Huey's Steak Smothered with a Delicious Vege Sauce - Just right for these Chilly Days

I found this recipe lurking away on my iPad, obviously awaiting a day when it would just be the perfect dinner

Beautifully cooked Scotch Filet, smothered with a range of vegetables with gorgeous sweet and sour flavours

Well... yesterday was the day

I was staying down in Hawkes Bay and it was a chilly day, it rained...it was grey and miserable

What better but Huey's Steak to cheer us up AND it did

Hughey is an Australian TV Chef (Iain Hewitson) who I was very keen on, a few decades ago

I was very impressed with his recipes and there will be quite a few on this blog going back a few years

An excellent way to serve a piece of scotch filet, doused in a yummy sauce

Just some mashed potatoes plus a few extra vege on the side

Just perfect

Ingredients
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
sea salt & freshly ground pepper
olive oil
3x 200 gm scotch filet or sirloin steaks, trimmed of all fat & sinew
a good knob of butter
2-3 leeks, washed well & finely sliced
1 scant tbsp plain flour
½ cup lager, at room temperature
1 cup beef stock
1 tspn white or brown sugar
½ can diced tomatoes
a few sprigs fresh thyme
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Mix together the vinegar, 1 tspn salt and ½ tspn ground pepper with a splash of oil in a large bowl.

Add the steaks, toss well and set aside for up to 30 mins.

When ready, heat a little oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and just sear the steaks on both sides. Remove and set aside They will continue to cook in the next stage

Add a little fresh oil, if needed, with the butter to the pan and gently sauté the leeks until tender, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan now and again.

Then add the flour, mix well and briefly cook.

Pour in the beer and stock with any leftover marinade.

Then add the sugar, tomatoes, thyme and 1 tbsp chopped parsley.

Stir and cook until thick and fragrant.

Then return the steaks to the pan and cook to the desired degree, basting now and again.

Remove the steaks and set aside to rest for a few minutes, before thickly slicing, if you like.

Or just Pop the whole steak on the plate as below

Taste the sauce for seasoning.

And some extra vege on the side, Roasted Carrots and Cauli and some yummy mashed potato

Try this... this weekend...Guaranteed a success

Thank you Hughey I shall hunt for more of your gems to try as we get through this winter

Meatball Stroganoff - Another Fun Way with Mince

When I was a newly married person, I really hadn't cooked a lot
Just the baking in the school holiday
You know...bake a batch of Fairy Cakes and eat the lot,
My Mother was not too happy having me around her feet
So when at the tender of age of 19, I was on my own 2 feet (so to speak)
I did find that I had a love of cooking...and really enjoyed being in the kitchen
I branched out and made Beef Stroganoff, I was so impressed with myself
In the Best Recipes Website, they had a recipe for Meatball Stroganoff
Once again there was mince in the fridge so off we went

As this post is not as colourful as most... I thought this photo of some fresh Chilies and Parsley from the garden is a welcome relief. 
No chilies in this dish but they look so pretty, I had to share

500g beef mince
1 egg
1 cup dried breadcrumbs
 2 tbs tomato paste
1 pinch seasoning
1 tbs oil
2 tbs butter
2 onion sliced
1 tsp garlic minced
250g mushrooms chopped
2 tbs plain flour
2 cup chicken stock (liquid)
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tsp chopped parsley

Combine mince, egg, breadcrumbs, tomato paste and salt and pepper to taste.
Form into meatballs

Heat oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large frying pan and
cook meatballs until browned and cooked through.

Remove from pan.
Chop mushrooms

In same pan, heat remaining butter and saute onion,

garlic and mushrooms until soft.

Stir in flour.

Remove from heat and gradually stir in stock.

Heat until mixture thickens.
Return meatballs to pan and stir until heated through.

 Stir in sour cream and parsley.

Serve with cooked pasta or rice.

