Pot Roasted beef with potatoes & Horseradish

Here is the full recipe from Jamie Oliver. Enjoy cooking!!

1 x 900g whole fillet of beef, trimmed
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 handfuls of fresh rosemary sprigs
1 bulb of garlic, broken up, cloves left whole with skins on
extra virgin olive oil
2kg desiree or Maris piper potatoes, peeled & sliced 0.5cm thick
3 heaped tablespoons creamed horseradish
½ bottle of red wine
170g butter
Generously season the beef with salt & pepper. In a pestle & mortar bash up about a quarter of the rosemary with a clove of garlic to make a paste. Lossen with 5 tablespoons of olive oil & then rub this all over the beef. Tie the beef with 4 pieces of string then poke the remaining rosemary sprigs under the string.

Preheat oven to 250c. Parboil the potatoes in boiling salted water for 5 minutes & drain in a colander. Transfer to a bowl & add enough olive oil to just coat, season well. You can make this in a non stick cake tin or oven proof non stick frying pan or make small individual ones. Place half the potatoes in the pan then smear the horseradish cream over the top & place the rest of the potatoes on top, pat down & put to the side.

Brown off the meat in a snug fitting roasting tray until all sides are coloured. Add the garlic cloves to the tray, place the beef on top & put on the oven with the potatoes on the shelf below. Cook fro 20 minutes, then turn the beef over, baste, add the red wine & butter & place back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes or until cooked to your liking. When ready, rest the beef for a few minutes, then cut off the string & carve. Return any juices to the pan , mush up the garlic & put through a sive & use this sauce as your gravy. Serve with the baked potaotes

Tempura Batter Recipe - Japanese Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
1 egg
1 cup ice water
1 cup all purpose flour

PREPARATION:
Beat an egg in a bowl. Add ice water in the bowl. Be sure to use very cold water. Add sifted flour in the bowl and mix lightly. Be careful not to overmix the batter. Makes 4 servings

Cooking Tips for Tempura

Tip 1: Ice Use ice water for the batter.

This is really important to prevent the batter from absorbing too much oil.

Tip 2: Batter

Do not make the batter ahead of time. Try not to over mix the batter and not to coat ingredients with the batter too much.

Tip 3: Frying Order

If you are frying both seafood and vegetables, fry vegetables first. Then, fry seafood. Fry vegetables at 340F degree and fry seafood at 350F degree.

Tip 4: Oil Temperature

To check the temperature of frying oil, drop a little batter into the oil. If the batter comes up right away instead of sinking to the bottom of the pan, it's about 360 F degree. If the batter goes halfway to the bottom and comes up, it's about 340F degree.

This is said to be the right temperature to fry tempura.

Dal Tadka

Tadka dal is a specialty of Northern India, a simple everyday dal dish, served with steamed white rice or rotis (indian flat breads).

Ingredients:
1 cup of split yellow moong dal

pinch of turmeric powder

3-4 green chillies slit length wise

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp minced gingerchopped coriander/cilantro leaves for garnish or curry leavessalt to taste

For Tadka:
1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

7-8 curry leaves

1 tbsp ghee or oil

Wash and cook the dal in enough water, turmeric powder and ginger (the dal should be immersed in water). This dal cooks faster than other dals and is light and good for digestion.Take a saucepan and add ghee, add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Now add the cumin seeds and let it brown. Add the garlic and saute for a few seconds. Add the curry leaves and green chillis and saute till the flavors come out. Finally add the cooked dal along with the cooked dal water and salt and cook for 4-5 minutes.Garnish with coriander leaves.

Channa Masala

Channa Masala is spicy masala chickpeas - and can be as mild or as hot as you like it! It is a classic North Indian vegetarian dish.

Ingredients:
2 tins of ready-boiled chickpeas - rinsed in a colander

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 large onion chopped into long thin strips

3 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-sized chunks Chunks of frozen, pre-pulped garlic, ginger and green-chillie

Spices: Turmeric (halidi), Garam Masala, Ground Coriander, Salt

Seeds: Onion seed and Cumin (Jeera) seeds.

A large large pot in which to pour 2 or 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Cooking method:

Heat the oil in the pot until hot. Add the onion and cumin seeds and watch them pop and fizzle for around 20 seconds. Then add the chopped onions and fry until they are lightly browned. Then add the frozen (and by now thawed) chunks of pulped ginger, garlic and chillie. Stir fry on medium heat.

Then add the tin of chopped tomato and stir-fry for about 5 mins on medium-to-high heat until the oil starts to separate from the onion/tomato mixture - and then add the spices:

2 teaspoons of salt

2 teaspoons of ground coriander

2 teaspoons of garam masala

1.5 teaspoons of haldi (turmeric)
Stir it all thoroughly on medium flame.

Add the chunks of potato - stir until well coated in spices. Then add around 3 smallish glasses of water into the pot - and put the lid on and bring to boil. Let it simmer on a very low flame for around 20 mins with the lid on. This will soften the potato.

After about a further 15 mins of simmering - add some freshly chopped (or frozen) fresh coriander leaf and stir it all in. Keep it simmering for about 10 mins more. After that - turn off the heat - put the lid on tight - and let it it stand for around 15 mins whilst you make some basmati rice - or warm some pitta bread etc. It's then ready to serve!

p.s. Thank you, Anand for the lovely recipe

Keftedes - Greek Meatballs

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef (mince)

3 tbsp grated cheese

1 cup bread crumbs

1 tbsp vinegar

2 cups crushed tomatoes

salt and pepper

1 large onion (minced)

flour (for rolling)

1 tsp. dried mintoil (for frying)

1 egg

Preparation:

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Form into one inch balls. Heat the oil in a skillet. Roll the meatballs into the flour to coat, and drop into hot oil. Fry until brown on all sides. Serve warm.

Oven Baked Macaroni

Greek - Makaronia tou Fournou

Ingredients:

1 lb macaroni

*Sauce

1 large onion, finely chopped

2-3 cloves of garlic1 lb minced beef

1 can of peeled tomatoes, chopped

1-2 tbsp tomato puree

2 bay leaves

salt & pepper

**Béchamel Sauce2 oz butter

2 tbsp plain flour

1 pint of milk

8-12 oz kasseri cheese or strong cheddar cheese-grated

*Sauce Preparation:
Sauté the onions and garlic.Add minced meat and brown.Add peeled tomatoes, tomato puree, bay leaves and salt & pepper.Simmer for 45 minutes until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened.During the last 30 minutes of the sauce cooking: Boil the macaroni in salted water and drain.

**Béchamel Sauce Preparation:
Melt the butter in a milk pan.Stir in the flour until it forms a paste.Add the milk a little at a time stirring continuously. (Do not stop stirring otherwise the sauce becomes lumpy).Lastly pour in ¾ of the cheese and stir until melted.

Preparation:
In an ovenproof dish, place one third of the pasta followed by half the tomato sauce and then half the béchamel sauce. Place second third of pasta and second half of the tomato sauce. Place last third of pasta plus final layer of béchamel sauce. Add a final layer of grated cheese. Place in a medium oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Servings: 6-8

Greek - Horiatiki Salata

Who would of thought that this traditional country-style salad would end up becoming one the best loved Greek dishes? A very easy Greek recipe especially for the summer months!

Ingredients:
4 ounces feta cheese

1 cucumber

1 red/green bell pepper

5 tomatoes

1 head romaine lettuce

Black Olives - handful

1 large red onion, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tsp dried oregano

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Red wine

vinegar

Olive oil

Preparation:
Assemble feta cheese and vegetables in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the oregano, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar and serve.

Servings: 4