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Category Archives: Beef

A Quick Week Night Meal – Stir-Fried Beef with Onions and Ginger

As I have written about before, I make a lot of stir fry dinners. They are a great way to do an easy weeknight meal in a flash and you can use just about any ingredients you happen to have on hand to make a good combination for a meal. All you need after that is some rice and you can have your dinner on the table in under 30 minutes if you time everything right. You can even make things easier for yourself if you want and keep a bag of frozen sir fry vegetables around just for such an occasion. For this recipe, which I got from Mark Bittman, I used a company of some fresh with some frozen even though his original recipe doesn’t really call for any vegetables at all. it is a quick beef stir fry with onions and ginger that you can make yourself and will taste better than any takeout that you can get that will cost you even more. I did alter his original recipe by marinating the beef for a bit first. I was using a London broil and wanted to break it down some and impart some flavor, so that is what I did. You can always just use the beef on its own if you prefer and ignore my marinating instructions.

Stir-Fried Beef with Onions and Ginger

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup red wine

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon honey

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 to 2 1/2 pounds top round London broil or flank steak

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large or 3 medium onions, thinly sliced
2 cups fresh or frozen vegetables, cut to bite size

1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced or grated fresh ginger
1/2 cup beef or chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce or soy sauce

To marinade the beef, mix together all of the ingredients except for the meat. Place the meat in a shallow dish and cover it with the marinade. Cover the meat with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours but no more than 24 hours.

Remove the meat from the refrigerator and bring it to room temperature before cooking.

Slice the beef as thinly as you can, across the grain. It’s easier if you freeze it for 15 to 30 minutes first. Cut the slices into bite-sized pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and set aside.
Heat a large skillet over high heat until it smokes, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and the onions. Stir immediately, then stir every 30 seconds or so until the onions soften and begin to char slightly, 4 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle the onions with salt and pepper, then remove them; keep the heat high.

Add 1/2 tablespoon of oil to the pan and then add the vegetables. Cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are heated through and crisp-tender, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the pan and set them aside.
Add the remaining oil to the pan, then the garlic and 1 tablespoon of the ginger; stir and immediately add the beef. Stir immediately, then stir every 20 seconds or so until it loses its color, just a minute or two longer; stir in the onions and the vegetables. Add the stock, hoisin, and remaining teaspoon of ginger; let some of the liquid bubble away and serve immediately, over rice.

The nice thing about this recipe is that you can make it all very quickly and it tastes fantastic. if you don’t want to use beef, you can just as easily use pork, chicken or shrimp or even just make all vegetables if that is what you prefer. You will still get great flavor from the sauce to help things along. I make about one stir fry a week because it is so easy and very often just use whatever leftover protein I have along with some leftover vegetables and put together a sauce of whatever I feel like having that night.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more recipes. If you are in the middle of this blizzard like we are, stay warm and safe. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Some Comfort Food Midst All This Snow – Hoisin Glazed Meatloaf

05 Feb

Okay, I don’t know about you, but I am pretty sick of all of the snow around here. I am not much of a fan of winter in the first place – it’s too cold and ever since I was sick it’s harder to breather in the cold and walk in the snow, and my feet hurt in the cold weather too. perhaps it’s time to think about relocating to a warmer climate! In the meantime, weather like this makes us all yearn for comfort food, and in my mind there is not much more comforting than a meatloaf. If you follow the blog, you know I love it and I have tried various recipes all of the time, so when I came across this idea from Bon Appetit awhile back I was just waiting for the right moment to spring it out. I modified the original recipe a bit since they were really making it with the intent of sandwiches and I had a dinner, and I also added a couple of things on the inside of the meatloaf as well to round out the flavor and texture.

Hoisin Glazed Meatloaf

For the Glaze:

3/4 cup hoisin sauce

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and minced

1 garlic clove, minced

For the Meatloaf:

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

2 cups 1/2-inch cubes day-old crustless white bread (from 2 slices)

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1 celery stalk, peeled and diced

4 slices bacon, minced

1 1/3 cups thinly sliced scallions (dark green parts separated)

1 4-inch piece ginger, peeled, minced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

2 eggs, beaten to blend

1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder

For the glaze, add the hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, ginger and garlic to a medium saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring often, until the sauce thickens to a glaze, about 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside.

