meals for two – My Whisk and I

Polenta Baby Dutch Pancake with Beef Ragout

Ragout:
30ml vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, finely diced
500g cubed beef
50ml tomato paste
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomato
30ml Worcestershire sauce
30ml thyme leaves
500ml beef stock

Polenta Baby Dutch Pancake:
45ml butter
3 eggs
150ml cake flour
30ml polenta
a pinch of salt

For the ragout:
Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the onion and carrot. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring every now and then.
Add the garlic and stir-fry for one minute.
Add the beef and cook until browned.
Add the tomato paste, chopped tomato, Worcestershire sauce and thyme and cook for another 2 minutes.
Pour in the stock and bring the beef to a low simmer.
Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and you have beautifully tender beef covered in a thick sauce.

For the Baby Dutch:
Preheat your oven to 220℃.
Add the butter to a cast iron frying pan of about 24cm diameter and place the pan in the oven to heat up.
Add all the ingredients to a food processor or a suitable container for a stick blender and blend until the batter is completely smooth.
Open the oven door, swirl the hot butter around and up the sides of the pan and immediately pour the batter into the pan.
Close the door and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Do not open the door before 20 minutes, the pancake won’t rise!!
Remove the pan from the oven and transfer it to a serving plate.

Spoon the ragout into the pancake and add some tomato and fresh spinach leaves on top.
Serve with a glass of crisp white wine.

8 eggs
60ml vegetable oil
10ml mustard seeds
7 cardamom pods, cracked
5ml fennel seeds
4 cloves of garlic, minced
10ml minced ginger
1 red chilli, finely sliced
2 red onions, chopped
12 curry leaves
30ml ground coriander
10ml chilli powder
5ml turmeric
30ml sugar
15ml salt
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomato
300ml coconut milk
chilli oil, to garnish
coriander leaves

Fill a saucepan with water and place it over high heat. Add the eggs once the water boils and cook for 6 minutes. Plunge the eggs into cold water. Peel and keep on the side.
Pour the vegetable oil into a pan set over medium-high heat and add the mustard seeds. Wait for the seeds to start spluttering.
Add the cardamom, fennel seeds, garlic, ginger, chilli, onions and curry leaves.
Cook for 2-3 minutes.
Now add the coriander, chilli powder, turmeric, sugar and salt and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Add the tomato and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring every now and then.
Pour in the coconut milk and taste the sauce – adjust the seasoning to your taste.
Place the eggs in the sauce and heat through.
Serve the eggs on rice with lashings of sauce, a drizzle of chilli oil and fresh coriander leaves.

Tag: meals for two

Polenta Baby Dutch Pancake with Beef Ragout

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