Roast Beef with Yorkshire pudding, Mashed Potatoes and Red Wine Gravy

This meal is a childhood favourite of mine. We had this at my Grandma's house for family dinners and I remember it very fondly. Unfortunately I had not had it in a very long time since my Grandma usually makes ham or turkey instead nowadays.

The reason why I remebered this dish and wanted to make it was because I had rented Gordon Ramsay's book 'Sunday Lunch' from the library and he has a recipe for this very meal in the book. Most of the recipe is pretty basic, so I didn't need to modify it too much. I used Anthony Bourdain's 'Les Halles Cookbook' for inspiration for the mashed potatoes.

It turned out better then I could ever have hoped. I had some help from Martin and Dan for the Gravy and Mashed Potatoes...because let's face it, I'm terrible at multitasking when I cook! haha
The roast beef was so tender and perfectly cooked that you hardly even needed a knife! The yorkshires were exactly as I remembered them and I ate far too many. And for once in my life the homemade gravy actually tasted good! It might need a bit more tweaking to be perfect though ;)

Make sure you read all the directions before you begin cooking, as you need to do a lot of multitasking for this meal.

Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding, Mashed Potatoes and Red Wine Gravy
Serves 4-6, Adapted from Gordon Ramsay's 'Sunday Lunch' and Anthony Bourdain's 'Les Halles'
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:
1kg rib of beef, with bone
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper for seasoning
1 and 1/2 cups plus 2 tsp of flour
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs, beaten
300ml milk (I used 1%)
12 tsp canola oil
4 thyme sprigs
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled and slighly crushed
1 large red onion, sliced
3 plum tomatoes, quartered
1/2 bottle of red wine
1 litre of beef stock
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
6 potatoes, rinsed and cut into small pieces with skin on
120ml of cream (I used 18%)
5 tbsp of butter (I used salted)

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 395F. Season the beef and sear it in a hot oven safe pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil to brown the beef. Transfer the beef to the oven and cook for 45 minutes for medium or 35 minutes for rare.
2. Mix flour and salt in a large bowl and add eggs and half of the milk and mix until smooth. Add remaining milk and mix and leave to rest.
3. Once the beef is cooked transfer to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to rest for 15-20 minutes.
4. Increase the oven temperature to 450F. Put 1 tsp of canola oil into each section of the muffin trays and put into oven to heat the oil.
5. When the oil is hot take the trays out of the oven and fill each section three-quarters full (It should sizzle a bit). Put trays back into oven and cook for 15-20 minutes. Do not open the oven until the time is up!!!
6. While the yorkshires are cooking take the fat and brown bits from the roast pan and put in a sauce pan on medium heat. Add thyme, garlic, onions,and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Pour in wine and bring to a simmer. Crush tomatoes with a potato masher to get the flavours out. Pour in stock and simmer for 10 minutes until reduced by half. Put the gravy through a seive and press the vegetables to get all the flavours out. Bring gravy back to a boil. In another pan heat up the butter and add flour to make a roux. Add roux to gravy to help thicken.
7. Also while the yorkshires and gravy are cooking bring a pot of water with the potatoes to boil. When potatoes are cooked drain them and put them back in the pot. Mash the potatoes (skin on!!) and add the cream and butter. Season to taste.

Review: Oh! Ricey Instant Pho

I'm doing this review on my own (unfortunately not getting any free samples). The reason I'm doing this review is because I'm sure some people might be in the same situation as I am in:

No fresh Pho close to where I live. The horror! :(

I was really craving Vietnamese food and was looking for something to fix this craving. I happened to stumble upon this product when I was shopping at the Asian grocery store in Delft. I picked up a couple to try and fell in love with it! In fact, it went on sale later, so the next time I bought a box full (down to 7 left!).

It really tastes quite amazing considering it's instant. And if you have some hoisin and siracha sauce then it's even better! Now of course it's terrible in sodium and of course fresh Pho is always better, but if your looking for a Pho fix this product is a great substitute. And you can make it even better by adding your own fresh vegetables and meat.

I would like to try making my own Pho at some point, but I want to do it the proper way and not use ready made stock, so I'll save that for a rainy day ;)

All in all I give this Pho two thumbs up! It may not look pretty, but it tastes close to the real thing.

Just for comparison:

          Fresh Pho: (Thanks google/www.khamtran.com/)

          Instant Pho: (I would suggest adding some fresh ingredients to make it nicer; I added hoisin and siracha)

Shepherd's Pie

It's been a bit colder the last few days, so I was looking to make something that would be a warming meal. I was searching some food blogs for something to make, but then I remembered this recipe from Gordon Ramsay. The first time I made it it turned out beautifully. The second time it came out dry.
This time it turned out the best I've ever had! I think this is a dish where you need to adapt from the recipe depending on how your food is cooking. The recipe below is the adaption I used this time. I'm still pretty bad at adapting from recipes, so it was actually Martin that made these adaptions (this is the reason why I am better at baking then cooking ;). You could make your own adaptions depending on what you feel like; such as using cream cheese to make the potatoes creamier or adding corn or green beans to the meat mixture.

Shepherd's Pie
Makes 4 servings. Inspired and adapted from Gordon Ramsay
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper
500g ground beef
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 large carrot, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp tomato puree
A couple thyme sprigs, leaves picked
1 sprig of rosemary, needles chopped
250ml red wine
300ml chicken stock (I used 250ml and 50 ml of water, as the chicken stock was salty)
1kg potatoes, peeled and cut in chunks if large
50g butter
2 egg yolks
125ml of milk
2 tbsp Parmesan, grated, plus extra for topping
2 tbsp green onions (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan on medium heat.
3. Add the ground beef, carrots, and garlic. Cook until almost all the meat is browned.
4. Add in the Worcestershire sauce, tomato puree, thyme, and rosemary and cook for 1-2 minutes.
5. Add the red wine and cook until almost evaporated.
6. Add chicken stock and simmer until the sauce has a thick consistency.
7. While the sauce simmers, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the potatoes until tender.
8. Drain potatoes and add back to pot. Mash slightly, then add butter, egg yolks, and Parmesan. Continue to mash or use a hand held mixer and add milk until it is a consistency you like. Add green onions to the mixture if using.
9. Put meat mixture into an oven safe dish. Add potato mixture on top. Add extra Parmesan to top of potatoes.
10. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

Hope you guys give it a try :) It's pretty simple to make.
I'm also trying out a different blog format, so let me know if you like this one!