Tag: beef recipe

Spicy buffalo meatballs recipe.

Two reasons to eat buffalo meat:

1.they are quite lean.
2.they taste surprisingly beefy.
3.they are cheappppp!

Yeah they are ridiculously cheap! The same amount of beef would have cost me more than double minimum, depending on its source. So cheap I just had to try buffalo out, who knows I might just discover a cheaper and tastier alternative to beef?

So, I did with the buffalo mince what I would have done with ordinary beef mince – meatballs!

# – Buffalo meatball pasta.

For the meatballs:

  • 350 grams of buffalo mince
  • 100 grams of bread crumbs
  • 1 chili, finely dice
  • 1/2 a large onion, finely diced
  • 1 tablespoon of oil
  • 2 tablepspoons of mustard powder
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon of salt
  • Pepper to taste

    • For the sauce:

  • 1 can of plum tomatoes
  • 1/2 can of water
  • 1/2 a large onion, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon of fennel powder
  • 1 tablespoon of rosemary powder
  • 2 tablespoons of honey
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 145 grams of pasta, cooked as per instructions on packet
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

    • Optional:

  • 1 tablespoon of corn flour
  • 2 tablespoons of water

    • # – First, throw in all the ingredients to make the meatballs into a mixing bowl.

    # – With your hands, knead till ingredients are fully combined.

    # – Like this.

    # – Shape them into the size of golf balls. This recipe should yield around 12 meatballs.

    # – Pan fry them in a pan until crispy all over. There’s no need to worry about whether they will cook through. Set aside.

    # – It is not time to make the sauce. In the same pan, throw in the sliced onions and saute until translucent.

    # – Next, pour the whole can of tomatoes in.

    # – Followed by 1/2 a can of water.

    # – Add the fennel powder, rosemary powder, honey, salt and sugar into the mixture. Stir to combine.

    # – Now add the meatballs back into the sauce. Allow to simmer on low heat and uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. In the meantime, cook some pasta.

    # – This step is optional, but if you like the sauce to be thicker, stir in 1 tablespoon of cornflour dissolved in 2 tablespoons of water.

    # – Serve the meatballs and sauce with drained pasta and serve immediately.

    # – Juicy, meaty buffalo balls.

    The buffalo meatballs were absolutely delicious! The smooth, juicy texture of the meat and the crunchy onions made a wonderful combination. The chilies gave them a nice kick.

    I’m so glad I got an extra packet of buffalo mince. Next up, buffalo burgers!

    Spicy beef biryani recipe.

    This is a recipe from Ben O’Donoghue and I was THRILLED with the results. I made a few changes, things like changing saffron to tumeric (too expensive), getting rid of mint leaves (couldn’t find any) and conveniently forgetting bay leaves (old age). Yet, the biryani was absolutely delicious!

    # – Made it for a family dinner.

    For the rice:

    • 300-500 grams of beef steak, thinly sliced
    • 70 grams of tomato puree
    • A pinch of tumeric powder
    • 50 ml of milk
    • 500 grams of basmati rice
    • 1 cup of coriander leaves, roughly chopped
    • A pinch of salt

    For the marinade:

    • 5 cm of ginger, peeled & grated
    • 10 garlic cloves
    • 3 long chillies, roughly chopped
    • 20 grams of papaya, peeled and roughly chopped
    • 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
    • Juice of 1 lemon
    • 1 tablepoon of tumeric powder

    For the spice mix:

    • 100ml of vegetable oil
    • 3 onions, thinly sliced
    • 2 teaspoons of cardomom pods, bruised with the back of a knife
    • 1 cinnamon quill, broken
    • 2 teaspoons of cloves

    # – First, dump all the ingredients for the marinade in a blender except for lemon juice and tumeric powder. Puree the mixture.

    # – Pour it out then add the lemon juice.

    # – Stir in the tumeric powder.

    # – Add in the sliced beef and stir to ensure the beef are evenly coated with the marinade. Set aside while you continue with other tasks.

