Category Beef

Meatball Minestrone

MEATBALL MINESTRONE

I have had this dish a handful of times every year during winter for the last six or seven years. It is one of my favourites and I have it laminated tucked away in my files for many years to come and I hope for you guys too. It is a very simple dish but the beauty is that you can add and subtract what ever you want to make it your own. Once I have moved into my new house and into my new lab (Kitchen) I will start to ramp up things big time. I hope you enjoy.

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INGREDIENTS

– 1 Tbsp Grape Seed Oil

– 1 Onion, Finely Chopped

– 1 Garlic Clove, Crushed

– 2 Bacon Rashers, Chopped

– 1 Carrot, Coarsely Chopped

– 1 Stick of Celery, Coarsely Chopped

– 400g Can Tomato Soup

– 2½ Cups Beef Stock

– 1 Cup Pasta Shells

– ½ Cup of Frozen Peas

– Shaved Parmesan

FOR THE MEATBALLS

– 500g Beef Mince (But you can use any)

– ¼ Cup of Breadcrumbs

– Salt and Pepper, to Taste

METHOD

To make the meatballs, mix all ingredients in a bowl by hand. Next you want to roll out your meatballs so that they are about three centimetres in diameter.

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Next heat the grape seed oil in a large saucepan over medium heat then add the onion garlic and bacon. Cook, stirring occasionally until the onion begins to soften. When this starts to happen add the carrot, celery, tomato soup and the stock. Bring to the boil and add the pasta. Reduce the heat and bring down to a simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.

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Add the peas and meatballs to the minestrone, cover and cook for a further 5 minutes or until the meatballs have cooked through. Garnish with parmesan and serve with a nice big crusty roll.

Dont Let the simplicity of this recipe fool you – it is a great recipe and one of my favourites.

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Credit to Barbara Northwood

Filet De Bouef Et Pommes Soufflé Au Jus Gras

FILET DE BOUEF ET POMMES SOUFFLÉ AU JUS GRAS

Now this was a challenge! Matt and I were thinking how hard can it be to soufflé a few chips and the answer, extremely. Not only do you have to get the thickness and size right, but the main component to this recipe is the first cooking process and getting that all important blistering right. It’s hard to think about making the whole dish in just 90 minutes like the contestants on Master Chef Australia. In this post we will share our tips on how we had success with the Pommes Soufflé supplied with a link to make the whole dish bellow.

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Filet De Bouef with Pommes Soufflé, Parsley purée and Jus Gras

INGREDIENTS

– Royal Blue Potatoes

– 2 Cups Canola Oil

– Sea Salt Flakes

– Thermometer

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METHOD

We found that royal blue potatoes worked and tasted the best. First cut the potatoes roughly 3mm in width at the largest part of the potato. You want to get close to 4cm x 4cm squares as possible out of each slice and leave in a bowl so they don’t dry out. Next you want to heat the canola oil in a medium sauce pan with the thermometer and bring that  temperature of 140°C (it take some fine tuning but try and keep the oil at a constant). You also want to heat oil in a deep fryer to 180°C. Place the potato squares into the oil and continuously agitate the oil by moving the pan or by using a wooden spoon being careful as the oil is hot.

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Continue cooking and agitate until the potato starts to show signs of puffing or blistering. This should take about 5 minutes. Next remove from the oil and add to the 180°C oil in the deep frier. They only want to be in there until they have completely puffed up, about 30 seconds. Remove from the oil, season with salt and set aside or enjoy straight away. This might not sound like a lot but trust us it was a lot harder than it seemed and very rewarding with the end product.

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Link to the Master Chef Australia recipe page: http://tenplay.com.au/channel-ten/masterchef/recipes/filet-de-bouef-et-pommes-souffle-au-jus-gras