Archive for the ‘BEEF’ Category
Taco Spring Rolls
I came up with this on a whim, seemed like a good idea, and it was! Very well liked by the family. This does take time as the meat mixture needs to cool to room temperature, as the key to making spring rolls is to use room temp filling, a warm filling will break the wrappers when you roll them. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams ground pork, or beef, (1 lb)
- 1 packet taco seasoning mix, (Shortcut)
- 1 cup water
- 120 grams lettuce, chopped, (4 oz)
- 150 grams Cheddar cheese, or a cheese blend, shredded, (5 oz)
- 1 package spring roll wrappers, 5.5 x 5.5 inch wrappers, at least 20 wrappers, thawed
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 1-2 tablespoons water
- cooking oil, for frying
- dipping sauce of your choice, salsa would be good, and in Thailand, sweet chili sauce
Instructions
- Heat a non stick pan on medium heat and add the ground pork. Break it up as it cooks with your spatula.
- Break the meat up finely and to cook until little to no pink is visible. Since I used pork, I drained the fat.
- Once the meat is drained, add the taco seasoning packet and 1 cup of water.
- Stir together and simmer the seasoned meat until the water is all evaporated, stirring occasionally. Once no liquid remains, remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool to room temperature. If you are pushed for time, you can add the meat mixture to a mixing bowl to cool, but why dirty up another bowl, just leave it in the pan on an unused burner or counter top. To cool takes 1-2 hours.
- Take the spring roll wrappers out of the freezer and place on the counter to thaw. Go ahead and prep the lettuce and cheese.
- When you are ready to roll the spring roll, add the lettuce and cheese to the cooled meat mixture.
- Give the filling a good stir to mix everything together, there, you just made the filling, which is much faster than traditional spring rolls. In a small bowl, mix together the corn starch and 1-2 tablespoons of water, this is your glue for the next step.
- For this step, it is best to have two people, one to pull the wrappers, one to roll. Lay a spring roll wrapper, smooth side down on the counter with one corner pointed towards you. Place about 1-1 1/2 tablespoons of filling near the corner closest to you. Fold the corner nearest you up and over the filling and roll away until you are at the widest point of the wrapper. Use your fingers and dip into the glue and rub that on the two side that are away from you, be generous. Now fold one side, left or right, towards the middle, the repeat with the other side, now it should look like an open envelope. Now continue rolling away from you to complete the roll. If the point flap does not stay glued down, just dab a bit more glue on it. Repeat until the filling is all used. I made 21 rolls, you may make 18 or 25, depending on how much filling you are using. Once you have done this a few times this actually goes pretty fast. The reason for the two people is you do not want the wrappers drying or they will tear when pulling them apart.
- And here they are all rolled. My wife and I made these at about 3 pm but did not dry them until about 10 pm, so we just covered them with foil and placed in the fridge.
- When you are ready to fry them, heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a pan, you want it hot but not smoking. When the oil is hot, fry 4 to 5 rolls at a time until golden brown then turn over until the other side is golden brown. Drain on paper towels and continue frying in batches until all are cooked.
- Serve with dipping sauces of your choice. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost.
Shortcut: Taco Seasoning Mix.
Made this on a whim, I researched this idea for spring rolls and every recipe seemed way over engineered, this seemed like the most logical way, and it worked perfectly.
Broken Meatball Spaghetti
The author of this recipe stated she never had enough meatballs in her spaghetti, she solved that problem with this recipe, and it is good! Links to the Shortcuts are listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams dry spaghetti, or linguine, (1 lb)
- 500 grams ground beef, or pork, (1 lb)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, (Shortcut)
- 1 egg
- 1 cup onion, chopped
- 1 cup Italian bread crumbs, (Shortcut)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 3 cups pasta sauce, (Shortcut)
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- Cheddar cheese, shredded, for topping, optional, as desired
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the beef, onion, bread crumbs, egg, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Get in there with your hands and mix everything together. Now at this point, you are thinking you are going to make meatballs, well, you're not, just mix well and go wash off your hands.
- Now heat a large pot of salted water to a boil, when the water is boiling, add the spaghetti (I used linguine) and cook until just tender. Drain.
- While the water is heating/pasta cooking, Heat a large non stick pan on medium heat, when hot, add the meat mixture you made, flatten out the meat and chop it up roughly with the spatula, don't break up the meat to much, goal is large chunks but not meatball size. Now just let it cook, no more breaking it up, just let it cook until you start to see the edges cooked.
- When the edges are cooked through, turn the meat over, break it up just a bit, keeping the chunks large, not quite meat ball size, but nice large pieces.
