Showing posts with label beef. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beef. Show all posts

Saturday, 13 August 2011

Mexican Chile with a fruity twist

 This is just before banana & apple were added.

I told you I'm obsessed with her didn't I?  It's the flavours, it's the ease in which I can put them together. They are great and makes my mouth all tingly!!!

This beat the usual chilli-con-carne, cumin and kidney beans effort I usually churn out! The recipe wasn't online for this, so I watched the episode over and over again and make notes as I went along.. it was delicious but will need to buy the book and check out the recipe for real!
My effort (and it was a ruddy good one even if I do say so myself was...

Minced pork and beef, (Brown it off)
Add chopped onions
Add a batch of  roast tomato salsa (made up to the whizzed up stage without onions & coriander etc)
Cumin, Cinnamon, Cloves (I used about a heaped teaspoon of each)
Olives (chopped)
Raisins (Handful)
Fresh oregano
Smoked paprika (heaped teaspoon)
BBQ sauce (I used about 2 tablespoons of Jack Daniels BBQ sauce as I had it in the fridge)
Chicken stock (I used just enough to cover)
1 Banana chopped
1 Apple diced

Cook on hob for 20 minutes

Served it with rice, salsa
No photos of the served dish as we were greedy piggies again and scoffed it before I could snap! I will try to remember next time, I'm sure I'll be making it again next week...

Friday, 28 May 2010

22 years of wedded bliss!

It was the 80s so excuse the hair (on both of us!)

Its amazing to think how long we've been together, and I'm totally surprised we haven't managed to kill each other over the years. I know I could have happily killed him on a number of occasions and pleaded insanity. I'm sure I could have got away with it too, my hormones made me do it your honour - he's beaten me for years!!! In truth the only abuse I have suffered over the years is from his music collection, his jokes and his ability to cook only two meals, beans on toast and his speciality.... cheese on toast! I don't think that would be considered adequate grounds for murder though, seen as I very rarely allow him into the kitchen, unless its to do the washing up that is!!!  The good thing about this blog is I get to write it so he doesn't have a chance to tell you how many times and why he'd like to have killed me over the years! But hey, it can't be all that bad, we're still here and still smiling and soppy as it sounds we're still best mates!

Jam and Coconut Sponge with thick Custard

For the past 12 months he's had to work away from home, this has meant he's had to fend for himself, making sure he stores the 4 tupperware boxes of prepared food in the fridge or freezer properly then heat them up without giving himself food poisoning! So far so good, he has not suffered any untoward symptoms. Over the year he has gone from strength to strength, heating up my homemade lasagna, boiling pasta 'al-dente'  and adding my sauce to it. We are now heading into summer and he is cooking marinated chops and boiling new potatoes and steaming fresh vegetables! I am, if truth be known rather proud of him. He's always ringing to check on cooking times and letting me know how dishes have turned out. He's making great use of his Pampered Chef small bar pan and his medium pizza plate, don't tell him but if you slap a  chicken breast on one of those you're not going to go far wrong, juicy on the inside and no amount of cooking with turn it dry. But hey he's doing fine so I'm not going to knock him.

It does make me come all over domesticated when he comes home on a Friday though. I try really hard to make sure I have his favourite dishes ready for the weekend, the cake tins are filled on a Thursday night so he can dive straight in when he lands on Friday afternoon.

Cherry Jam Bakewell Slices

Today being our anniversary I racked my brains for something that would be special. I didn't want to go down the steak and chips route which is usually one of our celebration menu dishes so I got to thinking....

