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In the KITCHEN

Super-quick to prepare, hugely satisfying and you can utilise the very best quality locally reared beef... there’s little not to love about this mid-week winter pleaser!

STEAK & MUSHROOM STROGANOFF

Preparation Time: 15 minutes. Cooking Time: 20 minutes. Serves 2. Ingredients: 230g sirloin steak, trimmed of excess fat • 1½ tbsp olive oil ¼ tsp sweet smoked paprika • 250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced • 1 onion, sliced 1 tsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce • 100ml fresh beef stock • 2 tbsp single cream Handful flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Put a large frying pan over a medium heat. Brush the steak with ½ tbsp oil, season and sprinkle with the smoked paprika. Cook on each side for 2-3 minutes, ensuring the surface of the meat is thoroughly cooked. Lift out of the pan and set aside to rest. Add another 1 tbsp oil to the pan and add the mushrooms and onion. Add 2 tbsp water and fry for 8-10 minutes, until excess water has evaporated and the vegetables are golden. Add the Worcestershire sauce and beef stock, simmering until the liquid has reduced by half. Stir in the cream until combined and warmed through, season, then take off the heat. Slice the steak thickly and add to the sauce with any resting juices drizzled over. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve with tagliatelle, noodles or a green salad, if liked.

In the KITCHEN

To those who say ‘too much indulgence over the festive season;’ to those who embark on New Year diets... we bite our thumb at you sir, and tuck into an almost offensively generous helping of this very naughty chocolate treat!

NO-BAKE CHOCOLATE WAFER CHEESECAKE

Preparation Time: 35 minutes plus chilling time. Serves 12 (if you really must share it). Ingredients: 80g unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing, 150g digestive biscuits, 5 KitKat Original bars, split into 10 fingers 150ml whipping cream, 150g dark chocolate, roughly chopped, 180g tub Philadelphia Soft Cheese 50g icing sugar, 100g Greek natural strained yogurt, ½ tsp vanilla bean paste.

Grease the base and sides of a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin and line with baking parchment. Whizz the digestives and four KitKat fingers to crumbs in a food processor, then mix with the melted butter. Press evenly into the tin, smoothing with the back of a spoon. Chill while you make the filling. Heat the cream in a pan to just before boiling. Take off the heat, add the chocolate and set aside for two minutes, then stir to combine. With a wooden spoon, beat the soft cheese, icing sugar, yogurt and vanilla together until combined, then mix into the chocolate-cream mixture, a large spoonful at a time, until combined. Tip the chocolate mixture over the base and smooth the top, then chill for at least six hours but ideally overnight. To serve, lift the cheesecake from the tin and remove the parchment, then place on a serving plate. Decorate with the remaining six KitKat fingers before serving. Dip your cake knife into just-boiled water, dry with a tea towel and you’ll find it cuts through cleanly. n

A local whisky that even Robert Burns would be proud of!

What do the English know about producing good whisky? Apparently quite a bit. This month we’ve a local Sassenach superstar that pioneers a ‘rapid aged’ technique... Lincoln’s Unconventional Distillery takes a virgin whisky spirit, and with a carefully calculated combination of heat, sound, light, some secret ingredients and a little magic, transformed it into blended whiskey, that even connoisseurs would think has been resting in an oak barrel for years. www.unconventional distillery.co.uk

The Wine Cellar

Wine of the Month

Château Calon Ségur, Bordeaux, France, 2011 £70 / 75cl / 13% ABV

For a belting Bordeaux to enjoy by the fire, we’ll reach for this rock ‘n’ roll superstar, with its full body, and its Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend of grapes. Calon Ségur harvested only 50% of the normal crop this year. Taut and pure, with lovely fresh acidity, this is an interesting wine with an intense blackcurrant character and some savoury and floral notes adding complexity. This Grand Cru Classic has a dense ruby purple colour, sweet cassis and lots of spice. Available from Waitrose Cellar, www.waitrose cellar.com.

THIS MONTH WE’VE A TRIO OF LIGHT AND LOVELY ROSÉ WINES PLUS A RAPID-AGED LOCAL WHISKY FOR BURN’S NIGHT AND A BELTING BORDEAUX TO ENJOY BY THE FIRE...

LA VIE EN ROSÉ: Romantic rosés for those enjoying the first flush of blush...

Enjoy a Bit of Covert Surveillance

1. Chêne Bleu is a beautiful Rhône wine combining Syrah and Grenache grapes to create a raspberry-scented wine with grapefruit and floral hints plus long citrus notes to finish. £22.99 / 75cl / 13% ABV.

2. From our very own shores comes the idyllic-sounding Bluebell Vineyards’ Hindleap Rosé. Exceptionally dry, with strawberries, rose and cranberries on the palate and peach on the nose, plus a gentle fizzy mousse. £27.99 / 75cl / 11.5% ABV.

3. Lively, dry and bright with pink grapefruit, and complex finish, Domaines Ott’s Rosé Château Romassan is a super premium rosé option £34.99 / 75cl / 13% ABV. If this isn’t a winter warmer we don’t know what is! Covert Liqueur is a sort of hybrid mead and cognac with fig leaves, and honey... a proper taste of medieval England! You can enjoy it as an alternative to dessert wine, in place of cognac, or over ice in front of the fire with the dog at your feet. Flavour-wise, think honey, floral tones, and walnut... it’s absolutely delicious! £37 / 70cl / 33% ABV.

n Our featured wines are available from the best local independent wine merchants, supermarkets and online, prices are RRP and may vary from those stated.