30-minute meals, Cakes, Eggs, Pasta and noodles

Egg-Topped Soba Noodles with Asparagus and Prosciutto and Double Chocolate Muffins

Things are still crazy, hectic, almost out of control in my household. We’re still managing to eat well though, thanks in part to my husband. We’ve settled into a pattern where I do the meal planning and grocery shopping and he takes care of the cooking while I pick up the kids from daycare. His most recent dinner was absolutely amazing, the type of meal where the only full sentence spoken (even from your kids) involves some variation of “this is delicious.” While the meal is quick and healthy, it does require multiple pans and you really have to be on your toes to make sure nothing is overcooked. Still, if you’re short for time but energized enough to maneuver three pots at once, this one is hard to beat.

Egg-topped Soba with Asparagus and Proscuitto

Egg-Topped Soba Noodles with Asparagus and Prosciutto
adapted from Bon Appétit, February 2010

Serves 6

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
5 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
4 oz (110 g) thinly sliced prosciutto, cut crosswise into strips
6 large eggs
10 to 12 oz (280 to 340 g) thin soba noodles
1 lb (450 g) asparagus, ends trimmed, cut on sharp diagonal into 1/8‑inch-thick slices
1 cup (100 g) freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil in a large skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add the prosciutto strips and cook until slightly crisp. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet (or 2 small nonstick skillets) over a medium heat. Crack the eggs carefully into the skillet. Cook on 1 side until the eggs begin to set, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat. Cover and set aside.

Cook the soba noodles in the large pot of boiling water for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the sliced asparagus to the pot. Cook until the noodles are cooked through and the asparagus is just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Do not overcook! Drain the noodles and asparagus, reserving 1 cup (250 ml) of the cooking liquid.

Add the drained noodles and asparagus to the prosciutto mixture in the skillet. Cook over a medium heat until just heated through, tossing and adding the reserved cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls (50 ml) to moisten.

Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the grated Parmesan cheese and remaining 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil and toss to coat. Divide among 6 plates or shallow bowls. Top each serving with 1 egg and serve immediately, breaking and stirring the egg yolk (which should still be a bit runny) into the noodles.

***

Double Chocolate Muffins

My daughter is “graduating” to a toddler room at her daycare this week. In a fit of panic after forgetting to buy her teachers a good-bye gift, I threw together these muffins with the odds and ends I had in my house. What a discovery! They are moist and chocolaty, and just healthy enough to eat for breakfast. I hope they enjoyed them. I know we did.

Makes 24 muffins

1 1/2 (180 g) cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (120 g) whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups (300 g) sugar
1/2 cup (60 g) cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup (250 ml) plain yogurt
1/2 cup (125 ml) water
1/2 cup (125 ml) milk
1/2 cup (125 ml) vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (80 g) grated dark chocolate
1 cup (200 g) white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, yogurt, water, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just moistened. Do not overmix! Fold in the grated chocolate and white chocolate chips.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups about 3/4 full. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes before removing from the pans to wire racks.

30-minute meals, Grains and pulses, Lamb, Middle Eastern food, Rice, Salads

Spiced Lamb and Lentils with Cucumber-Tahini Salad

Sometimes I love being on the “mommy track” but recently juggling kids and a career seems like the craziest idea I ever had. The last few months have been terribly stressful at work. I’ve barely had time or energy to cook. You might have noticed this downward culinary slide due to my lack of recent posts (sorry, Kristin). Luckily, I have a handful of make ahead recipes to help me through these rough patches. This is my newest — and favorite.

Lamb might seem pretty rich for a weeknight springtime meal, but the lentils lighten up this dish and the cucumber salad lends just the right amount of tangy freshness. I like to cook the lentil and lamb stew the night before, after I put the kids to bed and pour a generous glass of wine. You can cool and refrigerate the stew right in the pan you cooked it in. A programmable rice cooker can take care of the rice for you the next day while you work. All you have to do when you arrive home is throw together the salad and reheat the stew. And that is how I managed (at least for one night) to put a healthy, incredibly tasty dinner on the table in 10 minutes.

