Swedish Meatballs, with Cranberry Jam

This is another really good recipe the original recipe said to use half and half mince/ground (beef and pork) but I used bacon instead of the pork, I finely chopped it but in retrospect I would probably have been better off if I had whizzed it in the food processor, not until it was mush, but so that it was more of a mince/ground consistency. These turned out to be the best meatballs I have ever made. I very nearly didn’t put the cranberry jelly on it. I am glad I did though because it really makes the dish. I served it with roast potatoes, green veggies and cauliflower. It would have been perfect had I served it with mashed potato I think, with the meatballs and sauce on top.

Swedish Meatballs

For the meatballs

Handful of mixed herbs

300g bacon, finely chopped  (or whizzed)

300g minced/ground beef

1 large egg

75g dried breadcrumbs

1tsp ground allspice

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil

For the sauce

Juice of half a lemon or a dash of concentrate

300ml beef stock

1tbsp flour

60ml double cream

 cranberry jelly/jam

1. Put some of the herbs to one side and the rest into a large bowl along with all of the meatball ingredients bar the oil. Using your clean hands (because I love using my hands in squelchy stuff) mix and squeeze until it is well combined, if you feel the mixture is a little dry add a little milk. Roll the mixture into little balls and put them on a lined tray into the fridge to firm up for about 30 minutes.
2. Heat a large skillet, add the oil and cook the meatballs gently for 10-15 minutes, tossing once in a while until they are cooked through.
3. Transfer the meatballs to kitchen paper to drain. In the same pan you used to cook the meatballs, add the lemon juice, some of the stock, the flour and cream, season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat; you want a thick consistency that will stick to the meatballs. Return the meatballs to the pan and stir to coat them in the sauce add the remaining herbs. Serve with potatoes, or rice and vegetables with a dollop of cranberry jelly/jam on top.  

Beef Roulade

So I keep saying I'm uncreative and it's certainly to do with self-reproach, I'm very good at putting myself down, I don't know why I do it? I just do. This recipe wasn't about recreating my past, with mine why would I want to do that? But about recreating the experience I wanted to feel, but was never allowed to feel - like with cordon bleu and goulash this was something I was never allowed to make - when we had this it was always pork and it was always pre-stuffed or cook from frozen, yucky stuff. We'd moved back to Germany by this point in my culinary progress. Shopping yet again in German stores, this was not something I was looking forward to. Before when I went shopping, choice seemed limited, I've since discovered, choice was limited because I didn't look, probably because I would never have been allowed to look, besides I wouldn't have been allowed to make it anyway! With my new found knowledge and a husband that was and still is, as enthusiastic as me,as far as my experimenting is concerned, I was amazed at the variety I never knew existed. I saw these beef roulade, unstuffed and knew immediately what to do with them, my only mistake was I cooked them for far too long - they were super tender which is what I wanted but they were also a little dry in places - not what I wanted!

Beef Roulade with

Creamcheese, Spinach and Mushroom Stuffing

4 chestnut mushrooms

handful frozen spinach, thawed and drained

2 spring onions/scallions, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

large knob of butter

salt and cyenne pepper to taste

100g cream cheese

3 beef roulade/meat to make roulade

vegetable stock to cover

1. lightly fry the first six ingredients, meanwhile beat the creamcheese in a medium sized bowl, when the mushroom mixture is done, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly, then add to the creamcheese and mix well.

2. Open the roulade and stuff with the spinach and creamcheese mixture, fold as tightly as possible, then pin together using skewers, metal or wood are fine.

3. Next in a hot skillet gently sear the roulade shut, transfer to a deep casserole dish, cover with the vegetable stock. place in the oven at about 180C/350F for about 1- 1 1/2 hours.

Beef recipe a shame to miss out on



I actually added a handful of cooked shrimp to this one, at the sametime as I added the onion

This next recipe is outstanding. Glen cooked it first because of my knee issues, but I have cooked it several times since – including for guests…. It’s a seriously brilliant recipe and bound to bring that wow factor to the table. The crumbled blue cheese I used was Roquefort definitely one of the more expensive blue veined cheeses but well worth the splurge.

