Easy Thai Beef Stirfry

I decided the other day to do something a bit different from the usual beef & black bean or oyster sauce.

So I popped into Internet land a looked at Thai recipes. This is a compilation of several recipes.

The beef was super tender because I decided to stir fry it till it was just changing color and removed while still a little pink then returned it right at the end while I thickened the sauce slightly.

I served it with steamed rice and fresh mint and coriander from my new little coriander plant. I also added some of my vietnamese mint.

The freshness of the herbs really lightened the dish. You could also top with fresh chilli.

 

Thai Beef Stirfry

750gm piece rump steak, 1/2 red onion cut into slices, 1 large or 2 medium carrots peeled cut in half lengthwise then on the angle, 1 stalk celery cut into 1/2cm slices on the angle, 1 red capsicum seeds removed sliced into lengths, 1 pak Choy/bok Choy cut in 1/2 width wise slice leaves 2cm slices then cut of end wash stems if necessary slice on angle into 1 cm slices, 1bunch brocollini cut width wise into 4 pieces, 2cm piece ginger peeled and grated, 2 cloves garlic peeled and grated, 1 cup of each fresh mint leaves & coriander leaves. 1/2 water

Marinade - 2 tbsps light soy sauce, 2 tsps cornflour, 2 tsps oyster sauce, 2 tbsps Shaoxing wine.

Mix together in a small bowl add beef stir.

Sauce - 1 tbsp lime juice, 2 1/2 tbsps oyster sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy, 2 tsps sweet chilli sauce ,2 tsps fish sauce, 3 tsps cornflour

Mix together in a small bowl.

Now the best way to get the beef cut into very thin strips is to cut it while it's a bit frozen. I cut mine after it had been out of the freezer for about an hour. If your meat is fresh put it into the freezer for about 1/2 - 3/4 hour to freeze it slightly.

Cut away all the fat and slice into very thin strips about 5 cms long. Add to marinade, stir leave while chopping the vegetables.

Heat 2 tbsps oil in a wok till very hot. Add 1/3 of beef draining off marinade. Stirfry 1 minute until meat is starting to loose it's pinkness, remove to a plate. Continue in the same way with remaining meat. Add any leftover marinade to the sauce mixture. You may need to add extra oil while cooking the beef.

If the base of your wok is covered in cooked on marinade add some water let boil 2-3 minutes while scrapping the bottom, tip out. Add 2 tbsps oil heat till hot.

When the oil is hot add all the vegetables, stirfry 2-3 minutes add water, garlic & ginger. Stir, cover cook 2-3 minutes remove lid add beef & sauce. Stirfry 1 minute or until sauce starts to thicken. Add most of herbs, save some for the top.

Serve with steamed rice.

 

Sweet, Spicy, Smoky Beef Stir Fry

You will ask why this is sweet, spicy and smoky well the beef is marinated in a sauce that has some sugar the sauce has some "hot" sweet chilli sauce - bought by mistake and the smoky part if because I cooked the strips up the side of the wok till the had begun to brown and crisp.

 

Mr CLI was making comments from the lounge while I was cooking this that is smelt good. After the first mouthful he commented that it was wonderful and to make it again.

 

Beef Stir Fry

Marinade - 2 tbsps oyster sauce, 2 tbsps shaoxing wine, 1 tbsps cornflour, 2 tsps fish sauce, 2 tbsps hoisin sauce, 2 tsps sugar

Slice the rump into very thin strips add to marinade, stir leave while preparing vegetables.

750gm piece rump steak, 2 - 3 cups mixed vegetables sliced finely so they can cook quickly, I used red capsicum, carrots, celery, bean. I also used a small tin of water chestnuts, 1/2 red onion cut into 1 cm wedges, 2 cloves garlic either grated or chopped finely , 1 1/2 cups boiling water, 3 tbsps peanut or olive oil

 

Sauce - 2 tbsps oyster sauce, 1 tbsp cornflour, 2 tbsps light soy sauce , 1/4 cup water, 2 tsps sweet chilli sauce - as mine was hot only see a small amount, if you have the mild sauce you could use up to 1 tbsp of sauce

I mixed it in the bowl that had the meat marinating in, so that you can get all the marinade into the sauce as well.

Heat the oil in the wok til nearly smoking, add 1/3 of the meat spread over the base and sides. After 30 - 40 seconds turn over then shift to one side add another 1/3 of the meat repeat the cooking process, then add the last third. The beef should be slightly charred, but not dry or burnt. When you turn the last third of beef add the onion and garlic, toss together . Leave 30 seconds.

Add the vegetables, toss for 1 minute then add the water, cover and let steam/ cook 3 - 5 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked but still crisp.

Stir in the sauce it should thicken within 30 - 40 seconds.

