It's a bit of an animal

I was watching Dara O'Brian's Science Club on television the other night where they covered the topic of lab-grown meat. This is not news to me as it is a subject that had been circulating in the press a few months previously, however it is still a hot topic.

We are now living in age where the consumption of meat has become so huge, to an extent where it is suggested that the demand is putting an immense strain on our planet.



As much as enjoy a good piece of meat, I am not someone who feels the need to eat it everyday but those that do and believe a meal is not complete without it are being encouraged to adopt at least one meat-free day each week.

Back to the subject of the laboratory, it requires just one small biopsy taken from a live cow. The cow remains unharmed and carries on with its life as usual while its cells in the lab are mixed with various growth cultures and with some scientific manipulation, muscle fibres grow.

It is indeed very clever science, something I marvel at, but I can't help but think that this is perhaps not the route to take to solve the world's meat production issues.
For starters, the lab meat is not like meat as we know it. The scientists demonstrating on the TV programme said it would be used to make hamburgers, so it looks like it is a long way off from being used to construct a nice juicy steak.

A small piece was even cooked after it had been seasoned with salt. The scientists sliced into the anaemic little piece of stuff and gave their verdict. What did it taste like? Chicken apparently. So to emulate the flavours of a hamburger I think it would require a fair amount of additional ingredients and additives to even resemble anything like beef. Already this lab meat is on its way to becoming a heavily processed foodstuff, something I'm not keen on.

No doubt this type of science is a spin off from growing human organs in a lab, which I can see has a valid application, but there must be other experiments and studies into solving the world’s food crises that warrant the time and money spent.

At this stage although growing meat in a lab – from the scientists point of view – has been largely successful, it has taken them years to get as far as they have and by their own admission they couldn't even produce enough yet to meet demand. In addition the current process takes so much energy it is hardly sustainable so perhaps we're still better off rearing real animals in the traditional way.

In Praise of a Good Sausage

Quite what Craig Revel Horwood has to do with sausages, I shall never know, but aside from being a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, he has been chosen by lovepork.co.uk to be the master of ceremonies for
British Sausage Week (1-7 November 2010).

This week is dedicated to all things sausage. Sausage, that's a word that has me collapsing into a fit of giggles if I have to say it a few times,
I suppose that's what being British is all about. The numerous references in episodes of Blackadder, make it even funnier, especially when enunciated by the magnificent Stephen Fry as Melchett.

On a more serious note, British Sausage Week's aim is to make us all aware of how British pork is the best and encourages us to support our own farmers and producers by buying quality sausages.

There are many regional sausages throughout the British Isles that use traditional recipes that go back many generations.
There's the long coiled Cumberland sausage which is meaty with a coarse, chunky texture and black pepper giving a spicy bite; The Lincolnshire sausage, an old fashioned favourite scented with sage; West Country ones with pork and apple and maybe a touch of cider and Oxford sausages that contain veal, as well as pork. These are just a few of the many varieties made and the list continues to grow as producers experiment with different flavour combinations.

I can't resist a nicely cooked sausage. They should be cooked carefully over a medium heat so they cook slowly allowing the outside to gently caramelise so it becomes slightly sticky and the inside should be juicy. Don't have the heat too high or the sausage will burst and definitely do not prick them, this will make all the tasty juices escape.

In July, earlier this year I went to the Samphire smallholding open day in Norfolk, where Karen Nethercott opens her doors to visitors, showing them how she rears her rare breed pigs. They have a wonderful natural life with space to roam outside, enjoying the fresh air and wallowing in the mud. Her English Saddleback pigs are reared slowly which gives their meat a superior flavour and contributes to some truly wonderful sausages.


On my visit I bought some of the sausages which I put in my freezer awaiting their appropriate outing. They were "The Samphire Sausage",
they have a lovely texture, not too tightly packed – which can produce an undesirable bouncy feeling – but quite light and crumbly. They are seasoned with ginger, mace and nutmeg for a warming background, against which, lighter, fresher notes of sage, onion and coriander, sit happily.

