Tuesday 30th June '09

Tonight I am making some pies to take to work.

Red Wine Beef Pies

1. In a pot that can go into the oven, brown some chuck steak that has been roughly diced into same sized pieces in some olive oil.
   
2. Remove the beef from the pot and put aside.
   
3. Sautee some diced onion and crushed garlic in some olive oil in the same pot. Add more olive oil if required.
   
4. Add some sliced celery and roughly cut carrots and fry for a few minutes.
   
5. Return the beef to the pot.
   
6. Season with some cracked black pepper, sea salt and rosemary.
   
7. Add a few tablespoons of plain flour and stir in well.
   
8. Pour in some red wine and beef stock.
   
9. Bring to the boil and simmer for about ten minutes.
   
10. Cover the pot with the lid and put it into the oven at 180C for about an hour and a half.
    
11. Check the beef occasionally and top up with beef stock if it dries out.

At the end of the cooking time, the beef should be so tender that you could eat it with your dentures out.

But these aren't pies, you say? Well, I haven't finished yet.

I spooned the mixture into ramikins and then got out one of my latest purchases from Tupperware - the Squeeze It

I didn't exactly how to put it together, but after a few minutes I figured it out. It's fantastic! If you don't finish piping the contents, there is a lid you can screw on instead of one of the nozzles and you can store it in the fridge. Brilliant!

I made some mashed potatoes and piped it over the beef. The beef mixture was rather uneven, so I had a difficult time with the first two pies. I had to go over it a few times to fill in the 'gaps'. In the end they looked so crap I had to just mash it down and scraped over the top with a fork to make it presentable. The third and fourth ones turned out pretty well though.


out of the oven


For dinner, I was trying out something I've wanted to try for quite a while now.

Prawn Ravioli

Although this really requires for fresh pasta to be made, I didn't have the luxury of time so did it the cheat way. Wantan wrappers.


First, I prepared the prawn filling. On Masterchef a few weeks ago when the contestants were in Hong Kong preparing dim sum, they were shown how to make sui mai by bashing the prawns with a cleaver to mash up the flesh. I was keen to try this method! It took a few swings to get the knack of it, but I still made quite a bit of noise. Mum eventually came over and showed me a better technique. Preparing the prawns this way means that the prawns get a bit of tenderising yet keep most of their texture and it's not just mush. I seasoned the prawns with some chopped up parsley, chilli and a splash of fish sauce.



Now to prepare the wantan wrappers for the 'ravioli'.

Using an egg shaper, I cut out circles from each wantan wrapper.

Place some of the prawn filling into the centre of a circle and wet the edges with water.

Place another circle over the filling and press from the inside out to seal, making sure the air is pushed out so the ravioli don't burst open when they're cooking.

Voila! My first prawn ravioli!

I made a whole plate of the ravioli and was really pleased with myself!

To cook the ravioli, I brought a pot of water to the boil and then slid each one in. I had to use a wooden spoon to immediately stir them around a bit to stop them from sticking to each other as they cooked. After a few minutes, you can tell when they're ready because they float to the surface. I had to fish each one out individually with a pair of tongs and do it oh so very carefully so that I didn't tear any of them after all the hard work I put in to create them.

For the sauce, I fried some onion, garlic and leek in some olive oil, then added some cream and saffron threads.

Dinner
Prawn Ravioli with Creamy Saffron & Leek Sauce

Verdict: DELICIOUS & AN UTTER SUCCESS!

Supper
Bee Hoon Soup with Prawns, Chillies, Enoki & Wombok