Serve on a bed of steamed rice.

Corn Beef and Mustard Sauce & Painting Progress

Well painting progress in Miss Fishes room, the ceiling is done and the first coat is on all the walls. Slow but steady is the way the room is being done.

I did manage to cook a meal last night, it was corn beef with mustard sauce in the slow cooker.

Corn Beef with Mustard Sauce
1 2kg piece corn beef, peeled potatoes and carrots, enough for your diners

Mustard Sauce - 2 tbsps butter, 3 tbsps plain flour, 1 tbsp prepared mustard I used Dijon, salt & pepper, 2 - 3 cups cooking liquid

I cooked the corn beef in a slow cooker on high for 5 1/2 hours.

Rinse your corn beef and place in the slower cooker cover with water but leave a 5cm gap at the top. Place on the lid and cook for 4 hours.

After 4 hours add the vegetables and cook for a further 1 1/2 hours.

Mustard Sauce - In a saucepan melt the butter add the flour and whisk over medium heat for 1 minute. Add mustard, salt, pepper and 2 cups of cooking liquid. Whisk and bring to the boil, let simmer 1 - 2 minutes or until thickened. If to thick add more cooking liquid, whisk while simmering.

Remove the meat and slice lift out the vegetables using a slotted spoon, place onto the serving plate, pour over the mustard sauce.

Cabbage Rolls

This is one of those recipes that I have been wanting to try for ages, so yesterday was the day.

I served mine on a mound of creamy mashed potato this went well with the soft cabbage rolls and tomato sauce.

These are actually quite simple to prepare, the only tricky thing is to have cabbage leaves big enough. As I wasn't going to eat much of the cabbage I just covered the meat mixture with the cabbage.

Another tip is get a head of cabbage that is loose so that you can easily separate the leaves. Also leave the thick stem in till after you have blanched the leaves then cut it out, otherwise when you lift the leaves out of the water they will tear.



Cabbage Rolls
Filling - 500 grams minced beef, 1 egg, 1 tsp prepared mustard - I used dijon, 1/2 tsp ground sweet paprika, 1/2 cup raw rice, 1 tbsps finely chopped parsley. 1/2 onion grated, salt & pepper

Filling in a large bowl mix together all the filling ingredients.

1/2 savoy cabbage & 1 onion thickly sliced

Sauce - 2 cups tomato passatta, 2 cups water. 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp worsetershire sauce

Mix together.

Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Preheat oven to 180.c

While this is happening peel the larger leaves of the cabbage the mixture is enough for 12 medium size rolls, then slice enough cabbage to cover the base of your baking dish. Place the cabbage then the onion in the base.

Once the water has come to the boil drop 2 - 3 leaves into the boiling water, remove with tongs. When cool enough to handle remove thick stem and place a small sausage of filling at one end roll up enclosing the filling.

Place onto the bed of cabbage/onion. Pour over the sauce, cover and bake for 2 hours.

If the sauce thickens too much add some more water while cooking.

Serve with mashed potato and pour over some of the tomato sauce.

Beef Chow Mein

Now on the weekends our meals are dictated by what we are doing during the day.

As was the case last weekend Mr CLI was busy getting an old car ready for someone to pick up and Miss Fish was helping him !

Now Miss Fish is not a person who can "go with the flow" as far as meals are concerned as soon as she is up on Saturday mornings she wants to know what we are having for lunch and dinner on not only Saturday but Sunday.

Now I actually knew what we were having for lunch on Saturday, because the sausage lover in the house Mr CLI had bought rolls the night before to put BBQ'd sausages in for lunch.

Also Miss Fish was going into respite on Sunday morning so we only had to organise Saturdays tea.

So while eating her breakfast Saturday morning Miss Fish started to list off certain meals,  now most we had eaten in the past week or so, so they were discounted. Then she suggested stir fry, now we hadn't had stirfry for a while so why not.

This made Miss Fish happy because her meals were organised and they were food she likes, well she actually likes nearly everything except mushrooms - Mr CLI doesn't like them - and nuts she finds them to hard to chew.

When Mr CLI had returned from getting his um haircut, think kiwi fruit short and fuzzy, Miss Fish told him what we were having for tea,"fine he said, but could it be beef", "fine" I said.

So into the depths of the freezer I went and out I came with a piece of rump. Next what to cook, we had had beef and black beans not long ago, chicken with oyster sauce also.

So I put my thinking cap on I didn't want rice, but I do want those fine egg noodles that come in tight little bundles and cook in under 5 minutes. What was the best dish to serve with them well beef chow mein of course.

So that is how we come to today's recipe.

Beef Chow Mein

Dry egg noodles - I used 6 bundles.

