RSS

Category Archives: Beef

Tantalizing Tuscan-Style Steak with Crispy Potatoes

There are few things better than having a nice steak on the grill. This recipe, from Williams-Sonoma gives you a chance to make a basic steak and potatoes meal with some nice seasoning and not a lot of effort on your part. There are only 8 ingredients in the whole recipe and it doesn’t take much longer than 30 minutes to make the whole meal.

Tuscan-Style Steak with Crispy Potatoes

1 1/2 pounds baby waxy-skinned potatoes, such as Yukon Gold, scrubbed but skins left on, halved

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon minced fresh hot chile or a generous pinch of dried red pepper flakes

3 small fresh rosemary sprigs

2 bone-in Porterhouse steaks, about 1 pound each

Put the potatoes in a large saucepan and add water to cover the potatoes by 1 inch. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-high and cook until the potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.

In a large fry pan over medium heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. When the oil is shimmering, add the potatoes and toss gently to coat them with the oil. Cook the potatoes without turning until they are nicely browned on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper to taste, turn and cook, again without turning, until the potatoes are browned on the second side, 5 minutes longer. Stir and cook for a few more minutes to finish browning the potatoes and crisping the edges.

Meanwhile, prepare a fire in a charcoal grill or preheat a gas grill to high. In a bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons of olive oil, the red wine vinegar, lemon juice and chile. If you are using charcoal, spread the hot coals across one half of the bottom of the grill and leave the other half clear to create a cool zone.

Tie the rosemary sprigs together at one end, using kitchen string, to make a brush. Using the rosemary, brush the marinade all over the steaks on both sides. Sprinkle both sides of the steaks with salt. Arrange the steaks on the grill directly over the heat and sear for 2 minutes. Turn the steaks and sear for 2 minutes on the second side. If you are using charcoal, move the steaks to the indirect heat. If you are using gas, reduce the heat to medium and grill for about 8 minutes longer for medium-rare, turning once or twice and brushing again with the marinade as they cook. Transfer the steaks to a cutting board, tent with aluminum foil and let rest for 5 minutes. Divide each steak into two pieces and arrange on dinner plates with potatoes around the steak and serve.

Just a couple of things about this recipe. I did make a couple of substitutions and I think they both worked out well. I did use strip steaks instead of Porterhouse since there is a big price difference between the two. I also used a bundle of basil leaves instead of the rosemary since Michelle and Sean do not really eat rosemary. I liked the flavor that came from the fresh basil anyway. I also made a quick tomato salad to go along with the meal. Finally, I added some mushrooms and shallots to a small pan and sautéed them with a little bit of the leftover marinade to use to top the steak and it turned out great. It was a very quick meal that you can do any night of the week.

That’s all I have for today. We are going away to Saranac Lake for a few days so I won’t be back on until Sunday, so check back then for some new recipes. I am bringing some of the homemade bagels and some baked sausage and peppers with me for the weekend for everyone to have. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on July 25, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Grilling, Potatoes

Tags: crispy potatoes, Tuscan steak, Tuscan-style steak with crispy potatoes, williams-sonoma

Belly Up to Some Backyard Burgers

11 Jul

You can never have too many ways to make a good burger on the grill. Since this is the time of year that you can experiment a little, I went out and found this recipe from chef Chris Santos (frequently a judge on Food Network’s “Chopped”) for his Ultimate Backyard Burger along with some smoked chili ketchup to help spice up the barbecue results a little.

Smoked Chili Ketchup

1 cup minced shallots

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons honey

1 cup canned chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup corn syrup

1/2 cup sherry vinegar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons chipotle puree

Vegetable stock, if needed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Burger:

12 slices bacon

4 ounces very soft butter

3 pounds ground beef

3 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil, for brushing

6 hamburger buns

6 slices American cheese

For the ketchup: Saute the shallots and garlic in the olive oil in a large skillet over low heat until translucent, about 4 to 6 minutes. Add the honey and cook for 2 to 3 minutes more. Add the tomatoes, corn syrup, vinegar, sugar and chipotle puree and simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the mixture in a blender or food processor, adding some vegetable stock if the ketchup seems too thick. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

For the burgers: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Heat a grill to high heat. Brush both sides of the bacon slices with some of the smoked chili ketchup. Place the bacon on a baking sheet and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, turning halfway through.

