Beef Skewers with Asian Salad

So, the recipe called for rump steak, and my closest and local supermarket was out at the time, so I used chicken breast fillets instead.  I imagine the result was very similar - it was a delicious meal!  Easy, very tasty and quite authentic.  I do plan on making it with the specified Rump steak one day....

I like to marinate my flavours, especially chicken over here in the UAE.  Sometimes the chicken here is hit and miss in terms of 'tough-ness' so marinating always helps tenderise the meat here.  I marinated the chicken strips for about 3 hours.

Taken from Olive Magazine's '101 Quick Fix Dishes', page 88, published 2007

Ingredients
Chinese five-spice powder, 1 teaspoon
vegetable oil
sweet chilli sauce
rump steak, 250g, cut into strips
clear honey, 1 teaspoon
White wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon
Thai Fish Sauce
garlic, 1 clove, crushed
salad leaves, small bag
cucumber, 1/2 halved, seeds scooped out out and sliced
spring onions, 3, finely sliced
dry roasted peanuts 50g, chopped
mint leaves, a handful

Method
Heat a ridged griddle pan or grill to very hot.  Mix the five-spice, 1 tbs vegetable oil and a few drops of the chilli sauce in a bowl.  Add the meat and stir until coated.  Thread the strips on to metal or bamboo skewers (soak bamboo skewers in cold water for 20 minutes first) and griddle or grill for 2-3 minutes on each side until cooked through.
Meanwhile, mix the honey, vinegar, 1 1/4 tbs fish sauce, garlic, a few drops of chilli sauce and 2 tbs oil in a small bowl.  Mix the salad leaves, cucumber, spring onions and peanuts and toss with the dressing.  Rip the mint leaves and add to the salad.  Divide the skewers between two plates and serve with the salad and a little bowl of fish sauce mixed with chilli sauce for dipping.


Serves 2.

Jamie's Roast Meal

This week, my Jamie Oliver's 'Ministry of Food' cookbook is getting a good work out, I must admit.

Now I know how to cook a roast and vegetables - I know mostly everyone does. Bang the meat in, with the veggies at the same time if you must and cook away for an hour or two, use a bit of gravy powder with some settling juices and hot water and that's it. (Well, something like that.) Instead, I decided to actually follow a recipe for roasting beef and vegetables AND make (from scratch) my own gravy. And oh my, the result? Well, let me say that I'll be making my next roast this way again.

I do admit, that I make a pretty good roast meal without following a recipe - I learnt many, many years ago from a friend's mother, how to make crispy roast potatoes (par boil, drain, toss around in pan, roast in vegetable oil rather than olive) and my potatoes rarely let me down.  I've just never (*shock/horror*) made my own gravy from scratch so this was a great achievement for me.

So here are three separate recipes on making the 'perfect' roast meal and all taken from;
Jamie Oliver's 'Ministry of Food', published 2008

Perfect Roast Beef (pg 192)

Serves 4-6
1.5kg topside of beef (I used a NZ Rib-Eye 1kg beef)
2 medium onions
2 carrots
2 sticks of celery
1 bulb garlic
a small bunch of fresh thyme, rosemary, bay or sage, or a mixture (I used thyme, rosemary)
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

To Prepare your beef
Take your beef out of the fridge 30 minutes before it goes in the oven.  Preheat your oven to 240C/475F/Gas 9.  There's no need to peel the vegetables - just give them a wash and roughly chop them.  Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled.  Pile all the veg, garlic and herbs into the middle of a large roasting tray and drizzle with olive oil.  Drizzle the beef with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper, rubbing it all over the meat.  Place the beef on top of the vegetables.

To Cook Your Beef
Place the tray in the preheated oven.  Turn down the heat immediately to 200C/400F/Gas 6 and cook for 1 hour for medium beef.  (If you prefer it medium-rare, take it out 5 to 10 minutes earlier, for well done, leave it in for another 10-15 minutes.)  If you're doing roast potatoes and veggies, this is the time to crack on with them - get them in the oven for the last 45 minutes of cooking.
Baste the beef halfway through cooking and if the veg look dry, add a splash of water to the tray to stop them burning.  When the beef is cooked to your liking, take the tray out of the oven and transfer the beef to a board to rest for 15 minutes or so.  Cover it with a layer of tinfoil and a tea towel and put aside while you make your gravy.

