An inexpensive French cut of beef

Posted on 06/02/2015 by streetfood1340

Among other things I brought back from our latest trip to France was a very inexpensive cut of meat that has become quite expensive in the UK. In the UK and America we call it Short Rib – in France they call it a Plat de Cote and it’s rise in price in the Anglo Saxon countries is due to the explosion of Gourmet BBQ and Steak houses and the rise and rise of the Texas style BBQ food trucks.

2 Plat de Cote – as you caee it is quite fatty but this is redered out during the long “low and slow” cooking process. Keep the beef dripping for roasting potatoes.

So far the French haven’t taken on board the whole comfort food/BBQ/Steak House thing that’s happening elsewhere. So Plat de Cote is still really really inexpensive. So this how you can make the most costs effective and luscious winter dish ever. The great thing about this cut is that it comes form a hard working part of the beast so it tastes really beefy.

Short Rib seared to caramelise the outside.

Short Rib being seared then pan deglazed with a lovely Baturrica Gran Reserva 2007 Tarragona from Spain – a perfect full bodied wine for the beef.

So first off – sautee the beef hard in a small amount of vegetable oil to get a good coloured, caramelised crust on the beef. Then add sliced onions and carrots and bring some colour to them (about 5 minutes) then add half a bottle to good red wine (we used a Baturrica Gran Reserva from Spain and its robust almost sweet flavour was perfect for the beef) Let the alcohol boil off and add a litre of beef stock to cover the meat.

Ingredients for short rib braise – a good beef stock, onions carrots and bay leaf

Add bay leaf, 10 pepper corns and thyme put the lid on your casserole and place in the oven at 150 degrees C for 3 hours. The meat should be cooked by then so take out the meat strain the liquid – take off the beef fat from the top (keep it as it’s great for baking potatoes) return the cooking liquid to the pot and reduce and reduce and reduce – until you get a thick caramelised unctuous sauce that is red winey, beefy and rich. Best served with Mash or simply billed white rice. So next time your in France for the day and your passing a butcher shop ask for some Plate de Cote and get cooking you’ll love this.

Cooked short rib – Deep flavours and very very yummy.

Cheese-Tastic. A new taste and new friends

Posted on 02/02/2015 by streetfood1340

It’s always a joy to find something new and unheard of in the food business and I thought I knew the cheeses of France pretty well after 40 years of sampling the curd in all it’s magnificence. But on an ingredients buying mission to the south of France I came across a little backstreet cheese shop in Nice, well-off the tourist routes. The passionate and knowledgable owner suggested I try a Cheese that he said is usually sold only at Christmas. He makes this himself – This is how he described it – Get a wheel of the best unpasteurised Brie at its honking best – slice it in half horizontally and fill it with a mixture of mascarpone, pepper, salt, diced truffle and real truffle oil (and other things he wouldn’t tell me) – put the other half back on and let mature for two days before serving. I am not kidding this is sooooo good I nearly collapsed onto the floor of the cheeses shop on first taste.

Cheesy, truffle delight -an incredible cheese.

He also introduced me to another cheese I had never tasted called a Boulette D’avesnes – odd taste at first but weirdly pleasing – its in the shape of a cone – Originally made from butter milk, the cheese is mixed with parsley, tarragon, cloves and pepper. The clove flavour is very predominate – The cheese is then shaped into a cone and dusted with paprika. My new best friend at the cheese shop says this cheese is best consumer with a good strong beer. You can find the La Ferme Fromagere at 27 rue de Lepante, Nice. And seriously try the truffled Mascarpone Brie……

What I call the “Cone of Pleasure” but the much more mature French call it a Boulette D’avesnes

The “cone of Pleasure” dusted with paprika. Then slightly taupe colour is due to the addition of cloves, pepper and tarragon

My new best friend – The cheese shop “La Ferme Fromagere”

First farmers market for the year

Posted on 23/01/2015 by streetfood1340

Yes we are back at the Tunbridge Wells Farmers Market tomorrow (Saturday) and we have a busy day today preparing. We are simmering Brisket for Salt Beef, Smoking Pork Shoulder for our famous pulled Pork with home made BBQ sauce, and cutting chilli for our robust and warming Chille con Carne (served hot with a dollop of sour cream and chives)

Our famous Salt Beef Sandwich – served Chipolte Coleslaw and Pickles on Rye

Tomorrow I am also pinching a recipe from the Mr. Jamie Oliver and producing gallons of his hot scrumpy mulled cider served piping hot with all the usual suspects – cinnaman, nutmeg, vanilla pods, star anise, etc etc.. So come and join us for a least a hot toddy and if you in a hungry mood grab one of our home made super tasty hot sandwiches. We shall be at the TWBC Farmers Market from 0900 ’till 1400. We’d love to see you all.

Fresh wild mushrooms – there is no better

Posted on 21/01/2015 by streetfood1340

Yep – its wild mushroom time in Europe and of course every little regional bistro in France is celebrating the fungus – cooking up a storm with beautiful fresh Girolle, Morel, Porcini and Cep. Just got back from Nice with this delightful handful foraged from the National Park du Mercantor in the mountains behind Monaco. (Needless to say I didn’t do the foraging – way to much work – but I know a guy who knows a guy) Sautéed lightly in butter with garlic, salt and pepper, then finished off with a dash of cream and parsley served over egg tagliatelli. A simple but sensational meal – got to be in my top ten favourite dishes of all time.

