Beef & Black Bean Stir Fry

{image from Junior MasterChef Series 2 Cookbook}

Recipe By: Junior Masterchef
Serving Size: 4 serves

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon soy sauce, light
2 teaspoons caster sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour
400 grams rump steak, trimmed of fat, thinly sliced
1 bunch gai lan*, (Chinese Broccoli)
80 milliliters vegetable oil
1 red onion, small, chopped
3 centermetres fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 red capsicum, seeded and thinly sliced
100 g oyster mushrooms**, roughly torn if large
1 tablespoon salted black beans
2 tablespoons chinese rice wine, (shaoxing)
2 tablespoons oyster sauce

Directions:
1. Combine the soy sauce, sugar and cornflour in a bowl, add beef and toss to combine. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes

2. Cut gai lan leaves from stems and trim base of stems. Slice remaining stems lengthways if thick, then cut leaves into 5cm lengths. Set aside separately.

3. Heat a wok over a high heat and add 1½ tablespoons of oil. When very hot (shimmering) add half the beef and stir fry for 2 minutes or until the beef is browned. Transfer beef to a bowl and repeat with another 1½ tablespoons of oil and remaining beef. Wipe wok clean.

4. Place wok over a medium heat. When hot, add remaining 1 tablespoon of oil then onion, garlic and ginger. Stir fry for 1 minute. Increaseheat to high, add gai lan stems, capsicum and mushrooms and stir fry for 2 minutes. Add gai lan leaves, black beans and rice wine and stir fry for 30 seconds. Return beef to wok, add oyster sauce and 60ml water and stir fry for a further 30 seconds. Serve immediately.

Notes:

*If Gai Lan is unavailable, substitute with broccolini or green beans.

**If oyster mushrooms are unavailable, substitute with swiss brown or shitake

TIPS for Stir Frying: This is a technique where you need to be really organised beforehand, as cooking should be done quickly. Make sure you prepare all of the ingredients beforehand - this is kown as "mise en place" (MEEZ-ON-PLASS), literally "put in place". Cut all the ingredients into pieces about the same size so they cook evenly. The dish will look and taste much better.

Working Mum's Time Saver Tip

Ask your butcher to slice your beef into strips for you! Most supermarkets also have this option in their pre-packaged meat department.

 

Meal Plan Monday

Monday

{image & recipe credit}

Creamy Coconut Fish Curry with Steamed Rice

Tuesday

Nachos Supreme

Wednesday

Tuna Mornay with Creamy Mash

Thursday

Steak Bearnaise with steamed greans

Friday

Chicken Ceasar Salad

Saturday

Lamb Korma with Steamed Basmati Rice

Sunday

Chicken Parmegana, chips & Salad

Lunchbox

 {image & recipe credit}

Chocolate Coconut Slice

Grandma Smith's Slow Cooked Sweet Beef Curry

Recipe By: Grandma Smith
Serving Size: 6

Ingredients:
500 g chuck steak, cubed
2 tablespoons plain (all-purpose) flour
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon curry powder
2 tablespoons butter
1 brown onion, diced
1 carrot, sliced
1 green apple, diced
1 tablespoon sultanas
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
500 milliliters beef stock

Directions:
1. Place the flour, curry powder and salt and pepper in a large zip lock bag and shake to combine. Pop the beef pieces in the bag and shake until the beef is coated in the seasoned flour. Set aside

2. Melt butter in a saucepan over a medium heat add the beef (reserving any excess flour) and fry until lightly browned.

3. Add carrot, apple and onion. Cook for about five minutes or until softened. Add sultanas, sugar, lemon juice and stock. Cook for a few minutes until pan is deglazed (all the brown bits come up off the bottom). Add any left over flour to the liquid, stir to combine.

4. Tip all of the mixture into the slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours, or until the meat is meltingly tender. Serve with steamed rice.

Meal Plan Monday

MONDAY

{image credit}

Cumin Salt CrustedPork with Braised Buk Choy & Baby Carrots

TUESDAY

Tandoori Butter Chicken with Wilted Baby Spinach

WEDNESDAY

Steak Bearnaise with Home Made Chips & Simple Salad

THURSDAY

Chicken Fettuccine Carbonara

FRIDAY

Cook's Night Off!

