Salt Beef Recipe (Part Two) and Falafel Recipe!

Bonjour Munchie Mates!

I'm hoping you've been on tenterhooks waiting for part two of my epic Salt Beef recipe! I know it takes a long time to make but believe me it is so worth it, whether you're going to slice it up to have on sandwiches or a bagel,

Or shred it and make into proper Corned Beef Hash.








The second recipe this week is for Falafel, little crunchy patties of spicy vegetarian heaven which I'm sure will please even the most fervent of meat-eaters.










So without further a do, lets get the second part of the Salt Beef recipe done and dusted.

Salt Beef Recipe (part two).

You may remember from last week that I had got to the stage of putting the brisket into the brine and sticking it in the fridge. Then, after 2 days turning it over in the brine.
Well, it needs to go back into the fridge for at least another 3 days to properly soak up all of those flavours from the spices. You can turn it over again in the brine if you like, but if its happy completely covered then there's no real need.

Equiptment:

large saucepan, with lid, big enough to hold the brisket and enough water to cover it.
Wire cooling rack (like you would use for cooling cakes).
Tongs.

After Five Days Of Brining:

Remove the brisket from the brine and rinse it off.
Throw the brine away, you don't want to be cooking the brisket in the Sodium Nitrate!
The brisket should be nicely plumped up and have a slightly pink hue to the meat.









Put the meat into a large saucepan and add:

2 bayleaves.
3 whole black peppercorns.
A good pinch of chilli flakes.
A good pinch of English Mustard powder.
A good pinch of ginger powder.
1 whole clove.
A pinch of ground coriander.
2 whole cardomon pods.

Cover the brisket with fresh clean cold water to about 1" over the meat.
Put the lid on the saucepan and bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat to a very gentle simmer, I turned the hob down to number 1 but it took 8 hours to cook, so if you haven't got that much time try number 2 on your hob, It will still take 4-6 hours to cook properly but it doesn't need any attention so you can leave it alone, go out shopping, go to the pub, watch some telly, whatever!

Give it a check after 4 hours, lift the meat out of the water with the tongs and, with a fork, see if it starts to shred into the fibers of the meat around the edges. If it can be easily teased apart then its done, if not then put it back into the water, don't rush it! Its taken almost a week to get this far so another hour or so, till it's done properly,won't hurt.

 When you are satisfied that it is done lift the salt beef out of the water and put it on the wire cooling tray to cool a little and to get rid of any excess water.
Don't throw away the cooking liquor though as you can turn the heat up and reduce it down to make a really good stock.

I like to cut it in half, across the grain, so i can slice half and shred the other half for corned beef hash.

The sliced salt beef can now be used straight away, I whacked mine onto a toasted bagel with some salad leaves, thinly sliced gherkins and a simple sauce made from yoghurt, a fine dice of fresh onion and a little finely chopped parsley and salt and pepper, but you can use any kind of sauce you want really.

So, for the corned beef hash then:

Ingredients:

Approx 1.5 lb of salt beef, shredded.
1 onion, finely sliced.
2 large semi-waxy potatoes. ( I used Cyprus potatoes for mine, but you can use 3-4 Desiree as they have the same waxiness to them.)
a splash of olive oil or vegetable oil.
1 ladle of the salt beef cooking liquor.
salt and pepper, to taste.

Method:

Peel your potatoes and cut into a dice, not too small. Put in a saucepan of cold water and bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for about 3 minutes to "par-boil" them. They don't need to be cooked all the way through as you're going to sautee them later in the frying pan.
Drain the diced potatoes in a colander and run them under a cold tap to stop them cooking any more. When they are cooled empty them out onto a clean tea towel and pat them dry.


Put your frying pan on the hob and add the oil, bring up to medium temperature and add the sliced onions.
Allow the onions to sautee for about 10 minutes without colouring. Move them around a few times so they don't burn.
After about 10 minutes add a ladle of the salt beef liquor and turn the heat up. Reduce the stock down till its almost gone then remove the onions from the pan onto a plate to use later.

Wipe the frying pan clean and put back on a medium heat.
Add another splash of oil then, after a couple of minutes, add the diced potatoes.
Leave the potatoes gently frying for a few minutes then toss them in the pan, or turn each one over individually if you're not good at tossing!

