Chateaubriand with White Wine and Soured Cream Sauce

I haven't eaten a chateaubrian in almost 30 years and this is the first time I've made it myself. I researched recipes on the internet and came up with this. DELICIOUS!!!!

500 g chateaubriand (matured for 28 days)
olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
sea salt
4 banana shallots, peeled and quartered
2 large garlic cloves, julienned
120 ml soured cream
150 ml dry white wine
nutmeg
1 tbsp green peppers in brine, drained
1 tsp flour
2 tbsp cold water

1. Heat to oven to 200 °C/gas mark 5.

2. Place the shallots, garlic and olive oil into the oven.

3. Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and sear the chateaubriand for 2-3 minutes on each side. Do NOT clean the frying pan.

4. Place the meat on top of the garlic and shallots and roast for 15 minutes for rare, 17 minutes for medium rare, 18 minutes for medium (times are approximately, I'd suggest using a meat thermometer).

5. Warm a plate in the oven. Rest the meat covered in a tent of tin foil for 10 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, place the shallots and garlic in the frying pan. When they start to sizzle, add the white wine. Bring to the boil. Mix the flour and water, then add the flour-and-water mix, green peppers and the soured cream. Bring to the boil and simmer until thickend. Season with pepper, salt and nutmeg.

7. Cut the meat into slices. Serve with potatoes and sauce.

Vegetable soup with tortellini and parmesan

My partner used this recipe for the cooking group she runs at her work and found it very tasty. Though not one of my own, I have to share it here. It will definitely become one of our staples. The original is finished off with pesto and served with garlic bread. We thought this sounded very rich and decided to use 2 packets of tortellini instead of garlic bread. We also grated the vegetables as it speeds up the cooking time and gives the soup a thicker consistency.

(serves 4 as main course)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed or very finely chopped
2 carrots, grated
1 parsnip, grated
1 l vegetable stock
1 400-g tin of chopped tomatoes
250 g frozen peas
1 400-g tin of butter beans, cannellini beans, borlotti beans or similar, including the liquid
400-500 g fresh tortellini, e.g. with spinach and ricotta filling
dried mxed herbs
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
grated parmesan to serve
pesto (optional)

1. Heat the oil in a pan. Sauté the onion, garlic, carrot and parsnips for about 5 minutes until the vegetables start to soften.

2. Add the stock and tomatoes, then simmer for 10 minutes.

3. With 5 minutes to go, add the peas and beans.

4. Once the veg is tender, add the tortellini. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes until the pasta is just cooked. (Tortellin and similar float when ready.)

5. Season to tast with pepper and salt.

6. Serve with a dollop of pesto (optional) and grated parmesan.

Morello Cherry and Amaretto Jam

I'm pretty new to jam making but am really enjoying it. So it's great we've started renting out a room on a bed and breakfast basis that allows me to spoil guests with homemade jam and other continental breakfast goodies.

1 kg morello cherries, fresh or frozen
1 kg granulated sugar
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3-4 tbsp amaretto

1. Place a couple of saucers in the freezer.

2. Coarsely chop about 2/3 of the cherries. Place cherries and sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan, cover and cook over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved. This prevents the sugar from sticking and burning. Stir every now and then.

3. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for approx. 5 minutes. Take off the heat. When the jam has stopped boiling vigourously add  the amaretto, then leave to cool for 5 minutes. This is important if you don't want to burn yourself.

4. Place a little jam onto a frozen saucer and leave for 5 minutes. If it wrinkles when touched it's ready. If not repeat step 3 (minus the amaretto) and 4 until the jam has set.

5. Fill into warm steriliised jars.

Chocolate Spread

I'm personally not keen on Nutella as I find it far too sweet. Also, it's made with eggs from battery hens, which is an absolute no-no for me. A friend of mine who used to be a Nutella addict now makes her own so I asked her for the recipe because I want to spoil our Airbnb guests. The first time I used chocolate with 60% cocoa solids and though the result was nice it was still too sweet for me. So next time, I'm going to try chocolate with at least 70% cocoa solids, probably opting for 80%+. Since I don't tend to use white sugar I'm also wondering if I could use fine, unrefined sugar instead of icing sugar. I will report!

