Sue Zann Toh

I finally found a recipe for classic spaghetti bolognese that’s produces consistently great tasting spag bol. It’s so easy and tasty it’s unbelievable. I have to give a big thanks to C from university to introducing me to this recipe.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 onions, diced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 500g minced beef (I use low fat minced beef)
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 8-10 mushrooms, quartered (I use portabello or swiss brown - they have more flavour than button mushrooms)
• 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1 can Campbell’s condensed tomato soup (has to be Campbells)
• 140g tomato paste
• salt, pepper and sugar to taste
• 500g spaghetti

Instructions

1. Cook spaghetti according to the packet. Usually boil for 10 minutes in water with 1 tsp salt.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a deep frypan.
3. Saute mushrooms until cooked through, about 5 minutes.
4. Remove mushrooms from frypan.
5. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in the same frypan.
6. Add onions and garlic and cook until onions are translucent, about 2-3 minutes.
7. Add minced beef in batches and cook until brown.
8. Add tomatoes, cooked mushrooms, tomato soup, tomato paste and dried oregano leaves and heat through.
9. Add salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

Tips

The minimum ingredients for this recipe is the Campbell’s condensed tomato soup, tomato paste and spaghetti. Pretty much all other ingredients are optional and amounts can be varied to your liking.

A wonderful winter warmer, this beef goulash recipe is amazingly simple to cook and incredibly tasty. I got this recipe from Australian Better Homes and Garden, watch the segment here.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 3 onions, diced
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 800g osso bucco beef, diced and keep the bones
• 1 Tbs flour
• 5 cloves, chopped
• 1 tsp caraway seeds, ground
• 3 tsp Hungarian paprika
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 potatoes

Instructions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large casserole pot over high heat.
2. Brown onions then set aside.
3. Add another tablespoon olive oil to the casserole pot and add diced beef.
4. When beef is browned on all sides, add cloves, caraway seeds and Hungarian paprika and stir through for a minute.
5. Add diced tomatoes and stir through.
6. Return onion to pot, add salt, potatoes, osso bucco bones and enough water to cover the meat.
7. Simmer for 2 hours, then serve with rice, bread and/or sour cream.

Tips

The first time I made this recipe, I actually didn’t have any flour or caraway seeds in the house. I simply left out the flour and substituted the caraway seeds with ½ teaspoon of ground fennel seeds and ½ teaspoon of cumin. I’m happy to say that it still turned out mighty tasty.

Also known as jook, chok, Chinese porridge and rice porridge, congee is one of those traditional Chinese foods that reminds me of home. In particular, whenever us kids were sick, our parents made us congee of some sort, chicken, fish, pork or plain.

The following recipe is the most basic and most simple congee recipe that could ever exist. It serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 cup long rice
• 2 L water

Instructions

1. Add rice and water in a saucepan and bring to boil.
2. Reduce to simmer for about one and a half hours, stirring.

Optional

• Add 400-500 g diced chicken (breast or thigh, which ever you prefer), pork or fish (white flesh) about 30 minutes before end of cooking.
• Add salt and pepper to taste at the end of cooking.
• You can cook the congee with garlic and ginger for flavour.
• If you like smoother congee, cook for longer and add more water as needed. If you like chunkier congee, cook for less time and use less water. I like my congee somewhere in between, and I find that the recipe above gives the exact right consistency that I like.

Frittatas are quick, simple and nutritious and can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This frittata recipe can be used as a base to add in any leftovers to make a scrumptious meal.

Serves 2.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• ½ cup milk
• 2½ Tbs parmesan cheese
• 10g unsalted butter
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 200g ricotta cheese
• ½ cup cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Beat together eggs, milk and parmesan cheese until fluffy.
2. Heat the oil and butter together in a small deep saucepan.
3. Add egg mixture to saucepan and cook for 5 minutes until the edges start to set.
4. Add ricotta and cheddar cheese on top and cook for a further 15 minutes.
5. Grill for 5 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Divide and serve with fresh salad.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 800 g sweet potato, peeled and chopped
• 1½ cup arborio rice
• 3¾ chicken or vegetable stock
• Salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add onion and garlic and saute until onion is soft, about 5 minutes.
3. Add rice to onion mixture and stir for 2 minutes or until rice is translucent.
4. Add sweet potato and stock. Bring to boil then cover and simmer until rice is al dente, about 25 to 30 minutes.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Tips and Advice

Don’t rinse arborio rice prior to cooking. This removes the starch that gives risottos their creaminess.

Really simple and quick. This veal recipe fits all my requirements. There’s not much preparation or cooling involved.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 4 veal steaks
• 1.5 tbs tomato paste
• 1 tbs flat leaf parsley (Italian parsley)
• 4 thin slices of eggplant (Aubergine)
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbs olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
2. Line a baking tray with grease paper.
3. Heat a grill pan over high heat.
4. Brush eggplant slices with half the olive oil and grill until soft, about 3 minutes each side.
5. Remove eggplant slices from heat and set aside.
6. Coat veal steaks in olive oil and grill each side one minute each.
7. Remove veal from the frypan and place on lined baking tray.
8. Sprinkly veal steaks with parsley and season with salt and pepper.
9. Top veal steaks with grilled eggplant and mozzarella cheese.
10. Bake in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
11. Serve with steamed green vegetables.

This Irish beef stew recipe was modified from the recipe found at Elise.com’s Simply Recipes. Being a bit of a calorie counter, I couldn’t bear to use amounts such as “1/4 cup of olive oil” just to brown the beef! Just so you know, a quarter cup of olive oil has about 477 calories, or 1995 kilojoules.

So my own version of the recipe has been developed based on Elise.com’s recipe. Some other differences, other than the amount of fats used in the recipe, are that my version of the recipe has more beef and less potatoes.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 kg stew beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste

Gravy Ingredients:

• 6 cups (1.5L) beef stock
• 1 cup of Guinness beer
• 1 cup of red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves

Vegetables:

• 1 kg potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups carrots, 1/2-inch pieces peeled

Instructions

1. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in heavy large casserole/crock-pot over medium-high heat.
2. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.
3. Add beef in 3 to 4 batches and saute until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes for each batch.
4. Add the Gravy Ingredients, ie, beef stock, Guinness beer, red wine, tomato paste, dried thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves.
5. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
6. While the meat and gravy stock are simmering, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in another large pot over medium heat.
7. Add Vegetables (potatoes, onion and carrots) and saute until golden, about 20 minutes.
8. Add vegetables to beef stew and simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 40 minutes.
9. Discard bay leaves. Add salt and pepper to taste.
10. Transfer stew to serving bowl, sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Suggestions

As with many stews, casseroles and curries, they taste better as left overs, so make a big pot and refrigerate the left overs for an extra tasty stew.