Beef Chow Mein with Broccoli and Oyster Sauce

Every few months, I crave this dish.  It can be made with raw sliced steak (i like skirt) or leftover cooked beef.  Trust me, I've tried both!

The ingredients are easily found, light and dark soy, oyster sauce and Shaoshing wine. 

Today's recipe evolved from one I came across in a magazine around Lunar New Year several years ago.  As usual, I fiddled with it and ended up here.  Oyster sauce, broccoli and beef are a marriage in culinary heaven and the carrots bring a natural sweetness to the flavour party.

Vietnamese Beef Carpaccio (Bò Tái Chanh)

 A fiery, fragrant Vietnamese take on carpaccio — paper-thin slices of raw beef “cooked” at the table by lime juice and layered with herbs, peanuts, shallots, chilli and fish sauce. It’s the kind of dish you eat once and instantly crave again: bright, fresh, crunchy, aromatic.

A French Dip, Nothing to do with France

We have a sandwich from yesterday's  leftover pot roast beef.  

I'm giving credit for both the sandwich and my love of pot roast to the U.S.A.   I know many countries have a pot roast beef but the U.S of A has really taken the dish to their culinary hearts.

We have a delightful 'leftover' sandwich with beef, Emmental cheese, mustard, horseradish and caramelised onions.  Umami me up again.  This really is a treat to have in the back pocket after a pot roast.  Why the pot roast?  An abundant gift of lovely free beef gravy.

The sandwich is toasted and gratuitously dipped in gravy as we scoff, of course for extra yum.

Toasting..

Galette montagnarde: when Brittany meets the Alps

 There are dishes that feel like they were always meant to exist. The galette montagnarde is one of them — a buckwheat crêpe straight from Brittany, loaded with Alpine comfort: garlic sausage, molten raclette, crème fraîche, onions, a runny egg, and a sprinkle of crispy onions for texture. Rustic, hearty, and the kind of plate you want after a cold day in the mountains.

Thai Red Curry Duck with Pineapple

I'm completely serious, this is a firm favourite here in Britland and totally achievable.

We have some cheats, err I mean tricks up our sleeve.  Firstly, tinned pineapple (in juice) is ok but frozen pineapple is brilliant.  An unexpected Covid discovery that stayed.  There's Asian marinated duck (already prepped and offered vacuum sealed in a box with hoisin and pancakes).  The duck only needs 40 minutes roasting.  Finally some Thai aromats seal the curry deal.

Grilled Pasta with Scamorza and Chorizo

I should start by apologising to Italy.  My late Nonno would admire the apology thought.  I seem to apologise quite often when referring to my Italian influenced culinary creations.

We have a tomato sauce with chorizo, then Parmesan and scamorza (smoked mozarella).  Stir the pasta into the sauce, grate parmesan.  Top with sliced scamorza and watch whilst the pasta crackles under a fairly hot grill.  Think grilled lasagne without bechemel and you're on the right track.

Blue Cheese, Bacon and Squash Pasta Bake

What happened?  A blue cheese and bacon pasta bake.  There's greenery from savoy cabbage and sweetness thanks to squash.

Another happily gratuitous picture of the bake.

Let's dive in.

We have, a mac and blue.  Part cooked fusilli pasta, crisped and sliced smoked bacon rashers. A bechemel (white sauce) with poached cabbage.  Finally, to balance, pan softened squash.

We've got this.

Kimchi and Bacon Fried Rice

This idea piqued my interest so I tried it.  Good, then I fiddlled a bit..or quite a lot actually.  Now, we have this treat..

Lots of flavour, plenty of umami and something a little different that works.

(I genuinely wasn't sure how bacon and kimchi would 'marry' together and was happily proved wrong over their union).

In brief, fry sliced smoked streaky bacon, add garlic, ginger and chilli. Kimchi next, mushroom and spinach.  Raise the heat, stir in cooked, cooled rice and add kimchi juice.

Happy Days! (A friend likes to say)

Veal Sauté with Porcini, Red Chilli and Fresh Egg Noodles

A rustic, fast French-style veal sauté with an Asian touch built around porcini and a little heat.

This dish combines tender veal sauté, fresh porcini and a hint of red chilli, served over fresh egg noodles cooked directly in mushroom broth for a deeper, more unified flavour.

Mexican Chicken Wings, Cola Glazed

Cola is popular in Mexico, trust me!  This interesting pairing makes a lot of sense.

I love a chicken wing, especially oven baked with baking powder (it crisps them beautifully).

There's no marinade for these wings.  Time favourable bonus.

Coat the dried little wings in cumin, smoked paprika, salt, black pepper, and baking powder.

Bake on parchment or a rack.

Glaze and return to the oven for 10 minutes.

Shrimp, Green Bean and Chorizo Paella

I think paella here refers more to the cooking method (and rice used) than it does to a traditional Spanish pairing of ingredients.

