The Cookbook Challenge Week 16 - Noodles - Beef & Bok Choy Noodle Stir-Fry - 1 - $

There is still not much cooking going on in my world this week. If it weren't for The Cookbook Challenge there would probably be none!

Burning the candle at both ends means I've been feeling a distinct lack of energy and craving green leafy veg and meat. My body is crying out for some iron I think. So I delved into my collection of delicious magazines and found the perfect recipe to aid my deficient system and qualify for the challenge. You can find it in Issue 81, April 2009.

The ingredients below feed 4 people. As you may well know I can't do as I'm told, so I used pak choy instead of bok choy, wok-ready noodles and added some cashews for a bit of extra crunch.

Ingredients

250gm dried eggs noodles (you need double if using wok-ready)
300gm sirloin steak or eye fillet, trimmed
1tbs soy sauce
1tbs oyster sauce
2tbs Chinese rice wine
2tsp rice vinegar
1tbs sunflower oil
5cm piece ginger, cut into thin matchsticks
1 bunch bok choy, thickly sliced
6 spring onions, sliced on angle
1 cup bean shoots
1tsp sesame oil

Cook the noodles (or not if you're lazy like me and using pre-cooked ones) in a large pot of salted water according to the packet instructions. Drain and set aside.
Cut the steak into 1cm thick strips. Spread the meat out on the chopping board and season with salt and pepper.
In a small bowl stir together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, Chinese rice wine and vinegar. Set aside.

Heat the sunflower oil in a wok or large non-stick pan over a high heat. Add the steak and stir-fry for 1 minute or until just cooked. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.
Add the ginger, bok choy, spring onions and bean shoots to the wok. Stir-fry for 1 minute over high heat or until the vegetables are just tender. Return the beef to the wok and add the sauce, sesame oil and noodles.
Toss to combine and serve immediately.

This dish is so quick and easy; perfect for cooking on a day when your city is unexpectedly flooded and it takes approximately 100 years to get home, rendering you almost incapable of feeding yourself.
The little ginger matchsticks really give this a nice little kick against the sweetness of the sauce. I also can't stress enough how much tastier beef stir-fry is when you buy a steak and cut it yourself, rather than purchase ready-made strips from the stupormarket.

I will definitely add this to my 'can't really be bothered cooking' repertoire.

Enjoy!

Cheat's Spaghetti Bolognese - 2 - $

Before we get started, if you are Italian, or of Italian heritage, I implore you - PLEASE LOOK AWAY NOW. If you must keep reading, please don't dob me into your nonna.

The whole idea behind these 'Cheat's' recipes is to have it from pot to plate in under 30 minutes, which means tradition sometimes falls by the wayside. That doesn't mean it isn't good, it just means it isn't straight from a villa in Bologna.

This will make a giant pot of sauce so make sure there's room in the freezer or make a lasagne. Like most dishes of this kind, it always tastes better the next day.

Ingredients

1kg lean beef mince
1 tbs olive oil
1 brown onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
140gm tub of tomato paste
400gm tin of chopped Italian tomatoes
700gm bottle of passata
2-3 tbs fresh parsley chopped (or 1-2 tbs of dried parsley, we're cheating remember)
1 tbs fresh oregano (see above and make it 2 tsp of dried)
2-3 bay leaves
salt and pepper to season
1/2 cup red wine (optional)

In a large pot, brown off the beef over a medium-high heat. When it's cooked I like to strain it; even lean mince is quite fatty, so let your thighs decide if you complete this step.
Reduce the heat to a medium-low, add the olive oil and then gently fry off the onion. It needs to be soft and translucent so be careful not let it brown, when it's just about done add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Return the beef to the pot and then add all the other ingredients, stirring very well to combine. Season with salt and pepper and increase the heat. Bring the sauce to the boil and then reduce the heat to the lowest setting and simmer covered for 20 minutes, stirring once at the halfway point.
Give it a taste and adjust seasoning as required.
Serve on top of spaghetti or your other favourite kind of pasta.

Enjoy!

Mulligatawny Soup - 1 - $

One of the very few things I gained from having to shop at stupor-markets while I lived in London for several years was Mulligatawny. It is an old British colonial dish from back in the days of The Empire, but don't hold that against it. I used to buy ready-made but sought out a recipe when I moved back to Melbourne, because, unlike the London Underground, I really missed it when I came home.



You can use either chicken or beef mince in this recipe, and don't be scared of the curry powder as serving it with yoghurt will take the edge off. This will easily feed four as it's deceptively filling.

Ingredients

1 Carrot, peeled and finely chopped
1 Red capsicum, seeds removed and finely chopped
1 Red onion, finely chopped
1 Long red chili, seeds removed and finely chopped
3 Garlic cloves, crushed
1 Piece of ginger, approx 2.5cm, peeled and finely chopped
1 Bunch coriander, stalks finely chopped, keep the leaves for later
2 tbs Madras hot curry powder
1 tbs tomato paste
2 Tins of chopped tomatoes
200gms mince (chicken or beef)
2 Cups stock - chicken for chicken, beef for beef
1/2 Cup basmati rice
Natural yoghurt to serve

Heat some olive oil in a large pot over a medium heat and cook the onion, garlic, carrot, capsicum, ginger, coriander stalks and chili for around 10 minutes until they are soft.
Add the curry and tomato paste, stir through and cook for a minute or two until the curry powder becomes fragrant.
Add the mince and cook stir for a minute or two to break it up, then add the tomatoes and stock, season and bring to the boil. Keep the pot covered and simmer on a low heat for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Add the rice, stir through, return to the boil and then cover again and simmer for 20 minutes or until the rice is cooked.
Finely chop the coriander leaves and stir through just before serving (save some to garnish too). Spoon into bowls and serve hot with a big dollop of yoghurt on the top.

