The Reuben - the perfect sandwich



Messy but perfect

 Saturday. A very precious day when you work Monday to Friday. Me and the missus like to really indulge our food passions on a Saturday. Today that meant hunting down the ingredients for a Reuben.

First, bread. We often stop off in Shirehampton first. There's a great butchers in Shirehampton run by Tubbs and Paul. Their ham is tremendous, and the new cider ham is a knockout. We weren't heading into Shire for ham, but when we tasted it we had to get some.

What we were going to Shire for was some sourdough bread for our Reubens. The village bakery in Shire is supplied by the Redland Village Bakery and is always excellent. The sourdough we had today is some of the best bread I've tasted. Gorgeous!

Next, pastrami. Bristol isn't short on delis, but we favour the deli counter at Murray's butchers (T & P.A. Murray) on Gloucester Road. Or is it Cheltenham Road? I dunno, I don't know where one ends and the other begins. They stock the best salamis, chorizos, cheeses and pies in town. The pastrami we bought was great and very good value.

And so back home. The kitchen almost immediately looked like a bomb site as we undid packages for tasting and got cracking with the Reubens.

I sliced some sourdough, drizzled it with olive oil and put it in a hot griddle pan. I then busied myself doing very little whilst the missus made the all-important Russian dressing, using a recipe from Tom Oldroyd of Mishkins (winner of best menu item award - All pork Big Apple dog, dragged through the garden)!

Place an egg, juice of 1/2 a lemon, pinch of salt and one of pepper and 2 tsp of Dijon into a processor. Add 2 tsp of jarred horseradish, 3 tbsp ketchup, a few drops of Tabasco and a few of Worcestershire sauce and 1 tsp of paprika. Sounds like a lot I know, but it is all stuff that you'll probably have. Blitz. Then stir in a some chopped gherkin and a couple of chopped spring onions. Pow! A totally knockout dressing, and vital for the perfect Reuben.

With the bread toasting nicely in the pan I grated some cheddar. Ideally we'd have had some emmenthal or other Swiss cheese. Not to worry, it's hard to beat a good cheddar.

And so to the Reuben. A piece of toasted sourdough is given a generous spread of Russian dressing. Then follows a generous portion of pastrami, a small mountain of sauerkraut and a reasonably sized hill of cheddar. Top that with another slice of toasted sourdough which has been liberally covered with Russian dressing.

Sandwich perfection

And there you have it. The Reuben. The monumental mother of all sandwiches. And a very good way of spending a Saturday.

Jamie Oliver's braised oxtail

Sprouts? Yeah, sprouts.

To be accurate, this isn't a Jamie Oliver recipe. It's one by Aaron Craze, an early student at Fifteen London. Award winning apparently, and to be fair, Jamie gives him his dues in the book this first appeared in - Cook with Jamie.

The original recipe includes gnocchi but my Mum isn't a fan of that, so I served this with a mash of celeriac and potato that had been flavoured with lots of fresh thyme which was itself quite delicious. Just boil equalish quantities of potato and celeriac and mash with lots of butter when cooked. I added 5-6 fronds worth of fresh thyme leaves which gave a nice aromatic taste to the mash and the little green leaves made it look very appealing.

Due to some missing ingredients I had to tweak things a bit, but what I came up with still very nice. This dish, and the brisket chili, that I've blogged about before have really put me off using mince for good. There just isn't any point. It is so much more satisfying to both cook and eat proper meat.

The recipe for the braised oxtail as shown in the book is:
1 oxtail (jointed) - I got mine from Ruby & White, must butchers would be able to supply it if given notice. I've also seen it for sale in Waitrose.
1 celery stick finely chopped
1 onion peeled and finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped (carrot, onion and celery = sofritto)
1 leek, trimmed and finely chopped
1/2 bottle of white wine (I used Chenin Blanc, avoid Sauvignon Blanc as it is too fruity)
1 tablespoon crushed fennel seeds (I didn't have these so used a little star anise)
1 tablespoon crushed juniper berries
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 dried chilli
1 tablespoon tomato puree (I used tommy k)
4 x 400g tins plum tomatoes (a silly amount, I used 1 tin in a dish to feed 3 people)
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
A handful of fresh sage
Salt and pepper

It's worth noting that the original recipe is for 6 people. I'm not convinced by that. I used 1 oxtail and fed 3 people. The oxtail uncooked weighed a little over a kilo, but the meat was less than half that weight. Maybe I made the sauce a lot meatier than it is meant to be, but I'm glad I did.