Middle Eastern Beef Mince Bowl - More Fun with Mince

Lately every time I look in the fridge, I see Mince
I looked on the internet and in the Australian Best Recipes Website
I spied "100 Things to do with Mince"
I shall slowly work my way around this site

So First up Middle Eastern Beef Mince Bowl 
When I went shopping for the other ingredients, it turns out that wholemeal couscous is made from Spelt wheat...Still not good for Coeliacs but maybe better for those keeping away from regular wheat
Also I used Ras El Hanout for the Middle Eastern Seasoning

I found the seasoning a little strong so I added a little sugar just to lift it a bit
Worked for me

500 g lean beef mince
Olive oil 
1 tbs Moroccan seasoning
1 tsp sugar 

1 red onion thinly sliced
350 g butternut pumpkin peeled cut into 2cm pieces
1/2 cauliflower cut into florets
2 Courgettes grated
80 g Baby Rocket

1 cup wholemeal couscous
1 1/2 cups well flavoured stock  (I use a powdered stock, Chicken, rather than Beef in this case)

To Serve
1 bunch coriander
1 handful toasted pine nuts
Lemon wedges 

Preheat oven to 180C
Prepare Cauliflower and Butternut, season with Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Sprinkle with Olive Oil 
Roast until Butternut is tender

In a dry frypan toast pine nuts  until they become fragrant and start to turn golden
Keep an eye on them
They are so oily they burn quickly

Heat half the oil in a large wok or non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. 
Add mince and cook for 4-5 minutes or until browned.
Add Moroccan seasoning, sugar and a little water if it is looking too dry

 Meanwhile

Bring the chicken stock to the boil
Sprinkle couscous over the top
Stir
Cover and leave for 5 minutes
Remove cover and fluff up with a fork
Place in a serving bowl

In another pan add 1 tablespoon oil
Add onion,

Cook till softened, then add the grated courgette

 Stir around for about 3-4 minutes

 Mix the mince and courgette mixture together with the rocket leaves and spread over the
cous cous along with the roasted cauliflower and butternut

Sprinkle over the toasted Pine nuts and Coriander 

Voila
Dinner is served

A Tasty Meat Sauce for Pasta

I know we all have our meat sauce that we call our own, this is very similar to one that I usually make, in fact almost identical
Thank you Bon Appetit for the inspiration, I read this in the morning and voila.. on the table for dinner
 It is a meat sauce not a tomato sauce, which I like a lot
I used Rigatoni
Those little ridges capture the sauce perfectly

1 medium onion, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1 small carrot, peeled, chopped

3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

1 lb. good ground beef  (20% fat), patted dry

Sea salt

3 oz. thinly sliced Pancetta, finely chopped

1 cup dry white wine

⅓ cup tomato puree, I like to use Passata, not so intense
1 bay leaf

Pinch of finely grated nutmeg

2 cups (or more) homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup milk

1 lb. fresh tagliatelle or pappardelle, or dry rigatoni
2 oz. finely grated Parmesan (about ½ cup), plus more for serving

Pulse onion, celery, and carrot in a food processor until very finely chopped.

Transfer to a small bowl.


Heat oil in a large pot over medium.
Break beef into small clumps (about 1½") and add to pot;
Season lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper 
Cook, stirring occasionally but not breaking meat apart,
until beef is lightly browned but not crisp, 6–8 minutes.
It may be gray in spots (that’s okay!) and still a little pink in the center.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer beef to a medium bowl.



Wipe out pot.
Cook pancetta in pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally,
until pancetta has released some of its fat and is crisp, 6–8 minutes.
Add onion mixture to pot and cook, stirring occasionally,
until vegetables are very soft and beginning to stick to surface, 6–8 minutes.



Return beef to pot and pour in wine.
Reduce heat to medium-low and cook,
smashing down on beef with a wooden spoon, until wine is evaporated,
surface of pot is almost dry, and meat is finely ground, 12–15 minutes.
(The meat should be reduced to what looks like little bits.
It takes a bit of effort, but you can take breaks.)
Add tomato paste, bay leaf, and nutmeg and cook,
stirring occasionally and still pressing down on meat, until tomato paste is slightly darkened,
about 5 minutes.



 Pour stock and milk into pot; add a pinch of salt.

Reduce heat to the lowest setting and cook, stirring occasionally,
until meat is very, very tender, 2–2½ hours.
There shouldn’t be any rapid bubbles at this stage.
Instead, the sauce should release the occasional small bubble or two.
When finished, the sauce should have the texture of and look like a sloppy joe mixture.
If the liquid reduces before the meat is completely tender,
add an extra ½ cup stock and continue cooking.
Discard bay leaf. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning with salt;
keep warm.


Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water.
If using fresh pasta, cook about 3 minutes.
If using dry, cook until very al dente, about 2 minutes less than package directions.


Using tongs, transfer pasta to pot with sauce.
Add 1 cup pasta cooking liquid and ½ cup Parmesan.
Increase heat to medium, bring to a simmer, and cook, tossing constantly,
until pasta is al dente and liquid is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.


Transfer pasta to a platter and top with more Parmesan.



Do Ahead: Sauce can be made 4 days ahead. Cover and chill.



Also sitting on my table, my 2 friends and some beautiful Gardenias
Straight from the Garden



Beef and Noodle Salad - Vietnamese Style

We have a new BBQ and already it has been well used
A beautiful piece of Scotch Filet was cooked up in the weekend and of course
there were leftovers
Also we have the garden
In fact to prove how fresh our cabbage is
It still has little slugs living in it

In amongst that Wilderness, there are loads of Cabbages and Kale

To be honest, I’m not that wrapped in Kale but it amazing what butter and garlic will do
I digress
So back to the Beef. 
We had mint, coriander  and chilies in the Fridge
A Vietnamese Beef Salad came to mind
What I love about this style of salads is the flavour, the freshness the crispness
All the food groups almost

If you wish to start from Fresh
This will feed 4-5

600 gms scotch Filet
A little oil
Sea salt and ground black pepper

Dressing
3 spring onions chopped
1 red chilli deseeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped finely
6 tablespoons lime juice
6 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons soft brown sugar. I used coconut sugar
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons grated ginger

Rice or wheat noodle 50 gms per person

Cook  noodles according to manufacturers instruction
Drain, run under cold water and set aside
At this stage with kitchen scissors, cut the noodle into pieces easy to pick up

Salad
2 carrots grated
1/2 small cabbage
1/2 telegraph cucumber de-seeded and finely sliced
1/2 yellow pepper sliced
1/2 red pepper sliced
Handful of coriander leaves roughly chopped
Handful mint Leaves roughly chopped

Rub beef with a little oil and season well with salt and pepper
Cook to desired doneness
Preferably rare (not blue )
Slice across the grain and set aside
To make dressing
Place all ingredients in a jar with a screw top lid
Shake well


To Assemble
Place all vege into a large bowl
Place cooked and drained noodles on top
Then the beef
Drizzle the dressing over

Then get your hands in and toss it all well
That's the fun bit

Done
Serve
Just what the Doctor ordered...Fresh, Crisp, Delicious

Pesto Noodles with Beef and Olives - A Treat for The Gluten Free

Some members of the Family are temporarily removing Grains and Carbs from their diet to try and clear up small medical problem.
No worries for me...as, due to a good friend, I have access to Paleo Cookbooks
Paleo - Perfect for GF People
So last night we had this Pesto Pasta as they called it...I say noodles because it is not Pasta as we know it
Nevertheless it is delicious
I have this fab little tool that I purchased just so I can make vege noodles

Works wonders with courgettes

So this dish has these courgette noodles tossed with Pesto 

Then added to tasty Fried Mince, and Onions, seasoned with Olives and some Garlic powder

Was so, so popular with the family

You need

2 cups fresh basil

1 clove garlic
1/3 cup Pinenuts
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

2 tab butter

1 med onion peeled and diced
1 kg minced beef
S&P
1 tsp garlic powder
8-10 stoned black olives chopped 
Olive oil
9 med courgettes turned into noodles 

Make the pesto
Place basil, garlic and Pine nuts in food processor
Process
Drizzle in lemon juice, olive oil
Add salt to pesto to taste
Set aside

In a pan add a splash of olive oil

sauté courgette noodles till just soft

Toss the pesto through the courgettes

Drain noodles, if they are a bit wet 

Could be a bit over-powering

Meanwhile

Heat butter in large skillet
Add onion, sauté until soft
Add beef to pan
Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder

Continue to sauté until beef in fully cooked

Add courgettes to mince with the olives

Serve with a smattering of coriander leaves

Delicious