Reviewer Cooks...Seared Venison with Rosti and Shredded Plum Cabbage

Storytime. When I was about 7, we were in holiday in Italy, driving along the long, repetitious roads where we found a slightly grubby, though rustic and good natured trattoria. In a restaurant as empty and deserted as this one was, there were no children's menus, those of which are strongly disregarded in where I'm from. So, I bravely and slightly tactlessly order a huge plate of wild boar and venison. My parents, while no strangers to my crazy cooking ways, still insisted on half portions, an idea the miserable waiter took less than kindly, and he served me the huge plate of wild boar and venison ragu.
It looked weird, not like the spag-bol we used to have at home. This had huge chunks of real venison. I gingerly took a bite. It was good. Really good. My dad asked the chef why it was so good. He proudly announced he had been simmering it since 6 in the morning. And half an hour later, I had cleared the whole plate. My parents, who could barely finish their plates, were stunned, and not a little outraged that I had beaten them to the post on finishing portions. That started my venison love affair.
Venison is hard to get, and very expensive in the UK, unlike Italy where it is plentiful. Often I find anyone but the Italians butcher the strong flavour of venison, but good old Emeril has given us a flawed, but decent recipe. We try it out one day and find the venison still raw, the mash to be oddly reminiscent of garlic bread, and the spinach to be boring. So I have kept a few of his ideas, but this is a rehash. When paired with a more delicate rosti patty and a sweet and sour cabbage side, it oomphs the flavour but is still healthy and delicious.

Seared Venison Steaks with Rosti and Shredded Plum Cabbage

Ingredients:
4 venison steaks
1 tsp crushed garlic
3 diced shallots
1 tbsp sugar
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup cider vinegar
Splash of gin
Small glass of red wine
1/2 cup beef stock
Olive oil

1 kilo potatoes, parboiled until just tender and grated
Olive oil

1 head green dark cabbage, shredded
1/2 glass white wine
1 plum, finely diced
Knob of butter
1 tbsp cream
4 tbsp chicken stock
Balsamic glaze

1. Heat some olive oil in a pan. Sear each steak for 2 minutes on each side. Put on a plate and cover.

2. Crush the garlic and shallots into the pan. Cook until wilted. Add in the gin to deglaze the pan, then add the rest of the ingredients.

3. Reduce this syrup by half.

4. Once reduced, put the steaks back in and cook to your liking. Season well and serve.

Rosti

1. Form the grated potato into a patty like a burger. Season and pat with paper towels to dry.

2. Heat some oil in the pan to cover the bottom. Sear on one side until browned and crisp. Flip over and cook for 6 minutes at a low heat. Make sure it doesn't stick to the pan

Sweet and Sour Cabbage

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan. When it starts to bubble, add the cabbage, the wine, the stock and the cream. Cover and cook on a low heat until wilted. If it ever looks burning, add a tablespoon of stock.

2. Take off the heat, sprinkle on the plum and drizzle on a little balsamic if you wish.

Reviewer Cooks...Pork Medallions in Sticky Soy Glaze with Bacon Courgettes/Zucchini

 

Pork has always been somewhat of my Achilles heel, from the unpalatabley fatty roast pork with crackling, the overwhelming toughness of pork chops or any of those tough cuts of pig are not my cup of tea. However, when done well, like in the delicious char siu pork, or even the stringy heavenly pulled pork, which is undoubtedly amazing when roasted for over 6 hours and drizzled with as much barbecue sauce as possible. And while the tenderloin is a cut I am not familiar with, of what I've tasted, it is like a mixture of fillet steak and spare ribs, a perfect budget alternative to these more expensive cuts.
On a random Tuesday night when for whatever reason, we had pork medallions. And after a short time browsing the web for some decent recipes, and with no recipes that were halfway decent, apart from honey balsamic pork, which my brother protested against, hating the flavour of cooked balsamic vinegar, an opinion which I can hardly blame him for.
So, just before giving up, I noticed a little recipe for soy sauce medallions which seemed easy enough, on the back of the packet. And as the timings were completely off, and produced bitterly burned pork, I adapted it and used an improvised zucchini/courgette recipe from all those leftovers slowly taking over our fridge.
Pork has not entirely won me over let but this recipe is a good start, and with a flavour and texture similar to steak, I can see this as a delicious budget alternative.

