Beef Stew, Beef Chilli and Spaghetti Bolognese.....!

We've just enjoyed deep bowls of beef stew hurriedly cooked in the pressure cooker.  The meat was seared and browned, vegetables, stock and seasonings are added, then the ingredients are pressure cooked for about eight minutes.  Its delicious.  We've used Sainsbury's diced been with tinned tomatoes, red kidney beans, potatoes, beef stock cube stock and a small amount of Sainsbury's beef gravy granules.

Last night, we road-tested my super-quick beef chilli recipe, even making a couple of improvements, which were much appreciated; such as using less stock for a slightly drier and more compact meal plus a doubling up of the amount of spices used.

We sliced one large onion and softened it in two tablespoons of hot Rape Seed oil for about six minutes, then added four smashed and skinned  garlic cloves, one tin of plum tomatoes and a tin of red kidney beans, sliced carrots from a bag of ready prep'd mixed veggies from Sainsbury's  - because this is a super-quick recipe!  Next, for the spices, one teaspoon each of chilli powder, cayenne pepper, cumin and sweet paprika plus marjoram or oregano, and one teaspoon of sugar.  Of course, don't forget a littler sea salt and ground   black peppercorns and a tablespoon of Sainsbury's beef gravy granules.  You can omit this if you prefer but it gives a darker colour to your finished dish!

Stir well to amalgamate over a good heat for about two to three minutes then add one beef stock cube and a good splash of boiling water.  Afix the lid onto your pressure cooker, bring up to 15lb. pressure, set your timer for five minutes and turn down the heat under your pan, so that all you get is a soft hissing sound.

When you timer sounds, remove your pan to the kitchen sink and run a slow stream of cold water over the lid until the pressure has been released, which will take just a few minutes.  Remove the lid and test a little of the hot meat and sauce, and serve at once into warmed bowls over hot rice with vegetables and enjoy.

You can add soured cream and mango chutney if you like to, I do, but its great just as it is and this is how I eat it for a speedy mid-week supper, any time!                                                                                            

Do check with your pressure cooker instructions and follow their recommendations.   If you haven't such a cooker, then just leave your beef in a hot over for between twenty - thirty minutes until done and piping hot.

For the rice, I like to keep tubs of cooked mixed rice and veggies in the freezer ready to use whenever needed.  Just add a little boiling water to your mixture, then micro-wave defrost for six minutes, followed by   five - ten minutes cooking on full heat to piping hot.  Home cooked rice and veggies are perfectly OK to freezer-store in small amounts for future use,  just as long as your initially-cooked rice is cooled within ninety minutes and only then stored as fully cold.  Also, a left-over rice dish should be either 'fridged-stored overnight and eaten cold the following day with salad and cold meat or cheese or discarded..  Never leave your rice dish out overnight as it will be unsafe to eat, so if you have some remaining from a meal, store in your 'fridge for a cold item the following day or freezer-store, once completely cold, for a future meal.

Our Spaghetti Bolognese is just  happy memory now - it was good - but I'll be cooking it again soon and will write about it then, with the recipe.  

Happy eating...!

Daisy