I served them with potato and parsnip mash and some caramelised shallot gravy, just perfect for celebrating British Sausage Week.

For more information on British Sausage Week visit the website: www.britishsausageweek.co.uk
If you're interested to know more about Samphire's sausages visit their website: www.samphireshop.co.uk
Photos: ©childsdesign 2010

The Artisan Smokehouse

I remember when smoked salmon was such a luxury, that it was the preserve of restaurants and the rich, but in recent times it has become more accessible through the vast quantities stocked in the supermarket.
Due to high demand, it would be fair to say that quality has dropped, so, until you taste the true artisan smoked delicacy, do you realise this to be the case.

At both the Real Food Festival and Foodies Festival, I tried some of the best smoked salmon, I have ever tasted from The Artisan Smokehouse. They are a small family business based just outside Felixstowe on the Suffolk coast.
The care and attention to sourcing the best ingredients through to the simple yet superior curing process, is definitely reflected in the fine flavour and excellent texture of their smoked salmon.
Supermarket varieties have a tendency to be slimy or even soapy and often too salty, but theirs is relatively dry (in a good way) but moist inside. The fish has a nice firmness and the flavour is clean, light and in no way overpoweringly smoky.

As well as the salmon, The Artisan Smokehouse produce a very good smoked beef too. Using meat from Herefordshire-Aberdeen Angus Cross cattle, reared in Suffolk, the result has a great depth of flavour and almost melts in the mouth.
As well as fish and meat, other smoked items include, two types of cheese, a cheddar and a stilton, garlic, kalamata olives and even olive oil which is rather tasty.

I am pleased to see that The Artisan Smokehouse have been recognised by being awarded two gold accolades from The Great Taste Awards – proof that they do produce the finest food.
I'll be looking forward to buying more from them soon, as I see they are listed to be at The Aldeburgh Food and Drink Festival which is marked on my calendar.

For more information and where to buy,
visit their website: artisansmokehouse.co.uk

Featured on The Artisan Food Trail




Photos: ©childsdesign 2010

Goulash with Caraway Dumplings

Whilst this may not be authentic, it is no less delicious. The perfect warming dish on a cold winter's day. Rather than including stewing beef, I have used lamb escalopes instead – this means that it can be cooked quicker rather than the usual hour or so, because the cuts of meat are tender to start with. I also prefer the robust taste of lamb which works so well with the rich sweet earthy tasting sauce.

I use smetana (an eastern european soured cream) to spoon over the top. If you can't find it in your shop, just use normal soured cream, or even natural yogurt which is a perfect substitute.

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

325g lamb escalopes

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

60ml (half a glass) red wine

500g carton sieved tomatoes

2 red peppers from a jar, sliced

1 tablespoon paprika

salt and black pepper to season

Smetana (soured cream) to serve

For the dumplings:

100g plain flour

50g vegetarian suet

half teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

pinch salt

black pepper

cold water to mix

Method

Put the olive oil in a large heavy lidded saucepan over a moderate heat, when the oil is hot, place the lamb escalopes in a single layer (you may have to do this in two batches) and fry for about a minute on each side until brown. Remove the meat and set aside.

Reduce the heat and add the onions and garlic, sauté gently until translucent and the raw smell disappears.

Be careful not to let them burn.

Now add the wine and allow to boil while you stir, scraping up all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Cook until almost all the liquid has gone and the alcohol has burned off.

Pour in the sieved tomatoes, add the red pepper and paprika and give it a good stir, when it comes to a simmer return the meat and any of its juices and stir in. Put on the lid and cook gently, after about 10 minutes, remove the lid while you continue to cook for another 10 minutes uncovered to allow some of the moisture to evaporate.

Add salt and pepper to taste and stir again, making sure that your goulash isn't sticking to the bottom of the pan. If it is, just reduce the heat slightly.

Whilst it's bubbling away, make the dumplings.

