Healthy Country-Fried Steak

Yes, you read that right. Less guilt, not fried, and you no longer have to go to Cracker Barrel to satisfy your craving for this classic, Southern comfort food (not that I would ever step food in CB).

Also known as chicken-fried steak (CFS) because it looks like fried chicken and similar to wiener schnitzel (pounded, breaded, fried), CFS is much cheaper because it uses such an inexpensive cut of meat – that otherwise you’d have no idea what else to make with it. That would be cube steak, typically pulverized round steak, a very tough cut of meat. Traditional CFS would be off-limits in our house:  it’s fried; it would make a huge mess to prepare (because it’s fried); it’s highly caloric, loaded with saturated fat and sodium; and white gravy is tasteless.

All that changed when I saw a recipe for lightened CFS in Cooking Light years ago. This version is pan-fried in a tiny bit of oil, the mushroom gravy is flavorful and earthy, a nice foil to the slight crunch of the CFS, and comes together quickly for an easy weeknight dinner. The recipe below reflects the changes I’ve made over the years. Since this is one of Craig’s all-time favorites, I gladly indulge him and make it nearly every year on his birthday.

Serving CFS with mashed potatoes is a must, and the corn in the photo is from one of the kazillion bags of the 12 dozen (locally grown) ears of corn that Craig grilled and we froze last summer. It's terrific, especially in the middle of the winter (or spring).

 Country-Fried Steak with Mushroom Gravy

Serves 4

3 tablespoons fat-free milk

2 large egg whites

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

4 4-ounce sirloin cubed steaks, preferably grass-fed

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 teaspoons minced garlic

3 cups mushrooms, quartered, preferably portabello or criminis

2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, low-salt beef broth

A splash of sherry

Combine 3 tablespoons milk and egg whites in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk. Combine 1/3 cup flour, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper in a shallow dish. Working with 1 steak at a time, dip in egg mixture; dredge in flour mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining steaks, egg mixture, and flour mixture.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add steaks; cook 3 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove steaks from pan; keep warm.

Add onions to the pan; sauté until softened. Add garlic and cook one minute longer. Add mushrooms, sautéing an additional 3 minutes. Combine 2 1/2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and broth, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture and sherry to pan. Bring to a boil; cook 15 minute, stirring constantly, to thicken. Spoon over steaks.

Print recipe here.

Fragrant Moroccan Meat Sauce with Gnocchi

Today is Secret Recipe Club reveal day. Secret Recipe Club is a gathering of food bloggers who are assigned a food blog from another member of the club, select and prepare a recipe, and on the designated reveal day, share who’s blog we were secretly assigned and post about the recipe. It’s an interesting way to meet other bloggers and find new, proven recipes.

This month I was assigned Heather's It's Yummy to My Tummy blog. She is a mom to two young children who lives in Chicago and journals about her cooking and baking adventures and her family. Being a busy mom, many of her recipes are just good food. As her daughter said, and the reason behind the name of her blog, food that’s yummy to your tummy. After looking around for a while on her site, the recipe I kept coming back to was the Butternut Squash Gnocchi with Moroccan Meat Sauce.

Last winter, I made velvety, melt-in-your mouth ricotta gnocchi, a recipe that appeared in February’s Bon Appetit from one of our favorite restaurants, FIG in Charleston, SC. They were used in a dish that was decadent, comforting, but definitely not your grandmother’s Chicken and Dumplings. But it makes A LOT of gnocchi, and we had some leftover in the freezer that needed to be used. As with Heather, this was the first time I made gnocchi, and it’s the easiest pasta to make from scratch that freezes well. While I’m sure the butternut squash gnocchi in Heather’s recipe is divine, the conclusion is any good gnocchi works with this meat sauce. However, we did not find it could serve four, and we are careful about portions, unless her gnocchi portions were much larger than what I served. I changed the spices by adding coriander, allspice, and cayenne, and added tomato paste to thicken the sauce.

