Beef Strogganoff

This is my own version of beef strogganoff, you need half a kilo steak without the fat , I cut all the fat off , once I made beef strogganoff with a bit of fillet , but that was when meat was much cheaper than now, it was devine, if you want to go a bit healthier , you can even put in more veggies and little bit of beef, you can even put in chicken if you like for chicken strogganoff :) there are no rules in cooking as long as you keep on tasting and it taste good then you are a winner , this I made for us when we were still living in Pretoria , I took the photos with my phone and it came out quite nice , I loved my stove . 

This is quite a fast dish and it does not take so long , this is a shorter version of the one I usually make , this one is a one pot half hour dish which really does not neet a lot of preperation and time , this recipe is for the ones who get home after a long day at work and have all the ingredients and just fry and stir once and dish up :) 

Ingredients, one large onion , one large sweet pepper , in this case I used a yellow pepper as they looked so good, one punnet of button mushrooms , just wipe it off with  a clean kitchen cloth , I never wash my mushrooms , then half kilo or less minute steaks or normal steak, secret is that you cut it with your kitchen knife in thin strips , even the toughest meat makes this dish totally delicious , and then if you have a half a cup of red wine , and one and a half teaspoons of Ina paarman or some other chicken or beef spice , sometimes I use half and half as in this case , you first fry the onions but leave it in the pan and then the meat and then the sweet pepper and then the mushrooms and then mix spices in and a pinch of salt and black pepper and then the wine , simmer with a lid on and serve with Penne pasta or ever screws , they really make good pasta for this dish 

I also added a bit of green sweet pepper just before I dished up as I want some crunchyness in the dish , it is fast and really very tasty !

I use a quarter cup of milk at the end to make the sauce creamy , for the daring people they can either put some cream or plain yogurt in , it is really very tasty !

Stuffed chicken breasts with butternut and feta

This recipe require a breast with the skin on , you have to cut all the chicken fat off but you have to keep the skin for this recipe
one cup freshly grated butternut
two chicken breasts
three toothpics for each breast
1 teaspoon Ina paarmans green onion spice
half teaspoon beef spice
and another teaspoon to go ontop of the chicken with a bit of paprika spice before it goes in the oven 
one feta ring , the 33% less fat one
two garlic gloves cut in small pieces or crushed
mix all together and put it under the skin pocket of the chicken take the tootpics and stick the skin to the rest of the breast so that filling does not burst out ,
bake in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour
it is totally delicious , make any green salad to go with it
I used carrot , olives , baby tomatoes ,  cucumber , sweet green pepper , 2 dilled gherkins each

Remember to take the toothpics out of the stuffed chicken breast , it was really very tasty :) mm

spanich rice and meatballs

this meatballs was with a twist , I made it the same recipe than I always did but with a bit of a twist this time, I put one  teaspoon of tomato puree in also one tablespoon of sweet chilly sauce , it came out quite nice . I made spanish rice with it .

Now for the recipe and some photos of the Spanish rice 

cut onions , grate two carrots and cut half green sweet pepper and one tomato with the skin off chop fresh garlic so that you get one big heapfull teaspoon , fry it together and put one cup raw rice in

take one teaspoon and one cup of Ina Paarmans beef stock powder and pour slowly in 

Remember to put on the lid and let it simmer till the rice is cooked .

colorful and yummy

 

 Eat it with minceballs , it is really very tasty :)

kassler rib stirfry with noodles

Firstly with a hungry meat eating husband , one has to be original in thinking , always have to think what I am making for dinner , so I cooked the pasta , let it rest and started with the veggies for the stirfry , all fresh of course , I left the carrot skin on as I felt it is healthier like that . I cut them in julienne kind of strips and one onion in rings and half of a sweet green pepper in long thin strips

a bit of olive oil for frying the veggies , first in went the onions till see through and golden and then the carrots and then the sweet peppers

I took some balsamic dried fruit and rooibos reduction amongst some balsamic vinegar to marinate the meat after I cut them into strips , and set it aside , I also cut some fresh carrots with the skin on in julienne strips , and took one onion and cut it in thin rings

the meat has fat on , I cut all the fat off as we do not eat the fat

I used honey and rooibos infused vinegar also , just a tad of it :)

then the meat is cut into strips and I added some  balsamic dried fruit and rooibos reduction for the marinade

after the onions has been fried I added the carrots and ontop of that the green sweetpepper, I switched the stove off and left it on the plate so that vegetables can be cooked , not stirred much but still a bit crispy 

Then I friend the meat till nicely cooked , it does look a bit burnt but isnt it is just the balsamic vinegar reduction that does that .

