“How to cook perfect barbecue ribs” proclaimed the headline. It would be rude not to give them a try. I knew I had most of the stuff lurking around the office, so after buying some ribs and some sandwich bags from the local supermarket I could marinade everything at lunchtime. By the time I’d got home it had plenty of time to impart flavour.
3 hours of roasting and barbecuing later, I had a pile of ribs to enjoy. What a crushing disappointment. For something labelled “perfect barbecue ribs” there was almost no BBQ flavour at all. Mildly sweet, but all the umami had gone. I note that as per Felicity Cloake’s “perfect” series she runs the gamut of celeb and other chefs to hone in on perfection. She tried Jamie Oliver’s recipe from Jamie’s America, but not the one which to my mind is superior – the one from Jamie At Home. I cooked a whole chicken with it last year, and it’s great. That’s your perfect BBQ rib sauce right there.
Barbecue ribs (serves 4):
2 racks of pork ribs
1 tablespoon Marmite
1 tablespoon English mustard
1½ teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
2½ tablespoons dark muscovado sugar
Mix together the marinade ingredients and rub half all over the ribs. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Preheat the oven to 150°C. Pop the ribs in a baking tray and cover with foil. Cook for 2½ hours and baste from time to time.
After 2 hours oven cooking light the barbecue. Once the coals have turned ashen grey, transfer the ribs to the BBQ and cook for around 15 minutes, basting as you go. Make sure they catch a little and go all crispy and gnarly. Eat with baby wipes.
I’m a get-your-shopping-delivered kind-of-guy. In a family where both parents work someone carrying the shopping to your door just makes sense. It has it blips, when some things aren’t available, or maybe you can’t quite figure out what 350g of leeks look like so you over-order on purpose, but generally speaking there’s palpable relief when you shut the door on full cupboards without having left the house.
At the moment Sainsbury’s are running a “5 meals for £20” in a planner format. No ready meals, all recipe-led stuff. Naturally it’s not incredible gourmet food but homely, economic grub. I’ve been trying them out this week including turkey & bean pasta.
I substituted the chilli for paprika just for the hell of it. This should be as plain as you like but against expectation it’s jolly filling and jolly tasty. I froze some for another day, and will be looking forward to it.
Turkey and bean pasta (serves 4):
200g bacon lardons
500g turkey thigh mince
1 tin red kidney beans, drained
4 carrots, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cloves garlic
300ml vegetable stock
1 tin tomatoes
350g pasta (e.g. fusilli)
Get a frying pan on a high heat and add a splash of olive oil. Add the bacon and fry for a minute or two, until the bacon is coloured all over.
Add the turkey and carrots and continue to stir fry for a couple more minutes until the turkey is browned. Add the puree, paprika and cumin and continue to fry for another minute, mixing well.
Add the garlic, stock and tinned tomatoes. When it comes to the boil reduce to a simmer for ten minutes.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the pack instructions. When it’s done take a splash of the pasta water into the turkey stew then toss together with the drained pasta. Serve with garlic bread.
When I first received 30 Minute Meals for Christmas I tore through it, merrily Post-It noting all the ones that looked interesting, like the beef hash, chicken pie, black forest affogato… one that didn’t get the magic yellow sticker was his 30 minute pizza. How on earth can you get a passable pizza in 30 minutes? I was very doubtful it could work.
When the series came round I watched this episode with great interest. He serves it with three salads, and I was amazed that he kicked off by making one of those! He’s only got 30 minutes, and he’s not even using the full half hour for the pizza! Then as per usual, it was a whirlwind of chuck-it-in-the-blender and spread it into the pan. The method reminded me of Heston Blumenthal’s perfect pizza, where he starts it on a hot pan, then transfers it to the grill to finish. And Jamie’s effort looked pretty good, so I relented and gave it a Post-It note.
Then by happy coincidence Domino’s Pizza contact me and ask if I want to try making something that rivals the Spanish Sizzler. The pizza offers chorizo, roast chicken, green peppers and roquito peppers. I’ve previously taken on their Double Decadence with my own pesto pizza to great effect, so rolled my sleeves up in anticipation of another showdown.
Jamie’s dough turned out surprisingly OK. I made it a touch too thick, so next time I would reduce the flour down and add a touch more salt. But jolly nice all the same! How could I doubt the Jamie technique? The toppings themselves were a well-worn combo: spicy, meaty chorizo; milky mozzarella and the pop of tangy fennel seeds. Great!
Whack the grill on high and put your largest, widest frying pan on a very high heat. Get another pan on a low heat. Stick the normal blade in the food processor.
Put the chorizo slices in the small pan and allow to brown. When crisp on one side turn off the heat while you get on with everything else.
Pop the flour and water in the food processor, along with a big splash of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Whizz until it forms a solid, clean ball – shake in a touch more flour if necessary. Remove from the food processor and roll out in a rough circle until approx 1cm thick. Transfer to the frying pan and push out into the edges of the pan.
Pop the tomatoes, paprika and basil in a liquidizer with a splash of extra virgin olive oil and some seasoning, then crush in the garlic. Whizz to a fine slush then spoon a thin layer on top of the pizza in the pan (leftovers make a great pasta sauce). Scatter over the fennel seeds, dot with mozzarella and place the chorizo crispy-side down on the pizza.
When the pizza is crusty and starting to blacken underneath, pop the pizza under the grill. Cook for a further 4 minutes or until done.
I seem to be rather drawn to Jewish dishes. I don’t know what it is about them but all the flavours I crave are right there and exactly what I’m after. This is one such dish, a hands off dish of beef and beans called cholent.
I found this casserole in the pages of Leon 2, and it was my wife who twigged it was authored by Giles Coren. I’ll admit I’m a fan, heck the whole Coren clan is dead gifted. Victoria’s an amazing and intelligent presenter, and Alan Coren reminded me of my dear old Granddad. The only thing that stumped me about the dish was how to pronounce it, so I sought advice and have it on good authority that it’s pronounced ‘chollunt’.
I did mine in a slow cooker, so it bubbled away unbothered and had a jolly old time to itself. It was utterly delicious, with beef shredding to pieces, and a lovely rich liquor to boot. Comforting stuff, and something I’ll be bringing out again over the colder months.
Cholent:
500g beef brisket
2 onions, sliced
6 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 litre beef stock
150g pearl barley
2 tins haricot beans
Get the slow cooker warming while you prep everything else.
Brown the brisket in an oiled pan on all sides, then put to one side. In the same pan, get the onions and garlic softened slightly, before adding the paprika and stock. Once it’s at a bubble, pop everything including the beef in the slow cooker, and cook for at least 10 hours.
Stir in some greens for the last ten minutes of cooking. Shred the beef and serve with a generous helping of the bean stew.