For the meatloaf, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Using the vegetable spray, spray a cooling rack with spray and insert it into the bottom of a rimmed baking sheet and set it aside. In a large bowl, soak the bread cubes in the chicken broth, stirring frequently, until all of the liquid has been absorbed and the bread is beginning to fall apart, about 4 to 5 minutes. in a large skillet over medium heat, add the carrots, celery and bacon until the vegetables are tender and starting to brown and the bacon has rendered its fat and begin to crisp, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the scallions (the white and light green parts only), ginger and garlic and cook, stirring often until the vegetables begin to soften, about 3 to 4 minutes. Allow the mixture to cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

Combine the scallion mixture with the bread mixture in a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons of the warmed and thickened hoisin glaze, the remaining scallion parts, the beef, the pork, the eggs and the Chinese five spice. Using your hands, work all the ingredients together until everything is very well incorporated and the mixture is beginning to get sticky. Form the mixture into a loaf shape and place it on the cooling rack inside the rimmed baking sheet. Cover the meat loaf with foil.

Bake the meatloaf in the foil for 30 minutes. Uncover the meatloaf and 2 to 3 tablespoons of the hoisin glaze over the top of the meatloaf. Place the meatloaf back in the oven, uncovered, and continue baking until an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees when inserted into the center of the meatloaf, about 1 hour longer.

Remove the meatloaf from the oven and allow it to rest for ten minutes before slicing and serving.

The flavors that you get from the unique mix of spices and the glaze for this meatloaf are very good. Everyone loved it and commented on liking the filling in the meatloaf with the carrots, celery scallions and bacon (Sean especially loved the bacon, of course) The original recipe does not call for the carrots and celery like this but I think they added a nice touch to the meat. We have had the leftovers for a couple of lunches as sandwiches and I have to admit it all tastes pretty darn good as a sandwich too. I’ll definitely keep this one in mind for a meatloaf recipe.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I have a lot to choose from to post, so I am not sure which one I will go with yet next, so you’ll have to wait and see. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day, stay dry, warm and safe and enjoy your meal!

3 Comments

Posted by MikeG on February 5, 2014 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner

Tags: bon appetit, hoisin glaze, hoisin glazed meatloaf, meatloaf recipe, meatloaf recipes

Another Game Day (or Anytime) Snack – Marcus Samuelsson’s Swedish Meatballs

08 Jan

Just before Christmas I was walking through Home Goods through the aisle where they have spices, sauces and jellies of all kinds and I saw a jar of lingonberry preserves. It’s not something you see at all around this area at any time and I did pick it up and put it in my cart but then upon second thought I put it back .I kept thinking I was never going to use this very often and didn’t really want to spend the extra money on it. Upon hindsight I should have made the purchase when we decided we wanted to make Swedish meatballs on Christmas Eve as an appetizer and I wanted to make them as authentic as possible. I found this recipe from Marcus Samuelsson of Food Network and Red Rooster fame and since he was from Sweden I figured he knew what he was talking about. I ended up having to make a substitution for the lingonberry preserves (more on that later), but the recipe still turned out really well.

Marcus Samuelsson’s Swedish Meatballs

For the meatballs:

1/2 cup fine dry bread crumbs

1/4 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium red onion, finely chopped

1/3 pound ground chuck or sirloin

1/2 pound ground veal

1/2 pound ground pork

2 tablespoons honey

1 egg

3 tablespoons butter

For the sauce:

1 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup lingonberry preserves

2 tablespoons pickle juice

To garnish:

Lingonberry preserves

Quick pickled cucumbers

Combine the bread crumbs and the heavy cream in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until all the crumbs are moistened. Set the bowl aside.

Heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the red onion and saute for about 5 minutes, until the onion is softened. Remove the skillet from the heat.

In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, ground veal, ground pork, the sautéed red onion, the honey and the egg and mix everything well with your hands. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Add the bread crumb and cream mixture to the beef mixture and mix together well. Using wet hands to keep the mixture from sticking to your fingers and hands, shape the mixture into meatballs the size of a golf ball, placing them on a plate lightly moistened with water. When you are done rolling you should have about 24 meatballs in total.

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs, in batches if necessary, and cook, turning frequently, for about 7 minutes until they are browned on all sides and cooked through. transfer the meatballs to a plate and drain off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the skillet.

Return the skillet to the heat, whisk in the chicken stock, heavy cream, lingonberry preserves and the pickle juice and bring it to a simmer. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the meatballs to the sauce, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about five minutes until the sauce thickens slightly and the meatballs are heated through.

Okay, a few things about this recipe. I was kicking myself over the lingonberry preserves and did some research online as to what I could use for a substitute. The best recommendation I saw was to try using cranberry preserves, which I was able to get, and I think they added a really nice flavor to the dish. I purchased a package of meatloaf mix that had the ground beef, pork and veal in it already to make the meatballs and everything else I had on hand so we were good to go. Marcus Samuelsson explains in his description of the recipe that comes from his grandmother that the meatballs that she always made were not the perfectly round and shaped meatballs you find in most places but were kind of lumpy and misshapen. This made me feel better because that is just how mine looked. I think because the mixture is moist and sticky it is hard to shape them perfectly but the taste is sure there. I will definitely be making these again. Unfortunately, I was so busy trying to put it together on Christmas Eve that I never got a picture of them, but I will try to get them next time. Trust me, they are good. I think these would be great as a meal with mashed potatoes or rice.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more recipes. It has been so cold here lately we have been making a lot of soups, so I have some other soup recipes to share with everyone. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on January 8, 2014 in Appetizers, Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Sauce, Snacks

Tags: lingonberry preserves, Marcus Samuelsson, Marcus Samuelsson Swedish meatballs, swedish meatballs

A Prime Way to Start the New Year – Prime Rib Sandwiches

01 Jan

Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful day and evening yesterday and you are ready to start off 2014 in grand style. Granted, this recipe is not one that you can make very often, but since I had some leftover prime rib, this seemed like a great way to make good use of it. Of course you can always make a little prime rib if you want just to make these sandwiches. While I did get the recipe from Saveur, I altered it quite a bit to the point where I think it is mostly mine so I could make use of some items we all like in the sandwiches.

Prime Rib Sandwich

1 medium onion, peeled and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 ounces mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed, thinly sliced

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups beef broth

1/2 Roasted Prime Rib recipe or leftover prime rib, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon butter

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4 sandwich rolls

Slices of cheese – Provolone, Colby Jack, Cheddar (whatever you really like), for topping

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat until it is shimmering. Add the onion and cook until the onion softens and is just starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook just until the mushrooms begin to release some liquid, about 3 to 4 minutes.Whisk in the flour and cook until it is well blended into the vegetables, about 2 minutes. Slowly begin to whisk in the beef broth, a little at a time until so that it absorbs a bit into the vegetables and then just add it slowly, whisking constantly, to avoid lumps from forming in the gravy, about 4 to 5 minutes. Bring the gravy to a boil and reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the gravy is slightly thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes.Stir in the butter and add salt and pepper to taste.

Stir in the prime rib and cover the pan until the meat is heated through, about 5 minutes. Place one roll on each serving plate and place slices of prime rib in gravy, onions and mushrooms in the roll. if you desire top with any cheese that you like and serve as a cheese steak sandwich or simply serve as an open-faced sandwich without the cheese.

