Beef Something

This is a little something I concocted one evening.

It was almost lost to the world.

I made it up but neglected to write down even notes

as to what I had done so as to even *think* about

making it again. 

That was about a month ago and then the other night

something was tickling the back of my mind, 

wasn't there some beef thing that

I cooked with carrots and onions

and then blended the veg and juices to make a gravy

that I then put the shredded meat back into and

served over stuffing

but later tried the leftovers over mashed potatoes

and that was better.

Didn't I make something like that?

And where did that recipe come from?

Giada?

Nope.

Rachel?

Nope. 

Paula?

Nope.

Turns out it was inspired by something I saw on

Diner, Drive Ins and Dives.

It all comes back to me.

It was a chuck roast that I browned off

in a dutch oven

then browned carrots and onions

in the drippings, 

put the meat back in with some garlic and

a couple cups of beef broth. 

I put it in a 300 degree oven for 3-4 hours.

I took the meat out and used an immersion

blender to puree the veges and liquid

to make a great gravy and then returned

the shredded meat to the pot.

I served it over a few different things

but the best was white mashed potatoes

with a sprinkling of peas over top. 

Yea!

Now it's written down. 

Maybe I can make it again. 

Without as much strife.

Oh, but I should probably name it.

Brisket Bowls

It's what Rachel Ray calls it but really, 

there should be a more descriptive name for it. 

But as I have already established, 

I don't have the recipe naming skill.

Apparently neither does Rachel.

But I digress. 

This was really good.

The recipe has you cook it in a dutch oven but

you really could do it in a slow cooker too. 

There is a little asian hint of flavor to it but

not overpowering.

You are supposed to serve it with a slice of 

lime that you drizzle over and believe it or not, 

it was really good.

I did change up one thing in the recipe.

You were supposed to line a bowl with rice

that you have added spinach and cilantro to, 

making it *green* and then spoon the meat and 

sauce into the middle of it. 

Hence the name. 

But we are on a rice moratorium at the moment.

Thank you Consumer's Reports. 

It seems there is arsenic in our rice.

The Chinese have found yet another way to

yank our chains. 

Remember the red dye/paint in kids toys?

Well, now it's arsenic. 

It's running off fields from the pesticides and 

into the rice patties.

Mike thinks we should get rice made in the 

USA.

Are there rice patties in the USA?

But I digress yet again.

I used mashed sweet potatoes. 

So far they are arsenic free. 

And maybe even grown in the USA.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/brisket-bowls-recipe/index.html

Meatloaf and Potato Pileup

The jury is still out on this one.

It's definitely cool looking.

I'm just not sure the flavor is all there.

Or that it's worth the mess.

And I didn't even use the food processor like the recipe suggests.

In the recipe's defense I will say that I did not make the

basil, olive oil, lemon sauce that you are 

supposed to serve with it. 

I just didn't have the energy. 

Or attention span.

Or fresh basil. 

Or lemon. 

The recipe called for ground beef as well as

 ground dark meat turkey. 

I substituted *natural* ground round. 

That *natural* gave me pause. 

Who decides exactly what qualifies as 

*natural* these days?

Also, does the ammonia to create pink slime

count as *natural* at some point in it's life?

But it was on sale for the same price as the 

adulterated beef so I went for it. 

I also cut the recipe in half. 

I am starting to remember to do that

  before I shop for ingredients.

I wish there was more flavor in the potato layer. 

The cheese sauce on top is good but doesn't 

go through that whole big layer of potatoes. 

The meatloaf part was good and moist

(sorry Shanna)

but I just think it was too mild. 

It needed a punch of spice.

Hmm, wonder if a little basil/olive oil/lemon sauce

would have fixed that?

Slow Cooker Goulash

This is from 

Cuisine At Home.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, 

I really like this magazine. 

There is always at least one recipe in every issue

I want to make and so far they have all been good!

This recipe has you dust the chuck roast with flour and brown it off.

then you saute onions, beets, celery and carrots in the

pan. Then you add tomato paste, garlic, paprika,

cumin, coriander and caraway seeds. 

You deglaze with red wine and beef broth, put the whole mess

in the slow cooker and at the end shred the meat

and finish with red wine vinegar and parsley.

Here's where I went all renegade, 

the first night I served it with the egg noodles it suggested

(hence the errant noodle or two in the photo), 

but the second night I served it over a baked  sweet potato.

