BEST 10 Gourmet Brighton Shops

Has been already 9 months since I started with The KitchenVoyage blog and is around 3 years  since  starting to  take homemade cooking seriously at my kitchen leaving behind an unhealthy past of ready and pre-ready supermarket meals. Since then I needed to stroll around Brighton and Hove to find the best products for my kitchen. Here is my top 10.

1.       Infinity Foods

Infinity Food Supermarket

Infinity Food bread shelves

Infinity Foods is a Brighton institution since decades in the Brighton North Laines.  A whole vegetarian supermarket with an eco-friendly approach and plenty of local products. Here you can find almost anything in a normal supermarket with  very competitive prices, such as vegetables, fruit, cookies, pasta, wines and even toilet products and shampoo. Also in the bakery you can have a delicious takeaway slice of vegetarian pizza.

Follow all our Nutrition news and take a look at our Sea-salt guide

2.      Grocer & Grain

Grocer and Grain

Vegetables and Ecover products

Grocer & Grain is a smart shop located very close to the Brighton train station that makes it very handy for grabbing some healthy snacks before your journey or grab a last moment gift. They offer plenty of organic products including local cheeses and hams, homemade cakes or pies,  Ecover products and my favourite organic yellow tea brand and always vegetables and flower are excellently displayed.

 Taj

Taj street display

3.      Taj another Brighton-based independent retailer with a good reputation that fils its shelves with mostly middle east and Asian delicatessen, tropical fruits and vegetables. Their street display in the busy Western road always catches your eyes. They have the best juicy pomegranates and pineapples that you can find in the city. Also look for the attractive offers of Greek olive oil.

Try make Gazpacho with fresh red organic tomatoes from Taj

4.      Steamer

If you need appliances for your kitchen Steamer is your place, the kitchenware specialist in Brighton are in Ship Street. From Kitchenaid appliances, pans, LSA glasses and everything that you need for baking and cooking. The products aren’t cheap but the quality is superb.

5.      The Brighton Sausage Company

Sausages display (above). BSco (Left)

Also in the Brighton North Laines The Brighton Sausage Company offer to you a range of gourmet sausages like the already traditional flavour with leek and apple to more exotic like curry or jalapeños, flavours. They also have chicken and game sausages, eggs, and even Mexican chorizo. Their own make sausages use local meat from farms around.


Try: Three English Sausages clever recipes

6.      La Cave à Fromage

Cheese display at La Cave a Fromage (above). La Cave a Fromage in North Road (left)

La Cave à Fromage is one of the best cheese shops speaking in selection and quality terms that you can find in the whole of England. This cheese lovers paradise offers of course a wide selection of the best French cheese but also the best that UK can offer. And it wasn´t a surprise to find the world wide famous Cabrales cheese from Spain. The low point is the lack of labelling and the service is a bit slow, another French touch if you want it.


Try: Chicory salad with Mimolette Cheese

7.      Canham & Son

Canham & Sons at Curch Road, Hove

It’s a shame the Butchers shops are in decline in almost whole of Europe; in Brighton they are living a revival when you can find several options. My local Butcher are Canham & Son they have superb quality meat from the best cattle that grass in the Southdown’s Natural park area, beautiful pieces of Scottish meat and always plenty of seasonal turkey, pheasants and another birds. I know that the customer service is excellent but the butchers don’t like to much be asked for weird Argentinian cuts like I used to do sometimes.

Try: Steak with Fig salad

8.      

    Ten Green Bottles

Wines shelves and bar area

Wines shelves at Ten Green Bottles

Plenty of places to get your booze in Brighton but no one like Ten Green Bottles; they personally are picking the best of the new European wines. For me was a very nice surprise to find the Urabain red wines from Navarra. Navarra is a not too well known area for such wines but they make excellent beverages. And if you want to discover why the Rheinhessen withe German wine are getting every year more popular here you will find some good bottles. The shop also has a wine bar where you can try before to buy, the food isn´t great.

9.      Thorne´s

Thorne`s Upper Gardner St.

