daring cooks: vietnamese beef pho

 

the october 2009 daring cooks’ challenge was brought to us by jaden of the blog steamy kitchen. the recipes are from her new cookbook, the steamy kitchen cookbook, and the recipe jaden chose for us to make is vietnamese pho.

pho (pronounced “fuh”, you say the word like it’s a question) is a vietnamese noodle soup with an intensely flavoured stock. jaden allowed us to choose our own variation and i decided to go with beef as this is what i will always order if i see it on a menu.

so, how did i get on? 

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steak with anchovy dressing

 

the weather forecasters are promising us londoners a weekend of sunshine and heat. sadly i shan’t be here to enjoy it. i will, however be down by the sea and the forecast is similarly lovely so i will hopefully be heading home with a few extra freckles on sunday.

if you’re home though and fancy something easy, delicious and hot-weather friendly i suggest you give this recipe for steak with anchovy dressing a try. the recipe is from the new zealand magazine cuisine and calls for minute steaks – i used sirloin steaks from the wild meat stall at borough market and this was really tender and delicious.

we ate this with an asparagus and green bean salad but if i was home this weekend i’d be tracking down some jersey royals to add into the mix as well. you’ll probably have extra anchovy dressing left – use it in a chicken cesar salad, perhaps with chicken off the bbq.

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better chilli

 

friends and i have been talking chilli recently. this is a dish which i’ve never been very excited by and very rarely make. as a result i’ve not really thought much about the various questions which relate to how to make the perfect chilli. however, that has all changed.

there are three key issues which are much-debated.

1. whether to add tomatoes or not
2. which herbs and spices should be used
3. the power of cocoa. or chocolate.

the only thing that wasn’t up for debate was that chilli should be made at least a day before you want to eat it. this i already knew.

the chilli recipe i’ve used recently is one which i got from another food blogger and apparently it commits heresy by its inclusion of tomatoes. okay, tomatoes are out. chocolate on the other hand is in – apparently adding a few squares of dark chocolate towards the end of the cooking time adds an extra layer of flavour which is worth having.

choosing which herbs and spices to use is complicated and there don’t seem to be any definitive answer so i decided to play pic–n-mix from the various recipes i found online. i ended up with toasted cumin and coriander seeds, fresh thyme, smoked paprika, bay and vietnamese cassia (similar to cinnamon but less fragrant and more savoury).

the result was pretty good – i really liked the spice mix although i think i’d up the chilli content to add a bit more heat next time, maybe using a smoked chilli or two. the lack of tomatoes doesn’t detract from the dish so i’m happy to wave them goodbye (despite my tendency to add vegetables to contribute to my 5-a-day) but will stick with the chocolate which adds a wonderful earthy quality to the dish (the cocoa content is noticeable if you taste the chilli just before and just after the addition of chocolate but settles overnight).

so, this is better chilli than i’ve made before. any ideas about how i make it the best?

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spiced meatballs with feta and pomegranate couscous

 there are some dishes which you eat every last scrap of, scrape the bowl for leftovers while silently wishing that you hadn’t had to share the dish (in this case with 8 friends!) and mentally flick through your diary to work out when you can cook it again. this spiced meatballs with feta and pomegranate couscous was one such dish.

the meatballs were flavoured with toasted cumin and coriander plus coriander stems (i’m really enjoying using the stems in different ways to the leaves and the flavour subtleties which result), lemon, garlic and harissa. they were roasted on top of a gently spiced tomato sauce (similar flavours to the meatballs) and topped with a layer of crumbled feta which was scattered with mint and parsley before serving.

the couscous was scented with lemon, parsley, mint and chilli. i then added the seeds of a pomegranate and everything came together wonderfully – the complex layers of flavours in the meatballs and sauce, melting cheese contrasting with the light, zingy couscous. i served this with a green salad which had a simple lemon, olive oil and garlic dressing.

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beef, onion, rosemary and pine nut parcels

 

finding tasty options for packed lunches is always in the back of my mind when i’m flicking through recipes and these meaty puff pastry parcels looked like they had potential when i spotted them in a recent copy of delicious magazine. they were an absolute success, both as an easy supper, served with a big pile of salad, or eaten cold the next day as a packed lunch.

the recipe below makes 8 large parcels. i made 12 smaller ones and found that this was a good size – two for supper with salad or one for a lighter lunch option. the onion marmalade which i used was a gift from my lovely friend kirsty, and was from the bay tree food company. this worked incredibly well as it had a spicy depth of flavour which really complemented the other ingredients, but if you want to make your own, skye gyngell’s method for slow roasted red onions* would be a great alternative.

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