In a bowl, add the flour, suet, baking powder, caraway seeds, salt and pepper and stir to combine, then add the cold water little by little as you mix with a fork. You want the dough to come together without being too wet. On a floured surface, squeeze the dough together with your hands and divide into eight pieces.

Roll each of the pieces into a ball.

Now you can add your dumplings to the goulash. Drop them in and gently push them down with a spoon, so that they're completely covered by the sauce.

Replace the lid on the pan and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.

The dumplings are done when they increase in size rise to the surface.

Serve in bowls with cool smetana or soured cream spooned

over the top.

Casseroled Lamb

We don't often eat red meat. It's not a health thing or a cost issue, but we don't have an obsessive carnivorous urge that drives us to eat it often. My husband is not your typical man who would happily, every day, down a juicy steak with blood oozing from it and I can quite happily leave the big beast meals for special occasions too. In fact we can get through just over a week without having chewed on the flesh of some animal, so we could actually pass as vegetarians!

But today I quite fancied some lamb and after some consultation with hubby, it was agreed.

It's that time of year when the cold, damp days have one longing for some comfort food, so something like a stew… er, sorry casserole is called for. I hesitated there for a moment, because it is a sin to mention 'stew' in our house. For my husband, it has all the wrong connotations and to him, it deems a meal unfit for human consumption. I think there's some bad childhood memories that come back to haunt him. So 'casserole' it is.

I love lamb when it's cook slowly until the meat is so soft and melting that you could eat it it with a spoon.

I made quite a simple recipe, not many ingredients but the end result is rich and tasty.

First I took an onion, a carrot and a stick of celery and cut them into a fine dice and sauteed them in some olive oil with a clove of crushed garlic and two whole star anise for a couple of minutes. I then tipped them into my casserole pot.

Next I took some lamb leg steaks and cut them into large chunks and then lightly coated them in plain flour. I then placed them in a hot frying pan with olive oil and sealed them until they were brown all over. These went into the pot too.

Then I deglazed the pan with a good splosh of red wine followed by some stock and poured that into the pot as well.

Then I mixed everything together in the pot with a generous grind of black pepper, some salt and finally a small bunch of fresh thyme which I pushed well down to allow it infuse its flavours.

I put on the lid and this all went into a preheated oven, Gas 3, for 2 hours or so.

I checked it now and again and stirred in a tablespoon of redcurrant jelly towards the end of the cooking time. I also added some cornflour mixed with a little water to thicken and placed it back in the oven while I prepared the mashed potatoes.

Just before serving, I removed the thyme stalks.

Well, Mr Spouse enjoyed it very much – so success!

Roast Dill-Scented Chicken with Leeks and Potatoes

As promised, I have made a recipe from the book, Kitchen of Light, by Andreas Viestad.

This is one of my latest additions to the kitchen library and contains some beautiful Scandinavian dishes, mainly from Norway. Nearly every page features stunning photography of the food and countryside, which proves to be very inspiring. In addition to the visual delights, the author shares some interesting insights from his homeland – memories of childhood, historical and geographical facts besides well written recipes.

This dish uses copious amounts of dill, a herb which grows prolifically in the wild, throughout Scandinavia. Don't be put off by the huge quantity, as the end result produces quite a subtle yet fragrant flavour and the use of butter keeps the chicken flesh succulent.

Serves 4

Ingredients
One 4-pound free-range chicken


Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature


½ cup (1dl) chopped dill, plus 1 large bunch fresh dill 


1 lemon, quartered


5 to 6 medium leeks, white and light green parts only, thoroughly washed and cut into 2-inch pieces


1½  pounds (3/4kg) russet potatoes, cut into 1-inch slices


8 garlic cloves, unpeeled


3 cups (7dl) chicken stock


Fresh dill for garnish

Lemon wedges and grated lemon zest for garnish

Method
Preheat the oven to 425°F.

