Beef and Chickpea Curry

 Excellent beef curry, made with ground Scotch beef. The chickpeas were softened in a slow cooker over several hours, and the beef was browned in a flat pan in a little olive oil for an hour and a half at a low to medium heat. I added diced mushrooms, a red chilli, and a julienned red onion. 

Water was added to the beef along with the chickpeas, and was simmered for a couple of hours, after which the herbs and spices were added. The Madras curry powder was the most important of these. 

Served with some fresh coriander, Basmati rice, and Pataks Lime pickle. 

Cubed Beef and Pasta

 Cubed Scotch beef, cooked for an hour and a half in a lidded pan at a medium heat, with olive oil. The green beans and spinach were cooked for ten minutes along with some dried rosemary in a separate pan. The wheat free pasta was cooked in a third pan for ten minutes or so at a medium heat. Fabulous meal!

Beef Chilli with baby leeks

Basmati rice cooked slowly in a flat pan with a quarter teaspoonful of turmeric.

The Ground beef was cooked for forty five minutes along with the vegetables, and then water, the vegetable stock, and the paprika was added, and cooked for another hour slowly under glass. Fabulously tender.
 

Beef Chilli with Roast Potatoes

Ground beef, browned for twenty five minutes in sunflower oil along with diced spring onion, Then simmered in water for two hours under glass at a lowish heat. After which the vegetable stock is added, the chilli, the diced yellow pepper, and the haricot beans and tomato puree.

Arrowroot was mixed with some water and added during the last ten minutes (it functions as a thickener). Stirred thoroughly through the beef.

Roast potatoes were cooked in an oven preheated to 190 deg C. Cooking times will vary. These took fifty minutes, drizzled in sunflower oil. Judge by eye. Turned once to ensure even browning. 

 

Minced Beef with Sugar Snap Peas

Ground beef, browned and then simmered for two hours under glass, with herbs and paprika, plus diced onion, served with boiled semiskinned potatoes, and diced and boiled sugar snap peas. 

 

Spicy Beef and Mushroom Stew,

 Minced beef (ground beef) browned for about twenty five minutes, before water and beef stock was added. Plus diced purple onion, haricot beans (pre-soaked), button mushrooms, Madras curry powder, tomato puree, and red chilli. 

Served with pre-prepared potato.

Ras el Hanout Beef and Bean Curry with diced Garlic

Beef and Bean curry with Ras el Hanout seasoning and diced garlic. Based on an earlier meal with well tenderised beef. 

The beef was cooked with diced leek. Served here with additional spring onions, plus Oregano.

 

Minced Beef and Leek, with Grilled Parsnip Chips

The beef was browned for about seventy minutes before water and vegetable stock were added. Plus diced leek. Cooked under glass for another two hours until really tender. 

Half a large parsnip was diced, and then divided into chips. Grilled until browned (watch by eye!), for about twenty-five minutes, after being drizzled in sunflower oil and turned with a wooden spoon to ensure an even coverage. A simple dish, but delicious! 

 

Lancashire Hot-pot

 A dish based on the preceding beef chilli. The remains of the beef chilli was placed in a pie tin, and the red chillies were removed. The beef was covered by thinly sliced potato, drizzled in some sunflower oil, and cooked in the oven for about seventy minutes - fifty minutes at a high heat (190 deg C), and the rest at a lower heat (150 deg C). Follow progress by eye. The dish was dressed in coriander before being put in the oven. 

Traditional? Lancashire hot-pot would not have had chillies, or sweetcorn. Just beef, and perhaps onion and carrot. I added diced green beans and a splash of red wine before it went into the oven.  

Beef and Sweetcorn Chilli

 A simple dish of Scottish minced beef and sweetcorn. 

The beef was browned with a little sunflower oil. Stirred frequently for around twenty five minutes. Then boiling water was added, and the beef was cooked slowly under glass for two hours. 

The tinned sweetcorn (200g) was added after an hour. Along with three red finger chillies, four garlic cloves (diced), two pinches of coriander leaf, two pinches of oregano, two pinches of paprika, beef stock, and two glugs of Italian red wine (Merlot). 

Served with some potato bread, or another bread of your choice.

Beef Chilli with Garlic and Coriander Naan

Sometimes it s good to have a beef chilli on top of a piece of naan bread rather than with rice. The chilli was prepared in the usual way (browned first, and then boiled under glass for between forty minutes and an hour), with some beef stock and diced and deseeded chilli. 

The naan bread was toasted in a standard toaster.  

 

 

Beef Casoulet with Yoghurt and Coriander

Ground (minced) beef, browned for twenty minutes, stirring frequently.

With added diced onion, diced spring onion, yellow pepper, chopped baby plum tomatoes (four), diced mushroom, diced carrot, a crushed clove of garlic, and potato chunks.

Simmered for an hour and a half at a low heat under glass. Add beef stock. Add a quarter teaspoonful of chilli for heat, if desired.

Served with Yoghurt dressed in two pinches of dried coriander.

Beef Burgers, with Coriander and Potato

The beef burgers were made with 250g of minced beef (5% fat), one and a half white onions, diced, one dessert spoonful of spelt flour, one egg, a shake or two of black pepper, some salt, and a diced handful of fresh coriander.