Gently fold the butter into the ground beef along with the paprika, cumin and Worcestershire sauce. Form the beef mixture into 6 patties and sprinkle both sides liberally with salt and pepper.

Brush the hamburger buns on each side with olive oil and grill the insides of the buns until golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Grill the burgers until medium rare, 3 to 4 minutes per side, or to your own particular liking of doneness. Once you flip the burger, add a slice of the cheese to each burger and keep the cover of the grill closed to allow the cheese to melt.

Spread the smoked ketchup on one side of the bun and place the burger on the bun cheese side up and top with 2 strips of bacon.

I loved the smoked ketchup. It had some nice bite to it from the chipotle puree and had great flavor from the shallots, vinegar and brown sugar. I personally did not put any cheese on my burger but I think it tasted great all the same. Putting some of the butter into the meat along with spices really added to the burger itself. This is definitely a recipe I will try again. Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of this one when it was done, but I will try to get to it the next time I make them.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time to see what recipes I will be trying out, including a grilled sausage recipe, some beer battered fish and pulled pork sliders. They all sound pretty yummy so you will want to check them out. As always, if you ever have any questions or a recipe you would be interested in seeing, just drop me a note in the comment sections on the blog or you can catch up with me on Facebook or Twitter. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on July 11, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Grilling, Sauce

Tags: backyard burger, Chris Santos, food network, ketchup recipe, smoked chili ketchup

Fine Food for Father’s Day, Part 1 – Strip Steak with Brandied Mushrooms and Sweet Potatoes

17 Jun

Father’s Day dinner is always treat. Michelle and Sean get to do all the cooking and I get to pick out what I would like to have for dinner. I picked something simple this year since it was just the 3 of us. Michelle had picked up some New York strip steaks and we had some other things around the house that could make for a simple yet elegant meal. We thought about using the grill, but the weather was kind of iffy at the time we were eating dinner so we thought on the safe side we would just do it inside. The recipe for the steaks comes from Tyler Florence.

New York Strip Steak with Brandied Mushrooms and Fresh Thyme

4 New York strip steaks, each about 1 1/2 inches thick
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds mushrooms, trimmed, brushed clean with the towel and stemmed
Leaves from 2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup brandy
1/2 cup heavy cream

Remove the steaks from the refrigerator and allow them to come to room temperature. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat until smoking. Sprinkle the steaks all over with salt and pepper. Put the steaks in the pan and cook, turning to brown all sides completely, until medium-rare, about 8 to 10 minutes depending on how thick the steaks are. Remove the steaks to a platter with tongs and cover loosely with a tent of aluminum foil to keep the meat warm while you make the sauce.

Put the sauté pan back over medium-high heat and add 1/4 cup olive oil. When the oil is smoking, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, about 10 minutes, until golden brown. Add the thyme and the garlic, and season well with salt and pepper. Toss a few more times to cook the garlic, then dump the mushrooms out onto a platter. Take the pan off the heat, add the brandy, return the pan to the heat, and cook until almost evaporated. Add the cream and cook that down to 2 to 3 minutes until reduced by about one half and thickened. Return the mushrooms to the pan with whatever juices have collected on the platter and simmer the entire thing another 2 minutes until thickened again. Season with salt and pepper. Slice the steaks thin against the grain. Taste the sauce for salt and pepper and serve.

I loved the mushrooms sauce that came with the steaks. The steaks were cooked perfectly and the sauce added just the right amount of flavor with the mushrooms and the brandy. We did not have to pounds of mushrooms on hand, so we actually ended up about halving the recipe and cut down the amount of olive oil used to about 2 tablespoons and cut the brandy down to about 1/8 of a cup and the heavy cream to about one-fourth.

Besides making some corn on the cob to go with the steaks, we also used a recipe from Bobby Flay of the Food Network for grilled sweet potatoes with lime and cilantro. Even though we didn’t actually grill the potatoes, I think they still came out pretty nicely for indoor cooking. It’s very easy to make this recipe and takes next in no time at all.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Lime and Cilantro

3 sweet potatoes, unpeeled
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup canola oil
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

To par-cook the potatoes, place the potatoes in a large pot of water and boil until fork tender, about 8 minutes. Allow the potatoes to cool completely. Slice each potato lengthwise into eighths.

