The Mamaw Project- Beef Stroganoff September 23, 2009

Beef Stroganoff a la Mamaw

Now that people have seen Julie and Julia, everyone has taken to making things out of Mastering The Art of French Cooking. I myself have taken on a similar project, just with a more personal spin. My husband lost his grandmother this spring and she was a phenomenal cook. Over the years I had taken mental notes, watched her cook as often as I could. I even got to make home made divinity with her one Christmas! She left behind a library of recipes that are just great. So now, I have taken it upon myself to make things that she used to make. Now, I am not saying they are as good as she made them. Not even close. But she did have 60 years of cooking experience on me! I am going slow and doing the favorites over and over so that they will be as good as Mamaw’s. One day. In about 30 more years. This recipe was a favorite of one on the cousins. When I asked my MIL how come she never makes it, she said it was too fattening. It is! This is not a diet dinner, people. It is however, one of the best things I have made in a long time.

∞ Mother Butter

Beef Stroganoff

1 large or 2 small onions diced

8 Tbsp butter, unsalted

flour for dredging

1 garlic clove, minced

1/3 c. water

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 pint mushrooms, sliced and cleaned

1 lb sirloin steak, sliced thin

1 pint sour cream

1) Brown onion in 4 Tbsp butter over med. heat for 8-10 minutes

2) Dredge meat in flour, salt and pepper

3) Remove onions from skillet. Put remaining butter in skillet and brown floured meat over med high heat.

4) Add garlic to meat. Cook 1-2 minutes

5) Add water, soup mushrooms and onions into pan.

6) Cook for 15-20 minutes uncovered.

7) Remove from heat and stir in sour cream.

8 ) Serve over hot egg noodles or rice.

Crock Pot Asian-Inspired Beef Ribs August 30, 2009

Short ribs.

As you may know, I am having trouble making anything truly amazing in my crock pot. Usually the house smells amazing and the food is “meh.” When I made these ribs, the house didn’t smell like much, but these ribs are definitely the best thing I’ve made so far in the slow cooker. The meat was super tender and all the Asian flavors went together really well. This recipe comes from Recipezaar.

Serves 6

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 2 tablespoons ginger, minced
* 1 tablespoon garlic, crushed
* 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
* 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
* 3 tablespoons brown sugar
* 2 tablespoons sesame oil
* 2 tablespoons instant minced onion
* 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
* 2 tablespoons sake
* 1 tablespoon five-spice powder (I didn’t have this, so I added 1/8 tsp. cinnamon and 1/8 tsp. ground cloves)
* 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 4 lbs beef back ribs or short rib of beef

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients except for ribs in crock pot.

2. Add the ribs one at a time, coating them with sauce and stacking them as you go.

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.

4. Remove ribs and pour sauce into a separate container.

5. Allow fat to separate and skim off of top (there will be quite a bit).

6. Return sauce to meat, and serve.

GRADE: A-

♥Lady Butterbuns

Pica What? August 8, 2009

Yes, that is exactly what my almost 4 year old said to me when I told him what I was making for dinner last night. “Picadillo”, I said again. “Pica who?” What can I say? His timing is pretty good. Still, he managed to eat a good portion of this Spanish dish at dinner later that night. It really is quite good. A perfect cool weather one-pot wonder if you will. Since we have yet to have a 90 degree day this summer it went down well. I have to say, it is not vegetarian friendly. It is all meat baby. A little something about this recipe. I am publishing it verbatim. This is how it came to me- this is a seperate topic for another post. I will make notes as I go.

Picadillo

1 lb. each chicken breasts, italian sausage, ground beef (cut chicken and sausage into bite sized pieces)

1/2 c olive oil

4 sliced onions

3 cloves garlic (minced)

1 can tomatoes (I used a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes)

1 can tomato paste, large

2 green peppers, diced

1 can green chilies, small

1 bottle green olives, small

3/4 c raisins

1 tsp worcestershire sauce

4 tbsp Pickapeppa Sauce

bay leaf, salt, pepper, basil, oregano ( I did these all to taste except I used 2 bay leaves)

1) Brown meat in olive oil. (Do this in batches to that everything gets a good sear)

2) Add everything else in dutch oven with meat. Simmer for 30 minutes

3) Serve over saffroned rice.

