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Sussex Stewed Steak on a wet winters day

Regula — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 11:48:00 +0000

Eight in the morning, a wet winters day in the Sussex countryside. The sun is rising over the marshes and fields but the pink glow is quickly washed away by grey clouds of rain …
I walk trough a typical crooked path where the tops of the ancient trees lean towards each other creating an archway over the road, nature’s chapel.
Blissfully relaxed I listen to the bustling sound of busy birds in the hedges. Holding my breath, counting robins, coal tits and wrens. They don’t even seem to notice or care that I’m standing there.
Then it quiets down, the moment has passed and I walk on.

When I am at home but I have lots and lots to do during the day and not enough time to prepare a lovely meal, a Sussex Stewed steak is my dish of choice.
It really is the easiest dish you can imagine and it comes out of the oven as a warming meal with elegant flavors to enjoy with guests or just for your own family with plenty of leftovers for the next day. The Stout, port and mushroom sauce used, create a mahogany sauce with a deep flavour sometimes – depending on which Stout you use- you find some chocolate notes, and however a humble dish it turns out to be a feast for the palate every time.

For this dish you should use the chuck of beef, an economical cut of meat that has a deep flavour after slowly cooking it for a few hours. It is one of my favourite cuts of meat, it doesn’t cost the earth so I go for the best quality meat I can find. I buy grass fed Black Angus but I would love to try it with Sussex Longhorn beef one day. I suspect the Sussex Longhorn or the Sussex Red, will have been the kind of breed used for this dish decades ago.

I couldn’t find when the recipe first came to be but it is has been cooked in Sussex and beyond by generations of women. The most famous of women connected to this dish must be Elizabeth David who featured her recipe for the Sussex Stewed steak in her book Spices, Salt and Aromatics in the English Kitchen.
All the recipes I found were all very similar, did they all originate from David’s recipe or is this a far older recipe. Why is it called Sussex Stewed Steak? Is it because David gave the dish its name while she was living is Sussex? Or is it named after the breed used to cook this dish, the Sussex Longhorn or Red … Jane Grigson features her version of the dish in her book ‘English food‘, although similar it explains more how to prepare this recipe.
I cooked four different -although all very similar- recipes over the months, and this is the one I feel is the best, adapted from David’s and Grigson’s recipe.

David as well as Grigson suggests to serve the Sussex stewed steak with mashed potatoes and large field mushrooms. After trying a few other vegetable sides and potatoes, I agree the ladies are of course right.
The Sussex Stewed steak indeed pairs wonderfully with creamy mashed potatoes and sauteed mushrooms.

Sussex stewed steak

What do you need

1 kg of chuck steak in one piece
Flour to dust the meat with
1 large onion, sliced in rings
half a cup of stout
half a cup of port
2 tablespoons of mushroom ketchup*
freshly ground black pepper

To serve
Mashed potatoes, nice and creamy
sauteed mushrooms, a large variety.

* You can buy Mushroom Ketchup from Budgens, if you can’t find it you can substitute it with red wine vinegar.

Method

Preheat your oven to 160° celsius
Dust the meat with the flour and place in a baking dish that is just a little larger than the meat. If your meat has some fat, place in the dish with the fatty side down.
Place the onion rings around the meat and a few on top.
Pour in the Stout, port and mushroom ketchup, you might think it is not enough liquid but don’t add any more than instructed. Trust me.
Season with freshly ground pepper
Cover the dish with tin foil
Put in the lower part of the oven for 3 hours then take off the tin foil leaving just a bit behind to only cover the top part of the meat. If your meat had a fatty side, turn it around now with the fat facing up this keeps the meat from drying out.
Let simmer in the oven for another hour, this gives the sauce a chance of thickening slightly as you will see it is very runny, it will also color the onions.

Enjoy with a good pint of Stout, Porter or Ale!

You might also like:
Jo’s Lamb Hotpot >

The post Sussex Stewed Steak on a wet winters day appeared first on Miss Foodwise.