90 g icing sugar
60 g ground hazelnuts
100 g chocolate
70 g butter
100 ml milk

1. Place the chocolate in a saucepan and melt in a bain marie.

2. Place the sugar, hazelnuts and melted chocolate into a bowl and stir vigorously.

3. Next, add the butter and the milk, mix a and return to the saucepan. On very Using the bain marie method again, heat over a low heat (do not boil) while stirring continously with a wooden spoon until you have a homogeneous and liquid result (after approx. 3 to 5 minutes). Pour into sterilised jars and place in the fridge for a few hours. The chocolate spread needs this time to get harden so it can be spread.

Tip: Place in the fridge over night so it's ready for breakfast. Store it in the fridge.

Raspberry Liqueur

This summer, I finally got around to making raspberry liqueur though the time of year didn't really matter as I used frozen raspberries. I let them steep for almost 4 months and strained them this morning into a lovely tequila bottle given to me by a friend. I really love its gorgeous, deep pink colour. Can't wait to taste it with some cava.

500 g raspberries
1 bottle of vodka
1 small handful of brown rock sugar or unrefined sugar

Place the raspberries and sugar into a large sterilised jar then top up with vodka. Store in a cool, dark place for 3- 4 mmonths. Shake the contents every now and again. Strain and pour into a bottle. 

Spiced Apple and Date Chutney

I'm not an expert in chutney making so when my next-door neighbours gave me 2.5 kilos of apples a couple of weeks ago I had to research some recipes on the internet and found two I liked bits of, in particular an apple and pear chutney that didn't use ordinary sugar but dark moscovado. From the other recipe, I used the cayenne pepper and allspice. I still had quite a lot of elderflower infused cider vinegar from last year so I used that – the first time round. Then another neighbour send an e-mail to everyone in the street as they also have a glut of apples. I loved the first chutney so went and got another 2.5 kg. This time I used balsamic vinegar. Can't wait to find out what it tastes like!

2.2 kg apples, peeled and sliced
2 large onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
thumb sized piece of ginger, finely chopped
500 ml balsamic + 100 ml white balsamic or 600 ml cider vinegar
2 lemons or limes, juice and zest
1 tsp mustard seeds
250 g dates
250 g raisins
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp allspice
1 tbspoon sea salt
1 kg dark moscovado sugar

1. Place the apples, 500 ml vinegar, mustard seeds, onions, garlic and ginger into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer until the fruit is almost cooked.

2. Add all the other ingredients, incl. the remaining vinegar, bring to the boil and simmer for 20-25 minutes stirring occassionally.

3. Rest for 15 minutes and fill into sterilised jars. Leave for 3-4 weeks.

German beef roast marinated in red wine and vinegar

"Sauerbraten" is a typical German dish that I ate for the first time in over 25 years a few days ago at my mums. We even marinated it ourselves and even my Scottish partner thought it was delicious. Traditionally, it's served with potato dumplings and red cabbage but I opted for boiled potatoes. The rub is that it needs to be marinated for 5-7 days but it's well worth the wait. Of course, in Germany you can buy it ready marinated at the butchers. (BTW, apologies for the picture quality. I didn't take my DSLR...)

(serves 4)

1 kg beef roasting joint
2 bay leaves
3-4 cloves
1 heaped tsp mustard seeds
1 heaped tsp black pepper corns
1 heaped tsp allspice
1 heaped tsp juniper berries
sea salt
1 onion, cut into rings
equal amounts of red wine vinegar, red wine and water to cover the meat completely
2 slices of ginger bread
oil
1 onion, sliced
1 heaped tsp flour
cold water

Place the meat into a large ceramic bowl or traditional marinating jar, add the onion and spices, then cover with the vinegar, wine and water. Marinate in a cool place or the fridge for at least 5 days.

Remove the meat from the marinade and pat dry with paper towel. Heat some oil in a saucepan and sear the meat on both sides. Add the fresh onion and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add about half the marinate.

Bring to the boil and cook for 1.5-2 hours until the meat is cooked. Crumble in the gingerbread about 15 minutes before serving. If this is not enought to thicken the gravy, dissolve some flour in cold water and add. Bring to the boil. Remove the meat and strain the gravy.