Thorne`s products display

The last gourmet shop to arrive, if I need to make a list which is the best gourmet shop in Brighton then to be sure they will be on the top. Thorne´s seems like they pick the best of all the shops mentioned above. The butcher has high quality local meat, tasty sausages and excellent customer service. Bread and croissants are crunchy, delicate and tasty. Also a selection of local beers, ciders and organic apple juice, you really need to try it. Very seasonable vegetables and even organic fair-trade coffee from Guatemala. The shop design is superb and if you have not enough you can have a chef breakfast upstairs (also are open for lunch)

Try: How to prepare the perfect pan fried steak

10.  Brighton & Newhaven Fish Sales

Fish get very busy Friday and Saturday morning with Brightoners

When I moved to Hove every time that I tried an excellent fish dish in Brighton I discovered that the source was all the same: The Fish shop in hove lagoon. They provide  the whole city with the most fresh and local fish and seafood at very good prices. One mussels kilogram less than 3 pounds, local sea bream, red mullet, crabs, lobster, dover sole and a little fish deli with sauces, frozen fish and even pasta. The customer service is quick, efficient and very clean, and you can follow the catch of the day on Twitter!

Try: Sea Food Pasta using Fish products


*Please notice I am just a regular client but I don’t have any relationship with the owners

◦

BEST 10 Gourmet Brighton Shops

Is sea salt better for you? NO

Sea Salt Cloth from Cornwall by Vidya Crawley

Salt is one of the most important ingredients in the kitchen almost since human civilisation begun. First we used like a preservative for meat and fish, for brine and lately to enhances the flavours of our meals.The Salt is a mineral that is composed primarily of sodium chloride a must in our body. It´s found in the nature under the earth ground or in the sea. In its natural state is colourless or a bit greyish and each salt grain is formed from millions of sea crystal.
One of the most popular methods to obtain sea salt is evaporating water from the seas. The evaporation process can be natural (natural evaporation of a lake given high temperature or strong winds) or in salt mines beside the sea. Once the evaporation process has finish the salt crystals are collected (manual or mechanical) and start a process of depuration for make it adaptable for human consumption.

Sea Salt in Britain and Europe

Flamingos at Cabo de Gata Natural Park by Landahlaust

The different kinds of salt are distinguished by the colour, the taste, the grain size, the compositions or solubility, but for British gourmets and foodies the most popular or best market are from Cornwall used for Rick Stein and Gordon Ramsay for example. Traditionally for chef around the world the Maldon international company from the Essex coast is a salt institution for its purity and strong salty flavour, especially for seasoning fish, meats and grill vegetables. Also the salty waters of the Anglesey Coast produce strong flavour crystals with a great texture and now part of the Heston Blumenthal range of flavoured gourmet sea salts.
Another world wide famous salt is the Guerande from Britannia (France) appreciate it for be rich in oligoelements and the grey colour and is easy to dissolve. And if I need to recommend one will be the Flower of Salt (Fleur de sel in France, Flor de Sal in Spain and Portugal) The European version of this salt are most of them extracted from Natural Parks, where human exploitation of the lagoon cleaning the excess of salt has helped to the local and migratory birds like flamingos can live or rest. The flower salts contain a natural pink micro-algae that through the contact with the flamingos in the water gave to them their famous pink colour. This salt is most recommending for salad or for adds to the food in the last step of cooking.

Benefits of Salt consumption and risk

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a daily intake of 6g a day.
Gourmet Salt, Sea salt or rock salt is no better for your health, like normal table salt, they have the same level of sodium chloride accounts almost a 100%

Photo by Krissen

Benefits.
1.Facilitate a correct digestion regulating the levels of bacteria in the digestive system.
2.To maintain the liquids and acidity levels in the body helping the absorption of potassium.
3.To provide the necessary amount of minerals like sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron and iodine.
4.To avoid nausea, cramps and, even, convulsions brought about by the lack of salt, if you sweat a lot the lack of salt can be a problem.
5.For flavour our food and dishes and make them tastier.

Risks.

In most of the developed countries daily salt intake has increased until  double of the recommendations.
The salt abuse in our diet will be reflected in our health in a medium long term

1.The abuse of salt produces blood pressure creating heart failure, one of the main death diseases in Europe and America.
2.Produce water retention and with that obesity and will make that our main vital organs like heart, livers and kidney work even more.
3.Can produce Brain ischemia, a more common deathly disease that causes insufficient blood flow to the brain.
4.Excess of salt in the diet is related with stomach cancer
5.Also can produce osteoporosis.

