Beef and Red Wine Stew with Cheddar and Chive Biscuits

Yup, it's cold outside. Right now I'm all about puffy jackets, hot tea, electric blankets and general hunkering down. Last weekend in particular was blustery and rainy, and with Sandra and I both recovering from colds, it was the perfect opportunity to stay indoors and embark on a little comfort cooking.

A couple of years ago, when Simply Nigella came out, one of my must-make recipes was the spiced lamb stew with a goat's cheese and thyme cobbler topping. I mean, cheesy scones on a stew? Get in my belly! I tried it and loved the cobbler topping, but the stew just didn't work for me. It was incredibly garlicky, and even though I love garlic, it was way too strong for me and I couldn't finish it. However, the idea of a cobbler topping stayed with me, and I thought that a version of it it might work well with a traditional beef stew.

Let's start with the stew. This beef and red wine stew is a riff on Nigella's wonderful oxtail with Mackeson and marjoram, one of my favourite stews from How to Eat. I used her recipe as a blueprint, and changed it up to use meats and flavourings that I wanted. I love it because there's lots of layers of flavours in the stew. You start by cooking (lots of) sliced onion in oil until translucent, then adding dried marjoram and parsley.

Sautéed onions

Then you dredge some beef casserole pieces in flour with mustard powder, nutmeg and cloves, then brown them well all over. (The seasoned flour melds with the beef fat and juices, adds a layer of flavour to the stew, and helps it to get nice and thick at the end).

Seared Beef

Then you add the sautéed onions (so much flavour!), and top with carrots, celery, stock, red wine and a bay leaf.

Oniony Beef

Once all the ingredients are in, you shove the whole thing in the oven and let it cook slowly for a few hours. Bonus points for keeping the kitchen warm on a freezing cold day! Here's the stew, all cooked. Just look at that rich and thick sauce! (Note: I transferred the stew from the pot to a shallow and wide dish so that the biscuits would brown faster, but you could definitely just use the same pot if you want).

Beef and Red Wine Stew

Obviously the stew is absolutely fine as it is (more than fine, fabulous even), just sprinkled with a little parsley and served with some mashed potatoes or rice. However, I can highly recommend that you make these biscuits as a topping - they're so easy and just incredible!

It's a basic scone dough, with grated cheddar, chopped chives and buttermilk in the dough. You can use regular milk, but do try buttermilk if you can find it - it makes the topping so tender and fluffy! Sandra's colleague Julian brought her some cheese from Tilba Real Dairy, and I thought it'd be just perfect here. (Come to think of it, I'm not sure if that cheese is technically a cheddar, but I think any sharp hard cheese would suit).

Buttermilk, Chives, Cheddar

So, you grate the cheese and some butter, and rub it into the dry ingredients. (You've got plain flour and some salt and leavenings, plus some spices. Mustard powder and nutmeg in the topping echoes the flavourings in the stew). Then you stir in the chopped chives and the buttermilk to form a dough. It's an accommodating, pliable dough, easy enough to form into a dough and pat into a rectangle.

Biscuit dough

Cut the dough into circles and brush with an egg wash, and you're ready to go!

Glazed biscuits

Top the stew with the biscuits, and then bake in a hot oven for 15 minutes. The stew should be warm when it goes into the oven with the biscuit topping. If you're making the stew and biscuits at the same time then it will already be warm; if you're using fridge-cold leftover stew from the night before I'd suggest popping the dish of stew, without the biscuits, into the oven while it's preheating. Once the oven's come to temperature, remove the now-warm stew from the oven, top with the biscuits, and then bake for the remaining 15 minutes.

Biscuit-topped stew, ready for the oven

Either way, while the dish is in the oven, the biscuits half bake / half steam, turning golden brown and crisp on top, and staying tender and fluffy in the middle. They also absorb some of the flavours from the stew and are just amazing.

Beef and Red Wine Stew with Cheddar and Chive Biscuits

I liked it with some green peas on the side.