500 - 750 gm piece of rump sliced very finely with all sinew and fat removed. I cut it while it is still part frozen that way you get very thin slices that cook quickly.

Meat marinade - 2 tbsps light soy sauce, 1 tbsp satay sauce, 1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce, 1 tbsp shaoxing wine

Mix together the marinade and add the beef slices. Marinate the meat up to 1 hour

3 cups of chopped vegetables - I used 1 yellow capsicum, broccoli, 1 medium carrot & 1 stalk celery, 1 onion cut into wedges

Sauce - 3/4 cup water, 2 chicken stock cubes, crumbled, 2 tbsps dark soy sauce, 3 tsps cornflour, 2 tbsps oyster sauce

Whisk all ingredients together in a small jug. Set aside.

Bring enough water to boil in a large saucepan for the noodles.

Heat a large heavy based fypan or wok to hot add 3 tbsps oil. Add onion stirfry 1 minute then add vegetables stirfry 2- 3 minutes until they start to soften. Add 1/4 cup water then cover let the vegetables steam 3- 4 minutes or until nearly cooked. 

Add the noodles to the boiling water, these will cook while you finish you stirfry.

Add the meat and marinade stirfry 2 -3 minutes until the meat changes color.

Pour over sauce stir until thickened.

Drain the noodles, place some in the bottom of your serving bowl then top with chow mein.

Eat and enjoy.

Hopping into Easter

Well you would think that after 20 odd years we would be finished in the CLI household with Easter Bunny, well we aren't.

Miss Fish still believes and with a 9 year old niece, Mr Bunny is still hopping into our Easters.

One of my cooking traditions if I am home at Easter is to make hot cross buns. There is nothing better than the smell of baking buns with the kitchen filled with smell of cinnamon.

When mine are straight out of the oven I glaze them with a sugar glaze, this gives the buns a real shine. You then cut them in half while hot and slather them with butter.

Unfortunatly this won't be happening this year as we will be at my parents, well there is always next year.

Another of our family traditions is a Easter egg hunt, not with real eggs, but with chocolate eggs.

If my Mum is in charge of this we need to count the eggs and follow her as she leaves the, to see where they are, because we learnt the hard way one year for chocolate eggs are fair game for our doggie members of the family. We know this because one year later in the day after the hunt we found chewed tin foil wrapping from an Easter eggs and a satisfied looking dog !



So I hope you have some family Easter traditions you can pass down through your family, and you are getting ready for Easter weekend.

Happy hopping.

Beef Madras Curry

Sorry about no blog yesterday, but I spent the day full of pain killers trying to get some relief from my shoulder injury.

I did however manage to do quite a bit of cooking over the weekend, and you will see over the next few days all the recipes had a distinct Asian feel.

Now this recipe was quite easy because I used a bought curry paste, what wasn't easy was the fact that when I went to check to see if the potatoes had cooked they not only had cooked, but they had boiled dry and burned to the bottom of the pan.

Why does things like that go wrong when you really can't be bothered cooking. So I had to start again with a new frypan  and more potatoes.

I served this with plain steamed rice.

Madras Beef Curry
750 gm piece rump steak, all fat and sinew removed then cut into thin strips, 4 large potatoes peeled and cut into 2 cm cubes, 1 dstsp madras curry paste, 1 cup chicken stock, 1 onion cut into wedges, 1 tbsp soy sauce.

To Serve - Steamed rice.

In a large frypan heat 2 tbsps olive oil, add potato and onion, saute 1 -2 minutes. Add water curry paste and stock, reduce heat and cover. Simmer till potatoes are tender. Add soy sauce and beef stir till beef has cooked through, 2 -3 minutes.

If sauce too thick add more stock/water or if not thick enough let simmer for  2 - 3 minutes til it has thickened. Serve on a bed of steamed rice.

Lahmacun

Now you may ask what is Lahmacun, well it is a pizza dough spread with lamb or beef mince that has had herbs and spices added to it.

It originated in the Middle East.

You then eat it like a pizza and traditionally roll it around pickles or a salad similar to a greek salad.

This is the way that we eat it.

Now I have made this before, after reading several recipes the consensus was to cook the mince first then place it onto the raw dough.

DON'T what every you do follow that path what you are left with is hard little nuggets of mince, think gravel.

The only saving grace was that I had served a salad with it so we could try and moisten the meat with the juice from the salad.

I still shudder at the thought of it.UGH !

This recipe is enough for 6 nearly dinner plate size lahmacun's. You could easily double it if you are feeding more people.

Dough
1 tsp (sachet) dried yeast, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 cup warm water + extra 1/2 cup warm water, 2 1/2 cups plain flour

In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup warm water and the sugar, sprinkle the yeast on top. Leave 15 minutes for the yeast to foam and bubble. I place a tea towel over the top to create warmth.