How to reduce you salt daily intake

Traffic Light Food Labelling is one of the news ideas from government to reduce
high  intakes of sugar, fat and Salt. Photo by Labour Party

1.Stop eating ready meals, take away or in restaurant, ¾ of your totally salt intake came for industrial food. Start to cook at home fresh ingredients, vegetables, meat or even fish have not high salt content for treat to health, just enough for make healthier your body.
2.Cook without salt and train your taste. Avoid add extra salt in the cooking process and just add some salt if you needed in your final dish. With a few weeks your taste will not need salt for start to taste the real flavour of your food. When you go to a restaurant ask to the kitchen to no add salt to your meal.
3.Start to cook with the big range of herbs available in the markets; they will give to your food all the flavour that you need.
4.Use sea salt or use salt with low quantities in sodium. Sea salt has a more intense flavour; in consequence you will need fewer quantities in your meals. Sea salt will be better only in the way you use less in your food.
5.Read the label of your food products and check the salt percentage. In UK most are well indicated but in some another countries you will need to check the sodium level and multiply for 2,5 for get the real quantity of salt in your product.

Top most salty foods

Ham and cheese sandwich have a high salt content

Even in UK one of the pioneering countries against the salt abuse, a single slice of bread can have an astonish 1g of salt

1.Breads, almost any kind but mainly avoid factory breads
2.Cheeses (matured) and another dairy products
3.Sausages and processed meats like hams and bacon
4.Snacks like chips, salted peanuts and also prepared olives and anchovies.
5.Soy sauces or jerk seasoning

And also watch out for those that don’t look like salty, Cereal Breakfast and Ketchup with an astonishing 2.2g of salt each 100g (yes go and take a look at your bottle)

Gourmet Salts

Heston Coriander & Rose Salt by Winkypedia

Despite the effort for the government to try to reduce at half the salt consumption in the population for reduce costs , obesity and fatal victim the supermarkets and another food industries with the some of the celebrities chef like main protagonist don´t stop to launch new salt brands promising that they are the testier and healthy alternative to the classic table salt (that last bit is just for a label from one salt packet) but you need to be very aware that gourmet salt are just more expensive and just as bad for you like another normal salt. Gourmet salt contain like another table salts between 97 to 100% sodium chloride having the same benefit or risk in your body. Read more at The Guardian

More

Download the WHO report about Strategies to monitor and evaluate population sodium consumption and sources of sodium in the diet
Download the Who report Less salt less risk

*Please for more information check with you Doctor

*Fell free of share this document

◦

Is sea salt better for you? NO

Go Dutch with these easy Dutch cake recipes

Dutch Cheery Cake with a traditional lattice

I have a Dutch neighbour; we moved almost at the same time to our new block of flats in Brighton. Together we discovered that the English ways of the workers and buildeing contractors wasn´t so punctual or accurate as in Netherlands and I discovered that they were as clumsy as in Spain. Since then we are establishing ourselves as a private cooking club. He is from the south of the Netherlands, a land of windmills, castle´s and old folk traditions and he told us that in his town no celebration is complete without the following Dutch traditional cakes.

The recipes of the Limburgse vlaai, as the cakes are called in Dutch,  passed from one generation to another. The next recipes are the traditional ones as taught to him by his grandmother with all ingredients found in  British supermarkets. So this Christmas Go Dutch!

Recipes by Johan Bernards

First the dough which work for any of the fillings

You need:  250g plain flour -  7,5 g dried yeast or 15g fresh yeast -  25g butter (chopped and softened at room temperature) - 15g caster sugar -  ½ egg (whisked) -  A pinch of salt

Shallow tin cake of 30cm diameter and height 3cm approx.

Ready to pour in the yeast

Flat your dough with a rolling pin

1. Follow the dried yeast packet instructions to prepare the yeast. I dissolved 1 tsp of sugar in 75ml water (1 part boiling, 2 parts cold), then sprinkled this with 7,5g of yeast and whisked it thoroughly. The yeast should then be left in a warm place for about 15 min until it is covered with froth. Measures can vary depending of the brand. 

2. In a bowl add the flower and sugar. Add the butter in small pieces in a circle round the outer edge. Do the same with the egg. Make a hole in the middle (here we will add the yeast in a minute) Sprinkle the salt carefully on the outer edge of the bowl (Initially contact between yeast and salt should be avoided as the salt stops the yeast from being active).