Spiced Lamb with Lentils

Spiced Lamb and Lentils with Cucumber-Tahini Salad
adapted from Whole Foods Market

Serves 6

3 cups (700 ml) low-sodium chicken broth, divided
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb (450 g) ground lamb
1 3/4 teaspoons dried dill, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (175 g) green lentils
1 tablespoon sesame tahini
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
cooked brown rice, to serve

Bring 1/2 cup (125 ml) broth to a simmer in a large pot or high-sided skillet over a medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, or until tender and translucent. Add the lamb, dill, oregano and cinnamon and cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until browned, stirring to break up the lamb. Stir in the lentils and remaining 2 1/2 cups (625 ml) broth. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are tender, about 45 minutes. If serving the next day, cool the stew then refrigerate it.

To make the salad, in a small bowl, combine the tahini, salt and lemon juice, then stir in the cucumber and tomato. If the lamb and lentils have been chilled, rewarm over a medium heat. Spoon the warm lamb and lentils over rice and top with the cucumber tomato salad.

Beef

Sloppy Joes

On Twitter yesterday, I asked if my Irish friends had ever heard of Sloppy Joes, suspecting (correctly) that they’re an American thing. A lot of people had heard of them but weren’t quite sure what they were. “Are they kind of like a burger?” “A messy meatball hero?” “Isn’t it just Bolognese on a bun?” The Americans, though, all had the same response — that they were an old childhood favorite. One fellow expat got a little confused and thought I’d never heard of them, saying, “What kind of tragic American upbringing did you have?!”, while another said, “Dammit, now I’m going to crave them for three days, and I haven’t eaten beef in 20 years.” Clearly, the Irish don’t know what they’re missing! The tradition continues in my house now — whenever I ask my daughter what she’d like me to make for dinner, she invariably either says Sloppy Joes (must be that kids and ketchup thing again) or this pasta with bacon, peas and cream.

When I think of what to serve with Sloppy Joes, I tend to gravitate towards summery sides like potato salad or coleslaw, or even that classic American sandwich accompaniment — potato chips — but most of the time I try to be a good mom and get more veg into my kids, so I’ll serve them with something like steamed broccoli.

Sloppy Joes
adapted from Simply Recipes

Serves 4

Finely chopping the vegetables is my way of making sure my kids actually eat them — if they’re tiny, they can’t pick them out and leave them behind on their plates. For a lighter version, try using minced turkey instead of beef, as in Tyler Florence’s recipe. In the Twitter conversation about Sloppy Joes, Theresa commented that she might try making a more grown-up version by adding some smoked cheese, which got me to thinking that a chipotle version would be damn good too, though probably not as kid friendly.

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 lb (600 g) ground beef
2 cups (500 ml) tomato sauce or passata
1/2 cup (125 ml) ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (or more to taste)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 hamburger buns, Kaiser rolls or baps, toasted
grated cheddar cheese, to serve (optional)

Heat the olive oil in a large pan on a medium heat. Add the carrots, onion, red pepper and celery. Cook for 10 minutes, until the vegetables have softened (add a pinch of salt to stop the onion from browning). Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Remove the vegetables from the pan to a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

Using the same pan (or you can cook the meat at the same time as the vegetables in a separate pan to save time), raise the heat and brown the beef. Strain off all but 1 tablespoon of the fat from the bottom of the pan.

Return the vegetables to the pan. Add the tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and thyme to the pan. Stir to mix well. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, for at least 10 minutes or up to 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon on top of toasted hamburger buns, Kaiser rolls or baps and sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese on top. Pass around the napkins and don’t worry about making a mess, or serve as an open face sandwich instead and dig in with a knife and fork.

30-minute meals, Cookbook reviews, Potatoes, Seafood

Mackerel with Warm Potato and Chorizo Salad

A few months ago, someone was on Twitter asking for recommendations for where to bring visitors for good seafood in Kinsale, County Cork. About a dozen people replied, and everyone said the same thing — Fishy Fishy. So it’s no surprise that Martin’s Fishy Fishy Cookbook has already entered its second printing just a few weeks after being released. Like the name of his TV show says, Martin Shanahan is mad about fish and he wants everyone else to love it too. My favorite episode from his first series was when he cooked mussels at the cattle mart in the land-locked Midlands and tried to get farmers who had never had a mussel in their lives to taste them (and almost all of them liked them). But even though Ireland is an island nation, we export most of our fish and notoriously eat very little of it ourselves. Martin thinks this is down to what he calls the “fear factor” when cooking fish, and his mantra has become “no skin, no bones, no fear”.

