Stuffed Chicory, Corn On The Cob 3 Ways, Minute Steak

If this were school, I would have detention by now, and probably a lot of late slips - as they were called in my school. If you got three late slips in a week, you got Wednesday detention - any more than that and you got both Wednesday AND Friday detention. Can you imagine the drama, detention on a Friday afternoon while stressing to get home and do Tapas Friday - although, maybe I could spend my detention time productively and actually start the text and thus stop delaying these blog posts!! This was to be posted on Sunday, maybe Monday if I could swing it. Thursday didn't even come into it. The good news is that you wont have to wait very long for the next post as the Salty Squid kitchen gets ready for tomorrows Tapas Friday, but first, here is what we had last week. Sorry it's late guys. Enjoy.



Stuffed Chicory

Ingredients:
chicory, onions, garlic, mustard, cream, s&p, shallot, chicken stock, walnuts



Roast the onion and garlic in a hot oven with some ‘erbs until soft and tender. Blitz to a paste adding Dijon mustard and cream to get a thick consistency. Season well.

Remove the outer layers of the chicory and slice finely. Dice your shallot and cook it slowly in oil until soft. Add the chopped chicory and cook for another minute. Add the rest of the chicory that you have separated but not chopped. Add some hot chicken stock and continue to braise for about 15mins. Remove the chicory leaves and fill the centre with the roast onion and garlic puree, top with some toasted walnuts and seal them with a chop stick. Stomach rumbling!!!






Minute Steaks

Ingredients:
Sirloin steak, garlic, butter, elbow grease, s&p

First of all, remove your meat from the fridge (stop laughing down the back!), to bring it to room temp about 30mins before cooking. Line a board with cling film, lay the steak on top and season well on both sides, cover with more cling film and proceed to beat the living be-jasus out of it with something heavy. I used an old oak tree that has been growing outside for thousands of years. Slice into mini steaks and fry in a hot pan for about a minute on each side, throwing a blob of garlic butter into the pan towards the end. Lie atop some sliced baguette and top with more of the butter and drizzle with truffle oil.

I made the garlic butter with truffle oil but the flavour was lost so learn from my mistake. Just get some butter at room temp, add some minced garlic (use the wide end of your knife to crush the clove – sea salt with help to grind it too), finish with a squeeze of lemon juice – a great simple little tip, distilled on me from my stern instructor.






Roast Corn On The Cob 3 Ways

Ingredients:
Fresh corn, husks removed, harissa, lime, butter, smoked paprika

Cook the corn in boiling salted water for about 20mins. Remove and lay on individual sheets of tinfoil. Rub one with butter, s&p, another with harissa, lime juice and olive oil and the third with smoked paprika, pepper and olive oil. Wrap them up and roast in the oven for about 10mins at 180c. You will just want more of these, really good and easy.

Shopping List:
Fresh Corn €1.50
Fillet Steak €6.20

Chicory €1.18
Walnuts €2.85
'erbs and other veg €2.65
Cream €1.50
.................................
Total €13.88

Drinks:
More Planter's Punch (white rum, orange juice, lemon juice, lime juice, Grenadine)
Rosé da Peceguina, 2009, 13.5%

On the stereo:
Arcade Fire, Sia