To carve your beef
Remove the string from the meat.  Use a good, long, sharp knife to carve the meat and a fork (preferably a carving fork) to hold it steady.  Serve with prepared vegetables and hot gravy.

Top Left - Prepared vegetables;  Top Right - Beef sitting on gravy vegetables
Bottom Left - gravy coming together; Bottom Right - Vegetables waiting to be roasted. 

Roast Potatoes, Parsnips and Carrots (pg 202)

Serves 4-6
1.2kg potatoes
6 parsnips
6 carrots
1 bulb of garlic
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil

To Prepare your vegetables
Peel the vegetables and halve any larger ones length ways. Break the garlic bulb into cloves, leaving them unpeeled and bash them slightly with the palm of your hand. Pick the rosemary leaves from the woody stalks.

To cook your vegetables
Put the potatoes and carrots into a large pan - you may been to use two - of salted, boiling water on a high heat and bring back to the boil.  Allow to boil for 5 minutes, then add the parsnips and cook for another 4 minutes.  Drain in a colander and allow to steam dry.
Take out the carrots and parsnips and put to one side.  Fluff up the potatoes in the colander by shaking it around a little - it's important to 'chuff them up' like this if you want them to have all those lovely crispy bits when they're cooked.
Put a large roasting tray over a medium heat and either add a few generous lugs of olive or carefully spoon a little of the fat from the meat you're cooking.  Add the garlic and rosemary leaves.  Put the vegetables into the tray with a good pinch of salt and pepper and stir them a round to coat them in the flavours.  Spread them out evenly into one layer - this is important, as you want them to roast, not steam as they will if you have all on top of each other.  Put them into the preheated oven for about 1 hour, or until golden, crisp and lovely.  Serve immediately, with your roast dinner and your gravy.

A Consistently Good Gravy (pg 205)

Serves 4-6
As well as your roasted veg (listed in the beef recipe) you'll need:
1 heaped dessertspoon plain flour
a wineglass of red wine, white wine or cider, or a good splash of port or sherry (I used Rose')
1 litre vegetable, chicken or beef stock, preferably organic

To make your gravy
By the time you are here, your meat will be covered and resting and you'll have your tray of meat juices and vegetable trivet in front of you.

When everything is mixed and mashed up, add the alcohol to give a little fragrance before you add your stock (the alcohol will cook away).  Keep it over the heat and let it boil for a few minutes.  Pour the stock into the tray or add 1 litre of hot water.  Bring everything in the pan to the boil, scraping all the goodness from the bottom of the pan as you go.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until you've achieved the gravy consistency you're looking for.

To serve your gravy
Get yourself a large jug, bowl or pan and put a coarse sieve over it.  Pour your gravy through the sieve, using a ladle to really push all the goodness through.  Discard any veg or meat left behind.  At this point you've got a really cracking gravy and you can either serve it straight away on put back on the heat to simmer and thicken up.

Enjoy!

The final product minus the gravy

Left over roast potato and turnip.  See how lovely they look.

Sizzling Beef with Spring Onions and Black Bean Sauce.

First things first - I quite like Chinese Food, if it's not full of 'fill-in' ingredients like cauliflower, broccoli and silver beet. I like those vegies but I have had many experiences back in Oz where your main dish (usually take-away) is over 50% of those three vegies.

Chinese food over here is good.  Really good, but seeing that we do live a little out of the city, take aways are a rare option for us.  Over the years I have made quite a few Chinese dishes I'm an old dab at. (*wink wink*)  When I discovered this recipe I gave it a go and have made it quite a few times since.  It is tasty, authentic and relatively easy to prepare and cook.

The egg fried rice, prepared and served with this dish is delicious and is a favourite with the eldest daughter! (bar the fact she doesn't like eggs, she happily eats them in this rice.)  When I make this dish, I cook my rice a good few hours earlier to chill it, but you don't have to if you don't have the time.

