Saturday, August 11, 2018

Braised steak, onions and carrots

this dish is really simple, uses only 3 ingredients (ok not including olive oil and salt/pepper).

The secret is to colour the vegies and steak in the dish before slow cooking.

You will need

1kg of chuck steak (whole steaks, not diced)
3 or 4 carrots, sliced lengthways
1 or 2 brown onions, cut into pieces
olive oil
sea salt
cracked black pepper

roasting pan, tin foil.

Brown the onions, carrots and steak in olive oil in a good roasting dish. seasoning with salt and pepper as it browns.
Place 1 cup of hot water in with the steak and veg.
Cover the pan tightly with tin foil, place in a hot oven (say 250C) for 10 minutes, then turn the oven down to 160C.
Cook for 2 hours
Remove from oven and let the dish rest in a warm place, covered with a tea towel for 10 minutes.

Just help the meat fall apart into chunks, and serve with green vegetables and nicely mashed potato.

Bon Appetit!

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Houses in Thailand

Just a snapshot of houses in Thailand on a recent trip there.  They are often on 2 levels, with the ground floor given over to carparking in a tight block, unenclosed or as enclosed living space.  Older style homes have wide eaves for shade.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Red-Capped Robin

Gaye spotted one of these today in Darlington Point...beautiful little bird

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Jupiter and Venus

anybody being looking up at night lately? Jupiter and Venus are the two bright planets in the western sky after dark..they are incredibly bright at the moment. Tomorrow night the International Space Station is going to pass close by them around 5.30pm, so there will be 3 bright objects in the same part of the night sky. Interesting hey?

Friday, July 3, 2015

Biggles

Since when does the Australian Prime Minister wear a uniform? This looks suspiciously like a kind of uniform that our PM was wearing when appearing on the US Naval ship today.

Monday, June 29, 2015

Tomato Ripening

I've been wondering for a while how I could ripen my tomatoes in Winter. I think I have hit upon the answer...

Thursday, May 8, 2014

El Nino on the Horizon

I don't want to be unnecessarily alarmist, but it does appear as though another El Nino event is looming in South Eastern Australia. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, there is a current warming trend across the tropical Pacific Ocean. If the warmer conditions persist over the Tropical Pacific, this can interrupt the trade winds around the equator, resulting in cloud build up, and a change in ocean temperatures. The El Nino occurs when there are differences between the Ocean Temperature in the Western Pacific around Australia, and the Eastern Pacific around South America. This difference causes a change in weather patterns, with higher rainfall in the East, and lower in the West. Past El Ninos have been associated with droughts in Australia. At the moment, the BOM is saying that an El Nino could develop as early as July, with warnings at an alert level. WHilst it is early days in the modelling, watch the Bureau at http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/enso/ as the conditions develop. I would suggest to farmers and growers in South Eastern Australia, start planning for dry conditions, and plant your crops early to take advantage of Autumn soil moisture.