Buffalo Stout Beer Chilli, the Slow Cooker Challenge and a Giveaway

We had a great start to the Slow Cooker Challenge in January, you can see the delightfully varied offerings in the Slow Cooker Challenge Round Up.  To celebrate this success I have a review and giveaway for you this month: The Southern Slow Cooker by Kendra Bailey Morris  distributed in the UK by PGUK

In order to spread the message of the Slow Cooker Challenge to as many Slow Cooker owners as possible, this month will have an 'OPEN' theme, so you can enter any dish cooked in an electric slow cooker.

The Southern Slow Cooker is subtitled Big Flavor, low-fuss recipes for comfort food classics and I think that sums up the recipes and style of Kendra Bailey Morris in this book.   The Southern in the title refers to the Deep South of the USA, and Southern Food is described in the book as "the welcome table, a convivial place where you can savour a hearty meal cooked with love and where there's always room for one more chair".

About the Author
Kendra Baily Morris is a cookbook author, food writer, recipe developer and television host. She served as a judge for the 2011 and 2013 James Beard Awards and has a masters degree in creative writing from Virginia Commonwealth University. Have a look at The Southern Slow Cooker blogspot for more information.

Contents
The introduction to the book includes hints and tips on choosing a slow cooker, thoughts on browning, condensation, the importance of seasoning, a quick note on fats.   Here are a couple of the tips that I found particularly useful:

• Get a baking dish that fits inside your slow cooker - this enables you to make cakes and desserts without the mixture burning. 

• Don't be afraid to season generously as slow cookers steam food for a long time, flavours can become diluted.

Chapter One: Soul-Warming Soup, Stews and Chillis including Mom's Fully Loaded Potato and Onion Soup, South of the Mason-Dixon Manhattan Clam Chowder, Buffalo Stout Beer Chilli (see below), Chicken and Cornmeal Dumplings and Aunt Barbara's Stew.

Chapter Two: Low and Slow Meats including Beer Braised Po' Boys, Meatloaf with Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce, Graham Cracker Stuffed Ham Steaks, Country-style Pork Ribs with Bourbon and Coke BBQ Sauce, Red Beans and Rice with Smoked Sausage and Dry Mustard-Rubbed Shredded Chicken.

Chapter Three: Vegetables and Sides including Kale with Ham Hocks, Mom's Creamy Corn Pudding, Black-Eyed Peas and Stewed Tomatoes, Country Breakfast Apples, Cinnamon and Brown Sugar Oatmeal with Maple Candied Bacon and Country Ham and Egg Breakfast Bread.

Chapter Four: Desserts and Sweets including Buttermilk Chocolate Spice Cake, Molasses Gingerbread, Gingersnap Peach Upside-Down Cake, Chocolate and Caramel Black Walnut Candies and Lemon Blueberry Buckle.

Chapter Five: Southern Odds and Ends, Plus Non-Slow Cooker Essentials including Apple Butter, Caramel Sauce, Peach Mango Jam, Easy Chicken Broth and the inevitable Cornbread, not cooked in the Slow Cooker but a Southern essential.

Who is it for?  Anyone who has a Slow Cooker and would like to try making some dishes with a real taste of the South.

Pros
There are some really appealing recipes in the book. The recipes are well laid out with an introduction to each recipe and recommendations for drinks, some recipes also have extra hints and tips.  I loved the desserts chapter as slow cookers are not noted for use in making dessert, I haven't tried them yet but am hoping to in the near future. 

Cons
Regular readers know that I love photograph with each recipe.  Unfortunately this isn't the case with this book, but the photos that are there are very good and very tempting.   The recipes are written with US measurements which doesn't bother me as I can work with pounds, ounces and cups as well as metric measurements.  I was, however,  a little disappointed that there wasn't even a conversion chart at the end of the book. 

Buffalo Stout Beer Chilli
serves 8-10

2 pounds ground buffalo meat (I used steak mince)
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles, such as Rotel Brand (I used diced tomatoes with some finely chopped fresh chillis)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp chilli powder (this seems a huge amount, so be careful, not all chilli powders are the same heat!)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 bay leaf
1 (12 ounce) bottle dark beer, perferably a stout
6 tblsp tomato paste (3 ounces)
2 (15 ounce) cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed
salt and black pepper

Optional Thicknener
2 tbsp fine cornflour
2 tbsp cold water

Optional Garnishes
Cheddar Cheese, grated
Green onions, both green and white parts mixed
Fresh cilantro (coriander) chopped
Sour Cream
Hot Sauce
Tortilla chips or cornbread

This was a delicious rich bowl of chilli, the stout gives a depth to the chilli which works really well and although there seem to be a lot of ingredients, the recipe was very simple to make and I had enough to freeze for another day. Do add the garnishes, they make it so much more fun to eat and the different flavours and textures finish the dish perfectly.

