Hearty Beef Minestrone Soup

(contributed by Shteppi)
I love this soup as it is so hearty and packed with vegetables and other good foods! It’s an all-in-one-meal, perfect for those winter days. This is my modified version of a recipe from a Campbell’s Real Stock packet.

(Serves 4)
1 Tbsp oil
250g beef mince
1 clove garlic, chopped finely
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup dry breadcrumbs
2 rashers bacon, diced
2 Tbsp no added salt tomato paste
1 Litre Campbell’s Real Stock – Salt Reduced Beef
2 sticks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 zucchinis, diced
1 cup of cooked small shell pasta
400g borlotti or cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
Salt and pepper, to taste
Worcestershire sauce (optional)

Combine mince, garlic, breadcrumbs and egg in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Roll into small balls.

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook bacon until quite crisp. Remove from heat and set aside for the moment. If needed, add more oil to the pan, and cook meatballs until browned on all sides. Remove and set aside.

In a large pot, add the stock and bring to the boil. Stir in tomato paste, potatoes, carrots, and celery. Cook for 5 minutes on medium-high heat. Add zucchini and cook for another 10 minutes or until all the vegetables are cooked through.

Stir in the beans and cook until heated through. Add in the pasta, bacon and meatballs, and cook for a couple more minutes till these are heated through.

If desired, you can season the soup with a little salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes, I like to add in about a teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce in order to add another layer of flavour. Serve the soup by itself, or with some bread.

Notes:
- If you don’t wish to make meatballs, you can also use diced beef. Just fry it up in a pan for a few minutes to seal each side – don’t worry if it’s not totally cooked through; you can just add it into the soup with enough time for it to cook through fully.
- If you don’t have tomato paste, you can also use ketchup or tomato sauce
- My personal preference is cannellini beans over borlotti, but you can also use other types of beans (e.g. kidney beans)

Greek Moussaka

I learnt the word "moussaka" (mu-sa-ka) while watching Masterchef Australia last year. It was served to 2 contestants in a "Taste Test". They were asked to taste the dish and say what ingredients were used in this dish. Moussaka is like a lasagne without the pasta sheets. Eggplant is the most important ingredient in moussaka (it replaces the pasta sheets in lasagne) and the best thing is that it is in season right now.

I had 'M' and 'L' over for dinner last night to catch up with them. They requested something non-Asian. In fact, L requested Spanish cuisine but I couldn't find any good Spanish main courses (I made a Spanish dessert - Cherry Flan). I saw this moussaka recipe on the 'Better Homes and Gardens' TV show. It didn't seem as difficult as I thought it would be, hence I gave it a try :) I must add that this recipe requires intermediate cooking skills. It has a few processes but if you are a multi-tasker, you should be able to prep everything and pop it into the oven within ~30minutes.

Suggestion:
1. Salt the eggplants earlier (if you have time). I reckon you could even do this the night before, cook them and use it the following day assembling it into the baking dish.
2. Cook meat sauce and bechamel sauce at the same time if you can handle multi-tasking. Otherwise while waiting for the sauce to cook in those 5minutes, get started with the bechamel sauce in another saucepan.

2kg eggplant, sliced into 1cm thick slices

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
600g beef mince (for vegetarians: replace with crushed chickpeas)
400g can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground all spice
1 bunch of chopped oregano, finely chopped
150g grated tasty or cheddar cheese
1 cup breadcrumbs

Bechamel sauce:
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp plain flour
400ml hot milk (heated it in microwave)
300ml cream
4 egg yolks
120g grated parmesan cheese
pinch of salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Sprinkle a generous amount of salt over eggplant slices in a dish. Set aside for 30minutes and rinse with water. Pat dry and pan fry with olive oil until they are soft and golden brown.

In a large saucepan, heat some olive oil. Add onions, garlic and beef mince. When the meat is nice and brown, chuck in diced tomatoes, sugar, allspice and chopped oregano. Cook for about 5minutes. Remove from heat.

Whisk butter and flour in saucepan until it resembles wet sand and then whisk in hot milk until it is silky smooth. Once it is thick and gooey, stir in cream (to cool it down) and season with salt and nutmeg. Fold in egg yolks and grated parmesan cheese.

