Curried Mince

Working my way through the freezer, just pop your hand into the boxes of frozen meat and pull out a package, and it's surprise!!.
Today we had 250g of mince........now mince is great for lots of dishes, usually meatballs of one description or another, maybe a meatloaf........but what if you just don't feel up to cooking much?? well then the fall back is either Spaghetti Bolognese or Curried Mince the latter is even simpler than the old Spag Bol.

Easy Curried Mince for the two of us
Firstly, chop about 2 cups Vegetables, I used


corn from 1 cob,
1/2 red capsicum, finely chopped
100g green beans, chopped about 1/2" long
1 med brown onion, chopped
3 button mushrooms, chopped into small dice
1 carrot, chopped into small dice
you can use any other vegies you have on hand, broccoli stalks are particularly great if the family doesn't like broccoli, they are completely disguised and bunk up the nutrition of the dish.
 250g beef mince
1/4 small Jar Asian Green Curry Paste - or to taste
3/4 400g can coconut cream
2 cups cooked long grain rice - more or less according to your likes or what you have on hand.

Place a saucepan on medium heat and spray inside with a bit of oil
Add the 250g beef mince, stirring until just starting to colour
Add the chopped onion and continue to stir occasionally until beef is browned and onion is becoming translucent.
Add 1/4 Jar of Green Curry Paste ( about 3 really heaped teaspoons full) this is definitely a 'to taste' ingredient, we like it reasonably warm and spicy.
Stir until fragrant - the strength of the fragrance will give you an indication of how spicy the dish will be.
Add the chopped vegies, stir to coat with paste
Add the coconut cream, stir
Lower heat and simmer until meat and vegies are tender, approx 10 mins
add the cooked rice, stir through and serve

you can squeeze a wedge of lime over each serving if you like
Sprinkle a little chopped coriander over the top is another option
or both
or not

Enjoy with a cold beer.
Not too shabby and very easy
oh yeah....lots of leftovers to go on toast for brecky the next day.

Pomegranates - Jeweled Rice

They look so inviting, and sound so exotic I resolved to give them a try, settled on Slow roast Persian Lamb using Pomegranate molasses, from here , Roast Vegetables with Pomegranate Molasses added to the basting oil, and something called Jeweled Rice (the best of the bunch!) from here

For the life of me I couldn't find a roast of lamb in the freezer - could it be we have used them all?, must be so, a package of diced lamb was all that there was to be had.  Anyway having set my heart on the above menu I used the spices and other ingredients and stir fried the lamb in a heavy based pan on top of the stove, result was o.k. but we all reckoned that a roast leg, sliced thinly would be the way to go.  Will get around to trying it before the Pomegranate season is over and done.

Jeweled Rice - made half the recipe to serve 3 and this was the leftover, as you see plenty for lunch the next day.

INGREDIENTS:
large pinch of saffron threads
1- 2 Tabspn boiling water
1 cup Basmati Rice
zest from 1 orange
1 1/2 Tabspn butter
1/4 Cup Craisins
1/4 Cup dried apricots, thinly sliced
 heaped tablespoon flaked almonds
heaped tablespoon pistachio kernels, halved lengthwise
3 fresh dates, pitted, thinly sliced lengthways
Half a pomegranate, seeds removed and separated (no white pith please)
recipe also called for dried cherries, but as I had none I omitted them

METHOD:
Place a large saucepan of water onto stove top and bring to the boil
Turn on kettle to boil water to soak rice.
Combine the saffron and 1 - 2 Tabspn boiling water in a small bowl.  set aside to infuse.
Place rice in a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water from kettle and stir
Rinse under cold water and drain.
Add drained rice to the saucepan of boiling water and return to the boil
Reduce heat to med-low.
Simmer for 8 mins or until the rice is almost tender.  Drain

Zest the orange peel
Melt half the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foaming.
Add saffron mixture and rice and stir until well combined
Add the orange rind, crasins, apricots, almonds, pistachios and remaining butter and stir until well combined
Reduce the heat to low
Cook, covered for 5 mins or until all the liquid is absorbed
Fork to separate the grains
Sir in the dates and pomegranate seeds
Taste and season with Salt and Pepper