The Horse Meat Scandal & Marinated Rump Steak: From the ridiculous to the sublime.

The horse meat scandal has shocked us all.  To me, more shocking altogether are the quantities on which these processed foods are produced.  The thought that a slice of ham may contain DNA from 50 different pigs makes my skin crawl.  I once watched a program on how supermarket burgers are made and have never bought one since.  Meat is brought from countries all over Europe (and beyond) to be processed into what we find vac packed on the supermarket shelves.  One burger was found to have DNA from over 60 different cows from 5 countries.

The statistics make me feel remarkably smug.  Af Finns, all of the meat comes from our trusted butcher 100m from the shop.  He has known his suppliers for over 30 years and Julia has known him for 27.  The majority of our customers come to the shop not only because the food tastes good but also because they know where it is made, and who by.  If people moan about the price of beef bourguignon  or a cottage pie, I can point to the kitchen and show them where it was carefully prepared by people, not machines and direct them to Mr. Jago’s shop to see where it originated.  Our ham is meticulously soaked for 5 days, baked and basted in honey and mustard and sliced from the bone.

I am lucky enough to be able to get the majority of meat that I buy from Jago’s and with the current hype in the press, I’m pleased to hear that they are getting busier and busier.

HB is a big steak fan, on Monday we had the below.  As you might have gathered from my previous post, sumak is my most recent squeeze.  It works very well here

MARINATED RUMP STEAK
For 2 greedy people

YOU WILL NEED:
1 500g rump steak
3 tbsp olive oil
1 handful chopped coriander
1/2 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp sumak
Salt and pepper

WHAT TO DO

1. Put a griddle pan on a high heat  and allow it to get smoking hot
2. Rub the steak with salt, pepper and a little vegetable oil
3. On a large plate mix the olive oil, coriander, garlic and sumak with a little salt and pepper
4. Cook the steak for about 2 minutes on each side (if you like it rare)
5. When the steak is cooked, move it to the plate and turn it around in the marinade until it is totally covered.  Cover with foil and a tea towel and allow to rest for 5 minutes
6. Slice the steak, pour over all of the juices and serve with a salad

Beef Bourguignon, Rachel Khoo and Smiths of Smithfield

Last week I went to a wine and meat masterclass at Smiths.  My very clever little sister, Bella had organised the evening.  We arrived to a rather deliciously seasonal pear bellini and so began the evening.

On the demonstration table (in front of the tables where we were sitting) were the burgundy forequarters of a well hung piece of a rare breed beef.  HB was a salivating, the crowd was on tenterhooks, the butcher, Steve Turton was calm and good humored; he took us through the various cuts of meat and expertly dissected the beast in front of us with descriptions of all of the different cuts.  The well prepared chef then brought out  his interpretations on how one should cook these underused and truly delicious pieces of meat.  We  started with slow cooked short ribs where the rich meat fell off the bone; the chef served them with a salty, sour, crunchy Asian salad that cut through the rich meat; the salad made the dish – dish of the day for me.  We then moved on to a meltingly tender tomato braised shin with polenta, and finally rolled shoulder fat with capers and anchovies – a good bit of salt and acidity again to balance the fat.  At the end of the ‘Masterclass’ I thought: “Beat it fillet; the shin’s the S**t”

The other side of the evening was some wine tasting.  Bella ran through a few really good Australian wines, 2 white, 3 red.  We began with 2 delicious rieslings, the first, a Mount Horrocks Watervale riesling Clare Valley, 2009 and the second, Dean Hewitson ‘Gun Metal’ riesling, Eden Valley 2010.  I loved the Horrock perhaps because it matched my favorite dish.  Acidic enough to cut through the richness but floral too in order to work with the Asian salad, it made me think of orchids, smooth and fragrant.  The ‘Gun Metal’ riesling was also delicious but after the Horrocks it wasn’t going to match up.

We then tasted 3 different years of Clonakilla Shiraz / Viognier Canberra District, 2004, 2005, 2006.  Being a complete wine luddite, I’m not really one to give an informed view but it was very interesting to recognise the bearing of temperature on the 3 different vintages. 2004 was AMAZING, well rounded, bursting with berries and fruit (a sunny and not too hot year with a bit of rain – perfect for wine).  2005 tasted like cigarettes and coffee, smokey and dried out; burnt (the hottest year on record).  2006 was tasty and  similar to 2004 but not nearly as outstanding, less balanced (a moderate climactic year).  I’ve never tasted 3 vintages of the same wine and the temperature bearing was staggering.

The main thing I learnt from the evening was to look at pictures like this one of the cuts of beef.  I will challenge my butcher from now on.  EAT CHEAPER CUTS!!

I had a bit of a girl crush on http://www.rachelkhoo.com/   earlier this year (in fact I still do) and I made her wonderful Beef Bourguignon this weekend to feed many hungry and subsequently happy mouths.  She loves the shin!  This recipe is copied from her “The Little Paris Kitchen” cook book.  Go and buy it, it’s wonderful.

BEEF BOURGUIGNON A LA RACHEL KHOO
FOR 6 – very generously

900g beef shin (ask your butcher to keep it in large chunks, not to dice it)
A sprinkling of seasoned plain flour
150g smoked bacon (chopped into chunks) or lardons
10 peeled pickling onions or shallots
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and squashed a bit to let out the juices
1 bay leaf
A bunch of parsley stalks
1 sprig of thyme
1 sprig of rosemary
3 cloves
10 peppercorns, crushed
500ml red wine
300ml water
1tbsp tomato puree
a pinch of sugar
10 chestnut mushrooms
Chopped parsley to garnish
Vegetable oil
Salt and Pepper

WHAT TO DO

1. Preheat the oven to 150C
2. Season the flour and dust the beef pieces with it
3. Heat some vegetable oil in a non stick frying pan and brown the beef in batches, removing to  a large casserole dish with a lid as you go
4. After the beef has been browned, add the bacon and shallots to the frying pan with the herbs (apart from chopped parsley) and keep on the heat until slightly caramelised.  Then add the garlic for 30 seconds or so and make sure it doesn’t burn
5. Transfer everything to the casserole (make sure you scrape all the gluggy bits from the frying pan) add the remaining ingredients (except the mushrooms and parsley) and put into the oven, covered for around 3 hours until the meat is really tender
6. Remove from the oven 30 minutes before the end of cooking and stir in the chopped mushrooms; return to the oven
7. Check the seasoning and serve garnished with parsley, French beans and mashed potato

Rachel suggests that you make this the day before eating and I agree.  The flavours seem to intensify overnight – a brilliant dinner party stalwart