Nonindustrial Beef (and Lamb) ...

OK, having been inspired by Iceland's "industrial" version, I finally got inspired to do my own roast beef dinner at the weekend. I say "roast": it was pie-steak cooked in covered pan on hob. Basically beef hotpot with only mushrooms and onions. The dumplings I put in last thickened the juices into gravy very nicely. To season I used about 1 teaspoon Chinese curry powder; 1 teaspoon Jamaican jerk seasoning; 4 teaspoons paprika; 1 teaspoon thyme; 1 teaspoon honey-mustard (which is annoyingly nearly empty as I ate nearly an entire jar one night when I was bored ...). Seal in beef cubes by frying. Add boiling water. Chop up and chuck on two very large mushrooms (priced the same as cheapie button ones for some reason by Morrisons express checkout) plus half a giant onion. Add all seasoning at once. Boil for about 20 mins. Reduce heat to minimum. Cover pan. Let simmer for another two hours. Then the beef, which was "edible" in 20 mins but with the texture of old shoes, has turned into an olde English feast. Serve with Iceland industrial cauliflower and broccoli cheese, peas, beans and potato croquettes. Yummy.

I bought about an "lb" (or 450g) of lamb necks ~ some poor dear furry's been slaughtered and I'm buying cross-sections of the poor swine's neck!! Except if it literally was a swine I wouldn't touch it in a million years. Pork is utterly unclean.

Anyway, I fried this up in a wok to seal in, chucked in a pan of boiling water to which I added about half the same spices as yesterday but far more herbs: 1 tsp standard mixed herbs and about five sprigs of fresh mint, stripped off the stalk with a sharp knife and roughly chopped. I also threw in about 1 teaspoon of brown sauce (which is like tomato ketchup with Lea & Perrins ~ full of tamarinds) and 1 teaspoon honey-mustard. In the wok I meanwhile fried up two handsful of baby button mushrooms (got 'em from a different shop where they were cheaper) and the other half of that giant Spanish onion.

Then I took two enormous bags of clothes to the launderette, where they would only fit in the £3.60 machine and cost £1.20 to get even half dry. They're now finishing off on my luxury Ikea hanger...

... anyway I got back after midday and my kitchen smelled like Nanny's used to (and she was just like Mrs Bridges off Upstairs Downstairs ~ and she had been "in service" as a girl ...) on Sunday afternoons... I've not had nowt to eat yet, but on tasting, the water the lamb was cooking in was very nice indeed ...

Another Upstairs Downstairs link

Did you know in the early 1970s Upstairs Downstairs was said to be the Queen's favourite television programme, and Mrs Bridges (my Nan) her favourite character ...