FemAsia Team
For many centuries, and in diverse cultures, meat dishes were reserved for feasts and celebrations, only, because meat was expensive. Vegetables and grains were much more affordable to grow, and prepare on a daily basis.
Today, many people do not eat meat regularly because of their concerns about the inhumane killing of the animals involved, and also about the kind of feed these animals have been reared on, which of course is ingested by those who eat their meat.
Possible solutions to this can be to make sure that the animals whose meat we are eating are organically fed, and that their meat is untainted by cruel practices of killing and processing, as far as possible. Best quality, in every way.
These meat dishes require the best of ingredients and should be prepared in a festive spirit – as a celebration. We at FemAsia are delighted to present these dishes. No doubt that these dishes will require time to prepare, but assembling the different ingredients is part of the enjoyment.
BEEF SMORE
Ingredients
beef – 1kg (cut into two large pieces)
A glorious array of spices – 2 tbsp (cloves, coriander, cumin, cardamom, black peppercorns, fennel, fenugreek, tamarind, cinnamon sticks.)
Ghee/olive oil – 4 tbsp
Onions – 12 small whole onions are fun to use, to add contrast and texture.
Potatoes – 8 small sized.
Garlic – 3 whole cloves, peeled
Ginger – 1 tbsp
Pickles in vinegar – 2 tbsp
Coconut milk/cream – 1 regular sized tin
Method
1.Fry the meat in a heavy bottomed pan, in olive oil, until it is brown. Set to one side.
2. Add the spices, and the chopped onions, garlic and ginger to the same pan, and fry lightly. Add the salt and pepper, and lastly the beef.
3. Pour the stock over the beef, add the pickles and potatoes and bring to the boil.
4. Then cook slowly on low heat for 3 hours, stirring every quarter of an hour, and adding more stock and coconut milk, so it does not boil dry.
5. Turn the meat over as you add the stock and milk, so it thoroughly absorbs the flavours of the spices.
6. Remove the meat when it is tender, and thicken the sauce with coconut milk. Add extra sliced pan-fried onions if you like.
7. Place the meat piece/s on a flat serving platter and pour the sauce over them. Generously!
8. Serve with rice, noodles or mashed potato.
This is the Sri Lankan Portuguese version of pot roast! It is delicious and sliced and made into sandwiches on the days following its serving.
It is absolutely wonderful having it simmering on the stove in the background while you do other things, with its luxurious aroma pervading your home, especially in winter when it is cold and grey and stormy outside.
People have been known to eat five helpings of this at a sitting!
COQ AU VIN
Ingredients
Chicken – 1kg drumsticks or thighs
Bacon or Tofu (bean curd) – 500g Fatty pieces, cut into cubes
Garlic – 8 cloves
Whole small onions – 10
Mushrooms – 12-15 uncut (button mushrooms are best)
Tomatoes and tomato paste – 3 tbsp
herbs – (sage and bay leaves and thyme)
Peppercorns – 8 to 12
Method
1.Fry some cubed bacon pieces (pancetta) or Tofu in olive oil, in a heavy bottomed pan, and set aside
2. Season some beautiful chicken pieces with salt and pepper. You can marinade the chicken in the red wine/grape juice overnight if you like.
3. Add the chicken pieces to the pan, and lightly fry them. Then set aside.
4. Chop onions, garlic, mushrooms, and add some full-bodied red wine/grape juice. Add two tablespoons of flour, to thicken the sauce. Add the bacon/tofu pieces and the tomatoes for colour. Simmer it all in the same pan in which you fried the bacon and chicken, and make sure it all absorbs the flavours evenly.
5. Add the chicken pieces, and some herbs (sage and bay leaves and thyme) and chicken stock.
6. Cook the contents of this dish covered, for about 45 minutes until everything is tender.
This is pure comfort food, and full of tenderness and richness.
Serve it with mashed potatoes. And use thick sliced crusty bread to mop up the gravy!
PRAWNS WITH EVERYTHING
Ingredients
Prawns shelled and cleaned – 1 kg
Garlic – chopped roughly 12 cloves
Ginger if you like– 1 tbsp chopped roughly
Onions – sliced thickly – 4 large onions
Olive oil – 2 tbsp
‘Traffic light’ bell peppers/capsicum– red, orange and green – 3
Soy sauce – 5 tbsp
Worcester sauce – 5 tbsp
Fish sauce – 5 tbsp
Kithul Treacle/ brown sugar – 2 tbsp
Method
1. Make the sauces and the brown sugar into a marinade.
2. Put the raw prawns into a plastic bag and add the garlic and ginger to the marinade. Pour the sauce into the pocket of prawns. Let the prawns absorb the marinade overnight, sealed in the plastic bag.
3. Heat some olive oil in a large, shallow frying pan. Quick fry the marinated prawns in their sauce and set aside.
4. Use the same pan to pan fry sliced colourful capsicums in bright yellow, orange, red and green colours. Arrange these slices on a large platter.
5. Heat the prawns with some pan-fried red onions and add sliced chilli and two tablespoons of kithul treacle to them while they heat. Arrange the prawns in the centre of the platter.
This is a wonderful dish for a Christmas or Eid table!
These meat dishes are slow to assemble and prepare and satisfying to taste. Like the relationships we celebrate in our lives, they take time to create, and the time taken should be enjoyed to the full. Savour the experience!
