GET ready for an extraordinary Easter.
Whether you are on your own, in a couple or with family, you can still have a special weekend.
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But it is important to make those essential shopping trips count.
Will you stick with tradition or try something different?
Beef and salmon are great alternatives to this time of year’s traditional lamb.
Here is my seasonal basket of great buys, as well as some very tasty recipes.
Roast beef, shallots, horseradish Yorkshires
Serves four
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YOU NEED:
- 1 drizzle olive oil
- 2kg topside beef joint, French trimmed
- 6 sprigs rosemary
- 8 whole echalion shallots, peeled
- 50g plain flour
- 50g cornflour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 3 medium eggs
- 1 tbsp hot horseradish
- 150ml semi-skimmed milk
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
METHOD: Preheat oven to 240C/220 fan/gas 9. Drizzle olive oil over the beef, season with salt and pepper.
Place the rosemary in the base of a roasting tin and sit the beef on top.
Roast the beef (20 minutes per 450g plus extra 20 minutes for rare; 25 minutes per 450g plus extra 25mins for medium; 30 minutes per 450g plus extra 30 minutes for well done).
Thirty minutes before the end of cooking time, add your shallots.
Remove your beef and let it rest for 20 minutes before serving.
Meanwhile, to make the Yorkshire puddings, place the flour, cornflour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl.
Add the eggs and horseradish. Whisk thoroughly.
Slowly add the milk while whisking for three minutes, until there are no lumps.
Season and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Using a 12-hole muffin tin, pour a little vegetable oil into each hole.
Place the muffin tin in the oven, allowing the oil to heat for ten minutes.
Evenly divide the chilled Yorkshire pudding mix between the muffin holes, and bake for ten to 15 minutes, or until golden-brown and crisp.
Carve the rested beef and serve with roasted shallots and the horseradish Yorkshires.
Pan-fried salmon fillets
Serves four
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YOU NEED:
- 100g Morrisons salted butter, softened
- 1 lemon, zested then sliced
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
- 1 pinch chilli flakes, optional
- 4 Morrisons fresh salmon fillets
- 1 tbsp olive oil
METHOD: Mix the butter, lemon zest, garlic and parsley.
Add the chilli flakes if using, season then form into a pat.
Chill in the fridge while you cook the salmon.
Gently heat a little olive oil in a non-stick frying pan.
Season the salmon fillets.
Add to the pan topside-down and fry gently for three minutes, carefully turning the fillets over and cooking through.
Lift the salmon from the pan and serve on warmed plates, topped with a little of the chilled butter.
Garnish with the lemon slices.
Pot roast pulled beef brisket
Serves four
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YOU NEED:
- 1.8kg beef brisket
- 2 bay leaves
- 600ml ginger beer
- 500ml beef stock, from cubes
- 5 drops Tabasco sauce
- ½ red cabbage, thinly shredded
- 1 red apple, grated
- 1 carrot, peeled and grated
- 2 gherkins, diced
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 1 tbsp honey, runny
- 4 tbsp creme fraîche
METHOD: Put the beef, bay leaves, ginger beer, stock and Tabasco in a pan, cover and simmer for 2.5 hours.
Combine the cabbage, apple, carrot and gherkin.
Mix the mustard and honey with the creme fraiche then add to the cabbage mixture, cover and chill.
Next, skim the fat off the beef’s cooking liquid and boil to reduce it by half.
Shred the beef and mix half of it with 5 tbsp of the reduction.
Serve with the slaw and perhaps some sweet potato wedges.
Market Street tip
MOVING fish around in the pan too much can cause it to break up.
Cook one side before carefully turning over with a fish slice to cook other side.
BEEF
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COOK up a warming casserole with British diced braising steak, 400g, £4.40 at Waitrose or three for £10.
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NOT feeding a crowd? Treat yourself to Tesco rump steak, £3.55 or two for £7.
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SAINSBURY’S1.7kg slow-cooked beef brisket is a great-value way to feed a hungry family, £8.50 per kilo.
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A CLASSIC roast is all yours with Morrisons The Best 21-day matured beef topside joint, £9.75 per kg.
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HAVE all the hard work done for you with a Waitrose pre-prepped slow-cooked beef brisket, 380g, £5. Ideal for two.
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SAVE on Essential Waitrose British sirloin steak, now £3.37, down from £4.50.
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FOR a smaller family, Iceland’s beef topside roasting joint, 650g, £6, fits the bill.
FISH
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REEL in a tasty meal with Morrisons Market Street salmon fillets, 220g, £4 or three for £10.
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CATCH a special dish with a salmon half-side, 500g for £7.35 at Tesco.
- Picture is serving suggestion
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ICELAND’S four frozen Wild Pink salmon fillets, 480g, are down from £4.50 to £4.
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FOR a different fish, save more than £6 when you buy three packs of two sea bass fillets at Waitrose for £10, or £5.49 each. See waitrose.com.
