STEWED BEEF BRISKET WITH GARLIC AND THYME DAUPHINOISE

Ingredients -

For the Stew -

500g of Beef Brisket
1 Carrot
2 Cloves of Garlic (Smoked if possible)
1 Medium Sized White Onion
2 Organic Beef Stock Cubes
2 Organic Vegetable Stock Cubes

For the Dauphinoise -

300ml of Milk
300ml of Whipping Cream
100g Parmesan Cheese
5/6 Good Sized Maris Piper / Rooster Potatoes
3 Cloves of Garlic (Smoked if possible)
4 Sprigs of Thyme

Method -
 
1. Remove the top of the onion but not the root, then half from the top to the root and peel off the skin.
2. Place the onion on its flat side facing you and cut vertically stripes from one side to the other, then turn the onion so the root is to the left and chop from right to left and discard the root. (This can be done roughly, about 2cm squares) Do the same with the other half.
3. Wash the carrot and chop roughly from tip to root, discard the root.
4. Peel the cloves of garlic, this can be done easily if you remove the top of the clove and pressing on it with the flat side of your knife, this will split the skin.
5. Put all the ingredients into a ceramic baking tray deep enough for all the ingredients and the beef.
6. Cut the brisket into pieces. They want to be about 2 inches big (small enough to be submerged in water).
7. Pour enough water into the tray to cover all the ingredients, season and crumble in all four stock cubes.
8. Cover the dish loosely with foil on bake in the oven at gas mark 3 / 160 degrees for 3 hours.
9. Remove from the oven and shred the beef with two forks.
(n.b. everything up to this point can be done in advance as the beef will be reheated while the dauphinoise cooks later, just recover with foil and set aside)

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10. Put the milk, cream, garlic (whole cloves, crushed and unpeeled) and thyme into a sauce pan and bring to a simmer.
11. Slice the potatoes finely, about 3/4mm thin and add to the cream/milk mix and cook until just cooked (you can test this by pricking the potato with a fork).
12. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon and layer them on top of the beef.
13. Discard the cloves of garlic from the infused cream mix and pour enough over the potatoes so that they are just covered.
14. Grate over the parmesan and bake the lot at gas mark 5 / 190 degrees for 30 minutes (you might want to increase the temperature and bake for a further 5 minutes at the end to brown the potatoes and cheese).

SALMON AND GINGER FISHCAKES WITH SWEET POTATO CHIPS (for two)

Ingredients -

For the fishcakes -

2 Decent Sized Smoked Salmon Fillets (about 120/140g Each)
6/8 Spring Onions (size dependent)
1 Thumb Sized Piece of Ginger
1 Red Chilli
1 Lime (zest of)
1 tsp of Crushed Rock Salt
1 tsp of Cracked Black Pepper

For the Chips -

2 Sweet Potatoes
2 tsp of Olive Oil
1 tsp of Sugar
1 tsp of Crushed Rock Salt
1 tsp of Cracked Black Pepper
1 tsp of Smoked Paprika
1 tsp of Cumin

Method -

Fishcakes:

1. Thinly slice the spring onions and saute them in a little oil on a low heat for about 2 minutes or until soft.
2. While the onions are cooking, remove the skin from the salmon fillets, slice, then chop the slices as small as you can.
3.  Remove all the skin from the ginger with a sharp knife, chop as small as possible and then crush with the side of your knife (much like you would with garlic).
4. Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl, with the zest of 1 lime (keep the lime for later), 1 tsp of crushed rock salt and 1 tsp of cracked black pepper.
5. Mix all the ingredients well by hand, roll into 4 balls and press into patty shape (if you have problems with them binding, you can squeeze the mixture by hand to make a paste texture.

 Chips:

1. Top and tail the sweet potatoes but leave the rest of the skin on.
2. Cut down the middle, lay on the flat side, cut into slices then cut the slices into chip shapes.
3. Place the rest of the ingredients with the potato in a mixing bowl and coat well.

Cooking:

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6 (200 degrees) pour the seasoned chips and oil flat onto a baking tray and cook for about half an hour depending on the size you have cut your chips. (Tip: I turned the temperature to gas mark 9 / 245 degrees for the last five minutes to crisp up the chips).
2. While the chips cook, pour a little olive oil (about 1tsp) into a non stick pan and get to a moderate heat. Fry the fishcakes for 3-4 minutes a side. If the fishcakes seem to be getting dark on one side when you flip them, drop the temperature of the pan to ensure they cook through.
3. Once the fishcakes are ready remove them from the pan and leave covered. I like to garnish them with asparagus spears. Cook them until soft in the same pan the fishcakes were in and squeeze over the lime left over from before.