Spanish spinach and ricotta penne

Regula — Sun, 06 May 2012 10:00:00 +0000

Our first dinner in the garden, spring has been cold this year… the blossoms have been blown away by storms of rain and hail. We have had a few days of fine spring weather in March and then winter came back to taunt us. All I want to do is sit by the stove and read a good Jane Austen novel. Wrapped in a blanket and sipping a cup of Earl grey tea…

This morning the sky looked a little blue so we left the house early to go to the organic market in Brussels. I bought fine looking Spanish spinach and found freshly made Ricotta at an Italian stall. That was dinner sorted. I just love simple pasta dishes, simple is gorgeous in Italian cuisine.

I generally don’t use recipes, I mostly just start cooking and see how it goes. Don’t get me wrong I love cookery books but I don’t really use them for cooking. Unless for pastry, you need to follow the recipe there!

We eat pasta nearly every day at our house, vegetarian ones as we only eat meat once a week. There’s nothing more soothing than a good bowl of pasta after a busy day at the office.

So here we are, one of my favourite easy dishes, penny with spinach, Ricotta and Pecorino.

What do you need

1 bunch of fresh spinach (I used Spanish but you can also use the regular one)

150 g of Ricotta

Pecorino cheese grated

Pepper and sea salt

Method

Boil salted water and add the spinach, cook for 30 seconds and drain.

If you are using Spanish spinach, keep the flowers and buds separate to decorate your dish.

Put all the Spinach leaves in a container with a few teaspoons of the cooking water and puree with a handmixer. If the mixture is too dry, add more water.

Add the penne to the cooking water you used for the Spinach.

Wait for 4 minutes, put a heave based pan on the hob and add the spinach to it.

Add the Ricotta and stir, you might need some more cooking water so if you do, add until you get a good consistency.

Add a handful of grated Pecorino and stir well so you don’t get lumps.

Taste and add pepper and salt if needed.

The sauce shouldn’t be on the stove too long, so add the pasta as soon as it’s ready and fold in the sauce.

Put your flowers and buds on top of the pasta and serve with extra grated Pecorino cheese.

Enjoy

Pasta with Haak or Collard Greens

Regula — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:21:00 +0000

I had never seen this type of kale before and to be honest, I had to do some research.

‘Haak’ or ‘Collard greens’ is a leafy green vegetable from mustard – cabbage family.

They are native to the Mediterranean region but I bought them in Kent.

The leaves look like outer cabbage leaves but darker in color and sometimes almost black. The aroma and taste is something between cabbage and mustard leaves and the leaves do not get very soft after cooking like spinach leaves tend to do.

‘Haak’ or ‘Collard greens’ are also very nutritious, a 1 cup portion of cooked collard greens has about 50 calories. It is an excellent source of vitamins C, A, and K. This same serving will provide a good source of calcium, fiber, and beta-carotene, as well as vitamin E. Rich in nutrients and antioxidants, ‘Haak’ or ‘Collard greens’ are beneficial for supporting the immune system.

the paste

The taste does take some getting used to but after you do, you will enjoy the warm mustardy flavour. I made the leaves into a pesto-like paste and mixed them with parmesan. The parmesan softens the mustard flavour a bit and the Ricotta gives the greens a sweeter touch.

What do you need

serves 4
1 bunch of Collard greens
1 clove of garlic crushed
1 cup of grated parmesan
4 tsp of olive oil
2 tsp of ricotta
parmesan to serve
olive oil to serve

Method
– Rinse the Collard greens well
– Remove the stalks from the leaves
– Boil salted water
– Cut the leaves to create strips
– Add to the boiling water, do not put the lid on
– Boil for 5-7 minutes
– Drain the Collard greens and keep the cooking water to cook the pasta in.
– Add the pasta to the boiling water
– Divide the Collard greens so you have 2/3 and 1/3.
– Add the 2/3 of the Collard greens to a food processor or mixing bowl
– Add the olive oil, parmesan and garlic to the Collard greens and puree.
– Add the Ricotta to the paste and stir
– Drain the pasta and keep some of the cooking water
– Stir the Collard greens paste trough the pasta, if its to dry, add some of the cooking water.
– Finally stir in the 1/3 of Collard greens leaves
– Serve with a generous amount of parmesan and drizzle some olive oil over the dish to finish it of.

This dish is delicious with a fruity white wine.

Enjoy

Please leave a comment, I appreciate every single one!

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