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Ski Treat! Holzfällersteak mit Pilzrahmsauce und Kartoffel Rösti

Recently we were on snow manoeuvres in Sölden in the Austrian Alps, where we had the good fortune to top up our calories at a mountain hut called the Stabele Schirmbar.

Their menu is short, but it contains a number of very tasty things, including a mighty dish known as a Holzfällersteak – a lumberjack’s steak!  I ordered one of these, and I was not disappointed!  Delicious tender pork steak, smothered in a creamy mushroom sauce, with potato rostis, and bacon on top! Nom!

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Look! Just look!

This was literally one of the nicest things I’ve ever tasted! Melty pork steak goodness, set off by the sweetness of caramelised onions, all mixing with the rich creamy, earthy flavours of the mushroom sauce, all mopped up with crispy rostis! Even the green salad was outstanding. Did I mention, it’s got bacon on top!

So I decided to recreate it when I got home, and share the recipe with you!
The following recipe feeds two hungry people who have been chopping down trees.

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2014 02 15 The Colonel Culinary Adventures
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Inside, Greenwich – a truly excellent Rib Eye Steak

Hats off to Inside – one of Greenwich’s nicest little independent restaurants, and creation of local gastronomic stalwart, Guy Awford.

We had a lovely meal there last Saturday, but this post is really about the rib eye steak!

Steak! It can be a hit or miss affair, and there are few things more disappointing than the anti-climax of a bad, dry steak.

Thankfully, Inside hits it for six… and, oh boy, there is nothing finer than a good rib eye!  Tender, beautifully marbled, with deliciously tasty seams of fat, and a perfect Maillard-browned crust of goodness giving way to juicy pink medium-rarity. This was heaven in a cow format.

Although I am a huge fan of chips with steak, the gentle folk at Inside have instead served theirs with truffle mash, carrot puree, buttered greens, chanterelle mushrooms, and a decent splash of sticky red wine reduction.  This may sound like fancy food, but it was actually impressively solid and packed lots of interesting flavours which worked together very nicely.

We washed ours down with a glass, ahem, of Ivo Varbonov – an infinitely drinkable Bulgarian red.

Toppy, toppy, yes…  but once in a while, surely, we deserve a treat?

Choose beef now.

 

2013 10 10 The Colonel British Trad
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Bedevilled Herring!

THE POWER OF MUSTARD COMPELS YOU!

“Devilling” – the spicing up of foods with mustard and pepper – is a long-standing tactic in British cookery, and became especially popular in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, when people liked a bit of spice, and were quite into fatty foods that taste great when cut with mustard.

In this post I’m going to show you how to make devilled herrings (and mackerel too – as a bonus fish!).

Devilled Herring & Mackerel Fillets

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2013 06 26 The Colonel British Trad
Gastronautics
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Walking Wessex, with Lardy Cake

Caution: If you are on a diet, you may not want to read any further 🙂

Over the bank holiday weekend, my friends and I went hiking near Winchester, the county town of Hampshire, capital of the Kingdom of Wessex, and of old England.  Obviously, it pays to keep your strength up on such historic jaunts, and so, before setting off, I made a visit to Reeve the Baker in Winchester town centre, and bought a couple of large lardy cakes!

“Lardy cake?” you say, to which I explain that they are a kind of tea bread made with sugar and lard.
At this point you exclaim “Eewwww! Lard!” – forgetting the old maxim that everything containing lard is delicious (a corollary of Francis Bacon’s celebrated theorem: everything tastes better with bacon).

Cast your eyes on the glory of the lardy cake – one of Hampshire’s tastiest traditional tea-time treats!

Lardy Cake

Lardy Cake – so delicious you might die

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2013 06 07 The Colonel British Trad Comments (0) Permalink

Bandito Burrito! Wahaca – Canary Wharf

OK – so there were no bandits, and we didn’t have have burritos (although they do sell them), but work with me…

Wahaca claims to be a “Mexican Street Food” restaurant – but it turns out they mean “Street Food” in the Shoreditch sense, rather than the ‘amoebic dysentry’ sense….