When we were courting (such an old fashioned word!) we used to eat a lot in Pizza Hut, there they used to serve pizza pies, our favourite was a meatball one called the Verona, every time we went we'd choose this! It was delicious, a pizza dough pie filled with their famous sauce, meaty meatballs and oozying with melted cheese. So using my never fails quick pizza dough I lined my deep dish baker with the rolled out dough, creating the base of my pizza pie. I had homemade meatballs in the freezer ( I use Kittencal's meatball recipe) so used them along side the Pizza Hut Copycat tomato pasta  sauce. filling the cavity of the pie, I then topped it with another piece of dough rolled to fit the top of the pie, trapping all those lovely meatballs and sauce within. I then sprinkled grated cheddar cheese on top and baked it in the oven for 35mins until it was all bubbling and golden.  It wasn't as heart attack inducing as the real thing but served with a homemade garlic mayonnaise and a mixed leaf salad it made the perfect meal!

This is how it turned out!
Ooooozy Cheese and succulent meatballs

Verdict?  He still loves me!

Wednesday, 26 May 2010

Homemade Beefburgers

Another one of my pampered chef gadgets is the ice cream sandwich maker, fabby little product that make professional looking beef burgers in minutes! (I've never got round to making ice cream sandwiches with it yet!!!) I use good quality minced beef steak add seasoning a clove of crushed garlic and sometimes a herb or spice of choice. I've tried Mexican & Italian seasoning, both with great results! I once had potatoes and veg left over from a Sunday dinner and spend a couple of minutes turning it into bubble and squeak burgers, they were really tasty served with leftover meet on Monday!

Anyhoo, back to my beef burgers, I cooked them in the Pampered Chef griddle pan for about 5 minutes each side and they were delicious!


Open freeze the ones you don't need for another time!

If you use good quality meat they don't shrink to nothing in the pan. Don't you just love the lines on them? They tasted so good!

No photos of the end dish I'm afraid as once I'd popped them into homemade burger rolls with salad, stilton or cheddar and large dollop of homemade mayonnaise they disappeared before I could get the camera out!

Click on the highlighted words for recipes and do let me know if you try them out yourself!

Sunday, 8 June 2008

A simple seasonal supper


Steak, sauted celeriac, fresh asparagus with a mushroom and Gorgonzola sauce. Deeeelicious!

Wednesday, 4 June 2008

Beef in Red Wine



If you make this recipe, please photograph it and email it to me, i will then post it here - TIA


A good one pot recipe. It has a rich sauce and a wonderful flavour yet it is incredibly quick to make. It freezes well, but when its this easy to make, why bother!
SERVES 4

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb steak, diced
3 onions, sliced
3 garlic clovesfinely sliced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 glasses red wine
400g chopped tomatoes

Heat the oil in a pan.
Fry steak for 2 mins until brown.
Remove steak to a plate then throw the onions and garlic and oregano into the pan. Fry for 5 minutes until starting to turn golden.
Tip the wine and tomatoes into the pan, then simmer for 10 mins until thickened and rich.
Return the meat to the pan with any juices, then simmer for a few minutes to reheat. I like to serve this with a herby vegetable mash or cauliflower rice.

Monday, 19 May 2008

Bee's Chilli Bake!!!

I finally got to make this for dinner last night. After all the raves on the pig2twig forum about this dish, I didn’t know what to make of it, it couldn't possibly be better than my own chili….could it?? Well it was, we didn’t miss the kidney beans and the topping was a big WOW!!!! I felt like I was having corn bread with it, utterly tasty, great texture, and brilliant flavours. I only added half a large chili as I was being a scared-y cat, but it could have done with more…there’s always next time. I must check out if this can be frozen as I now have a fridge full of it. If I can’t freeze it, lets home it re-heats well as we will be eating it for lunch and dinner tonight! Mine made 6 generous portions! Thanks for the recipe Bee, you’re a genius!!


Top one is mine!
Below is Paul's, I couldn't decide which photo to post...so I did both!!!

I have saved a portion for tomorrows lunch and the rest has gone into the freezer for a quick meal next week!

Edited to say: This freezes brilliantly, I left it to defrost then heated some in the oven and some in the microwave...both gave excellent results!!! I will definitely batch make this next time so I have plenty to save in the freezer!