The cooking is easy. Sear the oxtail in a large pan then add the chopped the veg, turn the heat down and cook till the veg is lightly browned. Then add the wine, spices, tomato puree and tinned tomatoes. Top up with water if necessary to make sure all the meat is covered then put in an oven (150 degrees Celsius) for about 4 hours.

When the meat is beginning to fall off the bone, remove the pan or dish from the oven and shred all the meat off the bones. Then return it to the pot. Add the oregano and simmer to a nice thickness. Serve with fried sage leaves and gnocchi.

Although what I cooked was a slight departure from the original it was still very nice. It may have been better if I'd left the star anise out, which I would next time, but I was still very pleased. As were my missus and my mum - and they can be a tough crowd.

If you are tempted to give this a go then do, it's not difficult and the final dish is as tasty as they come.

At least I didn't make a resolution!

Cos if I did, then it would have been to concentrate more on my blog and it would be well and truly broken. Still, that's life without wifi. Hoping to rectify the situation v soon, and write up the best of my recent cooking - mussels and ribs. Still, at least there's twitter to keep me active. Hmm, or maybe I've neglected that as well.

Food poverty

Food poverty. At first it seems like an odd term. Is there any difference between financial poverty and food poverty? One is caused by the other after all. But, perhaps it is worth giving food poverty a name so that, like fuel poverty, the people suffering can be identified, the causes can be highlighted and a solution found.

I've just been listening to the Food Programme. It's one of those programmes that makes me not resent paying the TV Tax, sorry, the Licence Fee. This particular edition looked into food poverty - not having enough to eat, going hungry. I find it difficult to understand why some people in this country can't afford to feed themselves properly.

And that it what it comes down to, affording food. My partner and I were both on benefits - Jobseeker's Allowance - for most of 2011 so I'm used to having to shop on a tight budget. Luckily it was just us two. I'm sure if we had kids then the budget would have been stretched, especially if we had young children who needed nappies. As it was our food shopping cost around £40 a week, which is less than £1 a meal per head for 3 meals a day. We didn't eat badly by any means, and prioritised eating well over other things. We also decided on taking a daily multi-vitamin to make sure we got all the required vitamins and minerals. it may have been psychosomatic, but it felt like they made a difference.
But it's not just those on benefits that have trouble buying enough food. Individuals and families living on low incomes also struggle. That's why, even in such wealthy cities as Bath and Bristol, you can find food banks run by The Trussell Trust, FoodCycle projects and other smaller and less well publicised projects.

I'm not sure whether charities are the best answer to the problem, but they're certainly a vital part of the solution as they can place themselves exactly where the problems exist. They're not without their weaknesses though, as they rely on the goodwill of volunteers and donations which aren't always available, or at least not in a steady and reliable supply.

I'm planning on 'doing my bit'. I volunteered at Oxfam when I was out of work, and although it was usually enjoyable, it was all that rewarding. So I hope to be able to volunteer at FoodCycle and/or the Food Bank in Bristol soon. It seems that in the current economic climate those that can give a little really do need to, whether it's their time or their money.

Jamie Oliver's slow roast shoulder of lamb with root mash and two sauces

This was our Christmas Eve meal. And what a meal. It's one of those recipes that, like the Brisket Chili, you will cook again and again.

I was cooking for 5 on Christmas Eve and our butcher suggested a whole shoulder would be required. At £10 this seemed like good value and an affordable way to feed a few people. It was certainly a lot more affordable than using a leg of lamb - less than half price in fact.

The original recipe calls for rosemary and garlic to be added to the lamb for roasting, but I didn't bother. I simply browned it in the roasting pan then covered it tightly with tin foil and put it in a very hot oven. As soon as it goes into the oven the heat gets turned down low, to about 170, lower if you've got a hot oven.

After an hour or so you can start to smell the lamb cooking, which certainly doesn't hurt the appetite!

With about half an hour to go I prepared 2 large carrots, 1 large celeriac and a few potatoes. They all went into big pot of cold water and then went on to boil. A few recipes I've read suggest cooking root veg from cold to ensure proper cooking throughout. Whether it is important or not, the veg always end up very tender.

Once cooked, the veg is drained and allowed to steam for a few minutes to help reduce any excess moisture. Then it's mashed with as much butter as you like, ideally quite a bit, and some salt and pepper. You can go for a smooth, uniform texture if you want, or leave it chunky which I think is more visually appealing.