3. Now poor slowly the dissolved dried yeast in the hole, while gradually with one hand starting to mix the flour with the yeast from the centre, slowly moving outwards adding all the ingredients. As the dough starts to form and thickens, continue the mixing with your hands. If the dough is to dry to workout add a splash of milk at room temperature.  If is too wet just incorporate more flour to the dough.

4. Once the dough has formed clean your sticky hands by rubbing flour in between them. Flour a clean work surface and transfer the dough on to here. Start to knead the dough, for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Work the dough well by folding it, punching it with your knuckles. Once smooth and elastic, set aside the dough covered with a clean (humid) kitchen towel or similar in a warm place until it has doubled in volume. (If you don’t have a warm place then just pre-heat your oven at 80ºC and turn off before putting in the dough).

Transfer the dough with a rolling pin

Cut any excess and ready to fill

5. Transfer the risen dough back to the work surface and knead slightly to a ball. With a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a flat circle, large enough to cover the baking tray, including edges.

6. Adding flour to the dough, carefully roll the dough around the rolling pin and then transfer it to the baking tray (don’t try and stretch/pull the dough!) . Use your hands to lift and drop the dough into the corners of the tray, and cut any excess by rolling the rolling pin over the edges. Use a fork to make tiny holes in the dough

Filling for a Custard Cake

Dutch Custard Cake

You need for the custard: 900ml milk - 75g caster sugar - 75g custard powder

You need for the crumbs: 200g flour -140g butter -140g caster sugar

Custard

Add the custard mixture to the milk

Pour in the custard filling

In bowl mix the custard powder, sugar and a little of the milk, whisk very well until smooth. Boil the rest of the milk. When the milk is boiling stir in the custard mixture and keep on whisking until it is a thick mixture. Let cool down, but stir occasionally to avoid the forming of a skin on top.

Crumbs

Making the butter crumbs

Spread the crumbs over the custard

In a bowl mix the flour and the sugar. Add 140g cold butter in chunks. With a knife cut the butter in small pieces. Now with your hands, take the mixture and pinch a little and push the mixture forwards out of your hands with your thumbs (Be careful not too melt the butter in the process). Continue this process until crumbs are formed.

Assemble the cake:  Put the custard filling into the baking tray on top of the dough. Top with the crumbles and cook in a pre-heated oven at 200ºC for about 20 minutes putting the cake in the middle of the oven. When you can see that the edges and top are golden brown, remove from the oven and let it cool down in a rack.

Cherry Cake or Gooseberry cake

You need: Some dough leftovers for making the lattice – 400x3 can of cherry cake filling or Gooseberry cake filling – 2tbsp of breadcrumbs – 1 egg (whisked) 1 tbsp. sugar

Pour in the Cherry filling

Traditional Dutch Lattice

1.       First spread the 2 tbsp. of breadcrumbs over the dough in the tin cake, in this way some of the filling will be absorb by the breadcrumbs.

2.       Again with a rolling pin make a flat disc of 25 cm with the leftover dough and then with a cutter or knife make the lattice 2 cm wide.

3.       Stir in the filling in the tin cake with the dough and spread evenly

4.       On top make a lattice like in the picture above.

5.       Brush with the whisked egg and sprinkle over some sugar over the lattice.

6.       Cook the cake in a pre-heated oven at 200ºC for about 20 minutes.

◦

Go Dutch with these easy Dutch cake recipes

Chewton Glen, luxury in the forest

Garden´s at Chewton Glen

Situated in New Milton in Hampshire this is very much a 5 star establishment. From the moment you enter the grounds with its well manicured lawns and woodland scenery you know that this is a special place. We were met at the Chewton Glen hotel entrance and foregoing the normal check in formalities were whisked up to our second floor suite.

The room did not disappoint being the epitome of luxury with a well appointed sitting area, ample storage space and a superbly comfortable bed.

The bedroom offers luxury and ample storage behind the mirrored wardrobes

The bathroom was also lavishly appointed with a tv screen above the bath to enjoy during a long soak.

The public areas are equally  well  furnished and are reminiscent of a large country house with burning logs in the ornate fireplaces and oversize armchairs and sofas to soothe relaxation. Nothing is deemed as too much trouble here and service is polite efficient and friendly. The Hotel Manager Ashley Ely and his excellent team ensures that everything runs smoothly. 

