beef fajitas

1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c lime juice
1/2 c canola oil
1/4 c brown sugar
2 tsp roasted ground cumin
2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tb chile powder (preferably ancho and guajillo chiles)
3 cloves garlic, minced
900 g flank/skirt steak, cut across into 125 mm pieces
700 g ripe tomatoes, in 10 mm dice, lightly salted and set to drain in a colander for 30 mins
1/2 onion, finely diced
1 fresh chili, seeds removed and finely chopped
1/2 c coriander leaves finely chopped
1 tb lime juice
1 red, 1 yellow, 1 green capsicum cored and cut into 12mm strips
1 large onion, in 12mm slices
12-16 tortillas

Whisk first 8 ingredients together. Put half of this marinade in a ziplock plastic bag with the steak and refrigerate for 3 hours to overnight.

Combine tomatoes, onion, chile, coriander and lime juice. Season. This accompaniment is called Pico de Gallo. Toss the peppers and onions in the remainder of the marinade.

Heat a bbq grill up hot. Put the steak on and cook for a minute each side, turning over. Keep going until the internal temperature reaches 50’C. Remove and rest under foil.

Meanwhile heat a large cast iron plan over high heat and fry the drained vegetables until they start to char, remove from heat. Thinly slice the steak and combine with the vegetables, retaining all juices.

Serve with the Pico, warmed tortillas, guacamole, sour cream, shredded cheese.

From: The Food Lab

Quince pan fry

Another recipe for quince, the forgotten autumn fruit – savoury, sour and sweet:

John Dory with tomatoes

Classic Italian flavours and a beautifully simple preparation.

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a Japanese kind of pancake or tortilla, the name loosely translates to “fry as you like it”. There are many regional styles and variations and this is just one example. You you can vary the ingredients according to your liking. It is fast, filling and very satisfying.

shiso recipes – shiso zaru soba

Cold soba noodles – a very light and refreshing dish that is popular in Japan on hot summer days. The shiso here makes all the difference…

smoked roe deer heart

I am not much of a fan of all the organ meats that are popular in traditional Viennese cuisine. But when I bought a whole roe deer from a hunter last week, he told me that usually, hunters keep the heart for themselves. For a good reason, apparently it is the most delicious cut of meat. Tempting! Since I recently had a hay-smoked goat’s heart at the wonderful Koya restaurant in London, I made up the following dish which proved to me that the hunters are right.

Beef burgers (makes 5)

The essence of a burger is not overcooking it.

750 g beef skirt, or another cheap, lean cut with 10 – 20 % fat
1 tsp salt
1/3 tsp black pepper

Trim the meat of any gristle, dry thoroughly and cut into 25 mm pieces, including the fat. Put 200 g portions into food processor with the steel blade and coarsely mince with twenty 1-second pulses. Note the colder the meat is, the better it will mince. Spread the meat out thinly and sprinkle seasonings over then mix them in thoroughly with your hands.

The Danish option: finely chop 4 tb capers and add.

Take 150 g portions and press tightly into a ball with your hands, then slowly squeeze flat between your palms, keeping the edge in shape with your fingertips. Aim for a thickness of 18 – 25 mm. Make a shallow depression in the middle of the top side with your fingers, like the beginning of a doughnut. This will disappear as the burger cooks ensuring even thickness. Brush both sides with oil and either barbecue over moderate heat or fry in a lightly oiled cast-iron pan over moderately high heat. Allow 4 mins for the first side then 2 for the flip, giving a burger just cooked through. Rest a few minutes.

For those secret admirers of McD’s, eating these with thinly sliced gherkins, mayo and ketchup will  pretty much get you there.

Osso buco with gremolata (serves 6)

I don’t have much experience of osso buco, but this was simple, light and tasty, and could well benefit from further recipe enhancement. It shows how far you can get with just the essential Mediterranean flavour base of garlic, onion, carrot and celery. The onions dissolve into the sauce.

2 hind shins of veal (or beef or venison) cut into 5 cm lengths
plain flour, seasoned with pepper and salt
50 g butter
1 tb olive oil
2 garlic cloves, 2 onions, 2 celery sticks, 1 carrot, all finely chopped
1 large glass of white wine
450 ml light stock
finely grated zest of 1 organic lemon
1 small clove garlic, minced
1 tb chopped parsley

Dust the meat in the flour. Heat butter and oil in a generous shallow casserole and brown the meat pieces, remove. All the vegetables and cook until softened, return meat pieces and arrange in a single layer cut side down. Pour in the wine and reduce by half, add stock and simmer gently, covered, for 2 hours until the meat is coming away from the bone, either on the hob or in a very low oven. Turn the meat once or twice.

Mix together the remaining ingredients to make the gremolata and sprinkle over the meat once served.

Source: The River Cottage Meat Book (Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall)

marsala chicken

A classic Italian dish, fast, easy and very satisfying.

2 chicken breasts
a handful of mushrooms (optional)
150 ml marsala (sicilian desert wine)
100 ml full fat cream
butter for frying
salt & white pepper
a few sage leaves for garnishing

Butterfly the chicken, wrap in cling-film, flatten with a meat mallet or rolling pin. Salt and dust with flour. In a non-stick pan, heat a large knob of butter, fry the chicken breasts for 2-3 minutes on each side, set aside on a warm plate. (If using the mushrooms, slice them and fry with the chicken.) Tip most of the butter out of the pan, deglaze with the marsala and simmer until reduced to half of the original amount. Add cream, let thicken a little bit more and season with salt and white pepper. Fry sage leaves in a bit of olive oil, drain on kitchen paper. Serve with fettuccine, rice, new potatoes or mash, garnish with the fried sage leaves.

roast chicken with sumac, za’atar and lemon (serves 4)

1 large chicken, quartered (breast and wing, leg and thigh)

2 red onions, finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

4 tb olive oil

1 1/2 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tb sumac

1 lemon, thinly sliced

200 ml chicken stock

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 tb za’atar

20 g unsalted butter

50 g pine nuts

4 tb chopped parsley

Mix chicken, spices, lemon, garlic, red onion, stock, salt and pepper in a large bowl and marinate overnight in fridge.

Bake in 200’C oven 30 – 40 minutes.

Sautee pine nuts in butter with pinch of salt until golden. Drain on kitchen paper.

Cover chicken with other ingredients.

Source: Ottolenghi