celebrate national hotdog day with a chicago dog with the works

a chicago dog with the works

Much as I love and am curious about history, it seems that as far as family history goes that for the first twenty years of my life I wasn't asking the right questions. I only found out a few months before my Irish grandmother's death that she had actually been brought up in New York, only returning to Ireland at 15 just before the outbreak of World War 1, before running away to England to seek her fortune. "Why didn't you tell me?" I wailed. "I didn't think you'd be interested," she said somewhat bemused. Argh! I am so disappointed that I lost the opportunity to perhaps get a little closer to my grandmother and to learn what living in one of the most exciting cities at the beginning of the 20th century was like.

mul naengmyun: korean cold buckwheat noodle soup with beef

korean cold buckwheat noodle soup with beef (mul naengmyun)

Years ago, working in New York I loved the fact that my office in Manhattan was within toddling distance of Koreatown and lots of interesting places to have lunch or dinner. I was intrigued by the fact that many of the restaurants would have displays of fake plastic food in the windows so you could tell what kind of food they sold. As somone who has always adored kitsch, it was often difficult me to leave these restaurants without a piece of plastic food as a souvenir.

beef adobo: a fabulous slow-cooked stew from the philippines

beef adobo from the Philippines

Filipino food is typical of the food that fascinates me; the food that has evolved from settlers, traders and conquest. In this case, it is Malay, Chinese and Spanish influences that have helped to shape Filipino food.

stuffed delicata squash

delicata squash stuffed with tomato and mince sauce

A few weeks ago I posted about one of my favourite new discoveries, the delicata squash. You'll be forgiven for thinking that I didn't do much with it except stand back and admire it! Gosh, there is really nothing so appealing as a vegetable with a bit of va-va-voom and go-faster stripes.

braised brisket in guinness with loads of mushrooms

Braised brisket in Guinness with loads of
mushrooms served with champ

Did you know that the famous Irish stout, Guinness, is actually a deep burgundy red colour and not black at all? Officially it is ruby red, one of my favourite colours, whether it is what I wear, the colour of my hair, the flowers in the garden, or just a pint!

I have never really understood why or when celebrating Saint Patrick's Day became more about food than drink, but in the spirit of exalting my Irish ancestry, I am cooking one of my favourite cheap cuts of meat, brisket, in a bit of the ruby stuff and lobbing on a little parsley, as a nod to the insane greenness of St Paddy's Day.

thai beef chilli noodles (neua pad prik)

thai beef chilli noodles (neua pad prik)

Following on from my post on a roast beef sandwich using up leftover Sunday roast brisket, I've got another recipe for you. This time it is a quick lunch using the cooked beef and my favourite chilli noodles. Of course, you don't have to use leftovers - in this case you could use uncooked steak, marinating it for an hour or so in the soy and fish sauce before stir frying.

spicy butter bean and tomato stew with turkish sujuk (garlic sausage)

spicy butterbean and tomato stew with
Turkish garlic sausage (sujuk)

I may have been a bit bleary-eyed with sleep at sparrow-fart this morning, but it was crystal clear how the temperature had fallen sharply overnight when I opened the back door and looked out across the garden, which was encrusted with a light dusting of frost, my breath visible in the cold air. I could also hear how cold it was when I caught a strange huffing, puffing sound. The neighbour's fat young tabby, Oscar, tiptoed over to say good morning. I could almost hear him saying "ooh, ah, sheesh, it's icy out here, oh my poor fat paws!" he huffed and puffed and shook his whiskers at me dolefully. 

me derby kell is well and truly stuffed! slow roasted beef brisket in ale with carrots and mushrooms - with Adnam's Broadside

where's the beef?
(carrots, mushrooms and beefy ale!)

There is an old music hall song from the early 1900s with the catchy refrain of "boiled beef and carrots", which was song by the Cockney artiste, Harry Champion (of "Any Old Iron" , "I'm Henery the Eighth, I am" and my favourite "A Little Bit of Cucumber").

seoul food: bulgogi (korean barbecued beef)

bulgogi: Korean barbecued beef

For me, New Malden's greatest contribution to the culture of this nation has been the classic Reginald Iolanthe Perrin's excuse for being late for work, which was "Twenty-two minutes late, badger ate a junction box at New Malden."

But it turns out that New Malden has another claim to fame - it is the centre of the UK's Korean community. It seems a bit odd to me that while there are Koreatowns around the world, from Toronto to Los Angeles, from Sydney to New York, as well as in Brazil and Argentina. Koreans have come to Britain and settled in New Malden, which although it is some ten miles south of London, is hardly a bustling metropolis. New Malden developed with the coming of the railways in the mid 19th century. In fact, New Malden is surrounded by rail and roads (all the easier to leave it) and for people like me, it is just a place that you travel through on the train.

a tale in which i face my fears: beef and beetroot patties

beef and beetroot patties

It was cold and dark and we were standing in the pitch black of a field in the middle of the countryside. No ambient light, just a massive bonfire (for it was Bonfire Night), a few torches and the headlights of a Landrover. I welcomed the mug of soup handed to me through the dank November darkness and thanked the farmer's wife for the kind thought and the hot homemade soup. 

a little burger - perfect party food, which slides right down!

mini beef burgers with capers

mini sour dough burger bun

  I had been playing around with my bread dough again. Often when I try to bake bread rolls, they spread in the oven and I end up with something that flat rather than rounded. What would happen, I wondered, if I plonked my rolls in a silicone bun tray? Mini burger buns by the looks of things! This means, I need to make burgers. A nice symmetry I think! 