Flipping through his new cookbook and dog-earing pages of tempting recipes to try, his enthusiasm is catching. This mackerel with a warm potato and chorizo salad was outstanding, but also bookmarked are the crab crumble, warm chilli seafood salad, salmon and cucumber wraps and the Thai-style white Pollock fish cakes with Asian cabbage and a sweet and sour dipping sauce. With recipes that sound that good, he’s bound to pick up loads of new seafood-loving converts.

Photo © Kevin O’Farrell from Martin’s Fishy Fishy Cookbook

Mackerel with Warm Potato and Chorizo Salad
adapted from Martin’s Fishy Fishy Cookbook by Martin Shanahan

Serves 4

Chorizo is one of those ingredients (like bacon) that automatically makes anything better, but the dressing is what really made this recipe for me — it gave it just a little oomph and lifted the whole dish. Martin says that you can substitute some lightly cooked kale for the green beans here. Next time I make this — and there will definitely be a next time — I’m going to try using smoked mackerel fillets, warmed through, since I can get that more easily than fresh mackerel.

For the salad:
1 1/4 lb (600 g) potatoes, cooked
1 link of chorizo sausage
olive oil
7 oz (200 g) green beans, blanched and refreshed in ice water
salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 mackerel fillets

For the vinaigrette:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon French mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cube the cooked potatoes and slice the chorizo. Heat a little oil in a pan and add the chorizo. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes to release the oil from the sausage, then add the potatoes and green beans. Make the vinaigrette by whisking together all the ingredients or shaking to combine in a screw-top jar, then toss the potato mixture in this dressing.

Heat a pan over a high heat and add a little oil. Season the mackerel fillets with salt and pepper, then cook the mackerel skin side down, pressing down on the skin to crisp it. Cook for 2 minutes, then turn and cook for a further 2 minutes on the other side.

Spoon a little of the warm potato salad into the center of each plate and top with the mackerel fillets.

Casseroles, Cookies, One-pot wonders, Poultry, Rice

Chicken and Bacon Pot with Oatmeal Freezer Cookies

I’m usually not a fan of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. In comparison to chicken thighs, I find chicken breasts too easy to dry out and dull in flavor, reserved only for dishes with lots of other “wow” ingredients. Maybe it’s the bacon in this dish or the top-quality chicken that I used, but this one-dish chicken recipe proved me wrong. The sauce is savory and satiny, the meat moist and tender, and it all meshes perfectly on top of basmati rice. My kids both asked for thirds and I hid the leftovers for myself. 

I took advantage of my already hot oven and put in a batch of oatmeal freezer cookies before we sat down to eat. Despite the fact that it’s May, it’s damp and gray here in Wisconsin — but good weather for baking cookies. Freezer cookies are ideal desserts for busy people. You can make the dough days, weeks, even months in advance, then store it in your freezer until you need it. On the day you want to bake the cookies, simply thaw the dough in the fridge, slice, and bake it. Hot cookies fresh from the oven in minutes!

Chicken and Bacon Pot
adapted from Easy Everyday: Simple Recipes for No-fuss Food

Serves 4

High-quality chicken is essential for chicken breast-based recipes like this one. I used chicken shipped to me from Springer Mountain Farms, which prides itself on their 100% natural, vegetarian-fed and humanely raised (certified by the American Humane Association) chicken.

1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz (225 g) bacon, diced
8 oz (225 g) white, button mushrooms
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 shallots or 1 small onion, diced
1/3 cup (40 g) flour
2 cups (500 ml) chicken broth or stock
2/3 cup (150 ml) white wine
1 bay leaf
a handful of fresh parsley, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
basmati rice, to serve

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Heat the olive oil in a casserole dish, add the bacon and mushrooms, and cook over medium heat until golden. Transfer the bacon and mushrooms to a plate.

