Cantonese Style Beef Brisket

After the Beef Rendang, I've been looking around to find another recipe that I can make in bulk on the weekends, then frozen and ready to be consumed during the week. Work has been rather busy the past week, and by the time I get home, there just isn't enough time to cook something from scratch.

This Cantonese Style Beef Brisket is relatively inexpensive (at about $5-6 for 1kg of beef brisket) and quite easy to make. It also freezes really well and goes great with plain rice or noodles. The Daikon Radish was added to bulk up the stew a bit more. Unlike potatoes, the radish doesn't break down and isn't starchy after cooking. Its not a must have item, and you can omit this if you can't find any radish. However, if you are able to easily source some then do try adding them to the stew. As during the cooking process, the radish sucks up all the flavours of the stew and becomes really quite tasty. :)

Cantonese Style Beef Brisket

Recipe adapted from Pigpigscorner.com

• 1kg Beef Brisket (chopped into chunks)
• 500g Daikon Radish (peeled and chopped into chunks)
• 1/4 cup Shaoxing Wine
• 5 slices Ginger
• 3 cloves Garlic (crushed)
• 2 tablespoons Chu Hou Sauce
• 2 Star Anise
• 1 piece Cassia bark
• 1 small piece of Rock Sugar (about
• Light Soy Sauce
• Cornstarch Slurry (1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with cold water)

Method:

1. In a pot heat up the oil, add ginger and garlic, saute until fragrant.
2. Add beef brisket and stir until the beef is evenly brown
3. Deglaze with the Shaoxing wine.
4. Mix in Chu Hou sauce.
5. Add star anise and cinnamon stick
6. Add radish, rock sugar and enough water to cover all ingredients.
7. Bring liquid to boil, lower heat and cover to simmer until meat is tender (at least 1 1/2 hours). Stir the ingredients around half way through. I left the stew simmering for 2 hrs.
8. Add light soy sauce to taste.
9. If required, thicken the stew with cornstarch slurry.

Notes:

• Chu Hou Sauce is available at most Asian supermarkets.

Beef Rendang

I love the aromatic spices that fills my kitchen when I make this dish. The weather has started to turn chilly the past couple of days, and whats better than sitting in front of the TV with a warm bowl of spicy coconut beef stew ??

It usually takes me about 3 hours from beginning to end to make this, but it is so worth it. :)

Whenever I do make this now, I try to make a big pot, so that at least it lasts a bit longer. The leftovers always taste better the next day or two.

If I really wanted Beef Rendang right now, then I'll resort to my pressure cooker recipe. But in terms of taste, this recipe from Rasa Malaysia is still ahead by a long way. I don't think I've gone back to my pressure cooker recipe ever since I discovered this one.

My local Asian Butcher doesn't understand what Beef Short Rib is, so I settle for Gravy beef or Chuck Steak instead.

Beef Rendang

Recipe from Rasa Malaysia.com

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pound boneless beef short ribs (cut into cubes)
• 5 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 cinnamon stick (about 2-inch long)
• 3 cloves
• 3 star anise
• 3 cardamom pods
• 1 lemongrass (cut into 4-inch length and pounded)
• 1 cup thick coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons tamarind pulp (soaked in some warm water for the juice and discard the seeds)
• 6 kaffir lime leaves (very finely sliced)
• 6 tablespoons kerisik (toasted coconut)
• 1 tablespoon sugar/palm sugar or to taste
• Salt to taste

Spice Paste:

• 5 shallots
• 1 inch galangal
• 3 lemongrass (white part only)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• 10-12 dried chilies (soaked in warm water and seeded)

Method:

• Chop the spice paste ingredients and then blend it in a food processor until fine.
• Heat the oil in a stew pot, add the spice paste, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and cardamom and stir-fry them until aromatic.
• Add the beef and the pounded lemongrass and stir for 1 minute.
• Add the coconut milk, tamarind juice, water, and simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently until the meat is almost cooked.
• Add the kaffir lime leaves, kerisik (toasted coconut), sugar/palm sugar, stirring to blend well with the meat.
• Lower the heat to low, cover the lid, and simmer for 1 – 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is really tender and the gravy has dried up.
• Add salt to taste. If not sweet enough, add more sugar to taste.
• Serve immediately with steamed rice and save some for overnight.

Notes:

• To prepare the kerisik or toasted coconut, just add the grated coconut to a dry wok and stir continuosly until they turn golden brown.