For the cheese steak style sandwich, you may want to place the sandwich under the broiler for a minute to get the cheese melted the way you would like it. I preferred mine without the cheese and just as an open-faced sandwich. You can add all kinds of toppings to this if you wish, like peppers, or hot peppers or even other vegetables that you might like to have. You can even serve it with some mashed potatoes or some oven baked french fries and let them get some of the delicious gravy as well. To me, there was no better way to make use of the leftover prime rib. It was super tender and tasted great with the gravy. It made me wish I had leftover prime rib around the house a little more than once a year!

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more recipes. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day, Happy New Year and enjoy your meal!

2 Comments

Posted by MikeG on January 1, 2014 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Gravy, Leftovers, Sandwiches

Tags: leftover prime rib, prime rib recipe, prime rib sandwich, prime rib sandwiches, roasted prime rib, Saveur

Getting Primed for the Holidays: One-Pan Prime Rib and Roasted Vegetables

27 Dec

When we decided to host Christmas dinner this year, I knew immediately that I wanted to make a classic prime rib dinner. To me, nothing says Christmas better than a prime rib roast, and I had just seen a recipe in December issue of Cook’s Country that seemed perfect to try out and that would save some room in the oven as well. This is a recipe for prime rib and roasted vegetables all in one pan. The vegetables get roasted at a high temperature while the meat is resting so everything can be done at the same time perfectly.

One-Pan Prime Rib and Roasted Vegetables

1 (7-pound) first-cut beef standing rib roast (3 bones), fat trimmed to 1/4-inch

Kosher salt and pepper

Vegetable oil

2 pounds carrots, peeled, cut into 2-inch lengths, halved or quartered lengthwise to create 1/2-inch-diameter pieces

1 pound parsnips, peeled and sliced to 1/2-inch thick on bias

1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved

1 red onion, halved and sliced through the root end into 1/2-inch wedges

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme

Using a sharp knife, cut through the roast’s fat cap in a 1-inch crosshatch pattern, being careful not to cut into the meat. Rub 2 tablespoons of kosher salt over the entire roast and into the crosshatch. Transfer the roast to a large plate and refrigerate, uncovered, for at least 24 hours and up to 96 hours.

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 250 degrees. Season the roast with pepper and arrange the roast, fat side up, on a V-rack set inside a large roasting pan. Roast the meat until it registers 115 degrees for rare, 120 degrees for medium-rare or 125 degrees for medium, about 3 to 3 1/2 hours. Transfer the V-rack with the roast to a carving board, tent the roast loosely with aluminum foil and allow it to rest for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of fat from the pan. If there is not enough fat in the pan, add some vegetable oil to equal 2 tablespoons. Toss the carrots, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, onion, thyme 1 teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper with the fat in the pan. Roast the vegetables, stirring halfway through the roasting process, until they are tender and browned, about 45 to 50 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and heat the broiler. Carefully nestle the V-rack with the roast among the vegetables in the pan. Broil the roast until the fat cap is evenly browned, rotating the pan if necessary, about 5 minutes. Transfer the roast to the carving board, carve the meat from the bones and cut the meat into 3/4-inch-thick slices. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper to taste and serve the roast with the vegetables.

This prime rib tasted amazing. It was buttery soft to cut and tasted amazing, as prime should. The vegetables were perfectly roasted as well to get great flavor from them. Don’t forget to save those bones once you cut them away as well. you can go ahead and make some incredible beef stock with those for soups later on.

I also made a quick chimichurri sauce to go with the beef. This recipe was with the prime rib recipe in Cook’s Country and really gave a nice bold taste to the dish as a whole. It is very easy to put together and would be great to go with any type of steak,

Red Chimichurri Sauce

1 onion, chopped fine

1/2 cup minced fresh parsley

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature at least 30 minutes. Whisk again before serving.

