Another recipe for you.

 There is a bit of a story to this one. 

Back on the Isle of Man there is a Chinese takeaway just at the end of the main shopping street in our home town of Ramsey. The Mandarin Takeaway. We enjoyed going there, it was close to home and you could watch the chef at work. There was no hidden kitchen, everything happened right there in front of your eyes. There is a big gas fired range with several burners and two or three chefs working away with their woks. Behind them and also to one side were boxes and boxes of ingredients. As they started each new dish you saw them taking a little of this and some of that adding them to the wok and working away, tossing all of the ingredients together. It was noisy and hot in there, the sound of the steel utensils against the edge of the woks, the big fans in the cooker hood drawing out the oily steams and the chefs chattering away to each other as they cooked. Then in what seemed like moments they would be tipping your order into a tray and the girl at the counter would call your number and off home to eat. It had a special kind of magic to it.

The Chinese takeaways we have found here in Timaru I have to say leave a lot to be desired. I ordered lemon chicken in one and took home a tray of chicken nuggets with some sort of sticky sauce from a plastic squeezy bottle poured over it! A far cry from what I was used to back in Ramsey! We still want good fresh Chinese food so had to find our own recipes. And we have had some successes. We've tried various packet mixes and jars but never really fell in love with any of them. I've yet to find a good replacement for the Beef Chow Mein I used to favour. The local Thai restaurant does a good sweet and sour and we have found other new favourites to make at home. 

One of Tony's favourites from the Mandarin take away was Deep Fried Crispy Shredded Beef in Hot Chilli Sauce. I scoured the internet for a substitute. Eventually I found one. Here you go...

Crispy Chilli Beef.

500g Thin cut beef. We use rump and slice it into strips.
1 egg beaten
2-4 table spoons corn starch.
Salt and pepper
Plenty of cooking oil
1 medium onion sliced
Veges (See notes)
1 red chilli finely sliced
1 tea spoon minced ginger
3 cloves garlic crushed
2 table spoons rice wine vinegar
3 table spoons dark soy sauce
2 table spoons tomato puree
3 - 4 table spoons caster sugar
2 table spoons tomato sauce/ ketchup
2 table spoons sweet chilli sauce.

Place the steak into a bowl with the beaten egg and mix well, then add the cornflour and seasonings and stir to ensure the egg soaks up the flour and the meat is coated.

Heat plenty of oil in a large frying pan or wok and cook the beef in batches. Your oil needs to be hot, We usually work 3 batches. Drop in the first batch and try to spread it out a little, but don't stir fry as this will reduce the crispiness. It generally takes about 5-6 minutes per batch. Give it only about 3 stirs to separate the pieces. Once it is dark brown and crispy lift it out with a slotted spoon or tongs and keep warm while you cook the next batch. You may need to add more oil.

Once all of the beef is cooked add more oil and reduce the heat to medium. Add the sliced onion and cook until it begins to soften, then add the other veg and stir fry for a couple more minutes. Next add the chilli, ginger and garlic stir frying for another minute before adding the remainder of the ingredients.  Allow it to warm and bubble for a minute or two until the sauce begins to thicken. Add the beef back in and give it a stir to coat the beef in the sauce.

Serve over rice or noodles.

Notes.

No, it's not keto friendly. Yes I've replaced the sugar with stevia and I could make my own sweet chilli sauce using stevia. 

The veges.

The recipe I found didn't mention any veg except the onion, but the dish Tony used to get back in Ramsey had carrot batons in it and sometimes there would be sliced capsicum, depending on which chef cooked it. I have experimented with various veg, but usually just add carrots or capsicum. Last night I was too tired to mess about chopping veg so just threw in a couple of hand full of ready sliced coleslaw. (Without the dressing of course). YUM! We'll do that again!

The beef.

As I mentioned, we use rump but you could use any beef that you would normally use to stir fry.

Don't stir fry though. Do your best to separate the strips but let them sit for a while then have another go after a good minute or two. I made the mistake of keeping it moving one time and we got soggy beef not crispy beef.

