Thursday 27 January 2011

Two new nummies

Hey,

So I came home cold and hungry and lazy and all I had was some eggs and zuccini...Persian Omblet

http://checkitoutavesta.blogspot.com/2008/10/middle-eastern-omelet.html

It turned out amazing, all fluffy and yum. The sugary tumaric gives it a really interesting taste.

Emptying the shit out of the fridge - Pheasants

So my fridge was infested with pheasants that needed to be eaten...I again didnt have too many ingredients so I modified this one...

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/emerils-favorite-roast-pheasant-recipe/index.html

Ingredients

1 pheasants
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 manderine
1 tbl sp thyme dried
bacon pieces
1/4 cup Madeira
1 cup rich chicken stock
2 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 260C degrees. (I cant remember if I used this temp or reduced it,...use brains)

Season the cavities and the outside of each pheasant liberally with salt and pepper. Stuff carrot, onion, manderine pieces (cut in half), thyme (snap its spine if the stupid birds are too small)

Arrange the pheasants in a large roasting pan, breast sides up. Thow bacon pieces over the pheasant (its supposed to be rashes but I didt have any so I basted lots) Roast for 15 minutes, then remove the bacon strips and continue roasting for approximately 30 to 40 minutes, or until the juices run clear. (It is important to not overcook the pheasants, as they are very lean birds.) Remove the pheasants from the oven and transfer to a serving platter, loosely tented, while you make the sauce.

Using a spoon, carefully remove as much extra fat from the pan as possible. Place the roasting pan over high heat and, when hot, deglaze with the orange juice and Madeira, using a wooden spoon to scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. When the orange juice and Madeira have reduced by half, add the chicken stock and continue to cook until sauce has reduced enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 3 to 4 minutes. Swirl in the butter and remove from the heat. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.

Remove the back bone from each pheasant, then cut along the breast bone to divide the birds into two halves. Serve 1/2 pheasant per person, napped with some of the sauce.

Id do this again anyday, the thyme and orange were great. It would probably work for other little birds like geese, swans, emus, or pterodactyls too.

Saturday 22 January 2011

Marinated beef ribs in dark ale and mustard

4 beef spare ribs, about 2kg in total
125ml dark ale (1/2 cup)
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp cider vinegar
2 small red chillies, seeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp whole grain mustard
20g unsalted butter


Place ribs in a single layer in a large non-metallic dish. Put the ale, sugar, vinegar, chilli, cumin and mustard in an bowl, stir well to dissolve the sugar, then pour over the ribs. Toss to coat, then cover and marinate in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
Preheat kettle or covered BBQ to medium indirect heat. Transfer the ribs and the marinade to a large shallow roasting tin and place in the middle of the BBQ. Lower the lid and cook the ribs for 50 minutes, or until the meat is tender and about 1/2 cup of marinade is left in the pan. Transfer the ribs to a warm serving plate while you finish making the sauce - leave the pan on the BBQ to keep warm.
Using a whisk, beat butter into the reduced marinade in the roasting tin and season with salt/pepper.
Drizzle ribs with sauce.



From Leanne Kitchen's The Butcher.
I use dark Kozel for preference, and have used tabasco in place of the chilli but it's not as good.