Before tasting it, Craig was a bit perplexed why I was so excited about something that looks like marinara (with zucchini and yellow squash, of course, thanks to our abundant CSA box). But one bite and you’ll know why. The cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, allspice, and cayenne add brightness not found with a typical tomato-beef sauce. For such a simple preparation, it has complex flavor, and it’s so colorful. I typically think of lamb or chicken in Moroccan cooking, but the ground beef works fine (next time, with appropriate planning, I will use lamb). The sauce would also be great over couscous, barley, or millet, traditional Moroccan grains. The spices in the sauce perfume your home with warmth and make it a perfect dish for a cool autumn evening. Thanks for sharing this, Heather.

Moroccan Meat Sauce

Serves 2

2 teaspoon olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 pound ground beef or ground lamb

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon coriander

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

14 ounce can diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons no salt tomato paste

1 small zucchini, chopped

1 small yellow summer squash, chopped

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cooked gnocchi, couscous, or millet

Method

Heat the olive oil, onion, and minced garlic over medium heat for about 5 minutes, just until the onions start to get soft. Add in ground meat and cook until browned. Add the spices and stir until fragrant.

(The allspice was a last minute addition after I took this photo.)

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped zucchini, and squash.

Simmer the sauce, uncovered until it starts to thicken, 30 minutes. For the last few minutes, add gnocchi to heat in the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Print here.

Buffalo Sloppy Joes for Secret Recipe Club

For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I knew Buffalo would be the recipe. SRC is where each member is assigned another participant’s blog, selects a recipe, makes it, then blogs about it, with all entries posting on the same day, I was assigned Debbi Does Dinner. Debbi’s blog is full of dinner recipes that are not only delicious and filling but nutritious. I debated between the Buffalo chicken stuffed shells, the Buffalo chicken shepherd’s pie, Buffalo chickpea patties (how cool!), and sloppy Buffalo Joes. Are you sensing a theme here? She and I (and those we cook for) obviously share a love of hot and spicy! Being a Weight Watcher, I appreciate that Debbi focuses on easy, healthy recipes.

Buffalo Sloppy Joe

With it being 100+ degrees in St. Louis for nine consecutive days and counting, I finally decided on something simple for lunch and went with the sloppy Buffalo Joes. No matter how sophisticated your palate, sometimes nothing hits the spot like a sloppy Joe. Total comfort food. Even Garde Manger Chef Connor asked me to set some aside for him to have when he gets off work tonight. This was a good choice. Actually, a great choice. These have a nice amount of smoky spicy kick from Frank’s Wing Sauce, and next time I may add a bit more of it. Based on a Rachael Ray recipe, Debbi cautions the original directions result in a soupy mess, so I reduced the liquid (tomato sauce and omitted the chicken stock altogether) even further from Debbi’s recipe because we like our sloppy Joes thick thick. I used grass-fed ground beef (but ground chicken or turkey would work well too) and sure wished I had celery in the house to add to give it a bit more crunchy and authentic “Buffalo” style. I added the optional ingredients of diced homemade dill pickles and half a wedge of my new fave Laughing Cow blue cheese. I'm don't know if this was one of Rachel Ray's 30 minutes meals, but it qualifies. Very easy to pull together for a fast and dinner or lunch. Thanks, Debbi for such a tasty, healthy, and super simple sandwich!

The recipe below reflects my changes.

Sloppy Buffalo Joes

Makes 8 4-ounce sandwiches

2 pounds grass-fed ground beef (or ground chicken breast or ground turkey breast)

1 carrot, peeled and chopped or grated

1 yellow onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 T red wine vinegar

2 T brown sugar

1 T Worcestershire sauce

1/3 C hot sauce (recommended: Frank's Red Hot)

1/2 C tomato sauce

8 good quality burger rolls, split and toasted

1 wedge Laughing Cow cup blue cheese wedge per sandwich

Dill pickles, chopped

Heat a large skillet with extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. Add meat and break it up with wooden spoon, cook 5 to 6 minutes. Add in carrots, onions, and garlic, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, cook 7 to 8 minutes more. In a bowl combine the vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire, hot sauce, and tomato sauce. Pour into the pan and stir to combine. Simmer a few minutes more.

Pile sloppy Buffalo filling onto buns and top with blue cheese and chopped pickles.

