Beef kebabs

This is a new experiment for us. We normally make kebabs on skewers with chunks of meat and maybe various veggies, but this is a ground meat style kebab without the skewer.

In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients well:

• Ground meat (we used beef, but want to try lamb sometime) - about a kilo will make six to eight kebabs.
• Minced garlic, half a red onion, a handful of parsley, and some mint.
• Large tablespoonful of cumin, corainder and paprika.
• Teaspoons of garlic powder, salt, and pepper. 

Don't be stingy with the spices, this mixture will absorb a lot before getting too overpowering.

Press the mixture out onto a lined baking tray, into a rectangle about 3/4" thick. Use a sharp knife to cut into strips an inch or so wide. No need to separate them, they'll pull apart once cooked.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until cooked through.

Serve with pittas, tzatziki, with toppings and salad.

Beef Wellington

Sear either a beef tenderloin or individual steaks - they will continue to cook in the oven so you don't want them fully cooked at this stage.

Roll out puff pastry.

Fry a finely-chopped onion and some finely-chopped mushrooms. When cooked, stir in some smooth pate, then a dollop of cream and mix thoroughly. When the mixture has cooled, spread onto the middle of the pastry and set the beef on top. Fold the pastry over to make a parcel (or individual parcels), and bake until the pastry is puffed up and browned.

Cornish pasties

This is a tasty and filling meal for a winter's day.

For the filling, blanch some finely-diced carrots, potatoes and swede, and drain. The veggies should be cut into small pieces - about 1/2" or 1cm in size.

Fry a finely-chopped onion and garlic until golden, and add ground beef (or turkey, or lamb) and fry until browned. Overall, you want roughly the same amount of meat as you have veggies. Stir in the cooked veg, and a good dollop of brown sauce, and leave to cool.

Mix some shortcrust pastry dough, roll it out fairly thin and cut into circles (using a side plate as a template will give you a good size.)

Brush the edge of each circle with milk, spoon some of the filling into the centre, fold over to make a parcel and crimp the edge. Brush the outside with milk and pop into the oven on a baking tray for about 40 minutes, until the pastry has browned.

Goulash soup

A tasty and hearty dish that we tried for the first time last night. When we were camping this summer we stopped for lunch at a tiny cafe while taking shelter from a sudden downpour. We had goulash soup, and decided to hunt down a recipe. I'm happy to say it worked out well, something to do again.

In a large saucepan fry a few rashers of finely-chopped bacon until crispy. We usually get lean bacon, but for purposes like this Canadian (or "streaky" as we knew it in Britain) is perfect.

Set aside the bacon and fry some finely-cubed steak until browned. Scoop that out and set it aside with the bacon. I find this also produces a fair amount of liquid, which I drained off for later use too.

Now fry a couple of finely-chopped onions and cloves of garlic until golden. Stir in a generous spoonful of paprika, and a couple of heaped tablespoons of flour. Stir for a couple of minutes, then stir in a generous spoonful of tomato paste and a good slosh of red wine vinegar. The result should be a sticky paste.

After a minute or so, stir in a good jug of beef stock (including the liquid set aside from cooking the steak), salt, a chopped red pepper, and the bacon and steak. There should be enough liquid to cover everything. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 45 minutes.

Add a few finely-cubed potatoes - there should be at least as much by volume as meat - and continue to simmer until the potatoes are tender.

If necessary, add a bit of liquid to cover the ingredients, but the result should be a rich and thick soup. Stir occasionally to stop it catching on the bottom of the pan. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.

Corned beef hash

This is a simple dish, but remarkably tasty and filling. It uses a can of corned beef - NOT the same thing as Spam!

Fry a finely chopped onion until soft. Add a can of corned beef and break the meat down into smallish chunks with a spoon. Keep frying, stirring to prevent the mix from catching on the pan, until the meat breaks down into a mush. Add a can of baked beans and stir in a generous squirt of tomato ketchup. Keep cooking on low until the mixture thickens up a bit.

Serve with mashed potatoes and veg.

Beef stew & dumplings

This is the time of year when the hearty, warming recipes start coming to the fore. This is a regular favorite for the cooler evenings.

Fry a large chopped onion, steak cut into cubes, and a handful of button mushrooms quartered. When the steak is nicely browned, decant into a covered roasting dish along with some chopped carrots and a drained can of Romano or white kidney beans. Pour over some beef stock with a spoonful of gravy browning mixed in. You don't want it swimming, but the liquid should more-or-less come to the top of the other ingredients.

