March Week 4
Fillet is the most tender and expensive cut of beef and something worth saving for a very special treat. It is best cooked hot and fast to prevent it drying out or toughening and in this recipe a spinach and walnut stuffing also helps ensure this special cut is served at its best. Altogether the recipe takes 2 hours, but most of this time is spent preparing the accompanying stuffing and Dauphinoise potatoes – the fillet cooks for as little as 20 minutes. When buying the meat for this recipe it’s best to use a piece from the middle fillet as the end is thinner and harder to stuff.
The spinach mixture used to stuff the fillet is also used to make a Spinach, Walnut and Roquefort Soufflé later in the week. Soufflés have a reputation for requiring excessive culinary skill – they require care but if the steps of the recipe are followed in sequence they are not particularly tricky. They do, however, call for a little time. The preparation for a soufflé takes around 25 minutes and then it has to cook in a hot oven for about 35 minutes, so this Something for Nothing may be best made at a weekend, when there is a little more time.
The other Something for Nothing recipe is a Beetroot Hash served with Fried Eggs. Using the excess beetroot from the Big Meal from Scratch, this crimson fry-up can be on the table in 25 minutes.
Twenty minutes preparation and 20 minutes cooking produces a meal of cabbage Wrapped in Ham served with wholegrain mustard potatoes. This Seasonal Supper especially suits a relaxed midweek meal.
This week’s Larder Feast is Vegetable Couscous with a Pomegranate Molasses dressing. The molasses are stocked by some supermarkets and most Middle Eastern food stores, but it can be replaced with a mixture of lemon juice, sugar and mustard.
For the Two for One this week a traditional recipe for Welsh rarebit is used as the topping for baked fish fillets – the combination of fish and melted cheese is rich but kept in check by leeks, mustard and plenty of Worcestershire sauce. The recipe takes just 35 minutes and produces enough to feed eight, with half intended for the freezer.
To Full recipe details for this week are available in 'The Kitchen Revolution'. Out now in hardback.
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Shopping List for March Week 4
Meat and fish
* 750 g fillet of beef, taken from the middle or thicker end of the fillet
* 8 × portion-sized (120–160 g) skinless fillets of pollack or other white fish, such as coley, cod or haddock
* 8 slices good quality ham, approx. 15 cm long
Dairy
* 150 g Roquefort
* 350 g mature Cheddar or Double Gloucester
* 200 g (drained weight) feta marinated in olive oil or 200 g chilled feta
* 280 ml double cream
* 200 ml crème fraîche
* 500 ml milk
* 280 g butter
* 12 free-range eggs
Fruit and vegetables
* 1 kg waxy maincrop potatoes, such as Desirée
* 1.3 kg floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper or baking potatoes
* 750 g small to medium uncooked beetroot or 600–700 g cooked beetroot (not pickled in vinegar)
* 1 small Savoy cabbage, approx. 400 g
* 1.25 kg large leaf spinach or 600–700 g baby leaf spinach or 750 g frozen spinach
* 3 leeks, approx. 500 g
* 2 small onions, approx 180g
* 1 medium onion, approx. 120 g
* 4–6 spring onions
* 4 garlic cloves
* 2 small bunches of chives
* 1 bunch fresh parsley
* handful of fresh coriander (optional)
* handful of fresh mint (optional)
Basics
* 100 g breadcrumbs or 4 slices of bread suitable for crumbing
* 600 ml (approx.) chicken or vegetable stock (fresh or made from a stock cube or bouillon powder)
* 60 ml groundnut or grapeseed oil
* 50 g plain flour
* ½–1 tbsp wholegrain mustard, depending on taste
* 1½ tbsp mustard powder
* salt and pepper
Store cupboard
* 300 g couscous
* 1 × 400 g can palm hearts
* 1–2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
* 1 heaped tbsp grated horseradish or 2 heaped tbsp horseradish sauce
* 85 g shelled walnuts
* 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
* 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
* 2–3 tsp coriander seeds (optional)
* ½ tsp cayenne pepper
* 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
* 2 pinches of nutmeg
* 75 ml bitter or ale (optional for Fish Rarebit)
* 1 tsp dried mint (optional)
Serving suggestions
* crusty bread and salad ingredients (Spinach, Walnut and Roquefort soufflé)
* watercress and/or rocket (Red Flannel Hash with Fried Eggs)
* frozen peas (Cabbage in Ham with Mustard Potatoes)
* new potatoes, butter, sage, watercress (Fish Rarebit)
* 750 g fillet of beef, taken from the middle or thicker end of the fillet
* 8 × portion-sized (120–160 g) skinless fillets of pollack or other white fish, such as coley, cod or haddock
* 8 slices good quality ham, approx. 15 cm long
Dairy
* 150 g Roquefort
* 350 g mature Cheddar or Double Gloucester
* 200 g (drained weight) feta marinated in olive oil or 200 g chilled feta
* 280 ml double cream
* 200 ml crème fraîche
* 500 ml milk
* 280 g butter
* 12 free-range eggs
Fruit and vegetables
* 1 kg waxy maincrop potatoes, such as Desirée
* 1.3 kg floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper or baking potatoes
* 750 g small to medium uncooked beetroot or 600–700 g cooked beetroot (not pickled in vinegar)
* 1 small Savoy cabbage, approx. 400 g
* 1.25 kg large leaf spinach or 600–700 g baby leaf spinach or 750 g frozen spinach
* 3 leeks, approx. 500 g
* 2 small onions, approx 180g
* 1 medium onion, approx. 120 g
* 4–6 spring onions
* 4 garlic cloves
* 2 small bunches of chives
* 1 bunch fresh parsley
* handful of fresh coriander (optional)
* handful of fresh mint (optional)
Basics
* 100 g breadcrumbs or 4 slices of bread suitable for crumbing
* 600 ml (approx.) chicken or vegetable stock (fresh or made from a stock cube or bouillon powder)
* 60 ml groundnut or grapeseed oil
* 50 g plain flour
* ½–1 tbsp wholegrain mustard, depending on taste
* 1½ tbsp mustard powder
* salt and pepper
Store cupboard
* 300 g couscous
* 1 × 400 g can palm hearts
* 1–2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
* 1 heaped tbsp grated horseradish or 2 heaped tbsp horseradish sauce
* 85 g shelled walnuts
* 2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
* 1 tbsp sherry vinegar
* 2–3 tsp coriander seeds (optional)
* ½ tsp cayenne pepper
* 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
* 2 pinches of nutmeg
* 75 ml bitter or ale (optional for Fish Rarebit)
* 1 tsp dried mint (optional)
Serving suggestions
* crusty bread and salad ingredients (Spinach, Walnut and Roquefort soufflé)
* watercress and/or rocket (Red Flannel Hash with Fried Eggs)
* frozen peas (Cabbage in Ham with Mustard Potatoes)
* new potatoes, butter, sage, watercress (Fish Rarebit)
