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.

Oh, and if you want to subscribe so that you get the blog straight to your E-mail as soon as it's published then type in your E-mail address in the box at the top right of the blog.


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.

Digbeth Dining Club Review.

 

 

Welcome back to my review blog Food Fanatics!

Digbeth, Aaah, Digbeth...
I have been going out clubbing in Digbeth, Birmingham since 1997, I've been to so many top quality nights at The Custard Factory, Air, The Institute, The Rainbow, Boxxed, The Factory, P.S.T and my good friend  (and Digbeth legend )Boogie Dave's "Suki10c". There has always been a good bohemian vibe around the place and always, always a great crowd of people that are up for a good night out and a taste for adventurous new things, whether that's in terms of music, art or food.
You want to go see some live graffiti battles? Digbeth. You want to dance to cutting edge electronic beats all night? Digbeth. You want to sample some of the best street food in the country? yep, you've guessed it, Digbeth.
The first time I went to the Digbeth Dining club was last year with my best mate Andy Stubbs and his partner Donna Church. (more about them later!). I had heard a lot of good things about the street food scene that was rapidly gaining momentum in cities up and down the country, but mainly in London, so was looking forward to some good eats. Unfortunately, as we had got there a bit late, most of the stalls had sold out but I did manage to have an insanely tasty lamb shoulder, feta and rocket toastie from the "Jabberwocky" stall (well, I say stall, I mean an old fully fitted out VW van.)

Fast forward to this year and, with a view to starting up this blog, it was over to Digbeth again  (much earlier this time!) with my mate, author and paranormal investigator Lee Brickley to take loads of pictures and meet some of the people who run the place and trade there.





It's a simple set up really. A bar called  spotlight with not too loud or intrusive DJ's playing some nice chiled beats, lots of old comfy sofas and benches for sitting down, chatting, having an afterwork drink and, of course, eating.

Lee and I grabbed a beer and  made our way
into the fray.











 First stop, of course, was Andy Stubb's  Low n' Slow stall for some of his 18 hour smoked pulled pork.

I can tell you now that Andy is truly dedicated to his craft. After just over 7 months of trading he has become one of the most respected street food purveyors on the scene. He can often be found at Digbeth and various other gatherings around the country and you can guarantee that his stall always has a queue.
I've eaten his food on a number of occasions and have always come away smiling, especially when I bring someone along for their first taste.
Lee had never tried Andy's pork before so we said our hello's
and joined the queue.

When it got to our turn we ordered a pulled pork
cob each.
What you get for your money (£5.50) is a mound of 18 hour smoked pulled pork, homemade slaw, homemade sweet n' heat barbeque sauce and sliced pickled cucumber all served on a secret recipe lightly toasted brioche bun.
As I took some photos Lee dug in for his first bite, it took just seconds for him to get that first flood of flavour and I saw his face physically change to one of complete and utter joy. "Oh my God" he exclaimed whilst in his state of pork fuelled ecstasy. "that's the nicest thing I've ever eaten!".
with that I thought I'd better tuck in myself and, as expected, was totally blown away by the flavour, texture and balance of the sweet mildly spicy sauce, the crunchy creamy slaw and, of course, the pork that Andy takes so much care over. It's not overly smoked,to retain the quality of flavour from the pork itself. It has a fantastic mouth feel, not mushy at all like the mass produced pulled pork you may have tried from supermarkets or chain pubs like Wetherspoons, where the smoke flavour is artificial and the sauce too sweet. You can actually taste the love that goes into every ounce of that pork!
The buttery brioche bun is the perfect vehicle for all of those sumptuous flavours and the sliced pickled cucumber gives an extra crunch and zing to the whole experience.
 Within about 3 minutes we were done. All that was left was a delicate after taste of smoke and sticky fingers from the sauce.

After another visit to the bar we decided to take a look round the other stalls. On the night we went there were 3 more all selling different types of food. We had a chat with the people from  Jabberwocky

who were friendly and informative and had a great selection of freshly made toasties, Lee ordered a simple cheese and ham and was mightily impressed. I passed on this occasion because I wanted to save myself for something else.