- When there is no more red in the meat, add the pasta sauce and cayenne pepper and stir into the meat, reduce heat to low and let the sauce get hot. Now that, is a meat sauce!
- Once the pasta is drained, add to the pan and mix with the sauce.
- Add to plates, top with shredded cheese as desired, enjoy.
Notes
I will say fair cost per serving based on the beef alone.
Shortcuts: Italian Seasoning, Italian Bread Crumbs, Pasta Sauce.
Provided by Lori Harbin-Combs of Just A Pinch Recipe Club and his recipe is here.
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United States.
Sirloin & Provolone Surprise aka Ham & Cheese Pizza Lasagna
This recipe is an original from a good friend, and Chef, and it is tasty! This can be tailored many ways to make it your own. The recipe as stated is for using one 5 inch ramekin. For the photos, I doubled the ingredients and used three 5 x 7 inch baking dishes (Tesco).
Ingredients
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1/4 cup carrot, diced small
- 1 clove garlic, smashed and minced
- 250 grams ground sirloin, (1/2 lb)
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 3-5 tablespoons tomato sauce
- 3 slices Provolone cheese
Instructions
- You are going to need a small baking dish, the dish used by the Chef was a ramekin measuring 5 inches across and 2 1/2 inches deep with a volume of 10 ounces.
- Prep the tomatoes and carrots. Measure out all the spices. I also added some fresh Shiitake mushrooms sliced on an angle.
- Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F).
- Heat a non stick pan on medium heat and when hot add the sirloin, breaking up the meat as it cooks until just a little pink remains visible, about 3-5 minutes. I used minced pork, so you have to drain the fat from that once it is cooked through.
- Add the garlic, cumin, basil, oregano, parsley, black pepper, and salt and give the meat a stir and cook for about 1 minute.
- Add the tomatoes, carrot, and tomato sauce, and stir together. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes. Taste the sauce and adjust salt and pepper or spices, as needed. If using mushrooms, add them now as well.
- Coat the inside of your ramekin or other suitable oven safe dish with some olive oil. Add a slice of Provolone to the bottom of the dish. I used 5 x 7 inch baking dishes, I added two slices of smoked ham to the bottom of each dish, then topped that with cheese. Cheese I used was Gouda, which is square so went with 1 1/2 slices for each layer.
- Add half the meat sauce and spread evenly.
- Top the sauce with another slice of Provolone, then add the rest of the meat sauce and top that with the last slice of Provolone. I also added two slices of smoked ham in the middle layer followed by the cheese.
- Place the dish in the oven and bake for 12-14 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Increase the heat to 190 C (375 F) and let the the cheese brown a little, about 3-4 minutes. If using a counter top oven (like me) switch to the top coil for the last 3-4 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes.
- Serve with bread or sides of your choice and enjoy. The 5 x 7 inch dishes were perfect for 2 servings.
Notes
Low cost per serving as written, when using larger baking dishes, more cheese is needed taking this up to fair value per serving. Some of the variants will also increase the per serving cost as well.
Variants: 1. Replace the sirloin with regular ground beef or pork but drain the fat before adding the spices and tomatoes and such. 2. In place of Provolone, use Gouda, Emmental (Swiss), Cheddar, or cheese of your choice. 3. Add some cayenne pepper to the sauce. 4. Add a handful of al dente pasta to the sauce at the last 3 minutes of cooking. 5. Add 1-2 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese to the sauce. 6. Add sauteed mushrooms to the sauce. 7. Add a layer of pepperoni on each layer of cheese. 8. Add a layer of thin sliced smoked ham to each layer.
Provided by Chef Andy Anderson of Just A Pinch Recipe Club and his recipe is here.
United States.
United States.
Beef Stir Fry
This recipe comes from a good friend that learned this many years ago, his words, "the secret is in the sauce." Amounts are listed for the sauce ingredients, for the beef and veggies, base those amounts on what you would like for making two servings, basically use equal amounts of each, so this is more of a guide on what you want to use for veggies. The main part of the recipe is the sauce.
Ingredients
- beef steak, sliced thin
- snow peas, or snap peas, in the pods
- tomatoes, sliced into wedges
- green bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
For the Marinade
- 2 tablespoons tamari, or soy sauce (tamari is preferred)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
For the Sauce and Cooking
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- Sriracha Chili Garlic sauce, (Rooster Sauce as it is called in the US)
- 2-3 cloves garlic, smashed and sliced
- fresh ginger, juliened, about 1 teaspoon or so
- cooking oil, as needed
Instructions
- Slice the beef first and place in a bowl, add the tamari and sugar and mix into the beef, set this aside to marinate for 15 minutes.
