Ox-Tail stew according to Jamie Oliver. Regardless of how you feel about Jamie Oliver as a person/celebrity/whatever, this recipe is delicious. Especially in the winter, Ox-Tail stew and some nice fresh Sourdough break is amazing. It's really easy to make and will last a week. It's a little time consuming though so it's probably best to do it on a weekend. 2.5 kg oxtail, chopped into 4cm chunks (ask your butcher to do this)sea saltfreshly ground black pepperolive oil2 medium leeks2 stalks of celery4 medium carrotsa few sprigs of fresh thymea few sprigs of fresh rosemary4 fresh bay leaves4 cloves2 heaped tablespoons plain flour2 x 400 g tins of plum tomatoes275 ml porter or red wineOptional:1 litre organic beef stockWorcestershire sauce Preheat the oven to 220 ºC/425 ºF/gas 7. Place a large roasting tray in the oven to preheat.Carefully remove the hot tray from the oven, then add the oxtail. Season and drizzle over a lug of olive oil, then toss to coat and place in the hot oven for around 20 minutes, or until golden and caramelized.Meanwhile, trim and halve the leeks and celery lengthways, then chop into rough 2cm chunks. Peel and chop the carrots into 2cm pieces, then place into a large ovenproof casserole pan over a medium-low heat with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Pick, roughly chop and add the thyme and rosemary leaves, then add the bay and cook for around 20 minutes, or until soft and sweet, stirring frequently.Meanwhile, remove the oxtail from the oven and set aside. Reduce the oven temperature to 170 ºC/325 ºF/gas 3.Add the cloves and flour to the veg, stirring well to combine, then pour in the tomatoes and porter (or wine, if using). Add the oxtail and any roasting juices, cover with the beef stock or 1 litre of cold water and stir well. Turn the heat up to high and bring to the boil, then pop the lid on and place in the hot oven for around 5 hours, or until the meat falls away from the bone, stirring every hour or so and adding a splash of water to loosen, if needed.Remove the pan from the oven and leave to cool for about 10 minutes. Using rubber gloves, strip the meat from the bones and return to the pan, discarding the bones. Add a good splash of Worcestershire sauce, season to taste and enjoy with creamy mash and seasonal steamed greens.Tip: Turn this stew into soup by adding a good splash of boiling water and simmering to your desired consistency. I also love this stirred through pappardelle and served with a grating of Parmesan on top “ incredible!Read more at http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef ... s3BCQQB.99

This thread rules.

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I'm a terrible cook, but I've found lentil soup is easy (not to mention healthy, tasty, and inexpensive). Here are a few sources I started with, and it's easy to wing it once you've followed a recipe. Red lentil, chickpea & chilli soup7 Ways To Make Lentil Soup (Mark Bittman)

Thank you so much! This is so great!

Here's a technique good for any cruciferous vegetable (cabbage, kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, chards, endive). You will need: Skillet, butter plus olive oil (or sunflower or canola oil), one of those vegetables, garlic, salt, pepper, some lemon juice or vinegar.Cut the vegetable into bite-size pieces. If it's broccoli, you can peel the stem and chop it as well as using the florets. Wash the vegetable in copious water and drain in a colander. Get used to washing vegetables, it's a critical part of cooking.While the vegetable is draining, melt some butter with an equal amount of olive oil (or other vegetable oil) in a skillet over medium-high heat. For a liter of vegetables you'd need about two tablespoons of each. Slice or chop a couple of cloves of garlic very finely and add to the oil and butter. When it just starts to color, but before it browns or smokes, add the chopped vegetable. It will spatter a little, but don't be alarmed. If you overwhelm the pan with all the vegetable at once it will spatter less than if you are skittish and drop in a few pieces at a time. Using tongs, a large spoon or by tossing in the pan, turn the vegetable so it is coated in the oil and garlic. Once coated, season generously with salt and pepper.Keep the heat medium or high and turn/toss the vegetables often until they begin to brown slightly at the edges and the browning is pretty uniform -- almost all the pieces have at least a little browning. Take the pan off the heat, and splash the vegetable with some vinegar or lemon juice (about the same amount as the oil used at the beginning). Turn the vegetable so it is dressed uniformly.You can eat them like this or garnish with a drizzle of honey, some sliced almonds or grated sharp cheese. You can serve them hot as a side dish or at room temperature as a salad.Things to notice: Since you're cooking with high heat, the vegetable isn't in the pan for a long time, so the center of it will not be overcooked and mushy. If you use a lower heat, you cook for a longer time and the vegetable will get more tender, sometimes to the point of mushiness. You can use this principle to create the kind of texture you want -- quick cooking on high heat for firm vegetables with some caramelization (and associated sharp flavors), long low cooking for a tender, more mellow result. You can compare broccoli prepared this way to broccoli boiled for soup to see the difference.

