Beef Bourguignon

It has been a little while since my last post. I want to tell everyone not to worry... Janet is STILL hungry. I have a few excuses for my lack of updates. Would you like to hear them? No? Too bad...

The first one is laziness, I have just been feeling a little lazy these last few weeks (call it winter blahs), the second is that for a while I had lost my camera case, along with that little cable (the very important cable) that connects my camera to the computer. So while I have still been cooking and taking tons of pictures, I have been unable to get any of those picture off my camera.

Well lo and behold I finally found the cable and the case, in one of my little bugger's beloved children's bedrooms, the cord was tied around the neck of one their stuffed animals, like a leash.

The good news is, I now have a backlog of recipes (enough material to last until Christmas) so I had better GET POSTING.

This first one is a Beef Bourguignon. I was never a big fan of stews growing up. I found the meat tough and a little "stewy". Then one night we were invited to a dinner party. My friend's wife, we'll call her "Angela" (OK, that's ACTUALLY her name) made beef bourguignon, it was an epiphany for me. A real eye openner. It was so good. I've been missing out. This isn't Angela's actual recipe, I use one from the Williams Sonoma Kitchen Library book on "Beef".

I served this with roasted fingerling potatoes (roasted with olive oil, red wine, garlic and parsley) and a rosemary focaccia for mopping up the extra gravy.

Beef Bourguignon

1/2 lb bacon
8 green onions, chopped
2 onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups flour
1 tsp nutmeg
salt and pepper
3 lbs cubed stewing beef
olive oil
1/4 cup Cognac
2 cups beef stock
2 fresh thyme sprigs
3 cups dry red wine
1 bay leaf
24 pearl onions
5 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
1 lb mushrooms
chopped fresh parsley for garnish

1. Chop raw bacon into small pieces. Cook in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat until browned. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Add enough oil to the bacon fat to make 1/4 cup and add diced onions, carrots, green onions and garlic. Saute until soft. Transfer to a large oven proof pot.

3. In a large dish mix the flour, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Toss the cubed beef in flour to coat. Add to frying pan with enough oil to prevent sticking (I had to do 2 batches). Brown well and transfer meat to the large pot with the veggies.

4. Use the 1/4 cup cognac and some of the beef stock to deglaze the frying pan over high heat. Scrap all the bits of good stuff off the bottom and then pour into pot.

5. Add remaining beef stock, wine, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, transfer covered pot to oven and bake at 325F for 3 hours.

6. In the meantime, peel the pearl onions (easier if you blanche them for 30 seconds or so). Saute them in 2 tbsp butter with 2 tbsp of sugar until browned. Remove to a dish, in the same pan saute mushroom with remaining butter. Transfer to dish with onions.

7. 30 minutes before ready to serve, add onions and mushrooms to the stew. Continue baking.

8. Serve and garnish with bacon bits and chopped parsley.

Individual Mexican Meat Cups

I think I've written before about the difficulty I have sometimes with naming recipes that I've created myself. You can either give something a meaningless name like, "Beef a la Janet" or you can try to capture what it is you've made in the title of the recipe. Hence, "Individual Mexican Meat Cups".... although, that name does make me think of a Made in Mexico Jock Strap... oh well, lets try not to dwell on that image, and concentrate on the recipe... shall we?

I got the idea for using flour tortillas as cups from another blog, the Culinary Chase, but I created my own filling.

This recipe was VERY popular. Mario and the kids LOVED it. I ate a stupid frozen Lean Cuisine meal while they ate it. That is because this blog is making me FAT. Yes that's right, I entirely blame the BLOG, not all the artery clogging fattening food I shovel in... don't ask, I have issues.

Individual Mexican Meat Cups

1 lb ground beef
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp oil
1 can rice and black beans
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 tsp taco seasoning
1/2 cup water
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
6 flour tortillas
cooking spray

1. In a non stick skillet, brown the beef and onions in a small amount of oil. Drain any fat and add the rice and black beans, tomatoes and taco seasoning. Add 1/2 cup water, and simmer on low for about 10 minutes.

2. Fit tortillas inside 6 large muffin tins. Spray lightly with cooking spray and bake at 400F for 10 minutes.

3. Fill tortilla shells with meat filling and top with cheddar cheese. Bake another 10 minutes at 400F or until cheese is all melted. (hint: the filling was still hot when I put this in the oven, if you make it ahead and the filling has cooled, it might need a bit more cooking time).