The sauce.

Once the beef and veg are cooked everything happens very fast. I prepare all of the ingredients and have them ready to go. I mix all of the liquids and pastes into a jug with the sugar and have it ready to add all at once.

We have played with the sauce recipe, reducing the sugar content, the original had 6 - 7 spoons of sugar! I'm very tempted to omit the ketchup/tomato sauce next time...

We used to serve it over rice. When we made it last night we didn't bother, we just had a big bowl of crispy beef in tangy chilli sauce. It was delicious.

No work for me today.

 You know I often wish I didn't work so many hours, or that I could retire. I should be careful what I wish for. I have me a nasty head cold and as you know in my line of work I'm not welcome at work with such bugs. Though I'm not feeling great I have been able to get on and complete my cross stitched bee. There really wasn't much left to do.

Now all that remains is for me to wash it and give it a really good press. It will be put away until I decide how I want to finish it. 

Next I hope to be getting on with my Chookshed challenge.

Wish me luck.

Steve's Surprise.

 We were recently invited to a gathering to farewell a friends daughter. She is going over seas to live and work for a few years. We were asked to bring a pot luck. I took along my slow cooked Chilli Con Carne, it always goes down well. That's not what I'm here to share, but I will one day. At the farewell party there was a platter with the most beautiful soft roasted beef nestled on a bed of mash. YUM! The next day I reached out to the guest who brought it along and he was kind enough to share.

The following is what he sent to me.

Hi Lou lol the recipe is pretty much Steve surprise (I'll be surprised if it works) What I did for last night: 1.5 kg beef ribs In the slow cooker on low for 11.5 hours Put them in at 0615 Salt pepper mixed herbs over the ribs mainly on the meat side Bay leaves (4) Rosemary sprigs one for each rib bone Ribs sitting on Swede slices about 1 cm thick Tin of watties basil tomates half on top and half around the Swede and half a tin of water into the base. I also added a touch of chilli powder as it was cold Let it do its thing and then mashed the Swede and tomatoes as the base and sliced onto the plate. I reckon you could use red wine in place of the water and it would add to the gravy It changes each time I do it depending on what I have available ie mushrooms courgette, etc

Like most slow cooker meals it looks pretty simple and also versatile.

Inspired I decided to have a go myself. I started at 07.15 though. 

I placed thickly sliced swede into the bottom of my slow cooker. Popped a 1.5 kg lump of topside roast on top of that. (I don't have ribs and as I have just put half of a home grown  cow into my freezer I wasn't going shopping for them). I sprinkled on plenty of salt, pepper, an Italian seasoning and a little beef stock powder. Then I  decided to add some sliced carrots around the beef. Next I poured in a pottle of Uncle Ruffies tomato sauce (Look on my recipe tab above for that). A little water, two huge cloves of garlic and some bay leaves and rosemary. Then as Steve says, I let it do it's thing.

I came back to it a few hours later after taking a frosty walk, completing my chores the grocery shopping and visiting a friend for a cuppa and a catch up. I decided it could do with a little more liquid so added the suggested red wine. Then I let it do it's thing for a few more hours while I cross stitched.

Later I strained off some of the fluid to make a gravy, adding some flour to thicken it. We pulled out the bay leaves and rosemary stalks and mashed the veges.  Tony carved the beef and we plated up with plenty of gravy and some steamed broccoli on the side. 

YUM!

I forgot to take photos of course and to be honest my version did not look as pretty as Steve's. But it did taste good and it was oh so soft. I've done pot roasts in the slow cooker before but it was nice to be reinspired.

So there you have it. Steve's Surprise pot roast.

A couple of days worth of hexies....

 This is not what I was going to do with my days off this week, but once the mending and hottie cover I mentioned in my previous post were taken care off I fell down the hexie hole. And I have a happy pile of hexie flowers to show for it.

There are some very pretty fabrics being used in this latest batch of flowers. The flower at the top of this image, with the dark centre has more pink in real life. It's still dark here this morning, so the lights are on and as you know that can mess with the camera.