Beef with Mushroom and Blue Cheese Sauce

1 ½ cups soy sauce

¾ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 Beef Tenderloin
4 Cloves fresh garlic minced
1 Tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
300ml beef broth

SAUCE

½ cup butter cut into small pieces

½ lb mushrooms, sliced
2 Cloves fresh garlic minced
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ tsp caraway seeds
4 scallions, thinly sliced

1. In a large zip lock freezer bag, mix the soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Add the beef; seal bag and turn to coat. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, turning occasionally.

2. Drain and discard marinade. Rub the beef with garlic and pepper; place in a shallow roasting pan. Add broth to the pan. Bake, uncovered, at 220˚C (425°F) for 45-55 minutes or until the meat is cooked the way you like it. Let the beef stand for 10 minutes before slicing.

3. Meanwhile, melt the butter, in a saucepan. Add the mushrooms and garlic and sauté until tender. Add the blue cheese, Worcestershire sauce and caraway seeds; cook over a low heat until the cheese has melted. Stir in the onions; heat through, serve with the beef.

Servings: 4

Beef Wellies

Beef Wellington or Beef-Boot as my husband calls it – there are so many different versions of this recipe, this is the one we like best. It’s quite fun to make due to the messiness. As far as I am concerned the messier the better and even more so now that I have a dishwasher – I love mixing, beating, kneading and using all of my utensils, mixers and bowls, for that reason I probably use way more than I need, just for the fun of it and I get to spend more time in the kitchen, even if it is only the clean up afterwards.

Beef Wellington (Beef Boot)

1.5 kg beef tenderloin

Salt and black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
250g mushrooms, finely diced
1 garlic clove, minced
Good glug of port
200g liver pâté
375g puff pastry
1 beaten egg
Mushroom gravy to serve

1. Season the beef with the black pepper, cook the beef in a large skillet until it’s browned all over.
2. Place your beef in a roasting pan and cook at 200˚C (400˚F) for about 25 minutes for rare, 30 for medium and 40 for well done, after it’s cooked allow to cool completely.
3. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a skillet, add the onion, garlic and mushrooms, stir continuously until softened, add the port, then increase the heat and cook until the liquid has evaporated, put to one side and allow to cool.
4. Once the onions and mushrooms have cooled add the liver pâté, stir well to combine all the ingredients, season with salt and pepper.
5. Next you need to wrap the beef and the mushroom mixture in pastry:- Roll out ¾ of the pastry into a large rectangle, you are going to have to wrap the beef, so it needs to be big enough to totally engulf the beef, spread ½ the mushroom mixture down the middle of the pastry, then place the beef on the mushroom mixture, next using the rest of the mushroom mixture cover the top of the beef. Brush the sides (border) of the pastry with the egg, next fold in the sides of the pastry to cover the beef, starting with the short sides and then the long ones. Turn your parcel over, and brush with some more of the egg. Roll out the remaining pastry and cut into long thin strips, arrange in a lattice pattern over the beef, then glaze once more with the egg.
6. Bake at 220˚C (425˚F) until crisp and golden, this should take about 45 minutes, after 30 minutes cover with foil to prevent it from getting too browned, allow to stand for about 10 minutes after it comes out of the oven, slice and serve with gravy.

Hungry For Goulash?

I spent years and years – buying pre-prepared, packaged food, (well the ex did, I wasn’t allowed to shop, some lame excuse about my “trolley rage”) rubbish food that is full of MSG’s – whatever that is, not good that’s for sure – artificial flavours, colours and preservatives, all the junk you don’t want. Why – when I am clearly aware this is not a good thing, who on earth knows? To be fair I lost interest in cooking – Monday, Mcdonalds – Tuesday, Spaghetti with scrambled egg and tomato sauce, YUCKY….. Wednesday, Pizza – Thursday, pork schnitzel with a packaged potato or noodle salad – Friday, bread rolls – Saturday something random, usually pork, Sunday, “roast” pork with potatoes and veg out of a jar and powdered gravy. BORING!!!!!