You can make the sauce up to 3 days in advance and just let it come to room temperature while the meat rests. It is also a great addition to your morning scrambled eggs. One more thing about the roast: don’t skip out on the salting a few days before or at least one day before. It really makes a difference in drawing out the moisture of the beef so that it is nice and dry and browns really nicely at the low cooking temperature and the final 5 minute browning under the broiler really finishes it off.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe as I still have lots to share from my holiday cooking. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

4 Comments

Posted by MikeG on December 27, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Holidays, Sauce, Vegetables

Tags: Cook's Country, Cook's Country prime rib, one-pan prime rib and roasted vegetables, prime rib, prime rib recipe, prime rib roast, prime rib roast recipe, red chimichurri sauce, roasted vegetables

While Shepherd’s Watch By Night, They Eat Shepherd’s Pie

26 Dec

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas yesterday. We had a great day filled with lots of love and laughs and plenty of good food, which I will be getting to over the next few days or so. It was a packed meal with lots of great recipes that I have to share. in the meantime, I do have a recipe to share that I made just before the holidays. I had some lamb that I had used to make a meal early in the week and decided to grind it up to make some shepherd’s pie, one of our favorite meals. I actually made this one right in my trusty cast-iron skillet to make things even easier. This recipe is from Cook’s Country and was very easy to make.

Shepherd’s Pie

Filling:

2 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, chopped fine

2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped fine

2 pounds ground beef or lamb

Salt and pepper

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 3/4 cups chicken broth

3/4 cup beer

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves

1 cup frozen peas

Topping:

2 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces

Table salt

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/3 cup heavy cream, warmed

Ground black pepper

1 egg, beaten

For the filling, heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it is foaming. Add the onion and the carrots and cook until they are soft, about 8 minutes. Add the meat, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and cook, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 12 minutes. Add the flour and the tomato paste and cook until the tomato paste begins to darken, about 1 minute.

Add the heavy cream and cook until it spatters, about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, beer, soy sauce and thyme leaves and simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture is thick but still saucy, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the frozen peas, adjust the seasonings to taste and transfer the mixture to a broiler safe 2-quart casserole dish.

For the topping, adjust an oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Bring the potatoes, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and water to cover the potatoes to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 to 20 minutes. Drain the potatoes and return them to the saucepan and mash the potatoes with the butter and heavy ream until they are smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spread the potatoes over the filling, using a spatula to smooth out the top. Brush the topping with the beaten egg and drag a fork across the top to make ridges. Bake until the filling is bubbling, about 15 minutes. Turn on the broiler and cook until the top is golden brown, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Just a couple of quick things about this recipe. If you prefer to use ground beef instead of lamb, it is easy to substitute. For the beer in this recipe, I used a basic lager (Samuel Adams in fact) but I think any mild beer would work well here or even a nonalcoholic beer if you prefer. The flour and cream mixed with the beer and soy sauce and tomato paste make for a nice, thick filling with great flavor. The topping is really just a basic mashed potatoes recipe, so if you have any leftover mashed potatoes you could also use them instead. In the past, I have also made a layer of mashed turnip or rutabaga to really add another layer of flavor. This one is a favorite around our house and I make this a few times a year.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another great recipe. I have quite a backlog of recipes to share now, so there are some great things ahead, including a roast lamb, roasted prime rib roast with vegetables and chimichurri sauce, melted potatoes, green bean casserole,French onion soup,, Swedish meatballs, homemade pizza rolls,baked beans,skillet pizza and more. I also got some new kitchen toys for Christmas to add to my arsenal and some new plans for the blog for the coming year, so keep checking back to see what is next. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

1 Comment

Posted by MikeG on December 26, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Lamb, One Pot Meals

Tags: Cook's Country shepherd's pie, mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes recipe, one dish meal, shepherd's pie

Simple, One Dish Italian Dinners, Part 1 – Lasagna

13 Dec

Okay, anyone who knows me personally know I don’t eat pasta or cheese, but that does not mean I won’t make it for someone else to enjoy. Michelle and Sean both really like lasagna, and since we had Sean’s birthday meal not that long ago, he decided that he wanted to have some lasagna for his dinner. For me, this needs to be as simple of a recipe as it can be, and Cook’s Illustrated gave me just that in their cookbook with a straightforward meat lasagna with not a lot of ingredients that was easy to make.