4. Serve with sour cream.

Chili

I made chili for dinner one night this summer when were out camping. When the kids asked me what was for dinner, I braced myself for the whining and complaining... and sure enough, "awwwwww.... not Chili, that's yucky!". But what I did was serve theirs over a toasted bun with a little sprinkle of cheese on top. Well, they LOVED it, they gobbled it all up. It's a wonder what a little sprinkle of cheese can do (and no, no amount of sprinkled cheese will ever persuade me to ingest a green pea - ICK).

We've had chili a few times since then, Mario and I love it, so we want to take advantage of this chili-love-fest the kids are having. Their preferences change like the wind, and any day now they might pronounce they hate it again.

Last night, my Mom and Dad were babysitting the kids while Mario and I went to a wedding. For dinner they all ate leftover Chili from a batch I made earlier this week. I made sure to tell my Mom about the cheese sprinkling tip. This morning, Claire says to me, "Grandma wants to get the recipe for your Chili, she says she liked it better than hers".

Now that was interesting, because this is already her recipe, and I never changed a thing! Just goes to show, everything tastes better when you didn't have to make it yourself.


Chili

2 tsp oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 lbs ground beef
1 28oz diced tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
2 19 oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 tsp chili powder
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
1 green pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
few drops worcestershire sauce
few drops hot sauce (or more to taste)

1. Brown beef in oil with onions and garlic. Drain fat.

2. Add all other ingredients and simmer for at least an hour, preferably two.

3. Remove bay leave and serve.

Pasta

This is a recipe that my Mom has been making for as long as I can remember. Growing up in our house this meal was simply known as "Pasta". We'd come home from school and throw our bags and our coats on the floor and yell out, "Mom. What's for dinner?", and when my Mom replied, "pasta" we knew that this was what she meant. It could never mean something else. Macaroni and Cheese was one thing, Spaghetti was another, but pasta was always THIS.

I still remember the first time, years ago, that I made this for Mario. I told him, "Honey, you are going to LOVE this meal!". He replies, "Great, what is it?"...."Pasta!" He kept looking at me, eyebrows raised with expectation.... finally he asks, "so...what's in it?"

Duh! Pasta! Geesh, it's really a fortunate thing for Mario that he found me, I brought a little sophistication into his life (he grew up on a farm, you know).

Oh, and last night at dinner, 4 year old Marco declares: "Mommy, this is the best Pasta in the whole wide world"... See? he gets it.


Pasta

1 lb lean ground beef
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 tsp oregano
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 5.5oz can tomato paste
2 cups water
2 cups small pasta shells
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2 cups mozarella cheese, grated

1. In a large pot, brown beef and drain fat. Stir in onion soup mix.

2. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, and water. Bring to boil. Stir in pasta and let simmer, covered for 20 minutes.

3. Stir in Parmesan cheese and pour everything into a 9"x13" dish.

4. Top with Mozarella and bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Let stand 5-10 minutes before cutting.

Gnocchi with Meat Sauce

So... what do you get when you assign 9 men the task of whipping up a fabulous dinner for 18 people? You get a fabulous dinner.... and a very very messy kitchen!

We had 18 people for dinner and a party on the weekend and to make things fun, we had the men do ALL the cooking. They had to pick the recipes, bring the ingredients and do all the preparation at my house (without any help from the girls).

The primary objective of this exercise was to allow us girls to stand off to the side with our drinks and laugh at their ineptitude. But unfortunately they all turned out to be modern men who know their way around a kitchen, and aside from a "plastic wrap injury", there are really no major casualties, and no major flops to report.

It was a great party, although I am not sure my neighbours would agree. One of the guys who shall remain nameless (it was Roger) kicked a soccer ball and hit their window. They moved in just a few days ago, way to make a great first impression, huh?

I will be posting everyone's photos and recipes (in no particular order) over the next week or so. I am going to start with Roger's Gnocchi recipe, because I think he was most excited to see his recipe in print. Roger did everything by "feel" and didn't really have amounts to give me, so I watched him fairly closely and made the gnocchi again myself a few nights later so that I could measure the amounts (and use up all the extra sauce).

The sauce was prepared by Mario (yes my Mario - just because I don't normally let him near the kitchen, doesn't mean he can't cook!!)

Gnocchi
made by Roger (Ladies... he is single, and he cooks!)


