Monthly Archives: April 2011

Mocha steak with miso sauce with grilled miso eggplant

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I felt like cooking something a bit adventurous and different last night, something Japanese but not just our standard dumplings. After a bit of googling, I stumbled upon the page for Tim Anderson’s MasterChef recipes and I knew I was onto a winner. For those of you reading from overseas, or not addicted to the MasterChef franchise, Tim is into the final 3 of UK MasterChef and I am praying like the heathen I am that he wins – I think the dishes he comes up with are totally bizarre and amazing, and the fact that they work and impress the judges and critics show that he really is a cut above the rest. 


Anyway, enough gushing and onto our dinner. Thankfully we had most of the ingredients, but still needed to adapt it slightly (partly because I didn’t write down quantities on the shopping list as per usual). The original recipe can be found here, and below is our slightly modified version.

Mocha steak with miso sauce

Ingredients
For the steak
5 tbsp finely ground coffee
5 tbsp cocoa powder
pinch cayenne pepper
30g light brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 x 200g rump steaks
sunflower oil for frying

For the sauce2 tbsp sunflower oil
125 grams oyster mushrooms, cleaned and roughly ripped
1 tbsp brandy
100ml chicken stock
75ml miso stock, made up from paste (75mls water with about a teaspoon or a touch more of miso paste)
50ml double cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method

1.      For the steak, preheat oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.

2.      Mix together the coffee, cocoa powder, cayenne pepper, sugar, salt and pepper on a large plate and press on the steaks so they are coated on both sides. Hint directly from Tim – make sure the coffee really is completely ground, or it will be gritty. I recommend grinding it in a mortar & pestle so you can really be sure you’ve got a lovely fine powder.
3.      Heat the oil in a frying pan until it is smoking then add the steaks, in batches if necessary, and brown them on both sides, taking care not to burn the coating. Because we were using cheap rump steak, we probably only cooked it on each side for 30 seconds.
4.      Place the steaks on a baking tray and cook in the oven for about three minutes (for medium), turning once. Remove from the oven and leave in a warm place to rest till needed.
5.      Meanwhile, for the sauce, heat the sunflower oil in a frying pan. Add the mushrooms and fry for 2-3 minutes, gently turning a couple of times. Reduce the heat then add the brandy and tip the pan to ignite the alcohol. Sadly, I fail at igniting alcohol on the stove, so this part didn’t quite work out for us.
6.      When the flames have died down, add the chicken stock and the miso stock. Bring to a simmer then add the cream. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper then reduce until the sauce coats the back of a wooden spoon.
  

Grilled miso eggplant (aubergine)


Taken from another go-to site of ours, BBC Good Food.

Ingredients
2 small eggplants (aubergines), halved lengthways
olive oil
2 tbsp miso paste
2 tbsp mirin
large pinch golden caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp white or black sesame seeds

Preparation method

  1. Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Score a criss-cross pattern into the flesh of the aubergines. Brush with 1 tsp oil and season. Put on a non-stick baking tray and roast for 20 minutes. 
  2. In a small bowl, mix the miso and mirin with the sugar and the lemon juice. Spread this paste over the roasted aubergines and sprinkle with the sesame seeds.
  3. Put under a hot grill for 2-3 minutes until golden. Serve scattered with the spring onions and a handful of rocket.

    While it might seem like the two dishes would have too much miso, they really didn’t, and they went together amazingly. I was so surprised at how the steak turned out but it was complete and utter perfection – the coffee gave it such a great hit of taste and the cocoa powder toned the flavour down giving you a really rich, smooth and punchy flavour. The miso sauce was also beautiful, a really unusual way of making a standard mushroom steak sauce more interesting.

    We also found that beer is the absolute perfect accompaniment to this steak – Graeme was drinking Hoegaarden and something about the flavours all worked so well together. We were talking about just how great this dinner was all night and thought it would be a great meal to serve for when you were having guests over (provided they’re adventurous!). I’m really looking forward to trying some of Tim’s other dishes now (and hoping he wins, and brings out a cookbook!) – the smushi set is next on my list.