Put the chicken breasts in the casserole and quickly brown on both sides. Set the chicken aside with the bacon.

Saute the garlic and shallots (or onion) over a low heat in the same pan for about 5 minutes. Add the flour and mix well. Stirring constantly, cook the flour mixture about 1 minute, until well blended and nutty smelling, being careful not to burn the flour. Remove the pan from the heat, slowly pour in the stock and wine, and stir or whisk until smooth. Return the pan to the heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly for another 2 to 3 minutes, or until the sauce slightly thickens. Mix in the bacon and mushrooms, then add the chicken, bay leaf, and seasoning. Cover and cook in the oven for 30 minutes. Add the parsley just before serving with rice.

***

Grandma Dot’s Oatmeal Freezer Cookies
adapted from cooks.com

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

I freeze this dough in smallish logs, just enough to make about 8 cookies. By freezing smaller portions, the dough thaws more quickly. And because I only bake a few cookies at a time, they are always fresh.

1/2 cup (100 g) shortening
1/2 cup (85 g) brown sugar
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup (90 g) flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups (120 g) rolled oats
1/4 cup (25 g) finely chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Cream the shortening and sugars. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt, baking soda, oats and nuts. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture until just blended.

Shape the dough into 2‑inch rolls, like refrigerator cookie dough at the grocery store, on waxed paper. Roll up and twist the ends together. Chill until firm (at least 2 hours) or freeze for later use (place logs in a plastic bag before freezing). When ready to bake the cookies, thaw the dough (only if frozen), then cut into 3/4‑inch slices. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet with at least 1 inch separating the cookies. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for approximately 10 minutes.

Pasta and noodles, Pork

Pork and Lemon Meatballs with Lemon and Basil Linguine

On a warm, sunny day, there’s no prettier place to be than Ireland. Brilliant yellow fields of rapeseed are at their peak right now, everything seems to be in bloom and the windows in the house are thrown wide open to let in the fresh air. After a long, cold winter, we’ve had a few straight weeks of sunshine on the east coast in Ireland and I’m craving bright, fresh flavors. It’s not quite warm enough yet to be fully fledged salad weather, but this lemony take on spaghetti and meatballs is just right for this time of year, when you want something a little lighter after months of stews, braises and casseroles.

If you like this recipe, you might also like Rigatoni with Pork and Lemon Ragu, Lemon Fusilli, Lemon and Pea Risotto or Gnocchi with Peas, Pancetta and Lemon Ricotta. Or for more meatball recipes, try Polpette di Melanzane (Eggplant “Meatballs”), Turkey Meatballs with Walnuts, Cilantro and Raisins with a Lemon Cumin Yogurt Sauce, Swedish Meatballs, or Spring Rolls with Pork Meatballs and Spicy Peanut Sauce.

Pork and Lemon Meatballs
adapted from The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater (or you can see the original recipe here)

Serves 4 to 6

Nigel Slater calls these “delectable little balls.” I just call them addictive.

1 lb 2 oz (500 g) pork mince
3/4 cup (75 g) fresh white breadcrumbs
10 anchovies, finely chopped (optional)
1 egg, beaten
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup (25 g) grated Parmesan
a large handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.

Put the pork, breadcrumbs, chopped anchovies, beaten egg, lemon zest and juice, Parmesan and parsley into a large mixing bowl. Season with a little salt (not too much because the anchovies and Parmesan are already salty) and a generous amount of black pepper. Mix thoroughly. Form the mixture into balls, using about 1 heaped tablespoon of the mixture for each meatball. Place them on the lined baking sheet. Cook in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until they’re golden brown and cooked through. Serve on top of the lemon and basil linguine.

***

Lemon and Basil Linguine
adapted from The Kitchen Diaries by Nigel Slater

Serves 4

This is a quick, simple recipe that lends itself to any number of adaptations — try adding in some garlic, chilli flakes or anchovies or using parsley instead of basil.

1 lb (450 g) linguine or spaghetti
juice of 2 large lemons
1/2 cup (125 ml) olive oil
1 1/2 cups (150 g) freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra to serve
1 or 2 large handfuls of basil leaves, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions. Meanwhile, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil and Parmesan in a warm jug (warmed under a running hot tap, then dried) until it’s thick and grainy. Add in the basil, season to taste and mix again.