Preheat the grill to medium or place a cast-iron grill pan over medium heat. Mix 1 tablespoon of salt, the lime zest and the cayenne pepper in a small bowl and set aside.

Brush the potato wedges with the oil and season well with salt and pepper. Grill the potatoes until they are golden brown on all sides (including the skin) and just cooked through, about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer the potatoes to a platter and immediately season with the salt mixture and sprinkle with cilantro.

We simply made the potatoes in the cast-iron pan instead of dragging the grill pan out and I think they turned out just as well. Par-cooking them is really necessary here because you want to make sure the potatoes are going to be cooked all the way through when you make them this way. If you just put them in raw, they are not going to be done in one to 2 minutes and will burn. I really liked the mixture of the lime and the salt with the cayenne pepper; it really help to bring out the flavor of the potatoes and I actually used some of the salt on my piece of corn on the cob as well.

That’s all there is for today. Next time I will post the recipe Michelle used to make banana cream pie for dessert for Father’s Day. I can tell you it was pretty darn good and I really enjoyed it. Check back for that one as well as some of the recipes that I have done recently and plan to post on the blog. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on June 17, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Grilling, Holidays, Potatoes, Sauce, Vegetables

Tags: Bobby Flay, brandied mushrooms, food network, grilled sweet potatoes, grilled sweet potatoes with lime and cilantro, new york strip, New York strip steaks, Tyler Florence

More Ways to Make Meatloaf

01 Jun

Even though it’s been quite hot here this week, I’d been having a hankering for some meatloaf. I haven’t made one in quite a while so I went out and bought the meat and then started looking for a new way to make it. There is nothing wrong with the recipes I’ve used in the past; every once in a while I’d just like to try something different. That’s when I came across this recipe from Tyler Florence. It was listed on the Cooking Channel’s website and it looked pretty interesting so I thought I would give it a try.

Meatloaf with Tomato Relish

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 bay leaves
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and finely diced
2 tomatoes, halved, seeded, and finely diced
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
12 ounces ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 slices white bread, crusts removed, torn into chunks
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 eggs
Leaves from 2 fresh thyme sprigs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 to 4 bacon slices

Preheat the oven to 350°. Coat a large skillet with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and place over medium heat. Sauté the onion, garlic, and bay leaves for a few minutes to create a base flavor. Add the red peppers and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until softened. Add the 2 tomatoes and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the parsley, ketchup and Worcestershire; season with salt and pepper. Simmer the relish for 5 minutes until all the flavors meld. Remove the pan from the heat; you should have about 4 cups of relish.

Place the torn white bread in a bowl and add the milk to just barely cover. Swish the bread around in the milk and allow it to sit while you gather the rest of the ingredients for the meatloaf. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground beef and pork with 1 1/2 cups of the tomato relish, the eggs, and the thyme; season with salt and pepper. Squeeze the excess milk from the bread and add the soaked bread to the meat mixture. Toss the ingredients with your hands and mix together to blend everything well.

Lightly oil a cookie sheet. Transfer the meat mixture to the center of the cookie sheet and format into a log about 9 inches long and 4 inches wide. Coat the top of the meatloaf with another 1/2 cup of the tomato relish. Lay the bacon slices across the top of the meat lengthwise.

Bake the meatloaf for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until the bacon is crisp and the meatloaf is firm. Rotate the meatloaf while it is baking every 25 minutes to ensure that the bacon browns evenly. Remove the meatloaf from the oven and allow it to cool for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve with the remaining tomato relish on the side.

I have to say I was a little bit skeptical as to how the meatloaf itself would come out without having a lot of spices in it, but I was pleasantly surprised. The tomato relish adds a really nice flavor to the meatloaf and keeps it very moist. The great thing is that there’s always leftovers with meatloaf that you can use for sandwiches later on. I served this with mashed potatoes and corn and made a a simple beef gravy with 2 cups of beef stock, 1/4 cup of flour, 2 tablespoons of butter and some salt and pepper. I poured in some of the drippings from the meatloaf with the butter and flour, whisked it together to make a quick roux and then slowly added the beef stock, whisking the whole time to make a nice gravy. To me, you can’t have meatloaf and mashed potatoes without any gravy. I would definitely make this recipe again.