Mixed together by hand, along with a drizzle of olive oil. Take at least ten minutes over this, which improves the result. Shape into burger-shaped patties, and place in a roasting dish coated with a wipe of olive oil. You should get about four burgers from the ingredients.

Cook for one hour on the middle shelf of the oven at 180 deg C (check progress by eye, and by thermometer).

Serve with boiled potatoes, and a dusting of freshly ground black pepper, plus American mustard. Garnish with sprigs of coriander.

Beef Bourguignon Potato Pie

I made the beef bourguignon stew first, not with cubed beef, but with ground beef instead. Cooked with carrots, onion, diced mushrooms, paprika, red wine (a delicious Italian merlot), bay leaves, garlic, and thyme. Plus beef stock. Cook for between one and two hours. Kept in the fridge for a couple of days, and then decanted into a standard pie tin. Remove the bay leaves.

The potatoes were boiled, then mashed with a little salted butter and olive oil. Creamed with a little milk. I also added some dried coriander leaf to the mash.

The mashed potato was added to the top of the pie tin, and textured with a fork, to increase crispiness.

Cooked for between forty and fifty minutes at 180 deg C on the middle shelf of the oven (check progress by eye). It may take a little longer.

It is customary to include chopped bacon in beef bourguignon, but I usually skip this ingredient.

Served with some French's American mustard. German mustard will do as well.

Ground Beef with Spring Onion and Curried Rice

5% fat ground beef, browned for twenty-five minutes in some sunflower oil. Eight chopped spring onions (cybes) plus two diced carrots were caramelised in a separate small pan at the same time.

Added together, along with some Sainsbury's gravy granules, and with some boiling water, and beef stock. Actually inferior to the traditional way of thickening beef mince, which is to use cornflour. Sainsbury's granules contain wheat flour, which I try to avoid. Always read the label before buying.

Simmered for at least an hour under glass at a low heat. Longer is better, if you like your beef tender.

The rice was cooked for ten minutes with curry powder, salt, turmeric and a green chilli. Drained, and the whole green chilli was removed before serving. 

Beef Chilli with Roast Potatoes

An unusual combination of components, but it works quite well. How to do good roast potatoes is detailed here.

The ground beef was browned for half an hour, initially at a high heat, and then at a low heat. The beef was 5% fat, so I added a little olive oil to the pan.

Then I added water, chopped tomato, julienned red onion, diced carrot, some haricot beans, red kidney beans (soaked overnight), beef stock, dried coriander, and three red chillies. Simmered for two hours until tender. Delicious!

Beef Chilli with Kidney Beans and Greek Yoghurt

A straightforward ground beef chilli, served with Greek yoghurt dressed with coriander leaf.

The 5% fat beef was browned in sunflower oil for twenty minutes, after which the julienned white onion was added, along with the diced carrot. Stirred together under glass for another thirty minutes.

I added boiling water to the pot, plus the vegetable and beef stock. Plus the red chillies, and the sliced red pepper.  Simmered under glass for an hour or so.

The dried kidney beans had been soaked for three hours in a separate pot, and then were boiled for two hours, before being added to the main dish (after draining). Along with some haricot beans.

Served with Greek yoghurt dressed in dried coriander leaf. Delicious!

Cubed Beef Chilli Stew

Good quality cubed beef from the local Co-op. Browned in olive oil for twenty minutes. After that, I added diced leek, a quarter of a yellow pepper, two diced green finger chillies, and three cloves of garlic. Cooked for twenty minutes, with frequent stirring.

Boiling water was added (about 100mls), and then a standard tin of plum tomatoes. The tomatoes were diced with a spatula. Simmered under glass for an hour.

After that I added beef stock (actually a beef Oxo cube), and some diced fresh basil leaves. Allowed to simmer for another fifteen minutes.

Served with boiled potatoes, cooked in salted water for twenty minutes.

Ground Beef, with Greek Yoghurt dressed in Tarragon

5% fat ground (minced) beef from the local Co-op. First I fried a whole Spanish onion (julienned and diced) until it was caramelised. Then I added tomato puree, red pepper, and carrots, plus 100mls of water, and simmered these for about forty minutes, along with beef and vegetable stock.

During this time I browned the beef in a drizzle of olive oil, stirring frequently (in another pan). The heat was turned down after ten minutes (brown, not burn!) I added diced chestnut mushrooms after fifteen minutes.

After thirty minutes I added the beef (etc) to the Spanish onion salsa, and simmered under glass at a low heat for about an hour.

Served with Greek yoghurt dressed in a sprinkling of tarragon.

Cubed Beef Chilli, with Wheat Free Pasta

Good quality cubed beef from the local Co-op. Browned in olive oil for twenty minutes. After that, I added diced leek, a quarter of a yellow pepper, two diced green finger chillies, and three cloves of garlic. Cooked for twenty minutes, with frequent stirring.

Boiling water was added (about 100mls), and then a standard tin of plum tomatoes. The tomatoes were diced with a spatula. Simmered under glass for an hour.

After that I added beef stock (actually a beef Oxo cube), and some diced fresh basil leaves. Allowed to simmer for another fifteen minutes.

The pasta was cooked for fifteen minutes under glass (with salt and a drizzle of olive oil), with frequent stirring.

The beef chilli was decanted to a pasta bowl, and the (drained) pasta was laid on top. Dressed with a little dried oregano.  Delicious!