I had heard a lot from Andy about Big Daddies Diner
and was looking forward to trying one of his proper Hot-Dogs
 After introducing myself I had a quick look at the menu and
decided to try a "Jeff dog", a large pork and beef  dog with a hint of
garlic and pepper.
Jeff (the proprietor) is another one of those street food vendors who is passionate about his product. He has his hot dogs specially made for him by a secret source and is very easy to chat to. on the counter of his food trailer he had a dizzying array of home made sauces, relishes and slaws to serve with the hot dog. He asked me if I'd like to try some of each and I thought it'd be rude to refuse, so he spooned me out a little of his own recipe Mexican style salsa that I cant remember the proper name for, some jalapeno pickle type sauce and something I've heard of, but never tried before; Kimchi, which is a Korean fermented cabbage with spices. Its a bit like sauerkraut but with added punch and
was totally delicious.
I decided on the jalapeno pickle to go on my hot dog, paid the man a very reasonable £4.50 and took my first bite.

A good snap on the teeth of the skin on the dog and i was into a gorgeously textured sausage. not too smooth like shop bought dogs and not too coarse like a traditional British banger.

I complemented Jeff on his food and wolfed the rest down.










By this time my hunger was completely satiated but Lee had to
go back to Low n' slow for another pulled pork bap as the first one was so good. So, back into the queue he went and ordered up his second one.I can safely say that he liked it just as much as the first. In fact he said about it "you know when you watch a great film and you want to watch it again so you get the bits you might have missed the first time? that's what the second cob was like".

you can't argue with that can you?

Unfortunately neither of us had enough empty stomach left to try anything from the hungry toad
who's Mexican food was flying out and smelled great but I'll definitely be trying it next time.

There are many positive things to say about Digbeth Dining Club then, the food is great, of course but also each and every person on every stall is doing it because they love doing it. They are all friendly and happy to chat about what they do, and are all enthusiastic foodies at heart. The venue is great, the beer not over priced, the music is cool and there's a variety of different stalls on rotation every week, so there's always something different to try so get yourself over there as soon after 5pm on a Friday as you can !

Happy eating then, and watch out for my other review blogs and, of course, my recipe blogs!

Thanks for the support.

Mat.

Chocolate Mud Fingers Recipe and Salt-Beef recipe (part one).

Hey there hungry hoards!

Welcome back to my recipe blog. This is the fourth one so if you haven't read the other three, where have you been?

I've had another great week of foodie adventures so again, I'm treating you to two recipes in this blog and a full run-down on The Digbeth Dining Club in my review blog which should be published this Thursday 20th of February.

The first recipe is for a super-gooey, intensely flavoured, really, really easy flourless chocolate dessert. It's suitable for gluten intolerant people, sweet tooth maniacs and chocaholics everywhere! Also it's so easy you could get your kids to help out making it. Its a real family pleaser, unless you're on a diet, in which case you may want to look away now.

The second recipe is actually the first part of a two part recipe for gorgeous spiced salt beef, you will see what I mean when we come to it later.

So, if you're ready, I'll begin.

These chocolate mud fingers are actually an experiment I came up with when I was asked if I could make a chocolate brownie like pud for someone who was wheat intolerant. I struggled with the idea for quite a while and tried a few different recipes using different types of flours including rice flour, corn flour and potato flour. All of them turned out OK but not a patch on my original brownie recipe ( I will do you the recipe for my brownies in a future blog, including my peanut butter and jelly baby brownies.)
Anyway, after trying all these other flours I had some chocolate base left over so I chucked it in a tin and baked it with no flour in at all and I've got to say, even though you wouldn't call it a brownie, it tasted amazing! So the chocolate mud fingers were born. I did give some to the gluten free friend who had asked me and she loved them.

Chocolate Mud Fingers Recipe:

Equiptment:

1 non stick baking tray approx 5" x 7" x 3" deep.
Greaseproof paper.
2 mixing bowls.
Balloon whisk (or electric whisk if you have one, but I prefer to whisk by hand.)

Ingredients:

200g of good quality dark chocolate ( 70% cocoa).
4 large eggs.
200g caster sugar.
400g butter ( I always use salted butter, even in desserts, as the salt brings out the complex flavour notes of the chocolate).
A few grates of 100% cacao  (optional). I use willies cacao

Method:

Pre heat oven to 160 degrees c. or gas mark 4.
Break your chocolate into chunks and dice your butter and put into a bowl . Set your microwave to its lowest setting and put the chocolate and butter in for about 5 minutes. If that's not long enough to melt both the butter and the chocolate together then pop it back in for another couple of minutes until its all melted.

