FOOD!

Steak and Guinness pie serves about 8-10

1kg diced stewing beef
4rashers of bacon slicd
6sprigs of thyme
2cups well seasoned plain flour
1cup beef stock
1large bottle of Guinness
2 onions thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic chopped
Large knob o butter and olive oil
6 thinly sliced mushrooms
2-3sheets of shortcrust pastry
1-2 sheets of puff pastry
3-4 tablespoons of corn flour

Sear the beef coated in the seasoned flour in oil til nicely browned then put aside.
Sauté the onion in the butter and oil,add bacon and cook for a while then add garlic,then mushrooms and thyme.
Deglaze with the bottle of beer and then add enough stock to just cover the meat,simmer for maybe an hour an a half.
Once cooked the pie sauce needs to be thickened with some cornflower, try half to start and bring to a rapid simmer an see how much you more you may need to add.

Get a large pie dish and give a good spray with oil, then place the short crust in and prick with a fork all over, blind bake in a 160degree ovens for about 10mins to get it started,
then pour in the stew and top with the puff pastry.any excess trimmed can be used to make little leaves or whatever as garnish.
bake for for 25-30 minutes til pastry is nice and golden on top at 180 degrees
Serve with marrowfat or mushy peas,veggies and mash

Hi Eliza,I bought the trail mix from Coles, but jus had to add the dried apricots to the mix separately.good luck 🙂

Wow, I hardly know which one to start with. They all sound so delicious. I am going to print all of them:)

Mary

Another variation

Beef Onion and Guinness pies
Filling
100ml olive oil, plus extra for greasing
5 onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled
4 sprigs thyme
3 fresh bay leaves
2 tablespoons plain flour
1.5kg trimmed chuck steak, cut into 5cm pieces
Salt flakes and freshly ground white pepper
1 carrot, cut into large chunks
440ml can Guinness
2L home-made beef stock
1 egg, beaten
Tomato sauce, to serve
Pastry
200g chilled unsalted butter, chopped
250g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
½ cup sour cream
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C fan-forced (200°C conventional).

2. For the pies, add 40ml olive oil to an enamelled cast-iron casserole, then
add the onion, garlic and thyme and cook over low heat (use a simmer mat, if
necessary) for 40 minutes or until the onion is soft and translucent, stirring
occasionally. Increase the heat to medium-high, add bay leaves and cook
until the onion is dark and caramelised. Add the flour and cook stirring often for 3-4 minutes.

3. Season the beef generously with salt flakes and ground white pepper. Heat remaining 60ml of the olive oil in a large frying pan over high heat, then cook the
beef in 2 batches until well browned on all sides. Add the carrot and cook for 5-6 minutes or until golden. Add ¾ of the Guinness and cook for 5 minutes. Tip 
beef and Guinness into onions. Use remaining Guinness in can to deglaze the beef pan, scraping all the brown bits from the bottom, add to the onions.

4. Pour enough beef stock to cover the beef and vegetables and bring to the boil. Cover with a tight fitting lid, then transfer to the oven and cook for 2-2.5 hours
or until tender. Leave to cool to room temperature. Remove the chunks of beef and carrot to a board and chop into 1cm pieces, then return them to the onion
gravy. Refrigerate until cold.

5. Meanwhile, to make the sour cream pastry, place the butter and flour and a pinch of salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle or food processor,
then blend until the mixture resembles large breadcrumbs. Gradually add the sour cream, mixing until the pastry just comes together. Shape into a disc, then
wrap in plastic wrap then chill for at least 20 minutes.

6. Grease 6 holes of a muffin pan with a little olive oil. Roll out the pastry to 3-5mm thick, using a little extra flour for dusting. Cut out six rounds about 4cm bigger
than the muffin holes for the pie bases and six rounds 2cm bigger than the muffin holes for the pie lids. Place a pie base in each hole, then press in in lightly
with your fingers, and draw the pastry up the mould a little so the pastry is 1cm above the mould. Fill each hole with some of the beef mixture, brush edges
with water, then top each with a pastry lid and crimp the edges to seal in the filling.

7. Brush the pastry tops with beaten egg, cut a small hole in the centre of each pie for steam to escape. Bake for 25 minutes or until pastry is golden. Remove
from the oven and leave to stand for 5 minutes. Turn out and serve with tomato sauce, if desired.

Don

Just finished cooking and eating a meal that was on Masterchef Professionals of pork ribs with pan fried eggplant and beetroot puree, wasn't hard to prepare and very tasty, my wife took a fancy to it when we watched the episode and the wedding cake, the cake though would cost a fortnights pension just for the ingrediants

Don

Laksa Soup
This recipe is for prawn but any type of meat can be substituted
1 1/2 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 onion roughly sliced
1 cm x 3 cm piece of ginger peeled and sliced
3 cloves of garlic
3 stems of lemon grass white part only sliced
6 macadamia nuts
4-6 small red chillies
2-3 teaspoons shrimp paste
1 litre chicken stock ( I use Massels )
¼ cup of oil ( I use peanut oil )
3 cups of coconut milk ( I buy the powdered 3 sachets + 3 cups of water)
4 fresh kaffir lime leaves ( you can buy these in bags frozen )
21/2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons of palm sugar ( or soft brown sugar)
750 grams raw medium prawns ( peeled deveined and leave tails intact)
250grams dried rice vermicelli noodles
1 cup bean sprouts
4 fried tofu puffs julienned
3 tablespoons of fresh Vietnamese mint ( or standard mint)
20grams fresh coriander leaves
Lime wedges to serve

Dry roast the coriander seeds over medium heat 1-2 minutes or until fragrant tossing all the time, place in mortar and pestle, repeat with cumin seeds, grind to a fine powder. Place all the spices, onion, ginger, garlic, macadamia, lemon grass, chillies and shrimp paste into a blender with ½ cup of the chicken stock, blend to a paste.
Heat the oil over low heat and cook the paste for 3-5 minutes stirring all the time to stop burning or sticking. Add the remainder of the stock and bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until reduced slightly, add the coconut milk, like leaves, lime juice and palm sugar , bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Add the prawns and simmer for 2 minutes or until cooked through, do not boil or cover.
Soak vermicelli in boiling water for 5 mins or until soft. Drain and divide amongst bowls with most of the sprouts ( I also put sliced Choy Sum or sliced Bok Choy and some chopped spring onions for more texture) Ladle hot soup into the bowls over the noodles and sprouts, divide prawns evenly amongst the bowels garnish each bowel with the sliced tofu, mint and coriander leaves, serve with the lime wedges.

Enjoy Don

Oh boy. I'm feeling really embarrassed. Um. Can I put in a recipe for bacon and eggs?

Hehehee!

Tom and Don, don't you buggers dare come back and put up some fancy recipe for Bacon and Eggs!

Scrambled eggs are really yummy with smoked salmon or smoked trout slices! Oh, and don't forget the parsley:)

Mary

Lol.try adding asparagus,or crime fraiche with chives.sorry couldn't help myself 😛 :woohoo:

I've even got chives in the fridge!!!!

Haha nice one Mary!btw sour cream is fine instead of creme fraiche,nice squeeze of lemon juice over the smoked salmon is always lovely to add a touch of zing to the dish :woohoo:

Or a bit of good herb goat cheese :side:

Goat cheese Don my favourite but oh so expensive!

Thanx Don, I just love Laksa.