UK / US Cuts of Beef

Hungarian Goulash

This is a really satisfying and flavour-packed meal which I cooked last night in my recently acquired pressure cooker, a piece of kitchen equipment that I’m rapidly falling in love with. (NB: You can get perfectly good and very much cheaper PCs than mine – I just opted for what looked like a  ‘foolproof version’ because I was nervous about the whole idea of pressure cooking)!  In this recipe, cooking time is reduced to 25 minutes in the PC.

If you want to try this recipe using another method of cooking, it takes about 2 hours in the oven at 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4, OR 5-6 hours in a slow cooker.

(My version) Hungarian Goulash

Ingredients:

• A small quantity of sour cream (about 75ml or 4 to 5 tablespoons)
• 200g (about 6 oz) peas or sliced green beans (optional)
• 2 carrots, (75g / 3 to 4 oz), sliced
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 1 stick of celery, sliced
• Salt and pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon caraway seeds (optional) or 1/4 tsp.ground mixed spice or cinnamon (optional)
• 1 x 400g (14 oz.) can chopped tomatoes in juice (+ 1 tin of water)
• 350 ml (12 fl. oz.) liquid beef stock
• 100 ml (3 to 4fl. oz.) red wine
• 400g (14 oz.) potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 onion, peeled and diced
• 200g (7 oz) bacon or spicy sausage, diced
• 600g (21 oz) stewing beef, diced
• 2 oz (about 50g) flour
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

Method:

Oven on (if using a traditional oven).

Toss the beef in the flour to coat. I do this by putting the meat and flour in a zip lock bag an tossing it around.

Heat the oil in the open pan and brown off the beef in small batches, setting it aside when done.

Add the onions, bacon / spicy sausage and garlic to the pan and cook until the onions have softened (3-4 minutes).

Add back the beef +  potatoes, tomatoes in juice, carrots, stock, wine, paprika, bay leaf and caraway seeds if using.

*Put the lid on the pressure cooker and lock it in place.  Set the pressure to high (‘meat’ setting on my PC),  bring to pressure and cook for 25 minutes.

When done, release the pressure slowly (take the pan off the heat and let it stand for 10-15 mins – this allows the flavour-infused steam to meld back into the cooked dish).

If using, add the peas or beans to the opened pan and cook through for 4 to 5 minutes.

To serve: top with a little sour cream.  Can be had with crusty bread or rice, although we found this to be a satisfying ‘one-bowl’ meal on its own.

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*If using a traditional oven, cover the casserole and cook for the required time (2 hours or until the meat is tender).

Pizza Biscuits

I realised today that my hand-scrawled recipe notes for these family favourites were fading so badly that they were becoming hard to read.   Time to commit to a more permanent form of storage….

There are two variations noted here – the second born out of necessity when I realised, too late, that I’d run out of tomato puree.  Version 1 uses oregano and tomato puree, version 2 – red pesto (no oregano).  I’d go with version 1 first but hey, give it a go and see what you think.  My baking in this is not an exact science so don’t get in a sweat if you don’t have 12 or 18 bics and use your eyes, nose and touch to confirm cooking times in your own oven, especially as, in my experience, all ovens seem to have their own foibles.

(Children love these biscuits so it would be a good opportunity to get them into baking by helping out with the whole making process).

Here we go:

Ingredients (to make approximately 12 to 18, using either a 2-1/2″ or 3″ pastry cutter)

150g (6 oz) flour

100g (4 oz) well-flavoured strong cheese, finely grated (I often use Edam).  Don’t be lazy – buy and grate your own for best flavour.

100g (4 oz) margarine (or butter)

1-1/2 tablespoons of tomato puree (version 1) OR Version 2: 2 well-rounded (generous!) teaspoons of red pesto (I used Sacla ready-made) and if using, you can leave out the oregano

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon of dry mustard (i.e. English mustard powder)

1 egg, beaten, to bind and to glaze

Salt and pepper to season

Method

To bake on the middle / top shelves of the oven.  Oven on at 200C / Fan oven 180-190C / 392F / Gas Mark 6.

Sieve flour, salt, pepper and mustard together.  Add oregano (if using – version 1).  Rub fat into the dry /flour mix.  Add the grated cheese and the tomato puree (or pesto).  Add sufficient beaten egg to form a pliable dough (you may not need any if using pesto).

Roll out pastry to about  3mm  or 1/8 inch thick and using a 2-1/2 to 3 inch cutter, shape biscuits.

Arrange on a baking tray, prick well, glaze with beaten egg and bake.

2-1/2 inch biscuits will take approx. 18 – 20 minutes.  3 inch bics take about 20 – 22 mins.

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These are delicious ‘as is’ but you could always treat them like tiny pizza biscuit canapes and top with a little cream cheese / ham / pineapple / tomato, or sprinkle with paprika pepper.  Let your pizza brain get creative!

13 Steps to a Perfectly Made Bed

I’m not sure I could be bothered will all of this all of the time but it’s good to know as I too love the crisp perfection of hotel beds. It’s also well worth reading the comments after this article for yet more hints from readers.

13 Simple Steps to a Perfectly Made Bed

Quick Pickles

This recipe for Runner Bean Pickles appeared in the recent series of River Cottage which focused on vegetarian dishes. I’m more or less repeating it here verbatim (original at the Channel 4 website) but it’s also worth saying that this quick pickling method appears to be worth trying with other veg. The secret is to shoosh the veg around in a plastic bag with some seasonings (salt being important for drawing out the vegetables’ natural juices), then press out as much air from the bag as you can and weigh down the contents with maybe something like a plate with a can on top. Wait a couple of hours and bobs-yer-uncle, quick pickle.  I’m certainly going to give it a try.

