Posts Tagged Beef
Curried Beef with Apple Couscous
Posted by Eileen Devlin in Beef, Low Calorie, Main Course, Vegetables on January 22nd, 2010
So after about a one week hiatus here is what I will introduce. Ohhh. . .this was fantastic! Not too spicy, not too sweet – just an even blend of spice and flavor. Additionally, this was extremely simple to make.
Here you are:
1 lb boneless beef top sirloin steak, cut 1 in thick
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp canola oil
2 medium red/green sweet peppers cut into thin strips
1 med onion, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp curry powder
1 c water
3/4 cup apple juice
2 tsp instant beef bouillon granules
1 c whole wheat couscous
1 med tart green apple (Granny Smith), coarsely chopped1/3 c chopped dry roasted peanuts
1. Lightly sprinkle steak with salt/black pepper and place on grill until desired doneness (mine was med-well/well). You can also use your broiler.
Using the stovetop grill. . .
2. Meanwhile, in a large non-stick skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add sweet pepper and onion; cook for 5 mins. Add curry and stir for one minute. Add water, juice, bouillon granules and bring to boiling. Stir in couscous and apple; remove from heat. Cover and let stand about 5 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Fluff couscous with fork.
sauteeing the vegetables - nothing better than peppers and onion!
fluffing the couscous. . .
3. Slice steak and serve over couscous mixture and top with peanuts. Makes 6 servings.
Dinner is served!
Nutritional Information:
Calories: 340
Total Fat: 9 g
Total Cholesterol: 46 mg
Protein: 25 mg
Carbohydrate: 44 g
Fiber 7 g
Sodium: 430 mg
Kitchen Scrap Lasagna
Posted by Van Santos in Italian, Main Course on December 18th, 2009
After several days of cooking and making new dishes I had a number of items left over. As I did not want to see the food go to waste I decided to make a dish mainly with the items I had leftover. The result is what I am calling “Kitchen Scrap Lasagna”
½ lb chicken breast tenders sliced paper thin
½ lb ground pork
½ lb ground beef
½ yellow onion
1 green onion sliced, diced and chopped (essentially to the consistency of dried oregano)
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)
2 cans tomato sauce (15 oz)
1 can tomato paste (the wee little 6 oz type)
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon basil
2 tablespoons parsley
6 oz of Parmesan Cheese
2 cups of cottage cheese (small curd)
8 oz shredded mozzarella
12 lasagna noodles
Here we go:
1- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, also bring a large pot of water to a boil. When water is boiling add salt (1 teaspoon) and 12 lasagna noodles. Cook for 9 mins or until noodles are “al dente” Remove and set pasta aside (all of this is going on when you are doing the other steps, btw)
2- Place 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, heat and add chicken, pork and beef. Cook and stir over medium heat for 3 mins.
3- Add yellow onions, garlic oregano and basil, stir and cook for 3 more mins.
4- Remove from heat, drain oil
5- Put meat back into the pan and over the flame, mix in the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and paste
6- Simmer over a low heat for 30 minutes while stirring to prevent burning
7- While your sauce is simmering, mix together your cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese and parsley
8- With your sauce ready, in a 9 by 13 oven safe dish spread a coat of sauce. Then lay down 3 noodles side by side – do not cross.. Add a coat of the cheese mixture, followed by sauce. Repeat once. Note that I said to make 12 noodles… I only use 9. In case some stick while cooking it always makes sense to have some extra on hand. After you lay your last 3 noodles top with sauce, followed by shredded mozzarella cheese.
9- Bake for 45 mins to an hour (depending on how brown you want your mozzarella)
The dish lasagna going in…
Our dish going into the oven
And coming out, all brown and ready to eat..
Oh, the baked goodness!
I know you are going to get tired of hearing it but this was outstanding. Truly. How good do you ask? I ate 1/3 of this pan by myself in one sitting. I have never made lasagna before, let alone just throw things together and and think it would turn out to be an edible lasagna.
A few things to note – I enjoy things a bit more “baked”, hence the darker cheese on top, as I experience a number of flavors that wouldn’t be there otherwise. Obviosuly you will want to bake to your taste.
Also, I do not care for Ricotta cheese AND I had cottage cheese left over so I simply used that. And yes, you’ll be happy to know that cottage cheese has a lower fat content!
The dish takes a bit of time to prep and bake but the payoff is worth the effort. In total you can expect about 12 servings from a pan of this size.
Oh, and on a side note… I think I may have found the perfect pasta sauce recipe in this creation.
Hot and ready to eat!
Have fun!
Mom's Old Fashion Beef Stew
Posted by Van Santos in Recipes on March 28th, 2009
As a child, during winter, one of my favorite dinner treats was when my mother would make her been stew. Something about the contrast of the cold outside and the thought of a warm meal was comforting. Not only that, the carrots were soft and retained all flavors represented in the dish, the meat just fell apart with the touch of a fork and the potatoes were little bit of heaven. It was as if all the ingredients mixed together in such a way I was unable to deny this was my comfort food of the time.
With winter waining I wanted to make Mom’s Old Fashion Beef Stew so that I may enjoy the experience once more before spring comes to town.
Ingredients
- 2.5lbs Stew Meat (Pot roast, seven bone roast, etc.)
- ½ onion
- 1 celery stalk
- 6 carrots
- 4 potatoes (Yukon gold or Red)
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 c. V-8 juice
- 2 tlbs tapioca
- 1 tlbs sugar
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cinnamon stick (optional)
Directions:
- Heat oven to 250 degrees
- Cut meat into 1 ½ inch cubes and place in 3 or 4.4 qt oven safe Casserole
- Peel and slice onion
- Slice celery and cut potatoes and carrots into chunks
- Place vegetables in pan
- Blend salt with sugar and tapioca, Sprinkle over ingredients in pan
- Place cinnamon stick in dish
- Pour V-8 juice into pan
- Wrap dish in foil and Bake stew at 250 degrees for 4 hours
All said and done, it should look something like this when heading into the oven:
As the dish cooks in the oven the moisture in the meat will add to the V-8, creating more of a “gravy” for you to enjoy. This goes very well with Sourdough bread. I was going to make some, but didn’t plan that far ahead, so I ended up buying fresh baked instead.
A few things to note:
- The Tapioca can be found in the baking aisle
- If you cut the vegetable pieces larger, you will need to cook longer until they are tender
- Make sure the foil is sealed to the edge of the pan you are using so all the heat stays inside the dish while cooking
My dinner has roughly 3 ½ hours left to cook but rest assured I’ll post a picture or two once the finished product comes out of the oven.
And there is the final product, fresh from the oven.
Additional tips/pointers/thoughts:
- I suggest you cut the meat/veggies on the small side, allows for easier eathing and additional time in the oven is not needed
- Depending on your taste, you may wish to remove the cinnamon stick
- This makes for great leftovers
For me, it’s a classic! Enjoy!
