Tag Archives: Beef

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Upside-Down Chili Pie

This started as a recipe test and turned into me deciding the recipe didn’t know how to make proper chili.  So kept the concept, these are the basics – since chili preferences differ household to household.

Make chili in a large cast iron skillet.

Make cornbread.  Loosen the batter a touch.  You want it to end up closer to pourable than cornbread generally is.

Preheat oven to 400 so that it will have finished by the time the chili does.

When the chili is done, pour the cornbread over the top.  Bake 25 minutes or so, until the bread looks done.  Pull out and serve, or flip it over after a little cooling and serve.  Preferably with shredded cheese on it.

 

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Sunday Supper Soup (McCall’s)

As per usual, changed this one up a bit to give it more flavour.  Also, the original recipe called for onion soup mix – having issues with this, I used onions and garlic instead.

Meatballs:
1 1/2 lb ground beef chuck
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 c soft bread crumbs
1/4 tsp salt
1 T chopped parsley

2 T butter
10 oz or so beef broth
18 oz tomatoes, undrained
2 c sliced pared carrots
1/4 c chopped celery or celery tops
1/4 c chopped parsley
1 chopped onion
3 – 5 (or to taste) cloves diced garlic
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
1 bay leaf

Make meatballs:  combine beef, egg, 3 T water or milk, bread crumbs, salt, parsley.  Mix lightly.  Form into balls.
Heat 2 T butter in 5 qt pot.  Saute meatballs, until browned on all sides.  Set meatballs aside.
Saute the onions and garlic in the drippings from the meatballs, adding more butter if necessary.  Add 2 c water, beef broth, tomatoes, carrots, celery, parsley, pepper, oregano, basil, and bay leaf.  Bring to boiling, then reduce heat, and simmer, covered, about 30 minutes.  Add meatballs and simmer another 20 or until meatballs are cooked through.
We served this over pasta and with grated parmesan, general theory seems to be it is tastier as a straight soup, just serve with bread on the side.

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Country Pot Roast with Noodles (McCall’s)

5 – 6 lb beef bladebone chuck roast
Flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 T salad oil
1/2 c chopped celery
1 c chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 c tomato juice
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried oregano leaves
Rosemary
Basil
About a lb pared and chopped carrots, maybe 1/2 in long
Egg noodles

Coat roast in the following mixture:  1 /4 c flour, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper.  (We used a bit less salt for our test of this, and a bit more pepper.)  Brown the roast in a large skillet or wok, over medium heat.  Add onion, celery, and garlic, saute until golden.  Add tomato juice, 1/4 c water, Worcestershire, and other spices.  Bring to boiling, reduce heat, and simmer, covered and turning meat once, for 2 hours.  Add carrots, simmer 30 minutes longer, or until meat and carrots are tender.  While that last simmer is happening, cook your noodles as per their instructions.  Transfer roast and carrots to heated serving plate, Surround with noodles.  Keep warm.  Pour pan drippings into 2 c measure.  Skim off fat and discard.  Add enough water to make sure you have 1 1/2 cups.  Return to pan.  In small bowl or shakeable container, combine 2 T flour with 2 T water, mix until smooth.  Stir into pan juice.  Bring to boiling, stirring frequently, lower heat, and simmer until thickened.  Reseason, if desired.  Serve over roast.

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Spaghetti Sauce (Betsy Codier)

Originally my grandmother’s, it has seen a few tweaks since then.  Not the least of which is the semi-math equasion nature of the recipe now.

Start with deciding how many pounds of meat you want to use.  Typically, I use half some form of beef, half some form of italian sausage. A “normal” batch starts with about 1 1/2 lbs of meat, a fridge-filling-stick-some-in-the-freezer batch is double that or more.

So, take your amount of meat, and double it.  This becomes your “X” number.

X Carrots, chopped

1/2X to X stalks of celery, chopped

X Peppers (colour dictated by flavour preference), chopped

X Onions (small to medium), chopped

Canned Tomatoes – this one depends entirely on how thick you want your sauce.  Generally works out to 1 large can per pound of meat, without worrying about saving half cans.  I use whole tomatoes, and squish them over the sauce before putting them in.  Helps to break them up, and messy fun, too.

Tomato Paste – For colour, and entirely optional.

Meat – as above

Olives – By feel/to taste/until it looks right

Mushrooms – 1/4 to 1/2 X lbs, halved and sliced

Saute/Add in the following order, in enough oil to keep from sticking:  onions, celery, garlic, meat, spices part one, carrots, peppers, canned tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, tomato paste, spices part two.

Spice Suggestions (not necessarily all at once):  Salt, Sugar, Basil, Sage, Thyme, Oregano, Parsley, Marjoram, Anise, Black Pepper, Cayenne, Paprika

Simmer for at least two hours on low heat.  6 or more is preferable.  Best next day.