This is a delicious broccoli soup that couldn't be simpler. It is one of the rare vegan dishes that can be described as both rich and delicious.You will need a pot of salted water, a blender, stick blender or mortar and pestle, broccoli, black pepper, a little olive oil and a clove of garlic.Clean and cut up the broccoli as described for the saute above. Bring a pot of water to a strong boil, then add salt until the water tastes slightly salty, usually about a teaspoon per liter. When boiling vegetables you often salt the water more than this, until it is as strong as sea water, because you're removing the vegetables and not using the water. For this soup we're going to use the water to thin the soup, so you need less salt.Add the broccoli pieces to the water and boil. The water should just barely cover the broccoli. If you have too much water, pour some out at the beginning. Boil the broccoli pieces until very tender, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or wire basket, remove the broccoli from the water into the jar of a blender. Do not throw out the cooking water. Add about an equal amount of the hot cooking water to the blender jar as you have broccoli, plus one roughly-chopped clove of garlic, then pulse the blender until the broccoli is mixed up pretty well. If it clumps, add more of the cooking water. Once it's moving smoothly, run the blender on high to emulsify the broccoli into a smooth creamy soup. As it is running or stopping it briefly, add some black pepper and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, then continue blending until the soup is smooth as fuck. Taste the soup once in a while and decide if it needs more salt for flavor, more pepper for spiciness, more olive oil for richness, or if it's fucking delicious already. Stop when it's delicious and serve.If you don't have a blender (or food processor) you can use a stick blender with the soup in a large bowl. If you don't have a stick blender, you can mash the broccoli and garlic into a paste in a mortar and pestle, then dilute with the cooking water and whisk to combine.Pour the soup into bowls. The soup is delicious like this, but you can garnish the soup with a pat of butter, a tablespoon of heavy cream, creme fraiche or yogurt, some grated cheese or chopped nuts. I like pistachios with this soup because the colors look nice together.

The idea is to get FM NewDarkAge started in his learning to cook with simple recipes. Stuff with few ingredients that isn't sensitive to imprecise measurements, temperatures or techniques. Like this, a dish with two ingredients that can teach a lot of things about cooking.:Potatoes in cream gratinNeeds: Potatoes, cream, salt, pepper, baking dish or casserole (can use a deep skillet)Peel and slice a potato thinly and arrange in a baking dish or casserole in an overlapping layer. Season generously with salt and pepper and repeat in overlapping layers until the baking dish or casserole is filled with potatoes, leaving about 1/4" of free space. You do it one potato at a time, seasoning as you go because you won't know how many potatoes will fill the dish until you do it, and that way you don't waste any potatoes.Pour cream into the baking dish until the potatoes are almost submerged and move freely in the liquid, still leaving about 1/4" of free space. You can use milk, cream or half-and-half, all are good. The only difference is the amount of richness. Note how loose and liquid the dish is. Carefully place the dish in an oven set to 350-400F. This is easier if you put the dish on a baking sheet and then slide the sheet into the oven, and the sheet will protect the oven in case the cream bubbles over or splashes out of the dish. If the oven is pre-heated it will shave some time off the cooking process, but it isn't absolutely necessary.After 20-30 minutes, inspect the gratin. It should be bubbly but not browned. Check every 20 minutes until the top of the potatoes and cream are browned to an attractive degree, then remove from the oven and let cool until serving temperature (warm, not boiling hot). Note how the starch from the potatoes has infused into the cream and thickened into a lovely sauce. This starch-thickening principle is used in many classic hot sauces, puddings and pie fillings. Note how the starch and sugars in the potatoes and the milk protein have browned where exposed directly to heat; this is caramelization. Caramelization changes simple molecules into complex, aromatic ones and is one of the cornerstones of good eating. Note how the seasoning enriches all the flavors; you should not taste "pepper" or "salt," just a broadening of the existing flavors. This is the purpose of seasoning.You can make this same dish more complex by adding grated cheese at the beginning or end, garnishing with chives or parsley, or adding rosemary, bacon, garlic or onions to the initial gratin, but I think the simple version is delicious.

