Spaghetti Bolognaise

Everyone has a favorite way of making Bolognaise Suace and this is my favourite way at present. I love the flavours of cumin and ground oregano. A jar of prepared spaghetti sauce mix is a tasty, easy and fast way to go, they are just a bit too expensive for me. We made this Sauce in Community Kitchens on 2/9/08 and teamed it with another of my favourite recipes which is Apple Crumble.

1kg minced beef
2 onions, diced
2x700ml Italian cooking sauce
4 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp Bonox
4 large cloves garlic
2tsp cumin
1 tbsp ground oregano
vegetables as desired, i.e capsicum, zucchini, celery

Brown the onions, add the mince to the onions and brown that too. Stir while cooking.
Pour the Italian cooking sauce over the meat, add the tomato paste. Stir well to combine
Add the vegetables, stock, and herbs.
Simmer for appromimately 15-30 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
Sauce will have a better flavour if it rests for 24 hours.
If the sauce is required for Lasagna, add extra fluid such as 2x cans peeled tomatos, added at the same stage as the tomato paste.
Serve with pasta. and Parmesan cheese sprinkled over.

Cottage Pie

2.5kg minced beef
3kg potatoes peeled
6 onions
10 garlic cloves
8 carrots, peeled and diced
2 parsnip, peeled and diced
8 celery sticks, diced
2 capsicum, diced
2 cans sweet corn
2 cans green peas
3 cups frozen green beans
Cottage Pie recipe base x5

Cut the potatoes for boiling, put into hot water and boil for 10mins. Remove potatoes from the heat and strain the water off. Add 1/2 cup of butter or margarine and 3/4 cup milk. Mash well and season to taste.
Meanwhile brown the onions and raw vegetables in a medium sized pot. Brown the mince beef in a separate large pot. Add the vegetables and beef together with the cottage pie recipe base. Simmer for 10minutes, add the frozen and the canned vegetables. Check consistency of the gravy, thicken if required with a cornflour slurry.
Place the meat mixture in the bottom of a large baking dish. Place spoonfuls of the potato mixture on top of the meat until the surface is fully covered. Gently level off the potato top then trace the tines of a fork over the surface to create a ribbed effect. Spray the potato top lightly with cooking oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
Bake for 45mins if the contents go into the oven while still hot. Bake for 1hr 15 mins if they go in cold.

Stuffed Capsicum

16 capsicum
3kg beef mince
2x cans peeled diced tomatoes
4 sticks celery diced
4 onions diced
6 cloves garlic minced
6 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp ground oregano
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 cups rice
1 litre water
Cut the tops off the capsicum so that the tops can be used as lids to put back on top of the stuffed capsicum for cooking. Remove the seeds and membranes from the inside of the capsicum "pots and lids". Trim stalks on the "lids". Arrange the capsicum in a baking tray.
Precook the mince by steaming it over boiling water, set to the side while the fat drains off the cooked meat. In a large pot saute the celery, onion and garlic. Add the coked mince, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, water and rice. Bring this to the boil then reduce the heat to simmer. Add spices and seasonings. Taste and adjust seasoning. Allow the meat to simmer for about 15minutes.
Spoon the prepared mince into the capsicum "pots" and replace the "lids". Pour any remaining juices and meat along with 1 cup of hot water into the bottom of the baking dish, to prevent the capsicum pots from burning. Bake for 45 minutes in a Moderately hot oven. Serve 1/2 capsicum with rice and salad. Serves 32.

Beef Stew

5kg beef, diced
2kg potatoes, diced
2kg carrots, diced
2kg sweet potato, diced
4 onions, diced
3/4 cup plain flour
salt & pepper
1.5lt water
1/3 cup gravy powder
1/3 cup worcestershire sauce
1tbsp cumin
1tbsp cinnamon
1/2tbsp ground oregano
Season flour with salt and pepper. Lightly coat meat pieces in seasoned flour. Brown meat in a hot pan in batches, transfer the meat to a large pot. Deglaze the pan in between batches with some water, add the water to the pot with the browned meat. Keep the pot simmering while browning the meat.
Saute the onions in the pan then add to the meat in the pot. Add the other vegetables, herbs & spices and the remaining water. Bring to the boil. Turn down to simmer.
Mix the gravy powder into a smooth paste with a little extra water, add the gravy powder to the stew while constantly stirring.
Transfer stew into a baking dish and bake covered for 45mins. Serve with Rice.

Beef Chow Mein

We made this one at the Community Kitchens Group on the 30th July. Everyone said they enjoyed it. All bowls were empty so that was the proof. We served the little pork dumplings afterwards. I have adjusted the recipe that appears below because the original recipe had too much liquid and not enough vegetables. We would have liked some rice to be served up with it so I have added that to the bottom of this recipe.
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1kg beef mince
2 medium onions chopped finely
8 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tablespoons curry powder
2 carrots cut into thin sticks
4 celery stalks sliced diagonally
1 can button mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 cup stock
1/2 cup oyster sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 packets of shelf fresh hokkien noodles
............. or 4 cakes of 2 minute Ramen noodles cooked
1 cup frozen peas
1 wombok (350g), shredded coarsely
2 heads of brocolli in small pieces

Heat oil in wok; stir-fry beef, onion and garlic until beef is browned. Add curry powder; stir-fry about 1 minute or until fragrant. Add carrot, celery and mushrooms; stir-fry until vegetables soften.
Add stock, sauces and noodles; stir-fry 2 minutes. Add peas and wombok; stir-fry until wombok just wilts.
Serve with rice or extra ramen.