Slow Cooker Beef and Barley

 Super nice slow cooker dish. Minimal effort and left to cook on its own. Will definitely cook this again.

 

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• ¾ pound beef stew meat cut into ½ inch pieces
• ¼ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
• Pinch of freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced (about 1½ cups)
• 8 ounces button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 medium carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
• 2 stalks celery, diced (about ½ cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced, or 2 teaspoons minced garlic in a jar
• 6 cups low-sodium beef broth
• One 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, with their juices
• ½ cup pearled barley
• 1 tablespoon coarsely chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
• ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Instructions

1. In a large skillet, heat 2 teaspoons of the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Dry off the meat with paper towels and then sprinkle with the salt and pepper.
3. Add the meat to the pan and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes total.
4. Transfer to a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker.
5. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the skillet. Add the onion and cook, stirring often, until the onion begins to soften about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook another minute.
6. Scrape the mixture from the skillet into the slow cooker. (If there are any browned bits still remaining in the skillet, add a little of the beef broth to de-glaze the pan and then add to the slow cooker.)
7. Add the carrots, celery, mushrooms, broth, tomatoes, barley, and thyme to the slow cooker and stir to blend.
8. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6 to 8 hours.
9. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into soup bowls and garnish each serving with a sprinkling of parsley, if desired.

Slow Cooker Meals

Winter is here, so the slow cooker meals are back in action. I tried this on Monday and it was pretty tasty. Will need to reduce the cooking time next time as the beef was dry from cooking overnight.

http://simple-nourished-living.com/2011/11/hearty-beef-and-vegetable-soup-recipe-for-the-slow-cooker/

Ingredients

• 1 cups low sodium beef broth
• 3 cups water
• 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound top found stead, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 3 large carrots, diced
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 large (1/2-pound) baking potato, peeled and diced
• 2 turnips, peeled and diced
• ¾ cup frozen peas, thawed
• ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley, optional
• Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Whisk together the broth, water, tomato paste, thyme and salt in a 5- or 6-quart slow cooker until smooth and well combined.
2. Stir in the cubes of beef, carrots, celery, onion, potato and turnips.
3. Cover and cook until the beef and vegetables are fork tender, 4-6 hours on high or 8-12 hours on low.
4. At the end of cooking stir in the peas. Cover and cook until the peas are heated through, about 10 minutes.
5. Stir in the parsley.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper

Aussie Meat Pies



Adapted from:
http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/recipes/aussie-meat-pies/69279

I did not make my own pastry but I promise I will when I am given more time in the future.

Ingredients for Pie Filling:

2 garlic cloves minced
1 brown onion minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cornflour
500 g minced beef
3 stalks of celery minced
1 large carrot minced
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 small teaspoon of Thermomix vegetable stock diluted with 1/2cup water (can omit and replace with salt)
1 tbsp Vegemite
1 tbsp. of mix dried herbs of choice (I used dried parsley)
100 g button mushrooms, , thinly sliced
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
a squeeze of tomato ketchup

Method:
1. Sautee the garlic and onions until fragrant
2. Add in the beef, season with pepper, soy, Worcestershire sauce and vegemite
3. Next add in the mushroom and continue to cook the mixture down
4. Add in the vegetables together with vegetable stock and cornflour. Add in pepper and continue to add seasoning until taste suits.
5. I let the filling cool in the fridge overnight
6. To bake the pies, I used store bought shortcrust and puff pastry. Shortcrust goes to the button and puff is to line at the top of the pie.
7. I used the 12 muffin tray to make the pies. I cut a large circle to ensure I am able to fill the muffin hole with the shortcrust pastry. Fill them up with the filling and cut a smaller circle to cover the top. Use some water to seal the sides
8. Mine pies exploded as I did not seal them properly. Also the shortcrust pastry is really hard to handle.
9. Bake for 20 minutes at 175C

Stri Fry Beef and Tomatoes

Simple everyday dinners.

Ingredients:

100gms of minced beef

1 onion chopped

2 medium sized carrots- minced

3-4 fresh tomatoes- chopped

3 cloves of garlic- minced 

Thick soy sauce

Olive oil

Seasoning - season the beef for around 10-15 minutes

Chinese rice wine - the rice wine takes the beef smell away so it is good.

Cornstarch

Soy Sauce

Salt & Pepper

Method

1. Heat up wok with 2 tbsp of olive oil

2. Throw minced garlic when oil is hot

3. Once fragrant, throw in the minced beef

4. When it is turning pink, throw in the chopped onions

5. I added in a swirl of thick soy sauce for the dark colour and also some sweetness

6. Cover to cook and you will get some juice in the dish from the beef. I added some additional water as the kids like to have sauce in their dish.

7. Once nearly cook, add in the carrots. Give it a couple of stirs then the tomatoes.

8. Done. This makes enough for our dinner and also enough to pack for lunch the next day.

Beef Stew (by Paula Deen)

Beef Stew (by Paula Deen)

Ingredients

• 2 pounds stew beef
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 or 2 bay leaves
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• Dash ground allspice or ground cloves
• 3 large carrots, sliced
• 3 ribs celery, chopped
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

Brown meat in hot oil. Add water, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and allspice. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Remove bay leaves and garlic clove. Add carrots and celery. Cover and cook 30 to 40 minutes longer. To thicken gravy, remove 2 cups hot liquid. Using a separate bowl, combine
1/4 cup water and cornstarch until smooth. Mix with a little hot liquid and return mixture to pot. Stir and cook until bubbly.
Per serving: Calories: 349; Total Fat: 20 grams; Saturated Fat: 6 grams; Protein: 31 grams; Total carbohydrates: 10 grams; Sugar: 4 grams; Fiber: 2 grams; Cholesterol: 96 milligrams; Sodium: 574 milligrams

Beef Balls and soup

Easy soup on Fridays.

 Minced some spring onions and kale together with garlic and seasoning. Mixed together with 500gms of minced beef.

Soup is just made from pork bones, carrot, dried oysters and slow boil for an hour. Throw in the meatballs to cook in the soup and separately cook the noodles.

serve while it is hot.

Macaroni Pasta and Vegetable sauce

Macaroni Pasta with veggie sauce


no recipe for this. Adapted from the Thermomix one. But i added my own veggies and whatever i have leftover in the pantry.
Veggies used - blitz up Kale, Celery, Onion, Garlic, Carrot, Basil Leaves
Sauce - Mushrooms, Tomato paste, Tomato Puree, lots of red wine for the sauce and myself, water, salt, oregano, nutmeg, sugar, fresh tomatoes
Meat - angus minced beef- 500gms.
I used Thermomix to cook this. Added a bit of everything, tasting as i go along.
Cooked the Macaroni last and kids manage to finish up one bowl. They are not a fan of pasta anymore but this is one of the best way to hide the veggies in and i absolutely love it. 

I finished up the whole bunch of kale this week. Next week i will be trying out some other veggies like beets and celeriac.

Aussie Minced Pies

http://www.recipecommunity.com.au/recipes/aussie-meat-pies/69279

Ingredients

6 portion(s)

Iced Puff Pastry

90 g ice cubes
180 g unsalted butter, , frozen, roughly chopped
200 g plain flour
1.5 tsp sea salt

Pie filling

2 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley, , leaves only
2 garlic cloves
1 brown onion
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cornflour
500 g beef fillet steak, , cut into 2cm cubes
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp Vegemite
100 g button mushrooms, , thinly sliced
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
tomato ketchup, to serve, (see general tips)