6 medium size russet potatoes (about 750g)
1 egg
1 tbsp salt
2 tbsp butter
2-3 handfuls of flour (I used just a little over 1 cup)

1. Boil the potatoes in the skin until soft, but not falling apart.

2. While still warm, peel the skin off the potatoes.


3. Mash the potatoes (preferable with a potato ricer). No lumps please.


4. Add egg and butter. Begin adding flour, a handful at a time until the mixture forms a soft dough that can be worked, but is not sticky.


5. Divide into 4 smaller balls and roll out on a floured surface into a 1" diameter log. Cut into 1" sections (these will look like little pillows). Cover with a tea towel and let sit.


(Don't let those doughy hands keep you from your beer!)

6. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add salt. Drop gnocchi in batches into the water. Cook until they float (about 2-3 minutes). Scoop out and add next batch. Serve warm with meat sauce (recipe to follow).

Meat Sauce
made by Mario (not single, so don't even think about it!)


1 1/2 lbs ground beef
6 oz pancetta, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 large stalk celery, diced
1 1/2 cup dry red wine
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
2 cups (approx) beef broth
salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute Pancetta with onions, carrots, and celery. When the onions are almost cooked, add the beef. Cook until beef is no longer pink.

2. Add the wine and simmer until mostly reduced. Add the tomatoes and about half of the beef broth.

3. Simmer for about 2 hours, adding more broth if the sauce is starting to dry out. Salt and pepper to taste.

Stuffed Peppers

Yes, it does seem like I have a trend going on, since my last post was for Stuffed Tomatoes. I'll call the theme, "Janet is Stuffed".

I made some stuffed peppers for dinner on Saturday night. I have always wanted to make stuffed peppers, but never did because Mario told me he wasn't a big fan. I think I may have converted him, since he really loved this meal. By the way, I think this can be construed to mean that I am a better cook than Mario's Mom, since she obviously failed at the art of stuffed peppers.

Claire and Marco, as was expected, ate all the filling and left the peppers behind. That was OK, except I gave them the coloured peppers (because I thought they'd like them better than the green ones). I had to take out a second mortgage to buy the coloured peppers, so it was unfortunate that they were wasted. Next time, I'll just give them a spoonful of filling and forget the peppers. There is enough healthy stuff in the filling anyway. But, all is not lost, maybe they will grow up and marry people that make even better stuffed peppers, like Mario did.


Stuffed Peppers
from the New Dieters Cookbook from Better Homes and Gardens

4 medium green pepper (make sure they can stand on their own)
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/3 cup long grain rice
1 cup water
fresh thyme and summer savoury
salt and pepper
2 tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup Monterrey Jack Cheese

1. Cut tops of peppers and scoop out insides. Boil for three minutes in a large pot of salted water. Drain upside down on paper towels.

2. Brown beef with onions, drain excess fat. Add fresh herbs (Note: the recipe called for 1/2 tsp each of dried oregano and basil, but I happened to have fresh thyme and summer savoury, so I used that, and it was very good).

3. Add 1 cup of water and rice. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered until the rice is tender (about 18 minutes).

4. Stir in diced tomatoes.

5. Stuff peppers and place in a baking dish with the pepper lids. If you have extra filling just scoop it into the dish around the peppers. Sprinkle 1 generous tbsp (ie., 3 tbsp) of grated cheese on each pepper. Bake at 375F for 20 minutes.

Prime Rib Roast and Yorkshire Pudding

As most of you might know, I ran a poll last week on my blog to help decide what I would make for dinner for Mario on Father's Day and much to Mario's delight, the Prime Rib came out on top.

The general rule when you are buying a standing rib roast is to get about one rib per two people. I only needed enough for two, plus a tiny bit for the kids, but you really can't get a standing rib roast with one rib, because then it's a rib steak (and it won't stand). The butcher asked me how big I wanted it and first I giggled like a dummy because I have a dirty mind, then I pulled my thoughts out of the gutter, and I said "three ribs please".

Why I said three ribs, I don't know. As soon as he cut it I knew it was WAY too big. And I stood there in front of the counter with a sense of impending doom as I watched him weight it then slap the evil little sticker on the package.... $47.89.... HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! Holy Moly. I should have said something, made him cut it smaller, but I felt stupid, so off I went with my massive prime rib for two!

I came home and showed it to Mario. After we finished re-starting his heart, he cut it into two roasts and I froze one for later.

There isn't really much of a recipe for the roast. We slice 2 deep holes into the meat, and shove in some whole garlic cloves. The outside gets rubbed with a little oil, and then seasoned with seasoning salt, pepper and Montreal Steak Spice. We cook this on the barbecue over indirect heat until it reaches 145° (for medium rare). We cooked our 3lb roast for just about 1.5 hours to get this temperature.


