Is There Anybody Out There, Who’d Like To Share a Beef Bourguignon?
Recently, Marks and Spencer introduced a range of meat dishes, one of which was Beef Bourguignon.
So I bought one today.
- There is a range of about six dishes.
- All of the range seems to be gluten-free and is marked as such.
- As they don’t look gluten-free from the picture, they would be ideal for serving at a mixed meal, where some diners were gluten-free and others were not!
- They seem to be simple to cook.
- The Use-By date is the 27th October.
If I have a quibble, it is that they are only for two and they also say Do Not Reheat on the box, which means that coeliacs like me, who live alone have a problem.
Perhaps they need a single portion.
But to solve my problem, if there is anybody reading this, who is close to Dalston and would like to test the Beef Bourguignon, then get in touch before the 27th!
Should We Stun Animals With Carbon Dioxide?
This post has been prompted by a text from a cardiologist. He said.
Current CO2 crisis reminds me that I think we should be using nitrogen to stun animals before slaughter, not CO2.
I heard a project on Farming Today a few months ago about CO2 stunning and thought it a great mistake as it can stimulate breathing and cause distress in some.
Have you seen anything on using nitrogen?
I haven’t but I must admit, I’ve had the thought myself and have also asked myself, if the gas in food packages is nitrogen, which would be logical to me.
I do have some thoughts.
The Best Beef I Ever Tasted
Over forty years ago, I used to buy beef from a local farmer in Suffolk.
- It would now be considered organic.
- All the farmer’s animals got the best care.
- He used to slaughter the animals himself in the field after giving them a pick of grass, using a captive bolt.
It was certainly, the best beef, I’ve ever tasted. But then the animals suffered no distress.
Medical Uses Of Carbon Dioxide
This is from the Wikipedia entry for carbon dioxide.
In medicine, up to 5% carbon dioxide (130 times atmospheric concentration) is added to oxygen for stimulation of breathing after apnea and to stabilize the O2/CO2 balance in blood.
This would appear to support the cardiologist’s text.
Is Carbon Dioxide Cheaper Than Nitrogen?
I have found these prices for ten litre cylinder of both gases.
- Carbon Dioxide – £78
- Nitrogen – £54
On this quick comparison, there would appear to not be a large difference.
Availability Of Nitrogen
Reading the Wikipedia entry for nitrogen, it appears to me, that production of oxygen-free nitrogen is not that difficult and this may explain the price comparison with carbon dioxide.
Nitrogen And The Death Penalty In The United States
This is a section called Euthanasia in the Wikipedia entry for nitrogen.
Nitrogen gas has become the inert gas of choice for inert gas asphyxiation, and is under consideration as a replacement for lethal injection in Oklahoma.
As nitrogen is an asphyxiant gas, some jurisdictions have considered inert gas asphyxiation by inhalation of pure nitrogen as a means of capital punishment (as a substitute for lethal injection).
I have been totally against the death penalty since meeting Jimmy O’Connor in the 1970s.
Conclusion
It strikes me that nitrogen could be used to stun animals as a more humane alternative to carbon dioxide.
CoolRail To Cut Carbon Footprint Of Fresh Food
The title of this post is the same as that of this article on Railway Gazette International.
These first two paragraphs outline the plan.
Food logistics company Euro Pool System has launched a thrice-weekly CoolRail dedicated temperature-controlled service to transport fresh produce between Valencia in Spain and Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
This is intended to be first route of planned network of CoolRail services which would link Spain with Germany, Scandinavia and the UK.
I can see this method of fresh food transportation growing, especially as CoolRail claim it is as fast as by road and cuts CO2 emissions by 70 to 90 %.
It also appears that the UK through the Channel Tunnel is in CoolRail’s plans.
Fish, Lamb And Beef To Europe
The obvious British export, that could use the service the other way to Europe is probably fish, as a large proportion of UK-landed fish goes to Europe at the present time.
This page on the Seafish web site, gives details about fish imports and exports.
