Beef Braise

Traditional Beef Braise

3-4 lbs beef roast, large cubes (2 inch)
coarse salt
black pepper
2 T canola oil
1 onion, chopped
4 celery stalks, thick sliced
6 carrots, thick sliced
1-2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
4 fresh thyme sprigs
3/4 C balsamic vinegar
3/4 C red wine vinegar
6 C chicken stock or broth
1/4 C fresh parsley, coarsely chopped

Season beef with salt and pepper.  Place oil in a large dutch oven or pot over med-high heat and brown pieces of meat in a single layer. Brown all sides, turning with tongs and doing it in batches. When done, transfer beef to side bowl and continue until all pieces are done.

Turn the heat down and add onion, carrot, celery, garlic and thyme. Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping up al the crusty bits int he pan. Cook for 6-8 mins, until they just start to get some color.  Pour in the vinegars.  Turn the heat up to high and reduce the liquid by half, about 10 mins.

Stir in the broth and parsley and bring to a boil.  Return the beef to the pot, along with accumulated juices.  The stock mixture should almost cover the beef.  Cover and reduce the heat to low.  Braise until the meat is very tender, about 3 1/2 hours.

Remove the lid and pierce the beef with a paring knife, it will fall apart.  If you use a well marbled roast, the cooking time seems to be less that if you use a lower fat roast.  Both end up tender, you may just need to cook the lower fat beef longer.

We love to serve it over Roasted Potatoes.

*Recipe adapted from The Lemonade Cookbook
*Very similar flavor to Beef Bourguignon but a lot simpler.

Truman's Quick Chili

Truman's Quick Chili

1 onion, diced
1 lb ground beef
2 cans Nalley's Chili
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can black bean drained
1 can great northern beans drained
1/2 C ketchup
2 T brown sugar (or more to taste)
salt and pepper to taste

Brown ground beef in large pot.  Add onion and cook until translucent.  Add chili, tomatoes and beans.  Mix well and bring to a simmer. Add ketchup and sugar.  Simmer for a few minutes and then taste.  Add salt and pepper.  Serve with cheddar cheese and sour cream.

**Truman requests chili for almost every dinner, so I told him I was going to name it after him.

**I'm pretty sure there is a way better chili recipe out there, but I love that I can throw this one together in about 20 minutes or less and there are never left overs.  And I usually bake some corn muffins too, it's a kid favorite!

Heather's "Retro" Spaghetti Pie

Heather's "Retro" Spaghetti Pie

8 oz. spaghetti, broken in 2 in. pieces
2 Tbsp. butter
1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 egg, well beaten
1 1/2 lb. ground beef
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 16oz jar spaghetti sauce or 2 cups homemade
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. leaf oregano, crumbled
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
8 oz. cottage cheese
4 oz. shredded mozzarella

1. Cook spaghetti in boiling water, following label directions; drain. Place in 9x13 pan, or a 9 inch deep pie plate. Stir in butter, parmesan, salt, pepper, and egg until thoroughly combined. Spread mixture evenly in pan.
2. Sauté ground beef in oil in large skillet until meat is brown; drain excess fat. Stir in spaghetti sauce, sugar, oregano, and garlic salt.
3. Spread cottage cheese over spaghetti layer, top with meat mixture, then mozzarella.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 min. Serves 8.

Vege or Meat Lasagna

Vegetable Lasagna

10 cooked lasagna noodles
6 Cups favorite marinara sauce
5 cups grated  mozzarella cheese
1 pkg chopped spinach thawed (the one in the box)
1 zucchini diced
6 mushrooms diced
6 artichokes diced (from a can)
1 garlic clove minced (or 1 tsp prepared minced garlic)
1 14oz container of ricotta cheese (I use low fat)
¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
1 C chopped onion
1 C shredded parmesan cheese

Cook noodles as directed. Rinse in cold water and let sit for a few minutes.  Cook onion, and garlic in sauté pan.  After onions are translucent, add spinach and cook until most of the water is evaporated. Turn off the heat and add ricotta cheese, stir until combined. Add nutmeg to the mixture. Mix well.
In a 9 x 13 pan, place a small amount of sauce on the bottom just to prevent noodles from sticking.  Place 5 noodles in bottom of pan, overlapping to fit.  Spread half of the spinach mixture on top of noodles. Top with half of zucchini, mushrooms and artichoke hearts. Sprinkle the vegetables with some salt.  Sprinkle half of mozzarella cheese on top of vege mixture.  Then pour and spread 3 cups of marinara sauce. Repeat noodle, spinach, vegetable, cheese and sauce layers.  Sprinkle parmesan cheese over sauce.  Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Meat Lasagna
**To make meat lasagna, add 1 lb of ground beef into onion and garlic mixture, with a teaspoon of  Italian seasoning.  Don’t add nutmeg or spinach.  Cook until browned and most of the moisture is evaporated.  Add 6 (or more) cups of sauce to the beef mixture. When layering, put small amount of sauce before noodles, 5 noodles and then half of ricotta container and spread the best you can over noodles. I usually use my hands.  Top with mozzarella and then meat sauce. Repeat layers and then top with parmesan. Bake the same.

***For the picture above (to satisfy all tastes) I used a very large lasagna pan and did 1/3 vege and 2/3 meat.  It worked out perfect. I used about 16 noodles and increased all of my other ingredients.  Also, there are 100's of variations, different vegetables,  using italian sausage with the ground beef, etc. Mix it up and do what sounds good to you.

