Jan 29

Despite what you think you know, eating fat doesn’t make you fat

I have been trying to convince people that a lot of what we think we know about our diet and the affect it has on our bodies is wrong or at least mis-guided. Our ancestors ate fat, but didn’t become fat as a result and the main reason was that they didn’t eat that much carbohydrates. Our bodies have evolved to eat what was available, and to only put on stores of fat when carbohydrates were available.

I came across this info-graphic which helps explain the science behind why fat doesn’t make us fat. Also read Gary Taubes book “Good Calories, Bad Calories”

Carbs are Killing You

Carbs are Killing You

 

Jan 26

Chicken Ballotine number 2

After the first attempt at preparing a de-boned chicken, I tried again with a 6lb Capon that I had in the freezer from after Christmas. I also had some left over ‘Black Pudding‘ (actually it was kiszka), from our Burn’s Supper at the weekend, that I used to make the stuffing.

I was confident from the last attempt, to be able to de-bone the chicken without the aid of the Jacques Pepin video, however it wasn’t until I was lacing up the bird that I realised I had made a mistake with the wings. Instead of cutting at the elbow and then removing the top wing bone, I removed the whole wing, leaving a hole that made tying up the chicken difficult. Doh! Another problem was making too much stuffing and trying to fit it all into the ballotine. This made cutting it quite tricky. Ok, two lessons learned for next time.

One upsides of the mistake with the wings that I was able to make four chicken ‘lollipops’ instead of just two. I coated these in a little of my ‘grub rub’ and cooked them for about 25mins in the oven in a muffin tray. They were a nice snack while waiting for the chicken to be ready.

‘Black Pudding’ stuffing recipe

  • Four kiszka or ‘Black Puddings’ ~ 2lbs. Remove the skins
  • One large yellow onion
  • Two cups of breadcrumbs
  • 2 tsp of dried thyme
  • Salt and pepper

Saute the onions, add the kiszka, cook for a few minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients. Transfer to a casserole dish and cook in a 185C (365F) oven for about 45mins. Allow to cool before stuffing the chicken.

Jan 25

Chilli con Carne Recipe – Texas Style

The development of my Chilli con Carne Recipe has little to do with growing up in Britain, where ‘Chilli con Carne’ is a dish that bares very little resemblance to the Central American dish of the same name. From the Spanish, ‘chile con carne’, literally means ‘chile pepper with meat’ and traditionally are made from chile peppers, garlic, onions, cumin and chopped beef. Since coming to Texas another thing that is different is that chilli here is made ‘sans beans’ (without beans), with chunks of beef instead of ground beef and there is far more depth of flavour to the dish.

Chilli con Carne Recipe - Texas Style

Chilli con Carne Recipe – Texas Style

Chilli con carne was first recorded by one of Hernan Cortez’s Captains in 1519. He mentioned in his book that the Cholulans and the Aztecs had prepared cauldrons of tomatoes, salt and chilies in anticipation of their victory over the Spanish. The only ingredient missing was the meat, which would have been the defeated Conquistadors.

My Chilli con Carne

  • 1.5lb of cubed stewing steak
  • 12oz bottle of beer. I prefer Shiner Bock
  • 1 tin of crushed tomatoes
  • 1 fresh poblano pepper. Chopped and seeded
  • 1 ancho chili pepper (i.e. dried poblano pepper). Leave whole but remove the seeds.
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 3 crushed cloves of garlic
  • 1 tbls cumin powder
  • 1 tbls ground coriander powder
  • 2 tsp  of hot chili powder
  • 0.5 pints of chicken stock
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
Ingredients for Texas Style Chili con Carne

Ingredients for Texas Style Chili con Carne

How to make my Chile con Carne

First brown the beef in a little oil and then sweat the onions and garlic until soft. Add the chilli peppers, spices, salt and pepper, then cook for a minute or so. Next add the tomatoes, beer and stock, and leave to simmer for a couple of hours until the meat has broken down into shreds. Serve with rice, bread or just with a little shredded cheese on top.