To assemble, spread 1/2 cup breadcrumbs on bottom of baking dish. Line dish with 1/3 of eggplant. Top it with 1/2 amount of meat sauce, then top with 1/2 amount of grated tasty cheese. Repeat the process and finish off with eggplant on top. Pour bechamel sauce on top and bake in the oven for 45minutes at 190C or until golden brown on top.


I used lamb mince instead of beef, mixed spice instead of allspice, dried oregano instead of fresh oregano and low fat versions of some dairy ingredients. My oven took 30minutes (instead of 45 minutes) to achieve the golden brown you see in the photo.

Overall, I was very pleased to be able to make a Greek dish :p It turned out very tasty and delicious. For those who may not like eggplant (our guests were not big fans), fear not because you could hardly taste the eggplant because it was so soft and blended in with the rest of the dish.

This dish looks healthy (meat with 2 serves of veggies - tomatoes and eggplant). However I am not sure how the bechamel sauce rates since there is quite a large amount of cheese, cream, butter and milk (all dairy!). I used light cream, low fat milk and low fat grated tasty cheese but normal parmesan cheese, butter and the 4 egg yolks! You know what? I reckon it is partly the sauce that makes the dish tasty and gives it the wow factor :p

Now, you will feel very proud of yourself when your friends and your parents know that you are able to cook a Greek dish. It is a dish to impress ;)

Postscript: For an even less fatty version, omit the egg yolks. Also, half the amount of ingredients of the bechamel sauce is sufficient for this portion of recipe.

Beef With Plum Sauce

Copied this recipe off somewhere that I cannot remember. It could have been one of Donna Hay's recipe. I have tried this 2-3 times. The original recipe calls for you to cook the entire piece of steak and then slice up the cooked steak. But I am lazy to cut up the hot steak and hence thought I shall slice up the steak before cooking it.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp black pepper
1 4-5cm thick rump steak, sliced
1 brown onion, diced
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 cup red wine or sherry
1/2 cup plum sauce

Coat steak with olive oil and pepper. Cook beef slices in fry pan for 3-4 mins until they are brown. Dish them onto a plate and rest.

With another tbsp of oil in pan, add onions, worcestershire sauce and wine. Reduce heat and add plum sauce. Bring to the boil and simmer. Place the cooked beef and cooked veggies (in this case, I used asparagus) back into the fry pan with the sauce. Cook for 5 mins and then serve.

Shopping in the UQ area & Easy Cooking Methods

 (anonymous contributor who lives in St Lucia)

Especially now that the Hawken Drive Coles has changed to a Foodworks (summer 2009-10), its prices won't generally be as competitive as Toowong Village Coles or Toowong Woolworths. Of course Foodworks' location makes it convenient to pick up some items - as does the location of Chai's convenience store and takeaway on the corner of Mitre St and Sir Fred Schonell Drv.

Chai's is a St Lucia institution (!) and sells almost everything the larger stores do, as well as some things that they don't (Asian groceries) - but you have to consider whether the cost of transport to Toowong balances out the mark-up you'll pay on Convenience store items.

Many students like to buy their perishables from the West End markets on Saturday mornings - and catch the bus, train, or City Cat (ferry) to do so.

The butcher and fruit and veg deli in Toowong Village foodcourt are also competitive.

Otherwise Toowong Woollies usually marks down meat and dairy products daily - more so than Coles seems to - so you can often grab a decent bargain.

Do respect the laws concerning NOT removing shopping trolleys from shopping centres though! It is illegal to do so, and ultimately this form of stealing results in price mark-ups within the supermarkets in order to recover the costs for retrieving stolen trolleys. This affects you (as well as your fellow shoppers) and is not a very thoughtful way to assimilate into living and studying in Australia!

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Grilling

Grilling is one of the simplest and easiest ways to cook a meal; it takes little preparation and is healthy (no extra oil needed) and quick.

Good cuts of meat to grill include chops (lamb and pork), cutlets, chicken breast fillets, and ribs - so yes, you'll end up with a western style meal - depending on what you marinate your meat in, and whether you serve it with rice or potatoes!

Marinate or season the meat with basically anything - sauces or spice / seasoning powders - whatever you have in the cupboard or fridge that takes your fancy, and for as many or as few hours or minutes as you can.