Sizzling Beef with Spring Onions and Black Bean Sauce

Taken from 'Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Ministry of Food', page 69, published 2008

Serves 2
Ingredients
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
200g long-grain or basmati rice
1 x 230g sirloin or rump steak
a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 a red chilli
2 spring onions
a small bunch of fresh coriander
2 tbs sesame oil
groundnut oil
2 tablespoon of good-quality black bean sauce
2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 limes
1 egg

To prepare your stir-fry
Bring a pan of salted water to the boil, add the rice and cook according to the packet instructions. Drain the rice in a sieve, run it under a cold tap to cool, then allow to dry out in the fridge.

Trim any excess fat from your steak and slice the meat into finger-sized strips.

Peel and finely slice the ginger and garlic. Finely slice the chilli. Cut the ends off your spring onions and finely slice. Pick the coriander leaves and put to one side and finely chop the coriander stalks.
get yourself a big bowl and put in the ginger, garlic, chilli, spring onions, coriander stalks and steak strips. Add the sesame oil and mix everything together.

To cook your stir-fry
Preheat a wok or large frying pan on a high heat and once it's very, very hot add a good lug of groundnut oil and swirl it around. Add all your chopped ingredients from the bowl. Give the pan a really good shake to mix everything around quickly. Stir-fry for 2 minutes, taking care to keep everything moving so it doesn't burn.

Add the black bean sauce, and stir in 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce and the juice of half a lime.  Keep tossing. Taste and season with black pepper and a little more soy sauce.  Remove the pan from the heat, transfer everything to a bowl and cover with tin foil.

Give the pan a quick wipe with a ball of kitchen paper and put back on the heat.  Add a lug of groundnut oil and swirl it around.  Crack in your egg and add a tablespoon of soy sauce - the egg will cook very quickly so keep stirring.  Once it is scrambled, stir in your chilled rice, scraping the sides and the bottom of the pan as you go.  Keep mixing for a few minutes until the rice is steaming hot, then taste and season with a little soy sauce.

To serve your stir-fry
Dived the rice between two bowls or plates.  Spoon the meat and black bean sauce and sprinkle over the coriander leaves.  Serve with wedges of line - great!

(And because when I made it the other night, early so the girls could eat it too, I decided to put MrL's in a take-away foil container so he could reheat his when he wanted it.  I'm good like that. ;P )

Hot Thai Beef Salad

A nice, quick recipe for a warm day.  Mind you, I found it quite spicy with the use of one chilli; I could only get my hands on the bird's eye ones so that might explain it!

*Taken from Margaret Fulton's 'Margaret Fulton's Kitchen' pg 158, published 2007*

Ingredients

500g rump or sirloin steak

freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup torn mint leaves

1 large red onion or 2 large spring onions, thinly sliced

2 red chillies, sliced (I used 1)

juice of 1 large lime or 1/2 lemon

2 tbs fish sauce

1 tsp sugar

a handful of mixed salad greens

1 cup cherry tomatoes

a handful of rice vermicelli

vegetable oil, for frying

2 tbs roughly chopped roasted peanuts (omitted)

1 red chilli, halved (omitted)

lime wedges for serving

Method

Season the steak with the pepper and cook on a hot ribbed griller or under a preheated grill for 5 minutes on each side or until done to taste.  Remove and leave to stand for 10 minutes.  Cut steak into very thin slices and place in a bowl with any meat juices.

Meanwhile, combine the mint leaves with the onions, chillies, lime or lemon juice, fish sauce and suger.  Stir well and add to the beef slices, tossing.  Combine with the mixed salad greens and cherry tomatoes and set aside.

Heat some vegetable oil in a wok, testing the heat with a few strands of vermicelli.  It should swell immediately of the oil is hot enough.  Fry the vermicelli, scooping out with a wire strainer as soon as they puff and turn pale golden.  Drain well on paper towels and cool, then arrange in a bowl.  

Pile the beef salad on top of the crispy noodles.  Scatter with peanuts and chilli and serve with lime wedges.