Beef and Red Wine Stew with Cheddar and Chive Biscuits

This stew would make a perfect comforting Sunday lunch or supper. Or keep leftovers for the week ahead! Leftover stew and biscuits both reheat really well in the microwave.

Beef and Red Wine Stew with Cheddar and Chive Biscuits

We can totally handle winter.

Beef and Red Wine Stew

Recipe adapted from Nigella's Oxtail Stew with Mackeson and Marjoram (How to Eat)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, peeled and finely sliced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram

Small bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped

30 grams plain flour

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1-1.25 kilograms stewing beef, cut into cubes

2 celery sticks, whole

1 x 400 gram tin chopped tomatoes

3 carrots, peeled and cut into 4cm batons

1 bay leaf

200-300 millilitres red wine

300 millilitres beef stock or water

Method

Preheat the oven to 150C.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large oven-safe casserole. Add the onions and a generous pinch of salt, and cook over a low heat until they are translucent and softened, approximately 10 minutes. Add the garlic, marjoram and a sprinkling of flat leaf parsley. Cook, stirring, for a further minute, then remove to a plate.

Mix together the flour, mustard, nutmeg and cloves on a large plate, and season with salt and pepper. Add the beef and stir to coat in the flour.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the casserole over a medium-high heat. Add the beef and brown well on all sides. (You may need to do this in batches).

Top with the softened onions, then add the carrots, tinned tomatoes, celery stick and bay leaf. Pour over the wine and stock. If the liquid doesn't cover the beef, add extra water.

Stir to mix the ingredients, place a lid on (or cover with foil if you don't have a lid), and pace in the oven.

Cook for 2-3 hours, or until the meat is tender. If you are topping the stew with biscuits, prepare them while the stew is cooking.

Serves 5-6

Cheddar and Chive Biscuits

Recipe adapted from Nigella's Goat's Cheese & Thyme Cobbler Topping (Simply Nigella)

Ingredients

175 grams plain flour, plus more for rolling

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon mustard powder

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

50 grams sharp cheddar

50 grams cold unsalted butter

1 tablespoon finely chopped chives, plus more for sprinkling later

1/2 cup (125 millilitres) buttermilk

1 egg+1 teaspoon milk, for glazing

Method

Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sea salt, mustard powder and nutmeg into a mixing bowl.

Grate the cheddar using a fine grater. Chop the butter into fine cubes.

Place the cheddar and butter into the flour mixture, and rub them into the flour using your fingertips until they're distributed throughout the flour and the mixture is sandy.

Stir the chopped chives through the mixture.

Pour in most of the buttermilk and stir to combine, to form a soft dough. (Pour in the rest of the buttermilk if required to help the dough come together - you might not need it all).

Lightly flour a kitchen surface, and tip out the mixture onto the surface. Knead gently to bring the dough together, and gently press out to a thickness of just under 1 centimetre.

Dip a 6cm scone cutter into flour and cut out discs from the dough, setting the discs aside on a plate or tray as you go. Re-roll the scraps and continue until you've used up all the dough.

Beat the egg the teaspoon of milk and a pinch of salt and whisk to combine. Brush the biscuits with the egg mixture.

When you want to cook the biscuits, preheat the oven to 220C. Top the warm stew with the biscuits, and place in the oven. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until the biscuits are risen and golden, and the stew is bubbling.

Makes approx. 14

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

Beef Fajita Bowls

Super easy and totally delicious meal prep recipe for you today! Beef fajita bowls with black beans, corn, tomato salsa, guacamole, sour cream and grated cheese.

One of my favourite meal preps from last year was my chicken fajita bowls - Sandra really liked them too, so she requested them often, and they were on high rotation throughout 2017. Not only did they taste great, but they were healthy and easy to make. The carbs (black beans and corn) come out of a can, so that's one less pot to wash up, and the whole thing was totally doable on a Sunday arvo when motivation was low, but desire for good food was high.