    Revisiting the Farmers’ Market at The Avenue, Newton Mearns

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    The Avenue’s Farmers’ Market was on again this morning so we trecked down for a visit to see what was on offer today. Sadly there was no fruit and vegetable stand, but we took some great pictures and got some interesting food:

    An amazing selection of fudge and tablet

    Graeme couldn’t resist Death by Chocolate

    My favourite stall – Edenmill Farm 
    We picked up a couple of chicken breasts (£4.50 for two) some venison sausages and some beef burgers

    We didn’t buy anything from Tarelgin today but I really love their selection of seafood 

    Pinchy!
    A sample of the mild chilli really woke me up!
    A beautiful stall of cupcakes – all baked yesterday and too hard to resist
    I have one of these waiting for me for post-lunch dessert

    The next Farmers’ Market is on Sunday 22 May – maybe we’ll see you there!

    Criterion Cafe, Glasgow West End, Partick

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    We spent a couple of hours at the Pintxo relaunch before realising we needed a more substantial, sit-down dinner, so we naturally migrated to their sister venues, Velvet Elvis and Criterion. Velvet Elvis was packed, so Criterion it was. We were seated in the private back booths near the kitchen and enjoyed some really tasty food:

    Deep Fried Baby Squid with Homemade Alioli, £4.25
    We had this to share. I normally steer clear of anything deep fried as I can’t tolerate the greasiness, but this managed to be crispy and delicate, without drowning in oil. A perfect starter with a refreshing alioli.
    Chorizo and red pepper pizza £6.50
    If there’s a chorizo dish on the menu, I could bet my left arm that Graeme will order it! A light, soft base and a generous serve of chorizo on the top meant this was a really pleasing dish. 
    Pasta special: angel hair pasta with prawns 
    For a creamy pasta, this was really light and refreshing. The prawns were cooked to perfection and were really fresh. 
    I really enjoyed our quick meal at Criterion – the food was good value, tasty and the staff were friendly. Now we just have to pop into Velvet Elvis, and we’ll have completed the trio!

    Criterion on Urbanspoon

    Hotel du Vin at One Devonshire Gardens, Glasgow West End

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    I was really excited to be invited along to try the nearly monthly wine lunch at Hotel du Vin. Dining at Hotel du Vin had been on our “to do” list since I moved to Glasgow, we just hadn’t been able to find the occasion so far!
    Sadly my co-blogger, Graeme, was otherwise engaged so I had the delight of dining with Miss D instead. We arrived and were seated in the bar with a glass of chablis to start – I was  soon to learn there was a lot more to chablis than I first thought! I was very excited to see the above painting on the wall – despite my lack of wine knowledge and expertise, Yering Station is one of the few wineries I visited back in my home land, Australia. 
    We were greeted by the deputy hotel manager, Olly, who welcomed us to the wine lunch and told us that it was an informal and friendly affair. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect so I appreciated his run-down. Shortly after, canapes arrived – my favorites being the duck and plum balls. 
    We moved into the dining room where we were introduced to our host for the day, Anne Roque. She was there to guide us through the wines (provided by Domaine Laroche) and she provided a really interesting commentary throughout the lunch, without ever being boring or too technical. 

     

     First starter: quenelle of pike, mushroom duxelle, financèire sauce
    Wine: chablis st martin 2009
    This was absolutely delicious. The quenelle of pike was so smooth and tender, with a subtle and delicate flavour. The mushrooms were the perfect accompaniment and really gave the dish a great kick. The accompanying wine was a great starter wine, lovely and light without being overpowering. 
    Second starter: escargot vol au vont, celeric puree, red wine fumet
    Wine: chablis le cru les vaudevey 2008, and chablis les cru les vallions vignes 2007
    So, I had never actually eaten snails before. Somehow, when quickly scanning the menu as we were seated, I missed that we were having snails. As soon as it was pointed out to me, I became quite anxious. Would I commit a food blogger faux pas, and be unable to eat the delicacy? I would have been mortified, especially in front of a French person! I shouldn’t have been worried however – I actually really enjoyed this dish, and surprised myself. A similar nutty flavour to mushrooms (which I have only recently began to love) and the celeriac puree inside the vol au vont was a smooth contrast to the snail. I’m not sure I’m totally persuaded to the way of the snail, but I was glad to tried it – and devoured the whole dish, I must admit. 
    There were two wines served with this dish and we were invited to comment on which we thought was the better accompaniment. I’m not sure which was better with the dish, but I really loved the chablis les cru les vallions vignes 2007.
     Main course: Saint Brides free range chicken, chablis veloute, soft parmesan and polenta
    Wine: chablis grand cru les blanchots 2007
    What a wonderful main course. I normally wouldn’t order chicken when I’m out, as it rarely impresses me enough to talk about on the blog. This chicken was really tender and delicate however, as you can see it was the “brown meat” parts of chicken which was unusual, but it was packed with flavour and really delicate. The polenta, veloute and parmesan all oozed together to make a soft, creamy, heaven-sent pool of cheeseyness on the plate which I really loved. 
    The wine to accompany this course was a real show stopper. I never knew there could be such variation in chablis, and you could really see how this is such a well regarded (and expensive) wine. 
    Dessert: Classic apple tart tartin, star anise ice cream

