Beef and vegetable stew

This is a very simple stew. It came about after I bought some more skirt steak and had the bright idea of experimenting with another of the fortified wines. After much pacing of the relevant section of the bottle shop, I ended up with a bottle of muscat. Never had the stuff before. It's quite sweet, but not overly so. To my taste, at least, it works perfectly in the dish. Feel free to substitute it for a red wine of your choice, though.

Ingredients:

600 g skirt steak, cut into bite-sized chunks
350 mL muscat
250 mL beef stock
2 sticks celery, cut into chunks
1 carrot, peeled and cut into chunks
1 parsnip, peeled and cut into chunks
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic
2 sprigs of thyme
2 bay leaves
2 tbs tomato paste
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
oil

In a large saucepan, heat some oil over a medium-low flame. Fry celery, garlic and onion for ten minutes, before adding carrot and parsnip. Cook for a further five minutes, then add the beef. Cook for five minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, then add the muscat, stock, thyme and bay leaves. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, cover, reduce heat and simmer for one and a half hours.

Beef and stout pie

Ingredients:

400 g beef skirt or chuck steak, diced
375 mL stout (I used Guinness Extra Stout)
60 mL beef stock
2 tomatoes, diced
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp curry powder
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
a pinch of flour
a splash of Worcester sauce
a splash of Tabasco sauce
2 sheets puff pastry
2 sheets short crust pastry
1 egg, beaten
a splash of milk
oil

Once cool, pre-heat the oven to 190*C.

Fry the onion and garlic in oil in a saucepan over a low flame until soft. Add curry powder and then, a second later, add the tomato. When tomato is soft, add the beef. Seal on all sides, then add the stout and stock. Season with freshly ground black pepper, sea salt, Tabasco and Worcester. Stir in a pinch of flour. Cover and simmer for 90 minutes. Remove from heat and uncover. Allow to cool.

Line two ramekins with the short crust pastry. Be gentle. Cut away the excess. Spoon in the cooled filling until it is level with the top of the ramekin. Brush the edge of the pastry with a little beaten egg, then lay the puff pastry on top. Prick four holes in the puff pastry. Add the milk to the remaining egg and lightly brush it over the puff pastry. Sprinkle a few poppy seeds on top; Bake until puff pastry is golden and, well, puffy. About 30-40 minutes.

Duck and mushroom pie

This recipe will make for two single serve pies, although it can easily be expanded to make one large pie. Too, a word on stock. I didn't have time to make duck stock and I certainly wasn't going to fork over near $10 for it, so I used a watered down beef stock. Obviously duck stock would make for a superior end product, but it's not disastrous if you don't have any handy.

Ingredients:

300 g diced duck meat (I used various off-cuts from the duck I'd bought the other day)
300 mL duck stock or watered down beef stock
30 mL port
1 small onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 mushrooms, diced
2 tbs fresh thyme, chopped
2 tbs tomato paste
a pinch of flour
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
2 sheets puff pastry
2 sheets short crust pastry
1 egg, beaten
a splash of milk
a pinch of poppy seeds
oil

Fry the onion and garlic in oil in a saucepan over a low flame until soft. Stir in the tomato paste. Add the duck meat and seal for just a few seconds, before adding the port. Follow with the stock and thyme. Season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Add a pinch of flour. Simmer, with the lid on, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the diced mushrooms. Simmer, with the lid on, for a further 30 minutes. Take off the heat and remove lid. The gravy will thicken considerably as it cools.

Once cool, pre-heat the oven to 190*C.

Line two ramekins with the short crust pastry. Be gentle. Cut away the excess. Spoon in the cooled filling until it is level with the top of the ramekin. Brush the edge of the pastry with a little beaten egg, then lay the puff pastry on top. Prick four holes in the puff pastry. Add the milk to the remaining egg and lightly brush it over the puff pastry. Sprinkle a few poppy seeds on top; Bake until puff pastry is golden and, well, puffy. About 30-40 minutes.

Duck breasts seasoned with juniper berries and Sichuan peppercorns, served in sourdough with a summer salsa

Ingredients:

2 boneless duck breasts, skin-on
4 slices sour dough, rubbed with a little extra virgin olive oil and lightly toasted
4 vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, diced
1 small red onion, diced
1/2 Lebanese cucumber, peeled, de-seeded and diced
1/4 orange, juiced
1 tbs finely chopped flat leaf parsley
2 tsp juniper berries, freshly ground
2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns, freshly ground
sea salt
extra virgin olive oil

Season the duck breasts with the juniper berries, Sichuan peppercorns and sea salt. Drizzle with a little oil.

Pre-heat oven to 220*C.

Pre-heat a fry pan over a high heat. When hot, add the duck breasts, skin side down. Seal for just a minute, then flip over. After a minute, transfer pan to the oven and roast for 7-8 minutes. Take duck breasts out of pan and rest for at least five minutes.

Prepare the salsa by tossing the vegetables together. Sprinkle them with a little salt and mix in the orange juice.

Spoon salsa onto two slices of bread. Add duck breasts on top.

Authentic tacos

Ingredients:

400 g skirt steak
6 soft tortillas
2 limes, juiced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, very finely minced
1 bunch coriander, leaves picked
1 jalapeno, de-seeded, diced
1/2 cucumber, peeled, de-seeded and diced
2 tsp cumin seeds, ground
freshly ground white pepper
sea salt
peanut oil

Season steak all over with sea salt, freshly ground white pepper and cumin. Set aside for a half hour to come up to room temperature. Drizzle a little peanut oil over one side.

Pre-heat a fry pan over high flame. Cook steak, oiled side down, for one minute. Turn. Cook for a further minute. Drop heat to low. Cook for a minute. Turn and cook for a final minute, then set aside. Rest steak while you prepare the vegetables.

In a bowl, toss together the tomato, onion, garlic, coriander leaves, jalapeno and cucumber. Add the lime juice and a pinch of sea salt.

Warm tortillas according to packet instructions.

Slice the steak into small strips.

Fill tortilllas with steak and vegetables. Don't overfill, otherwise it'll go everywhere when you try and eat it.

Pork chops with a bourbon and Cajun spice coating

Ingredients:

4 pork chops
2 tsp white pepper, freshly ground
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion flakes
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon, ground
a little bourbon

Ensure all spices are very finely ground. Combine in a cup or other small vessel. Add just enough bourbon to form a thick paste. Rub this into the pork. Set aside for a hour. Barbecue or broil until cooked through.

Onion and red wine vinegar sauce for beef, emu, kangaroo or venision

This is a very simple sauce for red meat.

Ingredients:

1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp whole mustard seeds
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
olive oil

Heat some olive oil in a small fry pan. Add the mustard seeds. When they start to pop, add the onions and garlic. Fry for five minutes, then add the red wine vinegar. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Simmer until onions are very soft. Transfer everything into the bowl of a food processor and blitz until smooth. Drain sauce to remove excess liquid and then spoon a small amount next to each piece of meat.