Wednesday 28 December 2011

And so it begins...

I might have known...I finally take off time between Christmas and New Year - for the first time in four years - and in comes another tropical cyclone.  The first of December marked the first day of summer in this part of the world and it has rained almost every day since.  November was hot and sultry and held the promise of an amazing summer, but it has been spectacularly meh.

The garden is struggling, because there is so much humidity that the leaves keep being affected by a mould.  Today has almost been wintery, meaning that a cheats stroganoff was definitely a good way to use up some of the leftovers I had hovering in the fridge.

Cheats Stroganoff

1 medium onion
2 carrots
1 piece of rump steak (400g)
1 tin of diced tomatoes
2 tblsp of cream

Slice up the onion - I prefer slices, but diced is okay - whatever you want will be fine.  Soften the onion in a pan with a little oil or non-stick spray.  While it is softening up, peel the carrot and slice into rounds and dice the steak into 1cm cubes.  When the onion has softened up, stir in the carrot, the tin of tomatoes and the steak and pour everything into an oven-proof dish and put into an oven at 175C for approx 30 minutes.  Stir a couple of times during the cooking time and when it is all cooked together season to taste and stir through the cream.  Serve with some rice or breadrolls to soak up the yummy juices.

You can boost this by adding in some frozen mixed vegetables or tinned four bean mix to make it go further.  I used some smoked garlic salt to season and the tinned tomatoes were basil and oregano flavour.