I have a couple of small chores to do today, then my time is my own. I don't plan to stitch hexies, but we will see where my muse takes me. My box of prepped hexies is running low, so I will need to find some fabric scraps to make more.

I do have fabrics pulled for a very special quilt. I have a whole year to make it, so no rush but you know how quickly a year can pass! I keep on telling myself I should make a start. Then we have another cold dark wet day and I curl up in my chair with some hand work.

Speaking of hand work, my cross stitch Bee needs only one wing and some back stitch......

My batik EPP is here waiting for me.....

My Chookshed challenge is here waiting for me.....

The Christmas ornaments I have kitted are waiting for me....

Oh! I forgot to mention... I completed last months Chookshed challenge. I used my rulers while I was quilting the hottie cover. Yay!

A tidy up was needed.

Yay! Three days off.

What to do with myself?

The first job on the list was a good tidy up in my very messy room.

Things have been dumped everywhere, the first stop on the tidy up mission was to sort out the pile of felt pieces that I was lucky enough to score yesterday.

A facebook seller was letting go of her late Mother's huge stash. There was a massive amount of threads, ribbons, magazines, fabrics and, and, and...

After a good look I settled on this big pile of craft felts for a very small price.

Time to sort it out.

The pieces are all different sizes,

Many have been cut into, but that's ok.

And some are just pieces. 

There, that is better, all put away. 

We have a felt project at club later this month, I'll take one of these boxes along.

NEXT!

That big bag of fabric I scored from neighbour Shelly.

Those beautiful batiks did fit into the top drawer without any major maneuverings. 

Only just.

The other fabrics in Shelly's bag soon found homes in various drawers. Then I had my cutting table back and could get on with a quick repair job for work.

When we are working in the dining rooms at work we wear cute cotton aprons. Some of our residents also wear an apron at meal times. Yesterday this poor apron fell apart while in use.

So I brought it home for a quick repair. A dig through my lace trims and ribbon jar found just the right piece.

Five minutes later it was all fixed and ready to return to work.

Next I had a request from a colleague.

Please make her daughter a hot water bottle cover.

Plan A will become something else. LOL. But plan B looks cute. I'll deliver both tomorrow.

NEXT.

I ironed the small pile that had grown.

Tidy up and chores completed.

After some lunch I think I'll sit and sew something for me.

Acquisitions.

 My second blog today. But I had to record this... I mentioned earlier today that I was going over the road and a few doors along to visit a pal who is destashing....

What an incredibly generous lady. She agreed to my original offer, but when I got home and had a play in the rather large bag, I doubled my offer and paid it before she could object.

About half of the pieces in the bag are batik, you know I love batiks. Many of those are over a meter, one is a very generous two meters. There are fat quarters, off cuts, and even a panel to make a very cute quilt. 

WOW!

Take a look.

This piece is about 1 meter.

Another big piece.

Two half meter cuts.

These two Christmas fabrics are half meter cuts. They both have a lump missing, but that is ok.

A skinny off cut.

A fat Quarter.

Three more FQ.

A beautiful Japanese dragonfly FQ

And a bunch of leafy browns and golds.

The horse fabrics are about a half meter, one is a little bigger.

A collection of kiwiana. Mostly long thin pieces, not skinny quarters, thinner than that. 

A whole layer cake and a charm pack.

And some left over layer cake pieces. 

More not quite FQ off cuts.

And more....

The lighter green below is a half meter cut. The darker piece with white butterflies is a Japanese Tana. A half meter.

And some off cuts. 

A huge purple triangle. 

A huge piece of blue check.

I got the deal of the Millennium!

And what a cute panel.

I just need to find a coordinating fabric and follow the instructions.

I saved the best for last...

It looks like not much in this image, I'll spread it out a little...

Some random shapes and off cuts. That piece with the purple splodge is a half meter cut.

There is a meter cut of this one, look at the chain stitch all over the swirls.

