Red Wine and Cinnamon Slow Cooked Beef Brisket and Vegetable Rolls

I have a confession to make... I have a pretty bad addiction to Diners Drive-Ins and Dives. I've always loved diners and the whole culture surrounding them so I guess it's no surprise really. I also love fried food, much to my dismay, but that's another trouble altogether...

One recipe that tends to come up a lot on the show is brisket, usually sliced super thin and piled high with cheese and some kind of pickled veg and crammed into a sandwich. As delicious as this looks, my carving skills are just not up to slicing that thin and as much as I like to think I own almost every kitchen appliance going my collection doesn't stretch to a deli meat slicer. No problem though I thought, I'll just Brit it up a bit, slow cooking it in red wine with some veggies and cutting it into 1/2 cm slices.

Although it takes about 5 hours to cook the prep work on this is very minimal, I just threw everything in the slow cooker (you can do this in a casserole dish in the oven) and left it to do its own thing while I did household chores, watched more Triple D, slid my way around town for my Sunday TK Maxx kitchenwares scramble and bought the icing sugar and other items I had forgotten to get at the supermarket the previous night. This is a regular occurence, maybe I subconsciously do it so I have to go shopping again...

Coming out of the freezing cold and into a hot kitchen filled with the gorgeous scent of winey beef is a real treat. Do Yankee Candle make stew scented wax tarts yet?

Sammich Construction

Red Wine and Cinnamon Slow Cooked Beef Brisket and Vegetable Rolls
Makes 6 rolls with extra veggies for an evening snack

Ingredients
700g beef brisket
3-4 carrots
2-3 parsnips, peeled
3-4 stalks of celery
1-2 onion, peeled
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp dried rosemary
400ml red wine (I used merlot)
500ml beef stock
6 good bread rolls - I used multi grain as that's my favourite
english mustard - optional and to taste

Method
If cooking in the oven, preheat it to 150 C / 300 F.

Cut all the vegetables into large chunks and set aside. Sprinkle your piece of brisket with 1/2 tsp of the black pepper and place into your slow cooker or oven proof dish. Surround it with the veggie chunks and sprinkle over the salt, remaining pepper, cinnamon and rosemary. Mix the red wine and beef stock together in a jug and pour over - it should be just covering all the ingredients. If your pan is large and this is not enough to cover everything just add more beef stock until it does.

Turn your slow cooker on to high, or put the lid on your casserole dish and place in the oven and cook for 4-5 hours, stirring occasionally if you like, until the meat and veggies are tender.

Remove the meat from the pan and cut into slices, as thick or thin as you like. Split your rolls leaving a hinge at one side and spread over a little English mustard (if using) then put down a layer of the vegetables from the pan. Top with a layer of the brisket and then drizzle a little of the liquid from the pot onto the inner topside of the roll to add some extra moistness. Close up and enjoy with a little glass of the leftover red wine.

Moussaka Burgers with Fried Aubergine Slices and Tzatzkiki

Burgers are pure genius, we all know this. Whether it be a juicy beef patty topped with bacon and cheese or a gorgeous fat veggie burger stacked with onion rings they can be perfectly tailored to anyone's taste. And I really do quite often choose the vegetarian option over the meat, a local Loughborough restaurant called Moomba's do a killer smoked aubergine and chickpea burger with halloumi - bliss!

But as good as a burger can be, I have far too often been disappointed by a greasy, grey, burnt to a crisp beef disc at many a barbecue. At the top of the list of burger fails for me is the minted lamb burger. Don't get me wrong, if this is made from scratch it can be beautiful but the pre-packed ones just never ever get it right... so I had to do something about it.

As you all know by now I am not the type of lady to do it simply, so rather than just put the mint into the patty itself I have put it in a sauce and fused two of my favourite dishes together to create what I concider one of the best burgers I have ever eaten - the moussaka burger. Seasoning the mince with cinnamon, parmesan, oregano and a little chilli and topping it with a tower of fried aubergine slices, then finishing with a cool slather of homemade cucumbery tzatziki creates pure burger perfection. The only thing missing is the bechamel, which I think would be far too bland as a burger sauce.

Although the fried aubergine slices may make it a little more difficult to serve as a barbecue dish you could always prepare them inside while the lamb burgers are being grilled and bring them out with the tzatziki. It just means you'll be indoors for a few minutes and therefore closer to the fridge full of drinkies and this isn't a bad thing, surely?

Moussaka Burgers with Fried Aubergine Slices and Tzatzkiki
Serves 4

Moussaka Burger Ingredients
800g fresh minced lamb
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp dried chilli flakes (optional)
2 tbsp grated parmesan
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
4 ciabatta bread rolls
1 or 2 ripe beef tomatoes, sliced

Fried Aubergine Slice Ingredients
1 medium aubergine, cut into cm thick slices
lots of salt
100g plain flour

Tzatziki Ingredients
200g greek yoghurt
1/2 cucumber, deseeded and either diced very small or grated
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp smoked paprika

Method
Start your barbecue/grill/oven preheating to medium. Take your aubergine slices and lay them on a few sheets of paper towel, then sprinkle liberally with salt on both sides. Put these to one side while you prepare the burger patties.