Print recipe.

Fusion Comfort Food

One night last week I was in the mood for something homey for dinner, comfort food – or – perhaps Asian. I know, different ends of the spectrum, but we’ll get to how I satisfied both cravings in a moment.

As I sat down to write this post, I got thinking about cravings, particularly for comfort foods, and why we have them. It’s clearly not linked to fulfilling a nutritional need, because typically comfort foods are not healthy, e.g., mac and cheese, green bean casserole, ice cream sundaes, etc. Comfort foods often take us back in time, and we associate a specific food with memories, some funny, some nostalgic. Comfort foods can soothe our psyches and invoke a sense of calm and security. Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches remind me of Friday night dinners when I was little, or we went to Howard Johnson’s for fried clam strips. Coffee milkshakes still provide comfort just as they did 35 years ago after a visit to the orthodontist for an adjustment to braces. And the mention of tuna noodle casserole immediately reminds me of one person. My dad. It always has been one of his favorite dinners. American cuisine is defined by these kinds of foods, and interesting how so many upscale chefs have added buttermilk fried chicken, truffled mashed potatoes, and even cabbage rolls (check it out at Sidney Street with the rabbit!) to their menus over the last few years. These guys know what sells – and tastes so wonderful. Long live comfort foods.

Back to my cravings. I know, comfort foods typically do not invoke images of stir fry, kung pao, pad thai, lettuce wraps, or seared soy-marinated tuna. But sesame soy Udon noodles and cilantro and ginger meatballs do. Can I call it Americanized-Asian spaghetti and meatballs, with a side of (spicy) un-green bean-casserole? I had a recipe for ginger meatballs from Cooking Light that calls for ground pork, but I find these versatile enough that ground turkey, ground chicken, or grass-fed beef, which is what I had, works nicely. The noodles from the original recipe are rather blah, so I threw something together by instinct that turned out really tasty. So if you have a fusion comfort food craving, give this a try. You will be satisfied in a 2011 kind of way.

Gingery Meatballs with Noodles and Spicy Green Beans

Serves 4

Meatballs

1/2 C chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 C dry breadcrumbs

1/4 C finely chopped red onion

2 T low sodium soy sauce

2 t grated peeled fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound lean ground pork, turkey, chicken, or lean ground beef

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Place a foil-lined jelly-roll pan in oven. Preheat oven to 450°.

Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl; stir gently just until blended. Cover and chill 30 minutes. Divide pork mixture into 20 equal portions; shape each portion into a meatball. Arrange meatballs in a single layer on preheated pan.

Bake at 450° for 20 minutes or until done.

Sesame Noodle

Serves 4

6 ounces Udon noodles, cooked and drained

Onions and/or colored pepper, thinly sliced and sautéed or any other vegetables you have on hand

Ginger, grated

Cilantro

2 – 3 T low sodium soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T rice vinegar

1 1/2 T sesame oil

Asian chili-garlic sauce to taste

Green onions, thinly sliced

Whisk all ingredients (except noodles, vegetables, and green onions) together in a bowl. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed. Pour sauce over warm noodles and vegetables and toss to coat. Sprinkle with green onions and toss.

Spicy Green Beans

Slightly undercooked green beans – I did in the microwave on vegetable/fresh setting

Sauce:

2 T soy sauce

1 T rice vinegar

Asian chili-garlic sauce

Ginger, grated

Garlic, minced

Combine sauce ingredients and set aside.

Sauté ginger and garlic. Add green beans and sauté until starting to darken in spots. Add sauce and cook until thickened slightly.

Korean Style London Broil and the Secret Recipe Club

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club where food bloggers are assigned another member’s blog “in secret” and select and prepare a recipe that is then shared on a designated reveal day. I was fortunate to have been assigned Hezzi Ds Books and Cooks. Heather (aka Hezzi D, her hubby’s rock & roll nickname for her, which made me chuckle) just celebrated her first year of blogging, and she has been quite busy based on the number of posts about both food and books. Her blog is filled with many delicious recipes, and I particularly enjoyed her 2011 canning inventory. It’s obvious she enjoys baking too with numerous sweet treats (33 chocolate recipes!), but I was intrigued with the “best of” list she posted on her blog’s anniversary that features her favorite recipes from the last year. I debated between the jalapeno popper dip and Korean Short Ribs and finally settled on the short ribs.