When the lamb is ready, after about 4 hours, take it out of the oven and rest it on a clean chopping board covered with tin foil and a tea towel or two. Use the roasting pan juices to make a great gravy. You can either do this the English way and add some browning and thickening agents. Or go French/Italian and just reduce the juices slightly for a sauce that is thinner but just as tasty.

To go with the lamb I made a couple of sauces. Well, one sauce and one dry seasoning. I made a simple fresh mint sauce using a little water, some sugar, lots of fresh, chopped mint and some white wine vinegar.

I also made some Dukkah, an Egyptian dish of various seeds (cumin, coriander, sesame) and almonds which are roasted then crushed and spiced with paprika. The result is a wonderfully nutty, crunchy and spicy tasting seasoning which works with just about everything. It's great with oily/fatty foods like lamb and fish such as mackerel and herring. It also works very nicely with bread dipped in oil.

If success is clean plates, then this was a success. There was nothing left. The meat could be 'carved' with a spoon and just about fell off the bones and was devoured by everyone. The root mash was a similar hit, and everyone seemed to enjoy the dukkah as well.

What can I say? Give it a go. You won't be disappointed.

Bristanbul

What a great name for a Turkish patisserie and bakery - Bristanbul. And what a great place for lunch or a snack. Me and the missus grabbed a bite to eat there yesterday whilst we were shopping on Gloucester Road for steaks (from Murray's).

We had these very tasty pastry rolls. Well, actually we shared a mince and parsley 'roll' first. This was a roll of filo like flaky pastry rather than bread. The pastry was crisp and covered in sesame seeds so it had a lovely nutty taste, with a nicely spiced filling which was a bargain at £1.60. The missus then went back in for a potato and onion roll which was, if anything, even tastier. (I stuck with the burger from Murray's, but it was a tough decision).

You can eat in as well as takeaway, and I suspect they do amazing coffee. It's a shame that Bristanbul is a little bit too far up Gloucester Road for me to be able to make it up there and back in a lunch break or I'd be there every lunchtime.

Thinking of eating out in Bristol, read more reviews of Bristol Restaurants.

Demuths

Demuths has been around for, ooh, about as long as I can remember. It's not a place I have eaten at often, largely because it is a vegetarian restaurant. But that was exactly the reason why I went there today.

It was the missus' birthday on Monday, and she has been becoming increasingly keen on exploring the idea of vegetarianism. I think that anyone who thinks a lot about the food that they eat will at some point examine the way the feel about eating meat. Some may end up thinking it's unnatural and stop eating meat, others may simply have a greater respect about where it comes from and what it means to eat meat. Which is the camp I'm in. The missus is still undecided.

With that in mind, and with the thought that we both want to expand our repertoire of vegetarian dishes and try to have better ideas about preparing vegetarian meals, I thought I'd take her out to lunch to one of the best vegetarian restaurants in the area.

I had been considering going to a vegetarian restaurant in Bristol - Cafe Maitreya - but the lunch menu at Demuths looked a bit more interesting. And I was also taking the missus along to the Field of Lights at the Holburne Museum.

A small restaurant, Demuths is probably best described as intimate. Although booking ahead and mentioning that it was for a birthday did mean we got a secluded alcove which helped it feel more private.

When we sat down, at about 2.30pm, we seemed to have arrived about 5 minutes after quite a few other tables who all ordered before us. I was dreading a long wait until we would get our meals. But the kitchen is obviously well run (by Head Chef, Richard Buckley) and we didn't notice any delay. Full marks for service.

I chose the Blue Vinny Tart with potatoes and salad. On reflection exactly the sort of uninspired stuff that I wanted to try and avoid - quiche. But that doesn't do it justice. Although it lacked a real punch of blue cheese the quality of the tart and the skill that had gone into making it were obvious. The portion was, for me, a little small. But I enjoyed eating it, and didn't feel like I hadn't had enough. The preserved lemon oil used to dress the salad was delicious.

The missus went for Port Poached Pear with ewe's milk cheese, hazelnuts, spelt and fennel seeds and was very, very pleased. We seem to have gorged on pears this year. I've lost count of the number of times we've made Pear, Beetroot and Feta Salad. I didn't taste any due to the hazelnuts (I've got a nut allergy). But she loved it and she has a great palate, so I trust her judgement.

Meat free certainly feels like a nicer way to eat sometimes, and though this meal may not have provided a great deal of inspiration for home cooking it has made me more inclined to consider eating at other vegetarian restaurants. Cafe Maitreya next on the list I shouldn't wonder.