Challenging Arts & Crafts

Beef Stew with Soy Sauce

A favorite in my family´s household, my mom would cook this on Sundays.

This was something special for us particularly if Dad would cook this

meal, just like he used to cook the Menudo when he was at home

and not working...

Here in my version, .....I always add créme fraíche to

give it a finer taste and a good consistency of the liquid.

I hope you will try this one. It´s really yummy

and a favorite in my own household too!

Below is my recipe....

Beef Stew with Soy Sauce

Ingredients:

1 kg Beef chuck

2 cloves crushed garlic, 2 bay leaves

4 medium size potatoes, peeled , cut into

bite size

1 onion , diced

carrots, peeled and cut coarsely

1 green bell pepper, cut coarsely

salt & pepper

1 beef bouillion cube

2 tbsps créme fraíche

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp corn flour

oil for frying

Water

Preparation:

1. Rinse beef and pat dry with paper towels. Cut beef into bite size pieces and set aside.

In a deep pan or casserole with 2 tbsps oil, fry the onion until golden brown in color. Add the beef and continue frying til the meat color turns pale, add the crushed garlic, bay leaves and 1/2 liter of water. Cover, let boil, then simmer under low fire for at least 1 hour. If the liquid has evaporated, add more water to adjust the consistency of the mixture.

2. Add the carrots and the potatoes and the beef bouillion to the meat mixture and continue cooking for 15 minutes on low fire. When the carrots and potatoes are done
( try to prick the potatoes and carrots with a toothpick for its softness), add the cut green bell pepper, adjust the liquid if necessary by adding 1 cup water, cook for 3 minutes more.

3.our dissolved in 3 tbsp water + 1 tbsp soy sauce stirring carefully until the flour is well blended to the mixture. Add the créme fraíche and blend well . Season with salt & pepper according to your taste preferrence.

Serve hot with cooked rice or Baguette.

Happy Cooking!!!

Sharing at:

Amaze Me Monday, Inspire Me Monday

Feathered Nest Friday

Beef roulade + Recipe

Making a beef roulade is very simple even if you don´t have that much cooking experience. The most important thing to do is to gather the ingredients and make them ready before starting to cook. With all the ingredients ready on hand, your cooking is halfway done.

There are many variations in cooking this dish depending on how fillings are preferred by the cook .

Some like it with pickles or with bacon and cheese, some use only vegetables. And so, if you plan to make this dish, think first on how you would like your fillings would have to be.

Here´s how I prepare mine:

Ingredients:

1 Kg beef filet cut thinly (of good 4 pieces

size of about 250 grams each)

emmentaler cheese (gouda will also do)

thinly ready-cut ham

Soy sauce (optional)

3 1/2 cups Beef broth

ground dried garlic

Salt & pepper

Créme fraíche

cornflour (optional)

For additional fillings:

1 cup zucchini, 1 cup red bell pepper

1 medium onion, 1 cup celery stalk

(all cut into small cubes)

4 mushrooms - sliced

1 clove crushed garlic

1 tbsp butter

Preparations:

1. Prepare and cut the meat thinly, pounding it carefully to extend the side and to make it larger for later folding. Stack the pounded meat on a platter and set aside for later use.

2. Heat a larger pan with 1 tbsp butter under medium heat, fry the crushed garlic, the onions, bell pepper, zucchini, sliced mushrooms and the celery stalk until all are brown in color.

Add 1/2 cup of the beef broth and simmer in low heat until the veggies become soft (but not too soft). Cook until the liquid evaporates and the vegetable pieces are glazed. Set aside as filling and the rest braised veggies as additional pieces to be served with the roulade + gravy later.

3. Spread the meat on a cutting board to fill it... beginning with the ham, then the cheese and the vegetable filling....

4. Fold all the sides using metal skewers or toothpicks to tightly close the holes

to prevent the melted cheese from flowing out of the roulade.

Season with salt, pepper and ground garlic on all sides.

This is optional, you may brush the meat with soy sauce too if you like.

5. In a hot pan with 2 tbsps olive oil, fry each roulade for about 2 minutes on each side. Add the 3 cups beef broth and simmer under low fire for abou 40 minutes.

Take out the roulade and put them in a bowl, set aside.

Meanwhile, add 2 tbsps of créme fraíche to the pan, stirring constantly that it completely blends with the broth.

If necessary, add 1 tsp of cornflour dissolved in 2 tbsp water to thicken the liquid and to make it into a gravy.

Put the roulade back to the pan and coat each of the pieces with the gravy.

