Beef in a Garlic and Black Bean Sauce, with Cashews

Beef from a topside joint, cut into strips and marinaded for several hours in the garlic and black bean sauce. The beef strips were put under the grill until hot. Watch the roasting tray carefully! Turn the strips once or twice.

The stirfry vegetables came from the Co-op, but were augmented with the red pepper, garlic, red chilli, and the cashew nuts. Cook rapidly at a high heat in sunflower oil for three minutes, and turn the heat right down if you are using an electic hob with some latency. Splash with a little rice wine.

Add the beef strips to the stirfry and cook at a medium heat for another three minutes or so. And serve.

Beef Chow Mein with Rice Noodles

The remains of some bargain topside beef went into this dish. Finely chopped, and added to chopped spring onion and chestnut mushrooms, all the ingredients were cooked in a small lidded pot with the juice from marinaded red peppers (Polish style, mainly vinegar), and a sachet of chow mein flavoured sauce from Aldi.

Cooked slowly for about twenty minutes, while the rice noodles were cooking. The noodles were dropped into boiling water, and then the heat was turned down. Cooked at a low heat under glass.

The noodles were decanted into a metal sieve, and sifted with a fork to ensure separation. Added to the serving plate, and dusted with some Sumak powder, which imparts a lemony flavour. The beef chow mein was added to the centre, and then the dish was served. Delicious!

Beef and Potato Salad Wrap

The potato salad was made with chunks of boiled potato from the day before, plus chopped marinaded red pepper (Polish style), plus the sliced onion in the marinade, chopped spring onion, and shredded tomato. Add three dessert spoonfuls of fresh mayonnaise and some freshly ground black pepper.

The herby mediterranian style wrap was the last of eight in the packet in the fridge, so I freshened it up by soaking it in warm water and leaving it to flatten for ten minutes. Cooked very briefly under glass at a low heat in a flat pan under glass (don't overdry it!)

The topside beef came from the local co-op. 25 days matured, rubbed in salt, oven roasted, and thinly cut. I added two slices of the beef (altogether 50g), and spooned the potato salad across the width of the wrap. Carefully roll up the wrap, and cut diagonally to serve.

Endless variations can be wrung on this simple filling dish. It would be good with chicken pieces, or with roast pork. Good too with something like Wiltshire ham, Brunswick ham, or something similar. Also can be made with sliced pickled gherkins or salted cabbage mixed with the mayonnaise.