain the juice out of the cookpot and transfer into a pan, reduce over a high heat adding a tablespoon of treacle. As the juices reduce and thicken the chillie heat will amalgamate and blend to a degree. Take off heat when reduced to about two cupful's.

Coarsely chop six plum tomatoes and a few more coriander leaves.

Add to the cookpot the tomato, coriander with the reduced juices, give a good gentle stir, leave to warm for half an hour. Then enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 





 

 

 

 

 



 

Soused Mackerel

Fillet and pin bone two mackerel. Set aside. In a shallow dish sufficient to take a pair of fillets side by side, strew bottom with two bay leaves, 12 white peppercorns crushed, 5 juniper berries quartered and one onion thinly shaved on a mandolin. Arrange opposing fillets on top and scatter some English mustard power over them. Strew to cover with another shaved onion. In one to two proportions sprinkle about dessert spoon of white wine vinegar followed by olive oil. Cover dish with one large tomato in 5mm slices then sprinkle with coarse breadcrumbs. Cover with well buttered greaseproof paper and put into a hot oven 180C for just under half hour. Take off greaseproof and put dish under grill until golden. Delicious

Chick Pea medley - variation

So I prepare a lot of hummus and like to keep some of the chick peas back to serve as a vegetable. As a variation on my Sautéed Chick Pea  or my Chick Pea Medley try this one.

About half pound of chick peas and sufficient cooking liquor to cover. Prepare all in advance. Coarsely chop a medium onion and put into a pan with Tblspn of olive oil. Gradually turn up the heat as the onion sweats off, then take off lid and dry off, turning until the onion is golden, not brown. Heat to high.

1/8 tspn cumin, cayenne, 1/4 tspn coriander, 1/2 tspn paprika, turmeric, salt and pepper. Stir, throw in stalk of celery small chopped, and one red pepper seeded and coarsely chopped. Stir, than ladle in some cooking liquor, dry off, continue until all the liquor is used up then put in the chick peas, turn until dried off again. Stir, lower heat to a simmer, put in 1/2 dozen cherry tomatoes with cut cross tops, cover until tomatoes just begin to wilt. 

Put in 3Tblspn coarsely chopped parsley and the juice of a lime, stir and serve. 

 

There, remembered the photo this time, it tastes as good as it looks.

Sauteed Chick Pea

Take 200g of pre-cooked chick peas and their cooking liquor, set aside.

Evenly medium chop one large onion and sweat off in a pan over a gentle heat in 1Tblespn of olive oil and 30g of butter. Take your time. When soft and translucent turn heat up to medium, keep stirring occasionally until the onion is evenly golden brown You cannot rush this as you will end up with burnt bits.

Turn heat up to high and quickly put in 1/2tspn coriander powder, 1/8thtspn cumin and 1/4tspn of turmeric. Stir around and blend without letting it catch and burn. Put in the drained chick peas, stir around and coat them with the spices and onion. After a minute loosen with 1Tblespn of liquor, stir, dry off liquor, repeat a few times, turn down heat to very low, add a cup of liquor, cover and let barely simmer for 15 minutes.

Turn heat up to medium and drive off any remaining liquor, add eight coarsely chopped hot bell-peppers, 2 Tblespn of chopped parsley and the juice of 1/2 lime. Adjust seasoning and serve.

A very attractive colourful dish, mildly flavoured and with a sweet overtone.