Croquet Grounds with main house in the background

The Chewton Glen has numerous indoor and outdoor facilities but this being mid and grey November we decided to make use of the hotels indoor Spa. This is the most incredible complex in the U.K with a large heated swimming pool, hydrotherapy pools, saunas ,steam rooms and gym and areas in which to relax with a light snack or healthy drink. As evening approached we had a drink in the bar followed by a superb 5 course tasting menu in the beautiful restaurant Vetiver. 

Breakfast table with a view

Fresh pastry with local berries

Breakfast the following day was an equally impressive affair after which we took a stroll around the extensive grounds. It was then time to take our leave but we will be back. In my opinion this is the best hotel in England and certain 5 star properties in London would be well advised to visit to see 5 star service in action.

Note1: Chewton Glen hotel has a Green Tourism Business Scheme Golden Awards

Note2: Conde Nast Traveller Gold List 2012 for Best Service in UK

The New Vetiver Restaurant with Luke Matthews Tasting Menu

Table at Vetiver Wine Room

Interior Designer Anita Rosato has created an outstanding restaurant room for a refine dinning experience. The gamble to transform the light conservatory into a more dark area with black wallpaper and provide the dark areas of the rest of the rooms with light pay off, adding also touch of lime and violet to the environment. At the end a perfect setting in which to enjoy the food where you feel in total intimacy that suits the atmosphere of the hotel.


We decided to go for the testing menu and take the wine options with each course and was bowled over by the knowledge and passionate enthusiasm of our Sommelier Andrea newly arrived from Italy. 
The dishes were venison Carpaccio with cous-cous and cauliflower puree, then a very crispy duck salad, afterwards an exiting combination of monkish with wild mushroom and gnocchi potatoes cooked to perfection. A bit disappointing was the grouse with too strong a flavour which left an unpleasant taste. But the dessert, New Forest Blackberry Vacherin with local berries deserved applause.


Also the wine selection was superb with georgous choices for the dishes like a Langhe Arneis from Piedmont a delicate Jumilla from Juan Gil.


The restaurant is not just an a la carte experience, you can go for the lunch menu or even just for very easy dishes. We had some sandwiches with a bowl of french fries in the lounge at lunchtime and they were delicious! 

Overall this is a fantastic dining experience for breakfast, lunch , afternoon tea and dinner!!

Pebble Beach Sea Food Restaurant in Barton-on-Sea

Pebble Beach Oyster Bar

Pebble Beach Restaurant is situated on the seafront above the cliffs at Barton on Sea Pebble Beach offers superb seafood in a lovely setting.

The restaurant is well furnished and there is an oyster bar where diners can enjoy their meals whilst watching the chefs do their culinary magic.

There is an outside terrace with glorious views across Christchurch Bay to the Isle of Wight.

Now about the food , the Head Chef Pierre was for many years based at the Chewton Glen in New Milton.

He and his team produce outstanding food and I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough as it is on a par with the best seafood restaurants in London such as J Sheekey. As a starter I had scallops served on a bed of peas. They were delicious and cooked to perfection. To follow I had a grilled Dover Sole served with seasonal vegetables.The dish was well presented with the vegetables in a curve around the fillets of sole. Also we had fresh lobster served on a bed of noodles which was equally impressive. The meal was washed down with a reasonably priced bottle of Albariño White wine from Galicia, Spain.

Views from the Restaurant terrace to Isle of Wight

Pebble beach also has a suite of rooms above the restaurant should you wish to stay overnight and the breakfasts served in the morning equal the quality of the evening meal. 

Three things to do around Chewton Glen

1. Go for a coastal walk to Barton-on-Sea (15 minutes walk from the hotel). Lands slide cliff and great views to Isle of Wight and the needle. Recharge energies in the Pebble Beach Oyster Bar.

2. Visit the New Forest National Park, once the hunting ground of William the Conqueror this wild woodland park offer several walk and bikes routes where you can see new forest ponies, cattle and with a bit of luck some deer.

3. A day out to Beaulieu. The area offer plenty of towns and farms to visit but Beaulieu has the famous Britain National motor museum with vintage car to F1 and the village has also a 13th century Abbey and plenty of shops and restaurants to have a gourmet experience.

