#cured beef

Pleasing on the eye and on the pallet, this recipe has everything you want from a dish. Sweet freshness from the pomegranate, a cheesy caramelised crunch from the potatoes, peppery watercress & savoury, salty cured beef. If you can’t find Kefelotyri cheese you can use Parmesan instead.

Vegetarians please don’t write off this recipe just yet as beetroot is a fantastic alternative to the beef, in fact for me it is equally as good! Instead just use very thinly sliced, cooked beetroot. If you cook it yourself be sure to cook them with a good dose of salt, otherwise buy pre cooked and sprinkle with salt before serving.

Serves 4 as a starter

1 medium floury Potato, like Maris Piper 1tsp Rosemary 25g Kefelotyri Cheese or Parmesan ½tsp Paprika 120-150g Cured Beef, such as Bresaola, Cecina or Pastirma 1 good handful Watercress ½ Pomegranate 3tbsp Vinegar 5tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1tbsp Pomegranate Molasses (optional)

Preheat the oven to 220ºC Peel the potato and cut into small cubes, approximately 1cm. Put onto a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil, rosemary, pinch of salt and mix. Then grate the Kefeloyri cheese over the potatoes and sprinkle with the rosemary and paprika. Place in the oven and roast for 15-20 minutes until crisp and golden. After the potatoes have been in the oven for 10 minutes you start to assemble the salad. Take a serving plate or platter and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil. Now take your cured beef and lay evenly on the plate ensuring you cover the whole surface. Put the watercress in the middle of the plate in a mound. Get your pomegranate, hold it over the watercress and hit it with the back of a spoon until all the arils have been extracted. If there is any of the white pith has come out onto the plate just pick it off and discard. When the potatoes are ready, remove from the oven; loosen them from the baking tray and scatter over the watercress. In a jar or a cup mix together the vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, pomegranate molasses (if using) and a pinch of salt. Drizzle the dressing over the watercress and a little on the beef, followed by a twist of black pepper, and serve with a few hunks of bread and olive oil for dipping.

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! Please let us know how you got on with it or send us a picture of your own Cured Beef & Pomegranate with Cheese Potato Croutons via Twitter, Facebook , Instagram or by email as we’d love your feedback! For other recipes and news please visit our News page on our website.

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Thanks!

Dixie x (aka Aphrodite Fingal-Rock Innes)

Jiggs Dinner

The Jiggs dinner above, made for us one Sunday by my aunt Carolyn while we were visiting her in St. John’s, Newfoundland, goes down in the record books as one of the best and most enjoyable meals I’ve ever had in my life.

It was, as we say on the Rock, a wicked scoff, meaning a fantastic meal.

A Jiggs dinner is a traditional Newfoundland meal made by boiling up salt beef or salt riblets, potatoes, carrot, turnip, cabbage, beet greens and pease pudding.

Often, a rump roast and Yorkshire pudding is thrown into the oven to serve with the meal. You would be remiss if you didn't lay down a tray of mustard pickles and pickled beets on the table as condiments.

Here's my aunt Carolyn’s recipe, which is the best on the island.

Enjoy!

Here's what you need:



2 lbs. salt beef or salt riblets


1 cup yellow split peas


6 to 8 potatoes


6 carrots


1 medium turnip, peeled and sliced


1 medium cabbage cut in wedges



Here's what you do:

Soak salt meat overnight, drain and place in large pot.

Tie peas in cloth bag (pease pudding bag), leaving room for expansion and put bag in pot with beef. Cover beef and peas with new water. Heat to boiling, cover and simmer for 2 hours.

Prepare vegetables. Small carrots and potatoes may be left whole, larger ones cut in half. Slice turnip and cut cabbage into wedges.

After meat and peas have cooked for 2 hours add cabbage, carrots, turnip. Let cook for about half an hour then add potatoes until cooked.

Remove peas from pudding bag, place in bowl and mash with butter and pepper to form pease pudding. Remove salt meat.

With so many teas in the world you're bound to come across a few that you just don't like. For us, it's smoked tea. Every so often we try it and just can't get over how much it tastes like burnt wood - which just doesn't seem natural for a cup of tea. But it is perfectly natural for meat! So we started using these savoury teas as seasoning in cooking and found it especially good as a meat rub. This holiday season we were given a bag of Russian Caravan from Tealish and decided to try it in a dry cured brisket:

Step 1

1 cup salt

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup Russian Caravan Tea

Add 3 tbsp peppercorns

Step 2

Use a mortar and pestle to grind and mix ingredients together. You could use a spice grinder or even a clean coffee grinder for this, but it's more satisfying (and infinitely manlier) to use a stone to crush your meat cure.

