Steak with Red Wine Mushrooms

Specially for Mel & Ann.
Notes: I can't eat shiitake mushrooms, so I just use 200g regular ones; I always end up with a lot of sauce, so you might want to halve the amounts of stock & wine.

Serves 4

1 tablespoon oil (for frying)
4 thick sirloin or fillet steaks
1 tablespoon butter
4 shallots, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
100g shiitake mushrooms
100g small field (ie regular) mushrooms
1 cup beef stock
1 cup red wine
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
cracked black pepper
mashed potato to serve

Heat oil in a frypan over medium heat. Add steaks to pan & cook for 3 minutes on each side or until cooked to your liking.
While steaks are cooking, heat butter in another frypan over medium heat. Add shallots & garlic to pan & cook for 1 minute. Add mushrooms to pan & toss for 1 minute. Add stock, wine, thyme & pepper to pan & allow to simmer until mushrooms are soft & sauce has reduced by half.
To serve, place mashed potato on warmed serving plates. Top potato with steak & pour over mushrooms & sauce. Serve immediately.

Chicken Skewers with Lemon Thyme

This was a bit hit with my cast on Sun night.
Note: I couldn't find lemon thyme, so I just used regular thyme.

Makes 12

12 short bamboo (or wooden) skewers
2x200g chicken breast fillets, trimmed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon thyme leaves
sea salt & cracked black pepper (to taste)
vegetable oil for frying

Soak skewers in hot water for at least 10 minutes.
Cut chicken into strips approximately 5mm thick & thread onto skewers.
Combine the lemon juice, lemon thyme, salt & pepper in a non-metallic dish. Add the chicken skewers & toss to coat with the marinade. Cover & refrigerate for 10 minutes.
Heat a non-stick frypan over medium-high heat. Brush the pan with oil. Cook the chicken skewers in batches for 2 minutes each side or until cooked through.
Serve just with lime mayonnaise (recipe below) as an appetiser, or add rice & salad to make a meal.

Lime Mayonnaise

This is also great as a spread on sandwiches.

Makes 1 cup

1 cup whole-egg mayonnaise (none of that processed, low-fat crap!)
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon finely grated lime rind

Place the mayonnaise, lime juice & rind in a bowl & stir until combined.
Too easy!