Bee’s Kitchen

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Preparation Time – 30 minutes
Cooking Time – 10 minutes

Serves – 4

Ingredients

200g minced beef
2 cups lettuce (thinly sliced)
4 cups boiled rice (precooked day before)
3 eggs (lightly beaten)
2 shallots (finely sliced)
2 tbsp light soya sauce
salt & pepper
1 tsp cornflour
cooking oil
seasame oil

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Method

1. Marinate mince with a dash of soya sauce, cornflour, seasame oil, salt and pepper for 20 minutes.
2. Heat oil, cook mince till medium done, set aside.
3. Hard scamble eggs, set aside.
4. Stir fry the rice till heated through, then stir in eggs, mince and lettuce, flavour with salt and pepper and soya sauce. Garnish with shallots.

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For tonights dinner tonkatsu is on the menu, this translates to deep fried pork, being my first attempt at cooking this dish I was curious at how it would turn out, luckily results were pretty good, will definitely make this one again.

Preparation Time – 10 minutes
Cooking Time – 15 minutes

Serves – 4

Ingredients

4 pork chops
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg (beaten)
1 tbsp water
1 cup Japanese bread crumbs
Canola oil for frying

Method

1. Trim fat off pork, cut into bite sized pieces. Flatten pork with mallet to tenderize meat. Then add salt and pepper on pork.
2. Dip the pork in beaten egg with water and roll the pork in the bread crumbs until evenly coated.
3. Fry pork in hot oil until golden brown, drain on paper towel.

Preparation Time – 15 minutes
Cooking Time – 60 minutes

Serves – 4

Ingredients

1kg chicken wings
225g can pineapple pieces in natural juice
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 cup chicken stock
1 large brown onion, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, flattened

Method

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius. Spray casserole dish with spray oil. Add onions and garlic to the bottom of the dish.
2. Mix together chicken wings, paprika, pepper, salt and soy sauce, place into dish, adding pineapple pieces on top of chicken, then pour over stock and pineapple juice.
3. Bake covered for 45 minutes, then base with juices and continue cooking for further 15 minutes uncovered at 200 degrees Celsius. Serve with steamed rice.

Did you know prawns are an excellent source of ……….. You probably would know the answer if you love reading the trashy gossip magazines near the check out counter while waiting in line like me! I remember reading about it a few years ago, a famous celebrity called Victoria Beckham, who ate them obsessively like a mad woman possessed by a demon. Maybe not in those exact words, but anyways …

She was onto a good thing, cause prawns are an excellent source of protein and they also contain iron, zinc and vitamin E.

Preparation Time – 5 minutes
Cooking Time – 5 minutes

Serves – 4

Ingredients

250 g prawns (shelled, deveined)
2 tbsp corn flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp five spice powder
1 tbsp oil
2 tsp garlic (crushed)
1 tbsp flat leaf parsley (roughly chopped)
2 shallots (finely sliced)

Method

1. Mix together prawns, flour, salt, pepper and five spice. Fully coat prawns, shake off excess powder.
2. Heat oil in fry pan on medium heat, add prawns, cook 2 minutes on each side, or until prawns turn pink, toss through garlic, parsley and shallots.

One of my favourite foods has to be salmon, I love it smoked, sashimi, grilled, baked, fried etc etc. Tonight we had pan fried salmon, with a layer of crispy skin, so delicious to eat with its rich flavour and succulent meat.

It’s amazing how it can be prepared so and eaten it in so many different ways. High in protein and low in saturated fats, it even has the benefit of being rich in omega 3 essential fatty acids that help fight diseases. For a balanced diet it’s recommended to eat fish twice a week, and this can be done easily with such an simple recipe.

Preparation Time – 5 minutes
Cooking Time – 5 minutes

Serves – 2

Ingredients

2 salmon fillets, skin on
3 tsp olive oil
Freshly ground salt and pepper

Method

1. Scale the skin of the salmon fillets, and remove any bones, wash and pat dry with paper towel. Season salmon on both sides with salt and ground pepper.
2. Heat olive oil in non stick fry pan on high heat, add fillet to hot pan skin side down, cook for 3 minutes, or until crispy. Turn and cook for further 1- 2 minutes. Serve with mashed potato and steamed vegetables.

Preparation Time – 30 minutes
Cooking Time – 10 minutes

Serves – 2

Ingredients

500 grams beef strips
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp cornflour
1 green capsicum, cut into squares
2 tsp course black pepper

Sauce
1 tsp oyster sauce
1 tsp soy sauce
3 tbsp water
1 tsp cornflour

Method

The humble microwave has always been an appliance I’ve mainly used for reheating food or defrosting. Until recently I never fully utilised all its functions and abilities or tested its limits. It really did surprise me when it was capable of cooking a full meal in a fraction of the time compared to a traditional oven.

Tonight’s menu consisted of roast chicken with dill potatoes and garden salad. Who said you need to slave over a hot stove to serve up a beautiful dinner.

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No fancy restaurant could compare to what I experienced last night, I had the most amazing home cooked meal that was lovingly prepared just for me.

Smoked salmon and cream cheese vola vents and oyster kilpatrick, followed by tender roasted duck with crisp oven browned potatoes, baked sweet potato and mushrooms.

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We always have a good time eating steamboat at home, with an generous range of choices for our guests; prawns, mussels, fish, squid, pork balls, cuttlefish balls, chicken fillets, thinly sliced marbled beef, deep fried tofu, assorted mushrooms, udon noodles, mini dumplings and a selection of Chinese vegetables.

A bargain purchase that I’m so excited about sharing is this steamboat pot from Hurstville, it features a divider in the middle, making it perfect for holding different soup bases.

Mum also bought me an electric banquet frypan / slow cooker years ago, I finally put it to good use for the first time, its deep depth makes it perfect for steamboat.