Enjoy!

Beef Casserole - 3 - $

You know those days when you just want to leave your slippers on, take all day to read the papers and then eat some comfort food and maybe have a cheeky glass of red? Well this is the perfect recipe for the food part.




Ingredients

500gm diced beef
1tbs plain flour, seasoned
2tbs olive oil
3 Tins of chopped tomatoes
1 140gm tub tomato paste
3 Large potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
2 Carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
1 Brown onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1/3 cup sweet/cooking sherry
20 Very small button mushrooms, or 10 medium sized, cut in half, stalks left on
1 Zucchini, roughly chopped into rounds
2 Fresh bay leaves
2tbs finely chopped flat leaf parsley
1tbs finely chopped oregano
Crusty bread to serve

Preheat oven to 180C degrees.
Put the flour in a freezer bag, season and then in batches add the beef and shake inside the bag to cover lightly, shaking off excess flour and putting aside until it's time to cook.
In a flame proof casserole dish, heat half the oil and fry off the beef until browned. In the meantime, par-boil the potatoes and carrots for about 3 minutes, they just need a head start on the cooking, so don't overdo it.
Remove the browned beef from the pot, add the remaining oil and fry off the onion. There will be bits stuck to the pot, this is OK, add the sherry to deglaze the bottom and then add the beef and stir well to thicken the sherry. Add the drained potatoes and carrots and stir through, cooking for a minute or two. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and then stir in the herbs.
Put the lid on the casserole and cook in the oven for 1 hour. Add the mushrooms and zucchini and cook for a further hour at 160C degrees. If the sauce is very thick or the ingredients are no longer covered by it after the first hour, just add a touch of boiling water and stir through.
Pour the red, cut some crusty bread (casalinga is my bread of the moment) and serve.

Enjoy!

Beef & Guinness Pies - 2 - $

Welcome!

Today is our official launch so thanks for stopping by! It's pretty cold where we are and it's nearly the weekend, so the recipe below is perfect for some slow cooking on a Saturday.
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Beef & Guinness Pies

Please note this recipe needs about 2 hours of stove time and about half an hour in the oven. You don't need to watch them cook, but you probably should hang at home while they do.



In theory, this recipe should make 6 pies in ramekins but I can only ever get 5 out of it, so alter as you will. You could use the filling to make one big pie if you are brave enough to blind bake a pastry base - uuurrrgh.

Ingredients

1kg chuck steak cut into 3cm cubes
1/4 cup plain flour, seasoned
20gm unsalted butter
2 tbs olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
1 tbs tomato paste
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
400ml Guinness or other stout (if you live in Melbourne like me, Abbotsford Invalid would be the obvious choice)
1 fresh bay leaf
300gm potatoes, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
375ml beef stock
6 sheets of puff pasty
1 egg

Coat the beef in flour and shake off excess, keep the leftover flour.
Heat the oil and butter in a large pot and cook the beef in batches for 3-4 minutes until browned. Set aside.
Add garlic, onion and carrots to the pot (you can add a little more oil if need be) and cook/stir for 2-3 minutes. Pop the beef back in the pot, add the tomato paste, leftover flour, Worcester sauce, booze, bay leaf, potato, stock and stir well. Bring to the boil and then simmer, covered, for 1 & 1/2 hours or until beef is cooked and sauce has thickened.
You must cool completely before the next step. Don't worry if a skin develops on the top, you can skim it off or re-heat for a minute, stir it in and then cool again - it won't happen twice.
Don't forget to defrost your pastry while your filling is cooling.
Preheat your oven to 190 degrees.
BEFORE you fill your ramekins, use one dish as a template to cut 6 lids for the pie tops, make them about 1cm too wide.
Spoon your filling into the ramekins, don't make them too full or they will bubble over in the oven.
Cut 6, 1cm strips (my ramekins need a little more than the standard pastry sheet length so don't turf the pastry until they are all done just in case) and push them onto the rim of each dish to make a little collar. Brush them with water and then pop the tops on and press together carefully. You can trim the edges with a knife, or fold them over all fancy-like and score the edges to make them pretty. You need to put a couple of slits in the top and then beat your egg and brush lightly over the tops.
Cook for 25-30 minutes. Remember all ovens are different, so as long as they are golden on top, they are done.
You can serve these with salad, steamed veg, chips or whatever else takes your fancy.
They don't freeze so well, so make them when you have a few people coming over, or drop a couple off to your mates/neighbours when you're done.

Enjoy!

Feel free to leave any feedback or tips in the comments section below.