steve wrote:This is a delicious broccoli soup that couldn't be simpler. It is one of the rare vegan dishes that can be described as both rich and delicious.You will need a pot of salted water, a blender, stick blender or mortar and pestle, broccoli, black pepper, a little olive oil and a clove of garlic.Clean and cut up the broccoli as described for the saute above. Bring a pot of water to a strong boil, then add salt until the water tastes slightly salty, usually about a teaspoon per liter. When boiling vegetables you often salt the water more than this, until it is as strong as sea water, because you're removing the vegetables and not using the water. For this soup we're going to use the water to thin the soup, so you need less salt.Add the broccoli pieces to the water and boil. The water should just barely cover the broccoli. If you have too much water, pour some out at the beginning. Boil the broccoli pieces until very tender, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon or wire basket, remove the broccoli from the water into the jar of a blender. Do not throw out the cooking water. Add about an equal amount of the hot cooking water to the blender jar as you have broccoli, plus one roughly-chopped clove of garlic, then pulse the blender until the broccoli is mixed up pretty well. If it clumps, add more of the cooking water. Once it's moving smoothly, run the blender on high to emulsify the broccoli into a smooth creamy soup. As it is running or stopping it briefly, add some black pepper and a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, then continue blending until the soup is smooth as fuck. Taste the soup once in a while and decide if it needs more salt for flavor, more pepper for spiciness, more olive oil for richness, or if it's fucking delicious already. Stop when it's delicious and serve.If you don't have a blender (or food processor) you can use a stick blender with the soup in a large bowl. If you don't have a stick blender, you can mash the broccoli and garlic into a paste in a mortar and pestle, then dilute with the cooking water and whisk to combine.Pour the soup into bowls. The soup is delicious like this, but you can garnish the soup with a pat of butter, a tablespoon of heavy cream, creme fraiche or yogurt, some grated cheese or chopped nuts. I like pistachios with this soup because the colors look nice together.Gonna bust this one out for dinner tomorrow.Cheers!

Pretty error-proof, and after making it once, you've got it DOWN.Italian Sausage and Chard White Bean SoupGarlic - 2 cloves, crushedOnions (small) - 1, dicedChard - 1 bunch, leaves torn and stems chopped into 1/2 piecesMushrooms, brown - 1/2 lb, slicedDiced tomatoes (14 oz / 397 g can) - 1 can, drainedWhite beans (14 oz / 397 g can) - 1 can, rinsed and drainedCooking oil - 1 TbspItalian sausage (uncooked) - 1/2 lb (Pick your favorite. We chose a hot Italian sausage from the meat counter)Chicken stock - 2 1/2 cupsBay leaf - 1Oregano, dried - 1/2 tspParmesan (opt) - for servingHeat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add cooking oil and then Italian sausage (removed from its casing) to heated oil. Saute until sausage is golden, 4 to 6 minutes. Add garlic, onions, chopped chard stems, and mushrooms to pot. Saute for ~3 minutes and then add in tomatoes, chicken stock, bay leaf, and oregano. Cover and bring to a boil.Add in beans and chard leaves. Cook for another 5 minutes and then season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf before spooning into individual bowls and top with parmesan.