Chilli and Kaffir Lime Beef Skewers

In all honesty, I've only just realised that I left out the two main ingredients in the title of the recipe.

The chilli I omitted on purpose as I'm not only cooking for Hubby and I, but also our two young kiddo's who wouldn't agree with chilli all that much. And good luck finding Kaffir Lime Leaves out there. You've got better luck growing your own than you would ever buying from the supermarket.

But, I did include the rest of the ingredients and still resulted in a nice dish. So all in all, win!

As always, I made too much noodles and while I intended on keeping the leftovers for veggie patties the next day, just because it's a good intention doesn't mean it'll happen. Which it didn't. But oh well.

Lovely BBQ recipe. A little different from your average kebabs so it's a nice spice up. You could even add in the chilli...

Chilli Beef and Snake Bean Stir-fry

If I'll be honest, I've been hesitant to make the 'chilli' dishes so far. While I love how chilli can transform a dish, the heat doesn't necessarily agree with me. Or my taste buds. And I like to be able to enjoy what I eat, not have my head blown off. 

So when this recipe called for 'Chilli Bean Paste' I substituted for Black Bean sauce and a finely diced and deseeded long red chilli. I marinated the beef in the sauce and chilli for a little while before cooking them on my grill pan. Once the meat was out and resting I then quickly cooked the garlic slivers and beans in a little more sauce. 

Both Hubby and I really enjoyed this dinner. There was no heat from the chilli and it was so easy and tasty, this would make a great BBQ dinner for those warm summer nights!

Beef, Onion and Red Wine Pie

While it's still cold out here I thought I'd take advantage of the weather and use the oven to warm the house. I don't honestly think I've ever made a savory pie and had a craving for hearty, homemade food.

Beef, Onion and Red Wine pie. Ok, I cheated and used 'Alcohol Removed' red wine. I know when cooking there's no need to, but I couldn't be bothered dealing with the look I'd get, as a pregnant woman, buying wine from the only bottle-o in town. Even if I explained it was for cooking. Then I'd get the 'yeah, right' look. When I saw the bottle in IGA - problem solved!

For a pie, it's quite quick. Cooking beef, onion, garlic then adding stock, thyme, a bay leaf, wine and water. Season and let simmer. I love those 'walk away and forget about till the timer goes off' type recipes. Easy peasy.

While the mixture cooled I defrosted some shortcrust and puff pastry that everyone keeps in the freezer. I lined my newly bought pie tin (I had somehow managed to keep from Noah as he LOVES to play with everything in my kitchen) with shortcrust. Poured in my now warm beef mixture then topped with puff, pressing the pastries together. A good brush with some beaten egg and into the oven for another 'set and forget' timeslot.

The result:

A very yummy dinner! Another to be tagged and made again!

Garlic and Mustard Beef Skewers.

I made these a while ago and just haven't gotten around to blogging about them. I have free time now but am on holiday, so I don't have the photos.

I'll up load them for you all when I get home!

Garlic and Mustard Beef kebabs with Aioli. These were really great. The recipe, I thought would be predictable, but it included Red Wine Vinegar, which I wouldn't have picked. When cooked I really think the vinegar helped mellow out the spiciness (yes, that's a word) of the mustard. I absouletly love mustard seeds though, so I wouldn't have minded anyway, but my 16 month old does mind.

I used some fresh beautiful grain-fed Rib Eye Fillets from out local butcher for this recipe and oh-mi-gosh, they were so so so so good. The meat was marinated in the garlic and vinegar and mustard mix for an hour, while I made the Aioli, before being threaded onto skewers and grilled on my George Foreman. The recipe suggests serving it with Lavish Bread, but as we were having them for dinner I whipped up some mashed Sweet Potato instead. Matched like a dream.

The aioli was a basic mayo recipe, egg yolks, garlic, a few other things, olive oil. It came together in my mixer great and I bottled it and refrigerated it for when the skewers were ready.

We forgot to eat it. But, I did serve it a few nights later with some basic grilled Chicken. Yum.