So when I started this cooking adventure, one of things I wanted to try most was goulash, mostly because I had never made my own from scratch and it was about time I did, besides how do you know if homemade is better if you don’t try and make your own?

Magyar Gulyás (Hungary) Hungarian Goulash

1kg goulash meat (it’s cut into equal cubes)

2 large onions, sliced

6-8 large potatoes, cubed

50g mushrooms

2 garlic cloves, minced

Warm stock or water

1 tbsp mild paprika

1 tsp paprika

2 tbsp tomato puree

15g butter

1tsp caraway seeds

Salt

1. Heat a thick pan, add the fat, when it’s hot, add the meat and brown, then put the onions, mushrooms, garlic, tomato puree, mild paprika in the pan with the meat. Once the onions and mushrooms have softened cover with the water or stock. Cover and gently cook until the meat is tender.
2. Cook the potatoes in boiling water, and then add to the goulash once the meat is tender. Just before serving, melt the butter and stir in the paprika, then add to the goulash and salt to taste. Serve with crusty bread.

Peppered Roast Beef

I would seriously recommend giving this one a miss unless you like the heat from black pepper, or consider reducing the amount of pepper used – it really is tasty assuming you like black pepper of course – I suppose you could have a glass of water next to you? Good luck if you do have a go……. Mwahahahahahaha!!!!!

Peppered Roast Beef

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp black pepper
2 minced garlic cloves
½ tsp thyme
¼ tsp salt
Beef joint

1. In a small bowl, mix the oil, pepper garlic, thyme and salt. Rub the mixture all over the beef, gently but firmly massaging the beef as you go. Place the beef into a roasting tin.
2. Bake at 350˚F (180˚C) until it reaches desired doneness.

Steak With Onion and Mushroom Sauce

Sometimes you'll find, that, you'll cook one thing and it will inspire you to cook something else. This recipe was inspired from the beef and mushroom pie recipe. As I was eating the pie, I was thinking it would be just as nice without the pastry served with mashed potatoes and mixed vegetables, I wasn't wrong, what could be nicer than a steak with a rich mushroom sauce?

Steak With Onions And Mushroom Sauce

1 large onion, roughly chopped
garlic
150g mushrooms
large knob of butter
300 ml beef stock
1/2 whiskey tumbler port/sherry (200ml)

1 Tbsp cornflour
salt and pepper to taste
2 beef steaks

1. Gently fry the onions, mushrooms and garlic, in the butter, season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. Mix the port and the cornflour. Add the stock to the onions and mushrooms, then add the port mixture, bring to a boil, stirring until thickened.

3. Grill the beef, until cooked to desired doneness.

Serve with mashed potato and mixed vegetables.

Beef and Mushroom Pie

Picture to follow

LOVE beef, LOVE mushrooms, LOVE thick gravy, LOVE pie...... All these put together, is a perfect combination of utter indulgence, sublime for a frigid winter evening. Piping hot straight out of the oven, crisp buttery pastry, with tender steak bites and a rich boozy gravy, another comfort food? Quite possibly........ And traditionally British? Well a variation of one at any rate!

Beef And Mushroom Pie

300g Beef cut into bite sized pieces
1 onion, diced
250g mushrooms, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
250ml beef stock
1/2 whiskey tumbler of port
2 tsp cornflour
gravy granules to thicken
salt and pepper to taste
Short crust pastry

1. Roll out the pastry, grease the pie dish and use half the pastry to line the pie dish. (if making your own pastry chill for 30 minutes before use)

2. Gently fry the onion, mushrooms, garlic and beef.

3. Add the stock and add to the beef and mushrooms, mix the port and cornflour together, add to the beef and mushrooms, bring to a boil while continuously stirring, add the gravy granules to thicken if needed. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Put the mixture in the pie dish then cover with the rest of the pastry, brush with a little egg or milk.

5. Bake until golden brown on top.

crockpot beef stew

Crockpot’s are brilliant and I miss mine so much, I think I may have to invest in a new one soon. I had never owned one before, but we were given one in the States, which although I didn’t use all the time, proved invaluable for busy days when cooking was going to be tough to fit in. This Beef Stew, was my first Crockpot recipe, and after I made this in it, I crock potted all my stews, chilli’s and even Bolognese sauce. I love that you can throw everything in the one pot, add limited clean up and that you flick a switch, show up 8 hours later and HEY HO! It’s ready to eat….. If I am honest the best stews where made in my Crockpot.