This is the yeast after 15 minutes, see how it is puffed up.










In a large bowl place the flour and yeast mixture, using you hands (the best kitchen tool ) start to mix together then add enough of the remaining water to form a sticky dough.

Turn out onto a floured surface and kneaded for 3 - 5 minutes or until the dough comes together into a nice ball.

Oil a bowl added the dough ball spray oil on top then cover with cling wrap.

Se how I drape the cling wrap down the sides of the bowl, making sure it is adhered to the bowl.

This is to create a little greenhouse that will help warm the dough causing it to rise.

Leave the dough for 1 - 2 hours.

This is my dough after an hour and half.

The only reason I left the dough for so long was because Mr CLI was late home from  work.







When risen dump the dough onto a floured surface , kneaded for about 1 minute the cut into 6 equal sized balls. Leave while mixing meat together.

Meat Topping
500 gms minced lamb or beef ( my preference is lamb), 1/2 bunch each parsley and mint, finely chopped, 1 medium tomato finely chopped, 1/4 red capsicum finely chopped, 1 tsp each ground cumin, sweet paprika & sumac, 1 tbsp butter, 1/2 onion and 2 cloves garlic whizzed together in a food processor

Preheat the oven 220.c

Melt the butter add the onion/garlic mix, saute until most of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is soft. Leave to cool.

In a large bowl mix together all topping ingredients. Once again your hand is the best tool as you can mix and squeeze the mince so it forms almost a paste, this is so it can be easily spread across the dough.





Roll out the balls of dough quite thin approx 2 - 3 mm. Place onto oiled trays, spread the mince mixture over, leaving about 1.5 cm edge. Now I just used my fingers again and flattened the mince, you have to be careful because the dough is so thin.

Oil the edges of the dough so that they will crisp and brown. I use an oil spray.

Bake 12 - 15 minutes. Once the topping is cooked and the edges have browned, if the base is still a little soft I slide it onto the oven rack and leave for 2 - 3 minutes to crisp up the bottom.

Now you don't want the bottom to hard because you won't be able to fold it around the salad.




Once cooked remove from the oven and cut into 4 pieces. Serve with salad if you are using it. Also a squeeze of lemon is nice on the lahmacun.

Salad
approx 3 iceburg lettuce leaves.1 medium tomato, 1/2 red capsicum , 100 grams feta, all cut into 1 cm dice 1 dessertspoon olive oil and 1 tsp champagne vinegar

Place all ingredients into a bowl and toss.

Mini Meatballs

Now as the theme for the party food was finger food I even made the meatballs small. Out of 500gms of mince I got about 40 meatballs.

As with most of my recipes this one is very easy, but the meatballs are moist and flavourful.

You can make them ahead of time then cover them in tin foil and reheat in the oven.

Meatballs

500 gms mince beef, 2 cloves garlic grated, 2 tbsps tomato sauce, 1 tbsps Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp celery salt, 1 tbps chopped fresh parsley.

In a bowl mix all ingredients together, the best way to do this is with your hands. Collect the mince together in a ball the throw it together on the inside side of the bowl. Do this several times till the meat melds together.

I do this so that the meatballs don't fall apart while cooking.

Roll into small balls, or larger if you wish for bigger meatballs. Heat 2 tbsps oil in a large frypan. Cook for 3-4 minutes rolling the balls around to get and even brownness over the meatballs.

Reduce heat to medium cover the frypan the cook for a further 5 - 7 minutes stirring a couple of times, till the meatballs are cooked through.

Remove from the frypan with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.

Serve hot with tomato or BBQ sauce.

Pastitsio

Now for those of you that don't know Pastitsio is the Greek version of lasagna. Except it only has 3 layers, pasta, meat sauce, pasta then topped with bechemal.

I had heard of it and seen it on T.V. shows but had never eaten it.

On one of our trips to Adelaide we took Miss Fish to - The Greek on Halifax - a Greek restaurant that Mr CLI & I had found on an earlier trip to Adelaide.

http://www.thegreek.com.au/

Now Miss Fish is the Chicken Parmigiana Queen of Victoria, so she was a bit disappointed when the restaurant didn't have any, but as luck would have it while explaining to her that this restaurant was Greek a waitress brought out the specials board. Now Miss Fish not only loves Chicken Parmigiana, but she also loves pasta. Once I explained what it was she was very happy to have it.

Now it had been made with very long tubular noodles, think rigatoni but long like spaghetti. Now having seen this sort of pasta before, it now required another trip to the

Adelaide Central Markets, oh what we do in the name of food. lol.

I found the pasta at a stall that I regularly shop at.