 

 

Grab your baking tray and rub all over with  a little of your butter then line with greaseproof paper.If you turn your baking tray upside down and cut the greaseproof paper round the rim of your tray it should be the perfect size.









Rub some more butter over the top of the greaseproof paper and pop into the fridge for a couple of minutes.

 

When your butter and chocolate have melted in the microwave take the bowl out and mix together well so that you get a smooth chocolate sauce.

Crack your eggs into the other mixing bowl and add the sugar and grated cacao (if using.) whisk until its a pale, mousse like texture.






Add the chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and whisk together, making sure it is properly combined and there are no streaks of egg mixture or chocolate mixture in the bowl.

Pour the chocolate mud into the baking tray and pop into the bottom of the oven. ( I have an electric oven with a heating element in the top so I like to put a baking sheet on the shelf above the chocolate mud tray to stop it browning too much before it's cooked through.)



Bake for about 20 minutes. If, after 20 minutes, the top isn't browning up then remove the baking sheet from above and move the chocolate mud tray up a shelf then bake for another 5 minutes or so but keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn.

When the top is browned enough remove from the oven. You will see it start to sink almost immediately but don't worry about it as it has no flour in to hold it up.


Allow to cool completely before trying to turn it out. If it's still warm when you try it will make a mess and you won't be able to cut it.
Run a knife around the edge of the tray to release the cake and put a chopping board on top, then turn it upside down. it should release itself but if not don't be tempted to  tap it or bang it as it will break round the edges. Give it a couple of minutes and it should release itself.
When it has released gently peel off the greaseproof paper and using a sharp knife ( you may want to wet the knife blade to stop it sticking.) cut into fingers about 2" thick then cut them in half. You should end up with about 20 fingers, if you can possibly stop yourself from pinching the odd one or two, just "to check its done"!

I like to serve mine dusted with icing sugar along with a little whipped cream and a bit of cherry coulis, just to bring the fruitiness of the chocolate out and, maybe, another grating of cacao.

The cherry coulis in this picture is mixed with a bit of agar-agar and allowed to set in a tub so you get a firm jelly-like texture.

Or you can cut them into little squares and serve as petit fours with a good coffee or cup of tea.

If you have any left over then space them out on a fresh piece of greaseproof paper and wrap loosely. They will keep in the fridge for about 4 days (don't worry, they wont last that long!)

Right, now you've had your chocolate fix, its onto the first part of the salt beef recipe.

The first thing you need to know about this recipe is it takes 5 days.
I know that seems like a long time but believe me it is well worth the wait!

If you've never tried salt beef then let me tell you, you've been missing out. Its gently spiced has a great texture and, despite the name isn't salty at all.
 It's also called corned beef but it is nothing like the mushed up, overly salty and greasy stuff you get out of a tin.
My recipe is a tweaked version of the traditional Jewish recipe and is fantastic when sliced up, still warm, and served on a toasted bagel with a slice of dill pickle or some homemade mustard slaw. Or, for a heartier meal you can make proper corned beef hash by shredding the beef once its cold and adding diced potatoes then frying. ( I shall make the corned beef hash and do the recipe for that in part two.)

A little note about the Sodium Nitrate used in this recipe.
Sodium nitrate is a preservative used in bacon, ham, pastrami and other cured meats. It's sometimes called "pinking salt", "saltpeter" or  "curing salt". It inhibits bacterial growth and allows the flavours in the brine to penetrate the meat. If you want to read more about it then go here culinaryarts.about.com › ... › Seasoning & Flavoring‎
I got mine from a butchers in Penkridge,  I asked him for some curing salt and he gave me a bagful.
I'm not here to talk you into using it if you're at all concerned but it is essential for this recipe.

Salt Beef Recipe (part one) :

Equiptment:

large saucepan with lid.
Pestle and mortar.
Small electric blender/grinder.
Mixing bowl.
Large clean plastic tub with lid.

