Simple Spanish-ish Beef

Simple Spanish-ish Beef

1 kilo of diced beef/steak

2 tins of diced tomatoes

2 onions, sliced

2 red peppers, sliced

1 tablespoon of sweet paprika

juice of one small lemon and some rind if you can be bothered

1/2 tablespoon of dried oregano (or a bit more of fresh oregano!)

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 good slosh of red wine vinegar

1 good slosh of olive oil

Slosh the oil into a heavy based pan and heat it up.  Now throw in the onions.  Cook them over a medium heat, stirring now and then, until softened and a bit golden.  Now throw in the peppers and cook until softened.  Next throw in the garlic.  Cook for 30 seconds, stirring all the while. Now add your tomatoes, beef, paprika, oregano, lemon and vinegar.  Season well with salt and pepper.  Cook for a couple of hours over a low heat, or until the meat is tender.

I made roast potatoes as a side ::

Peel a kilo or so of potatoes (more if your family are greedy!)  Cook the peeled spuds in boiling water for ten minutes.  Drain and allow to dry in the colander.  Put a healthy slosh of oil in an oven tray.  Throw in your potatoes and toss them well.  Cook for an hour or so in a hot oven, turning frequently.  When nearly done, mix a tablespoon of extra oil, with 1/2 tablespoon of sweet paprika, some sea salt and black pepper and a clove of very well crushed garlic.  Throw this over the potatoes and toss them well.  Put the potatoes back in the oven and cook for another 5 minutes. Yum.

Serve with international condiments like aioli and chipotle in adobo sauce. Yum.  And a crunchy salad too. Yes.

:: Crockpot Concussion Beef

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Crockpot Concussion Beef 

(to have in tortillas or tacos)

based on this recipe

500g of gravy beef

1 tin of tomatoes, juice and all

1 jar of nice quality salsa

1 cup of chicken stock

1 diced onion

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

a tablespoon of cumin
a teaspoon of paprika : smoked or not

a teaspoon of dried mixed herbs

1 teaspoon of brown sugar

a slosh of sherry vinegar or other nice vinegar

Lots of ground black pepper (or lovely white pepper!)

Some salt

Some olive oil

NB : I add chilli to my own, because my kids are not super spicy, but you can add chilli when you cook it if you like... and some beans would be nice too!

Mix all these things together, drizzle with some olive oil and put in a heavy based pan in a low oven for 4 hours.

Or in a slow cooker for 6 hours on high : if you use a slow cooker you will need to remove the meat and reduce the sauce down at the end.

Pull the beef apart with two forks and serve in tortillas with some of its sauce and lots of avocado, tomato, lettuce, jalapenos and extra salsa!  Cheese is nice for some people too, so add cheese if you like!

Meatloaf In BBQ Sauce

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Meatloaf With Barbecue Sauce

When I was about 15 I used to cook this for my family (along with Tuna Ring... good grief!) with great success.  Probably my Mum was just relieved someone else had got off their bottom and had a go at making dinner...?  That said, it seemed like a good idea to step back to 1985 and cook this dish for the family again.   It can be nice to revisit those old faves, don't you think?  (Although sometimes those old faves don't really translate into new faves.)   So cook this I did.  And...

...The verdict is that..... we liked it.  It was good!  You might like it too, if meatloaf is your thing.  There was a teensy problem with the sauce being a bit too vinegary and strong.  Ari was not much into the sauce, but apart from that he thought it was delish. Perhaps just a splash of vinegar might be better?

I confess we did change the recipe a tiny bit because I could not stomach the idea of eating sausage mince.  We substituted pork and veal mince for the sausage mince.  I know it's not strictly AWW, but I have to draw the line at some things and sausage mince is one of them. Yick-attack.  Here is the line... and the sausage mince is WAY over there... far, far away.

We served this with our standard big bowl of green peas, corn, fresh tomato sauce... and I made some mash too.  Yum.  Max commented that meatloaf is a great meal because you can have it the next day in sandwiches.  Max, I totally agree.  You are so right.  I think I like meatloaf in a sandwich with some chilli or chutney even more than I like meatloaf with peas and mashed potatoes.  Yep.

Do you fancy a meatloaf sandwich?  Do you like meatloaf? Do you hate it? Have you made this?  Do tell!

xx Pip

BTW : Did you watch the premiere of  'Offspring'?  I downloaded it today via iTunes and watched it this morning after my jam-seeking visit to the Windsor Deli.  I think it's going to be a really great series... I love a local production and most of this show is shot around the streets of Fitzroy... the first episode features Radio on Gertrude St and The Union Club Hotel and Cottage Industry... Cool! (Plus lots of other places like The Black Cat and Carlton Gardens...)

Hamburgers

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Hamburgers

When we were kids, our Mum and Dad often took us on day trips to the pebbly, shallow beaches which dot Tasmania's South East Coast.  The drive seemed to take forever (must have been 40 minutes or so : wowee!) and we were always so pleased when we finally arrived and we could run along the water's edge while our parents dragged the barbeque out of the back of the Mazda wagon and started flipping burgers and popping cans of Tarino or some such.

So here, in honour of those happy days,  we have burgers. Not the beach burgers of my childhood, but burgers all the same.  I made these last weekend. They were really great, although I made them a bit too thick, so I had to cook them carefully for quite a long time.  I think you should make thinner ones, if you make them.  See the picture?  Maybe half as thin as that would be good.

We had these with Windsor Deli sauces, french fries and lots of salad in sesame buns.  We did not toast the buns.  Do you toast your buns?  Do you have a favourite burger recipe?  Do you have burger night at your house?

xx Pip

NB :: Click recipe to enlarge :: More Project Yellow Box recipes here

Beef In Black Bean Sauce

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Beef In Black Bean Sauce

Hello! Wow. What a weekend I had. Did you have a weekend? I bet you did.  We have been cooking lots of things! We have!  We made this (imagine arrow pointing to images above). Well. Cam made this. Beef In Black Bean Sauce. Mmmm.  This reminded me of a big Chinese Restaurant I once went to in Mount Gambier.  It was quite huge and red and velvety and was no doubt once very opulent and swish.   The toilets were outside and it was beautifully ramshackle when we went there.  That was about 15 years ago, mind you.  I wonder if it still there....  The people there were lovely and the food was ace too.

Now, this dish would not have been out of place at said Mount Gambanese Chinese Eatery.  It was quite delicious, in a comforting, retro way.  It reminded me of the Australian Women's Weekly Chinese Cooking Class Cookbook.  I think it appears in that too.  Ah.  That is a pretty great cookbook, isn't it?!  Do you have it?  My parents used to cook from it when we were little and we always got MOST excited when we saw it appear on the kitchen bench.

Have you made this?  Do you like this?  Do you have the red AWW Chinese Cooking Class book?  Have you been to Mount Gambier?

xx Pip

NB :: Click recipe to enlarge and print, if you would like to!