Mezarri Number 11

Now when I made this I realised all too late that I didn't have enough of the tubular pasta for both layers, so I fossicked in the back of the shelf and got out my large pasta shells - another Adelaide market purchase - that I usually fill with a ricotta cheese mix and bake in a tomato sauce, so these became mt first layer of the dish.

Now you really don't have to go and purchase special pasta, for this dish. The only reason that I did was because I could buy it. Most recipes use rigatoni.

You can also use either beef or lamb mince, on this occasion I used lamb mince.

Pastitsio

Meat sauce - 500 gms lamb or beef mince, 1/2 only finely diced, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 tsp dried oregano, 2 tbsps tomato paste, 1/2 cup beef stock, 2 cups tomato passata

Bechamel - 3 tbsps butter, 1/4 cup plain flour, 4 cups milk, salt & pepper, 1 cup grated tasty cheese

Topping - 1/4 cup grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 200.c. Bring enough water to the boil to cook noodles, cook the noodles until al dente. Drain

Meat sauce

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frypan or large saucepan, add onion cook 1-2 minutes or until starting to soften. Add mince, cook until all pinkness leaves the meat, ensuring that you break up any lumps while stirring. Make a hole in the centre of the meat add the tomato paste, cook for 1 minute, stir into the meat. Add the herbs, salt, pepper, stock & passata.

Cover and reduce the heat simmer for 25 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened, but some liquid remains. Remove from the heat.

Bechemal Sauce

Make this either in a saucepan on the stove top or a large jug in the microwave.

Melt the butter, add the flour, cook for 1 minute. Add the milk, whisk until thickened. In the microwave this will take approx 5 minutes on the stove top 7 - 10 minutes. Once thickened remove from the heat add the cheese, whisk till melted then season with salt and pepper.

Assembly

In a large dish mine was approx 20 cm x 35 cm. Add half the noodles stir in about a cup of the bechemal sauce, flatten the noodles to make an even layer. top with all the meat sauce, spread evenly. Then top with the remaining noodles. Pour over remaining bechemal sauce. Top with the parmesan.

First layer of noodles awaiting the meat sauce.

All ready for the oven.

Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the parmesan has melted and browned.

I served it with buttered french stick, if you wanted to you could serve it with a Greek salad, but I found the pastitsio and french stick was enough.

So try this dish it is quite simple and very tasty.

Hearty pasties, for a cold Winters night

The original Cornish pasty only has beef, cubed not minced, potato, onion, swede (turnip) and salt and pepper.

Now somewhere along the way other ingredients have been added, like corn, carrot, peas and parsnip. Similar to what has happened to the pizza, which should only be tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil.

So do I stick to the original recipe, no I must admit that I add peas, because Mr CLI is a bit a pea fanatic and I also add grated carrot.

I have made a pasty similar to the original, but it is made by layering the ingredients, the potato is sliced not grated. It was quite a long process, and the verdict on the flavour, is was ok but seemed to fall apart while you are trying to eat it. So I have gone back to my original recipe.

Now Miss Fish is a dab hand at helping me make these, also she is at the ready when they are cooked to give them a good taste test.

Pasty

500 gms lean minced beef, 1/2 cup frozen peas, 1 medium carrot grated, 1 large or 2 medium potatoes grated, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper. 4 - 6 sheets puff pastry, 1 egg beaten for egg wash

Peheat oven to 200.c fan forced or 220.c normal. Line flat trays with baking/parchment paper.

In a large bowl mix all ingredients, except egg and pastry together. I find using my clean hands the best to get it thoroughly mixed together.

Place the pastry sheets flat on you work surface, cut into 4 squares. Place approx 1/3 cup of the mixture on 1 half of each square. Now you can make them triangular or oblong the choice is yours.

Brush some egg wash around the edge, fold over and press the edges down with a fork. Pierce the top of the pasty once with the fork to allow steam to escape. Place onto the trays, brush with the eggwash.

Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until golden. You may need to turn your trays around halfway during the cooking.

Because there isn't a large amount of filling, in my oven by the time the pastry is golden, the filling is cooked.

Enjoy with tomato sauce, homemade if you have it.

Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf

Now I don't make a lot of meatloaves, but I have always wanted to make one with hard boiled eggs in the centre and wrapped in bacon.

While perusing the freezer yesterday looking for something to cook for tea, my eyes spied a packet of bacon and a parcel of mince, so I decided this is a good time to try the meatloaf wrapped in bacon.

This is a really easy recipe, you can serve it with creamy mashed potato or do as I did for an easy tea put a tray of potatoes, carrot and pumpkin in to roast at the same time, which makes it a one oven meal. I also made some packet gravy, as Mr CLI doesn't consider it a proper meatloaf unless it has gravy and tomato sauce ! He also doesn't consider it a meatloaf unless it has peas, so in they went.