The only problem was when I went to pull the ribs from the freezer, I figured out Connor had grilled all we had when I was travelling on business a few weeks ago. With a quick Google search, I realized London broil can be substituted for boneless short ribs, and we were in business. I’m learning how to cook lean, grass-fed beef, and my research indicates it does best with a long, low temp, slow cook (such as in the slow cooker as with this recipe), or braised, or done with a high temp for a quick sear. I’ve also discovered grass fed beef benefits greatly from a marinade, so I soaked the beef in the sauce portion of the recipe overnight in the frig to both tenderize it and impart additional moisture in the meat. The house smelled divine by the end of the day, and the flavor of the sauce was outstanding, a mix of Asian and barbeque. I also added onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes to make it a more well-rounded pot dish. We served it over Udon noodles and with Korean coleslaw as a side. Leftovers make fantastic bulgogi-like sandwiches for lunch the next day. The recipe below reflects the changes I made. And I will get around to making the jalapeno popper dip soon. Thanks Hezzi D for such inspirational recipes.

Korean Style London Broil

Serves 4

1/2 C. soy sauce

1/2 C. packed light brown sugar

2 T. sesame oil
3 T. rice wine vinegar
2 T. fresh ginger, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 C. water
1 t. red pepper flakes
1 t. ground ginger
1 t. freshly ground black pepper
1 pound London broil or boneless beef short ribs

2 medium onions, sliced

2 bell peppers, coarsely chopped

2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped or 1 14ounce can tomatoes

Sesame seeds
2 green onions, sliced (I forgot these)

Score the London broil.

Mix the soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, vinegar, fresh ginger, garlic, and water in the a small bowl, stirring until the brown sugar is well incorporated.  Sprinkle in the red pepper, ginger, and black pepper.  Mix well. Place the meat and sauce in a heavy duty Ziploc and refrigerate over night.

Scatter half the onion slices on the bottom of the slow cooker. Cover with the London broil and spoon the sauce over top the meat. Cover with remaining onions, bell pepper, and tomatoes. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove the meat (which I shredded with two forks) from the slow cooker and serve over Asian noodles or rice. Top with green onions

Chipotle Cheeseburgers Basted with Worcestershire-Coffee Glaze and Spicy Ranch Sauce

Recently we had one of our favorite, most flavorful burgers – chipotle cheeseburgers basted with Worcestershire-coffee glaze and served with spicy ranch sauce. While you’d think these burgers have a lot of flavors working - too many - they rock! The glaze adds a sweet, rich compliment to the spice of the burgers and the sauce, which is fresh with a subtle kick and could be used as a veggie dip as well.

I originally got the recipe from Epicurious but have significantly changed it by substituting chipotle for jalapeno because it gives more depth in both the sauce and the burgers, used cilantro in the burger instead of parsley, and cut the sauce and basting glaze by half. I omitted the bacon, and even my carnivores agreed that it is not needed. I also reduced/changed wherever logical to reduce calories/fat, such as using low fat mayo, sour cream, and subbing honey in lieu of corn syrup in the basting glaze, with no detriment to taste. Epicurious reviewers complained how time-consuming these burgers are to prepare, but everything can be made in advance, and if you’re so inclined, prepare a big batch of the burgers as they freeze well.

