Beef Stew

I tend to attribute my meal selection to the weather.  I don’t know if this is accurate, but it sure feels like it some days!  We had a pretty stormy day a week or so ago, and I made this yummy beef stew in my crock pot.  The smell that hit me when I finally got home around 5:45 was AMAZING.  Even if you have all the time in the world to spend cooking, you should still own a slow cooker just for the amazing aroma that will fill your house every time you cook with it.  Seriously.

This is pretty much your basic beef stew, but it is addictively delicious, I may or may not have eaten 3 bowls that night…don’t judge.  Feel free to adjust the vegetables as you see fit.  I wouldn’t have put a parsnip in here, for instance, if I didn’t have one in the fridge.  Not that it isn’t delicious, of course, but don’t go out and buy one just for this stew, you know?  Play it by ear.  You can also add veggies in here too that you might have.  Now not all veggies will really “go” with a classic beef stew, but mushrooms, for instance, would probably  be a pretty good addition here.

Ingredients (serves 6):

1.5 lbs stew meat, cut into chunks

1/3 c flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

1 bay leaf

1 tsp paprika

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 onion, chopped

2 c beef broth

1/2 c red wine

3 potatoes, diced

4 carrots, sliced

1 parsnip, diced

1 stalk celery, chopped

 

Directions:

1. Place meat in ziplock bag and add the flour, salt, and pepper; shake to coat meat with flour mixture.  Add meat and flour mixture to the slow cooker along with garlic, bay leaf, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, onion, beef broth, wine, potatoes, carrots, and celery.

2. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 10 to 12 hours, or on High setting for 4 to 6 hours.

London Broil

Now, I’m not much of a meat and potatoes kind of girl.  In fact, if you hadn’t noticed, I eat way more vegetarian dishes than I do dishes involving red meat.  This is due to quite a few factors other than sheer personal preference, including: health, calories, convenience, and price.  As I don’t cook a lot of it, I rarely buy red meat.  Every time I’m at the store, however, I’ll check the meat section to see if there’s anything really good on sale because it’s got a “use by/freeze by” date in the next few days.  Our Walmart (and I’m sure yours too) always marks these cuts down quite a bit.  Unfortunately…because I rarely buy red meat, when I do I sometimes forget about it.  This weekend, I noticed that the package in the freezer I’ve been moving around to fit other things didn’t belong to one of my roommates, but was actually the London Broil I bought on sale about a month ago!  Oops!  Luckily, beef stays good in the freezer for 3 months or something, so no worries.  Still, I was likely to forget about it again if I didn’t cook it soon, and here is the result!

Marinading the beef for as long as possible is key to making it come out fantastic.  I marinaded mine overnight, and would encourage you to do the same.  The flavors really found their way into the beef itself, and it was so good I didn’t even curse myself for not buying steak sauce!  And trust me, if you knew how much I love A-1, you’d realize what a huge recommendation that is in favor of this recipe.  I broiled the meat, but you could also grill it if you wanted to, that would be delicious as well.

Ingredients (serves 4-6):

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp vegetable oil

black pepper to taste

1/2 tsp dried oregano

2-3 lb London Broil

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together garlic, soy sauce, ketchup, vegetable oil, black pepper and oregano.

2. Score both sides of the meat in a diamond shape about 1/8 inch deep. Rub garlic mixture into both sides of the meat. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil, and refrigerate for 5 to 6 hours, or overnight.

3. Broil for 10-12 minutes on each side, remove from oven and allow the meat to rest for 10-15 minutes covered in tin foil before serving.

 

Reuben Pizza

My friend Koob and I have started making dinner together each week to have an excuse to hang out since our usual weekly trivia has been canceled for about a month now.  I saw this recipe for reuben pizza a few weeks ago and was really excited to try it.  I know making a reuben as a pizza sounds a bit weird, but seriously, it’s delicious.  Also, reubens are basically my favorite sandwich, I order them almost every time I get lunch somewhere that serves them (ps, if you’re in the Delta, try the Reubens at Crave in Cleveland and at Bistro in Greenwood, nom).  Luckily, Koob’s a fan of reubens too, so she was totally game to try this pizza with me tonight.

Ingredients:

1 batch pizza dough, store bought or homemade

1/2 c thousand island dressing

2 c shredded Swiss cheese

6 ounces deli corned beef, cut into strips

1 c sauerkraut, rinsed and drained

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease a large pizza pan and spread the dough out on the pan.

2. Spread half of the salad dressing over the pizza dough. Sprinkle with half of the Swiss cheese. Arrange corned beef over the cheese, then drizzle with the remaining salad dressing. Top with sauerkraut and remaining Swiss cheese.

3. Bake for about 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until cheese melts and crust begins to become golden brown.

 

Beef Tenderloin with Mushrooms and Onions

It’s been a while since I posted a recipe.  It’s been an incredibly busy week at school, and I’ve had an unusual number of things going on after school this week as well.  Luckily, however, today is Sunday!  So that means I had plenty of time to cook.  I made more butternut squash muffins this morning, and then decided to make a delicious dinner that (surprisingly) did not involve chicken!  Impressive, I know.  Added bonus, this recipe comes from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook my mom gave me last year for Christmas!  It’s an awesome cookbook, full of tips and tricks for cooking, not just recipes.

Ingredients:

1 beef tenderloin steaks

1 tbsp brown mustard

2 tbsp olive oil

3 cups mushrooms, sliced

1 onion, sliced

1/3 cup red wine or apple juice

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp Italian seasoning

Directions:

1. Spread mustard evenly over both sides of steaks.  In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add steaks and reduce heat to medium.  Cook to desired doneness; turning once. Transfer steaks to serving platter and keep warm.

2. Add mushrooms and onions; cook and stir for 4 minutes.  Stir in wine or apple juice, Worcestershire sauce, and Italian seasoning.  Simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes.  Spoon over steaks to serve.