    This was a great dessert to finish the meal, and was served with a sweet dessert wine. Possibly a tad too sweet for me, but refreshing all the same. The star anise ice cream was a showstopper – the hint of star anise was slow to appear but wonderfully mellow when it did. 
    After lunch, the friendly and helpful sommelier took a lucky few to visit the wine cellar downstairs and told us more about the wines of Hotel du Vin. 
    Lunch at Hotel du Vin was a lovely treat – I got home and literally felt like I was floating on air (no, that wasn’t from all the wine). A real blissful and relaxing experience where the service is impeccable, and the staff delightful. 
    The Glasgow Food Blog dined as guests of Hotel du Vin. 

    Hotel Du Vin on Urbanspoon

    Perfect patatas bravas

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    Last week was quite Spanish themed for us – after attending the relaunch of Pintxo, this article in the Guardian appeared the very next day, proclaiming it had discovered how to make perfect patatas bravas. Unlike the author, we’ve always loved patatas bravas and it’s a staple when we go for tapas – and also a good indicator of the food in general. 


    So we though we’d have a go at making it at home. I’d always shunned the idea of home-made tapas – too much effort, for too little reward. But this is what we came up with (we varied the recipe from the Guardian article)


    The Glasgow Food Blog’s perfect patatas bravas (inspired by the Guardian article)


    Serves 4-6

    500g chat potatoes
    1 small onion, finely chopped
    1 tsp chilli flakes
    400g tin chopped tomatoes
    ½ tsp sugar
    ½ tsp salt
    1 tsp smoked paprika
    2 tbsp sherry vinegar
    1 clove of garlic
    300ml greek yoghurt
    Chives, to serve

    1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut the chat potatoes into rough 2cm chunks. Put a roasting tray with 2 tbsp olive oil into the oven and leave to heat for 5 minutes, then take out, toss the potatoes in the hot oil, and bake for about 45 minutes until crisp and golden, making sure you toss them frequently (every 10 minutes or so).

    2. Meanwhile, make the sauces. Put 2 tbsp oil into a heavy-bottomed pan on a medium heat, and cook the onion for about seven minutes until golden and soft. Put in the chilli, and cook for another couple of minutes, then add the tomatoes, sugar, salt and smoked paprika and stir well. Bring to the boil, and then turn down the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until thick and dark. Take off the heat, add 1 tbsp sherry vinegar, and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
    3. Crush a clove of garlic, and mix with the Greek yoghurt to make a cheat’s allioli.

    4. Take the potatoes out of the oven and sprinkle with a little salt. Spread the tomato sauce on to the plates, put the potatoes on top, then add a dollop of allioli and a sprinkle of chives, and serve immediately. 

    We served the patatas bravas as a side to a marinated chicken breast. The potatoes were beautifully crispy without being oily, I think leaving the skin on the chat potatoes made them tastier. And who wants to peel a chat potato anyway? The tomato sauce was rich and decadent, and the cheats allioli added a real tang to the dish. We did try making the allioli but I didn’t realise just how much olive oil was needed – we tried substituting chilli oil which gave the allioli a disgusting, burnt flavour, like eating poison. Not pleasant at all! I was glad we had some yoghurt in the fridge to substitute, and I probably preferred it to a traditional thick allioli.

    Please leave a comment if you decide to give it a try!