(Photo from Epicurious)

Chipotle Cheeseburgers with Spicy Ranch Sauce

Makes 3 burgers *big* burgers or 4 normal-sized burgers

Spicy Ranch Sauce
1/2 C mayonnaise
1/2 C sour cream
1/4 C chopped fresh cilantro
2 T fresh lime juice
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 T minced chipotle pepper

1 T canned adobe sauce (that’s in the can of chipotle adobe)

Burgers
1 pound ground beef or bison
1/2 small onion, chopped, about 3/4 cup
2 T chopped fresh cilantro
1 T Worcestershire sauce
1/2 T chopped chipotle pepper
1 t salt
1 t ground black pepper

Worcestershire-Coffee Glaze
2 heaping T honey
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T ketchup
1 t instant coffee or espresso crystals
1 t golden brown sugar
1 1/2 T butter

High quality hamburger buns

Cheese of your liking - sharp cheddar cheese or pepper jack work nicely
Assorted additional toppings (such as lettuce, tomato and grilled onion slices)

For the spicy ranch sauce:

Whisk all ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

For the burgers:

Gently mix all ingredients in large bowl. Form mixture into three (or four) 1/2- to 3/4-inch-thick patties. Place on small baking sheet. Cover and chill at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.

For the glaze:

Stir first 5 ingredients in small saucepan over medium heat until coffee is dissolved. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter. Season glaze to taste with salt and pepper.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Spray grill rack with nonstick spray. Toast buns until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer buns, cut side up, to plates. Place lettuce on each bun bottom. Grill burgers 5 minutes, basting with glaze. Turn burgers, baste with glaze, and grill until cooked to desired doneness, about 5 minutes longer for medium. Top each burger with cheese and allow to melt.

Place some sauce, then 1 burger on each bun bottom. Top each with 2 slices bacon and desired additional toppings. Cover with bun top. Serve with remaining sauce.

My new favorite chili recipe of all time – spicy Mole Chili

I have more than a dozen chili recipes. They range from chili mac (Connor’s favorite); green chili; the recipe for Deer Valley’s legendary turkey chili; a northern Indian style chili with garbanzo beans and kale; black bean and sweet potato chili; pumpkin and turkey chili; even Obama’s recipe (turmeric as the unique ingredient, served over rice). But I now have a new one that is THE best I’ve ever made. It’s knock your socks off good. So good I was inclined to eat two bowls, until, that is, I find the next greatest chili recipe of all time. 

Typically “moh-lay”, which is fun to say, is made with flavorful chili peppers, cinnamon, cumin, and dark chocolate or cocoa – its mystery ingredient – and can be quite labor-intensive to prepare. Not this one. It comes together in minutes and adds the perfect bite of heat. The chili is hearty, robust, with a broad range of flavors. It’s surprisingly healthy and wonderfully filling.

The original recipe was from Rachael Ray but this reflects my changes.

Mole Black Bean Chili

4 substantial servings

3 cups beef stock

2 ancho chili peppers, stemmed and seeded

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 slices lean smoked bacon, chopped

1 pound ground beef sirloin or bison (ground turkey would work too and use chicken stock)

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons tomato paste

15 ounce can black beans rinsed well and drained

15 ounce can diced tomatoes

2 tablespoons instant espresso or coffee

1 tablespoon sweet smoked paprika

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 small red onion, finely chopped

In a large saucepan, bring the beef stock and ancho chilis to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer until softened, about 10 minutes. Using a stick blender or food processor, puree until smooth.

Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven, add the bacon and cook until crisp, 2-3 minutes. Drain all but one tablespoon fat. Add the beef, increase the heat to high and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, add the yellow onion and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes; season with pepper.

Stir the tomato paste into the chili for 1 minute. Stir in the ancho liquid, black beans, tomatoes, coffee, paprika, coriander, cocoa and cinnamon and simmer for 5 minutes; season with salt.

Serve the chili in shallow bowls. Top with cheese and diced red onions.

A Dinner Fit for New Years Eve and SOOO Much More Fun than Going Out

We have done it all for NYE – going to parties, having dinner at various friend’s homes (always wonderful), a black tie dinner one year at Tony’s. But, we’ve decided we like to stay in. Don’t get me wrong. We still celebrate with a spectacular meal and wine worthy of the occasion. But it’s far safer and much more economical.

Last night we started with this creamy cauliflower soup, followed by veal chops stuffed with chorizo, wild mushrooms, spinach, and Parmesan, with creamy polenta and roasted green beans. Not to sound boastful, but the veal was nothing short of perfect. It was gorgeously caramelized and melted in your mouth. Then you get a bite of stuffing – earthy, slightly spicy and yet smoky, salty, and sweet. My mouth was quite happy. Polenta has become our new starch because it goes so nicely in color and texture with many meats. Oven roasting green beans are easy and yet they remain with a nice crunch.