SATURDAY

No Packet Tuna Mornay and Creamy Mash

SUNDAY

Chicken Parmegana & Salad

LUNCHBOX

Home Made Muesli Bar Slice

Nachos Supreme!

Don't be scared! I know it looks like a lot of ingredients, but if you are a keen cook, you will have quite a bit of this in your fridge/pantry already.  See my timesaver tips below for some speedy ideas.

Believe me, your family will thank you. This has got to be our family favourite. If I am ever at a loss for dinner ideas (and doesn't that happen to all of us?) and I ask the family for ideas, NACHOS is always the answer. 


Ingredients:
For the Tortilla Chips
8 mini flour tortillas, cut into eighths
Welly Boot Extra Virgin Olive Oil, spray*
For the Sauce
1 brown onion, medium sized, finely diced
500 grams extra lean beef mince
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon chilli powder
1 tablespoon tomato paste
125 grams supersweet corn kernals, can
½ cup salt reduced beef stock
For the Salsa
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ long red chilli, deseeded, finely chopped
5 vine ripened tomatoes, deseeded, finely chopped
juice of one lime
1 handful coriander, roughly chopped
For the Guacamole
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ long red chilli, deseeded, finely chopped
1 spring onion, finely sliced
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
juice of one lime
2 avocado, large
Seasonings
sea salt
freshly cracked black pepper
Welly Boot Extra Virgin Olive Oil
For Serving
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
lite sour cream

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200℃. Place all salsa ingredients in a bowl, season with a pinch of salt and a splash of extra virgin olive oil, mix well and allow flavours to infuse to at room temperature.

2. Line a large shallow baking tray with baking paper. Place tortilla pieces in baking tray, spritz with extra virgin olive oil spray, sprinkle with a little sea salt, toss to coat and pop in the oven for 10 minutes or until just golden. Remove from the oven, they will crisp up as they cool.

3. Heat a little extra virgin olive oil in a large frypan over a medium/high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the beef mince and garlic to the pan. Cook until well browned and all juices have been absorbed. Break up any lumps with your spoon/spatula as you go. Season with a little salt and pepper. Add paprika, oregano, cumin, thyme and chilli, cook stirring until fragrant (around 30 seconds). Add tomato paste and combine well. Add the whole can of corn (liquid and all!). Add stock, reduce heat and simmer until all liquid has been absorbed.

4. While the sauce is simmering, to another bowl add garlic, chilli, spring onion, cumin and lime juice. Mix well. Halve and de-seed the avocado and scoop the flesh into the bowl and roughly mash with a fork, mixing with the other ingredients. Season with a little salt and pepper.

5. Serving Remove the sauce from the heat and divide between four serving bowls and add a handful of chips to each bowl. Top with grated cheddar, then layer with salsa, guacamole and sour cream. Dig in!

(Serves 4)

{COOK'S TIPS} •Adjust the heat to suit your family’s taste buds, by increasing or decreasing the amount of fresh and powdered chilli. •Allow mince to come to room temperature before cooking. This reduces the amount of lumps to break up in the pan. •Beef mince can be substituted with chicken mince, or halve the amount of meat and add a can of drained and rinsed kidney beans for an even healthier alternative. {image credit} *Oil spray pumps can be purchased from your local kitchen store and are a great way to use less oil in your cooking. Just decant your favourite oil into the spray bottle and away you go! {WORKING MUM'S TIMESAVER TIPS} •Substitute homemade tortilla chips for store bought corn chips. Plain, no added salt are best as they don’t overpower the other flavours in the meal. •Make your mexi-spice mix up in bulk ahead of time. Mix together 3 tbs Paprika, 3 tsp Dried Oregano, 1 ½ tsp Cumin, 1 ½ tsp Thyme and ¾ tsp Chilli powder and store in an airtight container. Use 2 tbs of the premade mix when the recipe calls to add the spices. •Make the meat mixture up to three days ahead. Refrigerate in an airtight container. Warm through before serving.