Serves 4-6

Scotch Beef Carbonnade

This was quite a hearty meal and was quite rich tasting.  It said to make the Garlic and Herb Croutons to serve with it, but I had some Garlic Focaccia and served it with that instead.  Not needed to be served with a side dish, just a bowl of this was fine.  (Though you do need bread or croutons etc.,)

*Taken from 'Hello' Magazine, Middle East edition*

Ingredients

700g lean Scotch Beef braising steak, cut into 1cm cubes

50g flour, seasoned with black pepper

1 tbs olive oil

2 onions, peeled and sliced

1 glove garlic, crushed

1 tbs tomato puree (I used tomato paste)

1 tsp English Mustard

300ml stock

1 tsp brown sugar

1 bouquet garni

Freshly ground black pepper

2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

2 parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks

For the garlic and herb croutons

25g butter

1-2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbs fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 French Stick, sliced into 8 even chunks

Method

Preheat the oven to 170C.  Toss the beef in the seasoned flour and shake off any excess.  Heat the oil in an ovenproof casserole, add the beef and cook to brown all over.  Add the onions and crushed garlic to the casserole and cook for 2-3 minutes, then add the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil.  Cover, transfer to the preheated oven and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Just before it is ready to serve, make the croutons.  Mix the butter together with the garlic and parsley.

Lightly toast one side of the sliced bread, then spread the garlic and parsley mixture on the other side and toast until golden.

Serve the carbonnade piled into warm bowls with two croutons on the side.

Serves 4

Baked Corned Beef

This recipe is GOLD.  Very, very tasty and absolutely delicious when served with the potatoes recommended.  (I didn't use kipfler ones though - they were unavailable at the time.)  I also served this with cooked cabbage which really set the meal off.  The meat was really, really tender and the sauce from the potatoes mixed extremely well with the meat.

*Taken from Karen Martini's 'Cooking at Home', page 162, published 2008*

Ingredients

1.5 kg piece corned beef

2 bay leaves

2 tbs black peppercorns

2 carrots, sliced

3 celery sticks, sliced

2 leeks, trimmed and sliced

1/4 bunch flat-leaf parsley

1 whole bulb garlic, unpeeled, cut in half length ways and cloves separated

4 sprigs thyme

For the Mustard Kipflers

8 large kipfler potatoes, sliced

1 red onion, sliced

200ml pouring cream

4 tbs Dijon mustard

3 tbs seeded mustard

sea salt and freshly grounded black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Place the beef in a large ovenproof dish and cover with cold water.  Bring to the boil over high heat, then remove the beef and drain the liquid.  Return the beef to the dish, add the bay leaves, peppercorns, carrots, celery, leeks, parsley, garlic and thyme and cover with boiling water.  Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then cover and cook in the oven for 2 1/2 hours or until tender.

Meanwhile, to make the mustard kipflers, boil the potatoes in lightly salted water for about 15-20 minutes or until tender.  Drain and place in a large bowl.  Add the onions, cream and mustards, then season.

Remove the beef from the dish ans discard the other flavourings.  Cut the beef into slices and serve with the mustard kipfler potatoes.

Serves 6

Fajitas

(Sorry, the photo doesn't look that appealing, but don't let this photo put you off. This is so work making!)

Oww...these were delicious. I set all the prepared ingredients in the center of the table and everyone helps themselves... I cooked the meat on the BBQ - which was quick, easy and smelt out the neighbourhood (mmm!). Instead of using beef you could easily use chicken and the result would be just as delicious. There was a lot of meat (for 4 adults) so you really didn't need quite so much)

*Taken from Murdoch Books 'Australian Family Favourites' published 2007*

Ingredients
185ml olive oil
2 tbs lime juice
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 red chillies, chopped (I used 2)
2 tbs tequila (optional) (I omitted)
1 kg rump steak, thinly sliced into strips
1 red and yellow capsicum, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
8 flour tortillas
guacamole, shredded lettuce, diced tomato and sour cream, to serve

Method
Combine the oil, lime juice, garlic, chilli, tequila and some pepper. Add the meat, cover and marinate for several hours or overnight.

Drain the meat and toss with the capsicum and onion.

Just before serving, wrap the tortillas in foil and warm them in a 150C oven for about 5 minutes. (Alternatively, you could 'zap' them in the microwave) Cook the meat and vegetables in batches in a hot heavy-based frying pan until cooked. Put the tortillas on a serving plate and sit in the middle of the table with the meat, guacamole, lettuce, tomato and sour cream. Let everyone assemble their own fajita.

Serves 4

Steak Baguette with Rocket and Mustardy Mayo

These were very nice and pretty filling. We cooked the steak on the BBQ (because we can) and I actually cheated and didn't make the mustardy mayo, as I had dijonnaise in the fridge and used that instead. The shame, I know...