∞ Mother Butter

Beef Burgundy June 17, 2009

Beef Burgundy

Yup, I dragged out the crock pot again. This time I made beef burgundy (boeuf bourguignon for the snobs). This is the best thing I’ve made in the crock pot so far, but considering I gave Jimmy Fallon’s chili a B-, that’s ain’t exactly praise. Honestly, I feel like I need to double all the spice recommendations in crock pot recipes to get any flavor out of them at all.

Anyway, this recipe comes from Cooking Light’s Slow Cooker recipe book.

• 10 oz pearl onions (Unbelievably, Vons did not have any pearl onions, so I omitted this)
• 2 pounds top round steak, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 1/2 cups sliced onion (1 large)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• cooking spray
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 1/3 cups beef broth
• 1/2 cup Burgundy or other dry red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (stupidly, I forgot to buy this so I threw in some tomato sauce–not the same thing!)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (I didn’t have this so I used herbs de provence, which includes thyme)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I used WAY more than this. WAY WAY more)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper (yup, used WAY more of this too)
• 1 bay leaf
• 8 oz button mushrooms, sliced
• 3 cups cups hot, cooked egg noodles

1. Drop pearl onions in boiling water, cook 1 minutes. Drain onions, peel.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add steak; saute 5 minutes or until browned. Place steak in a 3-quart electric slow cooker (I have a 6-quart, which was fine–no burning). Add sliced onion and garlic to pan; coat with cooking spray, and saute over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Sprinkle flour over onion-garlic mixture; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add broth, wine and tomato paste, stirring constantly. Cook 1 minute or until thick. Add pearl onions, dried thyme, salt, pepper, bay leaf and mushrooms.

3. Pour wine mixture over steak in cooker. Cover and cook on LOW 6-7 hours (I cooked it for 6). Discard bay leaf. Serve over noodles. Garnish with thyme leaves, if desired. I topped it with sour cream, which added a nice cool note.

GRADE: B

♥Lady Butterbuns

Jimmy Fallon’s Crock-Pot Chili June 4, 2009

Not too long ago I bought my first crock pot, but there’s a problem: at the end of five or six hours whatever is cooking in the pot smells amazing. The whole houses smells like warm, starchy comfort. But then what’s inside never tastes quite as good as it smells. The following is another example, although I have to say it’s at least partly my own fault.

Here’s the sich: I found this recipe a few weeks ago on Martha Stewart’s website (watch the video if you have a few minutes; Jimmy is cute) and last Sunday I decided to make it. Unfortunately, it was already 3:30p by the time I got home with the ingredients and our friends were coming over at 8:00p. As you’ll see in the directions, the total cooking time for this chili is about 5h30m, but who wants to eat at 9:00p? So I cooked it for about an hour less that I should have. I think this is the reason that the chili was so runny. But there was also a taste issue, which I don’t think longer cooking would have addressed. Despite the fact that it’s packed with spices and beer, it didn’t really taste like much. Not bad, not great …  just there. So even if I had enough time, I’m not sure I would use this recipe again. I will however recommend the very tasty Kettle chili lime tortilla chips we ate alongside it.

Serves 8

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 1/2 pounds ground chuck beef, ground for chili (I don’t actually know what “ground for chili” means and I’m pretty sure Jimmy Fallon doesn’t either)
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 habanero chile, seeded and very finely chopped
• 1/4 cup chile powder
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped with their juices
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for serving
• 1 (12-ounce) bottle amber beer
• 2 (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• Tortilla chips, for serving
• Shredded cheddar cheese, for serving
• Chopped tomatoes, for serving
• Sour cream, for serving
• Lime wedges, for serving

Directions

1. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches if necessary, add beef and cook until no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; drain in a colander, discarding fat, and set aside.
2. Add remaining tablespoon olive oil to skillet and reduce heat to medium. Add onions, garlic, and habanero; season with salt. Cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. In a 6-quart Crock-Pot, combine beef, onion mixture, chile powder, oregano, cumin, and cayenne pepper; stir to combine. Add tomatoes, cilantro, and beer; cover and cook on high, stirring occasionally, for 5 hours.
4. Add kidney beans and season with salt and pepper. Continue to cook, uncovered, until thickened, about 30 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with desired toppings.

Grade: B-

♥Lady Butterbuns