Additional Notes:

• I found that about 1 hour in (maybe because I have a rather fierce gas stove), the gravy had mostly dried out. I added in probably about 1/2 cup of water and gave it a bit of a stir every 15 mins or so. Until the 1 1/2 hour mark was reached.

Teriyaki Beef

This dish is super tasty yet incredibly simple and quick to make. For me it's especially great on a weekday when I usually get home from work at dinner time. In the morning before I leave for work, I would marinate the beef cubes in about half the marinade without the honey and leave it in the fridge. I find the beef tends to burn and caramelize a bit too easily while cooking if I marinate it with the honey from the start.

So I use equal amounts of soy, mirin and sake for the marinade (about 1 tablespoon each). For the teriyaki sauce, I use the other tablespoon of soy, mirin and sake mixed together with a tablespoon of honey. Also having a piece of good quality beef fillet with a decent amount of fat running through it makes all the difference. :)

Teriyaki Beef

• 250g beef fillet (diced into 2cm cubes)
• Cooking oil

For marinade & teriyaki sauce

• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 2 tablespoons sake
• 1 tablespoon honey (try to choose one that has a milder flavour) <-- add later for teriyaki sauce

Method:

1. Marinate the diced beef in light soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar. Leave in the fridge overnight or through the day. Let the beef come back to room temperature before cooking.
2. Heat a large frying pan or wok on medium-high heat. Add about a tablespoon of cooking oil. When hot, add the beef and stir fry quickly to prevent the meat from burning and to cook the pieces evenly. When the beef is about 70 per cent cooked, dish out and set aside.
3. To make the teriyaki sauce, just add the honey to the reserved marinade of soy, mirin and sake back into the wok. Boil over medium-low heat until the sauce is glossy and thickens slightly. It should take on a caramelized taste but be careful not to let it burn.
4. Add the beef back to the wok and stir well to coat with the thickened sauce. Let the sauce caramelize a bit more with the beef then remove from the wok onto a serving plate.

Beef Tataki with Ponzu Sauce

Every fortnight, a few of my foodie colleagues and myself get together for dinner and try out a restaurant. We actually put a list together on google wave of about 18 different places that finishes with Tetsuya. It's with this group that we also try to do a monthly cookingfest at one of our places. The last time I went, I made the pork belly confit (yes.. that means I had the pork belly confit twice). The theme this time is small dishes that goes with sake. I thought I'll stick with a lighter dish this time round, so went with the beef tataki with ponzu sauce and some tsukune chicken meatballs.

The term tataki refers to meat (usually beef or fish) that has been marinated, seared, then chilled and thinly sliced to serve. This is something we always end up ordering at a Japanese restaurant. So was nice to learn how to make it at home.

Beef Tataki with Ponzu Sauce

Recipe adapted from In the kitchen with a southern sushi chef

• 300g high quality beef fillet (trimmed of fat)
• 1/2 cup Japanese light soy sauce
• 1/4 cup mirin
• 1 tablespoon unseasoned rice vinegar

Garnish

• 1 stalk Spring onion (green & white part, finally sliced)
• 1 teaspoon fresh Ginger (peeled, grated through a microplane grater to remove the fibrous parts)
• 1 teaspoon fresh Daikon Radish (peeled, finely grated through a microplane grater).

Additional items required:

• Ice cubes
• Clingwrap

Method:

1. In a Pyrex or ceramic bowl, mix soy sauce, mirin and rice vinegar. Place beef fillet in bowl and turn several times to coat all sides of beef in marinade. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 20 minutes, flipping the beef over after 10 minutes.
2. Remove beef from marinade and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel. Discard marinade.
3. Prepare a bowl large enough to completely submerge your beef with an ice bath. Fill it 1/2 way with some ice and set aside.
4. Heat a heavy-duty saucepan over high heat. Add just enough cooking oil, about 1 tablespoon, to keep beef from sticking to the pan.
5. Place beef in pan and quickly sear each side until lightly browned, about 15-20 seconds.
6. When all sides have been seared, remove from pan and wrap with some clingwrap before plunging the beef into the ice bath to stop the cooking process. Wrapping the beef in the clingwrap before tossing it into the ice bath means that the meat wont come into contact with the water and therefore wont dilute the taste.
7. To serve, cut across the grain into the thinnest possible slices possible with a very sharp knife. Lightly tap each piece a few times with the blade of the knife to score, being careful not to cut all the way through.
8. Fan the slices, overlapping, on a platter and let stand for 10 minutes. Drizzle with the Ponzu sauce and serve. Garish with some finely sliced spring onions and some grated ginger and daikon radish on the side.

my tower of beef tataki.. :)

Notes:

• If you're not confident about getting really thin slices with the beef, about 45 minutes before you plan to serve, place the clingwrapped beef in the freezer (this will firm the beef and make it easier to cut even slices).