Yes!

Perfection!

I think it's funny how very similar all 

"chuck roast in the slow cooker"

recipes tend to be and that just a few variations

can make such a big difference.

This one's a keeper.

Meatballs a la Pizzaiola

I'm not sure if this was a hit or a miss.

It's from my good friend Giada .

These are supposed to be served with toothpicks as an appetizer.

Some how I missed that and thought they would

just be the meat of a meal. 

You know, like mini, Italian style, meatloaves. 

That you dip. 

They aren't. 

Whereas they are good, they would be far better

with the mindset that they are appetizers. 

Here are my comments;

I used dried sun-dried tomatoes and just added 

a hit of olive oil. 

I read the comments on the recipe and so baked them 5 minutes 

longer than recommended.

That was 5 minutes too long. 

For once, it would appear, I made 

meatballs the size they were intended to be. 

It's a good meatball recipe, I wonder if it would be a good

meatloaf one as well?

Sloppy Mini Muffins

These were part of our Christmas Eve Appetizer Lollapalooza.

They were a new addition and it would appear they will be a keeper.

I couldn't even get a picture of the plate full of them.

Well, truth be told they were diving for the olive bread

but you get the picture.....

These are a twist on something I saw 

Sandra Lee make. 

It's just a Jiffy corn muffin mix that I baked in a mini 

muffin pan.

 You scoop out the center of the cooled muffin.

I used a serrated grapefruit spoon. 

(good thinking, huh?)

and then Sandra made a chili to spoon into the divot.

My mom had made sloppy joes the day before

and mom being mom, there was plenty leftover

to stuff my mini muffins.

(good thinking, huh?)

I topped them with some cheddar that I used

a microplane to shred so it was really fine and popped 

them in the oven to warm up and melt the cheese. 

 and 

WALA!

(that's for Shanna)

Tamale Pies

In zucchini bowls.

Everybody slices a zucchini lengthwise, fills them, and calls them

"boats."

I sliced across and called them 

"bowls."

That's just some ground beef, onions, tomatoes, 

olives, chilies and some mole spices with

a corn bread top. 

It worked out great just next time I think I will

bake the bowls a little before I fill them,

the zucchini didn't get tender. 

Wait a minute, who am I kidding?

How often am I going to have monster zucchinis in

my kitchen?

Individual crocks. 

That's the ticket.

Meatloaf Cupcakes

But really, they look like bombs.

With a hat. 

I saw it on Food Network. 

Duff went somewhere

in Chicago that makes meat cupcakes.

The show is called Sugar High. 

He was at a meat shop.

Huh?

I was intrigued.

Eh.

They tasted good, just not the look I was going for. 

Live and learn.

But PS, there's the first use of the

Monster Bigger Than My Dog Zucchini.

Sautéed with some onions, 

mushrooms, yellow tomatoes, and a hit of pesto. 

Onward and upward!

Beef Wellzones

Or, another reason to eat puff pastry.

Well, maybe "reason" isn't the right word. Really, does 

puff pastry need a reason or just an excuse?

Brian Boitano was making these this weekend over at 

The Food Network.

He served them with what looked to me to be a 

rather funky cheese sauce. 

This time I actually read the reviews before I 

made the recipe and determined I was probably right in my

 assumption, and so made a nice little pan gravy with 

the remnants of the mushroom concoction left in the pan

and a bit of my previously mentioned Demi-Glace.

I also made 4 instead of 6, and used a ribeye cut up 

for two of them and the tenderloin for the other two.

Just to see if it made that big a difference.

It did.

Use the tenderloin. 

Some of the reviews commented that it was a pretty

involved recipe. 

I didn't find it to be and actually put it all together after work.

It does have to chill out in the fridge for 

half an hour before you bake it. 

Worked out great to sit back, 

have a glass of wine, 

and watch Honey mow the lawn.

Oh yeah, I'm over that!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/brian-boitano/wellzones-with-cheesy-side-sauce-recipe/index.html

Chateaubriand

My mother has a pet peeve. 

People will say they are going to

"make a turkey," or some other such thing,

to which she will respond, 

"you are going to prepare a turkey. Only God can make a turkey."

I have heard this so many times over the course of my life

that I now say the same thing. 

So I have been hesitant to say that I 

made a Chateaubriand.

But, I did.

It's an act of butchering. 

