Stretching meat

 

This week I bought a lot of meat which will last me into December if I stretch it with veggies and dumplings.  I had 2 x 700g packs of lean diced beef so after dusting it with a little flour,  I fried it off in batches in a little oil.  The caramelisation on the meat adds to the flavour!

It all went in the Crockpot with diced carrot, turnip (swede) and onions with 1/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce and stock.  It bubbled away for 6 hours.

I made some suet dumplings (recipe at the end) and popped them in for the last half hour.  The smell in the kitchen was amazing!

I had a portion with some sweet potato mash from the freezer.

I used 2/3 of a 750g pack (ie 500g) of steak mince to make a meatloaf.  The meat was stretched with 1 grated carrot, 1 diced onion, 2 cooked bacon rashers finely chopped, 1/2 cup of oats, 1 beaten egg and a lot of Worcestershire sauce to taste!  Mix really well and bake in a lined 2lb loaf tin at 180C for about 40 mins.

The rest of the mince was cooked with some grated carrot, onions, red lentils and some stock.  I had extra doughballs so they were popped in the freezer tubs too!

I made some pastry and popped it on top of these 2 wee individual pie dishes.  

Everything is now in the freezer!

Suet dumplings

200g SR flour (or plain flour with 2 tsp baking powder)
100g suet (beef or vegetable)
1 tsp mixed herbs  (optional)
1/2 tsp salt

Mix together with very cold water until it forms a dough.  Roll into 12 balls the size of a golf ball.  Cook on top of stew with a lid on for 20 to 30 mins.

All of the above made 20 portions of meat dishes.