Quality meat, like Welsh lamb and Scottish beef could also be sent to Europe, after being slaughtered in the UK.
What About Quality Food And Drink?
This page on the Scotch Whisky Association web site is entitled Scotch Whisky Exports On The Up in 2018.
This is two paragraphs from the page.
In 2018, the export value of Scotch Whisky grew +7.8% by value, to a record £4.70bn. The number of 70cl bottles exported also reached record levels growing to the equivalent of 1.28bn, up +3.6%.
The United States became the first billion pound export market for Scotch Whisky, growing to £1.04bn last year. The EU remains the largest region for exports, accounting for 30% of global value and 36% of global volume.
That means that Scotland exported to the EU, the equivalent of 461 million bottles of whisky, that is worth around £1.41billion.
A twenty-foot shipping container has a volume of 33.2 cubic metres., so with allowance for packaging, one could probably hold 33,200 bottles worth about £100,000.
To accommodate all Scotch Whisky exports to Europe on the 2018 figures, would need 14,000 containers per year or a very civilised thirty-eight containers a day.
Conclusion
There’s certainly a large market for food transport by rail across Europe and to the UK, some of which will be in containers with refrigeration and some without!
Tagliatelle With Beef And Red Wine Ragu
This is a Lindsey Bareham recipe that I did for supper yesterday. I’d decided to do it in the morning, but when Waitrose were selling 400g packs of diced braising steak for just £2.25, I couldn’t resist making two portions of the ragu, with one for supper and one for the freezer.
I started by taking the whole pack of diced braising steak, which I seasoned and browned it in a couple of tablespoons of hot oil in my Le Creuset shallow casserole.
Browning The Diced Steak
The meat was then scooped out of the casserole and then 100g each of finely chopped onion and celery, together with some garlic, a tsp of thyme and a pinch of chilli flakes were then gently softened in the meat juices and tossed for five minutes.
Cooking The Onion, Celery And Spices
I then took 100g of finely chopped chestnut mushrooms and added them to the pan. I cooked this until it was all dark and juicy.
Cooking The Mushrooms
I then chopped the meat and added this to the pan.
150 ml of red wine was added and it was allowed to bubble up for a few minutes, before stirring in a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes.
It was then baked in the oven for 60 minutes at 160°C.
I served it with some of Carluccio’s gluten-free pasta.
Tagliatelle With Beef And Red Wine Ragu
My one mistake was perhaps not to put in quite enough wine, so it was perhaps a tad dry.
I shall make this again, I see the diced steak on offer at Waitrose. I know I don’t need to economise, but it shows you can make a delicious meal for two with £2.25 of steak, an onion, some celery, a tin of tomatoes, some spices and some wine.
This recipe also shows the usefullness of my shallow casserole. It is definitely something that I don’t regret buying.
When Did We First Test For Horse DNA In Beef?
This may seem to be an obvious question, but I can’t seem to be able to find the answer on the Internet.
There is also the related question of when were we able to test for equine DNA in beef?
After all, if we’ve been able to do this for some years, could we have detected the fact that crooks were putting horse in beef earlier? And then there’s how long has it all been going on?
Perhaps, we should ask people if they find a Findus beef lasagne or any of the other suspect products in the freezer with a date of last year, they should take it to get tested.
Marks And Spencer Get Their Timing Right
Last night, I tried one of Marks and Spencer’s new FullerLonger meals.
Marks And Spencer’s Venison
As you can see it’s slow-cooked venison in a red wine and onion sauce.
It has only been about a couple of weeks and note the “New” on the packaging.
With all the horsemeat problems, this problem just says impeccable timing by Marks and Spencer, although there is some beef stock and gelatine in the product. And the only allergen is a small amount of skimmed milk!
It’s Burgers Tonight!
After the horseburger scare, I thought I’d have burgers tonight.
It’s Burgers Tonight!
Those in Waitrose, had another pollutant in them; gluten. So as you can see, I got these next door in Marks and Spencer. Note the gluten-free label on the front of the packet where it should be.
