Quorn Steak Supper in a Flash

29/70


Last night I made Quorn Steak Supper in a Flash from the cookbook. I actually really liked it but the making of it was hardly as quick, simple and effective as I hoped and the recipe in the book did not overly help either. 


Firstly, the recipe does not state defrosted or frozen for the steak strips in this recipe but as it usually points you to the defrost instructions if it intends you to cook them from defrosted, I assumed it was from frozen. Having used the strips from frozen I am now convinced that this recipe means for you to use them from defrosted as it would surely work so much better. This is why.


The first thing you do here is create a seasoned flour by mixing flour, paprika, salt and pepper to taste. You then shake the seasoning and strips in a bowl together until they are 'coated'. With frozen pieces/strips they don't really get coated. Sure, some of the flower sticks to them but more of it stays in a massive pile at the bottom of the bowl. If they were defrosted this would work ten times better.


The knock on effect of this is that when you then add the strips/flour to the oil in the pan there is still so much loose flour that it simply soaks up all the oil in claggy lumps and is not particularly conducive to frying off the strips (and then browning the onions and potatoes) at all.


Anyway, I did manage to negotiate this but it took more time than I was expecting. And my second niggle is also to do with the time. This recipe being called 'in a flash' implies it is very quick to make - but then when you look at the ingredients it calls for already cooked new potatoes - so really you also have to add in the cooking time for them. I cheated and zapped mine in the microwave but that still added 11 minutes cooking time to the recipe. It is not as speedy as you think!


Here is the steak supper as it came towards the end of cooking:

And here it is plated:

I have to say it is very tasty and is definitely something I will make again. I wrongly decided to add half a chilli to mine to ensure it wasn't bland (as I am fast realising my palate is more accustomed to spicy things than some of the quorn recipes allow for) but actually this recipe did not need it. The balance of the paprika and garlic gave it a strong enough flavour on its own.


The other bonus of this recipe is the points values, each portion (based on the recipe serving 4) equates to 5 propoints broken down as follows: quorn steak strips (1), oil (1), flour (1), potatoes (1), stock (1). This is amazingly low and makes it a great choice if served with a low point side, I chose to use sweet potato chips for another 5 points.


We gave this recipe an 8 out of 10 and I did really enjoy it. Next time I will definitely use defrosted strips though and allow extra time to cook the potatoes. 


Coming up over the next week will be the final pizza from the book (spicy mexican), Moroccan Tagine and a sausage and pasta salad. Hope you all have a really good weekend.