Pork and pearl barley stew

Image courtesy of whole-grain-facts.com

This rich and hearty stew makes for perfect winter eating. You can use any meat really, although pork rabbit, chicken (thigh), lamb and turkey leg meat are best in supposition. The presence of fennel and pearl barley gives excellent medium for digestion and winter flavour, whilst having the aniseed edge to denote a clean aromatic flavour to accent the game flavours. The aniseed element also goes very well with pork.

Ingredients (serves 2, so adjust accordingly)

300g pork meat (shoudler, leg or belly), or turkey leg meat, or chicken thigh, or wild rabbit, cut into serving pieces.
2 tbsp vegetable oil
150g/5½oz pancetta
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 small fennel bulb, sliced into 5mm/¼in thick slices
600ml/1 pint white wine, or sweet cider or even mead.
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 sprig rosemary
2 tbsp pearl barley

The doing bit.

Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the meat and fry for 3-4 minutes on both sides, or until golden-brown all over. Remove and set aside.

Add the pancetta to the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes, then add the onion, garlic and the sliced fennel. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the onion is translucent and the fennel is softened. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Return the meat to the pan together with the wine, tomato purée and the rosemary. If the meat is not completely covered with the liquid, top up with water. Bring to the boil, then stir in the pearl barley, cover and simmer for one hour and 15 minutes, or until the pearl barley is tender. General rule - the longer the better.

Pan seared chicken with mixed bean cassoulet

Image courtesy of ptcfoods.com

This recipe is wonderful and hearty, and can be served year round for a filling dish. I do however favour eating this in the late autumn through spring. It is ideal for those cold days when you want to come home to a hearty warm and filling dish. It does take a bit of time, but you can make the cassoulet and freeze it in portions for later reheating. The rest is pretty much plain sailing. With this in mind you can have this ready inside 20 minutes, if the cassoulet is ready to go.

Posted at the request for James Crown, who required a hearty cassoulet dish.I hope it fits the bill :).

(serves 2-4)
150g OF Haricot beans
150g of Red Kidney beans
150g of Black eye beans
150g of Butter beans

All these to be soaked for 2 hours before cooking, drained then covered in fresh water seasoned cook for about 5 minutes then allowed to stand in this water for 30 minutes, then drain.

100g of smoked bacon or pancetta bacon
1 onion scored and studded with cloves (about 3)
1 Carrots diced
1/2 stick of celery stringed and diced
5 peppercorns tied in muslin
Fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
3 cloves of garlic
1L  or roughly 2 pints of chicken stock
100g of chorizo sausage
Tomato puree to thicken

Place all the above ingredients into a pan omitting the chorizo sausage and simmer for about 11/2 hours.

Once cooked remove the onions and the peppercorns

For 1 serving:

Season the chicken and seal in a hot pan and finish in the oven

Reheat the cassoulet and add the chorizo sausage.

Serve in a pasta bowl with the chicken on top,

Finish with potato dish of choice

Winter Lamb Stew with flax focaccia (and dumplings)

It is monday, its cold outside and it feels like winter. Whilst toying with the idea of what to make for dinner later i'm heavily torn towards something hearty, be it a roast dinner, something spicy like a curry or a chilli, and then it hit me - what could be better than a lovely stew?

Upon deciding on a lamb stew (as i could get lamb stewing meat quite cheaply), I incorporated getting various bits and bobs into the days errands. No stew is complete without something to mop up with also, and as a result I decided to try out a recipe for flaxmeal foaccacia. A lovely pan style flatbread :).

The following recipe isn't all that glamourous or complex, in fact it couldn't be simpler in all honesty. They key element is to just do things in stages. it pays abeyance to the french adoption of mirepoix (the holy trinity of onion, carrots and celery) whilst adding sweetness from parsnips and Swedish turnip. You'll need a slow cooker or a cool oven (about 150-C). Slow cooker i would favour here because of their minimal power usage. But if you have other stuff to be going in and out of the oven for the day, you might favour the oven. I just dont favour the high fuel bills.

Note: I was carefully supervised by the feline.

You will need:

About 6 small onions or 3 large ones (red)

3 stalks of celery

5 medium carrots

1 swedish turnip

1 parsnip.

handful of fresh rosemary.

glass of port.

750g stewing lamb

1/4 bulb of fennel

Couple of handfuls of closed cup mushrooms

1.5 litres of beef, chicken, veal or lamb stock (you choose)

For the foccacia please click here for the recipe I followed. It turned out like this:

Prep:

For the dumplings:

4 oz/ 100g self raising flour

2 oz / 50g shredded suet

In a large baking bowl mix the flour with the suet and a pinch of salt. Add 3 tbsp cold water and stir. If the dough is dry add more water until you have a soft, slightly sticky dough.

Divide the dough into 8 and shape into balls with floured hands. Leave to one side.

Chop the onions into a fine dice (about 1/2 cm). Do the same with the carrots, the celery and the fennel. Slice the mushrooms into a julienne thickness.

 


Saute the vegetables & mushrooms off in a pan until they begin to soften, but leave half of the onions behind. We are going to use them in a little while with the meat.

note that once again the carrot and parsnip peel was much enjoyed by the rabbit - here he is again looking approvingly :)

Peel and chop the swede and the parsnip and add to the slow cooker or casserole dish - they can develop on their own and wont need any coaxing. Add the vegetables to the slow cooker or casserole dish, with the rosemary.

Dice the lamb (if required) then sear in the pan with the remaining onions. Once the onions begin to soften and the lamb has begun to brown add the port and reduce the liquid by half. Add the meat and liquid to the casserole dish or slow cooker.


Add the stock, switch slow cooker on for about 3 hours, the same for a casserole dish at about 140 / 150C.

After the stew has cooked for 3 hours, remove the lid, check the seasoning and add salt or pepper to taste, then add the dumplings, cover with the lid and cook for a further 20 minutes. Serve hot.

It should turn out like this:

Enjoy! :D