Beef Oyster Sauce

This is probably a dish that can be found on nearly every Chinese takeaway menu. But the same dish from two different restaurants can be very different. Nowadays, I think anything with beef, vegetables and a dollop of oyster sauce is just called Beef Oyster Sauce.

This recipe is slightly different to the Beef with Oyster Sauce you get from the Chinese takeaway shops.

Its main ingredient is Oyster sauce, and the beef is marinated in it for at least 2 hrs (overnight is ok in the fridge). The beef is then accompanied with some finely sliced ginger sticks and spring onion blades.

Ginger is quite fibrous, so take the time to slice the ginger sticks as fine as you can. You don't want to end up unpleasantly munching down on a large chunk of ginger. Also, try not to overcook the beef. This dish should only require about 4-5mins of stir frying in the wok.

I actually prefer this served on top of a piece of lightly buttered bread or toast, than as a dish accompanied with steam rice.

Beef Oyster Sauce

• 250g Beef Skirt (sliced across the grains of the beef)
• 3 tablespoons Oyster sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornflour
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon ginger (finely sliced into sticks)
• 1 Stalk Spring Onion (finely sliced diagonally)

Method:

1. Marinate the sliced up beef with the oil, oyster sauce, salt, sugar and cornflour. Add a splash of water, about a tablespoon and continue to mix. Let sit for at least 2 hours.
2. Heat some vegetable oil in a Wok, until the oil just begins to smoke, pour in the marinated beef and stir fry until the beef has started to turn pink. This should take about 2-3 mins
3. Add in the finely sliced ginger, and continue to stir fry for another minute then toss in the sliced up spring onions.
4. Stir the contents around the wok to make sure everything is mixed in together. Then turn the heat off and pour the contents on to a plate to serve immediately.

Caramelized Onion, Mushroom and Blue Cheese Sauce

I still have 4 burger patties sitting in the freezer, made from this recipe. We opted for burgers for lunch, but I wanted to try something different from the usual lettuce, pickles, cheese and tomato toppings. I was thinking something along the lines of a mushroom or blue cheese sauce. Since I had both of these ingredients leftover in my fridge. Then I found this.. a recipe for Kobe Burgers with Onions, mushrooms and blue cheese sauce. Perfect. I scaled down the recipe a bit and used it to top my juicy burger.

Let me just say.. the sauce was amazing ! I think its because of the Roquefort, which is a creamy and softer version of blue cheese. So although the sauce did have a blue cheese kick to it.. it was a slightly more subtle kick. Even my 'non-blue-cheese-fan' housemates liked it :)

Caramelized Onion, Mushroom and Blue Cheese Sauce

Enough for about 2-3 Burgers

• 1 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 onion (sliced)
• 1 clove garlic (finely chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme (chopped)
• handful of mushrooms (sliced)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 splash brandy
• 1/2 cup beef broth (1/2 cube of beef stock dissolved in 1/2 cup hot water)
• 1/4 cup blue cheese (crumbled, I used some Roquefort)

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a pan
2. Add the onion and saute at medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the garlic and thyme and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
4. Add the sliced mushrooms and season with salt and pepper and saute until tender, about 7-9 minutes.
5. Add a splash of brandy and deglaze the pan and simmer until it has reduced by half.
6. Add in the beef stock and simmer until it has reduced by half
7. Remove from heat and stir in the blue cheese.
8. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning as required.
9. Assemble the burger with lightly toasted buns, lettuce, beef patty, caramelized onion and mushroom blue cheese sauce.
   