Yorkshire pudding is a mandatory side dish for prime rib. I love it, and always have. It is best if you use fat drippings from the beef instead of oil, but you can substitute oil if you don't have drippings or you want to be 'healthy' (rolling my eyes). I placed a brand new clean drip pan under the beef in the barbeque so that I was able to collect the drippings about 30 minutes before the roast was done.


One other note: for the gravy, I cheated and used a packaged mix. I know its bad and I would never do this in the winter. In the winter I would use a gravy separator to get rid of most of the fat and make the gravy in the roasting pan using water from the boiled vegetables and flour to thicken. This is harder when you are barbecuing the roast. But the added flavour from the barbecue, I think, more than makes up for the packaged gravy mix.

The very BEST part about this dinner, is the leftovers!!! Yummy hot roast beef sandwiches the next night for dinner!

Yorkshire Pudding

1 cup flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup fat drippings
3/4 tsp salt

1. Mix flour, milk and eggs together. Beat well. You can let the batter sit for about 30 minutes before you cook.

2. Place about 1 tbsp of hot fat in each of 4 large muffin tins. Place the muffin tin in a oven preheated to 450°F until the fat is hot and bubbly.

3. Take the tin out of the oven and pour in the batter. Place the tin back in and cook for anout 25 to 30 minutes. Don't take them out of the oven too soon, or else they will fall. They should puff up really high, and get nice and brown and crispy on the outside.

Filet Mignon with Roquefort Butter

Here is a very tasty and extremely easy steak recipe for the BBQ. I served this for dinner on the weekend when my husband, Mario, was out of town at a bachelor party (luckily for Mario, this is a food blog and not a personal journal, or else there would be a couple of paragraphs devoted to THAT subject... who plans a bachelor party on Mothers Day??....oh yeah.... bachelors).

Anyway, since he was away, I had my parents over for a nice Mother's Day dinner. The menu was Filet Mignon with Roquefort Butter, Caesar Potato Salad, and Mixed Greens with Pears and Walnuts in a Maple Vinaigrette. I served this with a nice warm Green Olive Fougasse (uh that's bread) and for dessert a Waffle Bread Pudding with vanilla ice cream. Sorry to say, you aren't getting all those recipes and pictures today, all that hard work has to translate into at least a few days worth of posts. So keep checking back....

Today I'm posting the steak, as it was the main attraction. This is a simple recipe because you make the Roquefort butter in advance and chill it, then slice it and put a piece on each steak when you are serving things up. I had about 1/2 the Roquefort butter leftover, so I put in the freezer for the next time we have steak. You will think this is terribly fattening (and it is not the most calorie conscious recipe I've ever posted) but considering that this "butter" makes enough for at least 8 steaks and I used 25% less fat butter, its not that bad. OK, that was me trying to justify having a second helping, I'm good at that.... "Poutine? - oh yes that's good for you - cheese is healthy!"

I did put a little of the Roquefort butter on the kids steaks and needless to say, this recipe is NOT that popular with the 4-7 age group. Note to self: next time buy a slightly cheaper cut of meat for the kids, it is frustrating to see them waste expensive food.

Filet Mignon with Roquefort Butter
Adapted from Canadian Living, Get Grilling, Summer 2007

4 beef tenderloin steaks
1/2 cup roquefort cheese, crumbled (you can substitute another blue veined cheese)
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 tbsp chives, chopped
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon rind
salt and pepper

1. Mash together the cheese and butter.

2. Mix in chives, lemon juice and grated lemon rind.

3. Place the mixture on a sheet of plastic wrap and roll into a log that is about 2" in diametre.

4. Refrigerate until firm (at least an hour).

5. Season steaks with salt and pepper. Grill over direct heat until they have reached desired doneness. Place a slice of Roquefort butter on each steak.

Polpettes with Tomato, Mozarella and Anchovies

My husband, Mario, was actually thumbing through one of my new cookbooks when he spotted this recipe. He pointed it out to me and asked if I could please make if for him. How could I say no? I was truly excited to see him reading a recipe book, and getting involved in helping me think of new recipes to blog about.

This is not a very traditional hamburger recipe - because there is no bun - nonetheless I am hoping it will qualify for Freya and Paul's Big Burger Ballyhoo 2007 hosted on their blog called Writing at the Kitchen Table.