*Taken from Murdoch Books 'Australian Family Favourites', published 2007*

Ingredients
3 tbs olive oil, plus extra for frying
1 red onion, sliced
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp thyme
1 tbs Dijon mustard
3 tbs mayonnaise
100g rocket
500g beef fillet, cut into 4 thin slices
2 thick baguettes, cut in half, or 8 thick slices of bread
2 tomatoes, sliced

Method
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a small saucepan. Add the onion and cook very slowly, with the lid on, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft but not brown. Remove the lid, add the sugar and vinegar and cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft and just browned. Remove the pan off the stove and stir in the thyme.

Meanwhile, make the mustardy mayo by mixing together well the mustard and the mayonnaise in a small bowl.

Drizzle the rocket leaves with the remaining olive oil and season.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the extra oil in a frying pan over high heat and cook the steaks for 2 minutes on each side, adding more oil if necessary. Season to taste.

To serve, put out the bread, along with separate bowls containing the onion, mustardy mayo, rocket leaves, steak and sliced tomatoes. Let everyone make their own baguette.

Serves 4

Lasagna

If you are anything like me you always say that your own mother's or Grandmother's lasagna recipe is the best. But I have found and made a recipe that did beat my mother's lasagna. It is so delicious, full of flavour, not too cheesy, not unlike something you would order at an Italian Restaurant. True. Try it...

I actually added a teaspoon of beef stock to the simmering meat sauce. I also added the tomato paste to the browning mince to intensify the flavour...

*Taken from Murdoch Books 'Australian Family Favourites', published 2007*

Ingredients
-for meat sauce-
1 tbs olive oil
750g minced meat
1 onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
2 tbs tomato paste
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1-2 tsp sugar

-for the bechamel sauce-
60g butter
3 tbs plain flour
750ml (3 cups) milk

375g fresh lasagna sheets
125g (1 cup) grated cheddar cheese

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Heat half the oil in a large frying pan and brown the meat in batches. Remove from the pan. Add the remaining oil and cook the onion and celery until soft. Return the meat to the pan and add all other ingredients. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the flour and Cook for 1 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the milk. Return to the heat and stir constantly until the sauce boils and thickens. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 minutes.

Lightly brush a 2.5 litre (10 cup) ovenproof dish with oil. Spoon one-third of the meat sauce into the dish. Top with a single layer of the lasagna sheets, then spoon on one-third of the bechamel sauce. Repeat layering twice more, and top with the cheddar cheese.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, or until golden and heated through.

Serves 6

Spaghetti Bolognese

I have only ever made up my own bolognese sauce, I have never followed a 'proper' recipe. Traditional sauce for spaghetti is actually meant to take a while to 'brew' away, which I didn't realise. This recipe simmers away for 1 and a half hours. Nice. And the result was delicious. This recipe calls for red wine, which I didn't add. Instead I increased the amount of beef stock.

*Taken from Murdoch Books 'Australian Family Favourites' published 2007*

Ingredients
2 tbs olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
500g lean minced beef
500ml (2 cups) beef stock
375ml (1 1/2 cups) red wine
850g tinned chopped tomatoes
1 tsp sugar
3 tbs finely chopped flat-leaf (Italian) parsley
500g spaghetti
grated Parmesan cheese, to serve

Method
Heat the oil in a large, deep frying pan. Add the garlic, onion, carrot and celery and stir over low heat for 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

Increase the heat, then add the beef. Stir with a wooden spoon to break up any lumps. Add the stock, wine, tomatoes, sugar and parsley. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Season.

Just before serving, cook the spaghetti in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water until al dente. Drain and serve with the meat sauce and the Parmesan cheese.

Serves 4-6

Roast Beef and Spinach Salad with Horseradish Cream

This was very nice indeed. I cooked the beef and onion on the BBQ. It was tasty and filling and made a perfect warm spring Sunday dinner for Lyndon and I. The leftovers have gone to work with Lyndon...