Our favorite marinara is Giada's Marinara, but a bottled or can sauce works great too!

Julia's Beef Bourguinon

Julia's Beef Bourguinon

6oz chunk of bacon (have yet to find this...I use thick cut)
1 T olive or vegetable oil
3 lb lean stewing beef cut into 2 inch cubes
1 sliced carrot (used 2)
1 sliced onion
1 t salt 1/4 t peppre
2 T flour
3 C full bodied red wine or grape juice
2-3 C beef stock
1 T tomato paste
2 cloved mashed garlic
1/2 t thyme
1 crumbled bay leaf

18-24 pearl onions, peeled
1 1/2 T butter
1 1/2 T oil
1/2 C beef bouillon
Herbs for bouquet: 4 sprigs parsley, 1/2 bay leaf, 1/4 t thyme tied in cheesecloth

2 T butter
1 T oil
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, wash, dried, whole, sliced or quartered

Boiled potatoes for serving.

Take chunk of bacon and remove rind, cut bacon into strips 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches long.  Simmer rind and bacon for 10 minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water.  Drain and dry.

Preheat oven to 450.

Saute bacon in a 9-10 inch fireproof casserole (enameled cast iron works great) in the 1 T oil for 2-3 minutes to brown lightly.  Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.  Continue to heat oil until almost smoking before sauteing beef.

Dry beef in paper towels; it will not brown if it is damp.  Sate a few pieces at a time, in hot oil and bacon faut until nicely browned on all sides.  Add it to the bacon on the side.

In the same fat, brown sliced carrot and onion.  Pour off the sauteing fat.

Return beef and bacon to the casserole and toss with the salt and pepper.  Then sprinkle on the flour and toss again to coat the beef lightly with the flour.  Set casserole uncovered in middle position of the preheated oven for 4 minutes.  Toss the meat and return tot he oven for 4 more minutes. (This browns the flour and covers the meat with a light crust.)  Remove casserole and turn oven down to 325.

Stir in the wine or juice and enough beef stock so that the meat is barely covered.  Add the tomato paste, garlic, herbs, and bacon rind.  bring to simmer on top of the stove.  Then cover the casserole and set in lower third of oven.  Regulate heat so liquid simmers very slowly for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The meat is done when for pierces it easily.

While beef is cooking, prepare onions and mushrooms.

(Brown -braised Onions) Add 1 1/2 T butter and 1 1/2 T oil to saute pan (or enameled skillet) over medium heat. When the butter and oil are bubbling, add onions and saute for about 10 minutes, rolling the onions about so they will brown as evenly as possible.  Be careful not to break their skins.  You cannot expect to brown them uniformly.  Pour beef bouillon, salt and pepper to taste and add the herb bouquet.  cover ans simmer slowly for 40-50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape, and the liquid has evaporated.  Remove herbs. Set aside.

(Sauteed Mushrooms)On high heat, melt butter and oil.  As soon as the butter foam has begun to subside, add the mushrooms.  Toss and shake the pan for 4-5 minutes.  During their saute the mushrooms will at first absorb the fat.  In 2-3 minutes the fat will reappear on their surface, and the mushroom swill be gin to brown.  As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat. Set aside.

When the meat is tender, pour the contents of the casserole into a sieve set over a saucepan.  Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it.  Distribute the cooked onions and mushrooms over the meat.  Skim the fat off the sauce.  simmer sauce for a minute or two, skimming off additional fat as it rises.  you should have about 2 1/2 C of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.  If too thin, boil it down rapidly.  If too thick, mix in a few tablespoons of stock.  Tast carefully for seasoning.  pour sauce over the meat and vegetables. Cover casserole and simmer for 2-3 minutes.

Serve over or next to boiled potatoes.

**Magleby New Year's Tradition
**I made this once again, 1.1.2012 and the kids were wolfing it down much more than usual....oooing and aaaawwing over it's deliciousness,  and then I saw the bowl of mushrooms and onions that I had forgotten to put it. Hmmm....that would save me a lot of time, if I didn't love those darn little onions so much! :)

Pot Roast

Pot Roast

Chuck Roast
Salt and Pepper
Oven Safe Pot

Salt and pepper roast. Brown the roast on all sides in a little oil if needed.  Place in 200 degree oven at least 10 hours before eating time.  After an hour turn down heat to 175.  Drain drippings to make gravy. Shreds perfectly.

Gravy

Pour drippings into a fat separator.  Skim 1/3 C fat off top and discard rest. Thicken with flour to make a rue. Bring to a bubble. Add drippings and more water or bouillon if needed for flavor and quantity.

Game Day stew

Game Day Stew

1 lb stew meat (browned)
3 carrots sliced
2 potatoes cubed
1 pkg Lipton onion soup powder
1 -2 can cream of mushroom soup

Mix soup with water (1/2 or 1 can).  Combine all ingredients and put in roasting pan. Cover with lid and put into oven at 250 for  4-5 hours.  Be sure there is enough liquid so that it won't dry out.  This recipe can be increased to the number who will eat it, more meat, veges, etc.  Whatever fits the taste buds.

**This recipe comes from Patty Edwards who set me and Hans up on our first date.  We love her!  She would make this stew on a BYU football game day and it would be put in before the game started and would be done when they got home!