Pickling Spice Ingredients:

1 piece of beef brisket, trimmed of fat, approx 3lb in weight.
Half a tablespoon of whole allspice berries (pimento seeds ).
Half a tablespoon of English mustard powder.
Half a tablespoon of coriander seeds.
half a tablespoon of dried chilli flakes.
4 Whole cardamom pods.
3 Dried bay leaves.
3 Cloves.
1 teaspoon ground ginger.
half a teaspoon of cinnamon.
Half a teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg.
6 Whole black peppercorns.

Brine Ingredients:

2.5 litres water.
3 teaspoons of curing salt.
2oz of un-groung sea salt or Rock salt. ( I use Himalayan pink rock salt).
1 Tablespoon of honey or 50g of soft brown sugar.

Spice Rub Method:

Put all your whole spices in the pestle and mortar and gently crush them up. (you don't have to be too fussy as you're going to grind them with your other spices later, Its just to get them started.)
Crunch the bay leaves up in your hand and put them in your grinder with the powdered spices.

Add your crushed whole spices to the grinder and blitz together until you get a evenly ground mix.This will smell amazing!











Put the ground spices in a bowl and using about a tablespoon-full rub it all over the brisket.

Brine Method:

Put the rest of the spice mix in your large saucepan. Add the water, The rock-salt, the curing salt and the honey or brown sugar, put the lid on and bring to a boil. ( this is your brine.)
Meanwhile put your spiced brisket in the plastic tub, put the lid on and put it in the fridge.

When the brine has come to the boil turn off the heat and leave to go cold. ( I like to leave it overnight as this lets the dry rub on the brisket get to work.)

Remove the brisket from the fridge and pour the brine all over it. (make sure the brisket is completely covered, if it floats then weigh it down with something just to keep it under the brine.)

Pop it back into the fridge and leave it for 2 days. After 2 days turn the brisket over in the brine and, again make sure it is completely covered. you will notice that the brisket has plumped up a little.

Well I must admit I hate to leave you hanging for the next blog, and part two of the recipe, but these things take time!
In the meantime you can check out my review blog. This week it's all about one of my favourite places to eat, the Digbeth Dining Club.

As usual, please let me know how you get on with the recipes. Ive had some good feedback so far from people who have tried the apple crump and the scotch eggs and also some people saying the pictures need improving, which is fair enough as I'm using my iphone at the moment. I will be buying a decent digital camera soon to address this issue, and make the food look more enticing!

Most importantly of all, Happy cooking!

Mat.

 

First restaurant review! The Rag at Rawnsley

Hello there fellow foodies!

Welcome to my first restaurant review blog. I'm going to be publishing it separately from my recipe blog and it should be more or less every week, depending on how much I dine out.

I want to start with reviews of restaurants, pubs, diners and cafes round my local area. Hopefully my experiences will strike a chord with anyone who doesn't live in a particularly foodie town but does like to go out for something to eat. I will be going to good places, which are usually a bit of a drive out of Cannock and bad places which are, unfortunately, numerous but close.

I've always enjoyed going out for something to eat, whether its a cheap midweek carvery to save on washing up at home, a quick bite somewhere to fill a hole, a nice curry with a group of friends or a special occasion full blown 4 hour Michelin starred  experience. I still remember when i was a kid getting ready for a family meal at what was usually a Berni Inn. I didn't like having to come home from a hard days BMX-ing or building dens over Cannock Chase and getting changed out of my usual tracksuit, having to have a wash  and putting on a shirt and sensible shoes but I new it was worth the effort because I loved the feeling of being in a restaurant. The buzz of the serving staff and dining room, the smells coming from the kitchens, the huge menus with exotic sounding items like scampi, prawn cocktail, chicken Caesar salad, lasagna, stroganoff, creme brulee and chocolate fudge cake. (well, this was the 70's!). As kids we were never allowed to order anything off the steak part of the menu as it was far too expensive!
These days, of course, if i want a steak I'll have one. Although to be honest when im at a restaurant I like to order something I can't do at home, whether that's because I don't have the ingredients, the time, or the inclination and you can guarantee that no matter where i go i will study the menu as if im going to be tested on its contents and I will always be the one everyone is waiting for when the waiter comes to take the orders.

So, on with the review!

