Yesterday afternoon we drove
to Dinard airport and said a very sad farewell to our dearest friend Viv who
came to visit for the weekend. As is
usually the case, it was a weekend of
much frivolity, much catching up conversation and of course much consumption of
wine ..... we had a lovely time. Thanks
for coming Viv.
As part of the weekend and
in honour of Viv’s visit we thought we would throw a dinner party. It was to be a mix of English and French
invitees so immediately the question arises re what to cook. Meat was definately the preferred option as
Viv is a great meat eater but should the emphasis be classic French or classic
English?
We were sure that either
option would be popular with the chosen guests but we do like to shy away from
predictability so we decided on cuisine ‘Franglais’. Now we know that this is not a strictly
recognised style of cuisine and more something that we have developed over the
years marrying what we enjoy about both styles but it seems to work and
provides a means of satisfying foodies from both sides of the channel.
We decided on ‘Beouf Bourguignon
a l’anglais’, a sumptuous version of the
French classic with just a hint of Horseradish in the sauce and topped with an
externally crisp but internally light and fluffy dumpling. Combining the dish with a creamy ‘dauphinois’
and carrots it was sure to be a hit – and it was!
It was an evening of much
ooing and aahing over the food (most satisfying) and a suitably convivial
marking of our best friends visit.
If you want to try this
combination yourself and experience the delights of cuisine ‘franglais’ this is
what I did .......
Ingredients: (for 6 people)
(make the bourguignon the
day before you are due to serve it as this extra time really allows the rich
flavour to develop)
1.25kg Stewing steak / Chuck
or similar – cut into really large chunks so that each person will get two or
three pieces.
1 large onion roughly
chopped
50g Flour
3 cloves garlic crushed
2 bay leaves
1 75cl bottle of good red
wine
1 rounded teaspoon of strong
horseradish sauce.
300g Smoked Bacon chopped
into large chunks
18 baby onions peeled but
left whole.
Salt & Pepper
100g Self Rasing Flour
75g Beef Suet
Salt & Pepper
Cold water to bind.
Pre-heat the oven to 130°C /
gas mark 2/3
In a large heavy based
frying pan heat 2 tablespoons of oil and seal the meat a few pieces at a time
until well browned all over and place into a large oven proof casserole
dish. This will take some time but is
really important for flavour and tenderness of the finished dish.
Leaving the meat juices in
the frying pan fry the chopped onions until just browning on the edges and then
add to the casserole. Add the crushed
garlic and a good few pinches of pepper.
Add the flour and mix in thoroughly – it may look a little bit sticky
and gooey at this stage but do not worry.
Add the bayleaves and enough of the red wine to cover the meat, stir in
the horseradish sauce. Put a lid on the
casserole and place in the oven for about 1½ hours. After this time fry the smoked bacon chunks
and baby onions until browned add them to the casserole and cook for another 1½
hours until the sauce has thickened and the beef is tender. When the casserole has finished its cooking
remove the lid and add salt to taste.
Once cooled leave in the
fridge until you are ready to serve – it will happily sit there for 2 days so
its a good dish for planning ahead.
When you are ready to serve
the dish put the casserole back into a preheated oven at 175°C gas mark 5 and
allow to reheat for about 40 minutes with its lid on. If the sauce thickens too much during this
time just add another few glugs of red
wine and all will be well.
During the reheating make
the dumplings. In a large bowl mix the
flour, suet,salt and pepper together and mix to a firm dough with cold
water. Knead very gently until the
mixture comes together and then divide the mixture into 6 equal pieces. Roll into balls and set aside. Once the casserole is starting to bubble,
remove the lid lightly push the dumplings into the casserole so that they are
sitting on top rather than being fully submerged. Put the casserole back in the oven, without
its lid and cook for about 30 mins until the dumplings are crisp and golden.
Enjoy – this is a real winner
........