When the pasta has finished cooking, reserve a mugful of the cooking water. Toss the drained, hot pasta in the lemon and Parmesan sauce, adding some of the reserved cooking water if you think the pasta looks too dry. Serve immediately with some extra Parmesan grated over.

30-minute meals, Italian food, Pasta and noodles, Pork

Classic Spaghetti Carbonara

When I’m feeling especially nice, or especially burdened with working mom’s guilt, dinner planning tends to be child-focused. My kids are great eaters, but like most kids, they’d rather have white bread than wheat, white rice instead of brown, and regular pasta instead of whole grain. Since I knew I was going to put something white (i.e. unhealthy) on their plates, why not just do it up right with bacon, cheese and a few eggs,  à la carbonara?

I’ve been wanting to try pasta carbonara for years but never thought to search out a recipe. I ended up using a simple, straightforward version from a culinary school’s online recipe collection. Admittedly, I’ve never eaten pasta carbonara so I can’t tell you if their version is especially good. I can tell you that my kids gobbled it up, asking for more before their first helpings were even finished. My husband and I also enjoyed it, though we both agreed that extra freshly chopped parsley and cracked black pepper enhanced the dish.

Carbonara ingredients

Classic Spaghetti Carbonara
adapted from Baltimore International College’s School of Culinary Arts

Serves 4

To make this a 30-minute meal, put on your pasta water to boil immediately. While the water comes to a boil, you can chop your ingredients. Start the bacon frying, then throw your pasta in its water. The sauce comes together in just about the same time it takes the spaghetti to cook.

1/2 lb (225 g) bacon, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1 lb (450 g) fresh spaghetti, cooked al dente (note: I used dry pasta)
4 large eggs, beaten
1 cup (100 g) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (or more, to taste)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large sauté pan over a medium heat, cook the bacon until crispy, about 6 minutes. Remove the bacon and drain on paper towels. Pour off all the oil except for 3 tablespoons. Add the garlic, season with black pepper and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the crispy bacon and the cooked pasta. Sauté for 1 minute.

Season the eggs with salt. Remove the pan from the heat and add the eggs, whisking quickly until the eggs thicken, but do not scramble. Add the cheese and re-season with salt and pepper. Mound into serving bowls and garnish with parsley.

Beef, French food, Miscellaneous

Pan-grilled Steak with Béarnaise Sauce

I’m turning into the kind of person who will go to great lengths for a good meal. Last month I drove 3 hours north to Inishowen just to eat at Harrys Restaurant in Co. Donegal, and 2 weeks ago I drove 3 hours south to Dungarvan to go to the Waterford Festival of Food. I was only there for 24 hours, lured down by plans for dinner at the O’Brien Chop House and a bus tour to a microbrewery and oyster farm, but I managed to fit in a lot of good food.

I arrived late to Food Camp on the Friday, but still in time to sample some of Brock’s coffee from his boutique artisan coffee roasting business, Badger & Dodo, followed by lunch, where Niamh couldn’t resist making a classic Irish sandwich — Tayto crisps on a buttered Waterford blaa (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!). After a lively panel discussion on routes to market for artisan Irish food, a group of about 20 people made their way to nearby Lismore for dinner at the O’Brien Chop House, where the rhubarb and apple Bellini was worth the 3‑hour drive alone.

After a gourmet breakfast at Powersfield House B&B (the owner, Eunice Power, is a caterer), it was an early start after a late night the next day for a bus tour to Dungarvan Brewing Company to hear about how their microbrew beers are made and have a sample (at 10:30 in the morning? why not!). After that we went across the bay to Dungarvan Shellfish, where Jim Harty proudly told us about his thriving family-run oyster farm, with yet more samples, this time of fresh Irish oysters, brown bread and a glass of white wine at the slightly more respectable hour of 11 a.m. The last stop on the Bus Bia tour was a fish cooking demo in a parish hall in the Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking region), which finished with tea, coffee and cakes made by the local Irish Countrywomen’s Association. When we arrived back in Dungarvan, a group of 9 of us bloggers headed straight for the best restaurant in town for lunch — The Tannery — not really expecting to get a table but delighted when we did, where almost all of us ordered their signature starter, the crab creme brulée. By then I was starting to regret not staying for the second night (which I definitely did regret the next day when reading everyone’s tweets about the fantastic farmers’ market on the Sunday), but I was happy to have The Daily Spud for company this time on the long drive back, talking about food all the way.

