Recipes

Beef cooked until tender using Thai ingredients. This dish relies on a balance of layered flavours – spicy, sour and sweet.

Ingredients

Beef

• 750 chuck steak, cut into 5cm pieces (or cross-cut blade or gravy beef works well too)
• 2 tablespoons Massaman curry paste
• 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 bay leaf
• Splash of fish sauce
• 300g waxy potatoes, cut into large chunks

To serve

• 2 tablespoons unsalted roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped parsley
• Jasmine rice

Method

Beef

Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Toss the beef in the Massaman curry paste. Place a large frying pan over a medium heat and add a dash of oil. Place in the onion and cook until soft but not coloured. Transfer to an ovenproof casserole dish.

Add another dash of oil to the frying pan and place in the beef, in batches, and brown on both sides. Transfer to the casserole dish as you go. Pour the coconut milk and water into the frying pan and allow to bubble up. Add the lime juice, sugar, bay leaf and fish sauce. Stir to combine, then pour over the beef.

Place on the lid and place in the oven to cook for 1 hour. Remove from the oven, taste for seasoning and add the potatoes. Cook for a further 1 1/2 hours until the beef is almost falling apart.

To serve

Serve Massaman beef curry topped with the peanuts and parsley. Add a bowl of cooked rice.

The beauty about this recipe is that it can be created in one-pot. Which means you get a dish jam-packed with winter goodness and there are less dishes to clear away at the end of it all!

Ingredients

Lamb

• 500g diced lamb shoulder (or shoulder and neck chops work well too)
• 3 tablespoons seasoned flour
• 1 leek, white part only, finely sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
• 1 large parsnip, peeled and diced
• 1/2 swede (about 150g), peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 2 cups beef or chicken stock

To serve

• 1 cup Israeli couscous, cooked (or mashed potato)
• Green vegetables, steamed
• Gremolata (very finely chop 2 cloves garlic, add 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley, grate the zest of 1-2 lemons and gently mix together)

Method

Lamb

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Roll diced lamb in the seasoned flour. Heat a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add a dash of oil and when hot, brown lamb on both sides, in batches, transferring to a casserole dish as you go.

Reduce the heat to low and add the leek and garlic. Cook gently until the leek begins to soften, then add the carrot, parsnip and swede. Mix in any remaining seasoned flour.

Pour in the wine and allow to bubble up. Add the stock and mix well, then pour over the lamb. The liquid should just cover the lamb and vegetables. If not, add more stock.

Place baking paper, cut to fit, on top of the liquid to protect the meat and reduce evaporation. Cover with the lid, then place in the oven and cook for 2 hours until the lamb is very tender.

To serve

Serve hot with Israeli couscous and steamed green vegetables. Top with gremolata (optional).