After having a look on Amazon, I have found that you can buy them from as little as £16.00, obviously some are a lot more expensive, it depends on what brand you want and what you want them to do, I saw an all singing all dancing one, which, steamed, slow cooked, and was also a rice and porridge maker, but that was £68.00. Although it was and is totally lovely, I would probably not use it to it’s full potential – I buy boil in bag rice, so the rice maker bit wouldn’t get used – frozen vegetables, so the steamer bit is out, I am not naïve enough to think you can only steam vegetables, I am just left wondering if I would really steam anything else? Porridge, hmmm, maybe, but I don’t make it often enough to warrant a maker. So that’s the porridge bit out too. This machine was by no means the most expensive either, I settled on a Morphey Richards slow cooker 6.5litre, so very big and it was £27.00, I have put it in my wish list for later. I’ve managed without for 17 months a little while longer is not going to hurt!!

Beef Stew

2lbs beef, cubed

¼ cup flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1 ½ cups beef broth

1tsp Worcestershire Sauce

1 garlic clove

1 bay leaf

1tsp paprika

4 carrots, sliced

3 potatoes, sliced

1 onion, chopped

Put meat into the Crockpot, mix flour, salt and pepper, and stir to coat the meat, stir in the rest of the ingredients cover and cook…  

Spaghetti bolognese

I would class spaghetti bolognese as a classic recipe, popular everywhere! I could go into the origins of where it comes from and include the traditional recipe, however that isn't really what this blog is about, my mission, so to speak, is to blog about MY antics in the kitchen, besides you can wiki it, in fact here's a link, I hope! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_bolognese and get the information if you like... I like my bolognese simple, I sometimes add a little sour cream or creme fraiche and a tin of tomatoes, but it entirely depends on my mood and what I have to hand at the time. I'm slowly but surely, turning into the, little of this, little of that cook, learning as I go, that, things like 3 garlic cloves are great, 4 and you are doing that back of the throat gagging hiss noise (depending on what you are using it for). This of course is just an example and not to be taken literally. Although too much garlic does cause a back of the throat hiss noise - also known through experience. I hate this phrase, but I guess it's very much a case of 'learn by doing.' You learn by doing a recipe, that a little more or a little less is more suited to your palette. I am still learning what flavours go together, and what flavours 'cut into' each other - still really bad at it too.

Spaghetti Bolognese

1 tbsp evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
500g mince
1 large onion
200g mushrooms
500 ml beef stock
tbsp tomato puree
gravy granules to thicken
salt and pepper to taste

1. Add the evoo to a skillet and heat. Roughly chop the onion and then add the onions to the skillet, once the onions have started to soften add the mushrooms.

2. Remove the onions and mushrooms, then fry the mince, once the mince is done add the mushrooms and onions again, along with the tomato puree, stock and gravy granules, bring to a boil then gently simmer.

3. In a large pot, cook spaghetti according to package directions, once cooked drain and place the spaghetti on the plates, season the bolognese if need be and then spoon on top of the spaghetti....

You could sprinkle it with a little grated cheese, or add the cream, tinned tomatoes to the bolognese before you serve.... etc..

Beef Stroganov

When my husband and I first started dating, we often went out for meals and a few drinks (a lot of drinks) definitely my fondest moments in life - sitting in a restaurant enjoying a nice meal and talking for hours about life. I remember thinking at the time if it was because the relationship was new, and we were both making an effort at making US work, nothing has changed though other than my chain of thought. We are one of the lucky ones, where little effort is needed to make it work, even when we argue, if you can call it that, we end up giggling and smiling at each other.......... Anyway back to the recipe. On this particular occasion my husband, Glen, opted for a fish dish (due to my fish bone phobia, I never eat fish when we are out) I had beef stroganov served with spatzle, I guess I made this recipe to try and recreate that night. We've had lots of good times together some just stick out for different reasons I guess. I found this one in a cookbook my mother gave me, Country Cooking. When I first opened it, I assumed country as in rural, not country as in country. It covers mostly Europe and North America and gives a small piece of information pertaining to each one. It really is a nice book and I've used several of the recipes, some of them are a little obscure, I suppose that's because they're foreign to me, but I love the fact each recipe comes with the proper name (translation underneath) and original spelling!!!!!