Bolognese Sauce

I still have a week off before I have to go back to work. So I've been mostly occupying my time with slow cook foods - now that I do have the time to do it. This Bolognese recipe is something I eyed some time back on Spinach Tiger and always wanted to try it out but never had the time. I really wanted to try it out because it required each individual step to reach a certain stage before moving on. Like completely cooking off the wine and milk. That's two cups of milk by the way.. I really wondered how long that would take. :P

Bolognese Sauce
Recipe adapted from Spinach Tiger - Originally from Marcella Hazan’s Essentials of Classical Cooking

Serves 6-8

• 2 Tablespoon vegetable oil
• 6 Tablespoon butter
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 1 1/2 cup chopped carrot
• 2 slices of chopped bacon
  
• 1kg ground beef chuck (seasoned with salt and pepper before cooking)
• Salt
• Black pepper, freshly ground
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cup dry white wine
• 3 cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes with juice, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 pounds pasta (tossed with 2 Tablespoons of butter when ready)
  
• Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese at the table
  

On medium heat, add oil, butter, onion, until translucent. Add celery, carrots, cook 2 minutes, stirring, not browning.

Add bacon then meat, break up with fork, and when no pink color is showing, add milk.

Turn down heat to simmer, stirring frequently until milk has evaporated. Add nutmeg.

Add wine, stirring thoroughly. Once wine has completely evaporated, add tomatoes, and simmer on very very low stirring every now and again. If sauce dries out, add 1/2 cup water a time.

Cook for a minimum of 3 hours. I think 4-6 hours is better.

Taste and season with salt, pepper.

Serve over pasta.

I had this simmering on low heat for about 6 hours. The resulting bolognese was bursting with flavor and both rich and creamy at the same time. And because we only have 4 people in our household, the leftover bolognese was soooo much better the next day. I will definitely be making this recipe again. :)

Notes:

• The original recipe doesn't call for bacon, so you can omit this out if you want.
  

Ultimate Beef Burgers

Yay.. Its the 1st day of holidays..Wishing a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all !

We made these for lunch while waiting/preparing the other courses for our Christmas dinner.

Ultimate Beef Burgers

Serves 6

For the beef burgers:

• 1 small onion (grated)
• 2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 kg ground beef
  

Toppings:

• 6 Cheese slices
• Pickled Cucumber or Pickled Gherkin
  
• Tomato sauce
• Mustard
  
• 6 hamburger bun

Mix together all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Wet hands in some cold water and divide the beef into 6 parts and shape into 6 round patties.

Place on top of some baking paper and place the patties in the fridge for at least 1 hr before cooking.

Place about a tablespoon of oil in a heated saucepan and then add the burgers to the pan. Cook for about 7 minutes on each side.

About 1 minute left into the cooking, place a slice of cheese on top of the beef patty. And let the cheese melt. Once the cheese starts to melt, remove from the pan then place on top of the burger bun.

Add pickled cucumber or gherkin, mustard and tomato sauce on top of the cheese.

Beef Rendang - Cooked Under Pressure

I finally managed to get to PoK today and got myself a Fagor Duo Pressure Cooker.. :)

This is the kitchen appliance which will help reduce my cooking time for beef stews from 3 hrs to 40 mins and produce risottos in 7 mins !!!

I've been researching online for over a month now on which pressure cooker to buy. I've never actually used one before. But I have seen my grandma use her rather loud pressure cooker to cook abalone. An appliance which I remember to quite scary... The way it would go off.. I used to think it would blow up in someone's face.

After a going through numerous reviews of pressure cookers on Amazon, I had pretty much narrowed my choices down to a stovetop cooker. An electric cooker would save an extra stovetop space, but given the amount of bench space available at my little kitchenette, it wasn't going to be much different. A few reviewers who had both an electric and stovetop cooker said that they preferred the stovetop version over the electronic cookers. This was mostly due to the ease of browning meats and better control of the temperature and high pressure achieved.

After reading Helen @ GrabYourFork's review on three difference pressure cookers, I was pretty much sold on the Fagor Duo.

I christened my new pressure cooker with my Beef Rendang recipe. :)

This usually takes me about 3 hrs to make and requires constant stirring and checking to make sure the bottom doesn't stick and burn. In the Fagor Duo, it took about 35 mins. With 5-7 mins extra cooking with the lid off when I had to add in the sugar, salt and toasted desiccated coconut.

My version of beef rendang is probably less dry and has more sauce (..I like to mix the sauce in with my rice..) than the traditional version. I doubled the amount of coconut milk to achieve this and also added in some curry leaves. You can half the coconut milk required and omit the curry leaves if you like.

Here is the full recipe...