Step 3

Rub the brisket thoroughly with the curing mix. Make sure it's well covered, but this should only use about half the cure as you'll need the rest over the coming days.

Place the meat in a tupperware container in the fridge for 12 days.

Perform the following tasks every day:

drain any liquid that has accumulated in the bottom of the container, rub 1 tbsp cure onto both sides of the brisket, turn brisket so that the top and bottom alternate

Step 4

Cook the brisket at 250 Fahrenheit for approximately 2 hours, or until it reaches 150 Fahrenheit (medium-well) in the centre.

Slice thinly and enjoy!

Best performance by a cheese in a pudding.  The star of the show... Parmesan pudding and piquillo pepper relish topped with caramelized cocoa nibs piled high on petite crackers.

Can you feel it? The buzz is in the air, plans are being made, office pools are getting started. NO, it’s not March Madness (yet)… it’s the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. Who are you wearing?! Truth be told, I will be in yoga pants, a pony tail and a heating pad after a big ski weekend but I know a lot of you out there are primping and priming for an oh-so-chi-chi Oscar Night Cocktail Bash.

Whether you’re hosting, contributing or just in need of some crazy good appetizer ideas, I’ve got just the menu for you. I contemplated creating themed dishes to match up with each Best Film nominee but, since pretty much every movie made last year has been nominated, I scrapped that idea pretty quickly. Then I thought I’d put together regional menus based on where those films were shot. But, Epicurious "stole" that idea right out of my head and gave a spectacular performance to boot.  So goes the biz!

Best Special Effects... rosemary grilled shrimp marinated in ruby port and herbs de Provence.

So, this year, in honor of the bigger event before the big event, I give you the Red Carpet Menu. Each dish is tinged with red, simple to prepare and designed to keep you and your guests sated yet still Hollywood thin (relatively). I was recently inspired by a wonderful Parmesan pudding and a delicious filet mignon with red wine mayonnaise prepared by Creative Edge Parties of NYC. I was driven to try my own version and paired a Parmesan pudding with a piquillo pepper relish topped with caramelized cocoa nibs -- all piled prettily on a petite cracker. These tiny morsels are insanely good. The creamy texture and savory taste of the pudding combined with the spicy/sweet/smoky piquillo pepper relish followed by the crunch and subtle chocolate finish of the nib tickles the taste buds and, I guarantee, will make you gasp. And, if apps aren’t your thing, this recipe can be easily adapted as an elegant side to roasted beef or chicken. If you alternate your stirring arm and suck in your belly while making the roux for the pudding, you can skip your arms and ab work at the gym for the day!

Best appetizer in a supporting role... cured beef and goat cheese infused with a red wine reduction.

My second inspiration came from the pairing of the beef and mayonnaise with a red wine reduction. I decided to cure the beef for two days, slice it super thin, roll it up and serve it with a dollop of goat cheese mixed with the red wine reduction. Other standouts on the menu are always top performers in my book: black bean pizza with chimichurri drizzle and roasted red pepper strips, a super simple grilled shrimp marinated in ruby port and herbs de Provence and herb roasted red beet crisps with a horseradish dill dip (mix dill, salt and pepper with 8 oz. cottage cheese and 2 tbl. of horseradish). And the Oscar goes to..... vote for your favorite!

Best Soundtrack... herbed red beet crisps with horseradish dill dip.

What I love about this menu is that it is mostly make-ahead and leaves you lots of time to spend with your guests watching Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin make a go at double hosting duties. Surprise party goers by serving a fun sparkling red wine like Lambrusco or Brachetto d'Acqui.

Best ensemble cast... (clockwise from top) Argentinean Black Bean Pizza with Chimichurri Drizzle and Roasted Red Pepper, Parmesan Pudding topped  with Piquillo Pepper Relish and Caramelized Cocoa Nibs and Cured Beef with Red Wine Infused Goat Cheese.