- While the beef is marinating, prep the vegetables and gather up the sauce ingredients.
- Heat a non stick pan with about 1-2 tablespoons of oil, when hot, add the garlic and ginger, stir fry until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the beef, marinade and all and stir fry until the beef is about half pink, then add the vegetables, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and Sriracha sauce.
- Stir fry until the pea pods and pepper are tender (the beef will be just cooked through at this point).
- Place on a serving plate and serve with rice. Enjoy.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Easy Ground Beef Hoagies
This comes from a friend and is highly recommended. This sounds absolutely delicious. On my to make, taste, and enjoy list, I might even go into a food coma with this dish. This recipe is wide open to changes to suit your families tastes as well. Change it up and make it your own.
Ingredients
- 500 grams ground beef, (1 lb)
- 500-750 grams fresh white button mushrooms, sliced, (1-1 1/2 lbs)
- 1 small onion, quartered and sliced
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 packet mushroom gravy
- 1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, cheese, additional cheese for topping if desired
- hoagie rolls, as needed, or hotdog buns
- extra light olive oil, as needed
- salt and pepper, as desired
Instructions
- Prep the mushrooms and onion.
- Heat a large non stick pan and add the olive oil, when hot, add the beef, mushrooms, and onion.
- Cook, breaking up the beef, until the beef is browned and cooked through.
- Drain the beef mixture then place on paper towels to drain even more. Wipe out the pan and return the beef mixture to the pan and set the pan aside.
- Prepare the gravy according to the packet instructions, when good and thick, pour into the pan with the beef mixture. Add the 1 cup of Mozzarella cheese and stir together. Heat on low to medium low heat until the cheese is melted in, and the mixture is heated through.
- Slice the hoagie rolls, spoon the beef mixture into the rolls, and top with additional cheese.
- Serve with chips, fries, a dill pickle spear (a must), salad, or any sides you desire.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Variants: 1. Add diced green bell pepper or jalapeno peppers. 2. Add 1-2 slices of Provolone in the hoagie before adding the beef mixture.
Recipe adapted from Just A Pinch Recipe Club, Elaine Bovender, and the original recipe is here.
United States.
Photo provided by Just A Pinch Recipe Club, Amy Herald.
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United States.
Photo provided by Just A Pinch Recipe Club, Amy Herald.
United States.
Steak & Kidney Pie
This comes from a good friend and sounds like a good way to use pork kidneys. I look forward to making this. If you have never cleaned kidneys before, no worries, I have a shortcut to show you that as well. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Equipment
- Oven
- Pie Dish
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 750 grams steak, cheapest cut you can find, diced, (1½ lb)
- 250 grams lamb kidneys, or pork kidneys, cleaned and diced, (8 oz), Shortcut
- 2 medium onions, diced
- ¼ cup all purpose flour, 30 grams if using a scale
- 3 cups beef stock, fresh or from powder, and as needed
- salt and pepper, as desired, to taste
- 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
- 300 grams puff pastry, sheet or ball, (10 oz)
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large non stick pan on medium high heat, when hot, brown the beef on all sides, work in batches if needed, not trying to cook through, just get most of it browned. Remove the beef and set aside.
- Same pan, add the kidney and brown on all sides, again, not trying to cook through, just brown it.
- When the kidney is browned, add the onion to the pan and saute for 3-4 minutes until the onion is soft.
- Return the beef to the pan and mix everything together, then sprinkle the flour in and stir to coat everything with flour.
- Pour in the beef stock and stir together, bring the heat to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Simmer uncovered for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally, If the liquid reduces to much, add stock as needed.
- Remove from heat, season with salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce as desired, stirring in and tasting. Set this aside and allow to cool completely.
- Preheat your oven to 220° C (425° F). Get out a pie dish.
- When the meat mixture has completely cooled, pour it into the pie dish.
- Roll out the puff pastry to just under 1/4 inch thick, use the rolling pin and transfer to the pie dish and cover the top and flute the edge. Brush the top with the beaten egg.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown brown and puffed.
- Serve with mashed potatoes and vegetables for a complete, and filling meal.
Notes
I will price this next time I get beef, for now I will say fair cost per serving.
Shortcut: Pork Kidneys 101.
Variant: 1. Use pork kidneys in place of lamb kidneys.
Beef & Rice Skillet
This sounds like an easy to put together dish with common ingredients. On my to make and taste list for sure.