Not an act of God.

Mother's Day

This one's for Mom and Big :o)

We don't traditionally do a big Mother's Day.

It's a "Cards and a Call" kind of day.

I had been planning on going to Mom and Big's church on Sunday

to be able to see Big Mary "accept" a baby on behalf of the church.

It's an honor to be asked to do that and the young mother

who asked Big to accept her baby had been partnered with 

Big during confirmation as prayer partners. 

Big prayed Marissa through confirmation classes. 

Sweet, huh?

I really thought they should have put the baby in the

little basket under the seat on the walker.

I was overruled but little Gunter did 

make use of the seat later.

He was the best baby! 

He's going to have some surgery to correct the plates in his skull.

Or something like that, but just send up prayers

for the little guy.

Shanna surprised me with a trip home so I decided to share 

the gift of Shanna and took her with me as a surprise

for Mom and Big. 

The spur of the moment times together are the best.

And "spur of the moment" is also the perfect excuse for 

experimenting with food on your loved ones.

Enter:

Chili Bowl Burger Sliders

They scream Mother's Day.

Don't they?

Mom and Big love it when they get the chance

 to eat the food I write about.

Here's the low-down on the meat muffins.

They don't really hold their shape.

I really thought they would be mini "bowls" in which

to serve the chili but they turned out to be more like "platters."

Additionally, I didn't think on a bun was the best 

way to eat these, so I just served them as is with

cheese muffins on the side.

Yep, heart attack on a plate.

Nothing says, "I love you, Mom" like it.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aaron-mccargo-jr/chili-bowl-burger-sliders-recipe/index.html

Chipotle Brisket with Sweet Potatoes

I love making things I haven't made before. 

It's funny, when I go to a favorite restaurant  I 

will frequently order the same thing.

But when it comes to cooking I really enjoy experimenting. 

So here you have today's adventure:

This came from my friends at Relish.

http://www.relish.com/recipes/chipotle-brisket-with-sweet-potatoes1/

Try to ignore the ads, I am not a fan but I guess

everybody needs to pay their bills.

This was really good. I have a couple of comments.

The only time I have prepared a brisket was one that was corned.

As in Corned Beef.

I was tempted to grab a chuck roast, they were quite a bit cheaper,

but hey, you have to spread your wings.

I'm glad I did. The brisket was really 

tender but not all shreddy and fally aparty (technical terms)

like a chuck roast would be. 

It also had great flavor but different from chuck. 

My other point of interest was the 

Chipotles in Adobo sauce.

The instructions call for you to "seed" the chilis.

Good luck. 

I gave up and just tossed the whole mess in. 

Well, it was a bit on the *hot* side and 

I did need a glass of milk at my side. 

But, the smoky flavor they imparted was amazing.

Bottom line, I will make this again, but somebody.

PLEASE, 

Give me a clue about "seeding" chipotles in adobo sauce!

Can you make Stew Without Stew Meat?

You can if you use ground beef and call it soup!

I had a Crock Pot.

I had 2 pounds of ground beef.

I had an uncontrollable need to combine the two.

So I did and I got this:

Here's the original recipe:

http://www.food.com/recipe/aromatic-beef-stew-with-butternut-squash-405303

I have made as written and we really liked it.

I just thought , why couldn't I brown off some ground beef

and do basically the same thing?

The answer is, I can!

Here are the changes I made:

I used a sweet potato and half and acorn squash.

Just because I had them, kinda like I "had" the ground beef.

I browned the beef with the onions and then 

added the spices, garlic and ginger to "bloom" them.

I threw everything in the Crock Pot.

Just because that was part of my basic premise.

Low for 5-6 hours.

I made an Israeli couscous/pasta blend from Trader Joe's

and put a bed of that in a bowl and spooned the stew/soup

on top and then topped that with some sliced almonds. 

(I'm not gonna go all "Rachel Ray" and call it a 

"stoop", but that is kind of descriptive of what you get)

Oh, and a little PSA for you,

Whereas that big ol' 6 quart Crock Pot will 

serve you well when making a huge batch

of America's Test Kitchen's Sunday Gravy,

it will over cook the dickens out of a nice little

stew for the two of you. 

Make room in your cupboards. 

It's worth it.

You gotta have two.

Hmm, nice to see I have product loyalty :o)

http://www.facebook.com/CrockPot

Beef Vindaloo

They only look like wasted weekends in front of the television.