Line a baking tray with foil or baking paper (to make it easier to wash when you're done), stick your meat onto it, and grill! You can use the grill setting in your oven, a portable counter-top grill, or a BBQ grill plate - they'll all do a similar job. 180 degrees C is a good rule of thumb temperature, and you might need or want to turn the meat over half-way (especially chicken breast).

Take care to grill white meats till they're white through, and red meats to taste. Beware of over-grilling the meat though - a few minutes can turn it from succulent to dry and stringy.

Supermarket meat packs will often have grilling instructions (temperature and time) listed on them, otherwise ask the butcher at point of purchase.

Slice up veggies (zucchini, eggplant, capsicum, squash, mushrooms, beans are all good options) to grill also (on a different tray from your raw meat, with a hint of salt / seasoning / lemon juice) and add some carbs on the side if you really need them!

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Roasting

Cooking a roast is also exceptionally easy. It can literally be as simple as:
- buying a pre-marinaded cut of roasting meat (eg. beef, whole chicken or chicken pieces, lamb leg); Toowong Woollies often marks down roast cuts
- sticking it in a large baking / roasting pan
- surrounding it with chunks of roasting veggies that you've peeled, cut up, and coated (but not soaked) in vegetable oil (onion, potatoes of any kind, pumpkin, carrots, turnips, parsnips, peeled whole garlic cloves, etc)
- sticking the pan into a pre-heated oven (often 180 deg C) for as long as the meat packet or butcher says (often 60 minutes per kg of meat)
- carving the meat up, serving it with your veggies (you can add peas and gravy) and eating it!

If you want to be adventurous buy un-marinated meat and season it yourself - salt and pepper, herbs, chilli, garlic, lemon juice, etc.

Another option is to put all your raw ingredients in a roasting bag (look in the Cling Wrap / foil / baking paper section of the supermarket) which you tie up and pierce with steam-ventilation holes before placing into the pan. This keeps all the juices together, not to mention reducing the washing up mess a whole lot!

And leftovers can be re-heated, or used to make pies or soups.

Japanese Meal - Veggies, Salad & Hamburger Steak

Left, clockwise - steamed veggies with special sauce, lettuce with creamy yoghurt, hamburger steak with Tonkatsu sauce (served with green tea and soba (not in photo))

This is the home cooked Japanese meal that my friend CO cooked for some of us when he was in Brissy. Very simple and very tasty.... except, it might be a bit pricey. What is pricey is the Japanese sauces which are imported. 

I know this does not look Japanese at all. You know it is Japanese because of the sauces. The ingredients of the steak patties are quite different to the beef patties that most are used to. Milk is one of the ingredient!? (see recipe link below)

Steamed veggies - we had broccoli and carrots but you can add others too. Serve on the plate with 'gomodare' sauce (a type of sesame seed dipping sauce. See photo below). This sauce is awesome! It is so tasty... I think it is worth the price tag. It goes well with veggies and salads. I found something similar on this blog. I may give it a try some day...

Lettuce and yoghurt - this was iceberg lettuce with creamy berry yoghurt. I have never eaten lettuce with yoghurt before. But it was really nice!

Hamburger steak - The recipe is available here. This involves a bit more work than the veggies but really it is not difficult and are easy to get ingredients. This hamburger steak was a winner! CO added some sliced mushrooms when he cooked the sauce (see photo below).

Gomodare sauce (left) A$5.99 & Tonkatsu sauce (right) A$6.99 from Yuen's

Do you feel hungry yet?

How To BBQ/Cook A Steak

Now that you know what steak to buy, how do you cook it?

(From Entice Magazine Summer 2009)

Unchill the steaks

Take your steaks out of the fridge 10 mins before you cook them. They will cook more evenly and brown better. Cold steaks placed on a hot surface can tighten and toughen (then they tend to stew). Be mindful that steak is not kept out of the fridge for any long length of time. 10 mins is plenty.

If steaks are frozen, it is best to let them thaw in the fridge. This should take about 12 hours. Thawing at room temperature can encourage bacterial growth and should be avoidded, especially in summer. If you are strapped for time, use the defrost setting in your microwave. Once you defrost them, blot dry with paper towel, rub a little oil onto each steak and cook immediately.

Season lightly

While bbq/frying pan heats up, lightly season both sides with salt and pepper. Use freshly grounded black pepper and ground salt or sea salt flakes. These salts will not seep into the steaks like table salt does (which can realise the juices from the steak and make it tough).

