Slow Cooked beef Steak

Beef steak

Ingredients

1kg beef steak

1 medium carrot

Juice of 2 medium tomatoes

1 grated medium onion

2 crushed garlic cloves

1 beef stock cube

2Tbsn olive oil

2 Tbsn knorr Rich hearty beef soup

Tablespoon fresh thyme & a teaspoon for sprinkling

Preparation

With a knife pierce the centre of the steak to prepare passage for the carrot.

Grease a non-stick pan with 1 tbsn olive oil and Sauté the beef steak.

Grease the pan with 1 tbsn olive oil to make the sauce. Add the onion, garlic, thyme and tomatoes. Add the beef stock cube. In a cup mix the rich hearty beef with warm water and pour in. Add 1 litre of boiling water.

Put the meat in a slow cooker and pour the sauce. Let it cook for about 10 hours. You can check after 8hrs.

When the meat is cooked, take it out and slice it.

Take out the sauce from the slow cooker and cook it over a hot plate to thicken it and then pour it over the sliced steak.

Sprinkle some fresh thyme over the sliced steak.

Note* thin slices absorb the sauce easily. You can thicken the source to your liking but medium thickness gives a nicer finish.

Creamy Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

1 packet Knorr Cream of Chicken soup
1 large garlic clove
2 medium carrots
100g Broccoli
100g Cauliflower
1 Leak
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup milk
3 cups hot water
¼ teaspoon coriander
¼ teaspoon mixed spice
1 tablespoon fresh Cream
1 teaspoon corn flour

Cut the vegetables and leak into medium size cubes. Crush the garlic. In a non- stick pot, fry the vegetables, leaks and garlic for five minutes or until tender(not fully cooked) (start with the cauliflower, carrot and then add others). Put the cream of chicken soup into a bowl and add the milk, spices and water and stir well. Pour the soup mixture into the pot with the vegetables and let it cook at medium temperature until the vegetables are cooked (10 min). Blend half of the contents (optional), and then mix with the other half and let to simmer for 5 minutes on low heat. This gives you a delicious soup with something to chew.

You can also blend the whole contents and the results are still fantastic. You can achieve the thickness you desire by adding more water. It’s a delicious serving; the cream of chicken soup gives a creamy yummy test and it’s delicious.

*Tip: My family craves for this soup on cold and rainy days and we have always enjoyed the warmth it brings even sitting around the fire.

Serves 8 people

(Naomi chitambira)

Birthdays!!

We celebrated our first princess Rhulani Kundainashe's birthday on the 14 of June. One thing that I have experienced as a mother is that children appreciate the effort put in making their day special not the size of the budget. For our family birthday is highly favoured and celebrated in the most simple, easy and less costly way but the out pouring of love is engraved in the way we prepare for it. As a mum I have always taken the initiative to make every member know that their birthday means a lot to the family. Below is the cake that we joined hands to make and bring the beauty that we wanted the girl to feel on her day. Really she did, she stood there watching it as if she didn’t want it cut. The 6 year old said, “You guys it’s so beautiful”.

Light Fruit Cake

This recipe makes one large 35cm square by 12cm deep cake. Line tin with 3 layers of greaseproof paper and grease top layer, or line with a double layer of heavy- duty foil, which does not require greasing.

Ingredients

1Kg Cake mix

500 g butter

9 eggs

1ml salt

500g brown sugar

125ml of brandy

30ml mixed spice

125g cherries, chopped

100g slivered almonds

Grated rind of 1 lemon

10ml cocoa or coffee essence

625g cake flour

5ml grated nutmeg

 7.5ml Royal baking powder

Method

Preheat oven to 150⁰ C / 300⁰ F. Wash fruits well, place in a bowl with nuts and pour brandy over. Mix well.  Cream butter and sugar; add eggs 2 at a time, beating well. Add cocoa, and then add prepared fruits. Sift dry ingredients and add to fruit mixture, mixing well. Pour mixture into a prepared tin. Bake for 3-3.5 hours, reducing temperature to 140⁰ C / 275⁰ F after 1 hour. Leave in tin until cold. Retain paper lining until ready to ice cake. You can feed it with brandy once before covering with Marzipan. Cover top of cake with Marzipan (almond paste) over night before icing with icing. This cake can be made a day before the function so there is no need for much brandy to preserve.

  

Sweet & Sour Chicken

Ingredients

1 medium chicken

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp mild Veriperi Saurce

2 tbsp sweet chutney

1tbsp paprika

1tbsp sweet basil

1tbsp vinegar

1tbsp olive oil

Cut the chicken into pieces and put in a non-stick pan to boil for 10 minutes. In a separate bowl prepare the marinade by mixing the rest of the ingredients. Let the chicken pieces to cool and then marinade. Leave to chill for 20 minutes in the refrigerator. Cook at low heat for 15minutes.

Serve hot on a bed of lettuce.

Mixed Vegetables dish

This vegetable dish is born out of my passion for vegetables. My kids like many kids did not like vegatables but when i came up with this dish they finished their portion and asked for some more. I have also made this dish for many nationalities who visit my home and they asked for the recipe. To me it's a balanced meal on it's own. It's a must try!!!

Ingredients

Olive oil 15 ml

Beet root 300g

One medium onion

Green beans 100g

2 medium carrots

Cauliflower 150g

Broccoli 150g

Red pepper- medium

Lemon & Herb sauce 3 tbsn

Worcestershire sauce 2 tbsn

Salt 1 tsn

Fruity chutney 2tbsn

Vinegar 1 tbsn

Baked beans 410g

(tbsn –Tablespoon)

(tsn- Teaspoon)

Preparation 

Cut the vegetables into small to medium pieces. Caution: big pieces do not yield the best results. Cook the beetroot separately, boil it to your liking.

This is a stir fry vegetable dish. Cook at medium heat. You can use oil of your choice but virgin olive oil gives a yummy test. Start with the vegetables that take long to cook such as carrots and add in stages the other vegetables. Put salt to taste. Add the beetroot and the spices and stir fry for 5minutes.  The dish will take the colour of the beetroot. Take it off the stove and then add the baked beans and serve. This dish can be served as a vegetable or can be taken as a meal. (Serves 8 People)

Naomi Chitambira

Greetings!

Dear Friends!

I hope you are all doing well. I know for sure that the grace of God is sufficient. I have been longing for this moment that i would be able to present to you some of my cooking recipes. I know many of you have been asking for them on Facebook, here are they for you to try them. I patiently wait to get feed back from you all on these yummy recipes. This site will be revolutionary in that your input will help me to perfect on my up-coming cookbook whilst at the same time we are changing the kitchen and the dinning table forever. The dinning table will be a place to connect as the family share on dishes that are seasoned by love.

I have since been working on making the dinning table a delightful place to be for my love Tinashe and for our kids which i have successifully done and i know you can also do it.

Yours Sincerely

Naomi