I like The Rag In fact, a few years ago I left my job as Head Chef at the Bank bar in Cannock to go and work there because I thought it would be good experience. Unfortunately, it was a short-lived as I didn't get on with the chefs but that has never put me off going to eat there.

I went on a Monday night as i knew it would be fairly quiet and I took with me my good friend the fantastically gorgeous Josephina. She is always great company and we hadn't seen each other for a while so had a lot of catching up to do.
 In fact we did so much catching up, and laughing like drains, that i forgot I was supposed to be doing serious blogging and only took four photos. Still, as this is my first review im sure you will let me off and i promise I'll be much more professional next time!

After telling the waitress that we hadn't even looked at the menu as we were chatting so much we decided to dive in and see what was on offer. Along with the main menu was a shorter menu with an offer of 2 courses for 2 people, including a bottle of wine for £30. We both decided to go for that as there were some good food on it.
So, second time around, we placed our order with the friendly waitress. We ordered a starter of tempura belly pork with sweet chilli jam to share followed by a steak for Josephina and a "duo of lamb" for myself and to drink we chose a bottle of "jack and Gina" rose wine. I'm not one for Rose if I'm honest but Josephina doesn't do red and I don't do white so it was an obvious choice. Thankfully it was a nice, perfectly quaffable bit of booze.

Freshly baked bread was bought out to us, still warm from the oven (they used to bake their bread in flower pots which i always thought was a great idea, but as a chef there was a bit of a fiddly process ).

 Then, soon after our tempura belly pork.

As you can see the starter looked very appetising and was with us about 10 minutes after ordering. Nice crispy fresh tempura batter gave way to a unctuous piece of slow cooked belly pork, which both of us enjoyed immensely. The salad garnish was fresh and properly dressed ( I always eat salad garnishes, and I like it when they are done properly.) The only bit of a let down for me was the chilli jam which was out of a jar, but that's nit-picking really at these prices and Josephina liked it anyway.
After more chatting, mostly about Josephina's incredibly diverse job ( a job which I'm afraid readers is a bit too rude for me to tell you about! ). and a top up of our wine glasses we were presented with our mains.

My "duo of lamb" was a fantastic little shepherds pie, sweet with marsala wine and seasoned to perfection with a light fluffy mash top along side  a mound of slow-cooked shoulder of lamb, removed from the bone and  pressed onto a scallop of potato, with a very tasty and rich red wine jus.

Josephina's steak was a good hunk of rump with onion rings which, unusually, were breaded rather than battered. I tried one and couldn't really tell whether they were home made or bought in, so I suppose it didn't really matter either way as they were good.

Our sides arrived-a good bowl of properly cooked and buttered fresh carrots, cauliflower and broccoli and a large bowl of home-made chips between us.

My "duo of lamb" didn't  disappoint, the rich, tender shoulder of lamb was so tasty that  I forgot to ask Josephina if she'd like to try some and it had all gone by the time I remembered, oops!
The shepherds pie was also good, properly braised minced lamb in a sweet but not sickly sauce with smooth creamy mash. The red wine jus was divine. Again, sweet, but balanced and with a great slightly sticky quality that is a good sign of a proper home made jus.
Josephina's steak was perfectly cooked to her liking (well done) and a really good beefy flavour to it that can only come from a well-hung and aged piece of meat. ( she was far more polite than me and offered me a try.)They do use local produce at the Rag and this shows in the finished dishes.
The chips, to me, were just OK. Homemade yes, but I am a real enthusiast of the humble potato and compare all chips to my own home made, which are still the best chips I've ever tasted, so they'd have to be absolutely amazing for me to be impressed by them. Josephina really liked them though, but she has yet to try mine!

After a quick look at the dessert menu we decided on toffee pecan roulade to share.
I knew this wasn't going to be home made as its a product I'm familiar with  from working in a food distribution warehouse, but it was fine for what it was and looked good on the plate when the waitress brought it to us. (sorry, too busy enjoying our night to take a picture of it.)

All in all it was a fine night. Its great to see that there are places not too far away from me that do really good food. Benny (the gaffer, possibly the hardest working man I know, and definitely the hardest chef to get along with, in my opinion.) and his team at The Rag do great work in keeping the place one of the best in the area.
If you fancy trying it then please book up at least a couple of days in advance.The offer we had runs from Monday to Thursday but if you want a Friday night, a Sunday lunch or any special occasion (mothers day, valentines etc) then I would recommend booking a couple of weeks in advance.