Pork Pibil and Spicy Slaw

Pork Pibil and Spicy Slaw

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2013 05 17 The Colonel Culinary Adventures Comments (0) Permalink

Davy’s Wine Vaults – St. George’s Day

On St. George’s Day, last Tuesday, some of my patriotic friends and I went out to celebrate valour and bravery in a traditional eatery – the Davy’s Vine Vaults, next to Greenwich DLR station.

Very nice too! I am a big fan of Davy’s, and I especially love the old 19th Century Port house feel of the Greenwich branch.. the floors are crooked, the tables thickly varnished, and everything looks like it was once part of a working warehouse (which it may have been – they still run the wine warehouse behind it).

There was an great-looking St. George’s menu – grilled plaice, followed by posh shepherd’s pie, followed by port-soaked stilton & biccies.. all matched with wines for £30.

Although courage was in the air, I wasn’t quite brave enough to tackle that much food on a Tuesday night, so settled for roasted lamb stuffed with pine-nuts, served with creamy mash & a shallot puree… fantastic!

Others ate rare steak (excellent meats from Donald Russell), parmesan-crusted chicken, and green beans served with almonds.  Best of all, the lovely staff let us cherry-pick the port-soaked stilton desserts from the set menu… Huzzah!!

2013 04 27 The Colonel British Trad
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Ramsgate’s Royal Harbour Brasserie

Culinary adventures today in Ramsgate, at the Royal Harbour Brasserie.

Dishes included a rather splendid Kentish breakfast, with thick farmhouse back bacon and solid sage sausages, fried eggs served on toast, with sauteed potatoes, a fried plum tomato, a big flat mushroom, and baked beans (which I consider essential for a full English!).

My pals had some tasty treats, including smoked haddock on bubble & squeak, in a creamy sauce; a dish of garlic and chilli prawns served with a slab of homemade focaccia (the buttery sauce on the prawns was rich, punchy and delicious!); and their signature Swedish hash, consisting of sauteed potatoes with onions, bacon, chorizo and other goodies.

All these treats were washed down with some mean Bloody Marys, although you have to make them mean yourself, as the brasserie just brings you all the ingredients!  Don’t skimp on the tabasco!

If you are in Ramsgate, do pop along to the Royal Harbour Brasserie (it’s right out at the end of the pier, opposite Pete’s Fish Factory) – this little gem is worth a visit, and has great sea views to match the food.

 

2013 04 21 The Colonel Culinary Adventures Comments (0) Permalink

Greenwich Turkey Chilli

This recipe combines Border-town trail food with a middle-class London health kick.  Don’t worry – you can substantially reduce the healthiness by adding a lot of sour cream and cheese at serving time!  Be warned, it’s way hotter than shop bought 🙂

Ingredients:1lb (500g) of Turkey Thigh Mince
2 red onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup (1 oz / 30g) of gram flour
2 beef stock cubes
1/2 pt (500ml) of hot water
1 heaped tablespoon tomato pure
1 can (400g) of red kidney beans
4 squares of dark chocolate
1 heaped tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon oregano
2 teaspoons flaked chillis
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 glug hot sauce
1 teaspoon chipotle paste
salt & pepper
2 teaspoons oil

Algorithm:
1)  Heat the oil in a frying pan, and fry the onions and garlic until they start to soften.
2) Add the turkey and turn it into the onions until it has browned off.
3) Transfer the cooked goodness into a large saucepan, leaving behind any liquid.
4) Mix together the flour, cumin, oregano, chillis, pepper, and sprinkle the mixture over the meat & onions, stirring until it is coated for a few minutes.
5) Dissolve the stock cubes and tomato paste in the hot water, pour this lot on top of the meat mixture.
6) Stir in the can of beans, and the chocolate.
7) Add the hot sauce, chipotle paste, and salt and pepper to taste.
8) Simmer for 1.5 hours, until the chilli thickens and the liquids stop separating off the top

 

2013 04 20 The Colonel Gastronautics
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