Green beans and chorizo do pair remarkably well though.

We start by rendering the chorizo in a dry pan until crisp and remove it.  The fragrant oil can be mixed with more olive oil to fry our soffrito of onion and pepper.

Cooking chorizo (uncooked) or cured are fine in my book although the uncooked is likely considered more traditional.

Kibbeh Nayeh with Lebanese Garlic Cream

 A traditional Levantine tartare with bold, clean flavours.

Kibbeh nayeh is Lebanon’s own tartare: a silky, hand-pounded mixture of raw lamb, fine bulgur, spices, and olive oil. It’s one of the most iconic dishes in Lebanese cuisine, usually prepared with exceptional care, using the freshest meat available. The mixture is worked until perfectly smooth, then shaped on a plate and garnished with mint leaves and toasted pine nuts.

Orzo Pasta with Winter Squash and Blue Cheese

Orzo or rosmarino, whatever you choose, we have a dried pasta that cooks like an easy risotto... in only 10 minutes.  

This has to be an eye opener if you're a first timer to this pasta shape.

In brief, we crisp some sliced bacon, soften diced squash and tip both into the almost cooked pasta (with blue cheese and parmesan).  Garnish with a little chopped sage.

Sausages with Blue Cheese Colcannon

This fabulous comfort food pairing really is an Irish charm.

Colcannon, in simple form, is mashed potato that is finished by stirring in leeks or spring oinions with perhaps kale (or savoy cabbage), softened in butter then simmered gently in milk or cream.  This method came from a lovely lady in Northern Ireland - she knows.

The dish is pictured here with festive lingonberry sauce.  You might also have noticed that I do like some colour on my sausage.  Guilty!  They're cooked over a low heat for as long as I dare.

For a tasty twist, we add some blue cheese to the milky greens in our colcannon.

This colcannon is cozy for a winter evening, pairs very well with sausages or ham and would also work with a beef stew.

Sweet and tart Lingonberry was a triumph of both taste and colour.

Américain préparé: Belgium’s Beloved Raw Classic

Belgium has many national dishes, but few inspire such instant nostalgia as américain préparé. Despite its misleading name, it is 100 percent Belgian—born in early-20th-century Brussels, when brasserie chefs reimagined French steak tartare into something smoother, creamier, and easier to spread. The result became a cultural monument.

Unlike tartare, which is coarse, minimal, and assembled to order, américain préparé is a fully seasoned preparation: ultra-lean minced beef folded into a creamy emulsion of sauces, spices, pickles, and aromatics. It’s bold, comforting, and always ready to eat.

Swedish Meatballs, Lingonberry and a Whiskey Cream Sauce

The idea of a splash of whiskey in the cream sauce is all mine.  Sadly there is now no going back.

The little balls are made with pork/veal and cream or milk soaked breadcrumbs.  There's butter softened onion too.  Parsley, salt and pepper comprise the rest.

For some reason, the balls are shaped with spoons (I wouldn't make 100 this way).  Then, refrigerate to firm up.

Umami Rich Chicken Noodles in Soup

This favourite comfort food is both tasty and elegant.

A few simple ingredients yield a soupy bowl of joy.

Add some chilli oil if you have a healthy addiction for it (I do).

We have finely sliced chicken with chopped rehydrated mushrooms, then some greenery (savoy cabbage and or spinach) plus canned bamboo shoots for the noodle topping.

Roast Chicken with Insider Cheats

Any Carnivore knows this family friendly comfort food will absolutetly be received enthusiastically.  Yes, this post cheerfully lies in my culinary British roots (and heart).  Of course, who says we can't also travel foodwise in our own kitchen when the mood suits?  

Plating is important, note the dam of savoy cabbage with peas and a stuffing disc preventing the lovely brown gravy from hitting the roast parsnips and potatoes.  That's deliberate not accidental.

I'll make a brown gravy post another time because today, we're focusing on everything roasted.

Czech Tatarák – The Pub Ritual of Raw Beef and Garlic Toast

 

I still remember my first tatarák in Prague; a dimly lit tavern, a pint of golden Pilsner Urquell beading with condensation, and a waiter placing before me a plate that looked more like an artist’s palette than a meal. A mound of  fresh red minced beef crowned with a yolk, surrounded by pinches of paprika, cumin, mustard, chopped onion, and a whole clove of garlic.

This wasn’t just lunch, it was a ritual.

Doe venison stew with wild mushrooms

 A mountain memory in a plate

This stew was born from a meal I still remember vividly: a game ragù served over soft polenta at a Christmas market in Bolzano, tucked between the Alps and the vineyards of South Tyrol. It was cold outside, the kind of sharp alpine chill that makes rich food feel like a blanket. The dish arrived in a deep bowl, steam rising, the scent of wine, mushrooms and wild meat announcing itself before the first bite. That blend of rustic comfort and quiet elegance stayed with me, and this recipe is my way of recreating it at home.