For The Veggies....

It's not often at all that I cook something entirely without meat; just call me old-fashioned. But I put this together last night literally using what I had in the fridge and cupboards, and it was awesome, full of flavour and warming on a Halloween night. A tasty happy accident, indeed.

Smoked Cheese & Herb Risotto (Serves 2)

Not much of a recipe, more of a method - simply throw about half a packet of risotto rice (Arborio) into a pan with a large knob of butter - very large. Melt the butter over a low heat and coat all the grains. Meanwhile, make up a pint of chicken or vegetable stock with a stock cube. When all the grains are coated are turning slightly translucent, add the stock slowly, stirring all the time. Leave the heat low, and keep adding stock when the rice soaks it up. When the rice has taken on a much stock as you like, stop adding it.

At this point, you basically season the rice. I added: A grind of black pepper, a large pinch of dried rosemary and a larger still pinch of dried sage.. I also tore up a few spinach leaves and chucked those in. Finally I added about 50gms of Smoked Cheddar, a grate of Parmesan and another small knob of butter to emulsify the whole thing. When the cheese has totally melted, serve.

I was hankering after something Belgian to go with all those herbs, and luckily had a bottle of Brugse Zot to hand. It's an ok beer, but sings a little better when served with food. Brugse Zot has quite a high level of carbonation, which cleanses the palate after the intense, thick risotto, and this also makes it a lighter choice. There's a ever-so-slight citrus on the finish, and the usual Bretty wet-grassiness on the nose. The Rosemary and Sage manage to be picked out by the beer.

Anyway, a simple - and very quick - recipe for darker nights. Give it a whirl.

Rose Veal with Apples and Mustard Mash

Man, I love this time of year. This week Yorkshire seems to have been transformed into Antarctica, and that just gives me another reason to eat massively calorific food, stop going to the gym and drink loads of beer. I'm storing fat, you see. And this is fun.
Anyway, after looking to my German cookbooks for inspiration, this is what we came up with - easy, and tastes good. But it's not kind on the waistline - be warned.

Rose Veal with Apples and Mustard Mash (Serves two)

You will need:

2 Rose Veal escalopes
2 English Apples - sliced and cored (any kind will do, really)
1 Large onion - sliced (Or 4 smaller ones)
20g Smoked Cheese
1tsp of wholegrain mustard
2 large potatoes, mashed
lots of butter
salt, pepper ( I actually used some smoked salt, if you have it)

1. First, get your potatoes on to boil in preparation for the mashing. In the meantime, melt a knob of butter in a heavy pan and once sizzling, add your onions and apples. Leave for a couple of minutes for the apples to caramelize on one side, then toss to ensure the other side gets done. you can then turn the heat down a little and leave the apples and onions to caramelise whilst you..
2. ...Mash your potatoes in the usual way - with a little milk and butter. Add your smoked cheese, chopped, and the mustard. Stir and cover - the cheese needs to melt.
3. Finally, in another hot pan, sear you veal but take care not to overdo it - it can dry out easily.

All you have to do now is serve and enjoy. If the apples and onions get dry, you simply need to keep adding butter to ensure a gooey, even caramelization.

To drink with a meal of this kind, I wanted something light but sweet - so I opted for the Tongerlo 6 Dubbel Bruin. Very much a typical Dubbel, it has a slight carbonation that strips a little of the sweetness of the apples away, but its own nutmeggy caramel touches compliment the smoky, rich flavours of the food nicely. If you wanted to deglaze the pans and make a little sauce, I would imagine this would do the job very well.


I'm not going to reply to any comments regarding the use of veal in this dish. This is a food and beer blog, not a political one - there are plenty of those around if you want to air your views. Unfortunately there are many things wrong with food culture these days, and you can simply make a choice not to eat something if you don't agree with it. I used Rose Veal, which is farmed according to RSPCA standards, and I bought it from a Farm Shop in Weeton, Otley - therefore I am happy that I have made the correct choice in terms of provenance. If you make this dish, please try and make the same choices.