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Family Recipes

BEEF AND GUINNESS STEW
Recipe courtesy of Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger
2 pounds stewing beef
3 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of cayenne
2 large onions, coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato puree, dissolved in 4 tablespoons water
1 1/4 cups Guinness
2 cups largely diced carrots
Sprig of fresh thyme
Chopped parsley, for garnish
Trim the meat of any fat or gristle, and cut into 2-inch cubes. Toss beef with 1 tablespoon of the oil. In a small bowl, season the flour with salt, pepper and cayenne. Toss meat with seasoned flour. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over high heat. Brown the meat on all sides. Reduce the heat, add the onions, crushed garlic and tomato puree to the skillet, cover, and cook gently for 5 minutes. Transfer the contents of the skillet to a casserole and pour half of the Guinness into the skillet. Bring Guinness to a boil and stir to dissolve the caramelized meat juices on the pan. Pour over the meat, along with the remaining Guinness. Add the carrots and thyme. Stir and adjust seasonings. Cover the casserole and simmer over low heat, or in a 300 degree F oven until the meat is tender, 2 to 3 hours. Garnish the beef with parsley and serve.
Yield: 6 servings

BOTHAM BURGER
Recipe courtesy Jamie Oliver
2 pounds minced beef, preferably organic
2 medium red onions, finely chopped
2 eggs
1 to 2 handfuls fresh bread crumbs
1 tablespoon coriander seeds, crushed
1 small pinch cumin seeds, crushed
1 heaped teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Mix and scrunch all the ingredients together. Use the bread crumbs as required to bind and lighten the mixture. Divide into 4, then gently and lightly mold and pack each burger together into smallish cricket-ball-sized shapes. Place in the oven and roast for 25 minutes, which should leave the middle slightly pink and the outside nice and crispy. Serve with a griddled bun, a little salad, some gherkins, tomato salsa, a pint of Guinness and a bottle of Ketchup. Howzat!
The good thing about burgers is you can make them thin and big, fat and big, or even turn them into meatballs. In the early days of Cricketers, the pub where I grew up, I remember my dad used to serve a whopping great burger the size of a cricket-ball topped with a huge amount of Cheddar cheese and homemade tomato relish. He very classily called it the Botham burger.
That's what I love about Essex boys' sheer taste. Feel free to add extra spices if that's what takes your fancy, but here's a really solid basic beefburger recipe. I never thought when I became a chef that I would come back round to respecting the famous beefburger. Unfortunately it hasn't been on the pub's menu for about 10 years, what a shame. This might change Dad's mind.
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes

CAJUN SPICY RUB
Recipe courtesy Jamie Oliver
2 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, ground
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
3 tablespoons onion flakes
2 tablespoons dried oregano
Salt
Pound all the ingredients together until you have a powdery consistency and rub all over your chosen meat.
Yield: 1/2 cup
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 7 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

APPLE SKILLET PANCAKE
2 Apples
2Tbsp sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp butter
3 Eggs
1/2 C Milk
1/3 C Cornmeal
1/4 C Flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 C Grated Vermont Chedder

Preheat oven to 425 F Toss apples with sugar, reserve. Melt butter in 10" oven proof skillet. Pour off 1 Tbsp of butter into bowl with eggs and milk and beat together. Add cornmeal, flour and salt, mix well.
Meanwhile, saute' apples in skillet 2-3 minutes. While still firm, spread them evenly in skillet and pour batter over them. Put skillet in oven and bake 15-20 minutes until puffy. Loosen with spatula and invert onto ovenproof platter. Sprinkle cheese on top. Return to oven just to melt. Serve with maple syrup. Makes 6 servings.