When I made these beef fajita bowls, I had been feeling rundown and was craving some red meat. I thought beef would make a great substitute for the chicken in my fajita bowls (spoiler alert: I was right). I also thought that seeing as you only need a small amount of meat, I could splash out on fancy fillet steak. This turned out to be a great idea, as the meat was so tender and delicious! 300 grams of beef was good for my four lunches, but obviously scale up or down depending on your appetite.

Beef Fajita Bowls

Really, all you're doing here is cooking the fajita mix of beef and capsicum, chopping some tomatoes for a tomato salsa, and mushing up an avocado for guac. Everything else is just assembly! (I used half a green and half a red because I had them lying in the fridge; ordinarily I'd say just buy one capsicum of your preferred colour). So, put the microwavable items in one container, put your toppings in a separate container, and that's it. We've got vegetables, protein, fibre, iron, good fats, a little calcium from the cheese, and delicious sour cream. (I can't think of a redeeming nutritional feature of the sour cream; I just like the taste a lot and I had half a tub in the fridge to use up - Greek yogurt is an obvious substitute). Delicious, healthy lunches for the week. Better quality and much cheaper than buying similar salads at Mexican food court chains (I checked). You got this!

Beef Fajita Bowls
A recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
For the bowls
300 grams fillet steak (or beef of your choice)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 red or white onion, peeled and chopped into fine half moons
1/2 red capsicum, cored and sliced thinly
1/2 green capsicum, cored and sliced thinly
1 x 400 gram tin black beans
1 x 400 gram tin corn kernels
To serve
Tomato salsa (recipe below)
Guacamole (recipe below)
4 x heaped teaspoons sour cream
4 x heaped tablespoons grated cheese

Method
Slice the fillet steak into thin strips and place into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Add the olive oil, the lime juice, oregano, smoked paprika, and cumin and stir to combine. Allow to marinade while you get on with the rest of the recipe.
Heat some olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the capsicum strips and cook until softened. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
Add a little extra olive oil to the pan and cook the steak strips until browned and cooked through. (Drain off any excess liquid at this point).
Return the cooked onion and capsicum to the pan and stir through until cooked. Set aside and allow to cool.
To assemble the bowls, divide the black beans, corn and fajita mix between four serving containers. Place the sour cream, grated cheese, tomato salsa and guacamole in a separate container(s).
To serve, heat one container of beans / fajita / corn in the microwave, then top with sour cream, grated cheese, tomato salsa and guacamole.
Makes 4

Tomato Salsa 
Chop 200 grams cherry tomatoes into dice and add to a bowl. Core and finely dice 1/4 jalapeño chilli and add to the bowl. Squeeze over the juice of 1/4 lime. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Add a handful chopped coriander, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Guacamole
Finely chop 1 spring onion and place in a small bowl. Add a generous pinch of salt, a grinding of black pepper and the juice of 1/2 lime, and 1/4 finely chopped, de-seeded jalapeño. Mash in 1/2 large ripe avocado. Stir through a small handful of chopped fresh coriander.

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

Beef Stew with Cauliflower Couscous

Let's start with the stew. It's a classic beef stew, all tender pieces of beef in a rich tomato sauce. I make versions of this quite often! You start with a base of onions, carrots and celery (I was quite generous with the amounts this time - more vegetables!), then add beef, tinned tomatoes, stock, and spices, and let it all simmer away until the beef is tender. I also added a chopped red capsicum to the stew this time, for a bit of a goulash vibe. Lovely!

Beef Stew, pre-simmering

Traditionally you'd dust the beef pieces in flour before frying them (to help the meat brown, and to thicken the sauce later). However, as I was serving it with cauliflower couscous, I thought I'd try out a gluten-free method of thickening the sauce. So I skipped the flour, but added a peeled and halved potato to the stew at the start. I got this tip from the family in Germany, when we made Gulaschsuppe. As the stew cooks, the potato breaks down and mixes into the sauce, giving the finished stew a thick and velvety texture. It works a treat! (And any little mushy pieces of potato that remain at the end are super flavourful and totally delicious).

