Sunday 30 August 2009

Three at once

So I've risen from the sickbed, considerably improved but still not feeling overly creative or energetic. In an attempt to save work, I've got going on three at once. To the rear, looking quite orange, we have a keema, made with much less effort than the one in the link. It has 350g lean beef mince, a tin of tomatoes, garlic, ginger and some of a jar of Patak's Madras paste. There will be frozen peas to finish. We can have it on Monday with some leftover rice, naan and dahl from our dinner out yesterday.

And to the front, in more purple tones, we have a bolognese sauce, with mushrooms, zucchini and quite a bit of leftover wine that wasn't stored well enough to drink. It's two bottle ends, a shiraz and a tempranillo. It has the other 350g lean beef mince from the packet, and alos some onion and garlic and herbs. The bloke is actually quite keen on mince, so two mince based dishes in a week are quite fine by him.

And I set some of the mushrooms and onion aside to do a quick tossed together pasta tonight. One of those ones where you cook the pasta, then mix all the bits through rather than making a separate sauce. It's going to be sort of a carbonara, with egg and ham and Poacher's Pantry smoked tomatoes.

While I was making the bolognese, I tried a comparison. I used two tins of chopped tomatoes, one Woolworths' Select and one Home Brand. There was very little difference in colour or taste. There is a consistency difference: for 30c more, you get a slightly thicker product. The juice was a little runnier in the Home Brand kind, but not very much. I think Home Brand comes out better value for money.

3 comments:

Jane said...

Thought I should do the right thing and leave you a comment to say that I like your blog and I'm having it RSS'd to me. I was also active this weekend - discovered a great book of little pies and cakes and have used it to overcome a fear of (even bought) pastry. Results? Three cheese muffins with spinach and prosciutto and roast capsicum mini quiches made in muffin tins ... so we're all set for school lunches this week.

Trish said...

Hi - found your blog via Progressive Dinner Party/Crazybrave. I have a question but couldn't find an email link... So....

Can you tell me where in Canberra you can purchase pre-made dinners? Good ones? My father in law lives on the Gold Coast but for the next 12 months will be working in Canberra 3 days p/wk and has an apartment here, with a fridge that he wants to fill with 'home cooked meals'. (I tried not to take offense when he declined my offer to cook for him). I'm sure there must be a few gourmet delis that have meals available to take home and eat immediately or freeze but I don't know any off the top of my head... I'm hoping you do. Thanks very much!

Cath said...

Well done, Jane!

Trish, If you're free in the daytime, check out the CIT cafe & shop in Reid. The shop has meals cooked by the professional catering students, vacuum packed. I'd suggest calling them to check their opening hours and if it's in term. Out of term there's not so much.

Also out at Gungahlin the Cook & Grocer has some. And Manuka Fine Foods usually does too.

On the cheaper end, I saw some that looked OK in Narrabundah IGA just yesterday. Even Woolworths isn't too dreadful if you use the upscale refrigerator packs rather than the frozen TV dinners. I've only tried the soups, so I can't vouch for the whole range.