Beef Rendang

In a food processor, pulse together:

• 3cm galangal (sliced)
• 3cm ginger (skin removed)
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 dried chilli (cut up with scissors, soaked in water, seeds discarded)

Then use as a spice rub and mix together with:

• 1kg chuck steak (cut into 3cm cubes)
• 2 tablespoon peanut oil
• 2 teaspoon salt

Set the mixed beef cubes aside and in the pressure cooker stir fry:

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 10 red shallots (roughly sliced)
• 1 stalk lemongrass (ends removed, sliced into 3 parts, bruised, outer green layer discarded)

Once the shallots start to brown, add in the following spices and stir fry together:

• 3 curry leaves (optional)
• 2 star anise
• 4 kaffir lime leaves (torn in half down the spine)
• 4 whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon bark (about 5cm long..)

After you can start to smell the aroma from the spices, the add in the beef and brown on all sides, then pour in (one after another):

• 2 teaspoons tamarind paste (diluted with a tablespoon of water)
• 1 tablespoon thick soy sauce
• 500ml coconut milk

If the coconut milk doesn't come up half way to the beef cubes, then add in 1/2 cup of water.

Place lid on pressure cooker, set it to high (15 psi), enable safety lock, then turn up the heat to bring the cooker to pressure. Once pressure has been achieved, turn the heat back down so that only slow continued puffs of steam are released. After 35 mins, turn the heat off, then use the automatic release method to release the pressure. Once all the pressure has been released, unlock the cooker and remove the lid.

Don't worry if the contents in the pot looks a bit weird (its the coconut milk that has separated), just give it a quick stir to combine everything together again.

Turn the heat back on to the lowest setting and add:

• 5cm stick brown block sugar (broken up with a pestle mortar..see notes below for substitutes)
• 1/2 cup desiccated coconut (lightly toasted in a pan)
• salt to taste

Continue to simmer on low heat for about 5-7 mins. Gently stir the contents in the pot around and make sure everything is combined and the block sugar (if using) has broken down.

Taste the rendang sauce and add more sugar or salt as required.

Serve with some plain steam rice or with some coconut rice.



Notes:

• I got the brown block sugar from a Asian grocery store. You can use palm sugar (which would probably be more authentic) or substitute this with about 1 ½ tablespoons of brown sugar instead.
• Bruising the lemongrass consisted of smashing it with the back of my chopping knife
• I got the cinnamon bark from a Asian grocery store. It doesn't have the curly bits like normal cinnamon and looks a lot more 'bark-like'. I think it maybe called Cassia bark.. but I can't be sure. You can use a normal cinnamon stick instead.
• After making this, I think you can probably change the order around a bit by using 1 cup of water to cook the beef in the pressure cooker, and adding the coconut milk in the last 5-7 mins of cooking. I will give this method a try, once I get my hands on some more chuck steak :)

Black Pepper & Herb Crusted Beef Fillet

I saw this the other day... the photos from this post (and website for that matter) looks positively swoon-worthy. But I don't know where to get fresh horseradish around where I live. So I looked around for another recipe for black pepper crusted beef fillet. I found something else which uses herbs with the black pepper. So I combined the two concepts together with the ingredients I had available at home into this...

Black Pepper & Herb Crusted Beef Fillet
recipe adapted from sheknowsparties & Cookbook Catchall

• 500g beef fillet
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic (chopped finely)
• 1½ tablepoon black peppercorns
• 1½ teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried sage
• 1 teaspoons coarse sea salt

Marinate the beef fillet in the olive oil, worcestershire sauce and garlic.

Pre-heat oven to 200C.

In a heated pan toast the black peppercorns, thyme and sage for about 1 min. You should be able to smell the aroma.

Add the contents of the pan into a pestle mortar with salt and crush the ingredients together. Work until the peppercorns are grinded into smaller pieces.

Pour this dry spice into a baking dish. Lift the beef fillet from the marinade and roll over the dry spices. Cover all sides.

Heat up the pan until very hot, then brown the fillet on all sides to seal in the juices. Place fillet back on the baking dish and place in oven for about 12 mins for medium-rare. Remove from the oven and let the fillet rest for about 10 mins.

Cottage Pie

I had 1/2 a bowl of leftover mince beef from dinner cooked the night before. It was mince beef with onions, corn kernels with a soy base marinade. A quick meal where I literally took what was available in my pantry and fridge and threw it together as a dish to have with some steam rice.