That’s it for today. Check back again next time to see what recipes come along. I have a few ideas for the coming week but I still need to do my shopping for next week so I’m not quite sure if everything will work out the way I hope. We’ll have to see what kind of ingredients I can get and what we decide to make. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on June 1, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Gravy

Tags: beef gravy, Cooking Channel, meatloaf with tomato relish, tomato relish, Tyler Florence, Tyler Florence meatloaf

Taking on the Big Marc Burger

31 May

Everyone loves to have a hamburger of some sort. There are thousands of different recipes all over the place using all kinds of different meats, cheeses, sauces, condiments and rolls. I have posted links just within the last week of many different burger recipes you can use for this summer on your grill. One in particular that struck me and made me want to give it a try was one that was posted by the Food Network. The recipe specifically is from Marc Murphy, a well-known chef and restaurant owner many may be familiar with the as one of the judges on the show “Chopped.” He offered up a recipe for what he calls “The Big Marc.”

The Big Marc Burger

Homemade Cheddar and Black Pepper Buns

1 cup warm water
1 1/2 ounces fresh yeast
1/2 cup sugar
4 ounces butter, melted, plus more for greasing
4 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
1 and freshly cracked black pepper

Spiked Ketchup

1 head garlic
Olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 cups ketchup
5 ounces vodka (about 2/3 cup)

Burgers

2 1/2 pounds 80/20 ground beef, formed into six 6-ounce patties
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 ounces melted butter
Bread and butter pickles

For the buns, stir the water, yeast and sugar together to activate the yeast. You can tell when the yeast is activated-little bubbles will have formed, which will take several minutes. Add the melted butter and 3 of the eggs and mix until incorporated.

Add 4 cups of flour and the salt to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Mix together on low speed, then stop and add the wet ingredients. Continue to mix until the dough is very smooth, about 5 minutes. You may want to add a little bit more flour as you mix; the dough should be sticky but workable. Transfer the dough to a bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel, place in a warm area and let rise until the dough has doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

After the dough has proofed (risen), turn it out onto a lightly-floured countertop and knead in the cheddar and black pepper. Try not to overwork the dough; once the cheese is mixed in you can stop. Cut the dough into 6 equal portions and shape them into round balls. Place on a buttered baking sheet and flatten them with your hand. Cover and let rise again in a warm area until they have doubled in size, about 30 minutes more. When they are almost doubled in size, preheat the oven to 350°. Beat the remaining egg in a small bowl and brush the tops of the rolls with the egg. Bake until golden brown, rotating halfway through, about 10 to 15 minutes.Cool the rolls on a wire rack.

For the ketchup, turn the oven down to 250°. Cut the garlic in half crosswise and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Wrap the garlic in aluminum foil and roast until soft, about 35 to 40 minutes. Remove the garlic from the skins and mix into a paste. Reserve 1 tablespoon for the ketchup, and keep the remaining garlic for another use. Whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard and roasted garlic in a bowl. Add the ketchup and vodka and mix until incorporated. This will keep for up to 6 days in the refrigerator.

For cooking the burgers, heat a skillet over high heat or heat an outdoor grill to high. Sprinkle the patties with salt and pepper. Coat with oil and sear or grill until medium rare, about 3 to 5 minutes per side.

Slice the buns in half horizontally and brush with the melted butter. Toast in the skillet or on the grill. Arrange pickles slices on each bottom bun and place a hamburger on top. Slather 1 to 2 tablespoons of spiked ketchup over the burger and set the top bun in place. Serve with the remaining ketchup on the side.