Pop in the oven for at least an hour. How long overall depends on the cut of meat, cheaper cuts need longer cooking.

For the dumplings, mix together flour and suet in 2 to 1 proportions (my rule of thumb is 2 tablespoons of flour and 1 of suet per person) with a generous spoonful of baking powder and a pinch of salt. Mix in cold water until you have a sticky dough. Spoon over the top of the stew and return to the oven until the dumplings have fluffed up and gone crispy golden on top - about 1/2 hour.

Mince'n'onions

Another filling British dish for the "meat & two veg" brigade :)

This is something we hadn't done for years, thinking the kids would likely turn their noses up at it, but it turned out to be a hit!

Fry a chopped onion until soft. Add ground beef or turkey and cook until browned. Make up a couple of cups of beef stock, laced with good squirts of tomato ketchup and HP sauce and stir into the meat. Leave to simmer until the liquid has reduced to a thick gravy.

Serve with mashed potatoes and assorted veg.

Spaghetti & meatballs

This is my wife's special meatball recipe ... listen very carefully, I will say this only once ...

Mix together a finely-chopped onion, ground beef or turkey, a teaspoon each of garlic salt, chili powder, Italian seasoning, steak seasoning, and a good tablespoon of cumin. Add an egg, and enough breadcrumbs to mix to a moist but workable consistency.

Form into balls and fry in a little olive oil. When the meatballs are browned, add some tomato pasta sauce and leave to simmer.

Meanwhile bring a pan of salted water up to the boil and cook the pasta. Drain, and serve with the meatballs.

This same mixture also makes amazing burgers, if we ever get a summer this year :(

Mongolian beef

Another crock pot recipe from this site.

Mix the following ingredients into a slow cooker: 1/2 cup each of brown sugar, water, soy sauce, and hoisin sauce, a finely sliced onion, some green onions chopped, and a few cloves of garlic and a small cube of root ginger finely chopped.

Coat some bite-sized slices of beef in cornstarch, and fry briefly to brown. Add to the pot. Cook on low for about 4 hours.

Tacos

Another quick & simple light meal.

Fry some onion and ground beef or turkey until browned. Add a little water and stir in a packet of taco seasoning. Cook until the liquid has reduced.

Serve on either hard corn taco shells or flour tortillas, with your choice of sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomato, olives, grated cheese.

Beef stroganoff

Although many of the recipes here mention beef, many of them involve ground beef and in practice we often substitute turkey. In a typical week we eat far more poultry and fish and very little red meat. However, this is one tasty meal we do enjoy that is unashamedly red and carnivorous!

Fry a chopped onion in a large saucepan. Add sliced steak - a reasonably good cut to make it tender, or just simmer for longer if using a cheaper cut. Once the meat is browned, add a spoonful of beef stock, a generous sprinkle of paprika, a squirt of tomato ketchup, and a good dash of brandy. Mix well and simmer for about 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally to make sure the mix doesn't catch on the bottom of the pan. Near the end of the cooking time, stir in a dash of cream and continue cooking to thicken.

Separately, fry a sliced red pepper and some sliced mushrooms. You can add these in to the pan early on instead, but we like to do these separately and mix in at the last minute. They hold their individual crunch and flavor better that way.

Serve with rice and a nice Chianti  :)

Burritos

A quick meal, with a bit more oomph to it than sibling dishes like tacos and fajitas.

Fry a chopped onion, then some ground beef or turkey. Once the meat is cooked and thoroughly broken up, stir in a can of refried beans, a packet of burrito seasoning, and a dash of water. Cook until the mix is thickened.

Serve on flour tortillas with your choice of toppings - sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, grated cheese ...

Roast

Nothing quite beats a traditional Sunday roast. You need time for cooking, but it is a very easy meal to prepare.

Meat of choice - beef, lamb, pork, chicken, or on special occasions - turkey. The basic approach is the same. Place the meat in a roasting dish in about 1/2 inch of water. We use water rather than fat because it's healthier, preserves the flavor of the meat, and keeps it moist. Cover and cook in the oven for roughly 2 hours.

Timing depends on size. If cooking a turkey we use the "1/4 hour per pound plus 1/4 hour" rule of thumb as a rough guide, but nothing beats experience and occasional checks on the roast.