Meat Lasagna

Tomato Meat Sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped fine

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound ground beef

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 (28-ounce) can tomato puree

1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

Cheese Filling:

14 ounces (1 3/4 cups) ricotta cheese

2 1/2 ounces (1 1/4 cups) Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

16 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded (4 cups)

12 no-boil lasagna noodles

For the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the ground beef, salt, and pepper, increase the heat to medium-high and cook, breaking up any large pieces with a wooden spoon, until the meat is no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream and bring the mixture to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates and only rendered fat remains, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato puree and the diced tomatoes, bring to a simmer, and cook until the flavors meld, about 3 minutes. Set the sauce aside.

For the cheese filling: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine the ricotta cheese, 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the basil, egg, salt and pepper in a bowl.

Spread 1/4 cup of the meat sauce evenly over the bottom of a 13-inch by 9-inch baking dish. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles in a single layer on top of the meat sauce. Spread each noodle evenly with 3 tablespoons of the ricotta cheese mixture and sprinkle the entire layer with 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce over the top. Repeat the layering of the noodles, ricotta cheese mixture, mozzarella cheese and the meat sauce 2 more times. For the final layer, arrange the remaining 3 noodles on top and cover the top completely with the remaining meat sauce.. Sprinkle the top with the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella cheese then sprinkle it with the remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese.

Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes, then remove the aluminum foil and continue to bake until the cheese is spotty brown and the edges are just bubbling, about 25 to 30 minutes longer. Cool the lasagna for 15 minutes before serving.

It was much easier to make this way using the no-boil noodles, but if you prefer to make your own noodles then you should go right ahead. I know everyone has their own family lasagna recipe, but if you are making your own for the first time and need one to start with then this one is pretty good to use because it is easy to follow and gives you good results. you can serve this with a simple side salad and some homemade garlic bread and you are good to go for the night. I know we’ll be making it again since Sean and Michelle love it so much.

That’s all I have for today.Check back next time for another recipe and see what comes along. I still have lots to choose from. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

7 Comments

Posted by MikeG on December 13, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, One Pot Meals, Pasta, Uncategorized

Tags: cook's illustrated, Cook's Illustrated lasagna recipe, lasagna recipe, meat lasagna

Another Great Holiday Appetizer – Meatball Sliders

15 Nov

There are some things you may not think of as a great holiday appetizer unless you just happen to have everything fall into place as far as ingredients and what you have on hand. This was one of those recipes for me. I had some meatballs on hand already that I had made and frozen, so it really just became a matter of putting them together with the rolls and some cheese and we were all set. Now, if you wanted to make this recipe ahead of time and use it for a holiday appetizer, it is certainly easy to do. This is the meatball recipe that I use most often, but you could easily use any meatball recipe you prefer or even use some frozen meatballs you may have on hand to make things even easier.

Meatball Sliders

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 medium carrot, roughly chopped

1 medium onion, roughly chopped

6 cloves garlic

1 cup fresh parsley leaves

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

2 large eggs

1 cup Italian-style breadcrumbs

1 cup plus 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

2 28-ounce cans tomato puree

2 large sprigs basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Slider rolls

Brush a baking sheet with olive oil. Pulse the celery, carrot, onion, garlic and parsley in a food processor to make a paste. Transfer half of the vegetable paste to a bowl; add the ground beef, ground pork, eggs, breadcrumbs, 1 cup of the Parmesan cheese and 1 teaspoon of salt and mix with your hands until it is just combined. Form the mixture into about 24 two-inch meatballs; transfer the meatballs to the prepared baking sheet. Bake the meatballs until they are firm but not cooked all the way through, about 10 minutes.

To make the sauce, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the remaining vegetable paste and cook, stirring occasionally, until it looks dry, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato puree; rinse each can with 1 cup of water and add it to the pot. Stir in the basil, oregano and 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt. Bring the sauce to a simmer, then add the meatballs and simmer until the sauce thickens and the meatballs are cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the basil.

Place 1 or 2 meatballs and sauce inside each of the slider rolls and top each with mozzarella cheese. Serve.