When I go to a restaurant, I always like to order something from the menu that I don’t or can’t make at home, and when I saw that O’Brien’s hanger steak was being served with a side of bone marrow, not to mention Béarnaise sauce, which I’m a sucker for, I practically stopped reading the menu right there. Justin and Richard were fantastic hosts for our group of 20, and if you’re in County Waterford, this restaurant is not to be missed. I’m already planning on bringing the whole family to the festival next year, but in the meantime, I can recreate the meal from O’Brien’s at home with Darina Allen’s recipes.

Pan-grilled Steak
adapted from Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen

Serves 4

Darina Allen recommends using a heavy-ridged cast iron grill pan for cooking steaks. She also says that rubbing the steaks with a clove of garlic intensifies their beefy flavor. It goes without saying to serve this with chips/wedges. For a blow-out dinner like this that’s all about the meat, I’d say a vegetable is pretty much optional. Get your five a day at breakfast and lunch instead.

4 x 6 oz (175 g) sirloin or fillet steaks
1 garlic clove
salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil

About 1 hour before you want to cook your steaks, remove them from the fridge. Cut the garlic clove in half and rub it on both sides of each steak. Grind over some black pepper and sprinkle with a few drops of olive oil (don’t put salt on the steaks at this point, since it will leach out moisture and make the steaks dry and tough). Turn the steaks in the oil and set aside to allow them to come to room temperature. If using sirloin steaks, score the fat at 1‑inch intervals.

Heat the grill pan, season the steaks with a little salt and put them into the hot pan. Cook to your liking (if using sirloin steak, cook the fatty side as well for 3 or 4 minutes until it’s nice and crispy). For rare, cook a sirloin for 2 minutes and a fillet for 5 minutes; for medium-rare, cook a sirloin for 3 minutes and a fillet for 6 minutes; for medium, cook a sirloin for 4 minutes and a fillet for 7 minutes; and for well done (but please don’t ruin a good steak by cooking it well done!), cook a sirloin for 5 minutes and a fillet for 8 or 9 minutes. Make sure you allow the steaks to rest before you serve them. Serve with Béarnaise sauce, oven-roast wedges and a green salad or vegetable of your choice.

***

Béarnaise Sauce
adapted from Forgotten Skills of Cooking by Darina Allen

Serves 8 to 10

If the sauce is slow to thicken, it might be because the heat is too low. When making the sauce, you should be able to put your hand on the side of the saucepan at any stage — if it’s too hot for your hand, it’s too hot for the sauce! Keep a bowl of cold water close by that you can plunge the bottom of the saucepan into if it becomes too hot.

4 tablespoons tarragon vinegar (or white wine vinegar plus extra fresh chopped tarragon)
4 tablespoons dry white wine
2 teaspoons finely chopped shallots
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon cold water
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup (110 g) butter, cubed
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

Boil the vinegar, wine, shallots and a pinch of pepper in a heavy-bottomed stainless steel saucepan until completely reduced and the pan is almost dry but not browned. Immediately add the 1 tablespoon of cold water. Remove the pan from the heat and leave to cool for 1 or 2 minutes.

Whisk in the egg yolks and add the butter bit by bit over a very low heat, whisking all the time. As soon as one piece of butter melts, add the next piece and the sauce will gradually thicken. If it looks like it’s getting too thick or might scramble, remove the pan from the heat immediately and add a little cold water. Don’t leave the pan or stop whisking until the sauce is made and has reached a thick coating consistency — this isn’t the time to see what’s happening on Facebook. Finally, add the chopped fresh tarragon and taste for seasoning. You can keep the sauce warm in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of hot (but not simmering!) water until you’re ready to serve it.

 

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