Bolognese Meat Sauce

I recently discovered that all meat sauce is not equal!  This recipe is very different and very, very delicious. I have to share it with you! The beauty is that the ingredients are usually in everyone's pantry...nothing unusual to buy....

Bolognese Meat Sauce

2 oz bacon
1 medium sweet onion, minced
1 carrot, minced
1 stalk celery, minced
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 lb. ground sausage meat
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon black pepper
28 oz. can of plum tomatoes
1 cup milk
1 t. sea salt
1 15 oz. jar of spaghetti sauce (if needed)

Saute' bacon until crisp

Add minced onions, carrots and celery, cook until golden

Add ground beef and sausage, brown, drain fat

Unusual ingredients!

Add spices and pepper

Add canned tomatoes, break apart

Simmer for 15 minutes

Add milk

Add Sea Salt and simmer for 2 1/2-3 hours, Stir now and then.
Add extra jar of sauce if you like your meat sauce "saucy".

My plate...I went all out and made homemade fettucini noodles with the assistance of my Wynne.
(Apple and Craisin Salad courtesy of Olivia)

This meat sauce is worth a try.  I was surprised when I first made it at the lack of garlic! It is an authentic Italian sauce and yet, no garlic!! Apparently it has been the American version that includes the influence of garlic.

This one is an easy, yummy and much asked for sauce here at my house. It's taken up permanent residence in my recipe box. Enjoy!

p.s. the correct way to pronounce "Bolognese"?  Go HERE.

Peanut Beef Stir Fry

5 teaspoons cornstarch
1 3/4 cups beef broth
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons smooth peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon sugar
dash pepper
1 pound boneless beef sirloin steak, sliced thinly. (I used leftover very rare steak)
1 cup sliced onion
1 bag frozen stir fry veggies
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup carrots, sliced thinly on the diagonal
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

~In a medium bowl, combine the cornstarch, beef broth, soy sauce, peanut butter, sugar and pepper until smooth, set aside.

~In a large skillet or wok, stir-fry the onion and carrots until crisp-tender. (if your beef is raw, add to pan at this time to cook until meat is no longer pink...if your beef is leftover from another meal, reserve and add with mushrooms in next step)

~Add frozen vegetables and saute' until soft. Add mushrooms and beef. Cook until hot.

~Stir the broth mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened.

Serve over cooked white rice.

Roast Beef with Yorkshire pudding (Revised)

It's been so long since I've posted here.  It takes me such effort to photograph and get it on the blog...sometimes I just don't make the time.  Here is one of my new favorite dinners to prepare for my family.  It's one of those cuts of meat that we can afford and better still, it goes for a few meals.

Roasting Beef

Mushroom gravy

Yorkshire pudding batter

Pouring into the roasting pan

Indescribably delicious

Rare roast beef and Yorkshire pudding

No gravy

GRAVY!!  

Here are the important details.  You should buy a top round beef oven roast.  (do not buy bottom round or chuck...those are better braised or pot roasted)

I cooked my 3 pound roast at 350 degrees until my meat thermometer registered about 130 degrees (about 1 1/2 hours...but keep a close eye on it!)....make sure if you want rare meat you don't go any higher than that.  Also, the rarer the meat, the more tender it is.  I happened to have some apple-cured bacon on hand which I draped over the top of my roast as it baked.  (about 5 slices) This added to the flavor and the drippings in the end.
 -When your roast is cooked to desired temperature, remove from pan to rest on cutting board.  If you are making gravy, pour dark drippings (about 1-4 Tablespoons) from the roasting pan into a medium saucepan and reserve.

