Beef in Sweet Soy Sauce

Firstly I have to start this post by saying thank you to all my loyal readers who have made such beautiful comments to my last couple of posts.

Life in blog world can be very strange - you sit here somedays and think that the whole world is listening to every little gem of wisdom that you offer up to the stratosphere. Then there are other days you feel like you are absolutely insane, and sitting here blabbering away to yourself.

I went through a couple of weeks there where I didn't feel like talking (not even to myself), didn't check my stats, didn't even want to post.  You know what - it made not an iota of difference. People still came and went, just random visitors that left no comments.  Then, I don't know why, but I felt the need to post something - anything to explain my absence - and the outpouring of love and heartfelt emotions overwhelmed me.  So thank you Dear Readers, I know now that I have some true friends out there, that do take notice when I am not here.

Last night was a quick and easy dinner, but a really tasty dish that was enjoyed by all  (some to more degrees than others) of course "The Darlings" didn't go for the tomatoes - but hey - you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time!!!

Beef in Sweet Soy Sauce
Adapted From Super Food Ideas Magazine August Edition

Serves 4-6

6 eschalots, peeled, quartered
6 cloves garlic
3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled, roughly chopped
pinch white pepper
1/2 - 1 tsp tamarind concentrate (suit to taste)
1kg beef or veal schnitzel, cut in strips approx 5 cm in width
vegetable oil
4-5 small tomatoes, quartered
1/3 cup ketchap manis
1 green shallot, sliced on the diagonal
small handful of baby spinach

Place the eschalots, garlic, pepper, tamarind concentrate, and 1 1/2 tablespoons of water in the thermomix bowl (or a small food processor).  Pulse on turbo until you have a thick paste.

Heat a thin layer of oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat.  Cook the schnitzel in batches, until just browned.  Remove from the pan and keep warm.

Add the eschalot paste to the pan and stir fry for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.  Return the beef to the pan.  Add the ketchap manis and tomaotes to the pan, and stir fry for 1-2 minutes, until all well combined.

Top with the sliced green onions and baby spinach.  Serve with steamed rice.

The trick to this recipe is not to cook the schnitzel too long, or it will become tough.  Just a light frying to golden it up.

The flavours in this dish were really simple, but they worked so well together.  A good quick easy dinner to prepare.

Tonight I have an Asian Style Pot Roast in the Crock Pot - and boy am I glad, it is absolutely freezing here!!!  There is snow close by, just don't tell "The Darlings" or I will be making a 3 hour drive before dinner!!!!

Asian Style Mussels in the Thermomix

It's not so much that we haven't been eating, but I have been a bit down in the dumps of late.

As you know I have a son with Prader Willi Syndrome (PWS), and for us life, and food is a constant challenge.

Well PWS raised it's big ugly head in a very big way over the last few weeks, and to tell you the truth it all just became a bit too much for me.  So anything relating to food was something I just didn't want to deal with.  Meals were produced, but I didn't have the enthusiasm that I usually did about them.  Meal time in this house can be a challenge at the best of times - but when food is the BIGGEST issue in the house - you really don't want to think about meals, or taking photos of them.

We are becoming very close to living our lives with food in total lockdown.  How hard is that going to be??  Incredibly hard on all of us - but to make it easier for "The boy who can never be filled" it is probably something that we need to do sooner rather than later.  You see life for him is one constant thought about how, and where he is going to get his next bit of food from.  This can be regardless of whether he has just eaten or not.  His brain is always telling him he is hungry.

But enough about that......

One of the meals that I made last week was a one pot wonder in the Thermomix.  (By the way I have officially graduated from Thermomix school and I did my first demonstration on the weekend - boy was I nervous - I actually think nervous is a bit of an understatement!!!).

Asian Style Mussels

Serves 3

1kg mussels, de-bearded and cleaned
250g green prawns, peeled
3 cloves garlic
1 tbs yellow curry paste
2-3cm piece of ginger
1 lemongrass, pale section only
270ml light coconut cream
400m light coconut milk
juice of 1 lime
1 tbs fish sauce
2 tbs palm sugar, grated
1 tsp sesame oil

various vegies - such as asparagus, bok choy, broccolini
Chopped coriander to garnish

Steamed rice to serve.

Place garlic, ginger and lemongrass into TM bowl and chop for 5 seconds on speed 7.  Scrape down bowl with spatula and repeat if necessary.

Add the sesame oil and saute for 2 minutes at 100 degrees on speed 1.

Add the remaining ingredients to the TM bowl.

In the varoma receptacle place the vegetables in the bottom layer, and in the second layer place the mussels and prawns.

Place the varoma receptacle in place and cook for 20 minutes at varoma temperature on speed 3.

Place the steamed rice in a serving bowl.  Top with vegetables and the steamed seafood.  Pour over the coconut sauce.

Easy, peasy, and oh so tasty!!!!

So Dear Readers bear with me and my lapses in posting - food just can be the root of all evil sometimes!!!

What do you do when you get down in the dumps?  How do you dust yourself off and get back up again?  I'm sure I know the answer to that - food!!! Wonderful food!!!