Beef Stew again...

Following my first attempt at beef stew, this is my 2nd attempt.

This time round, there is a special request from my MIL as she does not know what to do with the beef in her fridge. Instead of just giving her the receipe, i decided to cook it for her to try first.

So the plan is to cook for Saturday dinner but i saw the beef chunks on sale when shopping during lunch time. So i decided to stock up the beef! super good price, 1 kg in all for about SGD10. Lucky me!

Next is to buy red wine. All the wine at home are expensive so i went scouting for a $13+ wine for cooking but ended up buying a $15 one... -_-''

Next is to buy vegetables, celery, tomato, potatoes, carrot and onion.

For seasoning, i used ginger, garlic, freshly grounded pepper, dried rosemary and bouquet garni (bought in London Tesco, didn't see them in Singapore supermarket so far)

Below is a shot taken directly from the pot. Looks a goody mess but i tell you, its a mess made in heaven. i am not boasting! its the best stew i have eaten so far, nicer then those i tasted in restaurants and cafes...

I have half a bottle of red wine left... will be cooking this again very soon!

Beef stew

My second attempt to cook from Jamie Oliver's book, Ministry of Food. I like the stew section of the book, first time i tried chicken stew with pie crust, this time i tried the beef stew. Instead of Guiness, i use ABC stout... the beef stew is fragrant, tender but has a bitter after taste. i am surprise that i can taste the stout after so many hrs of stewing!

Suppose to pour in canned tomatos but canned ones are too ex in Singapore $2+ per can. So i bought a pack of 6 and chopped them up :D

What do you need?

Basic Stew ingredients:
2 sticks of celery (i used 3)
2 medium onions
2 carrots (i used 3)
Olive oil
1 tbspn of plain flour
400g tinned tomato
Salt and Pepper

For Beef and ale stew:
3 bay leaf (i omit)
500g diced stewing beef
500ml ale, Guinness or stout (i use 1 can)

How to do it?

Fry celery, onion and carrots for about 10 mins with olive oil on medium heat. Add meat and flour, stir well. Pour in stout and tomatoes. Stir and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring to boil and turn heat down to low. Cover pot.

The ale will cause the stew to be foamy but it will evaporate after a while.

Simmer over the stove for 30 - 45 mins, checking every 15 mins.

If the stew dries up, add stock and continue cooking.

 

After simmering for 45 mins, check the beef for tenderness. If tender to your liking, open the lid cook for another 10 mins on medium heat. This will allow the excess water to dry up.

Serve on its own.

Leftovers became beef stew pasta!

Cook pasta in salted water, microwave beef stew.

When pasta is cooked, stir in beef stew.

Sprinkle with more coarse pepper.

Hearty and delicious pasta meal.

Happy Valentines Day!

Wanted to cook fish but ended up making this



After the CNY feasting, wanted to cook cod fish, with salad and mushroom as sides.
Unfortunately, i went to the supermarket too late and GIANT ran out of both Cod and Salmon!


Tenderloin is pretty small piece so i bought 4! haha two each. cost $23... pricey but if u eat in restaurant 1 piece will cost u the same price on normal days, dont know how they will overcharge for v day :P



For salad, i bought a box of butterhead lettuce, there is 2 'heads', used only one for dinner, kept the other one for supper the next day. Peel and wash the lettuce, shake off excess water or else the dressing gets diluted.
for dressing, i used lemon juice, honey and japanese sesame salad dressing. Tangy and sweet, very refreshing.

Bought 2 boxes of mushroom, one white and one brown. cook everything and have 3 portions of whats shown above. the 3rd portion i had it as supper the same day :P
Quick stir fry the mushrooms with garlic and onion, sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.

This is the 3rd time Ben and i make steak at home, but this is the first time i get to cook the steak. Watch Jamie Oliver Ministry of food and in the show he said after cooking the steak need to let it rest for a few minutes. i know the reason why. when resting, the juices will flow out and all the bloody juices will not mess up the plate and the side dishes when u cut into the meat. Further, the juices collected can be used in gravy to give it the extra oomph...
Marinate the steak for 15-30 mins with seasoned pepper and salt, on both sides, press it into the meat lightly.

Heat pan, add a piece of butter, when melted halfway, add olive oil to stop the butter from burning. after butter totally melt and bubbling away, put the steak and swirl it around the pan. Do not turn it until after at least 1 min and when its time to turn, the steak will be browned nicely on one side. Do the same for the other side. Keep the heat on medium high. Browning bother sides quickly will seal in the juice. After both sides are nicely browned, turn heat to low medium and continue to cook for around 3 min on each side for medium cooked steak.

For steak sauce, i bought lee kum kee black pepper sauce in a bottle (free extra 50%)
brown garlic with bit of olive oil, add water (ard 1/4 cup) and add 2 tablespoon of sauce. add sugar to neutralise the saltiness of the sauce and add more coarse black pepper if u like it spicy!

To serve, place lettuce salad, mushroom and steak on plate, drizzle salad dressing over lettuce and black pepper sauce over steak.

Steak with mushroom and cheese brocolli

This is the final product....

Pan-fry steak

What do you need?
1 pack of tenderloin (2 pieces – palm sized)
Coarse pepper (I use Masterfood – Seasoned Pepper)
Butter
Salt

How to do it?
Marinate beef with pepper and salt for at least half an hour in the fridge.
Heat pan, melt butter
Wait for butter to melt 50%, add beef (the butter will continue to melt so it is ok)
Don’t wait for butter to melt totally before adding meat or else the butter will burn.
Fry until brown on both sides
Depending on how cooked you like your beef to be, should take 3-4 mins for medium well done.

Stir-fry shitake mushroom

What do you need?

1 pack of shitake mushroom (5-6 medium sized), wash, sliced
1 onion
Frozen minced garlic in oil
Shao Xing wine (approx 2 tbsp)
Salt
Pepper

How to do it?
Heat pan, add frozen minced garlic in oil.
Wait for oil to melt and fry garlic until brown and fragrant.
Add onion with pinch of salt. Fry till soft and transparent, slightly brown
Add mushroom, fry till soft for 2 -3 mins
Generously splash shao xing wine and stir until dry
Add salt and pepper to taste

Cheese Broccoli

What do you need?
1 medium sized broccoli
1 packet of Cauliflower Supreme with Cheese (McCormick)
HL milk (small packet – 200ml)
4 button mushroom (Optional)
Cooking oil
Salt
Pepper

How to do it?
Add oil and salt to water, bring water to boil
Add broccoli, cook for 2-3 mins
Add button mushroom, cook for another 1-2 mins
Remove broccoli and mushroom from water, leave on plate

Pour away water.
Using same pot, pour milk and McCormick cheese mix, stir thoroughly, bring to boil.
Return broccoli and mushroom into pot, stir to mix well.
Reduce until sauce thickens to your liking.
Add salt and pepper to taste.