Rub the chicken with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, combine the butter and chopped dill. Rub the chicken with about 2 tablespoons of the dill butter. Carefully lift up the skin from the chicken breasts at the cavity, using your fingers or a blunt knife to loosen the skin; be careful not to tear it. Insert about 1 tablespoon of the dill butter under the skin of the breast and make sure that the skin covers the meat when you are done. Refrigerate the remaining butter. Fill the cavity of the chicken with the lemon quarters and the bunch of dill.

Place the chicken breast side up on a V-shaped rack in a roasting pan. Place the roasting pan on the middle oven rack and roast the chicken for 25 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the oven and rub with about 1 tablespoon of the dill butter, holding the butter in your fingers. When most of the butter has melted and you are at risk of burning your fingers, place the remaining lump on the breast of the chicken.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven. Fill the pan with the leeks, potatoes, and garlic and add the chicken stock. Turn the chicken breast side down and place it in the roasting pan. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. Return the roasting pan to the oven and roast for 50 to 60 more minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Test for doneness by piercing it with a sharp knife at the thickest part of the thigh; the juices should run clear. (If there is any trace of pink in the juices, return the chicken to the oven.) Transfer the chicken to a carving board and let it rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

Check the potatoes for doneness. If they are still firm, increase the oven temperature to 400°F and continue baking until the potatoes are nice and tender. Squeeze the garlic out of their skins. Leave the roasting pan in the oven with the heat turned off. 
Transfer the potatoes, leeks, and garlic to a serving platter. Carve the chicken at the table (discard the lemon and dill inside the cavity).

Garnish with dill and lemon wedges and sprinkle lemon zest on top.

DILL is one Scandinavia's favourite herbs, one that grows willingly in the cool Nordic climate. Historically, it has been important in traditional herbal medicine; dill water was used to soothe children. 

In fact, the name dill is of Nordic origin, dilla meaning "to lull" in Old Norse.


Photo taken from the book

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Pan-roasted Venison with Creamy Baked Potato and Celeriac

Celeriac is something I'd always wanted to try, and as it's in season at the moment, one of the knobbly roots fell into my shopping basket, this week.

To be sure that I gave it the right treatment, I consulted my cookbooks for some professional advice, and Jamie Oliver's new book, Jamie at Home – Cook Your Way to the Good Life, offered something appealing. I already had some venison in the freezer, from a previous bargain buy, and it gave me the chance to use some fresh-picked rosemary and sage from the garden.

The recipe proved to be a success, was easy to follow and produced a fantastic meal.

Well that's enough of me . . . over to you, Jamie!

Venison is a fantastic lean dark meat. You can swap the celeriac for parsnips, Jerusalem artichokes or even fennel, but you must keep the ratio of potatoes in there so it tastes delish.

Serves 4

Ingredients
50g butter, melted, plus a couple of extra knobs
1kg potatoes peeled
1 small celeriac, peeled and halved
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
500ml double cream
1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped
half a small bunch of fresh sage, leaves picked and roughly chopped
100g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
10 juniper berries, crush with the side of a knife
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked
1kg venison loin in one fat piece, trimmed
olive oil
1 bulb garlic, unpeeled and smashed, papery skin removed
a wineglass of good-quality red wine, like Pinot Noir

Method
Preheat your oven to 180C / 350F / Gas 4 and butter a large shallow baking dish. Slice the potatoes and celeriac into discs just under 0.5cm thick. Place the slices into a large pan, cover with cold water, season with salt and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, then drain in a colander and allow the veg to steam dry for a minute or so. Put back into the pan with the cream, chopped garlic, sage, half the Parmesan and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Mix together, then tip into the buttered baking dish and spread out evenly. Pour any mixture left in the pan over the top. Sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan, cover tightly with tinfoil and cook in the preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown.