Incidentally, I met a couple of ladies, who were buying burgers for their families’ suppers. Perhaps the publicity had jogged their minds, that they hadn’t had them recently? But then we weren’t buying low-cost and/or low quality burgers.
Where’s The Beef?
The proverbial question only had one answer today and that was in the Northgate Arms on Southgate Road about a mile or so north of the infamous Silicon Roundabout.
I had mine with just a few vegetables and a glass of wine.It was definitely worth the walk down the road.
The best beef I ever tasted was some home-killed beef from a farmer friend in Suffolk. But then killing your own is illegal, as it was then, so I suspect that route to good beef is probably closed now.
But then if you want good meat, the less stress the animal gets the better!
Beef and Bean Casserole
I don’t have many cookery books as with the Internet and the ability to search for a recipe for what you have available, but I do have one;One-pot Cooking (“Australian Women’s Weekly”)
The great advantage is that all the recipes are cooked in one pot and hence there is less washing up.
Many of the recipes are gluten-free too. This one might not be to everyone’s taste, as it contains a lot of red meat. But then I generally only eat beef about one a month and it’s usually good lean steak.
Yesterday, I was looking for something to cook for supper with my son and his friend and when I got the book it fell open at this recipe for beef and bean casserole.
The ingredients are as follows and are enough for more.
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 Kg of braising steak, cut into 2 cm. pieces. I was lazy and got Armed, the butcher, in the Waitrose at Upper Street to do this for me.
- 2 medium brown onions (300 g.) chopped finely. Again I was lazy and used the ready chopped ones from Waitrose.
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes
- ¼ cup (70 g.) tomato paste
- a large tin (400 g) of chopped tomatoes
- 500 ml beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 medium potatoes (400 g), chopped coarsely
- a large tin (400 g) of kidney beans, rinsed and drained
- ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander
- ¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
The method was as follows.
- Heat oil in aarge saucepan and then cook the beef in batches until browned. My big saucepan allowed it to be done in one and after browning I put the meat aside on a plate.
- Add onion and garlic to pan, cook, stirring, until onion softens.
- Add spices, cook, stirring until fragrant. Add paste; cook, stirring for one minute.
- Return beef to pan with undrained tomatoes, stock and bay leaves. Bring to the boil and then simmer covered for one hour.
- Add potato to the pan and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes or until the potato is tender.
- Remove the bay leaves.
- Add beans to pan and stir until heated through.
- Remove from the heat and stir in the chopped coriander and parsley.
My guests both liked it, although some of the potatoes could have done with a bit more cooking. Next time, I’ll think I’ll par-boil them first.
Shepherd’s Pie
This a low fat take on a classic English dish. Shepherd’s Pie was traditionally made with leftover meat–usually lamb or beef. This is a recipe that can be made ahead and frozen for later use. I have modified it slightly to use metric measurements and make it gluten-free.
It came from Fiona Haynes of About.com.
My version used the following ingredients.
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 500 grams extra-lean minced beef
- 2 tbsp gluten-free Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp Waitrose organic tomato paste
- 2 tsp dried mixed herbs
- 250 ml, beef stock
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 kilo of King Edward or similar potatoes
- Milk and fat to mash the potatoes with
The method was as follows.
- In a large pot, heat olive oil on medium-low heat. Saute onions and carrots until softened. Turn up heat to medium-high and add beef; cook until no longer pink. Add Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, herbs and broth. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Add peas, then simmer 5 minutes more.
Tip: If sauce seems a bit thin for your liking, add some cornflour or gluten-free flour and stir into beef mixture. - While sauce is simmering, bring a large pot of water to boil. Add potatoes, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until tender, about 15-20 minutes. Drain water. Add milk and butter. Mash with a potato masher until smooth. Season if you like.
- Pour sauce into an 11-inch by 7-inch baking dish and allow to cool slightly. Top with potato.
- Bake in the bottom of the top over of the AGA.
I actually cooked two, with one going in the freezer and the other shared with my son.
The Anonymous Widower 