Beef Curry Pie Two Ways

I made the filling for these tasty treats a couple of days ago. The one above, I call it Beef Curry pot pie since I put it in a pot and covered it with store bought puff pastry. Had I time, I would have made short crust pastry and made it into some turnovers to be frozen.

Below I turned the pie filling into little appys, also with puff pastry and garnished with a few sprigs of lovely parsley from Richard and his lovely wife. I was hoping that the crust wouldn't open but, I guess it added to its presentation.

Now, what did put into the filling? Humm, I think I started with sauteing some minced garlic, then added pureed lemon grass and curry paste. Once fragrant, I added the beef, cubed potatoes and frozen veggies (unthawed) all at once. Gave it a good stirr and added a little water to help the bottom not stick. I also added beef stock and salt and pepper. Then simmered on med-low heat till potatoes were cooked and water has mostly evaporated. I let it cool and used as mentioned above. This pie filling was one of my mum and dad's favourite recipes on mine. I remember making this as a young teenager for my parents. Pastry from scratch too. Certainly brings back memories.

Macaroni Chinoise?

Here's a recipe inspired by my dearest Reno Man. A few years ago, I was really really sick. Can't get up for 2 weeks kinda sick and my hunny made this recipe for me. It was very yummy and very simple. The only seasoning he used was soya sauce! Not even garlic or any condiments. Anyway, I added a little to it to give it a little variety.

Cooked macaroni
minced garlic
beef cut into small strips
frozen veg & peas
fresh cilantro and sliced bird's eye chilli to garnish.
Sesamee oil and pepper
Oh, can forget soya sauce!

As usual, I sauteed the garlic, then added the beef. Stir fry for 30 secs and add the frozen veg. Once heated through, add cooked macaroni and seasoning. Sitr fry till well mixed. Add soya sauce to taste. When ready to serve, add cilantro and chilli if desired.

Pineapple Rice and Tumeric Wings

I'm not sure why I have never tried making this before today. It turned out better than expected. I happen to have some fresh pineapple in my refridgerator, some left over rice and thinly sliced beef. I found a recipe for pineapple rice with minced beef and I though, why not give this a go. As usual, I never follow the recipe to the tee. Just picked up the ingredients and did my own thing.

As usual, sautee some minced garlic and add the beef that has been cut into thin strips or use minced beef. Then throw in lots of frozen mix veg and peas and stirfry till veggies are heated through. Then add chopped pineapple, you can use drained crushed canned pineapple or fresh, and rice. Stir out lumps in the rice and then add soya sauce, fish sauce and rice vinegar. To give it a little kick, I added finely chopped bird's eye chilli. Chopped fresh cilantro just perfects this dish. Hummm yum! Of course you can have this on its own but I had some chicken wings that I had thawed and wanted to make a traditional Malaysian style chicken with this. Tumeric chicken is really easy. My version is anyway. Traditionally, it is deep fried but I couldn't be bothered and it tastes just as good grilled in the oven and its much healthier too. So I started with cleaned chicken wings which I patted dry with a paper towel. Then seasoned it with salt, then garlic powder and then tumeric powder till well coated. Lay the chicken pieces on a rack with a drip pan and grill in the oven at 375F for about 40 mins. Turn half way through cooking.

Sweet Chilli Beef Stir-Fry

This recipe came to me as I was marinating the thinly sliced beef. Just like the recipe before I used top sirloin steak, slightly frozen and thinly sliced. Then I marinated it with soya sauce, sesamee oil, Chinese cooking wine, minced garlic and sweet chilli sauce. Then I prepared the bak choy as in the recipe previous to this.

In a hot wok, heat some oil and when heated, stir in the beef for 1 minute. Then add bak choy, toss well and book till desired tenderness. I also thinckened up the sauce with a little bit of corn starch and water mixture. Just before serving, I topped it with chopped cilantro and finely sliced bird's eye chilli to give it a little more kick! Hummmm. Yummy.

Satay Beef Stir-fry with Bak Choy

Somehow, coke always goes so well with Malaysian food. Hence the coke cans! Besides, they tend to bring a good contrasting colour to my pic! Now this is something I made up. I used Top sirlion steak, slightly frozen so that I could easily slice the beef thinly. Then I marinated it with soya sauce, a little sugar and minced garlic.

Then I prepared the bak choy. Just washing each leaf and separating the leaves invidually. Then I prepared my satay sauce. You can buy this from and Asian grocer instant or a pre-mix. I used a pre-mix where I just added water anda brought it to a boil for a few minutes. Next I put my pan on high heat and added a little oil. When the oil was hot, I added the beef and fried it for about 30 secs before adding the bak choy. This takes a little skill with 2 cooking utensils to toss till the bak choy is wilted. Finally, I add the satay sauce. Once it is well mixed and the meat and veggies area well coated with the sauce, I quickly serve it hot with steamed Jasmine rice. Oh! I think this is my current favourite. So quick and easy. And clean up is that too! -end-

Sesamee Beef Stirfry

Simple, easy and tasty. In 30 minutes or less! Of course this is best served with freshly cooked Jasmine rice. So to start, get your rice started in your rice cooker or pot. Then, thinly slice a 10-12 oz of your steak choice. I used top sirloin but this would work well with a lower grade cut so long as you slice it across the grain. Marinade this in about 4-6 tbsp of soya sauce,1-2 tbsp of oyster sauce, 1 tbsp sesamee oil, 2 tbsp of roasted sesamee and 1 tbsp of sugar. Marinade well and lastly add 1-2 tsp of corn flour to the beef. Set this aside and wash a good portion of yau choy or bak choy. Cut the veg into 2 inch lenghts. Next heat your wok or non-stick pan to high with 2 tbsp canola/ corn or peanut oil. Add in 1 clove of minced garlic. When lightly golden, add marinated beef. Stirfry till meat is separated but not throughly cooked. Then add veggies and cook till just tender. Add a little water, stir till well mixed and then turn off heat. Serve hot with steamed rice. Its nice to toss a little more roasted sesamee on the beef before serving.

My kind of comfort food!

It certainly seems that as I keep making posts, that alot of the time, I am just trying to make really fast no hassel food. Tonight was another one of those nights. I resorted to feeding Renovation Man left over spaghetti meatballs and making instant pho' noodles with beef balls for myself. Its not something my hunny likes but certainly hit the spot for me. Throw in a handful of leafy veg and some hoisin and Vietnamese chilli sauce for dipping and I'm a happy gal! There's just something about a steaming hot bowl of noodle soup that just reminds me of my Oriental heritage. Add this to a great Survivor episode and a glass of coke just made my evening. I guess I've mentioned how satisfied I was already.

Stir-fried Vietnamese beef noodles with sugar snap peas

Tonight's dinner was a hit with my hunny.

700g Thinly sliced tender beef marinated with

1/3c Sweet chili sauce

1/3c Oyster sauce and

1/4c Fish sauce.

Use half of the mixed sauce and set aside remainder for later. Lightly saute the marinated beef and set aside. I used ...

500g Hokkien noodles which I blanched for a few minutes in hot water. Then sauteed

1 sliced medium onion in the same pan with

1-2c sugar snap peas till slightly tender.

Then return the beef to the pan with the noodles and remainder of sauce. Cook till heated through and serve with fried onions as garnish. Ready in minutes.