Worcester steaks

Last week I bought some Angus minute steak from the farmers’ market here in my Glasgow neighbourhood of Partick. I didn’t have any particular plan for them, but flicking through Jamie Oliver’s new book Jamie’s America soon solved that. I decided to have a go at the Worcester steak ‘n’ mushrooms. I didn’t follow the recipe to the letter, I just wanted to try out the Worcester marinade. Jamie himself admits that a proper steak is best cooked simply, but that the Worcester sauce can make a great change. Now that I’ve tasted, I have to say I agree. When I have a nice juicy steak, I probably will just fry it in a little butter in a really hot pan, seasoned with plenty of pepper, until it’s brown on the outside and still mooing on the inside. But for adding a bit of flavour to something more simple, like these thin minute steaks, the marinade is really nice and not at all overpowering.

Mr. Oliver uses fancy mushrooms, like morels. Absolutely delicious of course, but I do not always have that kind of money. And my supermarket, clearly anticipating my lack of funds, will only stock button mushroom anyway. No bother, the humble button mushroom will do for us simple folk. For the original recipe you will have to buy the book, I am not risking any copyright infringements here, I’m sure Jamie has great lawyers and intellectual property is not my speciality. This is just the way I cooked up the steaks tonight. Served with some green beans and boiled potatoes, this makes a great weekday plate of food.

Serves 4 humble folks

500 g minute (very thinly sliced) steak

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

1 bay leaf (fresh and finely chopped if you’ve got it)

freshly ground pepper

for the mushrooms:

250 g mushrooms

1 onion, chopped

olive oil

a little butter

2 cloves of garlic

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade together and let the steak sit in it for about an hour at room temperature.

Fry the onion in the oil and butter in a hot pan for about 4 mins, then add the mushrooms and garlic for a further 3 mins of frying. Taste, season and taste again. Set aside.

Preheat a large frying pan and fry the steaks very briefly. If thin enough, about 20 seconds on each side should be enough. Usually, if it’s brown, it’s done. You won’t get a minute steak red inside, but you definitely don’t want a piece of leather either.

Enjoy!

x

Joyce

Scotland the brave!

If you ever hear the words ‘Scottish’ and ‘delicacy’ used together in a sentence, you’ll have to be a little bit brave. Because the terrible reputation Scottish cuisine has is not entirely undeserved. Many of the nation’s favourites will have your cardiologist break out in a cold sweat (or on the phone to his Porsche dealer..). They really love throwing everything and anything in that deep fat fryer. And what is not fried will probably be served with chips. Now I have nothing against chips, from time to time, but they do not constitute a veg. Wandering around Glasgow, you will encounter people who look malnourished. Not necessarily skinny; but their hair, teeth and grey skin reveal a severe unfamiliarity with vitamins found in the first half of the alphabet.

The deep fried Mars bar is often thought to be an urban myth. Not so. I have tried one. Not a whole one mind, just a bite. But the battered melting chocolate wasn’t even nearly as bad as I thought it’d be. I just hope I will be able to say the same about the deep fried pizza. Yes. Deep fried pizza. Available with or without batter, or so I have been told. Before I leave I will have to try one. Evidence will be provided. Stay tuned.

But that is just one side of the story. I have truly had some of the best food of my life here. Scotland is said to be the larder of Britain. The quality of produce is ridiculously high. And many restaurants have woken up to the riches of the the land. This year my taste buds were tickled by, amongst other things:

salmon smoked over whisky barrel oak, scallops, razor clams, oysters, West Coast mussels, raspberries, strawberries, langoustines, Stornoway black pudding, crab, venison, haggis, angus beef, scotch eggs, scotch pies, oatcakes, cullen skink, porridge, Arran cheddar, tablet, cock-a-leekie soup, shortbread, and of course the single malt whisky.

 

I’ve even learned to love that strange bright orange drink called Irn Bru. So when someone offers you a true Scottish delicacy, it can really pay to be a little bit brave.

 

A good beginning…

is half the job done. At least that’s what we say in Holland. I don’t know if this is true, but I would like to make a good first impression. Let me introduce myself, my name is Joyce and I’m from Holland. For the last 14 months or so I have been living, working and studying in Glasgow, Scotland. I will be very sad to leave the city that has been named both the friendliest and most violent in Europe (both absolutely true), but ‘the real world’ is beckoning. Last month I handed in my dissertation on the brewing industry for the LL.M. Commercial Law at the University of Glasgow, next month the true job hunt back home in Holland will commence.

I am a total foodie. I love eating and I love cooking. I learned most of my skills from my mom, who is an excellent cook, but Jamie Oliver also has a lot to answer for. I was hooked on his shows from the very beginning, and he really has inspired me to try new things and to NOT BE AFRAID. In this blog I hope to share with you my favourite recipes and food experiences, good, bad and disastrous. I will tell you all about Dutch and Scottish food, but other cuisines will feature as well. There is really only one thing you will not find in here and that’s coriander (cilantro), hate the stuff and will always substitute it with flat leaf parsley. Where appropriate I shall mention this, so you can go ahead and ruin that dish as you please.

x
Joyce