Prep Time:

20 minutes

Cook Time:

40 minutes A South African family favourite with our secret ingredient loved by all – Mrs Balls Chutney

Ingredients(6)

• 30 ml SPAR sunflower oil
• 1 large SPAR Freshline onion, finely chopped
• 30 ml SPAR cake wheat flour
• 30 ml SPAR barbeque spice
• 500 g SPAR lean beef mince
• 350 ml water
• 45 ml Mrs Balls Chutney
• 125 g SPAR Freshline fresh brown mushrooms, sliced
• 125 g SPAR frozen corn
• 125 g SPAR frozen peas
• 30 ml SPAR Freshline Parsley, chopped

Topping

• 8 SPAR Freshline potatoes, peeled and cut into quarters
• SPAR Sea Salt
• Paprika
• 30 g SPAR butter or margarine
• 100 g SPAR mature cheddar cheese, grated
• 5 ml English mustard
• 3 ml baking powder
• 60 ml SPAR low fat milk

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 ºC.
2. Sauté onion in oil until soft. Stir in flour, barbecue Spice and beef mince. Cook over a low heat until mince changes colour.
3. Gradually add water, chutney, mushrooms and corn, then cook for 15 – 20 minutes.  Add peas and parsley and allow to heat through.
4. Topping: Meanwhile, boil the potatoes. As soon as they're cooked, drain and mash them in the pot while still steaming hot.
5. Beat in the seasoning, butter or margarine, cheese, mustard, baking powder and enough milk to give a creamy texture.
6. Place the meat and sauce in a greased ovenproof dish. Cover with the potato topping. Spread with a knife to create peaks. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Hints and Tips

A great dish to freeze.  Cool to room temperature, cover with SPAR plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.  To reheat: defrost completely and then warm in the oven at 180 ºC for 30 minutes or until heated through.

Prep Time:

10 minutes

Cook Time:

40 - 60 minutes Perfect for outdoor cooking SA style with loads of friends and family.

Ingredients(6)

• 1 x 2 kg SPAR beef prime rib
• 60 ml SPAR barbecue spice
• 30 ml SPAR ground paprika
• 5 ml SPAR coarse salt
• 5 ml SPAR coarsely ground black pepper
• 30 ml SPAR olive oil
• 50 ml SPAR cranberry sauce

Method

1. Mix the barbecue spice, paprika, salt and pepper, olive oil and cranberry sauce together.
2. Coat the rack of ribs well with the spice mix, rubbing it into the meat.
3. Place the roasting rack in the middle of a prepared kettle braai then place the rack of ribs on it. Close the lid of your braai and leave to cook. (Cooking time depends on the size / weight of the ribs but should take 40 – 60 minutes).
4. Cook the meat as required for personal taste.
5. Serve with a fresh garden salad.

Hints and Tips

:  If you cannot find this cut of beef on the butchery shelves, ask your SPAR butcher to prepare it especially for you.

Prep Time:

7 minutes

Cook Time:

6 minutes A home-made beef patty smothered in cheese and topped with generous slices of bacon.

Ingredients(4)

• 1 onion
• 8 slices SPAR Back Bacon
• 800g beef mince
• SPAR Olive Oil
• 4 seeded burger buns
• 4 slices of SPAR Marksbury Select Cheddar Cheese
• Lettuce, tomato and your choice of sauce to serve.

Method

1. Fry an onion, finely chopped, and cool.
2. Grill 8 slices of SPAR Back Bacon.
3. Mix the onion with 800g beef mince. Season and divide into 4 burgers, 2cm thick.
4. Baste with SPAR Olive Oil and cook under a very hot grill for 3 minutes each side.
5. Toast four seeded buns on cut side only.
6. Put a burger patty in each bun, top with a slice of SPAR Marksbury Select Cheddar cheese, then the bacon.
7. Serve with a salad garnish and  tomato sauce or mayonnaise.

Prep Time:

25 minutes

Cook Time:

3+ hours This simple but different potjie is a delicious treat to enjoy with those you love.

