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Archive for the ‘Beef’ Category

There are many recipes for  rissoles but this is one of the tastiest I’ve found. I think that is possibly because the onion is cooked before it is added to the rissole mixture.  It is a fairly healthy meal since the rissoles include lots of veges so it’s one way to get the kids to eat veges.

Rissoles

Ingredients:

500g mince
2 onions, diced
1 cup grated carrots
2 cups shallots cut into small pieces
1 cup diced capsicum
2 Tbsp parsley finely chopped
6 slices bread broken into small pieces
2 eggs beaten
1/3 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
oil for frying (not canola)

Method:

1. Fry chopped onion till translucent.
2. Combine bread, eggs and milk in a bowl and mix thoroughly.
3. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. You can use your (clean) hands to mix everything and ensure it is at a good consistency.
4. Shape into rissoles and fry.

This makes a change from the usual roast beef. You could call it a pot roast and it is very simple and takes no longer to cook than the usual roast. I have not specified the type of roast as we have used this recipe on cheaper cuts as well as dearer cuts and they have all turned out yummy.

Although the original recipe used an oven bag, I find them a pain to use so now I recommend preparing this in a casserole dish.

Red Wine Roast Beef

Ingredients:

1  kg roasting beef, eg topside roast, rib roast
1  pkt French Onion Soup mix
1/2 cup hot water
2  tblp olive oil
1  large garlic clove, crushed
1  cup red wine

Method:

1. Preheat moderate oven.
2. Mix together French Onion Soup, hot water, red wine, olive oil and crushed garlic.
3. Place roast into ovenproof casserole dish and pour in red wine mixture.
4. Cover casserole and place in oven.
5. Cook for 1/2 hour per 500 grams roast. So if the roast is 1.5kg you would cook it for 90 minutes. You may want to turn the roast over once or twice to ensure it is all exposed to the red wine.
6. Uncover casserole for the last 15 minutes.
7. Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes after cooking. The red wine mixture can be used as a gravy. You can thicken it if desired.

Tips

This goes well with the usual roast vegetables, such as potatoes, pumpkin etc. These require about an hour to cook. You can also do corn in the oven by wrapping it in aluminium foil and cooking for about 30-45 minutes.

If you don’t have a cover for your casserole dish you can put a piece of aluminium foil over the top to act as a cover.

Alternatively, you can use an oven bag instead of a casserole dish – just be careful with these as the liquid inside will be very hot – there will be steam -  and the bags are not particularly strong.

I like to mix the French Onion Soup mix and hot water before adding anything else to ensure the soup is dissolved properly.

The quantities are not critical – if you like more garlic or red wine etc, just add it. The main determinant of cooking time is the size of the roast.

If you have left over roast and gravy, use it the next day to make a roast beef roll. Delicious!

This is delicious and versatile recipe. You can serve it as finger-food or as part of a meal. The meatballs can be made the day before and then cooked on the day you need them.

Island Meatballs

Ingredients:

500g topside mince (or ground beef)
black pepper
1   finely chopped onion
1   clove garlic
1   tsp chilli sauce
1/2   cup chopped parsley
1   tbsp soy sauce
3   tbsp plain flour
2   eggs (lightly beaten)
2   cups dessicated coconut
oil for frying (I do NOT reccomend canola oil)
toothpicks for serving

Method:

1. Mix meat, pepper, chopped onion, crushed garlic, chopped parsley, chilli and soy sauces until well combined.
2. Shape  mixture in to about 50 small balls. (You need reasonably small balls to ensure that they cook evenly. If they are too large, the meatball needs to be cooked longer and you run the risk of burning the coconut coating you applied in step 4.)
3. Stir flour into egg and dip meat balls into this mixture.
4. Roll the balls in coconut.
5. Put the meatballs in the fridge for a while to firm up. This makes them easier to handle. If you are preparing them the day beforehand you can put them in a sealed container until you are ready to cook them.
6. Put about 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) deep oil in a frying pan. Heat gently. You need to ensure the oil is hot before putting the meatballs in to prevent them sticking. (No you don’t want to use a teflon coated pan – the teflon is not good for you.)
7. Fry the meatballs moving them to cook on all sides. Keep warm and serve with sauce.

Sauce

Ingredients:

3   tsps dry mustard
2   tsps vinegar
6   tbsps chutney (chopped)
1/3   cup red currant jelly
2   tsps sugar

Method:

1. Combine ingredients.
2. Heat gently
3. Serve hot with Island Meatballs.

Tips

This recipe can be prepared and frozen – provided you are using fresh mince that has not previously been frozen. You can then thaw it out and cook it on the day you need it. To prevent the meatballs from bcoming a frozen mass of meat, put them in layers separated by greaseproof paper.