Beef Stroganoff – A Classic

 
 

Ingredients:

 

Beef strips (pre-cut)

Mushrooms (sliced)

Onion (sliced)

Garlic oil

¼ cup butter

1 ½ cup beef stock

Salt (be careful)

Worcestershire sauce

¼ cup flour

1 ½ cups sour cream

3 cups hot cooked egg noodles

 

Method:

 

Sauté the onion in the butter and oil for a minute.  Add the mushrooms and sauté for another minute or two.

 

Transfer to your casserole dish.

Season your beef and mix the flour into it.

 

Cook the beef in the same pan in batches.  Add the beef batch by batch to the casserole dish.

 

Stir in the beef stock and Worcestershire sauce.  Simmer for 15 minutes.

 

Finish the dish off in a moderate oven adding the sour cream right at the end – don't let it boil.

 

Cook your noodles and serve your stroganoff over them.

Beef Hot Pot – Again

I called this dish a Hot Pot – but I am sure it doesn't qualify technically to be called that – particularly since it doesn't have a layer of potato on top.

The ingredients were:

Gravy beef

½ onion

2 cloves garlic

Tomato puree (or passata)

Red wine

Salt and pepper

A thickening agent – in my case a hot pot mix but I could have used gravy mix.

I didn't brown anything.  Just put it into the casserole dish and cooked it away on low for 1 ½ hours.

After tasting it, I added ½ teaspoon of sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes.  Then in went a carrot, potato, some pumpkin pieces, celery stalk and leek – all chopped into largish pieces.  And some chilli of course.

Serve when the vegetables are tender.

Braised Shoulder Lamb Chops – a Low Energy Approach

So I had run out of energy for the day but needed to make dinner.  So I went as simple as I could.

Ingredients:

Lamb shoulder chops

Oil

Salt

Tomato Paste

Beef gravy powder

Bottle of beer – lager

Soy sauce

Worcestershire Sauce

Pepper/Cayenne pepper

Method:

I had salted the lamb in the morning and left it in the fridge but other than this, everything was chucked together.

So I put a bit of oil in the bottom of the casserole dish.  Then in went the chops and the seasonings.  Lastly I poured the beer over the lot and let it sit on a low electric element until the lamb was tender – about 4 hours.

At this stage the liquid was quite runny still so I took out the chops and covered them with foil while I boiled the liquid until it had reduced to a nice gravy – about 10 minutes – then in again with the chops.

This made a nice meal with rice and peas.

Beef & Spinach Ragout

First I have a confession – this pic was not taken when the food was made but was done the next day with the leftovers. I have to say that not having to worry about it getting cold was quite liberating.

Ingredients:

Cross cut blade steak

Flour – seasoned

Oli/Garlic oil

Carrot

Potato

Borlotti beans

Marmite

Beef stock cube

Paprika

Chinese cooking wine

Mushroom water (from soaking dried mushrooms)

Spinach

Cream

Method:

Because I started this dish a bit late I cut everything up quite small and cooked with a higher heat than usual to have it ready.

Cut up your steak into smallish cubes and toss them in flour which has been well seasoned with salt and pepper

Brown the meat in your casserole pan in the oil/garlic oil

Deglaze the pan with the Chinese cooking wine and hot water, and the mushroom water.

Add your stock cube, Marmite, the cubed potato and carrot. If you don't have Marmite you could add Worcestershire sauce instead. Sprinkle in paprika (I used about 2 teaspoons)

Add your drained beans.

20 minutes before serving add chopped fresh spinach and 2-3 spoonfuls of cream.

I served this with a little horseradish cream sauce.

Beef and Blueberries – Who Knew??

So I had some cross cut blade steak and some blueberries that needed to be used.  Just on the off chance I googled beef + blueberries and found that they are supposed to go well together.

Ingredients:

Cross cut blade steak (or any stewing steak)

Flour, salt, pepper

Garlic oil/oil

Carrots – cut into chunks

Beef stock (cube + hot water)

Red onion, sliced

Tomato paste

½ large tomato, chopped

Handful of blueberries

1 tsp butter

Herbs

Worcestershire sauce

Method:

Cut up the steak and dust it in well seasoned flour – I put it into a zippered bag.

Brown the meat in the oil mixture and add your onion.

Add the carrots and tomato paste and then cover with beef stock.  Simmer on low for 2-3 hours.  Let it cool.

Reheat and then add the tomatoes, blueberries and herbs and keep cooking for another 20 minutes.

Why let cool and reheat?  Well I've discovered that this does add a lot to the flavour.  I've always thought that leftovers often taste better the next day – and this is why – the slow cooling and reheating process really helps.

Check the taste of the sauce just before serving and add Worcestershire sauce if needed.