Jan 23

My Homemade Salsa – Quick, tasty and cheap

This homemade salsa has been my ‘go to’ for making a quick, cheap and tasty fresh salsa for when people drop by unexpectedly or when you want a fairly healthy snack. I can’t remember exactly where or when I came up with the recipe, but it was probably after a visit to the US and tasting the fantastic salsas that you get in every Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurant. I had always thought that it must have been the freshness or ripeness of the ingredients that made them taste so amazing compared to any homemade salsa I had tasted before. It wasn’t until I started experimenting at home and found out that the key ingredients for making the best homemade salsa is lots of fresh lime juice and handfuls of fresh cilantro (fresh coriander).

Homemade Salsa - Ingredients

Homemade Salsa – Ingredients

The easy part of my homemade salsa recipe is that it the real speed comes from using a blender. It’s easier using a food processor, but a stick blender can be used as well. How long you blend for is a matter of how chunky you wish the salsa to be in the end. I usually go for medium chunky, though not to be confused with that other fresh tomato salsa, i.e. pico de gallo.

Using canned tomatoes gives the salsa a stronger ‘tomatoey’ flavour and using the crushed variety instead of chopped or whole means that there will be less water leading to a thicker sauce. Make sure you read the ingredients of your tomatoes to see if they contain salt or not. If so, then leave out the salt in the recipe. The other reason for using canned tomatoes is that not only are they usually cheaper than fresh tomatoes, but the quality of flavor is usually more consistent.

Fresh Salsa Recipe

Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 can of crushed tomatoes
  • 1 medium yellow onion
  • 1 Red pepper
  • 1 green jalapeño chilli pepper (remove the seeds and ribs for less heat or add more chillies for extra heat)
  • 1 bunch of fresh cilantro (leaf coriander)
  • The juice from 1 medium lime
  • 2 tbls ground coriander
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • Granulated Sugar (optional depending on the sweetness of the tomatoes and the sourness of the lime juice. Usually between 0.5 and 1 tsp)
  • Salt (omit if your tomatoes already contain salt)
Fresh Salsa Recipe

Fresh Salsa Recipe

How to make the best homemade salsa

  1. Using a food processor or blender, blend together the onions, lime juice, pepper and jalapeño.
  2. Next add the tomatoes, cilantro, ground coriander, salt and pepper and blend until just chopped to the desired chunkiness.
  3. Pour into a serving bowl and enjoy or leave in the fridge for up to a couple of days.

 

One of my favourite smells of all time is when I open up the food processor and get hit with the smell of the freshly chopped vegetables and cilantro. It’s hard sometimes not to dig in straight away. Pour some corn tortilla chips into a bowl, especially Julio’s Tortilla Chips, if you can get them, and dive in. You could also use this easy homemade salsa a table sauce with baked fish, chicken or barbecue. Enjoy!

Jan 18

Homemade British Bangers

To paraphrase, ‘Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made’. However when making sausages yourself you have greater control over the ingredients. My friend Bill got a KitchenAid sausage making attachment for Christmas and he has been churning out some fantastic delicacies for the last couple of weeks. We talked about making Bangers, as he had tasted them when he lived in Northern Ireland and I had found a suitable spice mix last year when making Scotch Eggs.

String of Bangers

String of Bangers

The name ‘Banger’ comes from the fact that the sausages used to ‘explode’ (bang) when cooking. Bill and I discussed that this might have been because they used to be made with real pig casing which are quite strong, and unlike modern cellulose casings, would allow pressure to build up inside the skin leading to an ‘explosion’. Since we were going to use real casing they they may very well be ‘real’ bangers!

For the banger seasoning I mixed together

10 tsp Ground white pepper
5 tsp Mace
4.5 tbsp Salt
4 tsp Ground ginger
4 tsp Rubbed sage
1 tsp Nutmeg

We ground up 4lbs of lean pork shoulder with 1.5lbs of pork fat and mixed it together with 6tsp of the seasoning mix. As an experiment we decided not to include breadcrumbs, traditionally used as an austerity filler, but just use the meat instead.

Grinding the pork

Grinding the pork

The mixture was fed through the sausage stuffer into natural pig casings, making sausages approximately 5 inches long.

Filling the sausage casing

Filling the sausage casing

Banger Sausage Recipe

Banger Sausage Recipe

Bangers and Mash

Bangers and Mash

Last night I grilled the sausages and served with with mashed potatoes and onion gravy. The smell and the taste of the mace really comes through and as a Brit living in the States they were certainly a nice reminder of home.