Beef Stew, end of cooking time

Onto the couscous. I'd never had cauliflower couscous before - it was actually Sandra who suggested it. (She with the newfound enthusiasm for exercise and healthy eating). It's über popular among wellness bloggers and the like - just crumbled up cauliflower to serve as a carb-free carb substitute. I ended up really liking it. Not only did it add a bonus serve of vegetables to my lunch, but it tasted good, and I found it satisfying but not overly filling. (No post-lunchtime carb coma for me!) Obviously it didn't taste like couscous or rice, but the crumbly little pieces served reliably as the base for the saucy beef. (And I do love the taste of cauliflower). Would eat again.

Here's my beautiful cauliflower. I love how the leaves curling around the cauliflower make it look all shy. Is that just me? Yup, I'm weird, moving right along...

Whole cauliflower

So to turn it into cauliflower couscous (or, cauliflower rice, which I guess is the same thing), you peel off the leaves, cut the cauliflower up into florets and chuck in a processor...

Cauliflower florets

Cauliflower couscous

And then all you gotta do is cook it in a pan with a little oil for about five minutes, and you're done! You could cook it plain, or flavour it up however you like - I followed this recipe from A House in the Hills, and cooked it with leeks and sun dried tomatoes. Huge flavour boost, but also: more veggies! (Side note: do we all remember how good sun dried tomatoes are? I made this recipe for sun-dried tomato-stuffed chicken breast recipe the other night, and it was so good, I can't remember why I ever stopped eating sun-dried tomatoes! The 90's are alive and well in my house.)

Cauliflower couscous flavouring ingredients

So this is an easy recipe - you just sautée the leeks and sun-dried tomatoes...

Sautéeing sun-dried tomatoes, leek

Cauliflower couscous

This meal worked great as a meal prep! Stews definitely improve over time, and the cauliflower couscous lasted well, not going soggy at all. It was just as good on the fourth day as it was on the first! The meal was totally comforting, but not heavy at all. And as I've mentioned throughout the post, I kept trying to cram different vegetables into this meal, but it didn't taste like a punishment. It just tasted good!

N.B. The recipes below make six servings in total. As you know I make my meal preps for Monday-Thursday, but also had this for dinner with Sandra on the Sunday. If six servings is too much for you to eat in one week, I'd suggest freezing a couple of portions! Your future self will thank you.

P.S. Do you like cauliflower rice? Any serving suggestions? Hit me up in the comments!

Beef Stew
An original recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter (use olive oil for dairy-free)
1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into cubes
2 sticks of celery, chopped into cubes
1 clove of garlic, crushed
450 grams cubed beef
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon beef stock powder
1 x 400 gram tin chopped tomatoes
1 red capsicum, seeded and roughly chopped
1 bay leaf
1 potato, peeled and cut into half
Parsley, to serve

Method
Melt the butter in a large casserole. Add the onion, carrot and celery. Season with salt and pepper. Cooked until softened.
Add the garlic, and cook until the garlic is fragrant.
Add the beef, cayenne pepper and paprika, and cook until the beef is sealed.
Add the beef stock powder and tinned tomatoes. Fill the tin with water and pour this into the pot. Add the bay leaf, the capsicum and the potato.
Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for 1.5-2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the potato is cooked through (mash it into the sauce to thicken it), and the beef is tender.
Sprinkle with chopped parsley to serve.


Cauliflower Couscous
Recipe adapted from A House in the Hills

Ingredients
1/2 large cauliflower
1 tablespoon butter (use olive oil for dairy free)
1 leek, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 cup sundried tomatoes, roughly chopped

Method
Wash the cauliflower and cut into florets. Place in a food processor and whizz into small pieces, like couscous. Set aside.
Melt the butter in a large non-stick pan over a medium heat. Add the leek and cook until softened. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the sundried tomatoes and stir to distribute evenly.
Finally, turn the heat up to high and tip in the cauliflower couscous. Stir so all the ingredients are distributed evenly. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or until heated through.