Ingredients(6-8)

• 250g SPAR Butchers Choice Streaky Bacon
• SPAR Oil for frying
• 2kg SPAR Beef, cut into cubes
• 3 SPAR Freshline Onions, sliced
• 4 SPAR Freshline Garlic Cloves, crushed
• 250ml Stock
• 250ml Red Wine
• 100ml SPAR Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper to taste
• 2 bay leaves
• 50ml Herbs, freshly chopped
• 60ml SPAR Apricot Jam
• 200g SPAR Dried Apricots
• 20 SPAR Freshline Baby potatoes

Method

1. Heat oil over hot coals in a number 3 potjie pot and fry the bacon until crispy.  Remove and set aside.  Brown the meat, a few pieces at a time.
2. Return the bacon and all the browned meat to the pot.
3. Add the onions, garlic, stock, wine, vinegar, seasoning, bay leaves and herbs.
4. Simmer for about 2 hours until nearly cooked and then add jam, apricots and baby potatoes.  Simmer for another 30–40 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through.

Hints and Tips

: Always warm the wine and stock before adding to the meat.  This ensures that the meat stays tender.  Pouring cold liquid onto the meat can cause the meat to contract and become tough.

Prep Time:

30 minutes

Cook Time:

3 hours A wonderful, one pot dish that can be slowly simmered on a weekend afternoon, while you do chores or watch a movie. The delicious scent will greet you on your return.

Ingredients(Serves: 6-8)

• 1,5 kg topside or aitchbone beef roast
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 30 g SPAR margarine
• 125 ml water
• 200 ml can tomato juice
• 2 medium onions
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 15 ml Worcester sauce
• 10 ml brown sugar
• Pinch paprika
• 2 ml mustard
• 50 ml SPAR tomato sauce
• 125 ml SPAR peach&pear fruit juice
• 45 ml corn flour
• 410 g can SPAR peaches - halves or sliced, drained
• 410 g can SPAR pear halves, drained

 

Method

1. Rub meat with salt and pepper. Brown on all sides in a large pot with heated margarine in. 2. Pour on water, tomato juice, onions and garlic. Cover and cook over low heat for 2 hours. 3. Combine remaining ingredients and add into pot, stirring until thickened. Simmer a further hour until meat is tender. 4. Add in both drained fruits and reheat.

Hints and Tips

Carve the meat across the grain to ensure a tender result for eating. These beef roast joints in particular, can make for a lot of chewing if you do not take this precaution!

Prep Time:

15 minutes

Cook Time:

15 minutes The warmth of cumin, combined with the tang of lemon rind gives this dish a distinctly North African flavour.

Ingredients(Serves: 4)

• 15 ml SPAR olive oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 10 ml ground cumin
• 5 ml lemon rind, finely grated
• 410 g can SPAR diced tomatoes
• 750 g TENDER AND TASTY stroganoff/stir-fry beef
• 25 ml finely shredded mint leaves
• Salt to taste
• Couscous with garlic and chilli

 

Method

1. Cook onion in the heated oil until soft. Add cumin and lemon rind and cook until fragrant. Stir in the tomatoes - simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Prepare couscous in the meantime according to the easy on-pack directions.
3. In a separate oiled pan, briefly stir-fry the meat in batches, on high heat until browned and tender.
4. Add to the tomato mixture with the mint and salt to taste, and reheat briefly. Check seasoning and serve immediately.

Hints and Tips

Try chicken fillet strips for a change from the beef

Prep Time:

15 minutes

Cook Time:

2hrs 15 minutes Long in the cooking, but quick in the preparation and worth the wait, this satisfying stew can slowly cook while you do other things.