It is a very simple recipe to put together and the sliders were devoured when I made them in no time at all. You could easily do the same thing with sausage and peppers if you had some on hand or wanted to make some ahead of time and then simply re-heat the sausage and peppers and put them into slider rolls. For me, it was just a matter of warming he meatballs and sauce on the stove top for about 5 to 10 minutes just to heat them through and then assemble the sliders.

That’s all I have for today. Keep checking back as there is plenty more along the way leading up to Thanksgiving. I have lots of side dishes to share, some desserts, breads and even things to do with leftovers. Keep checking back to see what is next. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Jazzing up the Weeknight Burgers: Gourmet Diner Burgers

05 Nov

I make burgers about once a week, usually on Wednesday nights/ Wednesday is our busy day around here so it is a fast and easy meal that we all seem to like, but I have to admit that it can get a little boring after having it every week. I went looking for some ways to shake burger night up a little bit and then I came across this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis of the Food Network for some Gourmet Diner Burgers with some extra fixings.

Gourmet Diner Burgers

Zucchini Pickles:

1 pound zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch thick rounds

3 sprigs fresh oregano

2 cups apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons black peppercorns

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon fennel seed

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf

Parmesan Frico:

1 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Roasted Garlic Mayo:

1 garlic bulb

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup mayonnaise

6 cloves roasted garlic

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons freshly chopped parsley

1 teaspoon freshly chopped oregano

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Burger Patties:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef

1/2 pound ground lamb

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

Burgers:

6 hamburger rolls, halved

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Roasted Garlic Mayo

6 Burger Patties

12 zucchini pickle slices

6 Parmesan Frico rounds

6 slices bacon

1 onion, diced and sautéed

For the pickles: Place the zucchini slices and oregano in a large jar or heat-safe container. Heat the apple cider vinegar, sugar, peppercorns, salt, fennel seed, red pepper flakes and bay leaf in a medium saucepan, stirring until the sugar and salt have dissolved, about 2 minutes. Pour the pickling liquid and spices into the jar over the zucchini slices. Let the mixture cool completely, uncovered. Cover and place the container in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours and store for up to 6 weeks.

For the Parmesan frico: Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss the Parmesan cheese, flour and pepper together in a large bowl, making sure the flour is evenly distributed throughout the cheese. Arrange mounds of 2 tablespoons of the cheese about 4 inches apart on the baking sheet and flatten each mound slightly with a spatula to form a 3-inch round. Bake the frico in the oven until they are golden brown, about 10 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through the baking process. Cool the frico on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then gently transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the Roasted garlic mayonnaise: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the garlic bulb in half cross wise and place the halves on a sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle each side with 1 teaspoon of olive oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Fold up the foil around the garlic halves and then seal the foil into an airtight package. Roast the garlic until it is golden and soft, about 1 hour.

Stir together the mayonnaise, roasted garlic cloves, lemon juice, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper until well blended.

For the patties: In a large bowl, combine the beef, lamb, salt and pepper. Form the mixture into six 4-inch diameter patties, each about 1/2-inch thick. Drizzle the patties with olive oil. Place a grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat. Grill the patties until they are cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Allow the patties to rest for 5 minutes.

To assemble the burgers: Drizzle the cut side of the hamburger rolls with olive oil and lightly toast on the grill pan, about 1 to 2 minutes. Spread the garlic mayo over the bottom halves of the rolls. Place the burger patties on the rolls and top each patty with 4 pickle slices, 1 frico round, the sautéed onions and a slice of bacon.