Looking at that bowl of beef just a moment ago, I didn't really want to reheat it up and have it again just like that. The one thing I did think of, was to turn that beef into a Shepherd's pie. Well... Shepherd's pie was originally made with leftovers... isn't it ?? Actually since I'm using beef.. technically it would be called a 'cottage pie'.. (quickly adjusts title).

I wasn't too sure how the bowl of mince beef .. which has a distinct Asian marinade .. would work within a westernised dish of shepherd's pie. Well... there's only one way to find out.. :)

Shepherd's Pie Cottage Pie

Base:

• 700g of minced beef (in my case.. last night's leftovers, which happen to have corn kernnels)
• 2 tablespoon Olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 1 carrot (chopped in ~1cm cubes)
• 1 brown onion (finely chopped)
• 1 can of tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 cup of beef stock
• Salt & Pepper
• Dried herbs ... I had some Thyme available
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas (defrosted & rehydrated with water)

Topping:

• 3-4 large potatoes - suitable for making mash (skin removed, quartered)
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 egg yoke (optional)
• Salt & Pepper
• Cheese - enough to cover the top (i used a mixture of Parmesan and cheddar)

In a dutch oven pot, add olive oil then garlic, onions and carrots. Once the onions start to brown, add in the beef. As mine was already cooked beef from the fridge, I just had to let it re-heat up. If using raw beef, stir the contents around until the beef has browned. Add in the can tomatoes, beef stock and Worcestershire sauce. Season generously with salt & pepper. I also added in about 1/2 teaspoon of thyme. Cover and simmer on low heat for about 30 mins.

Meanwhile, in large saucepan bring some water with about 1 tablespoon of salt to boil. Add in the potatoes and let the potatoes cook for about 20 mins. Drain the potatoes and mash with some milk and butter. I added an egg yoke in, cause I found it actually did make my mash potatoes taste a bit more creamier (ie. not so powdery) and also because I had quite a few leftover in my fridge (the casualties of my last souffle expedition).

Pour the beef base into a deep dish, then top with mashed potatoes and sprinkle with cheese. Place in an preheated oven of about 180C, and cook until the cheese has melted and the tops start to brown. This should take about 15 mins. Serve as is, or with some fresh green leafy salad.

For the record, this actually turned out pretty tasty. P couldn't tell at all I had used left over beef, which had been from an Asian dish for the pie. :)

Pasta Bolognese

I remember when my grandma would make me Spaghetti and put it into one of those chinese thermos flasks for me to take to school for lunch. I tend to be rather popular during lunch time on those particular days at school. My grandma's recipe was actually more like chinese spaghetti. She used soy sauce to marinate the beef, added chinese rice wine, garlic, onions, fresh tomatoes and some chinese green shallots. There was no use of cheese, bacon, red wine, basil or any other typical Italian herbs. But it was delicate and deliciously yummy in its own way... My highschool friends certainly thought so.

This recipe here is not my grandma's recipe. I've actually tried to mimic my grandma's recipe before, but it was never quite the same. My own recipe, which I have adapted from many other recipes, is distinctively more Italian than Chinese. But the reason why Spaghetti Bolognese is one of my favorite comfort foods is because of the one my grandma first made for me.

I've broken this recipe down into separate stages. With the ingredients shown in the right order. Hopefully it is easier to understand this way.

Pasta Bolognese

Phase 1:

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion (sliced & chopped)
• 3 cloves garlic (smashed & chopped)
• 4 slices bacon rashers (chopped)
• 1 carrot (grated)
• 1 celery stick (diced finely)
• 1 kg lean mined beef
• salt and pepper

1. Heat oil in a big pot (I use a dutch oven pot)
2. Saute onion, garlic, bacon, celery and carrots until soft (3-5 mins)
3. Add beef, season with salt and pepper and cook until browned.

Phase 2:

• 2 fresh or dried bay leaves
• 1 Cup of red wine
• 150 ml milk
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Add Bay Leaves, Red wine and bring to boil , then reduce heat to medium. Simmer until most wine has evapourated.
2. Add milk and Nutmeg
3. Cook until milk has been absorbed.