Now this recipe was enough for 9 thick slices of meatloaf. I used lean mince so it didn't require any breadcrumbs or an egg. If you find that it won't hold together to form a meat loaf add 1/4 cup breadcrumbs and 1 egg.

Meatloaf

750 grams mince beef, 1/2 onion finely chopped or grated, optional 1/2 cup frozen peas and/or 1/2 cup grated carrot, 1 tbsps chopped fresh parsley, 2 tbsps tomato sauce, 1 tbsps worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp dried mustard powder, salt and pepper 3 eggs cooked for 8 minutes and peeled, 8 - 10 rashers bacon

If you grate the onion add it straight to the mince mixture. If you have chopped the onion saute over low heat in 1 tbsp oil until soft, let cool then add to mince mixture.

Combine all ingredients except eggs and bacon. Line a tray with baking paper. Place rasher on tray overlapping the sides. Take half the mixture and form the base, mould a groove in the middle for the eggs. Lay the eggs end to end about 2 cm from the narrow edge. Use the remaining mixture to form the meatloaf.

Cover over with the bacon. I found that my packet was all the eyes, so I just covered it with very little wrapping it did the job fine.

Bake for 30 minutes, you will probably find a lot of liquid in the tray, pour off and return to the oven for a further 30 minutes. Remove from the oven leave for 5 minutes before slicing.

Now my husband was full of praise for this meatloaf, so this has now become the new recipe to cook when I make meatloaf.

Hamburgers

As you may have guessed by now we are not big red meat eaters. When I meet Mr CLI, many moons ago, I hadn't eaten red meat in 7 years. It was a bit of a shock too start cooking for someone that was brought up and still eating big chunks of red meat.

In the years that have passed Mr CLI has realised that his digestion works better if he eats less red meat and in smaller portions. If I make a steak sandwich, after cooking the steak I slice it before placing it on the roll, this not only makes for easy eating also for those of us - not me - that have dentures to contend with.

For my hamburgers I use 500 gms of mince, this gives me 4 patties, if you want larger patties increase the amount of mince. I have been making this recipe since Miss La Coiffure was in nappies. I have tried other recipes over the years but I still keep coming back to this recipe as it is tasty and always moist, as long as the BBQ chef doesn't wander off with his spatula in hand, and leave them to cook for too long.

Hamburgers

500 gm lean mince, 1/2 small carrot grated, 1 heaped tbsp chopped parsley, 1 egg, 1 desertspoon worcestershire sauce. 1 tbsp tomato sauce, 1/2 tsp dried mustard powder

Place all ingredients in a bowl, mix well together with your hands. Form into patties. Cook using a very small amount of oil in your frypan. Serve on hamburger buns with your choice of toppings.

I must admit when I cook these I go all out on the toppings, beetroot, sliced tomato, lettuce, cheese, egg and pineapple. It then becomes a bit of a dagwood hamburger, best eaten in silence - no time to talk - and with lots of serviettes.

Warming up during the cold - An Easy Beef Casserole

As I am typing this the rain is pelting down and the hail is hitting the windows with a deafening roar.

So my mind travels off and starts thinking of a warming casserole.

This casserole is very simple to make, just a bit of meat browning, potato peeling and bringing liquid to a boil. Then its into the oven the cook slowly, while it makes your house smell divine and your tummy rumble.

I always put on a loaf of bread in the bread maker, to eat warm with melting butter dripping off your fingers and perfect for mopping up the sauce.

You can make a small casserole or a very large one. The amounts I use is enough for 4 large serves with leftovers. You can add any other root vegetables, that you may like.

Beef Casserole

1 1/2 half beef cut into 4 x 4 cm cubes (I use rump) 1 bottle passatta, potatoes peeled and cut into large pieces approx 6cm, 1 litre stock, 1 cup frozen peas, 4 tbsps plain flour, 1/2 - onion chopped finely, 2 cloves garlic finely chopped, 1 tsp dried thyme or 2 small sprigs fresh thyme, oil for frying

Preheat oven 160.c Place flour in a plastic/freezer bag add salt & pepper, place meat in and toss about to coat. Heat 2 tbsps of oil, add meat in batches and fry till brown. Remove and place in a casserole dish, with the potatoes or if using a large pot that you can place in the oven, place onto a plate. DON'T throw out the remaining flour.

When finished browning the meat, you may need more oil, add onion stir 1-2 minutes, scrapping as much from the bottom as possible. Add garlic stir 30 seconds. Add leftover flour stir 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients except peas, stirring to get remainder from base of the pan. Bring to the boil, either pour over meat & potatoes in the casserole dish or return meat and potatoes to pot. You may need more stock or you can use water.

Cover place in the oven bake 2- 2 1/2 hours or until meat is tender. Add peas cook for a further 20 minutes.