Oil the steak not the grill

Unless you are looking to singe your eyebrows, it is recommended you lightly oil the steak and not the hotplate. It will stop your steaks from sticking and the oil will nor burn on the hotplate.

1. Preheat the bbq/fry pan to hot before you add the steaks. This ensures you get maximum flavour and tenderness. Your steak should sizzle when it hits the grill. If you are cooking a thick steak or like it well done, move it to the cooler part of the BBQ or turn down the heat to moderately-high as it cooks.

2. Turn the steak only once. The perfect steak takes only a single turn. The more you flip, the tougher it gets. Simply let the steak cook on one side until moisture appears, then make your turn.

3. Timing is essential. Too much time on the grill and you are overdone, too little and your are underdone. Learn the easy way to test your steaks doneness below.

Steaks become firmer as the cook, so you can use touch to test how well done they are. To get used to the 'feel' of the steak's doneness, use your thumb and appropriate finger as per the diagrams beow. The firmness of the ball of your palm indicates how firm your steak should be for the desired doneness.

To test, press the centre of the steak with the back of your tongs or your clean fingertips, e.g. a medium steak will feel springy, like the ball of your palm when your thumb and ring finger make a circle.

Rare steak (thumb + index finger make a circle)You will only need a few mins for each sie, depending on thickness. Turn once only. A rare steak feels very soft with the back of the tongs.

Medium-rare steak (thumb + middle finger make a circle)

Cook on one side until moisture is just visible on the top surface. Turn once only. Cook on the other side until surface moisture is visible. The steak should feel soft with the back of your tongs.

Medium steak (thumb + ring finger make a circle)
Cook on one side until moisture pools on top. Turn once only. When moisture pools again, it is almost ready. Continue to cook until the steak feels springy with the back of your tongs.


Medium-well steak
Follow same steps as medium, but leave on a cooler part of the grill for a little longer until the steak feels firm with the back of the tongs.

Well done steak (thumb + little finger/pinky make a circle)
Cook on one side until moisture pools on top. Turn and cook on second side until moisture pools again. Reduce heat slightly or move steaks to a cooler part of the BBQ. Continue to cook until it feels very firm with the back of your tongs.


Should-dos:
- Tongs are a steak's best friend - nurturing and gentle. A fork is not. By piercing the steak, you are robbing yourself of its full-flavoured juiciness.
- Once your steaks come off the BBQ, a little rest and relaxation is in order. Simply cover your steaks loosely under foil for 2-4 mins. It will jelp to keep them tender and juicy.

"Misteaks"/Do-nots:
- Steaks do not like to share heat. By crowding the BBQ, the heat drops and the steaks will release their juices, resulting in a stewing effect. So if you do not like your steaks tough, give them some space.
- Resist the urge to pour marinade over steaks as they cook. It will make the steaks stew and cause flare-ups. A light brush of marinade before you turn is ok.
- Do not cut it. Cuting the steaks to test of readiness while cooking will leak flavour and tenderness. Test the stick with tongs (as above).
 
 
MORE ON MARINADES
How much - 1/2 cup of marinade will flavour 500g of steak.
How long - Refrigerate the marinating steaks unless you are going to cook them within 10 mins. Steaks can marinate for 12-24 hours.
Blotting - Make sure to lightly blot dry steaks with paper towel before they hit the grill. This will ensure your steaks will brown.
 
Important 
- Never pour raw, leftover marindae over cooked steaks. You can heat the marinade mixture to boiling point (for a few mins) and use it as a tasty glaze or sauce.
- Marinades with high sugar content will burn before the steak is cooked.
- Go easy on the salt. Too much salt will leech out the steak's juices, making it dry.
 
Simple marinades
- soy sauce, a little honey and orange juice
- tomato sauce, a little red wine vinegar and dijon mustard
- olive oil, a little lemon juice and oregano, rosemary or thyme.
 
 
CONCLUSION - my favourite steak? Cook it to medium-well without marinating. Eat it by itself, or with a rosemary salt (pound dried rosemary with rock salt together until fine powder). Yum!

Steaks and Their Aliases

(From Entice Magazine Summer 2009)

We are spoiled for choice when it comes to cuts of steak. Here are some of the most common.

From top, clockwise:

Rump steak - a great all-rounder, rump steaks are good value. They are lean and full-flavoured.