Put the minced lamb into a bowl, sprinkle over all the herbs and spices and mix thoroughly with your hands. No-one wants to hit a big spice pocket in their burger so make sure everything is really well combined. Divide the mixture into four equal size balls and shape them into nice round patties, making a little indentation into the middle of each one - this stops the center bulging up and making the top bun topple off. Cover the four burgers with cling film and set aside in the fridge.

Next take your aubergine slices and press them into the flour, coating both sides and tapping off any excess. Place them back on to the paper towels and leave to settle while you make the tzatziki by combining the yoghurt with the diced cucumber, crushed garlic, mint, lemon juice and paprika. Cover with cling film and put into the fridge to develop it's flavour.

Pour olive oil into a heavy based saucepan until it is around half a cm deep and put on the hob to heat up until the oil starts to shimmer and smoke a little. Take your aubergine slices, dredge again with the flour and tap off the excess and then place in the hot oil to fry. They need 1-2 minutes on each side until they get a crispy golden coating. You'll need to do this in batches, when they are done remove them back on to the paper towels to remove any excess oil.

Cook your patties on one side of the grill and lightly toast the buns on the other. The burgers will take between 2-4 minutes on each side depending how thick you have made them. Basically, you want an even colour throughout and for the juices to run clear when poked.

Lay a few tomato slices on the bottom half of the bun, top with the lamb burger and slather over some tzatziki. Add a few slices of fried aubergine and the top half of the ciabatta roll and serve with some roasted new potatoes and a few salads of your choice - I recommend some sort of lemon and coriander cous cous concoction.

Chamomile and Spiced Apple Cupcakes with Honeyed Cinnamon Nutmeg Frosting

I'll start with an apology as this recipe is nearly a week late in being posted. Pete and I have spent the last seven days trying to finish decorating our flat so I just haven't found the time to blog - one room left to go! It's been a pretty epic task and we're both all tidied out, but I'll be posting a second recipe tomorrow to make up for it! Something delicious, savoury and tall, it's a good one I promise.

These cupcakes were inspired by a new tea I've been having at work, it's chamomile, apple and cinnamon - one of those fruit and herbal infusions. It's meant to be calming - believe me I need all the help I can get, the civil engineering trade is mighty stressful at the minute. It's a really nice blend and while I can't claim it has completely helped keep me calmer I always find a nice smelling hot drink by your side to be comforting.

I've taken elements from two of my previous cupcake recipes to produce this one - the milk infusion method from the earl grey and the main batter method from the fresh strawberry. It's not often that a first time recipe comes out perfect but I think these turned out beautifully - nice moist cake with a good high domed top. The chamomile flavour isn't immediately apparent but is a nice undernote that comes through a little more in the after taste. The spiced vanilla buttercream is really lovely, leaving a soft warmth on your palette - they are probably more of an Autumn time treat, but I'm sure I'll be making them again before September.

Chamomile and Spiced Apple Cupcakes with Honeyed Cinnamon Nutmeg Frosting
Makes 12 standard American size cupcakes

Chamomile and Spiced Apple Cupcake Ingredients
1 tbsp butter
1 large (or 2 small) golden delicious or cooking apple, peeled, cored and cut into a half cm dice
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 chamomile tea bag, contents removed and ground as fine as you can in a pestle and mortar
2 tbsp apple juice (from concentrate gives a more pronounced flavour)
80ml milk
2 chamomile tea bags
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
110g butter, softened
400g caster sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
2 large egg whites, at room temperature

Honeyed Cinnamon Nutmeg Frosting Ingredients
115g butter, softened
3 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
500g icing sugar
2 tbsp runny honey - preferably manuca honey

Cupcakes Method
Preheat oven to 180 C / 350 F and line a tin with a dozen standard American cupcake liners or muffin liners.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and then add the diced apple, cook on medium heat for a minute or so and then add the brown sugar, cinnamon and ground chamomile tea. Cook for a further minute before adding the apple juice. Lower the heat and cook until the apples soften enough to be lightly mashed with a fork. Set aside to cool while you infuse the milk.

In a seperate saucepan heat the milk with the two chamomile tea bags until it just comes to a simmer, then turn off the heat and leave to infuse until the milk is at room temperature and then remove the tea bags. The milk will have reduced down - you need around 60ml so measure what you have left and if you need to top it up with more plain milk. Mix with the stewed apples and set aside for a moment.

In a mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Cream the butter for 2-3 minutes and then gradually add the sugar. When well combined and fluffy add the egg and egg whites and mix until just combined. Now add half of the flour mixture and blend, then add the stewed apple and milk mixture and beat before finally adding the second half of the flour. Mix until just combined.

Divide the batter between the cupcake liners and bake for 22-25 minutes until the tops are slightly golden and spring back to the touch. Leave to cool for ten minutes in the tray, then place them a rack to cool completely before frosting.

Honeyed Cinnamon Nutmeg Frosting Method
Cream the butter, milk, vanilla essence, cinnamon and nutmeg until well combined and then gradually mix in the icing sugar. You should be left with a smooth creamy white frosting flecked with the spices.

Spread or pipe onto your cooled cupcakes and then drizzle over the runny honey.

I believe the picture below shows one of the best ways to eat a cupcake... cakey sandwiches y'all!!!