Right, that's it then. hope you enjoyed my first review! Ive got some interesting places to eat coming up soon so I hope you will keep your eyes peeled for future blogs.

Happy eating!

Mat.

 

Whole Jerk Chicken!!!

Greetings Gastronauts and welcome back!

Well,  its been a busy week for me food-wise. Ive been out there on the catering coal face digging up fantastic places to eat and a great recipe for you to try. 

I've been to Digbeth Dining Club (www.digbethdiningclub.co.uk) for some of the best street food in the midlands (I'll be doing a full review for you next week.) I opened up 'Chez Barnos' for a special meal with some great friends. (this is a very exclusive pop-up restaurant, invitation only and possibly the best place to eat in Cannock). and I've had a great evening of food and catching up at one of my favourite local restaurants with one of the funnest and most gorgeous women I know.


But first, the recipe and its a dish really close to my heart.

I can still remember the first time i tasted Jerk Chicken. It was 1998 and I had packed a bag for the weekend to travel down to London for my first visit ever to Notting Hill Carnival. I was amazed by the place. What seemed like millions of people dancing to all sorts of sound-systems on street corners and floats of thousands of colours pumping out everything from steel band music, through calypso and reggae to music that i didn't even know the name of. As if that wasn't enough everywhere there were plumes of smoke from thousands of barbeques all doing different kinds of food. Thai food stalls, Indian, Chinese and most enticing of all Caribbean stalls selling trays of curry goat, rice and peas, ackee saltfish, festival dumplings, plantain, hard fried hake and, of course, jerk chicken. I picked a stall at random and chose jerk chicken. As the guy removed a leg portion from the barbeque i saw him hack it up with possibly  the largest cleaver I've ever seen, straight through the bone, put it in a tray and hand it over.
I was hooked. the succulent fiery leg meat, the smokey skin from the barbeque, even the marrow from the hacked up bones. Since that moment it, and Caribbean food in general, has become my favorite food. My take on jerk has developed over the years to the recipe I've done for you this week. 
You will need to marinate the chicken for an absolute minimum of four hours but i like to get it jerked up and leave it overnight in a plastic container in the fridge for the flavour to properly develop.

Its certainly not difficult to make the marinade but you do need all the ingredients i have listed. After your first go at it you may want to change it up a bit and experiment with more or less chillis (mine is quite fiery.) But i gotta say there really is only one kind of chilli to use and that's scotch bonnet. When i made the marinade on Sunday i had to do a 20 mile round trip just to get them for the recipe, that's how important they are to it!
The marinade can be used for all sorts of things. Pork chops, fish, tofu, rabbit, lamb shanks, even vegetables but chicken is my favorite.


lets stop talking about it then and get on with it!

Equiptment:

Food processor.
Catering gloves (optional)
Roasting tin.
Meat rack.
Tin foil
Pestle and mortar.

Ingredients: 

1 Whole chicken ( medium ).
2 tablespoons of whole pimento (sometimes called allspice berries)  crushed in the pestle and mortar, or 1 tablespoon of ground allspice.
1 fat clove of garlic.
3 sprigs of fresh thyme, picked, or 1 teaspoon of dried thyme.
1 small bunch of spring onions.
2 medium sized brown onions, peeled and quartered.
3 fresh scotch bonnet peppers.
1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled.
3 tablespoons of white wine vinegar.
1 teaspoon of salt.
Half of a whole nutmeg, grated, or half a teaspoon of nutmeg powder.
 1 lime (get a finger lime, as shown in the picture, if you can.)
1 bottle of "Super Malt" or "Hyper Malt". (this is my secret ingredient and i use it instead of brown sugar as it gives a lovely malty flavour but if you cant find it then use 1 heaped tablespoon of soft brown sugar.)
3 tablespoons of sunflower oil.

Marinade Method:

Roughly chop your ginger and spring onions. 

Remove the stalks from your scotch bonnets and roughly chop. (you may need to use the latex gloves for this as you don't want to be scratching your face, or elsewhere, with raw scotch bonnet on your fingers!)
 
Put your quartered onions, chopped up spring onions (including the green stems) ginger, spices, thyme, scotch bonnets, salt and white wine vinegar in the food processor.

