Beef soup
Our family always liked to have Heinz Beef Soup on a cold winter evening with hot toast spread with butter. Unfortunately Heinz no longer make this soup so we tried to find a recipe that is similar in taste and texture, without success! We are currently trying to come up with our own recipe, again without too much success. This is the nearest we have ever been to the original, which reminds me of a favourite childhood soup, Mock Turtle.
1 lb shin beef, skirt or braising steak
4 shallots – finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic – finely chopped
6 fl oz of Madeira wine
2 oz pearl barley
2 plum tomatoes, skinned and finely chopped
2 pints of beef stock
Salt and black pepper
Cut beef into 1” dice, place in a plastic bag with seasoned flour and shake until all the meat is evenly coated
Heat oil and butter in a large saucepan and brown meat in batches, remove meat from pan and put to one side. Add the shallots – about half way through cooking add the garlic, cook until translucent, add the Madeira to the pan to deglaze
Remove from heat and stir in the pearl barley, tomatoes, stock, beef and seasoning. Return the pan to the heat and whilst stirring to combine, bring to the boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 2 hours or until meat is very tender, stirring occasionally
Allow the soup to cool and transfer – in batches – into a liquidiser and blend until smooth, return to the pan and reheat, do not boil
Serve with fresh crusty bread
West Riding Potted Beef
This is a really old recipe that I found in the family recipe box. I seem to remember eating potted beef spread on freshly baked crusty bread … as a child. I loved it then, but since coming to Spain have been unable to find anything like it.
1 lb piece of lean beef
2 oz clarified butter – melted
1 pint of cold water
Cayenne, freshly ground nutmeg, salt and freshly ground black pepper – to taste
Place the beef into a saucepan and add sufficient water to come half way up the side of the pan, place over a low heat and cook for about 4 hours, topping up occasionally with boiling water if necessary
Cut the meat into small dice and pound thoroughly in a pestle and mortar (or blitz in a food processor – don’t make it into a paste)
Meanwhile, reduce the juices to about 2 tablespoons
Mix the meat with a little of the juices produced plus clarified butter or ghee
Add seasoning to taste, transfer into small pots, cover with melted butter and seal, store in the refrigerator
I would not keep this potted beef for too long, just a day or so, though I seem to remember some people kept it for a week or more. My advice, don´t try to do this, make it and eat it when cold.
Beef with tomato
I love Chinese beef with tomatoes, this is a recipe with similar results, but somehow not quite the same. If anyone has a nut allergy, use a different oil.
Marinade: 2 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp caster sugar, 2 tsp vegetable oil, 1¼ tsp cornflour
1 lb sirloin – cut across the grain into thin slices – about 1½” in length
6 medium tomatoes – skinned, quartered
2 sticks of celery – peel and slice across diagonal – about 1½” length
2 spring onions – peel and slice across diagonal – about 1½” length
2 slices ginger – peeled, thinly sliced, then cut into strips
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
1 whole garlic clove, skinned
2½ tbsp groundnut oil
2 tsp caster sugar
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 2 tbsp water, see note below
Salt and white pepper – to taste
Whisk the marinade ingredients together, add the beef, cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes
Place the wok over a medium to high heat, add 2 tablespoons of oil, when hot, add the whole clove of garlic and cook briefly until aromatic, then add the beef. Stir-fry until it changes colour and is 80 per cent cooked, remove from the wok and discard the garlic clove
Wipe the wok, replace on the heat and when hot add ½ tablespoon of oil, stir-fry the ginger and chopped garlic for a few seconds, then add the celery, followed by the tomato.
Sprinkle in the sugar and a little sea salt, cover and bring to boil
Stir the **cornflour/water mixture, remove the cover from the wok, push the tomatoes to one side, add the cornstarch mixture in the centre while stirring quickly to thicken
Return the beef to the pan, mix everything together, taste and adjust the seasoning
** Arrowroot – used in the same way as cornflour with the added advantage that it will add a nice “sheen” to the sauce and will not dilute the colour. Arrowroot tends to “clarify” liquid into which it is introduced. If you want a clear sauce add this instead of cornflour but note that sauces made from arrowroot thicken at a slightly lower temperature than those made from grain startches. They do thin if overstirred, overheated or cooled and reheated. So as soon as it thickens, remove from the heat and serve.
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