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

Korean-inspired Meal Prep

Well, hello there! It's Monday again, and you know what that means - another Meal Prep Monday! Today's meal prep is inspired by Korean flavours. We have a base of brown rice, with marinated steak, broccolini namul, julienned carrots and finely shaved cucumber. Plus a little garnish of extra sesame seeds, fresh coriander, chilli and spring onions.

Recipes are down the bottom of this post, but let me talk you through the elements right now. The beef was two beautiful steaks, marinated in a mixture of soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, spring onions and chilli.

Steak marinade

Frying the steaks

Normally I like my steaks very rare, but because I was planning to eat it over four days, I decided to cook it through.

The marinade was based on Nigella's black and blue beef (from Forever Summer), and is really delicious. Knowing that brown rice is kinda a black hole for flavour, I decided to cook the marinade and use it as a sauce. Bonus!

Marinade being cooked

Ok, broccolini namul. I don't know a lot about Korean food, but as far as I can tell, "namul" is the general term for vegetables in a seasoned sauce. After Googling dozens of recipes, I decided to toss the cooked broccolini in a mixture of sesame seeds, sesame oil, garlic, soy sauce, sugar and salt. And boom - broccolini namul!

Namul mixture

All the ingredients

Of course, kimchi would be an obvious addition to this meal prep, but I had the cucumber and carrot sitting in the fridge, and wanted to use them up. Lots of crunchy freshness there! I'm also not always in the mood for punchy flavours of kimchi, so wasn't sure if I'd handle it for four days in a row.

Brown rice

I used brown rice for this, which was wonderfully hearty, but my preferred rice for this meal prep would have been Korean purple rice. I had a few packets in the pantry, but unfortunately they were out of date. D'oh! Next time, next time.

This was such a great meal prep! Lots of different vegetables and textures, and it kept really well throughout the week. I ate it cold, straight from the container, but you could always keep the raw veggies separately and heat the rest up.

Speaking of which, on the Thursday, I felt like something else for lunch (the nasi lemak craving was strong that day), so took the last lunchbox home. I picked out the cucumber and carrot, microwaved the beef, rice and broccolini, then reunited it all in a bowl and topped it with a fried egg. Delicious!

Korean rice bowl with a fried egg

Seared Beef

House of Pisco

Woop woop! It's 2017! Let's start this year off with a post on one of my favourite restaurants from 2016 - Harley House. You may remember that once upon a time, Harley House was Mexican-Chinese fusion restaurant La Chinesca (I visited once on an invite), and since then they've changed the name and specialised the menu on Peruvian cuisine, with a strong focus on piscos (woohoo!) and grilled meats (also woohoo!)

Harley House

Pisco Sours - Mango & Berry - $19 ($12 during happy hour!)

Speaking of delicious sour things, I've tried a couple of their ceviches and really enjoyed them. Hot tip: the ceviche mixto de mercado is a very generous serving! Good for sharing.

Ceviche Mixto de Mercado - Mixed local white fish, prawns, squid, octopus, tiger's milk - $28

The yellowfin tuna ceviche special we tried on another visit was much smaller (I imagine because yellowfin tuna is more expensive than the mixed seafood in the other ceviche), but was still very good. From memory it came with a mango sauce, the sharpness of which contrasted well against the rich, oily tuna.

Tiradito of the day - yellowfin tuna ceviche - $24

The rompebocas (small plates) section of the menu has a lot of great drinking food - the crispy fried chicken wings and empanadas are both well worth ordering.

Alitas de Pollo - Deep fried chicken wings, masterstock, ranchero tomato sauce - $18 Empanadas - corn & queso serrano - $9 each Chipa with Chia Seeds - tapioca flour cheese bread, bocconcini cheese - $12

My favourite, though, is the chipa with chia seeds, which we order every time. Similar to my beloved pão de queijo, these are chewy little cheesy breads made of tapioca flour.