Yorkshire Pudding
(Turn oven temperature up to 450 degrees)


3 Tablespoons butter, divided into the muffin pan cups (about 1/4 T. in each)
4 eggs
2 cups flour
2 cups milk
3/4 teaspoons salt

-Place 1/4 Tablespoon butter in each well of a muffin pan. Heat in preheated oven until melted and very hot.
-Mix flour and salt in a large mixing bowl until well-combined.
-In a medium mixing bowl, beat eggs.
-Make a well in center of flour, add eggs, mix.
-Add milk to flour/egg mixture, mix until smooth.
-Fill each well of muffin pan and return to the oven.
-Bake for 20 minutes.
Serve with Roast beef and gravy.  Oh SO delicious!!

(Make your gravy while the pudding bakes)
 Gravy


4 Tablespoons drippings from roast or 4 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups beef broth ( 1/2 cup of that can be red wine...I used Merlot and it was amazing)

-Saute' mushrooms in butter/drippings on medium heat for a few minutes.
-Sprinkle flour on top evenly, and cook for one minute.
-Pour broth/wine in gradually, mixing to keep smooth.
-Season with salt and pepper to taste, simmer for 10 more minutes.

Barbecue Biscuits

This is a very simple recipe.  Very flavorful and satisfying.  You can use storebought biscuits or you can use my recipe which is at the bottom of this page.

Barbecue Biscuits

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease a muffin tin.

1 lb ground beef
3/4 cup barbecue sauce like Sweet Baby Rays Hickory Brown Sugar variety (or you can mix your own using 3/4 cup ketchup, 3 Tablespoons brown sugar, 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder)

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese.  (I LOVE using pepper jack!!)
1 Biscuit recipe or 1 tube of storebought biscuits

~Saute' beef in a large frying pan, drain fat.  Mix in barbecue sauce. 

~Prepare biscuit dough.  (recipe follows)
~Grease a muffin tin.
~Flatten each biscuit dough round and press into each muffin tin, up the sides to form a cup shape.

~Spoon the barbecue beef mixture into each biscuit.  You should be able to mound it up. 

~Sprinkle the shredded cheese on each biscuit top.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.

Biscuit dough

1 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup of butter or shortening, softened
3/4 cup milk

~Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl with a fork.

~Cut in butter with fork until the mixture looks like crumbs.

                                            ~Add milk and mix until the dough is in a ball.

~On a lightly floured surface, knead dough lightly

                                        ~Flatten out with your hands into a 1/2 inch thick circle.

                            ~Cut out 10-12 biscuits with 3 inch biscuit cutter. (or a round cookie cutter...)

Continue above with further instructions on assembling the biscuits with the barbecue beef mixture.

Enjoy with a green salad...you'll have your protein, your carb and your vegetable!  Perfect!
Serves 10-12

Beef Stew

Today I made beef stew. My own recipe...that I concocted today. Here's the thing: Melody requested that if I was going to make beef stew, that I don't make it with a thick gravy base. She has had a version of beef stew at a restaurant called "Howard's" in Colebrook, New Hampshire that she absolutely LOVED. So, today, I tried my hand at making a beef stew that comes as close to "Howard's" as possible!
After trying her first bite, she said that mine is better because it is homemade....what a compliment! (to tell the truth, I usually don't like beef stew...probably because of the thick gravy base!!...But this time it was a winner!)


Here's my recipe:

2 lbs chuck beef for stew, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon italian seasoning (or a mix of oregano, basil, thyme and rosemary)
1 large onion, sliced
1 Tablespoon shortening or oil for browning
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
3 cups of beef broth
4 potatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
1 16 oz bag of mixed vegetables


~Season beef with salt, pepper, garlic powder and italian seasonings.
~Melt shortening in a 6 quart pot on stove top. Add onion slices and cook until tender and translucent.
~Add beef and brown on all sides.
~Add tomato paste...cook for 2-3 minutes.
~Carefully pour beef broth into pot.
~Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer.
~Simmer for 3-4 hours.
~Add prepared potatoes and frozen vegetables, cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender...careful not to boil...check frequently to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom of pot.

Serve with bread. Serves 8.

*Rachel, you could use stewing venison in place of the beef...I am sure that would be spectacular! Also, for two people, just cut all the ingredients in half...then you could have leftovers for lunch or another dinner!