Runner Bean Pickles

1 tsp fine sea salt
2 tsp golden caster sugar
¼ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed
Pinch of chilli flakes
150g runner beans, destringed and cut into 1cm pieces on an angle

Method

1. Put all the dry ingredients into a plastic bag and shake to combine.
2. Add the beans and give the bag a really good shake to ensure the beans are thoroughly coated in the spice mix. Roll the bag up to remove excess air, weight it down (as mentioned above) then set aside for about 2 hours.
3. Before serving drain off the water that has been drawn from the beans.

This pickle is fresh and sharp and goes perfectly with cheese.

Pool Of Light

Looking south towards the Bay of St Malo and the coast of Brittany in France

The tower is an old observation tower built by the Germans during their occupation of the Channel Islands in WWII. Now owned by the Jersey Heritage Trust, it can be rented as a holiday home.

Pretty in Pastel

Photo watermarked and tracked using

I’m trying to go poo-less

I did something rad this morning – I washed my hair without shampoo.  That’s right, I was ‘poo-less’.  I read that a solution of bicarbonate of soda (1 tablespoon in 1 cup of water) would work well and be kinder to the hair and even though it sounds dodgy, I reasoned that we do know that sodium bicarbonate has a reputation for dissolving grease and grime and neutralising odours.  So, purely in the interests of science, I gave it a go. 

I wet my hair then gently rubbed the solution into my scalp (because that’s the bit that gets the most dirty – well, obviously)!  There is, of course no lather so I was a bit skeptical.  (Here’s an interesting, but relevant aside: Did you know that manufacturers actually put a bubble-making agent into washing-up liquid?  It’s pretty much unnecessary but market research has shown that we consumers didn’t trust the liquid to work without those bubbles.  Humans …such simple creatures). 

Anyhoo, I left the bicarb solution in my hair for a few minutes whilst I got on with washing my bod and then I rinsed my hair.  I was genuinely surprised at how much styling gunk came out – impressive.  I finished by conditioning the ends with a solution of 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar to 1 cup of water.  Leave for a minute, then rinse. 

All very New Age.  All very Hippy Dippy Mother Earth and importantly, good for the body and good for the environment.  No sodium lauryl sulphate [SLS] – which makes those highly desired bubbles.   (Whether or not you believe the links between SLS and cancer, this substance does seem to commonly cause scalp irritation so may actually be causing or contributing to your dandruff, if you have it).

So what’s the verdict on today’s experiment?

Surprisingly, my hair doesn’t look half bad.  It appears pretty clean and is less fly-away than usual.  I’m not converted yet however because the poo gives a nice smell and there is, of course, no perfume in this simple bicarb mix.  BUT, maybe I can remedy that with a herbal rinse – rosemary water is good for red/brunette hair.

As my hair is less fly-away, this suggests that some oil still remains.  In all fairness that makes for a healthier scalp, but will it mean that my hair needs washing more often than the every 2-3 days it gets now?  If that’s the case, I’d be using the curling tongs more often – bad news for luscious locks and more time-consuming in the styling department. (Make no mistake, styling my hair is a given if I want to avoid looking like I’ve just been connected up to the electrical supply).

So there we are – an interesting experiment.  We’ll see how it pans out over the next few days.

Anyone had any experience with this poo-less life?  How did you get on?

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This article also appears at my other WordPress site.

Chicken Waldorf Salad

It’s been a long time since I contributed to my own site here and after much um-ing and ah-ing over whether or not to continue Gentle Voice or amalgamate this with my blog, here I am again, posting here. I am nothing if not indecisive. I think.

So without any more wiffle, here’s a little treat for the tastebuds: Chicken Waldorf Salad. This is an incredibly simple but oh so tasty recipe. Don’t be afraid to alter amounts of the separate ingredients because it’s a very forgiving combo of flavours and creativity is the key to good cooking I say!

Ingredients (For two people):

2 cooked chicken breasts (or equivalent meat from elsewhere on the bird), cut into bite size pieces

1 stick of celery, chopped

2 spring onions (scallions), chopped

2 oz (50g) walnut halves, roughly chopped

6 oz (175g) seedless grapes, washed and halved

3 rounded tablespoons of mayonnaise

Salt and crushed black pepper to season

Lettuce leaves (something crunchy like Cos / Romaine lettuce is good).

Put all the ingredients in a large bowl, add the mayonnaise and gently toss through to combine and coat everything. Serve on a bed of lettuce leaves. Simple as …

Simplifying Life

To my friends here at Gentle Voice / Voix Douce, you can’t have helped but notice that I have been terribly bad at updating and adding new entries here.  Keeping two blogs on the go is not something that I want to continue doing (too much time at the computer = a spreading girth).  So, I’ve decided to call it quits, simplify life and combine everything, once and for all, at the site that I naturally seem inclined to update the most often: AC’s Scrapbook.  This will mean quite a bit of work as I re-do hyperlinks etc., but ultimately I think it will make life very much easier. 

Please take this as a heads up therefore that in the coming days/weeks Gentle Voice, like the Cheshire Cat, will begin to disappear from your screen.  I very much hope that you’ll  stick with me by re-bookmarking me at my main address: http://angelcel.wordpress.com/.  All the goodies (hints, tips, recipes, advice) that should have been happening here will  happen over at AC’s Scrapbook, together with what that site is known for – interesting web finds, photography and my occasional commentary on the world.  I can actually envisage that the Gentle Voice element will happen a whole lot more often, once the pressure to come up with entries at these two sites has been reduced.  Am I making sense? …or just rambling?  (Probably best not to answer that).

Suffice to say – I really hope I’ll see you over at AC’s Scrapbook.  Do say hello when you’re over there, won’t you.