Beef stroganoff spaghetti meatballs – it sounds utterly nuts, but bear with me. If any one idiom describes what happens in my kitchen, it would be necessity is the mother of invention. I loathe throwing anything away. Even if there is only one tablespoon of cream left, it needs to be used. I guess the lessons from my gran – who [...]
Oxtail – it positively, definitely, decidedly has to be one of my ultimate cuts for a warming stew. My love of it goes way back, to my childhood spent in part on a dairy farm. A whole oxtail is a substantial thing – you get a lot from one bovine. But even back then I remember wishing cows came with [...]
Quite simply the ultimate red wine sauce for steak, that’s Bordelaise folks. Hailing from the Bordeaux region of France, Bordelaise sauce is one of those classical sauces every keen cook should have in their repertoire. Now you may serve Bordelaise on a great manly hunk of steak, but for me this sauce is essentially feminine. The Parisian woman of sauces [...]
Polpette – that’s what the Italians call small meatballs. Now you could say ‘small meatballs’ when you serve this up, but it’s a lot more fun to give it your best Italian inflection and shout ‘polpette’! Recipes for polpette are legion, with each Italian nonna or mamma giving it her own special twist. Some add herbs, some garlic, some chilli, [...]
Frikkadels or frikadelle – my dictionary offers meatballs or rissoles as an alternative. Now I don’t readily disagree with lofty tomes but, well, balderdash. Because for me a meatball can be any size, made of any meat, and contain pretty much anything in addition to the meat. And that folks, is not a frikkadel. Nope, to be a true frikkadel, [...]
Burgers, done properly, are a thing of beauty. They’re super easy and cheap to make. Best of all? They’re actually quite healthy. Now before the fast food insults start flying, let me qualify. A burger is healthy IF you make it yourself, because you’re in control of what goes in. Use good beef mince, and not much more than a [...]