Oscar Night’s Red Carpet Menu

Red Kalamata Olives

Red Beet Crisps with Dilled Horseradish Dip

Parmesan Pudding with Piquillo Pepper & Caramelized Cocoa Nibs (recipe below)

Argentinean Black Bean Pizza with Chimichurri Drizzle and Red Pepper Strips (recipe below)

Cured Filet Mignon Rolls with Red Wine Goat Cheese (the recipe is posted at the bottom of the March 10th post)

Rosemary Grilled Shrimp with Ruby Port and Herbs de Provence

Sangria Sorbet (I love Brooklyn's Wine Cellar Sorbet, Inc.)

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This excellent dish also makes for an exciting side kick to roasted chicken or beef.

Recipe: Parmesan Pudding with Piquillo Pepper Relish and Caramelized Cocoa Nibs

Makes about 36 small appetizers or 8 side dishes

Parmesan Pudding 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour 1 3/4 cups whole milk (or low fat milk works great too) 2/3 cup heavy cream 1 extra-large egg 1 extra-large egg yolk 1 1/4 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat a medium pot over medium heat for 1 minute. Add the butter, and when it foams, whisk in the flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, and cook for about 5 minutes, being careful not to let the flour burn. Slowly pour in the milk and cream, whisking constantly to incorporate it. The butter and flour will seize up and get pasty first. Continue whisking vigorously as you add the liquid, and the mixture will become smooth. Cook a few more minutes, until warm to the touch. Remove the pan from the heat. Whisk the egg and egg yolk together in a small bowl. Slowly drizzle the eggs into the cream mixture, whisking continuously until combined. Stir in the cheese, and season with a heaping 1/2 teaspoon salt. Pour the mixture into an 8x6-inch (or equivalent) baking dish, and cover tightly with foil. Place the baking dish in a roasting pan, and add hot water to the pan until it comes halfway up the outside of the custard dish. Place the pan in the oven and bake about 1 hour, until the pudding is just set

Piquillo Relish 8 Piquillo Peppers 1 Tbl. Sherry vinegar 1t Tbl. Fresh squeezed lemon juice 2 Tbl. Olive Oil Pinch: Salt Pinch: Ground Pepper Chop into fine dice and mix with salt, pepper, lemon juice, sherry vinegar, and olive oil. 1/4 C: Caramelized Cacao nibs.*

To Plate Using small (2 inch long) rectangular crackers,, make a quenelle or place a small teaspoonful of Parmesan Pudding on s serving plate. Top with Piquillo Relish and sprinkle with cocoa nibs. Let stand at room temperature and serve.

*Caramelized Cocoa Nibs may be found in most gourmet groceries, at Pure Dark in NYC or online. You can also make your own using raw cocoa nibs.

Best Foreign Appetizer... Argentinean Black Bean Pizza with Chimichurri Drizzle and Roasted Red Peppers.

Recipe: Argentinean Black Bean Pizza with Chimichurri Drizzle and Roasted Red Peppers

Adapted from Cooking Light

Serves: 8 – 10

Ingredients

For Black Bean Spread

1/4 cup coarsely chopped onion

1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (14 1/2 ounce) can organic fire-roasted diced tomatoes and green chiles, undrained , (like Muir Glen)

3 tbl. dried oregano

salt and pepper to taste

For the Chimichurri

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

¼ cup olive oil

1 Tbl. fresh lemon juice

1 Tbl. roughly chopped garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

For the Dough

Use fresh or frozen pizza dough and prepare according to instructions or purchase premade flatbread or naan.

1/2 cup grated parmesan or romano cheese

2 roasted red peppers sliced into thin strips (here, I used leftover piquillo peppers)

Prepare Black Bean Spread

Combine onion through salt and pepper in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Prepare Chimichurri

Place parsley, cilantro and garlic in a food processor and blend well. With motor still running, add olive oil in a slow stream. Add lemon juice until just blended. If mixture is too runny, add more parsley and cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Assemble Pizza

Preheat oven to 450*. Spread black bean mixture over the bread, leaving a ½” around the edges. Sprinkle with cheese and bake until heated through (5 – 8 minutes if the bread is already cooked, 13 – 15 minutes if you are using raw dough). Drizzle chimichurri sauce over the pizza and cut the bread into 16 squares. Garnish each with 1 bell pepper strip.

Note: As a time saver, you can pre-make this dish and serve it at room temperature.