The Southern Slow Cooker by Kendra Bailey Morris
Published by Ten Speed Press, distributed in the UK by PGUK
Available online from £12 - £14

If you would like to join me for the Slow Cooker Challenge, then please:

• Make your recipe in your Slow Cooker and post a photograph and the recipe, or a link to a recipe, on your blog
• Link to Farmersgirl Kitchen
• Use the Slow Cooker Challenge logo in your post
• If you use twitter, tweet your post with @FarmersgirlCook and #SlowCookerChallenge and I will re-tweet it to my followers AND post your post your pictures on a decicated Pinterest board.

Rules:

• Please do not publish recipes from cookbooks on your blog without permission, they are copyright.
• If you are using recipes from another website, please link to the recipe on the website rather than publishing the recipe.
• One entry per blog.
• Recipes must be added to the linky by the 28th of each month.

To enter the prize draw to win a copy of The Southern Slow Cooker by Kendra Bailey Morris please link up your Slow Cooker Recipe to the Linky and leave me a comment, telling me why you would like to win The Southern Slow Cooker (UK only).

Labels: beer, book review, Buffalo, chilli, giveaway, Kendra Bailey Morris, slow cooker, Slow Cooker Challenge, stout, The Southern Slow Cooker

posted by Janice @ 06:38 19 Comments

Stilton, Spinach and Walnut Bake

One of the most fun opportunities which has come my way as a blogger has been the #BoothsCheers Twitter Party. As a #BoothsCheers VIP, every week for six weeks,  I receive a delivery of wines and beers from Booths Food, Wine and Grocery Stores



Then on a Wednesday night, between 7pm and 8pm, it's time to taste the wines and beers, give your views and suggestions for what to eat with the wines using the Twitter hash tag #BoothsCheers. Now we have had forewarning that one of the bottles that will be delivered this Wednesday is a bottle of Croft Indulgence, Finest Reserve Port.  So I thought I should get prepared with something suitable to eat while tasting it.



I rarely prepare meals from scratch during the week, if I did it would be far too late when we finally sat down to eat.  So I tend to prepare meals at the weekend and put them in the fridge or freezer, ready to be popped into the oven to heat through.  I also often make double, so we had this bake tonight (Sunday) and will have it again on Wednesday.

Anyway there is some very obvious word association going on here: Port > Stilton >Walnuts.  I did think about making a flan but in the end decided to make a bake instead.

Stilton, Spinach and Walnut Bake

4 large potatoes
240g pack of smoked, dry cured streaky bacon
4 spring onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
500g spinach

1/2 pint white sauce
1/4 tsp nutmeg
250g Stilton cheese
200g 0% fat Greek Yogurt
1 egg, beaten
75g breadcrumbs
50g chopped walnuts

1. Slice the potatoes, cover with a little boiling water and some clingfilm and blanch the potato slices in the microwave for 3 minutes.  Drain the water off and lay the potatoes in the base of an ovenproof casserole dish.
2.Chop the bacon into small pieces and dry fry in a large pan, turn down the heat slightly and add the onions and garlic.  Cook until softened. 
3. Add the spinach and put the lid on the pan, cook until the spinach has wilted.
4. Spread the mixture over the potatoes.
5. Crumble the Stilton and spread over the spinach mixture.

6. Make the white sauce add the nutmeg and season, but go easy on the salt as the cheese and bacon are both very salty.  Mix the egg with the yogurt and add to the white sauce, pour over the rest of the ingredients.
7. Cover the sauce with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the walnuts.
8. Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 200C, remove foil and bake for a further 5 minutes to crisp the breadcrumbs without burning the walnuts.

Join me at the Twitter Party by following @BoothsCountry and tweeting with the hash tag #BoothsCheers on Wednesday night 7 - 8 pm, to find out how well my Stilton, Spinach and Walnut Bake goes with this week's special deals. Click through the link to find out more about the 12 Deals of Christmas, the Twitter Party and also the in-store tastings.

Labels: 12 deals of Christmas, bacon, Bake, beer, Booths, BoothsCheers, breadcrumbs, Port, spinach, Stilton, walnuts, wine

posted by Janice @ 12:00 5 Comments

How to improve your blog writing

Chapter 4 -Food Bloggers learn about good writing

I felt like I was back at school when John Cooke, food writer and marketer took us through the basics of writing about food for our blogs.

