Beef Brisket & Tendons Stew

Heavenly. Pure heavenly.

I a d o r e beef! Ever told you that? Sometimes I feel as though I can eat a cow all by myself. Carnivore, I am truly!

Beef brisket and tendons... oh man! Not the most tender of all meat but once well cooked, it is amazing! So I jumped into the wagon when I saw them at the supermarket. Beef brisket is relatively easy to find. But tendons!? No no... I only found it at Huber at Dempsey. And a pack of barely 4 stripes is S$8.00. Guess not too expensive I hope (didn't do a price comparison as yet... I came I saw and I bought.)

I slow cooked them to PERFECTION!... Serve them with rice, or if you wish, over a bowl of noodles.

Thought this dish will help to boost immunity a bit. Build up some bull's strength with a strong dose of minerals and iron! Coz you know, my kids have been unwell for this month. You know how these 'little' people get sick as though they are playing relay!

Man loved it. I thought the tendons were too... mmm... well done. I would prefer it a little harder and chewy, but he likes it this way, soft, tender and really jelly-like. Oh well, whatever that makes him happy.

As the Chinese would love it, cook this stew with daikon (else know as "white carrot" / radish), and carrot. I used really minimal seasoning. After taking his first bite, Man proclaimed, "... Wow! Nice!! But you missed out two spices."... Gasp! Indeed I intentionally left out two spices here. How did he know! (and I cooked this while he was at work!)

Five spice powder and star anise. I am not a fan. I didn't think any dish will taste any better or different with them. I would much prefer the Italian herbs. And ahem, this is where Man and I are different. Mars and Venus. Having said that, feel free to add them if you wish.

Anyhow, this stew scores my 9/10, only coz I don't think anything can be a perfect 10.

Here's what you'd need

* Beef Brisket (about 500gm)
* Beef Tendon (about 300gm)
* Daikon (cut to chunks)
* Carrot (cut to chunks)
* Onion (cut to chunks)
* Garlic (4 pcs, whole)
* Bay leaves (3-4 stalks)
* 5 teaspoons soy sauce
* 2 teaspoons sesame oil
* 5 teaspoons water
* 1 small pc of rock sugar

This is what I did:

1. In a pot of hot boiling water, blanch beef tendon for 5-10 minutes to remove all scums and grease. Rinse thoroughly and set aside.

2. Prepare another pot of hot boiling water, blanch beef brisket for 5-10 minutes too. Rinse thoroughly and set aside.

3. In a pan/wok, heat up some oil. Fry the bay leaves, and onion slightly. Add in carrots and continue to stir lightly.

4. Add in brisket and tendon and brown them slightly (try to line them on one single layer, do not overcrowd the pan.)

5. In the meantime, prepare the bowl of seasoning mixture by mixing soy sauce, sesame oil, and water together.

6. Pour into the browning beef and carrots, and add more water (enough to cover the beef). Let it simmer.

(At this point, I have to separate the beef and carrots. The beef will go into the slow cooker for more intensive cookout; while the carrots may luxuriate patiently in my magic pot cooker and wait for mr cow's return.)

7. Beef. Take them out piece by piece into the slow cooker. Remove the liquid from the pan and pour into the beef. Just enough to cover beef will do (be sure to keep some for the carrots. If there's not enough, don't fret, just add more water to make up). Add in the rock sugar into the slow cooker. Set it on High for at least 3 hours.

8. Carrots and all the other cast, go to the magic pot cooker, with some liquid. Heat up the pot and keep it to magic pot and let it self cook till cow is ready (if you do not have one of these magic pots, which you should, any pot will do. You just have to simmer the carrots slightly longer here to cook them well).

9. Check intermittently to make sure that the water in the slow cooker does not dry out. If it does, again, don't fret. Simply replenish.

10. At the end of the 3 hours and if you are satisfied with the tenderness of the beef, pour all beef and liquid into the pot of carrot and marry them!

11. Heat up slightly to fuse them together. Taste and add more seasoning at this point if you'd like (I didn't need to). Serve with rice.

Psst psst... 
* Rock sugar is said to soften and tenderize the beef.

Slow-cooked Braised Beef Cheeks

Ooh la la...

How I love cows!! Beef cheeks, once well cooked are so teeeeender you can practically eat it with your spoon! Its aroma... ooohhh... simply heavenly. (Ok, I gathered my photo here looks really bad. The rather sophisticated dish looks... erm... like... mmm... chap cai... muahahaha... but looks isn't everything!)

I slow cooked it in my ever-good slow cooker for about 2 hours before transferring it to my CorningWare. Some people prefer to use the oven to slow bake, that's fine too. Have your butcher help to clean up the cheeks and remove the fats or skin. Marinate a day before cooking, so here we go!

Here's what you need:
* Beef Cheeks (I bought 2 slabs; about 500gm total)
* Stalks of Celery (cut to chunks)
* 1 whole Carrot (peeled, cut to chunks)
* 1 whole Onion (cut to chunks)
* 1/2 a round Cabbage
* Spices (I used Masterfoods Garlic Pepper, Mixed Herbs)
* 4-5 Bay Leaves
* Pinch of Salt
* Baking Soda (pinch)

This is what I did:

1. Marinate beef cheeks with salt. Followed by a generous amount of spices. I like to marinate too with a pinch of baking soda. Rub rub rub,... pinch the cheeks! Leave it in fridge for at least 3 hours or like me, overnight.

2. In a pan with hot oil, seal the cheeks with the bay leaves, onions, carrots and celery. Add bits of water, and transfer the beef into the slow cooker. Add just enough water to cover the beef.

3. Slow cook for 2 - 3 hours. In the meantime, go get a life!

4. Test the beef by poking a fork into it. It should be tender; the fork should be able to poke through with ease. Otherwise, cook for another while longer.

5. Add in cabbage and boil it slightly till softened. 

5. Serve with rice or mashed potato. Enjoy!

Beef Lasagna

It's been a long time since I last baked this for lunch. It's my boys' favorite -- like I said, they like anything CHEESE. And I am very generous with my mozzarella. LOL

I did it slightly differently from all the other recipes that I read and find. I 'cheated' with Campbell's Creamy instant soup as its base. *wink* But hey! It tastes good okay!

Ingredients (serve 2):
200gm minced beef
Diced carrot
Diced french beans
Diced tomato
Campbell's Cream of Corn (soup powder, mixed in hot water per instructions)
1 tsp tomato ketchup
Water
Sugar to taste (optional)
Sheets of San Remo Instant Lasagna
Mozzarella cheese

Here's what I did:

1. Season minced beef with salt, pepper and some herbs (I use Masterfood Mixed Herbs), and a pinch of corn starch.


2. In a pan, fry minced beef with carrot, french beans and tomato. Add in Campbell's soup base and add more water to make the mixture slightly more watery.

3. Add in 1 tsp of tomato ketchup to achieve that 'red' base lasagna. Add sugar to taste (optional).

4. Let it cool. In the meantime, soak the lasagna sheets in warm water.

5. Prepare the baking tray and scoop the Beef mixture onto its base. Follow by cheese, then a sheet of lasagna. Next, the beef mixture, then cheese and another sheet of lasagna. So on and so forth, ending with a generous topping of cheese.

6. Tent the lasagna bake tray. Bake in a cold oven 200degC for 30mins.

7. Remove the cover and bake for another 20mins or until golden brown.

8. Remove from oven and let it cool for a further 10mins to set the pasta. Serve.

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