Arrange each roulade on a plate, adding the braised vegetable (rest of the fillings, to add color to the plate) plus a bit of the gravy.

Serve hot with cooked rice and green salad with tomatoes and vinaigrette.

Happy Cooking!

adorable brooches from the past...

I remember my mom wearing various brooch sometime

in the 60´s. It was very fashionable in those days.

Somehow, I wasn´t paying attention to them

for I was still very young to realize it and to cope

with the reality. I only knew one thing and

that was to play, play, play!

The women in the 60´s wore A-line dresses with

brooch, pointed shoes (stilettos) and a nice

handbag in one arm...

I swear they really looked so glamourous,

as if those fashion accessories are a must

for every woman!!!

The brooch I´m featuring here are hand downs

from my husband´s family.

It was a great uncle of mom in-law´s husband

who created these treasures before and after WW II.

He used horns or antlers to curve his pieces

and made them into buttons or brooches and sold

them to stores.

I guess I´m lucky to have all

those mother of pearl buttons that were

all given to me . I have featured the buttons on

my blog here : antique mother of pearl buttons

Brooches made of antlers always have the

rustic touch particularly in the Alpine region of

Austria and Germany.

The locals wear "Trachten or Dirndl"

( traditional/national folklore dresses) plus such

accessories for women during festive

occassions. It became a tradion in these countries

since the latter part of the

19th century !

This is a fascinating piece of jewelry!!!

And it´s interesting to note that because

they are antiques, there must have been many stories

surrounding their pasts, what were the adventures and experiences

of the lady or ladies who wore them?

This one here looks like a gladiator or a soldier..

the brooch was made of mother of pearl

encased in a twisted metal and with a hook

for pinning to clothing.

The brooches featured below were carved

from mother of pearl shells.

Flying bird

Edelweiss flower

Shamrock

The top photo is a brooche with Edelweiss motif

and below is its back with its solid pin.

That´s all for now and hope you have

enjoyed this post.

I´m wishing you a wonderful time !!!

xoxo,

Mercy

Sharing at:
Tuesdays at our Home, Tweak it Tuesday

the last of Ako´s roses - Spring 2015

It was around 30°C the last 3 days til today...

the heat was unbearable for the yellow

roses that some of the petals instantly

fell off from its place...

...and because of this heat, the decision was made

to cut the blooms and put them in vases

so we can enjoy them more inside

the house....

The yellow shades of these roses varies from light

to more creamer yellow....

..... the lighter ones have opened a couple of days before and the

creamer ones just started to completely

open..

The cutting of the blooms today had been an "ad hoc"

action due to the heat...

Ako´s rosebush grew vigorously this season and we´re

so happy to have enjoyed so many clusters of

flowers everyday and for a couple

of weeks.

There won´t be much roseflowers after the

cutting... but I´m sure, there will

be more next season..

....at any rate, I hope you have enjoyed the flowers...

Happy Friday!

xoxo,

Mercy

Sharing at :

French Country Cottage -Feathered Nest Friday
Tuesdays at our Home, Amaze Me Monday

vintage cake platters....

Vintage Austrian and German Cake Platters

They became popular at the turn of the 20th Century especially
during the  Art Nouveau epoche.
The german ceramic fatory called Grünstadt Keramik
was popular in that period and it produced
some of these around half of the 19th Century

But, they only became famous at the turn  of the 20th century til around
1930´s when the  "Jugendstil"
or Art Nouveau movement   was a mega trend
in those times.

Almost every household have at least one of these

plates in that period and Oma´s kitchen
was no exception.

We´re lucky to have three pretty
cake holders courtesy of hubby´s grandmother.

I use it whenever I bake, be it cake or
muffins and it´s very original in form and shape
especially when the baked goodies are on top of it.

These lovely plates have ceramic or glass base that
is sort of coined with metal rims and handles.

They were painted in the airbrush technique
called "Spritzdekor" in german....
that literally means "spray decorating"

Sometimes we use them as serving trays...

Perhaps each design used might be very simple and
looks nothing special compared to  today´s
technique.

In those days, the quality control was  not that strict.
In fact, some platters  have imperfections in
terms of design  & colors,.... in other words,
there were flaws!!!

It´s the age that matters, because imperfection
might even add to the beauty of
these platters.

Wishing you a good start of the week dear friends!

Thank you for being here.....

...til next,

Mercy

Linking to:
Wow us Wednesdays, Home & Garden Thursday
What´s it Wednesday, Tuesday at our Home
Tweak it Tuesday, Inspire Me Monday
Amaze Me Monday, Home Sweet Home
The Scoop Link Party Tuesday