John started by reading two pieces with very different styles: AA Gill's 'Table Talk' and Claudia Roden's 'Arabesque'.  The point of this was to help us understand that good writing is good writing whatever the style and that good writing tries to tell you something you don't know. Which is exactly what he then proceeded to do:

• Think about  why you are writing and who you are writing for, off line or online?
• Write as if you are writing to one person
• Where will it be read?  PC? Tablet? mobile phone?  Size matters!
• Do your research - find out something your audience doesn't know
• Avoid cliches: 'Drizzle not', No to 'Nom Nom'
• Edit and write again in half the space (be your own editor)
• Do the overnight test - DON'T PRESS THE BUTTON
• Read it aloud to yourself, read it to someone else if you can
• Being funny isn't easy, leave it to the comedians
• Think about colour in your writing, use similes
• The start is very important, make sure the first sentence grabs your audience
•  End by referring back to where you stared

 Back to the classroom, it was our turn to write. Working in pairs, our topic was "the best meal you have ever eaten" and we had to write no more than 180 words.

 I was fortunate to be paired with Kellie Anderson of Food to Glow.  At first we struggled to find a topic, but then I remembered a meal eaten in Penang, Malaysia and we were off!

"The best meal I ever had was not about fine dining, there was no Michelin star chef, nor a sommelier.  In fact I wore flip flops and we drank local beer. I don't remember the name, but it was ice cold and hit the spot.  I can't remember what we ate, but we rode in a cable car to the top of a mountain and stepped into a different world.  The menu was unintelligible but the views over Penang were unforgettable. We could have had a cheese sandwhich and it still would have been a memorable experience.  I may not recall the menu but I can almost see, smell, taste and hear it some 30 years later."

Although the memory was mine, Kellie was a superb co-writer and editor and I doubt the piece would have had the same impact without her input. I am trying to avoid cliches, but in this case, two heads are definitely better than one.

I thought you might like to see the photograph, of my husband, which was in my mind's eye when I recalled this most memorable of meals.  When I looked at the photograph I was surprised to see that the food was visible because all I could remember was that glass of beer!

Many thanks to John for his workshop, it was good to be reminded that, just like cooking and baking, writing is a craft which requires practice and constructive criticism to improve.

Why don't you tell me about your most memorable meal?

Labels: beer, food blog writing, Food to Glow, John Cooke, Malaysia, memorable meal, Penang, tips for blog writing

posted by Janice @ 07:22 12 Comments

Mediterranean Fish on Herbed Potato Gratin

Mediterranean Fish with Herbed Potato Gratin

Ingredients
4 Tilapia Fillets
2 medium courgettes
4 tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper
4 large basil leaves

For the potato
800g new potatoes
100g Gruyere cheese, grated
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp mixed chopped fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, marjoram)

1. Quarter the potatoes and boil until just soft.
2. Mix one tbsp of olive oil, cheese, the herbs and seasoning into the potatoes.
3. Put the second tbsp of olive oil in the bottom of an ovenproof dish and put in the oven at 200C.
4. Press the potato mixture into the base of the dish and bake for 30 minutes.

For the fish
1. Oil four pieces of foil.
2. Place the fish fillet on the foil.
3. Slice the courgettes and divide between the four parcels,
4. Slice the tomatoes and divide between the parcels.
5. Tear the basil leaves and add to the parcels.
6. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
7. Fold up the foil into a tight parcel and place on a baking tray.
8. Bake in the oven for 15-20mins at 200C.

To Serve
1. After 30 mintues, remove the potato dish, loosen around the edges and turn onto an ovenproof plate, put it back into the oven for 5 minutes to brown. 
2. Remove the plated potato gratin and divide it into four slices.
3. Place the potato slice onto the plate.
4. Open the fish parcel and, using  a fish slice, lift the fish and vegetables and place on top of the potato gratin.

This is a really easy dish to make, it is light and fresh just like the Sharps Single Brew Reserve which I served with the dish.

Labels: beer, courgettes, fish, herbs, Herbs on Saturday, Lavender and Lovage, potatoes, Sharps Connoisseur Range, tomatoes, zucchini

posted by Janice @ 21:10 2 Comments

Real Ale at Sulwath Brewers Ltd

The Black Galloway from Sulwath Brewers Ltd

My younger son came home for the weekend and asked if we could 'do something' on Saturday.  So we decided to go to Castle Douglas, a lovely little market town about 30 miles away.  It's one of those places with a lot of independent shops and is the Food Town of Dumfries & Galloway in South West Scotland.