Burger aficionados will have an opinion on the type and even the cut of meat included in their burger. I opened the freezer to forage and I discovered minced beef, which fortunately was on the fatty side (which I believe adds flavour and definitely stops the burgers from drying out). So that's what we had; no argument.

Nigel comes to the rescue again! grilled steak with sweet chilli dipping sauce and chinese greens

grilled steak with sweet chilli
dipping sauce and Chinese greens

You will have heard that saying about "never look a gift horse in the mouth", well I suspect the clue is in the expression, as being a city girl I have never been given a free horse, gift wrapped or not. The opposite of the saying is "if it looks too good to be true, then it usually is". That's my kind of luck. 

I was seduced by a local supermarket into buying a pack of steaks, because they were on special offer and frankly they looked good. Now, I don't often eat beef, not because I don't like beef. I do, but I have to save myself from myself. I like beef too much, in the same way I like cheese, something I would happily eat my own body weight in. So everything in moderation.

still raining, but there are meatballs on the horizon!

Italian-style meatballs

Comfort food at its very best, these meatballs are loved by both adults and children. Fun to make too (and I find kids do like to get their little paws mucky helping to roll them). Yes, meatballs can take a little time to make and yes, a bit messy too. But they are well worth the time taken and besides, as well as making a little meat go a long way, make up enough of them and they freeze well too.

weekend pleasures: a hash in the pan! (perfect corned beef hash)

corned beef hash

Corned beef hash is one of my guilty pleasures; I tend to make it when I have leftover spuds. While it is relatively frugal, my version tends to be less than virtuous. I have found that using leftover potato salad or dauphinoise, makes a brilliant hash. (Although the mayonnaise in the spud salad and the cream in the dauphinoise can make this hash greasy, so you will need to use less cooking fat.) Still delicious.

oxtail stew with warming spices: a wonderful winter warmer

sticky oxtail stew

Where's the spring we've been promised by weather forecasters? London's weather is distinctly grey. As a result, I want a meal that is comforting and soothing; something a little dark and sticky, a bit like my mood. 

I need a meal that is a lttle wintery but lively enough to delude me that spring is around the corner. I have convinced myself that what I need is an oxtail stew of such unctuousness, it is like one of the cartoonist Martin Rowson's fat cat plutocrats caught in a nonchalant shrug with its paws caught in this country's till.

Baby it's cold outside . . . so welcome to a warm pie embrace! a traditional steak and ale pie

steak and ale stew

What could be more welcoming on a cold wet autumn night than a beef and ale stew? Actually, a beef and ale pie is even better. I think my love for puff pastry is well-known and the combination of light, buttery and crisp puff pastry with an intensely savoury stew is richly satisfying; a perfect homely pie to banish away the drizzlin' blues.

While I don't think that "life is too short to stuff a mushroom" as Shirley Conran famously, if foolishly, said, I do think there are other culinary-related scenarios where I would rather use the time spent doing something else . . . making two courses instead of one, baking a loaf of bread or just chatting to friends and quaffing more wine. 

sussex stewed steak

sussex stewed steak

A dark sticky stew, the meat a rich mahogany colour and a melt-in-the mouth texture full of beguiling savoury flavours. It is perfect for frugal times since this recipe stands up well with cheaper cuts of beef and is also worth the long cooking - particularly now the autumn evening chill seems to be settling in. It is simplicity itself. 

tapas: meatballs in tomato sauce (albondigas en salsa)

albondigas en salsa

Meatballs are one of my favourite tapa, but equally delicious as a main course, with noodles or rice. These tapas are from the La Mancha region of Spain, and are made with a mixture of minced meat, such as beef and pork. Although you could use veal or lamb (or a mixture of all). I serve them with a classic tomato sauce (there are always tubs of this in my freezer).

This is a great recipe to make with children; (they do love getting their little paws dirty!) The meatball mixture also freezes easily, so is good to make in advance for a party, or to freeze any leftovers, (not that I imagine you would have any, these are deliciously moreish!)

thai-style rare beef salad with a chilli-lime dressing

thai-style rare beef salad with a chilli-lime dressing

An aromatic salad that is both refreshing and cooking. It's has a flavour that sparkles with searing sunshine and Asian vibrancy. 
 
I love this salad, but it does make me feel quite virtuous too as it isn't terribly fattening. So here's to feeling smug, in the shade of a big garden umbrella, eating a delicious zingy salad and a very cold beer!

mezze: what the sujuk!

sujuk mezze

"Have you ever had sujuk before?” Heathcliffe asked me as he prepared his glorious mezze feast. WTF? (I thought rather inelegantly). I hadn't heard of it before either. Heathcliffe was preparing a rather unprepossessing sausage. Its skin was a plastic pink colour, the flesh a "crushed raspberry" hue. If I'm honest, I wasn't really looking forward to it. But I am a girl who likes her adventures in food. So I was prepared to try it, if only the once.