Goulash

 Perfect for cold winter days! But actually it's perfect for any night you feel like a hearty stew.

Serves 3 - 4 people

Image by RitaE from Pixabay

INGREDIENTS

about 600 - 700 g beef goulash cubes, dusted with flour

1 can whole / chopped peeled tomatoes

2 TBS tomato paste

1 punnet mushrooms, sliced

1 cup beef stock (or half beef stock & half red wine)

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 chilli, chopped (or 1 -2 tsp chilli sauce)

1 TBS regular/sweet paprika

1 tsp smoked paprika 

1 large potato, peeled and cubed

Salt and pepper

*sour cream

*parsley, chopped

METHOD

1. Heat oil in a saucepan over low-medium heat and brown beef cubes. Remove and set aside.
2. Sauté the onion and garlic and chilli (or chilli sauce) until softened
3. Add the paprika and tomato paste and keep stirring, you don't want the paprika to burn
4. Add the mushrooms and fry until mushrooms are soft. Add the beef back to the pan
5. Add the canned tomatoes; beef stock/ or red wine and salt and pepper. Add the cubed potato. Stir well
6. Lower the heat and let simmer for 1 1/2 hours or until beef are soft and potato cooked

Serve with rice, and a side salad or even roasted veggies. Bread will also be great to help mop up that sauce!

*Serve topped with sour cream and chopped parsley if preferred - actually you should, because it really makes a difference! 

Some people prefer to serve goulash over pasta noodles or couscous. I sometimes serve mine over couscous.

Hunan Sauce for Stir Fry

 I can't remember where I got this recipe from, but it's really one of the best ever sauces for beef stir fry! 

Image by Dean Page (idahoharleydude) from Pixabay

INGREDIENTS

1 TBS sesame oil

1/2 cup beef stock

3 TBS soy sauce

dash fish sauce

1 TBS vinegar

2 TBS brown sugar

1 - 2 TBS chilli sauce (1 - 2 tsp if you like it less hot!)

1 tsp maizena 

METHOD

1. Whisk all the ingredients together. 

2. Add to cooked stir fry and keep stirring until the sauce thickens.

ENJOY! 

Kentucky 11 Herbs & Spices

 I found this recipe on the Web, no one knows if it's really the Colonel's secret spices recipe. Nonetheless, it is fabulous and takes your fried chicken to the next level!

Image by 2SIF Farooqui from Pixabay

INGREDIENTS

2/3 tsp salt

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp basil

1/3 tsp oreganum

1 tsp celery salt

1 tsp black pepper compound

1 tsp mustard powder

4 tsp paprika

2 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp ginger

3 tsp white pepper

Mix all these together with 2 cups of flour. 

I'm not giving an actual recipe how to make the chicken, but what I do is to coat the chicken pieces with buttermilk and leave it to marinate for as long as possible. Shake a little off and then I dredge the pieces in the flour mix, and fry.

Southern "Comeback Sauce"

 A spicy sauce that goes well with fried chicken and can also be used as a hamburger sauce. Maybe even for fries!

Image by 2SIF Farooqui from Pixabay

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 TBS tomato sauce

1 - 2 TBS hot sauce

1 tsp Worcester sauce

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

Pinch of black pepper

Whisk all the ingredients together and let stand for half an hour before using. This will give the ingredients time to marry. 

Pumpkin Tart

 A South African favourite! Easy to make and delicious. It is a small recipe, so will only be enough for 2 or 3 people. 

INGREDIENTS

2 eggs

80 ml sugar

125 ml (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour

10 ml baking powder

pinch of salt

375 g cooked pumpkin, mashed

125 ml (1/2 cup) milk 

FOR THE SAUCE

80 ml sugar

80 ml milk

40 ml butter

5 ml vanilla essence

METHOD

1. Beat the eggs and sugar together. Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the egg mixture and mix well.

3. Combine the pumpkin and milk and add to the flour mixture. Mix well.

4. Spoon into a greased ovenproof casserole dish and bake for 30 minutes.

SAUCE

While the tart is baking, make the sauce:

1. Heat the sugar, milk and butter together over low heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.

2. Add the vanilla essence and stir. 

3. Pour over tart when it comes out of the oven.