Just a few things about this recipe. Number one, I’ve never made any type of buns like this before so it was a new experiment for me. I have to say it was pretty easily done and they came out quite nice. I did eliminate putting the cheddarr and black pepper into the rolls because I wasn’t sure how they would come out and wanted to try them just plain the first time around. We all liked the hamburger buns better than anything you would buy at the supermarket. As is noted in the recipe, however, the recipes for the buns and the ketchup are quite large. The buns themselves come out big when they are finished and are probably more than what you need for a hamburger unless you really like a large roll. I actually ended up cutting the recipes for the buns and the ketchup in half of what is shown here and still ended up with a lot of ketchup and big buns. Next time, I think I will portion the buns out to make them even smaller and see how they come out and maybe even just do 1/3 of the ketchup recipe. You could go for completely homemade in this recipe and grind your own beef with a mixture of chuck and sirloin and form your own patties that way. Of course, you can serve any condiments or sauces that you like on the side. We actually made ours with some crispy bacon and some onion rings.

That’s the recipe for today. Check back next time and you can see the meatloaf recipe I tried out recently that comes from Tyler Florence. I also have a few other recipes for the coming days and weeks so you want to keep checking back and see what comes up. Until then, try to stay: this heat wave were experiencing in New York and enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on May 31, 2013 in Beef, Breads, Cooking, Dinner, Grilling, Sauce

Tags: Big Marc, burger recipes, hamburgers, homemade cheddar and black pepper buns, homemade hamburger buns, Marc Murphy, spiked ketchup, the Big Marc burger, The Food Network

Best Burger Recipes : Recipes and Cooking : Food Network

27 May

Best Burger Recipes : Recipes and Cooking : Food Network.

If you are still looking for some great burger ideas to use on the grill today, Food Network has these 50 burger recipes that can fill all your needs. There’s nothing like a good burger so you are sure to find a recipe you like on this list. Check it out!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on May 27, 2013 in Beef, Cooking Websites, Grilling

Tags: 50 burger recipes, 50 great burger recipes, best burger recipes, burgers, food network

A Chilly Day Calls for Spaghetti and Meatballs for a Crowd

25 May

I know it’s not the ideal start to a long weekend when two days ago it was 85° out and I was looking to turn the air conditioner on and then we wake up this morning and it’s 42° outside and windy and rainy. Since the weekend doesn’t look like it’s going to get any better until Monday, today is a good day to do a recipe for a classic spaghetti and meatballs. This recipe, from Cook’s Illustrated, is designed if you’re cooking for a large crowd so you want to keep that in mind if you are going to use this recipe. When I do it for just the three of us I generally have to adjust it down a little bit and we still end up with enough sauce and meatballs left over where we can freeze some for another several meals.

Classic Spaghetti and Meatballs for a Crowd

Meatballs

2 1/4 cups panko bread crumbs
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
3 tablespoons water
2 pounds 85% lean ground beef
1 pound ground pork
3 large eggs
3 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
6 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Sauce

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, grated
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
6 cups tomato juice
6 tablespoons dry white wine
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup minced fresh basil
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
Sugar

3 pound spaghetti
2 tablespoons salt
Grated Parmesan cheese

For the meatballs: adjust oven racks to the lower-middle and upper-middle positions and heat the oven to 450°. Set wire racks into aluminum foil-lined rimmed baking sheets and spray the racks with vegetable oil spray.

Combine the bread crumbs and the buttermilk in a large bowl and let sit, mashing occasionally with a fork, until a smooth paste forms, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sprinkle the gelatin over the water in a small bowl and allow it to soften for 5 minutes.

Mix the ground beef, ground pork, eggs, Parmesan, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, and gelatin mixture into the bread crumb mixture using your hands. Pinch off and roll the mixture into 2-inch meatballs (about 40 meatballs total) and arrange on the prepared baking sheets. Bake until the meatballs are well browned, about 30 minutes, switching and rotating the baking sheets halfway through the baking process.

For the sauce: while the meatballs bake, heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook until softened and lightly browned, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic, oregano and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato juice, wine, 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, bring to a simmer, and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, about 15 minutes.

Remove the meatballs from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 300°. Gently nestled the meatballs into the sauce. Cover, transfer to the oven, and cook until the meatballs are firm and the sauce has thickened, about one hour. The sauce in the meatballs can be cooled and refrigerated for up to 2 days. To re-heat, drizzle 1/2 cup of water over the sauce, without stirring, and re-heat on the lower-middle rack of a 325° oven for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, bring 10 quarts of water to a boil in a large 12-quart pot. Add the pasta and salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta and return it to the pot.