Ingredients
- 500 grams ground beef, (1 lb)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 cup carrots, diced
- 1 cup potatoes, cubed
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup dry Jasmine rice, rinsed
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, or as desired to taste
Instructions
- In a large non stick pan, add the beef, onion, and garlic on medium heat and cook, breaking up the beef with the spatula. Cook until the beef is no longer pink. Drain liquid from the pan.
- Add the potatoes, carrots, rice, and water, stir together.
- Cover and let simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the rice is tender and potatoes cooked through. Stir in the soy sauce and blacker pepper and simmer for another minute or two.
- Serve with a vegetable like broccoli or cauliflower on the side, or a salad.
Notes
Low cost per serving.
Variants: 1. Replace the water with beef stock. 2. Add diced bell pepper. 3. Add fresh sliced mushrooms. 4. Use ground pork instead of beef.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
Beef & Potato Patties
This was apparently created in the US during meat rations during World War II, and it sounds really good. On my to make and taste list. Link to the Shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 375 grams ground beef, (3/4 lb / 12 oz)
- 375 grams potatoes, finely shredded, (3/4 lb / 12 oz)
- 1/4 cup onion, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons green bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
- 1 cup tomato juice, Shortcut
- 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, add the first 6 ingredients and using your hands, mix together well. Roughly divide into 4 parts. Remove each part and shape into a ball then flatten to make a patty, continue with the remaining parts, giving you 4 patties.
- In a large non stick pan, heat the oil on medium high heat, then working in batches if needed, add the patties to the pan and brown them on each side,
- Drain any fat from the pan, pour in the tomato juice, set to medium heat and cover and let the patties simmer for about 20-25 minutes or until cooked through (sacrifice one and cut one in half to check).
- Remove patties to a serving dish, keeping as much tomato juice in the pan as possible and cover. Whisk the flour into the 1/4 of water. then while stirring the tomato juice in the pan, slowly mix in the flour mixture. Stir constantly until the sauce has thickened to your liking.
- Spoon the sauce over the patties and serve with sides of your choice.
Notes
Hamburger Casserole IV
As you can tell by the name, this is the 4th variant of this classic American comfort dish. A complete meal, beef, vegetables, and pasta. On my to cook and taste list, real soon. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 170 grams dry egg noodles, (6 oz)
- 500 grams ground beef, (1 lb)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
- 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
- 1 1/2 cups pasta sauce, Shortcut
- 1 1/2 cups whole peeled tomatoes, drained, chopped, save the juice to drink later
- salt and pepper, to taste, as desired
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 2 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded, divided
Instructions
- Cook the egg noodles in a pot of boiling water until just tender, then drain and rinse.
- While the water is heating for the noodles, go ahead and preheat your oven to 190 C (375 F). Get out a 2 1/2 quart baking dish. I will verify the dimensions for a baking dish for this as well.
- Also while the water is heating for the noodles, go ahead and brown the beef, onion, and garlic in a large non stick pan or pot. When browned and cooked through, drain any fat.
- Add the pasta sauce, tomatoes, vegetables, oregano, basil, and season with salt and pepper as desired, to taste. Simmer to let the flavors blend together for about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add the drained egg noodles and 1 cup of cheese. Mix then pour into the baking dish and spread out evenly.
- Top with the remaining 1 cup of cheese. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve.
Notes
I will price this when I get beef again. For now, I will say low cost per serving.
Shortcut: Pasta Sauce.
Inspired by Spend With Pennies and the link to this recipe is here.
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United States.
Maid-Rites
This recipe is new to me as I had never heard of this type of sandwich. This recipe is from the Mark Twain Dinette in Hannibal, MO, and they have been making these since 1942. The recipe was provided to me by a good friend who has been enjoying these for 50 years, at the same dinette.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/4 yellow onion, minced
- 500 grams ground beef, (1 lb)
- 1 cup beef broth, fresh or from powder
- 2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- hamburger buns, steamed, for serving
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a non stick pan on medium heat, when hot, add the onion and cook until just tender.
- Add the ground beef and break it into crumbles while it cooks using your spatula.
- As the beef begins to brown, stir in the beef broth. Then add the mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper.
- Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally or until the liquid is cooked out.
- Spoon the crumbly meat mixture on a steamed hamburger bun. Serve topped with your choice of pickle slices, sliced onion, ketchup, or mustard, or any combination. Don't forget a couple a pickle spears on the side as well.
- Honorable mention by my friend providing this recipe: "I have been eating these for like 50 yrs. I prefer mine with sliced onion and mustard." So when I make this, that is what I am going to use as well, sounds like a winner.
Notes
Low cost.
Recipe provided by good friend, Patti Stone, and her recipe is here.
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