And the winner is...

Our recipe for Steak with Onion and Tomato Sauce was chosen to be included into the Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook! A while back we entered the contest and just received the good news. Yay!

Steak With Onion and Tomato Sauce

Steak with Onion and Tomato Sauce

We had a long day working at home and we craved something a bit decadent for lunch. It was a matter of minutes before we realized we had two beef fillets waiting in the freezer! With no extra thought we defrosted the steaks and threw together an incredible onion and tomato sauce to go with them. The result was just perfect.

Ingredients:

1 tbs olive oil

3 cloves garlic, sliced

2 tbs chopped fresh ginger

1/2 tbs black peppercorns

1 large onion

1 tomato, peeled, deseeded and roughly chopped

1/2 cup white wine (can use also red)

25ml balsamic vinegar  

1 1/2 cup water

1 tbs salt

3 tbs sugar

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp ground coriander seeds
1/2 tsp dried red chili

The Recipe:
Heat the olive oil in a medium pot. Over medium heat, saute the onion, garlic, peppercorns and ginger for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Mix in the tomato and let simmer for 2 minutes. Add all the rest of the ingredients, first the fluids, then the spices and mix well. Bring to a boil and let simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes or until only thick fluid remains.

This is the time to make the steaks. We made ours by rubbing olive oil and chopped garlic over the steaks and searing them in a very hot skillet on all sides. Then we let them cook for 10 minutes more on each side over medium heat.

When the steaks are ready, place them on a plate and pour the sauce on top. Voila!

Served with cooked wheat and steamed carrots

Pasteles de Carne, Salonika Meat-Filled Pies

The recipe for these meat pies comes from the traditions of the Sefaradi Jewish community in Salonika, Greece. Our job last weekend required us to plan a Shabbat meal for 16 teenagers and we were sure these pies would be a success. Like many other recipes we've been trying lately this one was adapted from the excellent Book of Jewish Food by Claudia Roden. The recipe requires some work, but is well worth the effort.

Ingredients (makes 15-18 pieces):

(for the dough)

125ml sunflower oil

125ml warm water

1/2 tsp salt

about 350 gr flour

(for the filling)

1 medium onion, chopped

3 tbs sunflower oil

250 gr minced beef

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp cinnamon

salt and pepper

1 hard boil egg, chopped

1 egg lightly beaten

4 tbs finely chopped parsley

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)

The Recipe

The dough 

To make the dough mix the oil, water and salt with a fork in a large bowl. Gradually add the flour, first mixing with a fork and then continuing with your hands. Continue to add flour until the dough feels soft and springy, like the lobe of your ear. Leave aside covered in saran-wrap at room temperature (do not refridgerate).

The filling

To make the filling fry the onion in oil until golden. Add the beef, salt and plenty of pepper. Stir occasionally until the meat changes color. Mix in the sugar, cumin and cinnamon. Also add the pine nuts if you choose to use them. Add about 4 tbs water and cook for 5 minutes more. Let it cool, then add the rest of the ingredients.

To make the pies

Take lumps of dough the size of a small egg and shape into a ball. Hollow them out with your fingers and shape into little pots with straight sides. Make the walls as thin as possible. Fill with the mixture. Cover each pie with a flat lid made by flattening a tiny ball of dough. Pinch the edges together all around to seal the pies.

Arrange on trays and brush the top with a beaten egg. Bake in the oven at 180°C for 30 minutes or until golden. 

Bitter Lemon Jam

A few weeks ago, we came back from a weekend brunch at E+D's overloaded with lemons straight from their lemon tree.

We sat staring at a huge pile of lemons and decided: we will make a lemon jam experiment. We asked ourselves: lemon jam?
The result turned out to be a bit bitter since we threw the lemons in with the peel intact. It goes very well with meat or on bread with sesame paste.

We ended up making a very large amount of jam (since we dragged home so many), storing it in glass bottles in the refrigerator.
This recipe should be enough for one jar.

Ingredients:
1 cup lemons, cut into four and then sliced, with the peel
1 parsimon, cut into four and then sliced
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 cloves
3 tbs white wine

The Recipe:
Place the ingredients in a pot on medium heat, stirring often.
When it starts to thicken remove from heat and pour into a sterilized jar. Close well, and store in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.

In order to store the jam for a longer period of time we followed Dorie Greenspan's advice on canning.
Another great canning information source is Saving the Season.

A Roast Beef

We were very surprised at how easy it is to make a good roast beef. It's all about using a good piece of meat and a tasty marinade. The rest is nonsense. We weren't exactly sure which part of the cow to order, so we asked the butcher for some help. He handed us with a large and handsome piece of sirloin (2 kg)) which later turned out to be tender and tasteful. Inspired by whatever we found in our refrigerator, we made up this incredible recipe for the roast:

Ingredients (for 2 kg of sirloin):

3 cloves of garlic, sliced

1 tbs fresh sage, chopped

3 tbs fresh thyme, chopped

1 tbs whole black pepper grains

2-3 tbs whole grain mustard
1 tbs honey
3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup white wine (optional)

The recipe:

Preheat the oven to 160 C.
Mix all of the ingredients together and then spread the mixture on the meat to cover all sides.
Place the meat in a roasting pan with the fat part facing up and stick a meat thermometer. (We added some garlic and carrots to the tray. It's not a must but they cook so well with the roast's juices...)
Using the thermometer is important. It helps with getting the meat exactly how you want it done (rare 60 C - medium 70 C).
Stick the pan in the oven and let cook for about 1.5 hours. No need to touch it, only check occasionally to see it reaches the preferred temperature.
When it's done, take it out of the oven and let sit covered in foil for 20 minutes more.

That's it! The roast can keep in your fridge for up to a week, and it even gets better with time.