Scotch fillet steak - (boneless rib eye or rib fillet) This is one of the most popular steaks. They are juicy, tender and full of flavour.

T-bone steak - The quintessential Aussie BBQ steak. They are tender, rich and flavoursome. Did you know it has a fillet on the smaller side of the bone and sirloin on the other?

Oyster blade steak - (flat iron steak) They are lean with a good beef flavour.

Fillet steak - (eye fillet or tenderloin) The most tender of all steaks. They are mild and subtle in flavour.

Sirloin steak  - (porterhouse or New York steak) An all-time favourite, sirloin steaks are the choice of steak lovers. They have a fine, yet firm texture and are rich in flavour.

What is with the price difference?

It comes down to availability and popularity. The fillet makes up a smaller portion of the animal, so there is less to go around and often cost more. That does not mean the cheaper cuts are not as good. Rump and oyster blade steaks are plentiful, full-flavoured, lean and great value.

Now that I know more about steaks, how do I cook them?

Homemade Beef Burger

We had this for dinner last night. Actually this is considered leftovers... from my birthday party in November! Quop made the beef patties from scratch and pre-cooked most of them (to speed up cooking at the bbq the next day). There were 6 patties left uncooked which we packed them up nicely with a baking paper in between each patty and freezed them in 2 packs of 3. We have since ate up 1 pack (me, Quop and our boarder) and last night, we finally ate up our 2nd pack.

The soy and linseed burger bread was also freezed 2 months ago. I just took them out of the freezer and into the fridge 2 nights ago and they need not be heated up to thaw. They just thaw nicely (not soggy) by itself. Along with some baby cos lettuce, sliced up cherry tomatoes (from our garden :)), steak sauce, beef patty, caramelised onions, sliced cheese and butter spread on the inside of the bread, we piled up our own burger (the burger looks small in the photo above but it is not! I could not take a full bite!)

I think hubby used this recipe to make beef patties but without adding mustard. We used 1kg of beef mince then (since we had a bbq party). We cheated by using store-bought breadcrumbs (easily get a 500g bag cheapily from major supermarkets). This other recipe is quite similar which I thought you might want to try it if you are keen. DO NOT use lean beef mince, otherwise it will be too dry. Feel free to use whatever ingredients you might have in your fridge. Be creative!

I am certain this would be a much healthier (possibly cheaper) version of the beef patties you buy from the supermarkets. At least you won't use artificial flavouring. Have a look at the list of ingredients on the beef patty pack before you think of buying one.

To caramelise onions, simply slice up 2 small onions (enough to feed 3), stir fry them in fry pan with olive oil until it becomes brown. 'Sweep' the onions to the side of the pan and continue to cook it. In the meantime, cook the patties for about 2-3 mins each side. The onions should be soft, reduced in size and brown. If Quop can cook this, you can definitely do this! :)

Zha Jiang Mien

I have tried this several times and always happy with the results :) Except that I often use shanghainese noodles instead as they are easier to locate in the Asian grocers.

You will be happy with this recipe.

Beef & Mushroom Casserole

Got this recipe off masterchef website but it is no longer there now. Anyway I manage to find it on Campbells website. Here is the recipe.

This is my 2nd time trying this. However this time I have added more veggies into the casserole - potatoes and green capsicum. If you like, you may also add frozen green peas, zucchini, etc. This recipe also uses one of the handy pantry item - tomato paste.

As for mixed herbs, I didn't have them and hence I put in a cocktail of dried thyme, rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley (yes I do have those herbs individually in my pantry). I used beef rump steak (on sale this week for A$9/kg at Coles) and sliced/diced them up (I reckon this cut of beef is inexpensive and good enough for stews, casseroles, rendang, curries. If you want to eat it whole, use it on bbq or fry it up as a steak). Instead of the real beef stock (if on sale, you can buy it A$2.50/L for Campbells brand), I used Massel stock powder to make up some beef stock, which is a much cheaper option than real stock or stock cubes. One jar can make you many litres of stock! (I bought it on sale at Woolies, A$2.47).

This is best served with rice (as in photo above) or with potato mash. Please also do a taste test. The version I made last night was a little low on salt and hence a bit more blend... but it is healthier though :)

This is freezeable for future meals. If you want to freeze, do not add potatoes as they do not thaw well.