Indian Cuisine: Ground Meat Curry

For the main course, Minoo made a Ground Beef Curry for the Indian theme at the Caring Place Community Kitchen. I did not use beef on the title as most population in India are Hindus who do not eat beef. I do not want to be offensive. You can substitute the beef with other meat like chicken, turkey, lamb or pork.

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This Ground Beef Curry is loaded with spices like turmeric, cinnamon, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and dried red chili flakes. Vania, a volunteer for the family services did a research on the benefits of eating spicy food and here are what she found out:

  • spicy food helps to prevent degeneration of the brain and nervous system
  • helps with prevention of depression and migraine
  • helps increase metabolism which is an important factor in weight loss function
  • use for pain and inflammation management
  • good for blood circulation
  • lower blood pressure
  • cancer prevention (Capsaicin, an active component of chili peppers, attack and kill cancer cells
  • improve digestion
  • improve sleep pattern

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Hamburger Soup

The South Arm Cooking Club for Seniors met again for more fun time cooking some wonderful recipes. For this week’s menu, Charlene prepared four recipes. The first recipe is Hamburger Soup, adapted from CookingNook.com.

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The Hamburger Soup can be cooked on the stove top or in a slow cooker.  This soup freezes extremely well.  Simply ladle it into small plastic containers, label and freeze for up to 3 months.

Paul and Chris worked on this recipe.  Chris is no stranger to this recipe as she often makes this soup at home.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, chopped fine
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 x 28oz can diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 cans beef consommé soup (or beef broth)
  • 4 carrots, chopped fine
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped fine
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 cup pearl barley
  • parsley for garnishing
  • salt and pepper to taste

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Old Fashioned Beef Stew Recipe for Slow Cooker

For those of you of follow chowtimes, I’m sure you’ll know me well enough that I try not to use the oven in summer.  It’s hot enough already and we do not need the extra heat from the oven.  I made this Old Fashioned Beef Stew using the slow cooker.

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I find that this beef stew is slightly on the tangy side.  We are not so fond of tangy meat but I’m ok with tangy dessert.  The next time I’m going to make this again, I will omit the lemon juice.  This is a very hearty meal.

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The main reason I made this beef stew is I found a great deal for eye of round roast at Save-On-Foods.  This 2.6kg piece of meat only cost $11.42.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 pounds lean stew beef
  • 1 onion, quartered
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2 cups beef broth or bouillon
  • 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice (I think I will omit this next time)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 6 carrots, cut in pieces
  • 6 medium potatoes, cut into pieces
  • 1/3 cup cold water blended with 3 tablespoons flour for thickening (I find it not necessary)

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Beef with Onion and Ginger

This Beef with Onion and Ginger dish is from Hugh. Hugh and Joyce made this dish together for the South Arm Cooking Club for seniors Chinese New Year celebration.

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This Beef with Onion and Ginger dish is appetizing with the addition of ginger which gives a zing to the dish. The beef is tender and this is a great dish with steamed rice.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 to 1 pound beef steak, flank or round, sliced thinly across the grain
  • dash of pepper
  • 2 tablespoons tapioca starch
  • 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon sugar
  • few drops of sesame oil
  • 6 to 8 slices ginger roots
  • 1 teaspoon cooking wine
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 stalks green onions, cut into 2″ length, divide white part from green part

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Beef Stew with Split Peas a la Lime (Gheimeh)

In the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen, we had a new member to demonstrate a Persian recipe. Azar is an Iranian and she enjoys the community kitchen as she can learn about food from other cultures and also practice her English. Azar is a beautician and I was told that she does a very good job in threading, an ancient method of hair removal which originated in India and gaining popularity in the Middle and Far East.

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The Beef Stew has a very lemony flavour. The flavour comes from the dried lime which can be found in Persian stores and is relatively cheap. Minoo volunteers to get us some the next time she goes groceries shopping at a Persian store.

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 cup split peas
  • 1 lb beef or lamb, cubed
  • 3 dried lime
  • 2 teaspoons lemon powder
  • 3 cups water
  • salt and cinnamon to taste
  • 2 large potatoes, cut into sticks for making fries

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Kidney Bean Casserole

Andrea made two German dishes in the South Arm Community Kitchen. It’s been a while since Andrea demonstrated after she gave birth to a beautiful girl. It is so amazing that we watched Andrea’s tummy grew and now watching her little girl grows. One good thing about the South Arm Community Kitchen is that it provides baby sitting facility. Mums with young toddlers can still participate in this kitchen.

Andrea first dish is called Kidney Bean Casserole. This casserole is great for potluck. You may serve this casserole with a salad and you’ve got a complete meal.

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The top layer of potatoes has a glutinous texture. The Kidney Bean Casserole is very filing.

Ingredients

  • 500g potatoes, peeled (or thoroughly scrubbed), grated
  • 400g kidney bean in cans
  • 500g onions, sliced
  • 100g bacon, cubed
  • 300g ground beef or pork
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 egg
  • bunch of parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • fresh or dried rosemary, finely chopped
  • butter to grease baking dish

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Meatballs

In the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen, we helped Karen to make meatballs for the community meal. We made about 800 meatballs.

Karen made us a Wedge Salad for lunch. It is a classic 60’s steak house lunch. It has a wedge of iceberg lettuce served with a creamy dressing and served with a form of beef, in our case beef meatballs. Karen made Thousand Island dressing for the salad.

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Here is the recipe for meatball. I’m posting only the ingredients for a smaller portion which serves about 6 people. For those who are interested for a recipe which serves 100 people, you can email me for the recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef, lean
  • 1 medium or large egg
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons flax seed, ground
  • 1/2 cup buckwheat or brown rice flakes or rolled oats
  • 1/2 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon thyme, dried leaves or ground
  • 1/2 cup milk or soy beverage

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Turkey Chili

The second dish which Minoo demonstrated from the book Deceptively Delicious was called Turkey Chili with red pepper and carrot. Minoo substituted the lean ground turkey with lean ground beef as she was not able to find ground turkey when she did the groceries shopping for the ingredients. Minoo also used the real pepper and carrot instead of puree as in the original recipe as there is no children in the community kitchen.

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Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped red onion
  • 1 lb ground lean turkey or beef
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder, or to taste
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1 (15 oz) can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 (26 oz) carton reduced fat low-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup red pepper puree (we used 1 cup chopped red pepper)
  • 1/2 cup carrot puree (we used 1 cup chopped carrot)
  • 1/4 cup cornmeal
  • 2 tablespoons flaxseed
  • 1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

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Taco Pie

Karen made us this Taco Pie for lunch. She will make this for the community meal too. The Taco Pie is a very affordable dish. The most expensive ingredient in this recipe is the cheese.

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The Taco Pie is a fusion of Mexican and American dish.

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This one pot dish is good for potluck too. It’s a filing dish complete with beans, vegetables, chips and cheese.

Ingredients

  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 bell peppers (red & yellow), chopped
  • 1 lb lean ground beef
  • 1/2 bag of corn chips
  • 1 can mix beans (540ml)
  • 1 bottle mild or medium salsa (250-350ml)
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil, olive, canola or corn
  • a few sprigs of cilantro and parsley
  • 200g grated cheese for topping

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