Eking out your meat

Over the years I have acquired a knack for making what may seem like an undersized portion of meat stretch, and so I thought I would share some of these skills in the form of a recipe:

My take on a Beef Stroganoff:

(sadly no photo as was consumed before I remembered to get camera out so this photo of a cow will have to suffice for now)

Serves 4 comfortable portions for people with healthy appetites (tried and tested on my 2nd trimester appetite, 3 young men,  2 of whom could safely claim they are still growing, 1 of whom is my husband who eats anything and everything - nuff said)

Ingredients

- some stewing/braising beef (as much or as little as you want, today I only used 300g approx but you can use more if you want) (diced)

- a large onion

- 3 medium carrots (peeled and diced)

- half a standard sized pack of mushrooms (chunked up)

- a tin of some kind of beans (black-eyed beans goes best with this, but kidneys or borlottis would more than suffice

- seasoning

- 1/2 tsp dried tarragon

- 1/2 tsp paprika

- 1 tsp mustard

- 2 tbsp plain flour

- 1 stock cube's worth of stock

- good couple of dollops of natural yoghurt

Optional cheeky extras to add vitamins/extra flavour or for extra bulking up

- swig of white wine (optional only because we didn't have any in the flat and it still tasted good).

- 10 new potatoes (I would use this if I was serving with rice)

- rasher or two of bacon (one for the meat lovers if you have it in the fridge)

- a couple of celery stalks (diced)

- a handful of spinach (frozen or fresh, either will do)

- a wee bit of dried parsley (because it's nice)

- a pinch of dried chilli (for a wee kick)

Method

Brown beef with onions in a little oil and seasoning, add carrots and mushrooms (and potatoes if you are using these), then herbs/spices, stir frequently before adding stock (and wine). Leave to simmer for around 10 minutes then add flour and stir frequently till combined, add beans, simmer for another 5 minutes. Then take off the heat and stir in mustard and yoghurt.

Serve with desired carbs. Today's choice was mashed tatties.

Enjoy! :)