Gently stir the basil and parsley into the sauce and season with sugar, salt, and pepper to taste. Add 2 cups of sauce (without meatballs) to the pasta and toss to combine. Add the reserved cooking water as needed to adjust the consistency. Serve, topping the individual portions with more tomato sauce and several meatballs and passing the Parmesan cheese

As I said, this recipe makes a lot of food. They outline it as having enough to serve 12 people, but if you make the full recipe I think it could even serve more than that. I have always gotten more than 40 meatballs out of the recipe so we always have plenty left over for uses down the road. Their recipe also calls for some prosciutto to be used in the meatball mixture, which I leave out. I do like the way that the meatballs come out when they are baked in the oven and then the entire concoction with the sauce is placed in the oven again. The thickness of the sauce and the taste of the meatballs seems to be a lot better to me. You could easily served this with any type of pasta that you wish and I love to make some garlic bread to go along with it.

That’s the recipe for today. We did some shopping this morning so I did get a few things and to make over the next few days or so. Tonight I’ll be making a pork tenderloin dinner so you can check back for the recipe on that one. I also picked up some baby back ribs and the makings for some meatloaf so will be having those this week as well. I do plan to head up to Adams and see if they have anything else interesting that we might use for dinner this week. Check back and see what we come up with. Until then, enjoy the rest of your rainy day and enjoy your meal!

1 Comment

Posted by MikeG on May 25, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Pasta, Sauce

Tags: Cook's Illustrated Cookbook, cooking for a large crowd, meatballs, sauce, spaghetti and meatballs, spaghetti and meatballs for a crowd, tomato sauce

Ethiopian Stir Fry

24 May

I try to make a stir-fry recipe at least once a week now. It is always an easy dinner to make and comes in handy when we may not have a lot of time to put a meal together. I had seen this recipe posted on the website run by Marcus Samuelsson, who many view of probably seen on the Food Network or may have even read his book “Yes, Chef.” As soon as I saw the recipe I was intrigued about how it would turn out in new I wanted to give it a try. It is a recipe for Ethiopian-style beef stir-fry.

Ethiopian-Style Beef Stir Fry

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 1/2 pounds hangar steak or beef tenderloin, cut into half-inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, cut into quarters
3 tomatoes, chopped, or 1 1/2 cups roughly chopped canned tomatoes
2 jalapeño chili peppers, seeds and ribs removed, thinly sliced
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 red onions, sliced
1/2 cup peanuts, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 pounds baby spinach

Mix all of the dry spices in a bowl and add the meat. Toss well to combine and set aside. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until they begin to color around the edges, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Add the meat, sprinkle with salt, and stir-fry until the meat is browned on all sides, about 3 minutes on each side. Carefully add the tomatoes, jalapeños, peanuts and wine. Allow to simmer for one minute, then season with salt if necessary. Stir in the spinach and cook until the spinach is just heated through and starting to wilt, about 2 minutes. Season with salt to taste and serve.

The combination of the cardamom, ginger and chili powder on the meat added some great flavor. You could certainly eliminate the jalapeños if you didn’t want them added to the recipe, but I think they add a nice little hint of heat to the dish and go very well with the tomatoes. Also, you could eliminate the peanuts if you have any type of allergies to deal with. I think they added a nice crunch to the meal and added them in. I served this with white rice as I do with many of the stir-fries I make, but you could certainly use brown rice instead. Chef Samuelsson actually recommends serving it either just with some crusty bread or with a side of couscous, which I think would also be quite nice. The whole meal itself literally takes minutes to prepare so it’s great for a weeknight meal.

