Boeuf Bourguinon

Why create a recipe when there are some fabulous ones available to you? This Boeuf Bourguinon by Guillaume Brahimi was sensational.

The recipe came from Maeve O'Meara's lovely book Food Safari (page 55).

This picture shows it just before commencing cooking.  And, I served it with mashed potato just as suggested by the well known chef.

The following is the list of ingredients:
1kg beef (preferably Wagyu), cut into large chunks   (I used chuck steak from Wootton Valley Meat)
300g speck, cubed
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 carrots, peeled, halved and sliced
2 celery sticks- leaves intact, halved then sliced
1 leek, halved and sliced
1 onion, peeled and chopped
5 shallots - halved
10 sprigs of thyme
7 bay leaves
1 bunch of parsley
½ litre red wine, brought to the boil and simmered to remove acidity
Salt & pepper to taste
300g button mushrooms

Carrot Puree
5 carrots, peeled and chopped

Mashed Potatoes
6 large desiree potatoes, skin on
100g butter
200ml milk

Sourdough bread – to serve

Follow the recipe and you won't be disappointed.  For full cooking instructions, either follow this link (& scroll down) or purchase Maeve's gorgeous cookery book at a discount. ('Search' for Food Safari)

Cultivating a Healthy Gut

With so much focus on eating, cooking & recipes, a little information on identifying causes of things like bloating could be very helpful. Natural Health Consultant, Giselle Cooke explains what to look for and how to handle the symptoms.

Chocolate Fruit & Oat Cookies

This recipe is as a result of a recent Miele Cooking Class after purchasing new ovens for home

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15
Freezing: Haven’t tried
Makes: Approx 20


Ingredients
125 g unsalted butter
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup golden syrup
1/3 cup sultanas
1/3* cup sliced dried apricots
1/3 cup slivered almonds
¾ cup self raising flour
1 cup rolled oats

Method
1. In a small saucepan combine butter, sugar & golden syrup. Stir over medium heat to dissolve sugar. Set aside to cool
2. Pre-heat oven to 180° C (conventional) or if using Fan Plus, then 160°.
3. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients.
4. Pour the butter mixture over dry ingredients, stir to combine.
5. Spoon mixture onto trays, leaving room for cookies to spread.
6. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly golden.

Cool on trays.

Note:  After my first attempt wherein the cookies were a little dry, and after noticing that the teacher had arrived at class with a pre-prepared dough, I let the mixture rest for an hour before cooking them to give the rolled oats time to absorb the moisture from the liquid with which it was mixed.  This is NOT a necessary step.
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* The Miele recipe from which this comes uses chopped dates.

Bread & Butter Pudding with Prunes

Preparation Time: 10 minutes, plus soaking
Cooking Time: 1-1/4 hours
Freezing: Not recommended but has been done
Serves: 6-8 depending on serving size

Ingredients
25 g (1 oz) butter
6 slices sourdough rye fruit bread (or similar) – about 150g (5 oz)
3 eggs
25 g (1 oz) caster sugar
150 ml (5 fl oz) single cream
450 ml (15 fl oz) skimmed milk (approx – enough to cover bread)
30 ml (2 tbsp) brandy
125 g (4 oz) pitted, no-soak prunes, finely chopped
25 ml (½ tsp) ground cinnamon
25 g (1 oz) demerara sugar – approx.

Method
1. Lightly butter a 7.5 cm (3 inch) deep 1.1 litre (2 pint) ovenproof dish.
2. Spread one side of the bread with butter
3. Line bottom of dish with bread, then scatter ½ the prunes on the bread.
4. Put a second layer of bread on top of these prunes and then scatter the balance of the prunes on top. Finish with a final layer of bread, cutting bread to fit corners of dish.
5. Whisk together eggs, sugar, cream, milk and brandy.
6. Pour egg mixture over.
7. Leave to soak for about 40 minutes, lightly pressing bread into the egg mixture. (Weigh down if necessary by placing a small plate with weight on top of the bread mixture)
8. Place the dish in a roasting tin with enough warm water to come up about 2.5 cm (1 inch) up the side of the dish.
9. Cook at 170°C (325°F) for about 1-1¼ hours or until the pudding is lightly set.

Serve with a good vanilla bean ice-cream.

Mussels in White Wine

1 kg mussels
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion finely chopped (spring or salad onions)
5 cloves garlic finely chopped
½ cup flat Italian Parsley
Handful fresh Thyme
1 cup white buttery wine, eg Chardonnay
Salt to taste (small amount only)
Pepper – to taste
½ cup chicken stock (optional)
chilli flakes

• Clean the mussels. Remove the "beard" and scrub them under running water with a brush to remove any sand. Discard the mussels whose shells are not tightly shut.
• In a large pot, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat.
• Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until soft.
• Add the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes. Stir a few times to keep the garlic from burning.
• Add the parsley, thyme, wine, chilli flakes salt and pepper. Bring to boil.
• Add the mussels, stir well to coat them in the sauce, cover the pot and cook for 8-10 minutes over medium heat.
• Shake the pot a few times with the lid on to make sure that the mussels do not burn on the bottom.
• Pour the mussels and the broth into bowls and serve with crusty bread.
• Discard any mussels that are closed.