Recipes from our head chefs
The first beef from Rofford Farm arrived at Quod, the Old Parsonage & Gee’s at the beginning of November & will continue through until end of January. Bertie Wright, head chef at Quod has been producing some amazingly good recipes such as Flank and Oyster Pie & a Whole Ox Tail to share with braised root vegetables, whilst Alicia Storey & Jonas Lodge, the Head Chefs at the Old Parsonage & Gee’s respectively, have created dishes such as Braised beef, wild mushroom & kidney pudding & a Salt beef stovie (recipes below). Maybe you have already tried them. If not, then hurry hurry, you know where to go to find great cooking!
FLANK AND OYSTER PIE
Ingredients
1 kg trimmed flank or shin of beef
3 tablespoons plain flour
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
Vegetable oil
30 grams butter
1 medium onion, peeled & finely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled & crushed
1 teaspoon tomato puree
200 millilitres dark ale or Guinness
1.5 litres beef stock hot
1 teaspoon chopped thyme leaves
1 small bay leaf
1-2 tsps cornflour if needed
12 large oysters, 8 shucked, 4 left in their shells
1 medium free-range egg beaten
For the Parsley Crust
Generous knob of butter
2 tablespoons fresh white breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Cut the beef roughly into 3cm cubes. Season half of the flour with salt & pepper – use to lightly flour the meat. Heat a little oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan & fry the meat in 2 or 3 batches over a high heat until nicely browned. Set aside on a plate.
Melt the butter in a large, heavy-based pan or flameproof casserole, fry the onion & garlic for a few minutes until lightly coloured. Add the remaining flour & tomato purée. Stir over a low heat for a minute or so, then slowly add the ale & hot stock, stirring to avoid lumps forming.
Now add the beef with the thyme & bay leaf. Bring back to a gentle simmer & cover simmering very gently for about 2 hours until the meat is tender. When the meat is cooked, the sauce should have thickened to a gravy-like consistency. If not, mix a little corn flour to a paste with 1 tablespoon of water, stir into the sauce & simmer, stirring, for a few minutes. Leave to cool.
Spoon the cooled filling into 4 individual pie dishes (or one large dish), fill to about 1cm from the rim.
For ease you can use some shop bought puff pastry. Roll the pastry out on a floured surface to a 7–8 mm thickness. Cut out 4 discs to make pie lids (or one large lid for a big pie). Cut these 2cm bigger all round than the size of the dish(es). Brush the edges of the pastry with a little beaten egg.
Lay the pastry over the filling, pressing the egg-washed sides onto the rim of the dish(es). Cut a 2cm hole in the centre but leave this pastry disc in position. Let the pie rest in a cool place for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark 6. Brush the pastry lid with beaten egg & bake for 30–35 minutes (40–50 minutes for a large pie) until the pastry is golden.
Meanwhile, for the parsley crust, melt the butter in a pan, mix in the breadcrumbs & parsley, & season with salt & pepper.
Once the pie(s) are ready, remove the pastry disc(s) in the centre & pop in the shucked oysters. Return to the oven for 10 minutes. In the meantime, heat the grill. Scatter the parsley crust over the oysters in their half-shell and grill until golden. Place over the hole in the pie & serve.
Serves 4.
OXTAIL STEW
Ingredients
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon English mustard powder (optional)
1 whole oxtail (approx 2¼lb/1 kg )
1 glass red wine, or small glass of dry sherry
1 large onion, peeled & roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled & roughly chopped
1 tablespoon tomato puree
4 large carrots, peeled & left whole
2 leeks, cleaned & thickly sliced
4 celery sticks, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
2 ½ pints/ 1.25 litres dark beef stock
2 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, stalks and leaves, roughly chopped & leaves for garnish Zest of 1 orange
salt & pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 325°F/160°C/Gas 3
Heat the oil in a large ovenproof casserole dish. Add salt, pepper & mustard powder to the flour & mix thoroughly. Toss the oxtail in the flour & brown in the hot oil. Remove the oxtail from the oil & keep to one side.
Now add the wine or sherry to the pan & scrape the bottom of the pan furiously to remove any flour or meat juices. Keep stirring until the wine has reduced to a thick glaze on the bottom of the pan.
Add the onion & garlic, stir well & cook for 3 minutes until the onion is softened but not browned. If the onion starts to brown, lower the heat.
Add all the remaining ingredients, stir well, bring to a gentle boil & cover with a lid. Cook in the preheated oven for 3 hours.
Remove the dish from the oven, remove the lid, cover with a tea cloth & leave to cool.
Remove the meat from the casserole & place it in a bowl, cover & refrigerate.
Place the casserole in the fridge if it will fit, if not decant the vegetables & stock into a large jug or bowl which might fit more easily. Leave overnight.
