Beef in Stout |
Hearty Winter Casserole Dish |
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1.5 kg chuck or blade steak, diced 2 onions, mandolin sliced - very thinly 2 or 3 carrots, also thinly sliced 15 pitted prunes Small bottle stout 2 tablespoons plain flour 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon mustard powder, to taste Salt and pepper Plastic bag Heavy casserole
Optional |
Place diced beef in plastic bag with
flour, mustard powder, salt and pepper. Close bag and shake to cover meat
all over.
Place coated meat, onions, carrots and
prunes in casserole. Mix ingredients together. Put lid on casserole, place in oven at 150C for 1 1/2 to 2 hours |
| Serve with mashed potatoes and winter vegetables. | |
Beef Stock |
Basis of many dishes |
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1.5 kg Marrow Bones,
quartered by butcher 250g Gravy Beef, chopped 2 stalks of Celery Small piece Parsnip and Turnip, if available 4 Peppercorns 1 Onion, cut in half, but not peeled, stuck with 2 cloves Bouquet Garni <= click for details Water to cover Stock pot |
Wash the the bones and
place in the pot with the chopped meat, vegetables, peppercorns and bouquet
garni. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Skim. Cover with lid, lower heat and simmer gently for 3 hours. Strain the liquid into a large bowl. Cool and refrigerate. Next day, remove the fat. You should have about 2 litres of stock if you have simmered it slowly.
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For Brown Stock, brown the bones
and vegetables in the oven at 220C for 20 minutes. Then proceed as above. The stock can be poured into ice block moulds, frozen and kept for latter use. |
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Black Forest Cake |
Bavarian Classic |
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250g Butter 1 tablespoon dry instant Coffee 1½ cups hot Water 200g dark Chocolate, chopped 2 cups castor Sugar 1½ cups self raising Flour 1 cup plain Flour 1/4 cup Cocoa 2 Eggs 2 teaspoons Vanilla essence 600ml thickened Cream, less if using glaze method 850g (2 x 425g) canned Cherries, drained 1/4 cup Kirsch 23cm round deep cake tin |
Grease cake tin, line base and
sides with paper. Grease paper well. Dissolve coffee in hot water. Melt butter in saucepan, stir in coffee solution. Then add chocolate and sugar. Stir over a low heat, without boiling until smooth. Transfer to a large mixing bowl allow to cool to just warm. Beat mixture on low speed with electric mixer. Gradually add sifted dry ingredients in 3 lots. Beat in eggs one at time. Then add Vanilla essence. Bake in oven at 150C for about 1¾ hours. Stand for 5 minutes before turning out on to a wire rack to cool. Beat cream until firm peaks form. Trim the top of the cake to make it flat. Split cake into 3 even layers. Place first layer on a serving plate and brush with 1/3 of the kirsch. Top with a layer of cream. Add half the well drained cherries to the cream layer. Add next layer of cake and repeat the layer of kirsch, cream and cherries. Add the last, top layer. Brush with remaining kirsch. Cover in cream, cherries and chocolate curls. |
Alternate Chocolate glaze250g Cream, adjust
quantity above to suit. |
This glaze is an alternative to the
outer cream layer.
Boil cream, add liquid glucose and
stir. |
Bouquet Garni |
Classic French Bunch of Herbs |
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Herbs Bay Leaf Thyme Basil Tarragon Chervil Parsley stalks Cotton thread to tie together
Case - optional |
Tie together the herbs into a sprig. Or optionally between a case made of carrot and celery. You can make a few and store in the fridge for latter use. A bouquet is easier to remove than stray leaves. |
Brownies |
From Brown's Bakery, Melbourne |
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150 g butter 220 g chocolate 250 g sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla essence 3 eggs 150 g plain flour 90 pecan nuts
25 cm square baking dish |
Grease the baking dish. Preheat oven to
180C. Melt chocolate and butter together in a double boiler. Take saucepan off the stove and stir in sugar, vanilla, eggs, flour and nuts. Stir until the mixture just comes together. Pour into the baking dish and level off. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the mixture is set but not dry. Top should be soft to the touch, they will firm as they cool. Leave in the pan until cool. Cut into 5cm squares. |