"Tibetan" beef curry with steamed pak choi

So, film night again at Kitchen Fairies HQ.  The chosen film was Seven Years in Tibet, so I looked into Tibetan cuisine.

Apparently the diet is quite calorific, to cope with the climatic conditions, and there is quite a lot of meat included.  There is an absence of yak around these parts, so I made a stew with shin of beef instead.  Also, I was surprised to learn that a lot of root vegetables are used.

Less surprising, possibly, is that there is a real combination of spices used, both from Chinese and Indian influences.  Anyway, this is what I invented, and it was tasty.

coconut oil

onion

garlic

ginger

cumin

shin of beef, cubed

chilli

soy sauce

oyster sauce

rice wine

rice wine vinegar

celeriac

butternut squash

carrots

chicken stock

tomatoes

new potatoes

pak choi

1.  Sautee chopped onion in coconut oil.  Add garlic, ginger and cumin seeds.

2.  Add cubed beef and brown off.

3.  Add soya sauce, oyster sauce, rice, wine, rice wine vinegar and chilli flakes.

4.  Add a little water and simmer for a while.

5.  Prep celeriac, carrots and butternut squash - cut into fairly even sized pieces and add to the meat mixture.

6.  Simmer again, after adding chicken stock and a few chopped tomatoes, for about 2 hours.

7.  Boil new potatoes in a separate pan.  When they are nearly done, strain and add to the stew, simmer for another 20 minutes.

8.  Chop pak choi - steam the soft leaves, and add the white stalk to the stew.

9.  Serve, scoff ... it was very tasty, the beef just melting!

I'm not sure how authentic it was, but it was a decent invention.

Pork chops, in a mustard cream sauce, sauteed new potatoes and carrots, peas parisienne

 

Well , the photo is a disappointment, but the dinner wasn't!  It was film night at KitchenFairies HQ, and I try to theme the dinner with the film.  The film was "Hugo" ... the connection was that the film was set in Gare du Nord, Paris - so it was French Bistro food.

Also, I have no idea if peas parisienne have any authenticity to them - it's just what I have always called leeks, peas and lettuce cooked this way.

Pork loin chops

Olive oil

Meat seasoning (black pepper, garlic, celery salt, paprika)

New potatoes

Carrots

Butter

Leek

white wine

Little gem lettuce

Garlic

Chicken stock

Dijon mustard

Cream

1.  Rub the pork loin chops with the seasoning and olive oil, set aside for an hour.

2.  Peel new potatoes and carrots, cut potatoes in to quarters, length wise, and the carrots into diagonal chunks.

3.  Wash and shred leeks.

4.  In a heavy frying pan with a lid melt butter (lots ... twice as much as you think you need) and add the potatoes, carrots and cup of water.  Put the lid on and simmer for about 10 minutes.

5.  Take the lid off the potatoes and simmer off most of the water.

6.  Sweat the leek off in olive oil, add crushed garlic.

7.  20 minutes to go ... heat butter and olive oil in a frying pan, when hot add the chops and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side.

8.  Stir the potatoes and carrots, put the lid back on and let them crisp up.  Shake about every 3 minutes to stop them catching.

9.  Remove chops from the pan, add white wine to the pan, with a little chicken stock and a teaspoon of dijon mustard, stir and simmer.  Add cream.  Put chops back into the sauce and keep on a low heat.

10.  Add frozen peas and wedges of little gem lettuce to the leeks, add a splash of white wine.  Simmer for 3 minutes.  Add a drop of cream.

11.  Serve, scoff ... it was delicious!  really rich - but fabulous.