Nigella Express-Beef Skewers and Mushed up beans

A while back I won Nigella Express from Serious Eats. Exciting, I know! It's the second book I've won from them. Maybe I should start playing the lottery? Nah. I don't do well with gambling. I'll stick to food blog giveaways. Anyway, I really like the book. I was worried it would be more in the "Retch-el Ray 30 minute meals" direction, and while there are some questionable shortcuts in some of the recipes, most of the food is just plain simple and delicious-looking. Re-affirms my girl-crush on Nigella.

I tried out a couple of the recipes over the weekend - The Juicy Beef Skewers with Horseradish Dip and the White Bean Mash. Both were good! I will probably be doing this with beans again. I love beans, and this is an easy and different side dish idea. The skewers had good flavor, and were mostly juicy and tender. Some pieces were a little tough, but this may be attributed to my poor butchering skillz, or just the cut of meat itself, Rump roast, which is pretty darn lean.

Juicy Beef Skewers with Horseradish Dip

1 lb. beef rump
¼ cup olive oil
2 Tbsp. prepared horseradish
2 Tbsp. rosemary needles
1 ½ Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. Worstershire
2 Tbsp. Port
1 Cup sour cream
½ tsp. Dijon mustard
¼ tsp. salt

Cut beef into one inch cubes, and put into a freezer bag with olive oil, 1 Tablespoon horseradish, rosemary, vinegar, worstershire and port. Set aside for ar least 20 minutes, but preferably overnight in the fridge.

Let the meat come to room temp, and soak bamboo skewers at the same time.

Make the dip by beating together the sour cream and remaining 2 Tbsp. horseradish with the mustard and salt.

Thread three or four pieces of beef onto each skewer and grill about 2 minutes per side.

White Bean Mash

¼ cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, grated
Grated zest of 1 lemon
3 14 oz. cans cannelinni beans
1 sprig rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil with lemon zest and garlic through.

Drain and rinse beans, add to be pan, warming through, stirring and squishing with a wooden spoon.

Add the rosemary whole to flavor, and discard when ready to serve. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with more olive oil.

For a veggie, I roasted some fresh brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt & pepper. As you can see I REALLY roasted those mo-fos. Mmmm...they are so good that way.

fig pistachio goat cheese spread

On most Wednesday evenings during the summer, you can find me at the Missouri Botanical Gardens enjoying the scenery and the music at their Whitaker Music Festival. I've been going to these free weekly concerts for a few years. It's such a fantastic opportunity to enjoy the beautiful botanical gardens, hang out with friends and relax. While they have some beverages available for purchase, you are encouraged to bring your own food and drink. This past Wednesday was the first of the season, featuring Erin Bode, a popular jazz singer.

I had a small log of goat cheese in the fridge, and I knew I wanted to make some sort of spread with it. I racked my brain for possible goat cheese partners, until I remembered my fig and goat cheese pizza. FIGS! YES! I soaked some fried figs in port for a couple of hours, then rinsed them and chopped them up. I also wanted some sort of salty element to compliment the sweet figs and tangy goat cheese. I had some pistachio nut meats (does the term nut meats make anyone else giggle? I know, I know...I'm 12) in the freezer, so I toasted them and chopped them up and salted them lightly. Then I simply spread the goat cheese on the bottom of a small Pyrex container, and sprinkled the figs and nut meats (heh heh...) on top! So easy. And it was a hit! It will be a regular part of my party/picnic food repertoire.



NEW BLOG ALERT!! My friend Scott has just started a food blog, butterscott. Go drool over his paella and tell him hello!