*Taken from the Murdoch publication 'Tossed'*

Ingredients
Horseradish cream
125g (1/2 cup) thick plain yoghurt
1 tbs creamed horseradish

2 tbs lemon juice

2 tbs cream

2 garlic cloves, crushed

a few drops Tabasco sauce, or to taste

for the salad

200g green beans, trimmed

500g rump steak

1 red onion, halved

1 tbs olive oil

100g baby English spinach leaves

50g picked watercress leaves
200g semi-dried (sun-blushed) tomatoes

Method

To make the horseradish cream, whisk all the ingredients in a small bowl, with a little black pepper to taste. Cover and chill for 15 minutes.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to the boil, add the beans and blanch for 4 minutes, or until tender. Drain, refresh under cold water and drain again.

Meanwhile, preheat a griller or barbecue hotplate to high. Brush the steak and onion halves with the oil. Cook the steak for 2 minutes on each side, or until seared but still rare, then remove from the heat, cover with foil and leave for 5 minutes. (Cook the beef a little longer if you prefer it medium or well done.) While the steak is resting, cook the onion 2-3 minutes on each side, or until charred.

Toss the spinach, watercress, tomato and beans in a large salad bowl. Slice the beef thinly across the grain, then layer over the salad. Thinly slice the grilled onion, add to the salad and drizzle with the dressing. Season well with sea salt and freshly ground pepper and serve.

Serves 4

Chow-Mein-Style Beef with Cabbage, Peas and Vermicelli

I like a good chow-mein. It warms the soul. This recipe was a little different from what I was used from and a hell of a lot more spicy, but still delicious. I recommend only a quick dash of chilli powder (if any), I think I put too much in it for my liking but I coped. Lyndon is a fan of hot and spicy food so he thought it was really good, even if he usually doesn't like Chow-Mein.

*Taken from Karen Martini's 'Where the Heart is'*

Ingredients
3 tbs olive oil
400g beef mince
2 pinches Chinese five-spice powder
2 pinches chilli powder (optional)
1 large brown onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
50g fresh ginger, grated
1/4 cabbage, finely sliced
1 1/2 tbs oyster sauce
100ml tamari* (I used 30ml normal soy sauce)
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1/2 cup frozen peas
4 spring onions, sliced diagonally
3 green chillies, sliced
100g vermicelli (thin rice noodles) cooked in boiling water for 1 1/2 mins
salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Method
Heat oil in a large wok over very high heat. Add beef and cook, stirring to break up, for 3-5 minutes or until well browned. Sprinkle in five-spice powder and chilli powder if using.

Add onion, garlic and ginger and stir. Add sliced cabbage and 125ml hot water and stir again. Stir in oyster sauce, tamari and sesame oil. Add peas, spring onions, chillies and noodles. Stir, then, if needed, add a splash more hot water. Check seasoning and serve immediately.

Serves 4

I actually cooked mine in my French Chasseur dish instead of a wok. I kept it at a low heat after doing all the above steps and added a bit more water and a handful of rice. It was pretty spicy before I did all that and I wanted Monet to be able to eat it without her telling me it was "too spicy".

*Tamari is a naturally fermented soy sauce made from soybeans and without any wheat. It is usually darked in colour than the more common soy sauce

Thai Garlic & Ginger Beef

The Thai restaurant across the road makes a wicked version of this, so I thought I would attempt my own. To be honest with you, I just made up my own recipe, with inspiration from Jamie Oliver I guess.... Delicious and very authentic. *Melody pats herself on the back*

Ingredients
300gms round steak
1 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs lime juice
1 tbs water
1 tsp palm sugar, grated
1 tbs peanut oil
2 green chilies, de-seeded and finely sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
4 spring onions, chopped
1 can bamboo shoots
2 tsp Thai spice (optional) I used McCormick's 'Lemongrass, Lime & Ginger'
Cooked rice to serve

Method
Partially freeze the steak, then slice into thin strips.

Mix together the fish sauce, lime juice, water and sugar in a small bowl. This is the sauce.

Add oil to a pre-heated wok or large frypan. Stir-fry the meat in batches until cooked through. Remove from the pan and keep warm. To the pan add chilies, garlic and ginger. Stir fry for 15 seconds, then add the spring onions and bamboo shoots. Cook for about a minute then add meat back into pan. Add the sauce and cook, whilst stirring, for about 2 minutes or until heated through.

Serve immediately with rice. Enjoy.

Serves 2