Recipe #22: Deliciously Weird Beef Custard

Beef custard? OK that sounds weird. Actually, it is inspired by Asian-style pork custard. Relatively easy to make, it is quite delicious and can be eaten with rice or just on its own.

Ingredients

• Minced beef
• Eggs
• Cornflour
• Water
• Olive oil
• Butter
• Black pepper
• Sea-salt
• Garlic
• Mushroom
• Onion
• Potato
• Carrot
• Celery
• Chili (red or green)
• Broccoli
• Capsicum (red or green)

Preparation
Heat butter in a fry-pan.
Slice garlic, mushroom and onions then sauté in butter until golden brown. Place aside.
Chop vegetables into fine slices or cubes.
Add a little olive oil into heated fry-pan.
Toss chopped vegetables into fry-pan and turn up heat to high. Briefly stir-fry vegetables, then remove and place with sautéed garlic, mushroom and onions.
Dissolve a little cornflour in water.
In a large mixing bowl, beat up eggs, adding dissolved cornflour while doing so. Follow-up with coarse black pepper and sea-salt to taste. Remove and place aside about a cupful of mixture.
Add minced beef into mixing bowl, followed by vegetables, and mix ingredients thoroughly.
Empty contents into a casserole, making sure ingredients are evenly spread and smooth top with a spatula.
Pour remaining egg-cornflour mixture over top and allow to soak into meat and vegetables. There should be a thin layer of mixture over entire top.
Place casserole into a pre-heated oven. If it isn't fan-forced, turn heat to high and bake until top layer begins to turn golden. Then turn heat to low and bake for another hour or until custard is golden brown.
Allow to cool, then place custard in refrigerator and allow to set overnight.
When custard has set (the following day), cut into slices or as you would a cake. Reheat slices as required in a microwave oven or bake in very low heat.
I find that if kept a couple of days, it gets better!

To Serve
Have it with rice or on its own, accompanied by a mildly-oaked Chardonnay or a light red Burgundy.

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