Chinese Style Lamb, Pork or Beef

When I read about this recipe over at my friend Tanya’s blog, Chica Andaluza, I quickly commented that I was going to get some pork ribs out of the freezer so I could get cracking with making this delectable recipe but alas the pork ribs turned out to be lamb ribs – no matter.  Even though I had pork in mind, this was lip smacking good using lamb.  I will be making this again using pork and beef – just for research purposes of course to decide which I like best.

I amended the recipes slightly mainly out of necessity as I didn’t have any star anise or dry sherry in stock so I omitted the star anise and replaced the sherry with red wine which I always have on hand.

Ingredients

45ml vegetable oil for frying
1kg Lamb/Pork / Beef for slow cooking cut as desired
1 large onion roughly chopped
50g peeled fresh ginger roughly chopped
6 cloves of fresh garlic
15ml water
15ml Chinese five spice powder
5ml freshly ground black pepper
100ml brown sugar
50ml soy sauce
50ml red wine
30ml tomato purée
250ml chicken or beef stock

Method

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and seal the meat on all sides (in batches if necessary). Remove the meat and reserve in a separate bowl.
2. Blitz the onion, ginger, garlic and water to a paste in a food processor then fry gently until softened in the same saucepan you used for the meat.
3. Add the five spice and pepper then after a minute add the sugar, soy sauce, wine, tomato purée and stock .
4. Add the meat with any juices and stir to coat the meat in the sauce.
5. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer and cook gently for 2 hours.
6. Remove the lid for the last 30 minutes to allow the sauce to reduce and thicken.

Sausage Stuffed Bell Peppers

I have been wanting to make stuffed peppers for the longest time but for whatever reason, is just one of those ideas that gets pushed aside or forgotten.  I was reminded about this lovely idea when I was visiting over at Zestybeandog’s Blog, which made me put my want into action.  Thanks Zestybeandog for the reminder.  This is really a tasty meal and we enjoyed the yellow pepper so much more than the red.  It seemed to have more flavour once baked.

Inspired by Zestybeandog

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 tbsp butter
½ onion chopped
½ cup sliced mushrooms
1 clove garlic crushed
4 pork bangers removed from casings
10ml chicken stock powder
5ml vegetable spice
¾ cup cooked rice

Method

1. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the inner membrane and seeds.  Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
3. Fry the onion and mushrooms in the butter until tender.
4. Add the garlic and and sausage breaking the sausage up into small pieces.
5. Add the stock powder and vegetable spice and cook through.
6. Stir in the rice and stuff into the peppers.
7. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes.
8. Drizzle the peppers with olive oil before serving.

Sosaties (Kebabs)

Sosaties are a traditional and proudly South African dish of Cape Malay origin.  The term derives from sate (skewered meat) and saus (spicy sauce) and are usually cooked on a braai (barbecue) after marinating for a day.  For all intents and purposes, you can call these yummy morsels kebabs, either way they are fabulous!

 

Sosaties

Ingredients

Marinade

30ml oil
3 large onions sliced
3 garlic cloves crushed
30ml mild curry powder
½ red chilli finely chopped
3 bay leaves
15ml chopped ginger
30ml smooth apricot jam
350ml wine vinegar
500ml milk

Meat

1.5kg boneless mutton or lamb
1.5kg boneless pork
50 dried apricots (optional)
16 wooden skewers soaked in water

Method

Marinade

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan and sauté the onions and garlic until the onions are soft.
2. Add the curry powder and sauté for 2 minutes.
3. Add the remaining ingredients except for the milk and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Remove from the heat, leave to cool and stir in the milk.

Meat

1. Cut the mutton and pork into 2.5cm cubes.  Marinate the meat in the marinade for 24 hours.
2. Thread 6 meat cubes onto each skewer, alternating them with the apricots.
3. Braai (barbecue) over medium coals basting with the marinade.

Roasting Times – Part 2 of 2

These roasting times are approximate and slight adjustments may be required to achieve the degree of cooking preferred. This is particularly important for larger roasts for which cooking times can vary considerably.

Pork roasting times

Oven temperature:  350°F / 180°C / gas mark 4

Medium
30 minutes per 500g plus 30 minutes

Well Done
35 minutes per 500g plus 35 minutes

Check that juices run clear.  Rest for 15 minutes before carving.

 

Chicken roasting times

Oven temperature:  350ºF / 180°C / gas mark 4

Unstuffed

1kg – 1.4kg – 1 – 1½ hours
1.6kg – 1.8kg -1½ – 1¾ hours
2kg – 2.3kg -1½ – 2 hours
2.3 – 2.7kg -1¾ – 2½ hours

Stuffed

1kg – 1.4kg -1½ – 2 hours
1.6kg – 1.8kg -1¾ – 2¼ hours
2kg – 2.3kg -2 – 2½ hours
2.3 – 2.7kg -2¼ – 2¾ hours

Check that juices run clear.  Rest for 10 minutes before carving.

Meat cuts

Recipes call for different cuts of meat for certain types of cooking; roasting, stewing, frying etc.  Some meat must be cooked quickly over a high heat and others slowly in a moderate oven.  The following three charts show all the different cuts for beef, lamb and pork.

Enjoy,

Mandy