Making the best of beef

We approach that time of year when the age old Abrahmic custom of slaughtering a sacrificial animal means loads of meat and nothing but the smell of meat cooking and a table creaking with delicious food. Eid ul Adha arrives this year amidst all the clamour of the rains and the dug up roads but that should not discourage you from eating healthy! Some of these recipes add a touch of glamour, some give you simple, basic flavours but nonetheless, here's to a healthy Eid and do not forget to eat as much as your body can easily take! Eid Mubarak from the Fearless Olive's kitchen! 

SLURPY BEEF SOUP WITH VEGETABLES 
Ingredients:
250g ground beef (keema)
2 large carrots, diced
1 cup corn kernels
1 cup red kidney beans soaked overnight (boiled for about 20 minutes with some salt and a pinch of vinegar)
Handful of celery leaves or stalk
1 capsicum, diced
½ cup Kaon er chaal or kaon rice 
4-5 tomatoes (blanched to remove skin then blended)
1 tsp garlic paste
½ cup garlic diced
2 large red onions diced and 1 red onion sliced in 
2-3 chillies
1 tsp rosemary and ½ tsp thyme
1 tbsp basil and oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup olive oil

Method:
Fry the onions for about 2 minutes till they are translucent, then add beef and cook for about 2-3 minutes then add garlic paste, diced garlic and tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes till the beef smells fragrant. Add the rosemary and thyme and cook for another 1-2 minutes.  Add rest of the ingredients and cook for about 1 minute till they are mixed then add lots of water and cook over pressure for about 10 minutes or let it simmer for up to 2 hours. Add basil and oregano in the end and let it cook for about 10 minutes before taking off fire. 

Serving:
Serve it with brown bread and a generous sprinkling of mint and coriander on top and simply slurp away!

FEARLESS OLIVE'S BEEF SALAD
Ingredients:
250g beef, cut into inch long thin strips (marinate overnight in garlic paste and lemon juice)
2 large capsicum, green and red or yellow (julienned into long strips)
¼ cup sesame seeds
½ cup tamarind (deseeded and boiled with 2 tbsp brown sugar and rock salt)
1 sprig lemon grass (boil for 5 minutes then retain the water and cut up the lemon grass)
1 cup corn (boiled)
2 large carrots julienned (blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes)
3-4 fresh red chillies (take green chillies which have turned red)
1 cup button mushrooms
1 eggplant (cut into thick strips then barbeque or leave them on a grill with some oil smeared on for up to 5 minutes until they get a smokey flavour)
¼ ginger thin long slices
¼ cup garlic diced
2 large radish (round thin slices blanched for 1 minute)
2 cups white beans (or any broad beans, soaked overnight then boiled with some salt, pepper and pinch of vinegar)
½ cup oinions, fried (the traditional baresta)
½ cup coriander and mint leaves 
¼ cup olive oil

Method:
Boil the red chillies in some water and pinch of vinegar with some salt and then take off peel and de-seed them. Mash the pulp up and leave aside. Dry roast the sesame seeds and set aside. Take the beef strips and wash them then lightly fry them in oil for about 10 minutes with half the garlic and set aside. Sauté the garlic (cut length wise top to bottom) with mushrooms, salt, pepper and a dash of apple cider vinegar. Mix all the ingredients together and keep tasting in case the tamarind mix makes it too sour. Mix in the beef and sesame and chilli paste and check for the salt give it a last mix. 

Serving:
This is a great light meal to be consumed with some crispy bread perhaps.

SWEET STUFFED LEG OF LAMB
Ingredients:
Take a leg of lamb and cut it up to open it into one large flap of meat or butterfly style
250g garlic (diced) and enough garlic paste to smear the leg of lamb for marinating
250g black gram lentils (kalo boot, which have been boiled with some salt)
250g spinach
1 cup lemon juice 
4-5 red chillies, deseeded and skin removed    
4 red onions (make a paste from 2 onions and dice other 2)
½ bottle gourd (lau) cut into thin round slices 
1 tbsp rosemary
1 tbsp thyme
2 tbsp basil (dried) 
2 tbsp oregano
½ cup raisins
½ cup feta cheese
½ cup almonds (blanched then take the peel off and cut thin long strands)
¼ cup walnuts (dry roasted)
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup olive oil

Method:
Marinate the leg of lamb overnight with a coating of the lemon juice and garlic paste. Use ½ teaspoon olive oil and start frying the black gram in them then add the 2 tbsp sugar and let it melt and thus caramelise the lentils. Make sure the sugar does not burn but only reaches a brown colour. Sauté the spinach with 1 tbsp garlic in 1 tbsp olive oil. 

Smear the lau with some garlic paste, olive oil, salt, rosemary and leave aside for half an hour. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and add half cup lemon juice, 2 tbsp olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Remember the red chillies will be giving off some spice so check for your preferred taste.  In a large, oil smeared tray, lay the leg of lamb then along its length start filling it up with the mix and roll it up then use a thread or kitchen thread to tie it together. In a pre-heated oven at 200˚C for 15 minutes, bring it down to 180˚C then place the tray with the leg of lamb inside for about 15 minutes. After this intense heat, cover it with foil and reduce heat to about 150˚ and cook for an hour or till you can dig in a fork and feel it is cooked.

Serving:
Serve it with a raita and sautéed bed of assorted veggies or plain rice. 

Photo: Collected