beef

Smoked and slow-roasted beef short ribs

Smoked and slow-roasted beef short ribs

I started cooking tonight’s dinner this morning at about half past eight, before anybody else was awake, and most importantly, before any of the neighbours had hung any washing out to dry. Short beef ribs take a long, long time to cook, and they’re at their very best when they meet a little smoke. So, [...]

Food & drink

Beef jerky

How to make beef jerky

People have dried meat to preserve it for thousands of years. The practice seems to have arisen independently in both South America and Africa, with the two traditions cross-pollinating with the Spanish conquests of the Americas. The Native Americans eventually adopted the Spanish word for their dried meat, ‘charque‘, changed the inflection and morphed it [...]

Food & drink

How to make bresaola

How to cure beef to make bresaola

So, it’s January, and it’s very, very cold at the moment. That means that now is the perfect time to cure some meat and hang it out to dry in a shed, outside of a refrigerator, without too much fear of death from botulism. I exaggerate slightly – botulism is very rare, and basic hygiene [...]

Food & drink

Vietnamese noodle salad with rib of beef

Vietnamese salad

So, I’d made this Vietnamese-style noodle salad with a rib of beef, and Tweeted a picture, and Rich asked me to write a post about it for his blog. I agreed (I was quite chuffed actually but don’t tell him) and he gave me access details and then I forgot about it. Time passed and [...]

Food & drink

Slow cooked oxtail pie, with suet crust pastry

Slow cooked oxtail pie, with suet crust pastry

So, cold isn’t it? All of a sudden, those rolled pieces of brisket and the big slabs of pork belly in the butcher’s window don’t seem like such a bad idea. Nor do the ox tails, hanging in braces on butcher’s hooks like some sort of skewered alien lifeforms. Well, never one to shy away [...]

Food & drink