If your food processor has a pulse button then use it a few times just to get everything going then blitz it for a couple of minutes. Stop the processor, remove the lid and scrape down any bits that aren't getting blitzed, replace the lid and blitz again until its a light green puree.

You can blitz it as long as you want as nothing is going to get spoiled by over pureeing.
 
Add the bottle of  "hyper malt" and blitz again. You will now get a slightly muddy
brown, unappetizing looking sauce. Don't worry about the look of it as this is solid jerk gold!

Zest the skin of your lime (here's a little tip- if your lime is waxed then soak it 
in a bowl of hot water for 10 minutes before you start. It will remove the wax 
and make it easier to zest and juice.)
Add the zest and then cut the lime and add the juice of half to the processor, but don't throw the halves of lime away. Add the oil and give it a last couple of minutes of blitzing.

And that's your marinade done!

Chicken Prep:

Unwrap your chicken and remove the string or elastic that trusses it up. ( it will cook much more evenly if its not all tied up together, the only reason its trussed up like that is purely for the look of the raw product.)
Remove the giblets if you're lucky enough to find a chicken with them in these days, you can freeze them for a later date as they are fantastic for making gravy. Remove the wings by cutting through the joint.

 

Working from the back end of the bird gently start to pull the skin away from the breasts. Don't be scared as it does feel a bit weird but what you're trying to do is release the skin from the meat so you can get the marinade right where it needs to be. Once you have got a decent flap of skin free insert your hand gently and release the skin as much as you can. You should be able to get all the way down to the legs.

Try as much as you can to not tear the skin as you want the marinade
 to sit between the skin and the meat.

Once you are happy that you've freed the skin sit the chicken in a bowl 
or plastic container and squeeze over the other half of the lime. Rub it into the meat of the bird all over then pour on some of the marinade. ( the marinade recipe above will make more than you need so you don't need to use it all.)

 
Push the marinade between the skin and the meat and massage it in.
 It doesn't matter if you can't get it all in, or if it leaks out as long as you can get it into contact with the meat.Get some inside the cavity of the bird as well so it can work its magic from there then grab your empty lime halves and stick in the tub. I like to put one half in the cavity for an extra limey zing when cooked.

Put your lid on the tub, pop it in the fridge and say goodnight to it!

Cooking Method:

Remove chicken from tub and put it in a wire rack over a roasting tin, breast side down.
If there's any marinade in the tub spoon it into the cavity. let it sit there for about 20 mins. to take the chill from the fridge off it a bit.

Pre-heat oven to 220 degrees c. ( gas mark 8).

Put the chicken in the bottom of the oven and roast for 20 mins. Take it out after 20 mins. and turn it over so the breast side is up. (this should keep the breast nice and juicy.)

Roast again for 20 mins. 

Take it out again and baste with any juices from the roasting tin.

Turn the oven down to 170 degrees c ( gas mark 5) and put the chicken back in.

Roast again for approximately 1 hour. Check for done-ness by piercing the thickest part of the leg and checking that the juices run clear, or use a digital probe to check the temperature is 70 degrees or above. 
When its done, take out of the oven, cover loosely with the foil and let it rest for 20 minutes.
Don't worry if the skin looks a little black in places, its not burnt, its just where the marinade has caramelized.
Once it has rested remove the foil and chop it up!

If you want to make a simple sauce to go with it then skim some of the fat from the juices and marinade in the roasting tin and add 2 large tablespoons of tomato puree, 2 teaspoons of brown sugar, a splash of vinegar and a good splash of water. pop the roasting tin on the hob and bring to the boil, mixing together constantly.
You can then strain the sauce through a sieve and serve with the chicken.
I like my jerk chicken served with a nice fresh green salad but if you want to make it more substantial then you could serve it with some white rice, some fried plantain or Jamaican rice and peas. ( I will do you a recipe for rice and peas in a future blog, or you can look online, its not difficult to do and is great with all kinds of Caribbean mains ).

Well that's it for this weeks recipe, please do try and make it, you won't be disappointed.

Happy eating!

I will be publishing the review of  The Rag in a separate blog which will be with you tomorrow evening (Thursday 13th February).

Thanks,

Mat.