The next day, remove all the dishes from the fridge. There will be a layer of hard fat on the surface of the vegetables & stock, carefully remove this with a spoon. Place the cleaned stock & meat back into the casserole, cover with a lid & place in a hot oven (400°F/200°C/Gas 6) for one hour.
Remove the casserole dish from the oven, stir & adjust the seasoning. Sprinkle with parsley leaves & orange zest, serve the tail whole with some mash & all the lovely vegetables.
Serves 4.
BRAISED BEEF, WILD MUSHROOM AND KIDNEY PUDDING
This can be a time consuming dish but elements of it can be done ahead of time, at the Old Parsonage we make individual puddings but I would suggest one large pudding for the home cook.
The first part of this needs to be done 24 hours in advance to maximise the flavour.
4x 300-400g pieces of beef- flank, cheek or topside
2 onions, sliced
4 carrots, chopped
1 leek, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 celery sticks
1 bay leaf
10 parsley stalks- save the leaves for the pudding
1/2 bottle good red wine
1 litre of beef stock
Salt/pepper
Season & seal the beef in a hot pan, place in a plastic container, even better a casserole dish or the inner of a slow cooker.
Cover the beef with red wine & add the onion, carrots, leek, celery & garlic. Gently mix together, cover and leave to marinade overnight.
If you have a slow cooker- great add the stock, switch on the slow cooker and forget it for a few hours!
If you don’t that’s fine either put it in the oven on gas 2/150′ for around 3hrs or in a big pot on the top for around the same time.
Depending on the cut of beef/ your oven, it may take a little longer but you’re looking for tender beef
Remove the vegetables & beef & reduce the liquor until it is the consistency of a sauce.
The best thing about this is that it can be frozen for another day but I’d recommend eating it as soon as possible!
While the beef is cooking you can make the pastry although this can happily be made in advance.
For the pastry:
500g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
250g suet
100ml water
Roughly chopped parsley
Mix the flour, suet, chopped parsley & water together to form a dough, add a little more water if necessary. Wrap in cling film & place in the fridge for a minimum of one hour.
To make the filling:
400g mushrooms
200g button onions
200g kidneys
2tsp Worcester sauce
Salt & pepper
2 tablespoons flour
200ml beef stock
First remove the sinue from the kidneys & cut into similar sized pieces. Cut the mushrooms to roughly same size.
Sprinkle over the flour & mix gently covering as much of the mix as possible- this will help to thicken the gravy in the pudding
In a warm pan with a little oil sear the onions, kidneys & mushroom seasoning as you go, add the Worcester sauce.
Add around 200ml of stock to the pan and gently simmer- this will cook the mix & thicken the sauce. Leave to cool.
While the mix is cooling take the pudding basin & butter the inside well- this will help it to come out once its cooked.
Once the pastry is chilled roll it out to 1cm thick. Line the basin leaving around 1cm lip over the edge & enough to form a lid.
Take the pudding mix & place this into the mould, place the lid on top & fold in the edges to seal. Place a tight cling film lid on top & then cover with a layer of tin foil- you need to make this water tight.
Place the basin in a pan of hot water & leave to cook for around 1-1/2 to 2 hrs.
Once cooked it’s ready to serve.
Serve this with braised beef & the vegetables the beef was cooked in. For extra flavour serve with some British spring greens or curly kale, great this time of year.
Serves 4.
Enjoy!
Alicia
ROFFORD FARM SALT BEEF STOVIE
Ingredients
1kg brisket approx.
2 litres water (enough to cover the beef)
200g tablespoons salt
1 leek, chopped roughly
2 large white onions, chopped
1 head of garlic
2 carrots, peeled & chopped
1/2 head of celery, chopped
Sprig of thyme & rosemary
3 peppercorns
5 large potatoes, peeled & quartered
100g pinhead capers
150g finely diced gherkins
4 banana shallots, peeled & diced
Method
The brine. Bring the salt & water to the boil until the salt dissolves. Now chill. If you choose to add more water you must keep the same ratio of 10% salt to 90% water.
Put the beef into the brine & leave for 5 days. Then rinse under cold water for 2 hours.
Put the beef in a pan & cover with fresh water, add the onion, carrots, leeks, celery, herbs & peppercorns. Bring to the boil & simmer for 2-3 hours until the beef falls apart.
Fry the shallots until soft. Cook the potatoes & mash these.
Pull the meat apart & bind it together with the mash. Add the shallots, capers & gherkins to taste. Season & pat them into the size stovie that you desire.
Pan fry the stovies on both sides & put these into the oven, 180c for 10 mins.
Serve with a fried duck egg & mustard sauce.
Serves 6