The recipe called for the Polpettes to be fried, but I thought it seemed like a dish well suited to BBQing, and I was right! The fresh mozzarella cheese, ripe tomato and saltiness of the anchovies was a delicious combination.

I served this with some Greek potatoes that I have been making for years. The potatoes are super yummy and I will post the recipe tomorrow. Lastly, because we needed some veggies to round out the meal, I prepared some vegetable skewers with what I had on hand. I brushed them with a little olive oil, seasoned them with salt and pepper, and had Mario toss them on the grill alongside the Polpettes.

Good Job Sweetie! I might keep you around as my "Recipe Scout"....

Polpettes with Tomato, Mozarella and Anchovies
(adapted from Mediterranean Food of the Sun)

1/2 slice white bread, crusts removed
3 tbsp milk
1 lb ground beef
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 large ripe tomatoes
1 ball of fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 6 slices
12 canned drained anchovies
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. In a small saucepan (or in the microwave) warm the milk slightly and then mash the bread into the milk. Let cool.

2. Mix mashed bread, beef and beaten egg together. Season with salt and pepper and shape into 6 patties.

3. Sprinkle breadcrumbs onto a plate and dredge the patties lightly in the breadcrumbs.

4. Place the patties on the grill over direct heat. Cook for a few minutes on the first side, then turn and stack a slice of tomato, mozzarella and two anchovies and a sprinkle of parsley on each patty. Close the lid and cook until the burger has reached the desired doneness and the mozzarella has melted.

Hawaiian Meatballs

This is an old family favorite of ours. I originally got this recipe from my Mother-in-Law (a source of many of my best recipes). It is quick and tasty. I usually try to keep all the ingredients for this recipe on hand, so I can make it when I can't figure out what else to make. I also sometimes make a whole bunch of the meatballs in advance and freeze them. Then all I have to do is prepare the veggies and the sauce and put the casserole in the oven. I always serve this dish over rice. The kids are OK with this one.... Claire picks out the green pepper and Marco picks out the pineapple, mandarins, green pepper, mushrooms and almonds (that's right- he basically will only eat the meatballs and the rice, but he's only 4 and all that other stuff is just too exotic for him).

Hawaiian Meatballs

Meatballs:
1 lb ground beef, lean
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp Heinz 57 sauce
1 egg
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup rolled oats.

Remaining Ingredients:
19 oz can pineapple tidbits
1 can mandarin sections
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 can sliced mushrooms
1 green pepper chopped
1 package blanched almonds

1. For meatballs: Mix all ingredients and shape into 1" balls. Spread on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake at 400F for 10 minutes. Place meatballs in casserole dish that has a cover.

2. For sauce: In a saucepan, mix juice from the pineapples, juice from the mandarins, vinegar, soy sauce, vinegar and cornstarch. Whisk and bring to a boil. Stir until thickened.

3. To the meatballs in the casserole dish, add mushrooms (drain the mushrooms and discard the liquid first), green pepper, pineapple, mandarins and almonds (don't mix just layer it all up).

4. Pour sauce over casserole and bake covered at 350F for 30 minutes. Serve over rice.

Mexican Crostata

I had my parents over for dinner on the weekend and this is what I served. This recipe is always a huge favorite with the kids. It looks impressive but it is really very simple to make. It also slices very nicely into wedges for serving. I tried to move the whole thing onto a fancier plate for the "photo shoot" but the crostata had other ideas, so I decided to serve it from my pizza pan. It would be really nice to have a baking stone for things like this - hint hint, Mario if you're reading this, Mother's Day is just around the corner ... but I also still want the waffle iron and the ice cream machine and - oh wait, ahem yes, the Mexican Crostata......

Mexican Crostata

1 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 1/2 cups salsa
1 tsp tex mex seasoning
1 small can chopped green chiles
2 cans Pillsbury Crescent Rolls (I use whole wheat)
2 plum tomatoes
Parmesan Cheese

1. Brown beef with onions, garlic and green pepper. Drain fat.

2. Mix in salsa, cheese, chiles and seasoning.

3. Spray pizza pan with cooking spray. Start laying out the crescent rolls with the long points the middle (like a big pinwheel with 16 points). At least a few inches of each triangle should be hanging off the edge of the pan. Press with your fingers to well seal all the seams, leave the last few inches that are hanging off the pan unsealed.

4. Spoon filling in center. Begin folding each triangle over the mixture, overlapping with slices of tomato. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 375F.