Phase 3:

• 2 Cans of Whole tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• drizzle of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• salt and pepper
• a good handful of fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
• lots of freshly grated parmesan cheese, to serve

1. Add tomatoes, sugar, herbs, Worcestershire sauce and mix in the tomato paste. Bring the heat up so the sauce starts to boil.
2. Reduce heat and simmer gently for ~ 45 mins.
3. Season to taste with Salt & Pepper (if required)
4. 5 mins before serving, add in the torn basil leaves.
5. Serve with your favorite cooked pasta and cover with cheese

This is one dish I tend to make a whole pot of, then separate into 'twosome' meal sized containers to freeze for later. After the immediate meal, I'm usually able to get about 3 more full containers from the leftovers in the pot.

Quickie Meal ~ 15 mins to reheat the sauce while cooking the pasta

And the leftovers always tends to taste better. :)

Baked Spicy Meatballs

I never really used to be a fan of meatballs. To me, they just tasted like a lump of mince meat that lacked any flavor. When I saw an episode of Jamie Oliver's cooking show (forgotten which one it was), about a baked meatball dish that calls for some spices and herbs, I decided to give it a try. This meatball recipe is now P's favorite dish. So much in fact, that he actually participates in the preparation process (for a change)...

Baked Spicy Meatballs
Recipe originally adapted from one of Jamie Oliver's cooking shows

Spice Mix
Warm the Spices slightly in a pan until fragrant, then grind together:

• 1 stalk of rosemary leaves (chopped finely)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 teaspoon thyme seeds
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorn
• 1 tablespoon dried chilli flakes

Meatballs
Marinate and mix together with spice mix:

• 500g of quality minced beef
• 1 brown onion (finely blended in a food processor)
• 4 garlic cloves (finely blended in a food processor)
• 2 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cornflour
• 1 egg
• handful of breadcrumbs (add more if mixture is too moist)
• Grounded spice mix

Mix all ingredients together. You do have to use your hands here.

Have a shallow bowl of water ready and form the meatballs while dipping your fingers into the water every couple of meatballs. The water makes it easier to form the meatballs without bits and pieces sticking to your hands. Once the the meatballs are formed, brown them in a heated pan with a dash of olive oil, until they are browned all over, then set a side in a baking dish.

Tomato Sauce

• teaspoon of olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
• 2x cans of whole tomatoes
• 1 handful of fresh basil leaves (torn)
• couple of dashes of tabasco sauce
• 1 teaspoon of sugar (or more to taste)

In a saucepan, heat oil then add in garlic. Once the garlic starts to cook, pour in the canned tomatoes. Let simmer on medium-high heat until the tomatoes break down. Once the tomatoes break down, add basil leaves, tabasco sauce and sugar to taste. Stir and let simmer on low heat for a couple of minutes, then turn the heat off.

Pre-heat the oven to 200C, top meatballs with the tomato sauce then cover with parmesan cheese.

Put baking dish into oven for about 20 mins, or until the cheese has turned golden brown. Serve with some spaghetti.

Steak with Bernaise Sauce

By the time I managed to grab the camera, P had nearly devoured about a 1/4 of his steak.



Notes on How to cook the perfect steak:

• Fresh meat from the butcher. Do not freeze it. I'm not sure about you, but the steaks I've cooked even if defrosted 1 day ago from the freezer just never tastes the same.
• Try to get a good thick cut. (I usually go for the Rib Eye or New York Cut).
• Prepare the steak by rubbing it with some olive oil and season with Salt and Pepper.
• Steaks should be at room temperate before cooking
• Heat up a heavy based pan on medium high heat. (I use a Cast Iron grillpan).
• Try to turn steaks only once. For a medium-rare steak cook for 3 mins on each side.
• Once you remove it from the pan, set on a rack and place in a pre-heated warm oven (about 120C), and let the steak rest for about 4-5 minutes.

Bernaise sauce

• 3 Tbl Sp of White Wine
• 2 Tbl Sp of White Wine Vinegar
• 3 Egg Yokes
• 3 Tbl Sp of Melted butter
• A Squeeze of Lemon juice
• Salt & Pepper
• Tarragon or Shallots (finely chopped - if you have it)

Bring the White Wine and Vinegar to a simmer in a saucepan. Simmer until it reduces to about 1/2 the amount. Let it cool slightly. Whisk in Egg yokes. While its blending, add in melted butter and the mixture should start to increase in volume. Add Tarragone or shallots (if using) and season with Salt & Pepper. Taste the sauce and if required, add in some lemon juice.

Serve at room temperature with Steak.