Vietnamese Pho (almost)

April 15, 2013Leave a comment

After the massive success of my braised beef tendons I was left with the wonderful braising liquor that was flavoured with spices such as cinnamon, star anise, cloves, fennel and garlic and thickened with the deeply flavoured tendons. The Vietnamese noodle dish Pho instantly sprang to mind so I threw together this very quick supper the following night. It’s not a totally authentic version but it was absolutely delicious.

Ingredients: (made 2 big bowls)

300ml Beef tendon stock (approx)
100ml chicken stock (to top up the beef stock but if you have lots of tendon stock left you won’t need it)
glug of fish sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar
3cm piece thinly sliced fresh ginger cut into matchsticks
leftover beef tendon cut into small pieces
flat rice noodles
thinly sliced raw sirloin

To garnish:

thinly sliced red chilli
bean sprouts
mint
coriander
thinly sliced red onion
wedge of lime

Method:

Combine the stocks in a saucepan and simmer, add the ginger, fish sauce, palm sugar and continue to simmer for a few minutes.
Place noodles in a big bowl and top with sliced sirloin and beef tendon, add a handful of bean sprouts then pour over the stock then sprinkle over your garnishes and dive in.

Braised Beef Tendons with sticky Jasmine Rice & Pork Floss

April 9, 2013April 9, 20132 Comments

Cooking on a tight budget means you have to be a bit creative with your dishes such as using cuts of meat that most people overlook like awesome cow arse steaks, pigs head terrines, chicken wings/feet etc and now ladies and gentlemen it’s the turn of the humble and glorious beef tendon.

My wonderful butchers at Derek Jones in Melton Mowbray are used to me wanting bits of animals that usually go into the trim bins for mince/brawn etc and so last week when I asked them to keep aside the beef tendons they couldn’t help but laugh as they normally go into the bin for the dogs. A visit to my butchers just wouldn’t be the same without them taking the piss in the way good butchers do 🙂 . Seriously, use your local butcher, they will look after you, share their knowledge (and jokes) and your kitchen will be all the better for it.

Asian countries are much less squeamish about which parts of animals are deemed “acceptable” to eat, and as a result enjoy so many more delicious morsels than the average UK shopper. Tendons are forthcoming in their generosity, when slowly braised in stock they not only soften to meltingly sticky, deeply flavoured delights but they release the most wonderful flavour and gelatine into the stock that makes it silky and with a depth of flavour that just can’t be beat.

Some of the ingredients you might not recognise, I pick everything up from my local Asian supermarket in Leicester which I love. Whenever I’m there I also buy 1 new ingredient that I have no idea what it is or how to use it and just experiment when I get home. The remaining braising liquid will set overnight, you can cut it into pieces and freeze separately to add to your Chinese cooking to give a wonderful flavour boost or we made a pho the following day.

Raw tendons on left and in the stock on right

Ingredients: (serves 4)

4 beef tendons
3 star anise
2 tsp Chinese 5 spice
1 tablespoon dried garlic slivers
1 heaped tablespoon hot fermented broadbean paste
4 tablespoons Datu Puti (hot spiced chilli garlic vinegar from the Philippines)
5 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
water to cover

To serve:

white rice
1 jasmine tea bag
french beans
drizzle toasted sesame oil
crispy fried shallots
black sesame seeds
pork floss
wedge of lime

Method:

Bring a pot of water to the boil and blanch the tendons for 2 minutes. Remove tendons, discard the water, clean the pot then return tendons to pot with the rest of the ingredients and top up with enough water to cover everything by about 1 cm.
Cover and simmer for about 3-4 hours or until the tendons have reached a consistency you are happy with (some Chinese restaurants will cook them for 7 hours). Taste and add a bit more sugar/soy if needed.
Make your rice using the absorption method adding the intact teabag to the rice pot to infuse the rice with its jasmine scent.
Cook the beans for just a minute or so in boiling water ( I like mine just barely cooked)
To serve simply slice the tendons into bite sized pieces and place on top of your rice, spoon over some of the braising liquid. Drizzle a bit of sesame oil over the beans, sprinkle with the sesame and crispy shallots and then top with some pork floss. Squeeze a bit of lime juice over the tendon.

Psychedelic Meat Treat – Ham Hock, Beetroot and Horseradish Terrine

March 2, 2013March 2, 20134 Comments

I love making terrines, you can take a few really cheap ingredients and turn them into something pretty impressive looking that tastes ace and feeds loads of people with very little effort.

Normally I make a pig head terrine with edible flowers one but I fancied something a bit different so picked up a lovely gammon hock from my butchers, Derek Jones (Just £1.38), and a few trotters and I was good to go. Unlike most people’s versions I always like to include quite a bit of the jelly in the terrine as it’s packed full of flavour and when spread over hot toast it makes the perfect butter substitute as it instantly melts into loveliness in a way that butter just can’t live up to.

Ingredients:

2 x gammon hocks
few sticks celery
1 red onion, halved
few carrots
4 cloves garlic
bouquet garni (few bits from the garden: bay, thyme, sage etc)
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
few peppercorns
3 pigs trotters
200g cornichons, chopped
1/2 beetroot, peeled and V-sliced into matchsticks
2 tablespoon grated horseradish (I used a Polish horseradish and chilli mix that has no cream)
handful chopped parsley

Method:

Put your hocks, trotter, carrots, celery, onions, garlic and herbs (except parsley) into a big pot. Cover with cold water, add the fennel and peppercorns and bring to s simmer, and cook very gently for about 2 1/2 hours or until the meat is falling away from the bones when gently pulled.
Remove the meat and reduce the stock by about half and strain.
Pick the meat from the hocks and trotters and allow to cool.
Ina big bowl combine the meat, chopped cornichons, parsley, horseradish, beetroot and plenty of pepper, taste and see if it needs a bit more horseradish.
Put the mix in your moulds, I used a big silicon loaf tin and silicon cupcake tray.
Pour over the reduced stock and chill in the fridge overnight.

*Any excess stock you can just pop in a jar and keep in the fridge, spread it on toast, add it to risottos, soups, stews,gravies, whatever takes your fancy. It’s packed full of flavour and is just absolute kitchen gold.