Ingredients(4-5)

• +-450 g  beef soft shin, off the bone (often sold and labelled as Soup Meat)
• 45 ml  SPAR cake flour
• 5 ml  barbecue or steak&chop braai spice
• A splash SPAR sunflower or olive oil
•  200 g  SPAR diced bacon
• 1 jar  SPAR white cocktail pickled onions, drained well
• 2  SPAR bay leaves
• ½    SPAR beef stock cube dissolved in 250 ml hot water
• 125 ml red wine
• 1 can SPAR lentils in tomato brine
• 500 g  SPAR Freshline Veg for Two, Butternut &Sweet Potato (2 x 250 g pouches)

 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
2. Combine the flour and barbeque spice and lightly dust the meat with it. Seal the meat in batches over high heat, in a pan with a little hot oil, until brown all over.  Transfer into a casserole dish and scatter in the bacon and onions.
3. Combine bay leaves, hot stock and wine and pour into the casserole dish.
4. Bake covered for 1 ½ hours. Add any leftover seasoned flour, lentils with its liquid, as well as the sweet potato and butternut mix.  Continue cooking for a further 30 minutes.
5. Adjust seasonings and sauce consistency if required.

 

Hints and Tips

• It is fine to cook then chill this casserole the day before, ready to heat through briefly when needed.
• When seasoning slow-cooked dishes, do so lightly at the beginning. This encourages reduction of the liquid, so the sauce can become much more concentrated and easily get too salty. Adjust the seasoning at the end of cooking

Prep Time:

15 minutes

Cook Time:

20 minutes A delicious, creamy, paprika flavoured casserole with tender strips of beef and white mushrooms.

Ingredients(5)

• 30 ml  SPAR Butter or full-fat Margarine
• 15 ml  SPAR Olive Oil
• +-725 g    beef stroganoff strips
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tray   SPAR Freshline White Sliced Mushrooms (250 g)
• 2 cloves    garlic, finely chopped
•   2 ml   paprika
•   25 ml SPAR Cake Flour, seasoned with salt and black pepper
•   15 ml SPAR Tomato Paste
•   15 ml SPAR Dijon Mustard
• ½   SPAR beef Stock Cube, dissolved in 200 ml hot water
• 1 tub  SPAR French Style Crème Fraiche Sour Cream (250 g)

Method

1. In a pan, heat together half the butter and half the oil. Toss and turn over high heat, to brown the strips all over, before removing from the pan. Repeat with the other half of the meat, using the remaining butter and oil. Set aside all the browned meat.
2. Add the onion and mushrooms to the same pan, and shake over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until tender, adding in the garlic towards the end of this time.
3. Combine the paprika and seasoned flour and stir into the pan with the tomato paste, mustard and hot stock. Add the browned beef strips, and simmer covered, on low, for 3- 5 minutes. Do not boil or overcook.
4. Stir in the crème fraiche off the heat, and preferably serve immediately, but if not, you may need to adjust and perfect the sauce consistency while re-heating, with a dash of sherry, brandy, milk or beef stock.

Hints and Tips

• When choosing the meat at your SPAR butchery counter, do not make the error of buying Beef Goulash strips instead of Beef Stroganoff strips; the beef cuts they are from are different and require very definite and varying cooking times.
• You can cut your own strips from rump or sirloin steak if you cannot find the ready-sliced option. Cut across the grain of the meat.
• To lower the fat content of this dish, the crème fraiche may be substituted with plain smooth low-fat yoghurt, but then only added in to the hot dish just before serving and not returned to the stove at all for re-heating.

Prep Time:

5 minutes

Cook Time:

20 minutes Juicy rib-eye steak, thinly sliced and served with a rich red wine reduction, infused with rosemary.

Ingredients(2)

• 600g-700g beef rib eye
• Extra virgin olive oil

To make the red wine reduction

• 1/2 litre good red wine
• a sprig of fresh rosemary
• 3/4 bay leaves
• half a red onion, diced
• 2 tbsp honey

To serve

• Rocket
• Rosa tomatoes
• Parmesan cheese, grated

Method

1. To make the reduction, bring to the boil, wine, herbs and red onion in a saucepan.
2. Add honey.
3. Cook until 3/4 tablespoons of liquid remain (after straining).
4. Coat the steaks in olive oil and cook to your preference (rare, medium rare or well done).
5. Cut steak into 3cm thick slices and place on a bed of rocket.
6. Drizzle the wine reduction on top and garnish with grated parmesan and sliced tomatoes.