Keep doing this every few minutes until the potato dice is golden all over. this should take about 10 minutes in total, but if you want a richer golden colour then leave them frying for a bit longer until you're satisfied.
Add the shredded salt beef and either stir it through the potatoes or toss it in, whatever you're comfortable with.
After a couple of minutes throw the onions back in and toss or stir again.
Gently fry together for a couple of minutes and you're done!

I like to serve mine with a nice runny poached egg and some crisp blanched trimmed green beans. ( I'm not going to tell you how to poach an egg, as I'm pretty sure you have your own method!)

Right then, after all that meat-talk its onto a vegetarian recipe!

Usually, if you buy falafel ready made from a supermarket they come in balls like little balls of stuffing. I find these a bit dry if I'm honest and besides they are much easier to cook in small patties and you get a crunchy outside and a moist inside.

Falafel Recipe:

Ingredients:

400g chick peas. (I used a large tin but if you want to use small tins then you will probably need about 1 and a half tins) drained.
3 cloves of garlic.
A handful of fresh parsley.
A handful of fresh coriander leaves.
2 teaspoons of Harissa paste.( I use Lighthouse brand which is a truly authentic harissa, you can see it in the picture of the ingredients).
2 tablespoons plain flour.
3/4 of a teaspoon of baking powder.
2 teaspoons of cumin seeds, ground.
A grate of nutmeg.
Juice of half a lemon.
1 medium carrot.
Salt and pepper.

Equiptment:

Food processor.
Frying pan.
Baking tray.
Clean tea towel.
2 mixing bowls.
Grater ( coarse ).

 

Method:

Rinse your chickpeas and shake off any excess water. Pat  dry with the tea towel ( I like to put them onto the tea towel, bring the corners up together and shake them to get them dry.)

Throw them in the processor with the parsley, coriander, harissa, garlic and nutmeg and pulse, then blitz until fairly smooth, but not like a paste as this will give a nicer texture.

You may have to stop the processor a couple of times to scrape the mixture down.

Once it is blitzed enough scoop it out of the processor and put into one of the mixing bowls.

Add the flour and the baking powder and mix in.

Add the juice of half a lemon and mix in.

Divide equally into 2 mixing bowls.( we are actually going to make two sorts of falafel here, one with just the basic ingredients listed above and the other with added grated carrot.)

Grate your carrot onto your clean tea towel. You can use the same one as you used to dry the chickpeas if you want.

Bring the corners of the tea towel together and , over the sink, twist it round tightly to remove the moisture from the carrot (you want it to be as dry as possible so your mixture won't be too sloppy.)

Add the grated carrot to one of the mixing bowls and mix in.

Season each mixture with salt and pepper.

 Stick the bowls into the fridge for an hour to firm up a little.

Heat a splash of oil in the frying pan to a medium heat.

Pre-heat the oven to around 170 degrees c.

Using a tablespoon, scoop out some of the mixture and drop into the frying pan gently. (you might need to ease it off with another spoon.)

You can do about 4 at the same time but don't overcrowd the pan as they will reduce the temperature and steam instead of frying, leaving a sloppy mess.

Fry for a couple of minutes without moving then gently turn them over. once they have started on the second side you can add a couple more to the pan.


Give each side a couple of minutes and turn them. When they are getting
nicely brown gently squash them down so you get a nice patty shape.
You can go quite dark with them as this gives them a nice smokey taste but don't
let them burn.

When you're satisfied with the colour remove from the pan and put on a baking tray then pop them in the oven on the middle shelf.

Keep doing this until all the mixture is used. I like to make them different sizes to add a bit of variety as the larger ones will be a bit gooey in the middle and the smaller ones will be more crunchy.

Once they're all fried and in the oven give them about 5-8 minutes to crisp up a little more.
 

I've served mine in a lightly toasted pitta with just some salad leaves and a simple sauce made from yoghurt, diced gherkins, chopped fresh mint and salt and pepper.

And there you go!

Hope you have enjoyed this weeks recipes, and as usual, if you've got any questions just ask by commenting on the blog, or posting a question on the post on Facebook.

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Looking forward to seeing you again next week for a very special dessert!

Also, keep an eye out for my next review blog which should be published early next week.


Happy cooking!

Mat.