New Recipes!

Hello, fellow chefs! I have been very long in posting and I apologize. I have been cooking, but haven't been able to take pictures of what I've prepared. I think the pictures make such a difference that I wanted to wait until I had some to share.

So, my first recipe is a pot roast recipe. I make my pot roast in the crock pot. On a side note...I LOVE MY CROCK POT!! I use it all year long. In the cold winter months, it's such a cozy feeling to know I have dinner bubbling away in the crock pot and in the hot, summer months, I plug it in out on the front porch! (seriously!!) It keeps the house cooler and I still have the freedom of dinner being cooked all day without me doing much at all!!


Pot Roast dinner:


1 3-4 pound chuck roast for slow cooking
1 cup beef broth, burgundy wine or plain water
1 Tablespoon thyme leaves
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper

Put roast into crock pot. Pour broth (or whatever liquid you desire to use) over roast. Season with thyme, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. (you have to get up early to start this dinner!!)

At about 1 hour before the roast is done, prepare potatoes to steam in chunks. Also, prepare some other vegetable to serve along with potatoes and roast. (you can cook the roast with carrots and potatoes, if you cut them small and put them under the roast in the crock pot...I prefer to cook things separately.)

At about 15 minutes before you want to eat, remove roast from crock pot to platter.
Mix 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup cold water in a seal able container. Shake well. Add to broth in crock pot, stir to blend. Cook for 15 minutes on high. Salt to taste.


The other crock pot recipe is for chicken breasts. I found a similar recipe and tweaked it! It's in the crock pot as I type this...we can't wait to try it! (Stay tuned: I'll update how it was after dinner tonight...)

Stuffed Chicken breasts in the crock pot


This is my homemade stuffing.

I dried out some bread, broke it up into chunks, added some poultry seasonings.
I sauteed' about a half cup each of celery and onion in 4 Tablespoons butter until soft.
Added about 1 1/2 cups chicken broth and mixed it all together.


I stuffed 5 chicken breasts that I had pounded to about 1/4 inch thick. I browned them in 2 Tablespoons butter and put them into the crock pot.


Poured over a jar of Alfredo sauce (about 2 cups). (the original recipe called for 2 cans of cream of celery soup...I don't really like the flavor of those types of soups, so I used my Alfredo sauce)


*Side dish idea for this meal: garlic and whole green beans sauteed' in olive oil until caramelized.

Update to come!

Taste of Summer

Sliced zucchini in greased baking dish:


Brush with olive oil:


Layer with thin sliced sweet onion, season with italian seasonings, salt and pepper:


Top layer, thin sliced tomato:


Cover with 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs (or if using freshly made bread crumbs, season again:


Bake in 375 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes or until tender:


Versatile roll recipe (found Here)used for hamburger rolls:


Taste of summer on a plate:

Beef Bourguignon

My shiny, new crockpot! Just the base model...that's all I need...something to slow cook my meal!


Beef Chuck stew meat. Put in a gallon ziploc bag with 1/2 cup flour to coat:


Fry 5 or 6 strips of bacon in a large skillet:


After bacon is crisp, use same skillet and bacon fat to sear beef in:


Tomato paste, Red wine and beef broth:


Everything goes in the pot. (ingredient list and recipe follow):


And we have been hovering over the pot all day long, waiting for the dinner hour:


Finally the cover comes off:


Fresh bread from the oven to accompany:


Our meal:


Look at that broth:


And we are satisfied...but Wynne can't get enough!



Beef Bourguignon

1/2 cup flour
salt and pepper
3 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1 inch cubes
3 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
6 strips cooked bacon
1 1/4 cups beef broth
2 cups red or Burgundy wine
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

~Fry bacon in large skillet.
~Coat beef in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Sear beef in same skillet bacon was cooked in.
~Place meat in slow cooker and add remaining ingredients.
~Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until meat is tender.

Serves 6-8