A bunch of FQs.

And some more FQs...

A big pile of golden off cuts in all shapes and sizes.

Then the big pieces...One is over 2 meters.

On the left are the 1 meter or larger pieces and on the right the half meter pieces.

Oh my goodness. I can't stop looking at it all, stroking and folding and stroking and refolding...

You know how it goes. 

I might keep it here by my chair for a day or three. LOL

I'm not ready to put it all away just yet. LOL

A bit of a reshuffle will be required to get the batiks away, that drawer is pretty full already. 

I really need to get some quilts made. 

It's been a quiet week.

 I've done very little with needle and thread this week. I've managed just about 15 minutes a day on the bee, or maybe a hexie or two.

Yesterday Chooky had a short zoom session, I got to sit for a couple of hours and sew, that was nice. I did a little more last night too, but don't have much to show.

As you can see, by the light and shadows in this image, it is a beautifully sunny day here, but there is a bitterly cold Southerly breeze blowing, a good day to stay indoors and sew. I'll get to that soon I hope, first I need to do something with feijoas. Maybe some more 'Joa jam. Torstein and Charmain have been here today for their Sunday dinner. I had purposely not been outside to the feijoa trees and sent them out with ice cream boxes.

They brought in four full boxes of 'joas. We sorted through them and they have taken two boxes away. One for home and a box of tiny fruits for their friends pigs. 

I had already made some of my Feijoa and chocolate muffins for dessert and added an orange cake. This is not a new recipe to me, but it is one that I recently adapted to the keto diet.

Yes ok all I did was take out the sugar and use Stevia, but it sounds good to say I've adapted it! LOL

Shelly's Orange cake.

Take two oranges, remove any labels and rinse them under clean hot water. Pop them into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 45 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.

Break 6 eggs into a large bowl and beat to break up. Add 250g sugar or stevia and continue to beat until pale and fluffy. Stir in 1 tea spoon of vanilla essence/extract. Then fold in 205g ground almonds and 1 tea spoon of baking powder. You could also add 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips at this point. 

Drain and puree the oranges. Chop them open and check for seeds before you puree them. Then stir this into the batter.

Pour the batter into a prepared tin. Bake at 160 C for about 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Allow to cool completely in the tin. Douse with Cointreau if you like, I didn't do this for the children.

We served it with Greek yogurt.

Yum.

Speaking of Shelly, she is destashing!  

I've been invited to have a look at what is on offer. 

I might need to wander across the road and a few houses up!

Who knows, there might be something I can add to my hexie project.

Or maybe even just add to the stash!

What's in store for me in June?

 A New month means a new Chookshed Challenge number. And this month Deanna selected # 5, which for me is my Down In The Garden project.

This is the project that I took away to Scrub Stitchin'.

I finished the stitching on one block while I was there. And also another block since getting home.

Hopefully I will be able to make some more progress this month.

There are a few more to go, before I can start putting the blocks together and getting them into finished top stage.

Of course all of that depends on where the muse takes me. Lately she has taken me well off the planned course.

It would be nice to get back on track with my Christmas ornaments, and other monthly goals. That said, the Bumblebee is sat here beside me and the hexie box has been out for a play too.

Here it is, with little bundles of hexies all clipped together in their flower sets.

Over the last couple of days I have put a few of those flowers together.

And added them to the pile. 

They look rather drab in this image but they are very pretty in real life. It's still dark here this morning so I had to put the light on to see what was happening.

There is still no real plan for these hexies, they are just a nice no pressure project to work on here and there. A sort of 'procraftination' project to play with when I should be doing other things. LOL

Yesterday was a public holiday here in NZ, to celebrate the Kings birthday. Tony had the day off work and it was my rostered day off work. We did the grocery shopping together and one or two other chores in town. I also did some baking and a load of laundry. Today, Tony is back at work but my day is not all mine. I'm off to visit a friend in hospital, get my hair chopped and visit the sewing centre for some thread. 

But first another cup of tea to see if it will give me some energy.