Cheesy Beef n' Rice

My favorite dish to make.

Cheesy Beef n' Rice

1 c Long Grain Rice
2 T Butter

3 c Broth (or water)
2 Carrots, shredded
2 t Beef broth powder (if using water)
1 lb Ground Beef, browned

Parsley
Basil
Salt
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder

1/2 c Cheddar cheese, shredded

Saute rice in butter. Add everything else, save the cheese. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes. Stir twice during baking. Uncover, sprinkle with cheese, and bake until cheese melts.

(can be cooked on the stovetop, covered, until the rice is soft and the liquid is absorbed)

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

A very colorful and very flavorful winter dish. Recipe from the Taste of Home website.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb (750 g) potatoes, peeled and cubed
6 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch slices
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
3 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 lb (700 g) beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
14 1/2 oz (410 g) canned diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup beef broth
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Directions:

Layer the potatoes, carrots, onion and celery in a slow cooker.
Place flour in a large resealable plastic bag.
Add stew meat; seal and toss to coat evenly.
In a large skillet, brown meat in oil in batches.
Place over vegetables.
In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, broth, mustard, salt, pepper and thyme.
Pour over beef.
Cover and cook on high for 1 1/2 hours.
Reduce heat to low; cook 6 hours longer or until the meat and vegetables are tender.

Prune tzimmes (meat and potato stew with prunes)

This recipe comes from Claudia Roden's The Book of Jewish Food: an Odissey from Samarkand to Vilna to the Present Day which I'd recommend to anyone who wants not only a Jewish cookbook but also a sort of cultural and culinary encyclopedia.
I've tweaked the recipe slightly, though, both for quantities and ingredients. It makes a great, filling, colourful winter dish. I was a bit concerned about sugar in meat, but I promise you that, especially with the addition of red wine, it's not all sweet, just pleasantly sweet 'n'sour. You need time to make it but the preparation's very straightforward.

Ingredients for 4 people:
1 kg beef meat. Pick something like brisket or flank. It has to be tender and with a little bit of fat.
3 tablespoons oil
1 and a half large onions, coarsely chopped.
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
a good pinch of nutmeg
2 deciliters of red wine
1 kg new potatoes
4 large carrots
500 g prunes
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cube stock
1 teaspoon ginger

In a heavy pan over medium heat, turn the meat in the oil to brown all over. Then remove it and fry the onions gently till soft. Return the meat to the pan and cover with water. Add stock cube. Season with salt and pepper, add the cinamon, nutmeg and ginger and simmer for one and a half hours.
Add the potatoes, carrots, prunes, sugar and wine and more water to cover and simmer 1h longer. You may want to have plenty of black pepper to balance the sweethness. There should be a lot of liquid. Serve hot.

Wheatbelt Casserole

This is my own recipe, a perfect hearty casserole for a cold day when you want something that is both easy and tasty. It brings together the tastes of the Western Australian wheatbelt and the surrounding bush (lamb and kangaroo, and wheat pasta), along with good old garden vegetables and herbs.

Of course, given that this is an international board, most of you won’t be able or inclined to cook with kangaroo meat (or, for that matter, with vegemite). Don’t worry, you can replace it with beef. But if you’re in Australia or can get hold of kangaroo where you live, I would thoroughly recommend it. It’s low in fat, low in kilojoules, high in iron and very tasty.

This much will feed two, three or four people depending on how hungry you are!

Ingredients:

200g lean kangaroo fillet (or beef fillet), cubed
150g lean lamb fillet, cubed
2 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
375mL liquid stock (broth) – I used vegetable but beef would be fine
2x ~400g (1 pound) tins diced or crushed tomatoes
1 large brown onion, sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
2 tsp mixed herbs (I used one tsp each of Lamb Herbs and Italian Herbs – just use whatever you like best!)
1 tsp vegemite (optional)
1 tsp red Tabasco sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

180g dry pasta (I used spirals; shells or any other medium-sized shaped pasta would be good too)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180 C (356 F)

2. In a large freezer bag (or sealable plastic container) place 2 tbsp cornflour, a dash each of salt and pepper, and the diced meat. Seal the bag / container and shake to coat all of the pieces of meat in the flour. Continue shaking until all flour is taken up.



3. Dry-fry the meat in a hot frypan until the flour is browned.



4. Place the meat in a casserole dish (I used a stoneware casserole with a lid – the dish must be coverable) and add all other ingredients except pasta, including salt and pepper to taste. Stir thoroughly until ingredients are spread evenly throughout.



