Great Family Food. Kevin Dundon
Wine
At the end of a busy day, it’s lovely to come home to a comforting stew. I usually buy a whole chicken and cut it into pieces (your butcher will happily do this for you or you could just use chicken legs). You can choose any red wine you like, but I prefer a full-bodied Burgundy. Goose fat adds real depth of flavour to this dish.
Serves 4
1 whole large chicken (1.3kg/3lb), cut into portions with skin on
50g/2oz/1/4 cup butter or goose fat
200g/7oz button mushrooms, quartered or sliced
20 pearl onions, peeled but left whole
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
4 rashers of back bacon, cut into strips (lardons)
1 tsp tomato purée
600ml/1 pint/21/2 cups red wine
200ml/7fl oz/generous 3/4 cup chicken stock
3-4 fresh thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
1 bunch of fresh parsley, to garnish
salt and freshly ground black pepper
To thicken:
25g/1oz/1/4 stick butter, softened
50g/2oz/1/3 cup plain flour
1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
2 Place the chicken in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper and mix the chicken around to ensure that it is fully seasoned.
3 Heat the butter in a large pan. Pan-fry the chicken pieces for 2-3 minutes, or until they are golden brown all over. Take the chicken pieces out of the pan and transfer to a large casserole dish.
4 If required, add another teaspoon of butter to the pan and add the mushrooms, onions, chopped garlic and bacon. Cook for 4-5 minutes, or until glazed and golden brown. Add the tomato purée and whisk in the red wine together with the chicken stock. Bring the mixture to the boil, then add the fresh thyme sprigs and the bay leaves to the sauce. Pour the sauce over the chicken pieces in the casserole and place in the oven for 1-11/4 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through.
5 Remove the chicken from the sauce, place on a warmed plate, cover with foil and leave for a couple of minutes. Remove the thyme and bay leaves from the sauce. Return the saucepan to the hob and bring the sauce to the boil.
6 Mix the softened butter with the flour into a soft dough. Break this into the boiling liquid (it is very important that the liquid is boiling at this stage; if not, it will make for a very lumpy sauce) and whisk rapidly, then allow the sauce to thicken for 8-10 minutes.
7 Put the chicken on a serving plate, pour over the sauce and garnish with the parsley. Serve with crusty bread and crisp green vegetables.
Beef and Black Bean stir-fry
Stir-fries are the ultimate one-pot meal, and this is a quick, healthy and very tasty dish. You don’t have to use a wok—a large frying pan works just as well.
Serves 4
500g/1lb 2oz beef fillet, sliced into very thin strips
1 tbsp sunflower oil
250g/9oz green vegetables, sliced (such as broccoli, mangetout or French beans)
beef or vegetable stock (optional)
350g/12oz egg noodles
1 bunch of spring onions, trimmed and chopped
110g/4oz beansprouts toasted sesame seeds, to garnish
Black Bean Sauce:
2 red chillies, roughly chopped and deseeded (unless you prefer a very hot dish)
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2.5cm/1in piece of fresh root ginger, peeled
100ml/31/2fl oz/scant 1/2 cup soy sauce
100ml/31/2fl oz/scant 1/2 cup beef stock
1 × 110g/4oz tin of black beans, drained
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp Thai fish sauce juice of 1 lime pinch of salt
1 Begin with the black bean sauce, which can be made up and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Place all of the ingredients for the sauce into a food processor and blitz at medium speed for 3-4 minutes, or until it is completely smooth
2 Heat a large frying pan or wok, add the oil and fry off the meat until almost cooked. Add the vegetables and quickly fry them, using a little stock if the mixture gets too dry.
3 Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Add the noodles with a pinch of salt and cook according to the packet instructions, around 6-8 minutes. Drain.
4 Pour half the black bean sauce into the beef mixture and bring the mixture to a rapid boil. The remaining sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
5 Add the chopped spring onions to the beef together with the beansprouts just before you serve the dish. Pile the beef and sauce on top of the noodles and serve immediately, garnished with toasted sesame seeds.
Traditional Beef Casserole with Herb Dumplings
A casserole makes a convenient and nourishing meal at any time of the year. You can pop it on top of the cooker or in the oven and just forget about it for an hour or two while it happily bubbles away. Here, I have added herb dumplings, which are a real family favourite.
Serves 6
1 tbsp sunflower oil
700g/1lb 8oz lean stewing beef, finely diced
1 onion, peeled and sliced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1/2 turnip, peeled and finely diced
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
2 celery sticks
1 large tsp tomato purée
25g/1oz/21/2 tbsp plain flour
850ml/11/2 pints/33/4 cups beef stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Herb Dumplings:
200g/7oz/1 1/3 cups self-raising flour
50g/2oz/1/2 cup suet pinch of salt
1/2 onion, peeled and very finely chopped
2 tsp chopped fresh parsley
50g/2oz/1/2 cup grated Cheddar cheese (optional)
about 5 tbsp soured milk
1 Heat the sunflower oil in a large saucepan. Add the diced stewing beef and fry quickly until coloured or sealed all over. Add the vegetables to the pan, mix around well and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until all the vegetables are sealed and glazed like the beef.
2 Next, add the tomato purée and a little salt