◦

Chewton Glen, luxury in the forest

How to book a trouble free Christmas Party

Brighton Sea front offer a lot of options for have a dinner party

The level of hygiene in a restaurant always is very important as well how they manipulate the food in the kitchen, but maybe  when you are choosing your office Christmas party have a special relevance because this time is not just about your healthy is about you team or office and if some people of the team have been sick due  a poor option in the booking that can be a trouble in the future in the work relationship and also with your boss that can see the workload decline given that half of the office was sick at home for a week after the office dinner party. Check out all ours Brighton Restaurants Reviews

How to check if restaurants have high hygiene standards.

When you have decided which restaurant to go for celebrate, before booking go to have a lunch with another colleague to find out how the restaurant is dealing with the hygiene and check out the following recommendations.

1.    The restaurant. Don’t run risks; book early a restaurant with good reputation or places that are used to work with a full house. If you choose a quiet restaurant probably they find at busy times the stress situation makes them vulnerable to mistakes in the food manipulation. Even if they hire enough staff to manage a full house the personnel may be inexperienced.

2.    Check the floor and seats. Rest of food on the floor, dust, spilled drinks or pieces of paper napkins can be an attraction point for bacteria or insects. In any case if they can’t keep the restaurant area clean, you can easy imagine the kitchen state.

3.    Take a look of the personal hygiene of the waitress of the rest of the personal and the common areas that they use like the bar and bathrooms. Arrive early to your lunch can give you an opportunity to see some of the kitchen staff. How they look can give you a good idea how the things are in the kitchen. If you don´t want to run the risk, book a restaurant with an open kitchen and you can have a real look how clean it is.

4.    If you see a fruit flies around that is sign that the environment is not clean and insects thinks the restaurant is a nice place to live.

5.    Check the temperature. If the restaurant is a bit warm or hot can be a problem, high temperature is good for insect and bacteria and is a real risk for certain kind of food.

6.    The table. Any sign of dirtiness in the cutlery, glasses, napkins or tablecloth mean that the dishwasher or wash machine has a bad maintenance. Also take a look to the menu, too much fingerprints is also a bad sign.

7.    The food. Try to book a place that work with local food, just not for the ecological point of view, if the food is local it is mean that was more easy to keep it fresh and less chance to suffer bad food manipulation

8.  The kind of food. Avoid in the menu selection any dishes that contain home-made mayonnaise, dairy sauces, raw fish,  running eggs or dishes that even are properly cook but  are consumed cold like fish-cakes.

Check out all ours Brighton Restaurants Reviews

Coal Shed - Ginger Pig - China Garden - The Meadow - Marrocco´s

◦

How to book a trouble free Christmas Party

The Ginger Pig, Best Gastro Pub in East Sussex

THE GINGER PIG

Ginger Pig Restaurant in Hove

Since moving to Hove 2 years ago this establishment, part of the Ginger group of restaurants has become a firm favourite of ours.
The food is always superb, the ambience very welcoming and the service attentive.
We have dined here at least 20 times and have never had a bad experience.
 
Sunday lunches are a firm favourite for probably the best roast beef in Hove. The meat is always cooked to perfection and the portions of vegetables more than generous with enormous yorkshire puddings crowning the plates.

Salmon Fish Cakes. Even is not a fish restaurant they cook fish to perfection

Duck and Guinea Fowl are always the best choice in this venue

Weekday lunches and dinners are equally well executed with a great selection of starters, mains and scrumptious deserts.
A selection of specials is also available as well as an inexpensive menu of the day which is excellent value.

The wine list is extensive offering bottles from both the old and new worlds as well as sparkling wines sourced locally from Ditchling.

Menus change regularly and your palette will never be jaded.

www.gingermanrestaurants.com ◦

The Ginger Pig, Best Gastro Pub in East Sussex

How to prepare the perfect pan fried steak.

Pan fried steak "milanesas" are a classic in bar and restaurants in Buenos Aires
 and  Montevideo. Photo by Tatito from Skyscrapercity

Pan fried steaks are the kind of comfort food with many ways to serve but to have the perfect one you need to follow some steps. Originally this is an Austrian recipe popular also in its neighbouring countries, but more or less in every European country pan fried steaks are popular and as well have become very popular in south American countries mainly in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay known as Milanesas (“from Milano”). The Milanesa Napolitana (pan-fried steak napolitan style) is claimed from the Argentinian, but we know that they use to claim to be the inventors of the barbed wire or that Maradona first goal against England in Mexico´86 was legal.

How to prepare the perfect pan fried steak.