Potatoes: Boil and simmer for about 15 minutes. The outsides should be going soft but nowhere near ready to mash. Drain and place in a baking dish and drizzle a small amount of oil over the top. They should need no more than a spoonful per piece. Cook in the oven for about 1 1/2 hours, until the outsides are crisp and golden.

When the meat is ready to carve, lift from the roasting dish. Keep the liquid for gravy. If your dish can go on the hob you can make gravy right there, otherwise decant into a saucepan. Mix a spoonful each of cornstarch and gravy browning (we use Bisto) with cold water to make a thin paste. Pour slowly into the stock whisking to ensure it doesn't go lumpy. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you need more liquid, drain some off from whatever veggies you're cooking alongside.

Vegetables: Whatever you want. For simple meals we boil carrots, beans, peas, corn. They should only cook for a few minutes - nothing ruins a roast more easily than soggy veg!

Steak & mushrooms

One of our occasional luxuries. This is hardly a recipe, more like a recommendation (for meat lovers, anyway)

Go for the best quality steak you can get hold of. If you can find a good supply it's worth it, because the results at home can easily rival or beat most restaurant experiences.

Sear the steak in a grill pan until done to your liking. I can't tell you how to do that, you know your own tastes :)  but if you've got a decent steak please don't commit the sacrilege of over-cooking it. It should be at least pink in the middle, if not red.

Meanwhile, fry up some mushrooms in a dash of butter, stir in some cream. Bring to the boil and simmer to thicken.

Serve the steak and pour the mushrooms and cream over the top. Serve with fries, saute potatoes, or rice, and salad or veg of choice.

Cottage pie

One of our regular favorites:

Boil some potatoes until soft enough to mash. Mash them with a knob of butter, an egg, and add enough cream to produce a soft consistency.

Meanwhile, fry a chopped onion and ground meat - either beef, turkey, or lamb. Once the meat is cooked, add a can of baked beans, a couple of finely-diced carrots, and optionally a spoonful of beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, and either brown sauce or tomato ketchup for flavor and body.

Decant the meat sauce into a casserole dish, spread the mashed potatoes over the top, sprinkle with grated cheese and pop under the grill until the cheese is melted and browned.

Spaghetti bolognese

A very quick and simple dish when you're in a hurry...

Fry a chopped onion, then ground beef (we often substitute turkey for beef in many recipes) until browned. Add a jar of tomato pasta sauce and simmer until the meat is cooked thoroughly.

Meanwhile, bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add spaghetti. Cook until soft. If you have problems with the pasta sticking you can add a spoonful of olive oil to the water.

Drain the pasta and serve with the sauce, and grated Parmesan.

Chili

A warming, spicy dish!

Fry up a finely-chopped onion. Add in ground meat (traditionally beef, but we often use turkey instead) and fry until browned. Add a very generous (i.e. a tablespoon or so) heap of cumin, a spoon of chili powder, a dash of hot chili sauce and a generous squirt of tomato ketchup. Stir and cook for a few minutes. Add a couple of chopped tomatoes and a drained can of red kidney beans. Leave to simmer for an hour or so.

Serve with rice, and bread or corn tortillas.

Lasagna

A family favourite!

Ingredients:

Meat sauce -
   Olive oil
   Onion, finely chopped
   Ground beef (or turkey)
   Pasta sauce

Cheese sauce -
   Butter
   Flour
   Milk
   Cheese

Lasagna sheets

Method:

Meat sauce: Fry the onions in a dash of oil until golden. Stir in the meat until browned, break up the pieces as fine as possible. Stir in the pasta sauce.

Cheese sauce: Melt the butter. Stir in the flour to make a thick paste and cook gently for a few minutes. Stir in the milk a bit at a time, whisking out any lumps. Add enough milk to thin down to a good coating consistency. Melt in the cheese.

In a baking dish, layer the sauces and pasta sheets. Start with 1/3 of the meat sauce on the bottom, then pasta, then 1/3 of the cheese sauce, pasta, meat sauce etc. Finish off with cheese sauce. Place in a moderate oven (350F) for about an hour or until the cheese on top is golden brown and bubbling.

I hear a glass of red wine calling ...

Beef & barley

A tasty and hearty soup for a winter's evening.

Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
1 1/2 to 2lb steak - cubed
1 cup pearl barley
1 pint beef stock
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
Generous squirt of tomato ketchup

Method:

Fry the onions in a large pan until soft.
Add the steak and fry until browned.
Add the stock and the barley, simmer for an hour or two.
Stir in the sauces.