That’s all there is for today. I hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend and gets to do some grilling. It’s supposed to rain here in New York for most of the weekend so I don’t know how much grilling will get to do. We’ll have to see what happens. I still have to plan out next week’s menu is so I don’t really have a good idea to yet of what I’m going to try, but check back and see what comes up and what I decide to post. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on May 24, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Cooking Websites, Dinner, One Pot Meals

Tags: beef stir fry, Ethiopian beef stir fry, Ethiopian-style beef stir fry, Marcus Samuelsson, stir fry recipe

An Anniversary Dinner: Pan Seared Rib Eye Steak, Port Wine Sauce and Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

23 May

Okay, so I probably want a little overboard with dinner for our anniversary last night, but it was certainly worth it. It was a lot of work to get everything prepared and it was an awful lot of food for just the three of us (of course Sean joined us for dinner), but everything tasted great so I had nothing to complain about. I went to the store yesterday morning and picked out some nice-looking rib-eye steaks to make and with a little help from Denise Landis of The New York Times I was able to put together a quick port wine pan sauce to go with the steaks. Both were pretty easy to do.

Pan Seared Rib-eye Steaks

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 (8-to 10-ounce) rib-eye steaks, 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick
Salt and pepper
1 recipe Port Wine Pan Sauce (to follow)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Meanwhile, pat the steaks dry with paper towels and season both sides generously with salt and pepper. Lay the steaks in the pan, leaving 1/4 inch between the steaks. Cook, without moving the steaks, until well browned, about 4 minutes. Using tongs, flip the steaks and continue to cook until the meat registers 115 to 120° (for rare) or 120 to 125° (for medium-rare), 3 to 7 minutes. Transfer the steaks to a serving platter and tent loosely with aluminum foil to rest or while preparing the pan sauce, then serve.

Port Wine Pan Sauce

1 small shallot, minced
1 small onion, minced
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup ruby port
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

In the same skillet that the steaks were seared in, add the shallot, onion and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to soften, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the vegetables from the pan. Deglaze the pan with the ruby port, stirring to loosen any browned bits. Add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, and gently swirl into the sauce until well blended, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add the vegetables back into the pan, season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir in till slightly thickened about 1 to 2 minutes more. Off the heat, add in the fresh thyme and gently mix. Serve the sauce on the side with the steaks.

The steaks were cooked perfectly and have great flavor to them even though the only spices I added were salt-and-pepper. I actually cooked them for about 2 minutes longer so they were closer to medium, but you want to make them to your own personal preference. The pan sauce was just right for the steaks. I love the taste that the port wine adds to the sauce on it blended well with the shallots, onion and mushrooms. It also tasted great on the mashed potatoes that I made to go along on the side.

And the other dish that I made to go along with the meal was a very simple bacon wrapped shrimp. This doesn’t have to be a messy project or a big production; there are really only three ingredients to the entire recipe and most of the work goes into the preparation and not the cooking itself.

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

24 large uncooked shrimp, shelled and deveined
6 slices bacon, cut into quarters
1 tablespoon Montreal Steak seasoning

Preheat the oven to 450°. Cover the bottom of a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Insert a wire rack into the baking sheet. Spray the baking sheet with nonstick vegetable spray. Wrap each shrimp in a 1/4 slice of bacon, being sure to wrap the bacon tightly. Secure the bacon with toothpicks if necessary. Place the shrimp on the wire rack in the baking sheet. Sprinkle the shrimp with the steak seasoning on both sides.

When the oven has come up to temperature, place the baking sheet inside the oven and bake the shrimp until opaque and the bacon has begun to crisp, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

It doesn’t get much easier than this one. There are a couple of notes to take into mind when making this for yourself. First, make sure that you using large shrimp for this particular recipe. The size of the shrimp will take just about as long to roast in the oven as the bacon will to crisp so you won’t end up with any rubbery shrimp. If you are using smaller shrimp such as a medium-sized shrimp, you may want to think about cooking the bacon slightly before you wrap the shrimp to make sure that the bacon will be crisp at the same time the shrimp is done. You don’t have to use the steak seasoning if you don’t want to, although I think it added a nice flavor to the shrimp and the bacon. You could also use a barbecue sauce instead of the seasoning if you wanted to try something a little different. Having the shrimp up on the wire rack in the pan allows the air to get underneath and the heat to get underneath so that the bacon and the shrimp both cook on both sides. You could also put the shrimp on a skewer if you didn’t want to use toothpicks, or if you wrap the bacon tight enough, as I tried to do, you don’t really need any toothpicks at all.

I also served a side dish of roasted asparagus for the vegetable. Overall, I think it was a pretty good meal and we all seem to enjoy it. There were some leftovers of course but will be able to re-purpose them for another meal.