As the mission was to 'do something' we decided that, as well as visiting the delis and gift shops, we would go to the Sulwath Brewery and take a tour, great I thought, this can go on my blog.  I checked out their website and located the visitor centre which is just off the main street.

We arrived at the 'visitor centre' which is really a sort of pub, serving their own beers, quite a nice little pub.  We asked about the tours and were told that they only offer tours on Monday and Friday at 1pm unless by prior arrangement.  I must have looked pretty disappointed and mentioned that it had not said this on the website and we had come specially to see the Brewery, so they agreed to give us a mini tour for free.

It turned out that the man giving us the tour was Jim Henderson who set up the Brewery which is now run by his son, Allen Henderson.  He told us all about the malted barley and the hops, how they don't use any artificial ingredients, no caramel, no concentrates (which are used by large brewers) and then took us through to the brewing area.

It really is a micro-brewery, it is basically a large brick built shed with the stainless steel tanks for brewing in it. One of the most interesting things was that they do their own bottling, because bottling firms want huge quantities to go through and that is just not going to happen in micro brewing.  Because of this, other microbreweries get them to bottle their beers too, and even some larger brewers who are trying out small quantities for export will also use Sulwath to bottle their ales.


Originally brewed as a celebration beer to commemorate this one time Buccaneer's 250th birthday anniversary in July 1997. John Paul Jones is dark amber in colour, with a perfect nose reminiscent of summer meadows. Pronounced tastes of best "Maris Otter"  malt with a hint of Brambling Cross fresh Hereford hops, combine to yield a suggestion of sweetness in the aftertaste, making this an extremely pleasant drink. 

The Black Galloway, seen in the photograph, wasn't on draft yesterday, so a bottle was purchased to try at home, it is a stout or porter.


I have to say it was a very interesting visit,  I didn't try any beer, not because I don't like it, but because I was driving, but it seemed to go down very well.  I would recommend the tour if you are in the area and even just to drop in for a pint or half pint.  Everyone is very helpful and friendly and I would like to thank Jim Henderson for giving us him time outside the usual tour schedule.


Flavour Fortnight 2011 - just a note to say that Dumfries & Galloway's Flavour Fortnight is from 3rd - 18th September to coincide with Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight.  I'm hoping to get to a few events, check out the website and think about visiting this beautiful area of Scotland.

Labels: beer, Flavour Fortnight 2011, galloway, John Paul Jones, porter, real ale, stout, Sulwath Brewers

posted by Janice @ 16:37 5 Comments

Carbonnade of Beef

We've had way too much turkey and ham, so I thought it would be nice to have some real BEEF! As we are beef farmers there is a certain obligation to consume some of this delicious meat. As DH got far too many bottles of beer at Christmas, I blagged one off him, not difficult as he loves this beef cooked in beer almost more than drinking the beer!

Carbonnade of Beef from Judith Wills Top 200 Low Fat Recipes (you see it's good for you too!)
Serves 4, 325 calories per portion, 11.5 fat per portion

cooking oil spray
500g lean braising steak, trimmed and cut into 6 x 5 cm mini steaks (I just cut it into 1 inch cubes)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp plain flour
500ml stout or other dark beer
1 beef stock cube, crumbled
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, to garnish

1. Spray a large, shallow non-stick frying pan with a little cooking oil, heat until hot and brown the meat on allsides, then trnsfer it to a casserole dish.
2. Add the olive oil to the pan and saute the onions over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until they begin to soften. Add the garlic and sugar to the pan, stir well, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for another 10 minutes or until the onions start to caramelise.
3. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, then add the stout, stock cube and tomoato puree, stir well and bring to a simmer.
4. Transfer the onion mixture to the casserole dish and mix with the beef. Add the bay leaf and plenty of seasoning, cover and cook in a preheated oven, 170C/335F/Gas 3.5 for 2 hours.
t5. Check the seasoning, remove the bay leaf and serve garnished with the parsley.

Serving suggestion: Boiled potatoes, dark green cabbage and carrots are delicious with the beef.

You will notice that I put carrots IN my stew, I also used only 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp of brown sugar, still tasted delicious. The gravy in this stew is just so rich and delicious, that I find mash is the best for soaking it up!

Labels: Beef, beer, Judith Wills, low fat

posted by Janice @ 20:28 13 Comments