Easy recipes from Apple Tree

Tag: beef

Steak on Sourdough with Garlicky Tomatoes

Unashamedly straight off a Waitrose recipe card. When they’re gone, they’re gone! For four people:

  • 2 courgettes, thinly sliced
  • 500g tomatoes (quartered if large, halved if cherry)
  • 4-8 sprigs fresh oregano or marjoram, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Place in an oven tray, toss together and roast at 200C for 20 minutes. Give a quick stir halfway. Add

  • 1 tin drained canellini beans or similar

Cook a further 5 minutes. Meanwhile (timed to coincide with the end of the veg cooking):

  • 2 steaks approx 180g each
  • 1 tbs oil
  • salt and pepper

Sear in a pan or cook to your liking until medium rare. Leave to rest and firm up.

Toast

  • 4 large or 8 small slices sourdough bread

..ideally, on the skillet you used to sear the steaks. If not, grill or use a toaster. Slice the steaks and assemble the toast, veg mixture and sliced steak as in the heading photo. Adjust the seasoning and serve.

Beef in Guiness Casserole

This is the Instant Pot version, for six portions.

  • 1 large onion
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 celery stick

Chop the onion roughly. Slice the carrots and celery thickly. Switch the Instant Pot to Saute. Add a tablespoon of oil and fry the vegetables in the pot. You could add a few quartered mushrooms if you wish. When the onion is looking transluscent, add

  • 3 packs (750g) cubed casserole/stewing beef

Continue to fry until the beef colours. Stir it around and add a bit more oil if the meat is very lean. Add

  • 1-2 tablespoons of plain flour

Stir around until it is absorbed. Add

  • 1 can or bottle Guiness (330ml)

Stir about and bit. Add a

  • Bay leaf
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme or a pinch of dried thyme
  • salt, pepper

Turn the Instant Pot to Meat and set for 40 minutes. Put the lid on, turn the pressure valve to Seal and wait. Allow to depressurise naturally at the end of the cooking time (another 15 minutes). Take the lid off and the meat should be nice and tender. If the liquid is too runny or you like a thicker gravy, add a teaspoon or two of cornflour dissolved in a dash of water, stir it in and switch the Instant Pot to Saute again to heat through and thicken the gravy.

Beef and Blue Cheese Pie

The blue cheese really adds an extra mmmm to this pie.  This recipe also includes a standard short-cut I use to cook the filling in a One Pot pressure cooker, which makes the toughest meat tender without cooking all day. This makes a big pie for four people.

One Pot method:

  • 750g  beef  (shin, casserole, braising, stewing steak) cut into cubes
  • Tablespoon of oil

Put the oil in the onepot and heat to saute. Add the beef and brown all sides. Remove.

  • 1 onion chopped
  • 2 carrots, cubed

Add to the pot and saute until soft. Add the beef back in.

  • 2 tbs flour

Mix in.

  • 2 tbs tomato puree
  • 350ml beef stock
  • 1 bay leaf
  • pinch of dried thyme or 1 tsp fresh
  • salt and pepper
  • dash of Worcester sauce

Turn to Meat/Stew setting, seal and cook for 45 mins to 1 hour depending on how tough (cheap) the meat is.

When done, allow to depressurise naturally. Spoon the veg and meat into a pie dish. Add enough of the stock to juice up your pie, you may not need all of it. Keep what you don’t use for extra gravy.

  • Blue cheese (as much as you like!)
  • Puff Pastry sheet
  • 1 beaten egg

Crumble blue cheese over the top of the pie mix. You can have a little for a slight tang or go mad if you really like a blue cheese sauce. Lay over the pastry and trim. Brush with beaten egg to glaze.

Cook in the oven for 35 minutes at 180C. Serve with mashed potatoes and a green veggie.

Chilli Cornbread Pie

This is basically a chilli with cornbread on top. Cooked together – what’s not to like?? You make your chilli first, then mix the topping and bake it like a shepherd’s pie.  For four portions:

  • 1 onion chopped
  • dash of oil (rapeseed preferably)

Gently fry until soft

  • 2 garlic cloves crushed and chopped

Add to the pan and fry briefly

  • 450g lean minced beef

Add to the pan and stir about. Fry until coloured (no pink)

  • 2 x 400g cans chopped tomato
  • 2 x 400g cans chilli beans (or regular red kidney beans plus 1 tsp hot chilli powder)
  • 250ml beef stock

Here’s a general tip, if you are adding tinned tomatoes followed by stock, use the stock to swill out the tin so nothing is wasted.  Season the mix and simmer for 30 minutes. Meanwhile make the topping.

Preheat the oven to 180C

  • 150g cornmeal or fine polenta flour
  • 150g self-raising flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt

Mix in a bowl

  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 300ml buttermilk (or plain yoghurt mixed with milk at a pinch)

Mix in a jug. Then pour into the flour mix, and mix to a runny batter. It needs to be “thickly pourable” if that is any guide. Not too runny, but it needs to move.