5. Place covered casserole in the pre-heated oven and cook for one hour.

6. After one hour, remove casserole from the oven and add pasta. Stir thoroughly and return covered casserole to oven.

7. Cook for another hour, then it’s done!



Remember that this will be *very* hot when it first comes out of the oven. Don’t burn your mouth out of enthusiasm to taste it! I recommend that you dish out the casserole into bowls or plates and then let it sit out for 5 minutes before tucking in. Enjoy!

Boeuf Bourguignon

Or beef Burgundy style. I am going to write the original recipe, jacked from somewhere and my slow cooker version.

Ingredients for 4 servings:

3 lb (750 g) beef chuck, cut into large pieces

3.5 oz (100 g) bacon, cut into strips

2 medium onions

4 medium carrots

9 oz (250 g) mushrooms

1 clove of garlic

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon thyme

2 bay leaves

salt, pepper, parsley to taste

~ 700 ml (1 bottle) full-bodied red wine, or enough to cover the beef*

* Or substitute half of the wine with beef broth

Directions:

Regular version:

In a saucepan brown the bacon.

Remove bacon strips, and use drippings to brown the beef.

When beef is browned, add enough wine to cover the meat.

Add garlic clove, onions and carrots.

Add tomato paste and all seasonings.

Stir flour into ~ 2 tablespoons of water and add it.

Return the bacon to the pan.

Bring everything to a boil (so any acidity of the wine evaporates), then lower the heat.

Cover and simmer for about 2 hours or until the meat is fork-tender.

Sautee mushrooms and add them to the beef just before serving.

Slow-cooker version ('cuz that's the only way I cook beef):

In a saucepan brown the beef and the bacon.

Layer carrots in slow cooker.

Add onions on top.

Add meat.

Stir tomato paste, wine (broth), flour and seasonings together.

Pour over meat.

Drop garlic clove in liquid.

Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours/high for 3 hours, or until the meat is fork tender.

In both versions sautee mushrooms and add them to the beef just before serving.

In both versions when the meat is done you can thicken the sauce with some more flour.

Skillet Lasagna

I tried to look if I posted this already and couldn't find it, so if it's a repost, I'll delete it.

1 lb. ground beef
1 jar tomato sauce
half an onion
no-boil lasagna noodles
LOTS of grated parmesan
shredded mozzarella

Brown the beef and drain, add in the (chopped) onion until soft. Break up the noodles and layer all over the top of the meat, then top with tomato sauce. Cover and simmer for about five minutes. Stir and continue cooking if the noodles haven't softened yet. Remove from heat, stir in as much parmesan as you can stand, and top with mozzarella. Return to heat briefly to melt, and serve.

While this sounds like any other skillet Italian recipe, you really must use broken lasagna noodles and lots of parmesan. The noodles act like scoops for the meat and sauce, and the parm makes a thick sauce with the meat that's just amazing.

Cottage Pie

Or rather, Ivayla's bastardized version of an English classic :). Ideas from here and here.

Ingredients for a 12-inch (30 cm) pie:

4 medium potatoes
milk, butter, salt to taste

~ 1 lb/500 g ground beef meat*
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 medim carrots, sliced
3 roasted peppers, cut into strips
7.5 oz/200 g canned green peas
7.5 oz/200 g canned chopped tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon thyme
salt, pepper to taste

* I had pot roast leftovers that I ground in the food processor, and since it was already seasoned, I skipped the spices.

Directions:

Boil the potatoes in water until soft.
Drain and mash with the butter and milk.
Season with salt and pepper

Heat some oil in a skillet.
Add the onion and carrots and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes until soft.
Add the ground beef and brown it.
Add the tomatoes, bay leaf and thyme.
Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink.
Add cornstarch.
Stir in peas.

Spread a thin layer of mashed potatoes on the bottom of an oiled pie pan.
Spoon the meat mixture on top.
Cover with strips of roasted pepper.
Top with the rest of the mashed potatoes.
Bake on 375 F/190 C for about 30 min or until golden brown.

Hot Pot

This scrumptious winter dish is one of my mother’s specialties, and I only hope that someday I can make it as well as she does! It’s a rich meaty casserole topped with lightly crisped potato slices. Perfect for the end of a cold day, and much healthier than its rich taste would suggest.