The sauce will have thickened a little while cooking. Serve with fresh bread. Eat and enjoy.

Slow Cooker - Potroast

Now that the weather is getting cooler, it is time to think of warming meals. Which means stews that cook slowly all day and make the house smell wonderful. It also means pot roast.

Now this is an easy meal that once started can be left to cook by itself, you only have to add the vegies at a later time. It is a true one pot meal.

Now my parents gave me a slow cooker as a present a couple of years ago, I am not one to get upset to get cooking implements for my birthday - now an iron would be a different thing you might find that thrown at you - but a slow cooker I am happy with. Now this slow cooker is very large so it is perfect for pot roast and cooking corn beef (silverside).

I used to cook it in a large saucepan, but I usually needed another saucepan when I added the vegies as there wasn't enough room. In the slow cooker it is much easier. It takes 6 hours on high, but you can set it going in the morning on low, but when you add the vegies I would put it up to high, as they will cook in 1 - 1 1/2 hours, also you don't need to cut you potatoes small pieces the size of a tennis ball are best.

Pot Roast

1 piece of topside I used a piece 1 1/2 kgs, you can also use a whole chicken, 2 tablespoons tomato paste, 1 tsp dried mixed herbs, 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce, 50 gms butter & 1/4 cup plain flour (if cooking in a large slow cooker 100 gms butter & 1/2 cup plain flour) enough beef/chicken stock to cover meat (you can do half stock and half water) Peeled potatoes and pumpkin cut into tennis ball size pieces, peeled carrots cut in half lengthwise and sliced into pieces 7 -8 cms long

Melt butter in a frypan, brown meat on all sides, place into the slow cooker (if using a large pot remove meat onto a plate) add flour whisk 1 minute. Add tomato paste whisk 1 minute. Add some of the stock, whisk to ensure that you get no lumps, when smooth add remainder of stock, herbs and worcestershire when boiling pour over meat (or add meat back to pot, bring to the boil cover, reduce heat to a simmer). Ensure there is enough liquid to cover the meat, if using a slow cooker I leave approx 4 - 5 cms room to allow for the vegetables to fit in, without the sauce overflowing. Cook 5 hours in the slow cooker add the vegies cook for a further 1 - 1 1/2 hours. I check after an hour the vegies are usually done. (If cooking in a pot cook 2 hours add the vegies, bring back to a boil then reduce heat to a rolling simmer cook approx 1 hour until the vegies are done)

Next remove the meat slice place on a plate with the vegetables pour over some of the thick sauce and enjoy.

Happy Easter and Yummy Lasagna

Well a Happy Easter to everybody, and be very careful on the roads.

As Miss Fish and I are off to visit my parents for Easter, Mr CLI is working over Easter. So he will be batching for himself. Being a good wife I am making him some supplies that are easy to heat and eat. I am making home made pizzas for tea tonight, so I will make extra pizzas for him. This morning I made him a lasagna.It is a very easy recipe.

Lasagna

Meat Sauce

500 gm - 1 kg mince beef (depending on how meaty you want the sauce) 1 bottle of tomato passata, 2 cups water, 1/2 stalk celery, 1 medium carrot, 1/4-1/2 onion all finely diced, 1 sachet/1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 large or 2 small cloves garlic, grated, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 tsp dried oregano or marjoram,

In a large frypan saute for 2-3 minutes carrot, onion and celery in 2 tablespoons of oil. Push to one side add tomato paste stir 30 seconds, then stir into the vegetables. Remove the vegetables add the mince, saute until it changes color. Return the vegetables and stir in, add remaining ingredients. Bring to the boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Make sure that the sauce has more liquid than normal, as we are using non cook lasagna sheets you need the sauce with more liquid to cook the sheets.

Cheese Bechamel Sauce

50 gms butter, 1/4 cup plain flour, salt and Pepper to taste, 1 cup grated cheese, 2 cups milk

Now I make this in a pyrex jug in the microwave, so that you don't have to worry about it burning.

Melt the butter on high 30 - 40 seconds. Add flour, whisk, cook on high 40 seconds. Add milk, salt and pepper. Cook on high 2 minutes, whisk. Cook for further 1 - 3 minutes until sauce thickens add the cheese, whisk until the cheese has melted.

1 - 2 packets of no cook lasagna sheets, depending on the amount of layers use wish to make and the size of the dish you are using.

To construct: cover the base with a thi

n layer of the tomato sauce liquid, place lasagna sheets over, spread some meat sauce then drizzle a little of the cheese sauce over. You don't need a lot of the cheese sauce as it spreads during cooking. Continue creating layers, making the last layer lasagna sheets, making sure that you leave enough cheese sauce to cover the lasagna sheets. Cover the sheets, bake in a 180.c 30 - 40 minutes until a the lasagna sheets are cooked when you insert a knife into them.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Well I have been unable to make a posting due to the vagaries of the internet. It has crashed, dropped out mid click, and generally given me the pip.

