Beef, Bacon and Blueberries

I haven't posted since Monday and I apologize. I know you have all been just waiting... salivating not being able to breathe until fabulous moi posts my next recipe! ;-) JUST KIDDING!!! We've been very busy here. I have finally decided to get my act together and get this house under control!!! I have been cooking up a storm, including actually mastering a pastry recipe... ok, well not quite (more soon), but aesthetically I have never been in better form! Here are two recipes that we all enjoyed this week.

The beef recipe is a simple recipe for steak with a red wine sauce served with bacon and onion infused mashed potatoes and asparagus. Very easy, but quite classy too. A good dish for visitors! The mashed potatoes are really special tying in some of the sauce flavouring without being too intense, this is a really simple idea for mash that keep s a flavour of the meal going throughout. Would work anytime you are sauteing something to go with the mash. This serves four.

Ingredients:

• 1kg (2lb) maris piper potatoes
  
• 4 fillet (fillet Mignon) steaks, cut to your preferred thickness
• 4 tbsp butter
• 24 chipolini/pearl onions, peeled, but kept whole
  
• 100g smoked bacon lardons
  
• 1/3 bottle red wine
• 1 bunch asparagus
• salt, pepper to season

Peel the potatoes and boil in lightly salted water until cooked. Mash thoroughly using a little cream only if necessary, we will come back to these later.

Saute the lardons in a hot skillet until fat begins to render. Turn heat down to medium and toss in the onions. Saute until tender. Set aside

Add 2 tbsp of butter to a separate skillet and saute the steaks about two minutes on each side until caramelised. Remove to a plate and cover with foil.

Bring a pot of water to a boil and boil asparagus gently until just tender.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Tip the onions and bacon, reserving some of the fat, into the skillet you fried the steak in. Bring up to a medium-high heat and add the wine. Allow to reduce by half. Season.

Tip the mashed potatoes into the pan you fried the bacon and onions in. Add the remaining butter, bring up to a medium heat and stir the butter into the mash, adding more if necessary. Season.

To plate, make a tower of the mashed potatoes, tilt the steak onto it, adding asparagus on the other side. Spoon the sauce around the plate and enjoy!

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I've spoken before about my distaste for American style pancakes, and my preference of Irish ones, however it has been years since I actually tried American pancakes. In fact after my initial taste back in 1989 I doubt I ever tasted them again! So I really don't have a lot of experience here! I went to make pancakes for breakfast this morning and just on a whim asked my husband if he'd prefer American style with blueberries. Having both been feeling a bit homesick lately he readily agreed and off I went! The verdict? Amazing! Delicious! The first time I've seen my 15 month old voluntarily eat fruit! Now would I prefer them to Irish? No, I don't, but I also don't think they are comparable. These will definitely be added to our menu, and surprisingly enough, the recipe isn't even that different! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour
• 2 cups blueberries
• 1 heaped tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 2 eggs
• 3 cups butter milk*

Mix the eggs and butter milk, add in the flour bit by bit and whisk to make a smooth batter. Add in the melted butter and blueberries.

Preheat a large pan or skillet and ladle the batter in to make pancakes the sizes you prefer. When they start to bubble, flip them over and cook the other side.

Serve immediately with butter and maple syrup. YUM!

*If you don't have buttermilk on hand, add 2.5 tablespoons of lemon juice or vinegar to your jug. Add regular milk to make up the three cups and allow to sit for about 15 minutes.


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