    # – Prepare the milk in a jug and add the tumeric powder and a pinch of salt, let stand for about 20 minutes.

    # – In the meantime, boil the basmati rice in salted water for 6-8 minutes.

    # – Then drain the rice.

    # – Now, to start with making the spice mix. Fry up 2/3 of the thinly sliced onions till brown (confession: I over fried mine a bit :P). Set aside.

    # – Fry the remaining onions with the cardamoms, cloves and cinnamon quill.

    # – When the spices are fragrant, throw in the marinaded beef. Reserve the marinade.

    # – As soon as the beef are browned, pour in the tomato paste.

    # – Followed by the rest of the marinade reserved earlier. Stir to combine.

    # – Next, pour 1/3 of the drained rice over the meat mixture.

    # – Then throw on some coriander leaves.

    # – Cover with more rice and then a layer of the fried onions. Repeat until no rice’s left.

    # – Pour in the milk mixture all over the rice.

    # – Cover and stick in a preheated oven at 170 degrees celcius to bake for 15 minutes. This will allow the marinade at the bottom to steam the rice and flavouring it at the same time :D

    # – Spicy beef biryani, DONE!

    # – Stir it up before serving…

    # – Delicious, fluffy biryani.

    I made a pot of vegetable curry to go with it. Superb!

    Before this, I’ve always wondered how people make good biryani rice, with the rice so fluffy and not sticking together in clumps. The thought of screwing the dish up put me off from attempting it.

    I’m glad I got over the fear and made this because the BF and I LOVE biryani and now that I understand the basics of cooking basmati rice, I can experiment with more flavours in the future.

    A recipe of caramelised potato and beef with onions.

    This dish is another one that I grew up eating. In fact, it was a childhood favourite! My mom used to cook it with either minced pork or pork fillets but this version that I’m blogging about uses beef steak cut into strips. You can even use chicken, or whatever meat you fancy, except perhaps seafood.

    The main star of the dish however, is not the meat. It’s the potatoes. They’re soft in the middle and slightly crispy on the outside. And they’ve got a very appetising sort of smokiness to them, derived from the chinese dark caramel sauce.

    # – Caramelised potato and beef with onions

    Now that I’m older, I realise how fattening it is to eat potatoes with rice but hey, we all need some comfort food now and then ;)

    The ingredients:

    • 2-3 potatoes, sliced
    • 1- 2 onions, chopped
    • 1 tablespoon of Shaoxing or chinese rice wine
    • A couple of dashes of Worcestershire sauce
    • 1 tablespoon of chinese dark caramel sauce
    • 1 tablespoon of ordinary chilli sauce or Tabasco sauce (I used Sriracha hot chilli sauce)
    • 150 ml of water
    • 1 tablespoon of salt
    • 200 grams of beef steak, sliced and marinaded with a bit of corn flour and salt (you can use minced meat too. And switch to pork or chicken)

    # – Of course, heat up a wok or pan with oil :)

    # – When oil is hot, throw in the chopped onions. Ah, the sound of sizzling oil…

    # – When the onions have turned a bit translucent, throw in the potatoes. Stir around for a bit till they’re a bit browned.

    # – Pour in about 150 ml of water…

    # – A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce.

    # – Drizzle over the dark caramel sauce.

    # – A good tablespoon of salt.

    # – Followed by a tablespoon of chinese rice wine.

    # – And lastly, a tablespoon of chilli sauce. Mix till all are combined.

    # – Then cover the pan with a lid, turn the heat down to medium and let the spuds cook for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

    # – After that, push the potatoes to one side in the pan, and throw in the beef.

    # – Drizzle a wee bit of dark caramel sauce over the beef. Stir to combine. You don’t have to cook beef too long but if you’re using chicken or pork please make sure you cook them through.

    # – Mix everything up, and garnish with chopped chives or spring onions. Errr, I used Rosemary because that’s what I had…

    You can add chopped chillies for some kicks or more caramel sauce if you like the dish darker. You can also slice the potatoes thinner or thicker, depending on your preference. Sometimes I pan fry the potatoes first without adding any water for a much more crispier taste.

    Eat together with rice or do I what I used to do when I was little….eat everything and save the potatoes for last.

    Have fun cooking!