Honey what is for lunch ?

Honey what is for lunch ? and can you please make me something with chillies in it ...
that is what husband said to me this afternoon , he is not really one for chillies so I thought I make him something really nice which I made myself once as well, just without the toast underneath

two slices of toast
three huge eggs
salt and pepper
2 jalapeno chillies , I used the pickled ones
quarter cup grated Edam cheese <  diabetic healthy and not so fatty 
cut them into thin slices
a fresh tomato or two


Make scramble eggs with a spoon of butter and one half egg shell full of water, the water makes it fluffy , do not use milk as it makes the egg heavy
then scramble all together and just before it is cooked take pan off the stove and let it cook without it been on the stove, makes it soft and juicy but fully cooked

underneath two wholegrain slices of toasted bread
then the scramble egg
and Edam cheese
slices of tomato
and then circles of jalapeno on it , mmmm yummy :)

 I took the pips out for him of course :)

Spagetti Bolognaise (Spagbol)

 My friend Ginny stone calls this (Spagbol) this one is for you girl !


500g lean minced meat
3 garlic pieces finely chopped
one or two onions grated 
fresh ginger chopped, 0ne teaspoon
1 teaspoon Ina paarman green onion spice
1 teaspoon Ina paarman beef spice
four huge tomato fresh ones with the skin peeled off , chopped finely
50ml of tomato puree
I use the bags
1spoon of roberston paprika spice wet or dry , I used the wet ones
a pinch of salt and pinch of pepper
half cup of water 125ml 

only the onion and the spices are going into the meat and then it should be rolled into small  balls
the rest should be fried in a bit of olive oil , which is the garlic, ginger , tomato , puree , half cup of water
the balls of meat should be put gently into the sauce , the stove on two /low

The secret is in the sauce , one should really try and use fresh ingredients to make your spagbol sauce , I do not like tin tomatoes , although I use tomato puree just to enhance the sauce :) and it is delicious .do not make the sauce with the tomato skins still on , it is really not tasty at all ...

chop the garlic fine and put in the tomato puree and the paprika paste and simmer
put a half cup water in and stir

make meat into little balls and put into the sauce

put the lid on and simmer , after five minutes put stove off and put lid back on , after another five minutes turn little balls around and simmer for another five minutes , the meat will be fully cooked then .

 

 tasty and not so much trouble remember to cook your pasta as you start rolling your balls . 

Enjoy , this is really very tasty !

home made pies

I got some lamb stew meat from my mother in law that she sent along with my brother in law for us along with some vegetable and fruitcake etc for Christmas and I cooked the meat today with a bit of carrots and potatoes and onions with some chicken stock I made previously and it came out so nice , I cut out all the fat and then rolled out some dough , cut it out with a small saucer and then add the meat and fold closed and voila , cornish pie !

 

it was easy to just cut the circle with a saucer /smallish plate as it makes it a bit neater

then you add the meat in the middle along with some carrots and potato , fold close and do the edges with a fork as it prevents the filling from spilling out , make a whole ontop with a knife for steam to escape .

it looks like a huge calzone pizza hahaha

you have to then brush the tops with some milk as it browns it quite nicely like that :) I do not use egg on my pies .
I somehow want to save a bit of money :) and milk does the trick also .

The end result ! my husband enjoyed it very much , he had two for dinner ,the other two he will eat tomorrow , I did not had any , but did taste , was delicious !

from the rest of the dough I made peri peri cheese straws for him, just added peri peri and a bit of grated edam cheese, made in twirls and baked in the oven .