When your chilli mix looks cooked, it needs to be still liquidy, with liquid to the top of the meat/beans, not drying out and lumpy. If it isn’t wet enough, add some water and stir about. This is because the cornbread will suck up moisture and you don’t want a dry pie do you? Check the seasoning – if it’s not spicy enough consider adding some chopped jalapenos or minced chillies.

Now find a suitable oven-proof tin or casserole dish and put the chilli in. Now carefully cover the top of the chilli mix with your cornbread mix. This is why you want it runny enough to cover the surface. Now bake for 35-40  minutes. It’s probably worth a check after 25, because you want to top browned not blackened. If it is still looking pale stick a skewer in the topping. If it comes out dry it is cooked. If it comes out with batter on it needs more time. If it comes out covered in chilli you stuck it in too far.

This needs the traditional accompaniments of cold beer, soured cream, maybe avacado, chopped tomato, shredded lettuce, grated cheese and more jalapenos. This is an Ainsley Herriot recipe and he just said salad. That’s a missed opportunity in my opinion.

Quick steak and mushroom stroganoff

(Wikimedia image) Serves 2, easily scaled:

  • 230g sirloin steak, trimmed of fat
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • seasoning
  • oil

Season your steak, oil it and sear in a hot pan both sides. Turn the heat down and cook each side for two minutes. Set aside. In the same pan add

  • 1 small onion sliced

Cook gently until softening Add

  • 250g sliced chestnut mushrooms

Cook until soft. If it looks too  dry add a pat of butter. When cooked, add

  • 100ml beef stock
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire Sauce

Simmer until reduced by about half. Add

  • 2 tbs single cream

Slice your reserved steak, and add to the pan with the cream and any resting juices. Heat through but don’t boil the cream.

Serves with mash or pasta (tagliatelle or linguini is best). Scatter over some chopped fresh parseley for poshness.

 

 

 

Best Cottage Pie

Still the best.

  • 1 onion chopped
  • 1 large carrot chopped
  • 1 celery stick chopped
  • 1tbs oil

Sweat in oil until the onion is softening

  • 500gm steak mince

Cook with the vegetables, stirring until all pink has gone

  • 2 tbs tomato puree or half a tin of chopped tomatoes
  • 500ml beef stock (Oxo cube is fine)
  • Season well with salt and black pepper

Cover and simmer the beef mince while you peel enough potatoes to make a mash to cover. The quantity here is debatable. You want enough potato to cover the top of the dish, but you could bulk up with more to make the dish stretch further. Boil the potato and mash them when cooked, adding a bit of milk and butter if they are a bit dry.

Put the oven on to 180C and find a suitable pie dish. Ladle the beef and veg mix into the dish. If it has dried out, add more beef stock – it needs to look very sloppy. Carefully cover the dish with potato and fluff up the top so it goes crispy, and cook for 30  minutes. The ultimate comfort food, served with a green vegetable.

Best Chilli (easy)

Found this on the Internet and it is a good one.

  • 450g minced beef
  • 1 onion
  • 1 green pepper
  • 1 tbs chopped jalapeno
  • 400g tin chopped tomato
  • 400g tin red kidney beans
  • 400g tin black beans
  • 1 pack passata
  • 125ml water or stock
  • 2 tsp chilli powder
  • 2 tbs ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • dash of cooking oil

Heat oil in an iron casserole. Chop the onion and green pepper. Heat in the oil to soften. Add the mince and stir around until the pink has gone. Add the spices and jalapeno. Cook for 1 minute more. Lob in everything else and simmer for an hour. Keep checking and if it looks like drying out add more water.

Server with rice or tortillas, plus grated cheese, sour cream, avacado and beer.

Instant pot method:

  1. Press “Saute”. Fry onion, pepper and beef as above.
  2. Chuck the rest in.
  3. Cancel Saute and put on “Chilli” for 30 minutes.

Burritos

Easy Mexican. Serves Four.

  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed and chopped
  • 400g lean beef mince

Heat a dash of oil in a pad and fry onion and garlic gently for a few minutes. Add the beef and continue frying and stiffing until all the pink has gone.

  • 1 tbs chipotle paste
  • 1 can red kidney beans
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes plus a teaspoon of minced chilli or 1 packet of Passata and minced chilli or 1 tub of bought tomato and chilli sauce

Add to the pan, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Heat the oven to 200C

  • 4 tortilla wraps
  • 100g cheddar cheese (or more if you like cheesy)

Spoon a quarter of the meat mix into the centre of each wrap. Top with cheese. Roll up into a neat parcel and place in an oven-proof dish (like a lasagne dish). Sprinkle with more cheese. Bake 10 minutes until golden.

Serve with tomato rice, shredded lettuce, avacado, diced tomato, jalapenos, sour cream – in fact all the Mexican add-ons you fancy! Like a Sol…

 

 

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