1. Is very important to choose the correct kind of meat. It is recommended using beef round, sirloin bottom or silverside. I have been using Hereford beef sirloin steak from Waitrose, because Hereford cattle is the most consumed in Argentina and Uruguay and also like my aunt said to me, “any steak with a bit of fat on the top is good enough for milanesas”.
2. Between 6-8 mm will be the perfect thickness, if you can get it just flatten the steak with a meat mallet.
3. The breadcrumbs are also very important, for the perfect pan fried steak the best is grate bakery stale bread with the most little side of the grater. If you use industrial one you are at risk to have a too dry pan fried steak.
4. You can use a light flavour olive oil or sunflower oil. Be sure is very hot before to start cooking (180ºC). Also you don’t need use too much, just enough to cover the steak.  Cook the steak by batches and remove the breadcrumbs that still  in the frying pan before the next batch so they do not burn and wont contaminate the oil flavour

Classic Pan fried steak

Classic Pan fried steak with french fries

You need:  1 thin cut steak by serve – 2 eggs - 150g White breadcrumbs – ½ tsp lemon juice – 1tbsp fresh parsley (chopped) – 1 garlic clove (thinly chopped or garlic crushed) -  Oil for frying

1. In a bowl beat the 2 eggs and season. Add the parsley and garlic and finally put in the steaks.  Chill in the fridge for half an hour.
2. In another bowl or recipient spread the breadcrumbs. Remove the steaks from the fridge and coat one by one on both side until the steak is totally covered. Shake for remove any breadcrumbs excess.
3. Heat the oil, when is very hot fry the steak by batches, be sure they have enough space in the pan. Cook 2 minutes each side. Keep them warm until you finish with the rest.

Milanesa a la Napolitana

First add the tomato sauce and then the ham

Milanesa Napolitana with baked vegetables

You need:  1 thin cut steak by serve – 2 eggs - 150g White breadcrumbs – ½ tsp lemon juice – 1tbsp fresh parsley (chopped) – 1 garlic clove (thinly chopped or garlic crushed) -  Oil for frying – 200 ml tomato passata – 150g mozzarella (grated) – 1 slice of ham by steak – 1 tsp dried oregano. Oven at 160ºC

1. In a bowl beat the 2 eggs and season. Add the parsley and garlic and finally put in the steaks.  Chill in the fridge for half an hour.
2. In another bowl or recipient spread the breadcrumbs. Remove the steaks from the fridge and coat one by one on both side until the steak is totally covered. Shake for remove any breadcrumbs excess.
3. Heat the oil, when is very hot fry the steak by batches, be sure they have enough space in the pan. Cook 2 minutes each side. Keep them warm until you finish with the rest.
4. When you finish put the steak in a baking tray, spread over them some tomato sauce, cover with the ham slices and top with mozzarella.
5. Bring to the pre-heated oven until the mozzarella has smelt and bubbling.
6. Before to serve sprinkle over some pepper and dried oregano.

Oven Chicken Schnitzel

You need: 1 Small chicken breasts by serve (halved and flatten with a mullet)- 150g White breadcrumbs – 2 eggs - 1½ tsp Paprika -50ml Milk - 150g Plain flour - 40g Butter. Oven at 220ºC

Chicken Schnitzel with sweet-potatoes mash

1. In a bowl beat the 2 eggs and stir in the milk. Add the chicken steaks.  Chill in the fridge for half an hour.
2. In another bowl or recipient spread the breadcrumbs and stir in the paprika, mix very well. In another bowl put the flour and season with salt.
3. Remove the chicken from the fridge. Coat them in the flour, shake to remove any excess. Coat again in the egg mixture, remove and coat now in the paprika breadcrumbs.
4. Put the escalope’s in a baking tray previously oiled with a little butter dollop on the top. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes each side, until the chicken steaks are golden brown and no pink meat.

The most popular side dish for this 3 recipes are French fries, but also work very well any kind of mash or green salad with tomatoes.
For a healthy approach to the dish is recommended follow the oven chicken schnitzel for the steak as well but you need to be careful to don´t over dry the meat.  For avoid it, just cover the baking tray with a humid greaseproof paper and cook for 10-12 minutes at 180ºC

More Photos by Tatito at http://todoatravesdemicamara.blogspot.com/

◦

How to prepare the perfect pan fried steak.