That’s all there is for today. Check back next time this see the recipes I use for dinner tonight. I’m hoping to get to the Ethiopian stir-fry tonight; I’m curious as to how well that one will turn out. Check back and see how it goes. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Leave a comment

Posted by MikeG on May 23, 2013 in Beef, Cooking, Dinner, Sauce, Seafood

Tags: bacon wrapped shrimp, pan seared rib eye steaks, pan seared steak, port wine pan sauce, port wine sauce, rib eye steaks, roasted asparagus

Monday’s Simple Stir Fry

23 Apr

For most people, Monday turns out to be the one day of the week where you really don’t want to do any cooking. It’s back to the weekly routine of school, work, after school activities and by the end of the day, you’re too exhausted to even think about having to cook something for dinner. That’s why Monday makes the perfect day to do something like a stir-fry It’s quick, easy and gives you the chance to use either leftovers or any abundance of vegetables that you may have lying around the house. For me, yesterday turned out to be one of those days. I happen to have just a small package of beef in the freezer so it lent itself perfectly to this stir-fry recipe I found at America’s Test Kitchen for stir-fried beef and broccoli with oyster sauce.

Stir – Fried Beef and Broccoli With Oyster Sauce

1 pound flank steak, cut into 2 inch wide strips with the grain, then sliced across the grain into 1/8 inch thick slices
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
2 tablespoons chicken broth
5 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
6 medium cloves garlic, pressed through a garlic press or minced (about 2 tablespoons)
1 inch piece fresh ginger, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/4 pounds broccoli, florets cut into bite-size pieces, stems trimmed, peeled, and cut on diagonal into 1/8 inch thick slices
1/3 cup water
1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/4 inch pieces
3 medium scallions, sliced half-inch thick on diagonal

Combined the beef and the soy sauce in a medium bowl; cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least ten minutes or up to one hour, stirring once. Meanwhile, whisk the sherry, chicken broth, oyster sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, and cornstarch in a measuring cup. Combine the garlic, ginger, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a small bowl.

Drain the beef and discard the liquid. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons of vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat until smoking. Add half of the beef to the skillet and break up any clumps; cook, without stirring, for one minute, then stir and cook until the beef is browned around the edges, about thirty seconds. Transfer the beef to a medium bowl. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons of the vegetable oil in a skillet, and repeat with the remaining beef.

Add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to the now empty skillet; heat until just smoking. Add the broccoli and cook for thirty seconds; and the water, cover the pan, and lower the heat to medium. Steam the broccoli until tender – crisp, about two minutes; transfer to a paper towel – lined plate. Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of vegetable oil to the skillet; increase the heat to high and heat until just smoking. Add the bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until spotty brown, about 1 1/2 minutes. Clear the center of the skillet; add the garlic and ginger to the clearing and cook, mashing the mixture with the spoon, until fragrant, about 15 to 20 seconds, then stir the mixture into the peppers. Return the beef and broccoli to the skillet and toss to combine. Whisk the sauce to recombine, then add it to the skillet; cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened and evenly distributed over the beef and broccoli, about thirty seconds. Transfer to a serving platter, and sprinkle with scallions and serve.

As with most stir-fried dishes, I served this one with white rice. Of course you could easily substitute brown rice for the white if that is what you prefer. Also, I did not have any fresh broccoli on hand; however, I did have a package of mixed frozen vegetables in the freezer which were ideal for a stir-fry I try to keep one of these on hand to make a quick stir-fry whenever we need an easy meal and it worked last night. This bag in particular had broccoli, water chestnuts, snap peas, and carrots. It was a very simple meal, the sauce tasted great and I was all done with the cooking within fifteen minutes. It is a perfect meal for a day on the run.

That’s the only recipe for today. Tonight I have the fish tacos planned, which I have posted on here before. If you want to check the recipe for that, you can always check out the previous post I did. I do have a couple of other meals planned for later on in the week, including one for a fried chicken sandwich with spicy slaw and mayonnaise. We are also planning on having some chicken salad sandwiches later on in the week and I am looking to see if there is something new like can do with them or something new and interesting for a side dish. We’ll have to see what I can come up with. Until next time, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!