It's called research.

I knew I liked Aarti from the start.

She was a contestant on 

The Next Food Network Star.

She has a smile and personality that just draws you in.

From what I understand she started out as a blogger, maybe?

Good news, I'm not so big a stalker that I researched her.

But this is not my point.

From the get go her food intrigued me.

I was lucky enough to catch one of her shows this past weekend.

She was making Beef Vindaloo, 

Cucumber Raita and a flat bread thing.

The good thing about watching someone cook as opposed to just reading a recipe is that what looks intimidating on the page is a piece of cake when demonstrated.

Really, "toasting" the spices and then grinding them?

Yeah, no big whup.

I knew saving that old coffee grinder was a good call.

I'll link the recipe here.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/goan-beef-curry-with-vinegar-beef-vindaloo-recipe/index.html

For whatever reason they are not posting her Cucumber Raita independently. It's 

linked with a lamb dish. But it's basically:

2 Cups plain yogurt

2 cups grated English cucumber

1 clove garlic, minced

4 sprigs mint leaves, finely minced

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 tablespoons golden raisins

Mix that all together and you're good to go.

The raisins are a very fun sweet punch.

She did a great job on keeping the heat down 

so if you like a kick, go ahead and up the cayenne.

I did everything pretty much as written.

 I had to work a couple of hours this afternoon so I threw the completed 

vindaloo in the crock pot for about three hours. 

I think that dried out the beef a tad, so I wouldn't do that again. 

I didn't make the flat bread, it looked just too labor 

intensive for a Monday dinner so I bought a package of 

Naan bread. Pitas would probably work very well too. 

You just tear off a piece of bread and use it to scoop up a bit of meat

and a bit of the raita. Indra told me once that when eating Indian food, 

no two bites should be the same and 

each bite should be a perfect bite. 

Kind of a fun way to eat! 

Giant Hamburger

Or, as we Americans would say, Meatloaf.

I meant to do an ode to meatloaf last month

in honor of Rossella's (a former exchange student) birthday.

But just wasn't feelin' it till today.

 There is a giant hamburger in my oven as I write.

The entire house is absolutely filled with that unmistakable aroma

 and my memories are wandering back to those crazy days when 

Rossella ruled the roost...or at least tried to. 

There were precious few American food stuffs, aside from KFC, 

that Rossella found acceptable. Just about the only times she allowed 

as how she would eat what I had prepared again,

 and I knew I had passed muster when she would say, 

"you could make that again" would be those times when

 I had concocted some crazy things that absolutely would

 NOT be being made again simply because there was no possible 

way  I could recall exactly what I had done.

 Oh, that was also during the time when I was into pork tenderloin 

BIG TIME. 

It's the other white meat!

 It's good for you! 

I never did concieve of a way to disguise it enough

 so that it could earn a, 

"you could make that again."

Who knew, good old meatloaf would win that distinction. Probably

because she dubbed it "The Giant Hamburger" and Rossella

 did love herself a good hamburger.  

We could visit all the psychological damage done to me spending

 a year with a teenager who didn't like my cooking.

 That's me, remember, 

the one who shows you I love you with my food? 

Of course I didn't feel she was rejecting me personally

 when she rejected my lovin' from the oven. 

Wait, I said we *could* visit that time, which implies we *won't*.

I do have one more thought on the subject of Meatloaf.

Michael called the other day and asked for

 "The Luehr Family"

recipe for meatloaf. That got me thinking, 

that didn't start out as the Luehr meatloaf. 

It was my mother's, it was The Peterson Meatloaf. 

But was it her mother's?

Was it The Osborne Meatloaf? 

And at what point do our lives become our children's traditions?

Hmmm, makes you want to be a little careful :o)

Korean Beef Lo Mein

Can you do that?

I'm not that well versed on international relations.

Can you throw Korea and China in a pan and have them get along?

Well, in my world you can and not only will they get along,

they will make beautiful music together :o)

I knew I had to find more ways to eat the Korean BBQ

from our night of K-Bobs and my most favorite chinese dish

at the moment is Lo Mein. The best looking recipe I could find for

Lo Mein was from All Recipes.

But it's a vege one and something in me screamed WAA LAA!

(again, not copping to the french)

Korea, China, MAKE NICE!

And they totally did!

I posted both recipes in the pages section for your convenience.

:o)