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Kheema (Madhur Jaffrey)

2 medium onions, peeled and chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

1 inch by 1 inch chunk ginger, peeled and chopped

4 T vegetable oil

1 2″ stick cinnamon

4 whole cloves

4 black peppercorns

1 bay leaf

1-2 hot peppers

1 T ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 large canned tomato or 2 small, coarsely chopped

2 lb ground beef or lamb

3/4 – 1 tsp salt

1 T lemon juice

Blend onions, garlic, ginger with 3 T water into a smooth paste.

Heat oil (medium).  When hot, add cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, bay, red peppers.  When peppers turn dark, add paste from blender.  Fry about 10 minutes, stirring pretty constantly, sprinkling water if it starts to stick.  Add coriander, cumin, turmeric, fry another 5 minutes.  Add tomato, fry another 2-3, add meat and salt, fry on high heat 5 minutes.  Break up meat and brown.  Add 1/2 c water and the lemon juice.  Bring to a boil and cover.  Lower flame and simmer an hour.

This was pretty nifty.  And there seem to be about a hundred ways one could use this basic stuff… with vegets added as you cook it initially, or in tandem with other things.

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Beef Creole with Potato Puffs (McCall’s Great American Recipe Cards)

Last night’s dinner.  Went over rather well, especially when my partner’s reaction to the picture of the dish was twitchy and involved commentary about how the “potato puffs” looked like fungal growths.

<strong>Beef Mix:</strong>

1 lb ground beef

1/2 c chopped onion (I used around a cup)

1/2 c chopped green pepper (I used a whole pepper, probably came out to around a cup)

1/2 c chopped celery

1 pkg frozen peas, partially thawed (The recipe called for 10 oz, the package I used was 14)

1 T flour

1 tsp chili powder (I used a tsp and a half)

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/2 c catsup

1 c tomato juice (since we get the small set for drinking cans, this ended up being 11 oz)

1 T Worcestershire sauce

<strong>Potato Puffs:</strong>

1 1/2 c mashed potatos

1 egg, beaten

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp grated onion

1 T parsley flakes

1/3 c dry bread crumbs

1/4 c flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 375.

In large skillet, over medium heat, slowly brown beef, leaving it in large chunks.  Add onion, green pepper, and celery – cook, stirring until it is aptly cooked for your tastes.  Add peas.  Blend flour with chili powder, salt, and pepper – quickly stir into the meat mixture.  Add catsup, tomato juice, and W-sauce.  Cover, simmer five minutes, or until you have the potato puff mixture ready.

In medium bowl, combine all the puff ingredients, blend well.

Put the meat mixture in a 2 quart casserole (3 quart if you increased amount the way I did).  Drop tablespoons of puff mixture into the meat mixture.  Cover.  Bake 30 minutes.  You can also do everything up to actually putting it in the oven, and then hold off beginning cooking until close to mealtime.  However, if it cools down, add 15-30 minutes to the cooking time.

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Alsatian Pot Roast (McCall’s)

3 lb chuck pot roast

2 T oil

5 medium carrots, pared and cut in 2 inch lengths

5 medium onions, peeled and quartered

1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

1 T wine vinegar

6 juniper berries

1 tsp salt

2 lbs sauerkraut

Trim any fat from beef.  In hot oil in a 5 qt Dutch oven, brown beef, turning on all sides.  Add carrots, onions, thyme, 2 1/2 c water, vinegar, juniper berries, and salt.  Cover and cook over medium heat for 2 hours, turning once.  Wash and drain the sauerkraut, add to beef, cook covered for another half hour, stirring occasionally.   Serve.

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Rouladen (Betsy Codier)

6 slices bacon (slightly cooked)

2 T bacon drippings

4 c sliced onions

6 1/4 lb beef tip steaks

Dijon

6 dill pickle spears

2 T oil

flour

1 1/3 c + 2 T water

Equivalent of 2 cubes beef bouillon or broth

1 tsp thyme

1 bay leaf

6 T flour

Hot cooked noodles

Cook onions in drippings until tender.  Remove onions.  Spread steaks with mustard, top w/ bacon, pickle, and onions.  Roll, coat with flour.  Brown meat.  Add water, bouillon, thyme, and bay.  Boil.  Simmer 30 minutes or until tender.  Remove meat and bay leaf.  Mix 2 T water, 6 T flour into skillet mix.  Cook and stir until thickened.

Serve on the noodles, using the thickened sauce.

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Beef Burgundy (Betsy Codier)

Mix in bag:  1/2 c flour, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper

Add 1 1/2 lb of round steak, cubed, and shake to coat

Heat 4 T oil in dutch oven, add beef and flour mixture.  Brown.

Add:  1 1/2 c water, 1 c burgundy, 1 1/2 tsp bouillon, 1 med onion (chopped), 1/2 c fresh parsley, 1 tsp thyme, 2 halved cloves garlic, 2 bay leaves

Heat to boiling.  Cover.  Simmer 2 hours.  Add 8 oz mushrooms.  Simmer 20 minutes.  Brown some almonds and use as a garnish (opt).