Chipa with Chia Seeds - Tapioca flour cheese bread, Bocconcini cheese - $12

Let's take a look at the meat! The spatchcock a la brasa (i.e. Peruvian rotisserie chicken, made with spatchcock) was smoky, juicy and tender. And it came with bonus potatoes - win win.

Spatchcock a la Brasa - Marinated in beer, garlic, ginger, spices - $26

Asado con Hueso - 72 hour slow cooked beef short rib, Huacatay salsa - $40

The asado con hueso (i.e. "with bone") had a great crust (or bark) on the outside, and was incredibly tender, falling apart at the prod of a fork.

Soooo tender

The churrasco beef is different but equally delicious - rather than being slow cooked, this one is a grilled sirloin steak, cooked medium rare and sliced into thick slabs. I've had this one a few times and it's always great - perfectly cooked, well seasoned and with a great char.

Churrasco – 300G Grass fed sirloin, Huacatay salsa - $30

Ensalada Vegetariano - grilled corn w/ cauliflower purée, grilled watermelon, heart of palm, sweet potato, coriander, cancha, yuca & jalapeño - $17

Warm Beetroot Salad - Beetroot & raisin emulsion, baby beet, purple carrot, watermelon radish, red vein sorrel - $14

Papas Fritas - Hand cut chips, ají amarillo mayonnaise, ranchera sauce - $10

We don't usually order dessert, but when we brought our friends An and Adri here for a birthday gift, we couldn't not order a few sweet things! My favourite were the picarones - sweet potato and pumpkin donuts, in a sweet plum syrup.

Picarones - Sweet potato & pumpkin Peruvian doughnuts, plum syrup - $14

Alfajor de Chocolate - Chocolate shells, shortbread, dulce de leche - $12

The alfajor de chocolate didn't look like any other alfajor I'd ever tried before (sah fancy!), but the familiar combination of shortbread crumbs and sweet, sweet dulce de leche was very tasty.

Suspiro Limeno - Dulche de leche, seasonal fruits, meringue - $14

The DoubleTree is a narrow-ish and fancy-looking building on Flinders Street, near the corner of Elizabeth Street and right opposite Flinders Street Station. If you know the area, you'll know that it's very busy, and the relatively new hotel, all dim lights, fancy bar and slick dark tiles, is a nice calm oasis in the crowded area.

The signature DoubleTree by Hilton chocolate chip cookie!

Added bonus - the reception area always smells like cookies! The DoubleTree have a signature chocolate chip cookie, and every guest receives a freshly baked cookie on arrival. When we checked in, the very nice reception staff actually slipped us two cookies each (and I swear I didn't even ask!) These were great - warm and chewy, with lots of walnuts and melty chocolate pieces.

Our room was a King guest room. It was compact but comfortable, and very clean with modern fittings.

Desk, HDTV

The view from our room was, well, less than spectacular, but they do have rooms with better views across the station and the city, (and some rooms with no windows at all!) I liked that we got a lot of natural light into the room.

View

Comfy, comfy robes

The robes provided were super fluffy and comfy, as was the bed. Down pillows come as standard, but there's a pillow menu available if you prefer something firmer or softer. I was a little worried that a room in the centre of town might be noisy, but the room was really quiet and I had an excellent night's sleep.

King bed

Toiletries

Shower

Sink

Overall I really liked the hotel. It was modern and comfortable, and the staff were very friendly and efficient. It is a simple hotel (i.e. no bathtubs, no swimming pool, no day spa, limited room service menu etc.), but it has everything you need, and its location makes it a perfect base for exploring the city. (Shopping! Restaurants! The tennis! Theatre!)

Chocolate pancakes, poached honey pear, jaffa mascarpone, strawberry, meringue - $18