This is a nice meaty pasta bake with carrot, celery and mushrooms cunningly hidden to fool those picky eaters. I like that you can make it and freeze it as it’s always great to have something in the freezer for those busy or lazy nights when you just don’t have time or feel like cooking.
I know why Mum cut this recipe out and saved it, she really liked cauliflower. Some people might think cauliflower is a bit bland, but it’s really very versatile. It’s great topped with a white sauce and cheese, soaks up curry sauces deliciously, you can roast it with a little oil and of course just boil it. This is the first time I’ve seen it used in a recipe like this, but I think it should taste quite good this way.
This recipe was one of mother-in-law’s. Sadly she passed away many years ago so I don’t have too many of her recipes. She was a great cook though and this early version of Beef Stroganoff was one of my favourite things that she used to make.
Beef Burgandy is just the fancy name for slow cooked beef with red wine. My tried and true way of cooking it has always been by using the first method shown here, which gives you lovely tender beef in a rich sauce. The second method using an oven bag I found in Mum’s collection and should work just as well. The more modern way, of course, would be too use a slow cooker. Whichever way you end up cooking it, it’s a great winter dish. You get the best flavor by using the cheaper cuts of beef – gravy beef, blade or even skirt steak.
MY WAY:
THE OVEN BAG WAY:
It’s winter and what could be better for a family meal than an old style lamb casserole. This one needs very little preparation, just trim the chops, coat them in flour, chop up an onion put the lot in a casserole dish and cover with the combined flavorings. Put the dish in the oven and forget it for 2 hours while you get on with all the other things you need to do after a long day at work.
As it says this is similar to a pastie, but instead of chopping the meat and vegetables up you layer them and then put a pastry lid on top. Although it doesn’t say to, I’d make sure you put a few slits in the pastry lid to let the steam out.
This seems like a great way to give beef sausages a bit of a kick. Chilli, kidney beans and corn chips all topped with melted cheese, sort of a fake Mexican dish.
Mum collected this recipe from the Herald Sun back in the ’80s, back then her curries were always made with curry powder. This must have seemed a bit exotic to her – curry rubbed onto the skin of a lamb roast. Her lamb roasts were always baked plain and served with homemade mint sauce and, of course, gravy.
Being able to assemble this recipe the day before and then put it in the oven when you need it can be a great advantage. When Mum made it she would just use tinned corn, but she did add fresh capsicum, which she fried up with the onion and garlic.
I’m not too sure when Oven Bags first came on the scene, but the first I knew of them was when my mother-in-law started using them in the ’70s. This recipe comes from a sheet put out by the manufacturers of Tiger Oven Bags. It’s an unusual way to cook frankfurts, but I actually think they may taste OK.
Beb's Recipe Drawer 