Beef Stroganov

500 grams beef strips, sliced

2 onions sliced

100 grams mushrooms, thinly sliced

lemon juice

70 grams butter

100 ml  sour cream

150 ml stock

1 tbsp brandy

1 ½ tbsp flour

1 tbsp parsley

1 tbsp tomato purée

½ tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

½ tsp mustard

1. Cut the meat into strips, mix the flour with salt mustard and pepper. Gently fry the onions in the butter. Add the mushrooms fry for 2-3 minutes; then remove from the heat.

2. Dip the meat strips in the flour and shake off any extra. Cook the meat in butter then add the onions and mushrooms with their pan juices. Fry on a low heat for 5 minutes, stirring.

3. Pour in the brandy, set alight, then add the tomato puree. Add the stock, bring to a boil, then add the lemon and the cream, cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes. Bring back to a boil and serve.

Servings: 4

Traditional Sunday Roast!!!

Roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding, is a traditional English Sunday dinner - Roast beef I pretty much have down to an art form, unfortunately the Yorkshire pudding is still a working progress, top tips are to make sure the fat is VERY hot and enough but not too much batter, more than that I can't comment on as I'm still being foiled by the little suckers. I haven't failed though as they are and always have been edible, they're just far from perfect... Unless you count Aunt Bessies out of the freezer department? Nah I didn't think so!!! ;o)

Roast Beef And Yorkshire Pudding

Beef joint
salt and black pepper
Yorkshire Pudding
1 cup all-purpose flour
pinch salt
2 beaten eggs
250 ml milk, plus additional if needed
Vegetable shortening

1. Season beef with salt and pepper. For rare: 350°F 15 minutes per pound, Medium: 20 minutes per pound and well done: 25 minutes per pound.

2. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl make a well and add the eggs and a little milk, whisk the milk and the egg.

3. whisk in 125 ml of the milk drawing in the flour to make a smooth batter. Stir in another 125 ml of milk and leave to stand for at least 30 minutes.

4. Put some shortening in each cup of a 12 hole muffing pan and heat in a 425°F oven until very hot, whisk the batter and pour into the muffin pan bake for 15 minutes or until well risen golden and crisp.

Blogger Burger........

I think most people enjoy a REALLY good burger! My husband and I are no exception, although not huge fans of the processed stuff...... We loved Five Guys Burgers though, the kind you'd find on that show "diners, drive ins and dives" with Guy Firer. In Germany you can buy this mix, it comes in a sachet and is powdered, you mix it with water and then knead it into the minced beef - it pretty much guarantees a moist burger. With that in mind I started adding a mittle vegetable stock to my burgers. One of our recipe books, "Classic home coooking" and it has a beef burger recipe which includes roquefort, (a rather very nice blue veined cheese, in case you didn't know) So with a mixture of Five Guys inspiration and my recipe alternative this is what I came up with.

Roquefort Beef Burgers

1lb (500g) ground beef
1 egg
fine bread crumbs (about 2 slices of bread)

vegetable stock aproximately 1 cup
1 medium minced onion
salt and pepper to taste
6oz (175g) roquefort

1. Soak the bread crumbs in vegetable stock, add the egg and onion, mix into a smooth paste, add salt and pepper to taste.

2. Mix the bread crumb mixture with the beef, a little at a time, you want the ground beef to be moist but not sloppy so take care. Divide the mixture into 8 balls, then flatten to make patties, place a slice of cheese on four of the patties, then top with the remaining patties. Press the edges together to enclose the filling.

3. Cook the burgers until they are brown and feel firm when pressed.

4. Serve in pita bread with green salad, or simply in a burger bun with your favourite kind of burger extras!