Well here is a simple recipe for spaghetti and meatballs that I have been cooking for years. There is no need to fry the meatballs before cooking them in the tomato sauce. You can even just cook the tomato sauce and have it on pasta, or you could add mince at the first stage after cooking the vegies and turn it into bolognese sauce.

Tomato Sauce

1/2 bottle of tomato passata, 1 cup water, 1/2 stalk celery, 1 medium carrot, 1/4-1/2 onion all finely diced, 1 sachet/1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 1 tsp dried oregano or marjoram, herbs to finish 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley.

In a large frypan saute for 2-3 minutes carrot, onion and celery in 2 tablespoons of oil. Push to one side add tomato paste stir 30 seconds, then stir into the vegetables. Add remaining ingredients, except fresh parsley. (You can make it to this stage early in the day, then just bring it back to the boil and add your meatballs) Bring to the boil add meatballs, reduce heat simmer, covered 15 - 20 minutes. Add parsley stir then serve.

Meatballs

500 grams mince beef, 2 tablespoons grated parmesan, 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley, 1 large or 2 small cloves garlic grated, salt and pepper, 1 slice bread torn into small pieces placed into a bowl with 1/4 cup milk or I discovered this one day when I didn't have any bread 1/4 cup plain breadcrumbs mixed with 1/4 milk

Now I mix the bread/breadcrumbs with the milk first, so the milk can be absorbed. Place all the remaining ingredients in a large bowl, add the milk/bread mixture (the bread may need to be squeezed if it hasn't absorbed all the milk). The best way to mix this is with your hands so you can squeeze the mixture together. Roll into golf ball size balls. You can make these ahead of time and keep in the fridge.

Now while I am preparing the sauce and meatballs I have the water coming to the boil for the pasta and I generally add the meatballs to the sauce the same time as I add the pasta to the water and the can cook at the same time.

To serve, drain pasta return it to the pot add 2-3 ladlefulls of the sauce, toss. You just need enough sauce to coat the pasta. Place some pasta in your bowls, place the meatballs on top drizzle some more sauce over meatballs and pasta. Top with freshly grated parmesan.

I hope you try this recipe, the bread milk mixture seems a odd addition but makes the meatballs very tender.

Moroccan meatballs

What to do when you are trying to use up everything in your freezer so it can be defrosted, and all you can find is pork mince.

Go straight to your Kylie Kwong cookbook from her first TV series - Heart and Soul and make moroccan meatballs. As we don't each large amounts of meat by itself , I also made mash potatoes with our pink pototoes we grew - called ruby red. They make the most creamy mash.

For the sauce I don't have dried blueberries, preserved cherries or fresh dates. I just used cranberries and 10 -12 dried dates sliced in half.

There was enough meatballs leftover for another meal, they heat very well in the microwave.

Moroccan-style Meatballs

2 large red capsicums Olive oil

4 garlic cloves 4 tbsp grated ginger

1 tbsp salt 250g pork mince

250g lean beef mince 2 eggs

Oil for frying 2 red onions

2 tbsp turmeric 1 tbsp preserved lemon rind

1/3 cup chopped coriander 1/3 cup coriander roots and stems

1/3 cup mint 1/3 cup flat leaf parsley

2 tbsp honey 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp ground cumin 1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch black pepper

Berry Sauce

¼ cup dried blueberries

¼ cup dried cranberries

¾ cup preserved cherries

¼ cup olive oil

4 fresh dates

5 red onions

Salt and pepper

6 bay leaves

To serve - Greek yogurt

Moroccan-style Meatballs

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Place capsicums in baking tray and drizzle with oil. Roast for 35 mins or until skin has blistered.

Transfer them to a plate to cool and reserve any liquid.Once cooled, remove the skin, cut in half, remove seeds and membranes and chop roughly.

Pound ginger, garlic and salt in a mortar and pestle until you have a fine paste.Combine pork and beef, capsicum, garlic and ginger paste, eggs and all remaining ingredients.Combine well with hands and shape into small balls, then toss in flour till lightly coated.

Heat oil in large pan and lightly brown and cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper and keep warm.

Berry Sauce

Soak dried berries in ¾ cup boiling water for 20 mins, drain and reserve the stock. Heat pan and add chopped onions. Cook until tender.Add dates, bay leaves, berries and soaking water with the reserved capsicum juice.Simmer, uncovered, for 5 mins.

Add cherries and cook for 2 mins.

Place meatballs on plates pour over sauce. Add a dollop of Greek yogurt . Enjoy !