Chop your juniper berries and rosemary, add a pinch of salt and pepper, then sprinkle over a board. Rub the venison all over with olive oil before rolling it across the board and pressing it into the flavourings. Heat an ovenproof frying pan over a high heat and add a glug of olive oil. Sear the venison for a couple of minutes on all sides. then remove the pan from the heat. Add the smashed garlic bulb and any left over flavourings from the chopping board. Shake everything together, pour in a splash of water to cool things down and place in the oven. Cook according to your liking.

When the potatoes are cooked, take them out of the oven, remove the tinfoil and sprinkle over the remaining Parmesan. Return the dish to the oven, uncovered and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until bubbling and golden.

Take the venison out of the oven and let it rest on a plate, covered loosely with foil. Pour away any excess fat. Squash the garlic cloves with a form and discard the skins. Mix the garlic with the herbs in the pan and place on the heat. Pour in the red wine, simmer until it has reduced by half and then add the butter. Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up all the sticky meaty goodness from the bottom. As soon as the sauce comes together, take the pan off the heat, correct the seasoning and stir in another knob of butter. Carve the venison into 1cm thick slices. Pour any resting juices from the plate back into the pan, then pour your gravy through a sieve over the meat and serve with the potato and celeriac bake.
Photos taken from the book

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Sticky Chicken, Butternut Squash Roasted with Fennel and Ginger with Sesame Spring Greens

This is a dish that I created that captures all the eastern flavours of Chinese cuisine but cooked in a western style.
I love butternut squash and have tried it cooked in several ways, but roasting it really brings out its nutty sweetness. Considering this, I was wondering what flavourings would work well with it. The aniseed-like aroma of fennel and spicy hit of ginger immediately sprang to mind, and I think it works well with the richly marinated chicken.
The spring greens, I admit, were an afterthought, but I have tried to carry on the oriental theme by cooking them lightly with the addition of sesame oil.
Serves 2

Ingredients
For the chicken
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons medium dry sherry such as amontillado
1 tablespoon runny honey
2 garlic cloves, grated
Bristol blend pepper*, freshly ground
2 chicken breasts

For the squash
1 small to medium sized butternut squash
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 inch piece fresh ginger
Bristol blend pepper*, freshly ground
sea salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the greens
vegetable oil
2 heads spring greens
pinch sea salt
sesame seeds
sesame oil

Method
First make the marinade for the chicken.
Put the soy sauce, sherry, honey, garlic and a few good grinds of pepper into a bowl and mix well until the honey dissolves and combined.
Make several diagonal slashes in each chicken breast, then put them into the marinade and stir to make sure they are evenly coated. Set aside for an hour or more.

Preheat the oven on Gas 6 / 200C / 400F and put in a tray to get nice and hot.
Cut the squash into about two inch chunks, remove any seeds. There's no need to peel it as roasting makes the skin very edible.
Grind the fennel seeds in an electric spice or coffee grinder until they become a fine powder.
Peel and then grate the ginger into a large bowl, add the ground fennel, salt and a few generous twists of the pepper mill and mix in the oil.
Toss in the squash and stir around until it is coated with the spice mixture.
Remove the hot tray from the oven and tip in the squash, return straight back to the oven and place on the top shelf for about 40 minutes. About half way through cooking, turn over the squash pieces so they they brown evenly.
The squash is done when it it nice and soft.

Too cook the chicken, heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan, remove the chicken from the marinade with tongs (keep the marinade) and place in the pan. Be careful as it will splatter quite a bit. Cook on a fairly high heat so that it takes on a charred appearance, turn over and do the same for the other side.
Reduce the heat and add the reserved marinade, cook gently, turning occasionally until the chicken is cooked all the way through and the marinade creates a sticky coating.

For the greens, removed the tough central veins from the leaves and finely shred.
Heat a small amount of oil in a wok, then add the greens. Stir fry for a minute or so until they become shiny and slightly wilted. Season with salt, tip in the sesame seeds and fry for another minute, then stir in a few drops of sesame oil.

Serve the chicken on top of the greens with the squash on the side.

*Bristol blend pepper is combination of black, white, pink and green peppercorns with allspice (pimento) berries