PARKIN

 

Years ago I made Parkin for a Bonfire Night party and was disappointed with the texture and the flavour.  There was something slightly too gritty and serious about it - that's the best way I can describe it!  Not sweet or gingery enough.  

The Parkin that my mum used to make every year for Bonfire Night wasn't really Parkin at all, it was just a plain but utterly delicious tray of ginger cake made to the Be-Ro book recipe.  You can read about that here.

Anyway, having been asked to make some for another Bonfire Night gathering I wondered what to do.  I have no idea if you can buy oatmeal as such in France so I set about finding an alternative recipe that was almost authentic but also like the sticky ginger cake we all love.  I came across one on the Sainsbury's Magazine website.

It was stunningly good.  Just like proper Parkin without the grit and with all the stickiness of a perfect ginger cake.  You can (for now) see the recipe here.  (These recipes do have a habit of disappearing.)

Ingredients

175g plain flour

125g porridge oats

200g caster sugar

1 tsp ground ginger

2 balls preserved ginger, finely chopped (said to be optional in the original website but it's well worth it)

200ml semi-skimmed milk

110g butter

2 tbslp golden syrup

Method

Preheat the oven to 150°C / 130° fan / gas mk 2.  Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin.

In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.

Put the milk, butter and golden syrup into a small pan and heat gently until the butter has melted.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and beat with a whisk.  Add and whisk in the preserved ginger.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 45 minutes.

Cool in the tin and then cut into 16 squares.  It keeps well for several days and if anything improves with keeping.  Remember to line your tin or box for storing it with baking paper not foil as apparently (according to the website) it will stick to foil.

Cuts into 16 generous portions.

BEEF IN BEER (boeuf carbonnade or Iron Maiden stew)

Many years ago I frequently used to make beef cooked in Guinness, to a Delia Smith recipe using braising steak, and delicious it was too.  I had long forgotten about it but with guests coming for dinner and it being very much casserole weather, I wondered about revisiting the old favourite.  Guinness is not for the faint hearted and not to everyone’s taste so I looked around for other "beef in beer" recipes.

In France beef in beer is a stew called "boeuf carbonnade" and eventually I found a recipe I could adapt by Mary Berry in her book "Everyday".  I decided to use a fairly light local Touraine beer.

The ingredients are simple, pretty much what you would expect in a beef stew, and the end result was utterly delicious! A really tasty, satisfying dish with a thick, glossy sauce and tender, melt in the mouth chunks of beef.  A perfect supper for what had been a disappointingly grey, cold and miserable day.  

The grotty weather continued so I made it again using something with a bit more punch, more like a stout.  It was called Iron Maiden, purchased from our local branch of Noz.  

Noz is a chain of shops in France that look like a jumble sale and sells end of line or unsold items of just about anything and everything.  It’s a good place to find and try foods that you may have never heard of, the downside being that you will probably never find it for sale anywhere again.  Once it's gone, it's gone!

Ingredients

750g braising or stewing steak, cut into bite sized pieces

2 tblsp oil

6-8 small shallots, peeled and cut in half 

2 carrots, peeled and sliced

150g button mushrooms

2 tblsp plain flour

330ml pale ale (or Iron Maiden or other stout for the darker version)

15ml beef stock (I used an Oxo cube)

2 tblsp caramelised onion chutney

1 tblsp Worcestershire sauce

2 bay leaves

Method

If you have a flameproof or cast iron casserole dish you can use it for frying as well as in the oven.  Otherwise use a frying pan and transfer the ingredients to a regular heatproof casserole dish for the oven stage of the cooking.

Preheat the oven to 160°C / 140° fan / gas mk 3.

Heat the oil in your pan and brown the meat in batches so as not to crowd the pan.  Remove each batch and set aside.

Add the mushrooms, shallots and carrots to the pan and fry for 4-5 minutes, adding a little more oil if the pan seems dry.

Put the flour into a bowl and stir in a little of the ale to make a smooth paste.  Then gradually whisk in the rest of it, making sure there are no lumps.

Return the meat to your frying pan and stir in the flour mixture and stock.  Heat until it thickens, stirring all the time.  Add the chutney, Worcester sauce and bay leaves and bring to the boil.  (Add more stock if it looks a little too thick. or a little flour mixed with stock or water if it looks too thin.)  At this stage transfer to a casserole dish if using.

Cover and cook in the oven for 2-2½ hours until the meat is tender.

Makes 6 generous servings.