There is some prep work ahead of time that you can do for these if you want the zucchini pickles, and they do taste good, but if you don’t want to put the time into them you can just use regular store-bought pickles instead. Sean and Michelle absolutely loved the Parmesan frico and thought it was great with the burgers and without them. I think it would make a nice appetizer or side for a lot of other meals. As for the burgers themselves, I really liked the flavor and texture you get from having the beef mixed with the lamb. The burgers had a nice, unique flavor and I made some extra and froze them so we can have them again another night. I served the burgers with some homemade potato salad, which is always a favorite around here.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more recipes. I have been gathering lots of Thanksgiving sides and ideas to make, so keep watching for them. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Meals with Family and Friends Part 4 – Pan-Seared Rib Eye Steaks with Red Wine Sauce

21 Oct

One of my favorite meals to eat is just a simple steak dinner. Of all the cuts, I have to say that I think my favorite of all is the rib eye. it has a little more fat than some other cuts, but this does help to give it tremendous flavor and when it is cooked just right it melts when you cut it. Serve it with a nice pan sauce and a couple of good sides and you can have an elegant meal any night of the week. I made some steaks last night when we had a friend visiting and chose to make some nice rib eye steaks I had picked up at. I just followed this simple recipe from Cook’s Illustrated and made a nice pan sauce to go on the side.

Simple Pan-Seared Steaks

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 (8 to 10-ounce) boneless strip steaks or rib eye steaks, 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick

Salt and pepper

1 pan sauce recipe (to follow)

Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Meanwhile, pat the steaks dry with paper towels and season both sides of the steaks with salt and pepper.

Lay the steaks in the pan, leaving 1/4 inch between them. Cook, without moving the steaks, until they are well browned, about 4 minutes. Using tongs, flip the steaks and continue to cook until the meat registers 115 to 120 degrees (for rare) or 120 to 125 degrees (for medium-rare), about 3 to 7 minutes. Transfer the steaks to a serving platter and tent them loosely with aluminum foil to rest while you prepare the pan sauce, if using.

Very, very simple. My preference is always to cook the steaks to about medium so they are still nice and pink inside. Letting them rest while you make the pan sauce will help them come up to just the right temperature and doneness. This particular sauce I made does require a little preparation beforehand, so you can make the wine reduction earlier before you cook the steaks.

Red Wine Pan Sauce

Wine Reduction:

1 small carrot, peeled and chopped fine (about 2 tablespoons)

1 small shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons)

2 medium white mushrooms, chopped fine (about 3 tablespoons)

1 bay leaf

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 cup red wine

Sauce:

1 medium shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons)

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup beef broth

3 tablespoons butter, cut into 6 pieces

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Ground black pepper

Salt

For the red wine reduction, heat the carrot, shallot, mushrooms, bay leaf, parsley and wine in a large nonstick skillet over low heat; cook, without simmering (the liquid should be steaming but not bubbling) until the entire mixture is reduces to 1 cup, about 15 to 20 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer and return the liquid (about 1/2 cup) to a clean skillet. Continue to cook the liquid over low heat, without simmering, until the liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 15 to 20 minutes longer. Transfer the reduction to a bowl.

For the sauce, follow the recipe for the Pan-Seared Steaks, transferring the plate with the steaks to a 200 degree oven to keep them warm. To the same skillet used to make the steaks (do not clean the skillet or discard any accumulated fat), add the shallot and cook over low heat until softened, about 1 minute. Turn the heat to high; add the chicken and beef broths. Bring the mixture to a boil, scraping up any browned bits on the pan bottom with a wooden spoon until the liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons, about 6 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-low, gently whisk in the reserved wine reduction and any accumulated juices from the plate with the steaks. Whisk in the butter, one piece at a time, until it is melted and the sauce is thickened and glossy; add the thyme and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the sauce over the steaks and serve.

The red wine sauce for the steaks turned out very nice and adds some great flavor to the steaks. Of course, you can always skip the sauce completely and just go with the steaks, but I think it added something quite nice to the meal. I served the steaks with the fall vegetable risotto recipe I posted last week and some pan roasted asparagus and sautéed spinach, a recipe I will post later this week. For dessert that night, we also had the fallen chocolate cake that we have made before to completely round out the meal.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for some more recipes. I raided the freezer this weekend and took some things out to make this week, so look for recipes using wild salmon, pizza dough, Italian sausages, boneless chicken breasts and some spare ribs, among others. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!