Selection of wild mushrooms

Tagliatelle with wild mushrooms

Great day at Bicester Heritage

Posted on 04/01/2015 by streetfood1340

Our first time at Bicester Heritage as a quest of Ludo Parayre who owns vintage car company “Lap63”. Ludo wanted us to feed his clients and potential clients at Bicester Heritages’s first vintage car, bike and plane open day for the year. Despite the cold an amazing number of people turned out to see a fine array of vehicles. I popped around the corner of one building and found three pre 1960’s Ferrari’s sitting in the hazy frosty sunshine – around another corner was a fine collection of historic British motorcycles and in another building a TR7, a Stag and an early 1970’s Porsche Turbo… Sadly because of the overcast the 40 historic aircraft that were scheduled to fly into the former RAF Bicester for the day had to cancel, but they will have another attempt at the next open day in April. We fed over 200 people during lunch outside Ludo Parayre office and showroom space. What a great day.

Queues at Bicester Heritage for Deli Truck food – the building in the background was used extensively in the just released film “The Imitation Game”

Queues at Bicester Heritage for Deli Truck food

Two fabo old cars outside the Deli Truck

Serving our famous pulled pork sandwich to the crowds

How to cook the best Pulled Pork

Posted on 02/01/2015 by streetfood1340

If you’ve wondered how we make our pulled pork so tasty and authentic then check out this video. A lot of people claim to make pulled pork, but cook the pork in the oven and add a chemical “smoke in a bottle” to give it a smoked flavour. The only authentic way is to smoke over coals with real wood chips – It take much longer and you have to tend the fire every 20 minutes or so for up to 8 hours – But the flavour is incomparable.

Deli Truck goes to Oxfordshire with “Lap63”

Posted on 30/12/2014 by streetfood1340

The Deli Truck is on the road this Sunday heading up to the Former RAF Bicester airfield in Oxfordshire for the first and largest vintage car, bike and aircraft muster for 2015. We have been invited by one of the coolest exhibitors “Lap63 by Ludovic Parayre” a very stylish vintage car buyer, restorer and seller. Come and see us at Ludovic’s new home at Bicester, have a chat and try our fabo menu. See Menu below.

Deli Truck, Ludovic Parayre, Bicester heritage

Deli Truck menu for Sunday the 4th of January

There will be a wide range of cars, motorcycles and aeroplanes arriving on site ready to kick start the motoring year ahead. So come and join us. We would love to see you all.

Special Christmas menu.

Posted on 18/12/2014 by streetfood1340

The farmers market at Tunbridge Wells will be open for a special Christmas event this Monday the 22nd of December. We would love you all to come down and share some mulled wine and mince pies with us – as well as our special Christmas Menu.

Our famous Salt Beef Sandwich – served with Chipolte Coleslaw and Pickles on Rye

We will have our two usual best sellers. Our 8 hour smoked pulled pork, which I know many of you love and our famous Salt Beef on Rye with pickles and Mustard sauce. Added to that we have a few Christmas specials – including our own home made mulled wine with Mince pies as a snack and a chance to stop and say hello. Our Christmas dish this Monday will be a Rotisserie Turkey with Chorizo, Apple Chipolte Coleslaw, Cranberry Sauce with an option of Fondu Cheese on top. We have made this before and it is very very tasty.

Last week we sold a new dish for us, a very beefy and spicy Chillie con Carne. It was a big hit, with a few customers coming back for second helpings – so we will be doing the same this Monday, we serve it with a butter roll and dotted with sour cream and chives.

Our Home Made Pea and Ham soup will be served with a fresh butter roll – perfect for keeping the cold at Bay.

And finally to keep the cold at bay – we have on offer our home made piping hot Ham and Pea soup, with chunks of ham and and real peas. You all know our cooking by now so you know it will be generously packed with ham and flavour.

So I hope you can come and join us for a mulled wine or a sherry and some mince pies and of course we would love you to try and special Christmas Menu. See you in Tunbridge Wells from 0900 to 1500 on Monday.

Menu for Saturday at Tunbridge Wells Farmers Market with a special Christmas treat

Posted on 11/12/2014 by streetfood1340

We have a special Christmas recipe along with our all time favourites this Saturday the 13th of December.

Our famous pulled Pork and our big selling Salt Beef on rye will, as usual, be on the menu – along with a lovely warming spicy Chilli con Carne – very beefy, very spicy and topped with a cooling dollop of sour cream. We are selling our chilli in two different sizes – For those not up to our large pot we have a smaller dish of chill for just £3.50.

But our big Christmas treat this Saturday will be a Texas smoked Turkey in a wrap for easy eating. Along with the our spicy Turkey meat we will add our scrumptious cranberry, bacon and walnut stuffing. All of this will be topped with a “bread sauce and cranberry gravy”. This is a superbly tasty dish with many textures and flavours and all for £5.50. Also join us for a lovely warming sherry to go with your wrap – on us. And of course for the brave we will still be selling our pickle-back cocktail.

So all in all a great day and a great menu – I hope you can join us outside the council offices this Saturday from 0900 to 1400.

Our smoked Turkey as it comes off the rotisserie. We break this up and dunk it in gravy before we serve it in a wrap with bacon and cranberry stuffing.

Discovering a new menu item

Posted on 08/12/2014 by streetfood1340

It’s great experimenting with food and coming up with something new. As we returned to base after our last event on Friday we noticed as a couple of remaining hocks cooled down in their cooking liquid (Beer), it formed a fantastically tasty aspic. So with the remaining hock meat and some cooked carrot I made an hock in aspic a bit like the French classic “Ham and Parsley in Aspic” – added a bit of salt and lots of pepper – it could have been crap – you never know. But even I had to admit this is one of the best things I’ve tasted this year – served with a little mustard and cornichon – fantastic. I’m going to make this as an entree dish for the summer.

Pork Hock and Carrots in Aspic from the “Deli Truck”