July 05, 2017

Speedy Beef Barbecue USA, or, Steak & Rice with Tomato Sauce

July 05, 2017/ Blair Cowan

You might, upon reading the title of this recipe, think to yourself, ‘Oh, a patriotic summer recipe that would have been perfect for celebrating American Independence Day yesterday. I wonder why she didn’t post it then?’ but the answer to that question is simple: this is neither barbecue (by any definition I know of), nor is it particularly USA. In fact, if I had to choose a country where this seems like it should have come from, it would be the UK, where meat-in-sauce is inexplicably paired with rice. (See: British chili)

I didn’t read this recipe before I decided to make it and had Judson pick up the ingredients, but I was excited for proper barbecue-type meal since summer in Scotland can otherwise be a bit of a letdown. But then I started making it and quickly realised it’s not barbecue and not ‘American’ by any definition I’ve ever read. So I saved it for the day after 4th of July (the LEAST patriotic day of the year).

Considering the title of this recipe sounds like something two cartoon bears would try to sell you after climbing onto each other’s shoulders and zipping themselves into one long coat to pretend to be a businessman, my hopes weren’t high. And while this is absolutely not American summer food, it was way delicious and a good way to warm up on a day when the hottest recorded temperature in history in my city is only 22 degrees Celsius (70 degrees Fahrenheit). It’s not pretty, but it is ‘speedy’ and it was definitely delicious. Might I recommend this next time you find yourself soaked to the bone in a sudden summer rainstorm and in need of a non-salad meal?

The verdict:

4 spoons out of five. Judson and I literally fought over the leftovers, they were so delicious. I’m only knocking off a spoon because the steak was so expensive that, while this was definitely a ‘speedy’ meal, a budget meal it was not.

two years ago: Seven Layer Salad

The recipe:

Speedy Beef Barbecue USA

The directions:

Cut steak against the grain into strips 1 ½ inches thick.
Brown steak in goose fat until just browned on the stovetop in a heavy-bottomed pot.
Blitz tomatoes in a food processor until smooth, then add lime juice, soy sauce, onion, brown sugar and ginger.
Pour sauce over meat.
Cover and simmer 25-30 minutes until thickened and reduced.
Cook rice according to package directions, then add butter, salt and green pepper in last 3 minutes of cook time.
Fluff rice with a fork, then spoon around the edge of your serving platter.
Spoon Speedy Beef Barbecue USA in the centre.

Yields 4-6 servings.

The ingredients:

1 kilo (2 lbs) round steak
2 tbsp goose fat (or drippings)
16 oz canned tomatoes
2 tsp lime juice
¼ c soy sauce
1 medium onion, chopped
3 tbsp brown sugar
¼ tsp ginger
1 tsp butter
1 tsp salt
1 small green pepper, cut into strips
1 c instant rice

June 19, 2017

Devil's Food Cake with Vanilla-Almond Buttercream

June 19, 2017/ Blair Cowan

When I was a kid, I always thought that the worst part about growing up would be having to give up summer. Not even just giving up the fact of having summers off (because by the time I hit high school I was working through the summers anyway), but just the magic of summer. How everything seems to happen over the summer, and how everything that does happen over the summer always seems a thousand times more excellent because it’s bathed in sunshine and tank tops and pool water.

And then I grew up and almost across the board, every summer of my adult life has been awesome.

But since moving to Scotland, it’s a little easier to forget this: the weather stays more or less the same year-round, and it’s never properly hot. Plus, despite the fact that this city sits on the water, it’s literally never warm enough to even put your toes in, much less go for a dip. So I forget how awesome the summer is until it sneaks up on me, year after year, just like this one has managed to.

But you know what’s great about letting the summer sneak up on me? When it finally rolls around, it’s awesome. Here’s what the next month-and-a-half look like Chez Cowan: interviews for a new job as my contract is up in mid-July, then a week in Barcelona with my bestie. When I get home from Spain, I’ll have houseguests waiting for me who arrive while I’m away, then the day after they depart is Judson’s birthday party. The next day Holtzmann gets spayed (not exciting except that we’re hoping it will help her outgrow some of her annoying puppy habits), then it’s Judson’s actual birthday, my last day of work and then we head to the US for two weeks of sun and sand in my hometown at the Florida beach. When we get back, the Edinburgh Fringe will be in full swing and I’ll be ready to hit the ground running on whatever my next gig is. It’s nearly as busy as last summer’s new job-Highlands-Amsterdam-Tokyo-Mont St. Michel-Athens-Paris madness, and I can’t wait.

But the part I’m most excited about, in case I glossed over it a little too much there, is seeing my bestie in Spain. Emily and I regularly go two years at a time without seeing each other, but it never gets any easier to do and it never gets any less special when we reunite. I’ve never been to Barcelona so I’ve been counting down the days for ages now and I cannot wait to catch up with her there. Also, Emily owns and runs a wildly successful and super awesome bakery in California, so of course whenever I think of her I also think of cake.

Enter Judson and his co-worker’s birthday, and I had the perfect excuse to mix up a pretty awesome triple layer chocolate cake on which to practice my (still relatively new) frosting skills to occupy my time before I leave for Spain at the crack of dawn on Thursday.* I’m super proud of this cake and really disappointed that I don’t have a picture of the interior to show you as it was quickly dispatched out of my kitchen as soon as I finished it, but I have a crowdsourced opinion that it was stellar and I have my own personal knowledge of how far my frosting/piping skills have come to tell you that this is the prettiest cake I ever made (a record I hope to soon break, given that Judson’s birthday is rapidly approaching).

The cake is ‘devil’s food,’ but I’m putting that in inverted commas because, well, it’s not like any devil’s food I’ve ever tasted. Maybe devil’s food meant something different in the 1950s, maybe my cocoa wasn’t dark enough or maybe the recipe just didn’t come out the way it was supposed to, but this cake was so light in colour that before I sliced it, Judson thought it was white cake. Don't fear, though, it still tastes incredibly rich and chocolatey, just maybe a bit more caramel-y and a little less fudgy than I would have anticipated. I went a little over the top with the filling and frosting because I was in a celebratory kind of mood, but you could use the filling as listed below and leave the cake 'naked' for a more chocolate-on-chocolate version, or you could cut the frosting recipe in half for a more reasonable amount of frosting. But really, you should make it as below for the next celebration you attend. It's delicious, classic, and, really, who doesn't love chocolate cake?

*Thursday, as you may or may not be aware, is the longest day of the year. Which means that even though I’ll be up at 4am to catch my flight, the sun will have been up for nearly an hour before I wake up.