Butter beef

If you like butter chicken, you might like to give this alternate take on the classic dish a go

Oakie doke. You’re standing in front of the fridge and wondering what on earth you’re going to cook for dinner. We’ve all been there haven’t we?

As a mum of six kids under the age of 12, we tend to go through a lot of the same dinners on repeat in this house. Spaghetti bolognese, cottage pie, homemade sausage rolls, barbecued snags, tacos, Teriyaki salmon, chicken noodle stir fry, just to name a few.

Everybody loves what we call, “chicken and rice” which is actually just good ol’ butter chicken, that I often cook in the slow cooker so that it’s lusciously rich and tender. You should see the way my girls gobble that up.

But on this particular afternoon where time wasn’t on my side (and finding myself chook-less), I spotted some beef mince sitting there just waiting for its time to shine.

Along I then went to the pantry and spotted a jar of butter chicken stir through sauce.

Hhhm.. my little brain can be heard ticking over here - “I wonder what it’ll taste like if I throw this in with mince instead?”

Et voilà.

And judging by how much (my two eldest girls particularly) enjoyed this - I’ll be making it again.

But what are we going to call it? This slightly unusual (totally daggy) beef mince/butter chicken creation?

Will we simply call it “butter beef”?

I think we will.

Recipe below.

Served with fried rice and some refreshingly cooling Lebanese cucumber.

Something for everyone.

“Dinner’s ready!!!”

I’ll often fry an egg to pop on top of dishes like this. Will you have a look at these two perfectly imperfectly runny eggs.

This is really simple stuff.

Butter beef

1 x kilo of beef mince
1 x brown onion, finely diced
2 x cloves of garlic, crushed
1 x jar of stir through butter chicken sauce
A splash or two of water
A dash of olive oil
Salt and freshly cracked pepper
Fried rice, Lebanese cucumber slices, runny fried eggs, chilli sauce and fresh coriander (if you’re lucky enough to have it) - to serve

Well if this isn’t the easiest thing in the whole entire world..

• We’re going to start off by taking a large frypan and sautéing the onion and garlic in a dash of olive oil until softened.

• Go in now with the beef mince, breaking it up as you go and cooking it until it’s lovely and “browned”. Season here with salt and pepper.

• Add the jar of butter chicken sauce and a good splash of water. Stir well and bring to the boil. Back it off now to a slow simmer and that’s it. Now it’s just our job to watch it as it bubbles away slowly, making sure that it doesn’t catch on the bottom (adding more water if need be, so that this doesn’t happen). Let it cook for 30 minutes and it’ll be ready to serve.

Variations: of course you can add grated carrot and/or zucchini, diced red capsicum or mushrooms, celery, peas, corn. Seriously, whatever you like.

Similarly, serve it with whatever tickles your fancy. Why not use it as the base for crunchy taco’s or burritos, dish it up with some Vermicelli noodles, turn it into a puff pastry pie or pop it in a jaffle with some cheese and avocado for something a little different.

I hope you enjoy.

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Lo’s Kitchen this week..

We’ve got a birthday girl in the house this week so we’re currently all systems go, getting organised for that. Sausage rolls are made, the scavenger hunt clues have been placed around town for the party and I’ve got the cupcakes and birthday cake in the freezer ready to be iced tomorrow in preparation for the big day on Wednesday.

A party isn’t a party without Nee’s sausage rolls.

I’m also starting to look ahead to Easter and putting a bit of a mental list together of all of the things that I’d like to make. I actually bought things today to make an Easter inspired rocky road with the kids for a fun little thing to do after school one day and I’m excited at the prospect of getting out into the paddock for plenty of picnics now that the weather is starting to change ever so slightly.

My sister Elles and I were talking about how much we’re looking forward to some slow cooked lamb and in her words “a nice big Spring salad” - a lot of the time when you think of Easter you think of so many “Spring lamb” recipes. Goes to show how much we’re influenced by the Northern Hemisphere - what with it being Autumn down under. Ponder that thought.

Watch this space for all of the details to come.

Until next time, thank you so much for being here.

Happy cooking.

And as always..

Happy eating.

Lo x