Serves 6 people

Prep time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: 2h 55 mins

Ingredients:

400g shin beef (gravy beef)
400g lamb cutlets
4-6 tomatoes, sliced thickly
2 onions cut into rings (we use brown onions)
4 carrots, sliced into rounds
6 potatoes
1 teaspoon (5 mL) each of oregano, thyme and sweet basil
A few tablespoons of plain flour for browning
A little oil or margarine for browning
1 tablespoon cornflour (US: cornstarch)
Good stock (broth), enough to cover all ingredients in the pot. A good low-salt liquid stock from the supermarket is fine, but we usually use stock or gravy left over from a previous meal and frozen for future use, which makes for a much more flavoursome meal. If you’re using store-bought, I suggest a mixture of varieties – beef, vegetable and chicken stock together. You can also throw in other liquids such as left over drinking juice, juice from tinned fruits, and red wine, to add to the flavour.

Method:

1. Cut beef into 2-3cm (1 inch) cubes, and coat in plain flour.

2. Heat margarine or oil in the base of a large saucepan, add beef and stir quickly until browned.

3. Add lamb, tomatoes, onions, carrots and herbs to the beef in the saucepan, add just enough stock to cover, and simmer on the hotplate for 2 hours.

4. Preheat oven to 100 C / 210 F.

5. Remove the meat and vegetables from the stock with a slotted spoon, retaining the stock in the saucepan. Place meat and vegetables in an open-topped oven-proof dish (such as a pie dish). Place in oven and proceed immediately to next step.

6. Peel potatoes and cut into thick, round slices. Place potatoes in the stock in the saucepan, and boil for 15 mins. Remove potatoes from stock and reserve stock in saucepan.

7. Remove dish from oven and pile or layer the boiled potatoes on top of meat and vegetables. Pour in as much of the stock as will fit without overflowing the dish. Reserve remaining stock.

8. Place dish back in the oven, increase heat to 180 C / 350 F and cook for 40 minutes. Watch potatoes carefully in last 10 minutes to prevent burning.

9. Just before the dish is ready, reheat the stock remaining in the saucepan to use as gravy. You can thicken the gravy by using a tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in half a cup of water, and poured into the boiling stock while stirring briskly.

10. Serve immediately. We usually have this with some boiled or steamed vegetables such as peas, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, silverbeet etc.

Chilli con Carne

Chilli con Carne is easy, cheap and filling. The best thing about it is, that, as long as you have some mince and a jar of chilli sauce, you can knock a batch out from almost any leftovers you have knocking about the kitchen.

There are many ways to make chilli; this is just one of them, and the one I've personally found to be the most delicious. I customized it after watching a friend make it and then forgetting most of the ingredients, so it may be a little unorthodox (I always get told off for not buying a separate tin of kidney beans or for draining the bean juice from the beans). Most of the ingredients are exchangeable according to taste; in face, probably the only one completely necessary is the chilli sauce, and there are many varieties of that.

One last thing: I am English, and, contrary to popular belief, we don't stoically follow the metric system; the measurement systems used as usually a mixture of metric and imperial. So I'm sorry if the recipes get confusing, but it should be pretty easy to convert measurements.


On with the actual recipe!

Serves: 2

Ingredients

Minced beef, 500g
Chilli sauce, 500g (about 1 jar)
Red onion, 1 half
Baked beans in tomato sauce, 200g (about half a tin) (student tip: I'm usually fussy and only buy brand-name beans like Heinz, but in chilli you can't really taste the beans, so don't worry about using a cheap own-brand)
Sweetcorn, 150g (one small tin)

1. Firstly, prepare the half-onion by cutting it into small chunks about 2cm long.

2. Put the beef in the frying pan and cook until it's nearly all brown

3. Add the chopped onion to the beef and fry them together until the beef is completely brown - you could probably add the onions later with the other ingredients but I just love the smell of frying onions!

4. Once cooked, pour the beef and onions into a large saucepan.

5. Open the tin of baked beans and drain out the tomato juice (I find if that if you don't, it makes the chilli too sloppy).

6. Drain the sweetcorn, if need be (i.e. if they're in water)

7. Pour the sweetcorn, baked beans and chilli sauce in the saucepan and stir all ingredients til they're mixed together.

8. Cook the mixture together over the hob on a medium heat for about ten minutes, stirring regularly to avoid it getting stuck to the bottom.

9. Finally, pour the chilli onto two plates and serve!

You can eat chilli on it's own or with rice or bread (my personal favourite is naan bread).

I'm going to make this again tomorrow so I'll try and remember to take some pictures to whet your appetites! :)

-- Natla

[ETA] I've added more exact measurements and edited the recipe a little for clarity. Picture coming soon!