Slow cooking activity with Kelly and Tim

BEEF BOURGUIGNON

Yield: 6-8 servings

3 rashers of thick cut bacon
3 pounds beef chuck cubed
1 bottle red wine
1 pound onions chopped
1 pound celery chopped
1 pound carrots chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
1/2 pound mushrooms
1 bay leaf
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Brown the beef and bacon in batches in a frying pan and add to the
slow cooker. Discard the fat from the pan. Deglaze the pan with some
red wine and put in the slow cooker.

Add vegetables and enough wine to cover the everything in the slow
cooker. Add bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low for 8
hours.

We served it on top of thick, wide flat pasta. (YUM)

Grublover comment
Also try: BEER BRAISED PORK AND BLACK BEAN SOUP

For St Pat's day Tim is making GUINNESS STOUT BEEF STEW

Let us know how it goes Tim! Happy St Pat's day!!

Chilli Con Carne - ole!

1 tbs peanut oil
1 brown onion, halved, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbs ground cumin
1 Tbs ground coriander
2 tsp cayenne pepper
600g lean beef mince
1 x 400g can Italian diced tomatoes
2 Tbs tomato paste
1 x 300g can red kidney beans, drained, rinsed
2 Tbs drained, chopped jalapeno chillies
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 x 250g carton light sour cream
3 green shallots, diagonally thinly sliced
handful of chopped fresh coriander leaves
rice, to serve

Heat oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes or until onion softens.

Add cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add mince and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps, for 5 minutes or until it changes colour.

Stir in tomato, tomato paste and kidney beans. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes or until mixture thickens.

Remove from heat and stir in chilli. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, combine the sour cream, three-quarters of the green shallots and the coriander leaves in a small bowl. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Spoon rice and then chilli con carne into bowls. Top with a dollop of the sour cream mixture. Sprinkle with remaining green shallots. Serve immediately.

Grublover comment
I just love chilli con carne. Good, warm, comfort food, and so delicious! You can serve it in baked potatoes for something different - like the stuffed spud that keeps me going back to the Royal Show every year....
This is a really easy recipe and you can whip it up quickly for a weeknight meal. It is also very healthy - provided you use lean mince and light sour cream.

How good is Steak!!

Steak is such a simple and scrummy meal and there is 1000 ways you can jazz it up so it is better than restaurant quality.

Here is what I did last night after buying a porterhouse on the way home and using whatever was lying around...

Brush 1 teaspoon of olive oil into the steak and rub in some tuscan seasoning (you can make your own tuscan seasoning by chopping some rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper, or just use the Masterfoods one) and chilli flakes if you like it hot.

Heat a griddle pan (the ones with the lines) and put the steak on. Slice some tomatoes and whack those on too. Add some capers and a few marinated olives. Pour a splash of worschestire sauce over the top and enjoy the beautiful aromas.

In the meantime cook some veges in boiling water - last night I had some asparagus - I like to cook asparagus al dente - make sure it's still crunchy and bright green.

Cook steak to your liking, remove from heat and rest.

Place tomato, capers and olive mixture on steak, serve with the veges.

Grublover comment
This is the easiest meal and is ready in less than 10 minutes. Hassle free and tastes absolutely delicious.

The pic is of my Le Creusset griddle pan - one of my favourite items in the kitchen. It is also fantastic for cooking healthy grilled veges!

Beef Vindaloo…recipe by Eve Clarkson

½ kg meat – pork, beef or chicken
Turmeric
Vinegar
Salt
Curry Leaves
2 small red onions, sliced
2 tomatoes (roma), chopped
1 Tbsp sunflower oil
Small handful of curry leaves

Masala
1 Tbsp garlic
1 Tbsp ginger
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp black mustard seeds, heaped
½ tsp pepper (white is preferable to black)
5 cloves
1½ tsp cinnamon sticks
10 dried red chillies (15 is usual)
1 Tbsp white sultanas, heaped

1. Marinate meat in turmeric, vinegar, salt and curry leaves for 1 hr
2. Grind masala ingredients together
3. Heat sunflower oil in pot
4. Add onions, fry until light brown
5. Add masala, lower the heat and cook for 3 mins
6. Add the curry leaves
7. Cook until the water evaporates and the masala is dried out
8. Add the chopped tomatoes and cook until the water evaporates
9. Add the meat and cook until tender

Grublover comment
Eve says: Please put this recipe up on Grublove. I have just made it and it is fantastic. I did it with Pork but I think it is better than beef.

Easy Beef and Bacon Burgers

Time: 10 minutes prep, 5 minutes cooking
Makes: 4 burgers








400g beef mince
1/2 a brown onion very finely chopped
2 slices bacon, diced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup fresh soft bread crumbs
1 egg
fresh herbs - I used a handful of parsley and chives, but any herb will do. Oregano would be nice.
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 hamburger buns, split and toasted
Combine mince, onion, bacon, Worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs, egg, herbs, salt, and pepper.
Mix with hands until blended.
Shape into 4 burgers and coat lightly with the flour.
Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat and fry those babies.
Fry, or grill the burgers for 7 to 10 minutes on each side, or until cooked to desired doneness. Serve in toasted buns.

Grublover comment
This recipe took me about 10 minutes to prepare, and all the ingredients are on-hand, or very cheap at the supermarket. I like to serve it with some mushrooms fried in some butter, cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and some tomato sauce and mustard. YUM!

If you want to make them really really special, get some white castello cheese and take a small cube of it and squeeze it into the middle of the burger when you are making them. As it cooks the cheese melts and it is absolutely delicious! I didn’t have any white castello on hand so I just added some cheddar and it worked just as well.

Balsamic marinated steak

Serves 4

4 steaks (fillet, new york or scotch fillet)
salad greens
Marinade
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
2 Tb shredded basil
1 tsp cracked black pepper
2 pieces lemon rind
2 cloves garlic, sliced

Trim steak of excess fat. To make marinade, combine marinade ingredients. Place steak in marinade and allow to marinade for at least 30 minutes.
To cook steak, preheat a char grill, bbq or frypan over very high heat. Cook steaks, ensuring they are sealed well until cooked to your liking. To serve, pile salad greens onto serving plates and top with grilled steaks.