Pork Medallions in Sticky Soy Glaze

Ingredients
12 pork medallions or 1 pound pork fillet, sliced into rounds
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp mirin
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp treacle/molasses
Olive Oil

1. Heat a pan with a little oil. Use a spatula to create a thin layer of oil. Season this layer with salt and pepper. (This will form a nice crust on the medallions) Crush a clove of garlic into this oil if you want an garlicky medallion.

2. Sear the pork for 2 minutes on each side until crisp and golden. Mix together the other ingredients and sizzle them in the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes until pink. If there is not enough liquid, have a cup of water on hand to deglaze the pan every so often.

3. Snip on some spring onion/scallion and serve

Bacon Courgette/Zucchini

Ingredients
1 Courgette/Zucchini, sliced into rounds
2 strips bacon
1 onion, diced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
1 tbsp butter
Splash of sake/white whine

1. Heat the oil and the butter until the butter melts. Add in the onion and saute until wilted and translucent. Add in the bacon and fry for 2 minutes, when the bacon crisps up.

2. Drop in the courgette, add the sake and some water, then cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Take off the lid and evaporate the excess water, then serve immediately with a knob of butter.

Reviewer Cooks...Calamari

 Though it is true there is nothing I relish more than diving into a huge plate of calamari, it is a real tricky one to cook. Often the squid is rubbery and chewy as an elastic band, and the coating for me at least, needs to be devilishly crunchy but not taking away from the subtle nature of the squid. And while I find that it is truly hard to beat the Italian fritto misto with a huge pot of garlicky mayo and a squeeze of lemon, I attempted at trying such a task in my huge and terribly designed deep fat fryer which is sandwiched in our cluttered cooking cupboard.
Finding a place that will do squid is a challenge in itself. I opt for the slender prepared tubes Waitrose offer, while less fun to prepare, are quicker and better for a Sunday night supper. As advised by The Guardian, I soak the squid in milk, to add tenderness, supposedly, although for me there is no noticeable difference. I have heard something about covering it in mashed up kiwi, although I have yet to try this method. So one I cut the tubes into more elegant, though quite thick rings, I try some different coatings.
Again, as suggested by The Guardian, I do a mix of plain and corn flour, then I do plain flour on its own, and with cornmeal mixed in. All of these seem to work, but the sogginess of just plain flour, and the slight powderiness of corn and plain flour leaves the more crispy cornmeal, which has more flavour and just the right heaviness needed. I'm still in need of crispy however, so it will have to wait.
First batch comes out of our ever so unreliable fryer and the coating is golden, but the squid is disappointingly chewy. As suggested, I fry it more, but this burns it to a crisp, and the offending squid is binned. I make a ruling that undercooked is better than overcooked and I fry the rest of the squid until the cornmeal goes slightly darker than the flour. This seems to do the trick, and I end up with a huge mound of it. And while it doesn't match the Italian perfection of a dish, I'm getting there.

My Calamari Recipe

Ing.
500g squid tubes (tentacles if you want)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp cornflour
1 1/2 tbsp cornmeal (polenta)
375 ml milk
Oil for frying

1. Pour the milk into a bowl. Slice the squid into rings and save a few for traingles, then add them to the milk. leave for as long as you've got.

2. Stir together the flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper.

3. Take the squid out of the milk and coat in the flour dusting.

4. Fry the squid until there are small gold dots on the calamari. Drain on paper towels and serve with lemon and a garlic mayo. Enjoy!

MT

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