Veal Chops with Chorizo, Mushrooms, Spinach, and Parmesan

Serves 2

About 3-ounce cooked Mexican chorizo, cooked, and I added some (2 slices ?) chopped cooked bacon to get the smoke Spanish chorizo (that the original recipe called for) provides

extra-virgin olive oil

a handful of dried mixed wild mushrooms, rehydrated, very thinly sliced

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 medium leek, white and tender green parts only, very thinly sliced crosswise

3/4 -1 C packed baby spinach

1/4 cup coarsely shredded Parmesan

Two 1-pound veal rib chops, cut 1 1/2 inches thick

1/4 C red wine

2 T dry Marsala

1/4 C chicken stock

1 T unsalted butter

Preheat the oven to 425°.  Set the oven racks to the lowest rack and highest enough rack to hold a skillet.

In a medium skillet, heat about 1 T olive oil. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook over high heat until browned on the bottom, about 4 minutes. Add the leeks, cover and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the cooked chorizo and bacon, stirring for 1 minute. Add the spinach and stir just until wilted. Turn off heat and let cool slightly. Stir in the cheese and season with salt and pepper.

Transfer the skillet to the top rack of the oven and roast the chops for 5 minutes. Turn the veal chops, and switch pan to the lowest rack of the oven and roast for 5 minutes longer, or until just pink. Transfer the chops to a warmed platter.

Bring the skillet back to the cooktop over moderate heat and add the wine, scraping up any browned bits stuck to the bottom. Simmer for 1 minute. Add the Marsala and stock and simmer until slightly reduced, about 3 minutes. Off the heat, whisk in the butter and season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Remove the skewers from the meat. Spoon the pan sauce on top and serve.

Bon Appétit!

Using a thin, sharp knife, cut a pocket in each veal chop. Insert the blade 2 inches into the center of the chop, cutting horizontally from one side to the other without cutting completely through. Generously fill the chops with the stuffing and secure the openings by threading them closed with bamboo skewers. Break off the ends of the skewers that protrude from the meat.

Heat 1 T olive oil in a large skillet. Season the veal chops with salt and pepper. Cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until nicely browned, about 9 minutes.

An Amazing Dinner from a Slab of Meat that Scared Me

What does a meat-shy cook do with a chuck roast? I had a big bison one staring at me in the freezer for almost a year. Last week I decided to overcome my fear and use the darn thing. The internet is such a beautiful thing. Epicurious particularly, and voila. Beef Braised In Red Wine. WOWOWOW. What resulted was a delicous, comfort meal on a burr cold night from a very humble cut of meat. We served it over polenta that Craig actually liked (he’s such a grown up these days), roasted green beans, and a Fennel and Granny Smith Salad with Blue Cheese. Chuck roast is inexpensive. Buy one (bison would be preferable, otherwise grass-fed beef), and make this soon. Do use a decent wine. If you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it. The recipe indicates its flavor improves if baked and allowed to rest for a few days, which is spot on.

Beef Braised In Red Wine

Modified from Epicurious

4 servings

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 3- to 3 1/2-pound boneless beef chuck roast
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 pound bacon, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
3 celery ribs, finely chopped

large handful of  mixed “gourmet” mushrooms, coarsely chopped
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

Some dried thyme and rosemary
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups Barolo or other full-bodied red wine such as Ripasso Valpolicella, Gigondas, or Côtes du Rhône
2 cups beef broth

Heat oil in pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Meanwhile, pat meat dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sear until very brown on all sides, at least 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate using a fork and tongs.

Add bacon to pot and sauté over moderately high heat, stirring frequently, until browned and fat is rendered, about 3 minutes. Add onion, carrot, celery, and mushrooms and sauté, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, and rosemary and sauté, stirring, until garlic begins to soften and turn golden, about 2 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add wine and boil until liquid is reduced by about half, about 5 minutes.

Add beef broth and bring to a simmer, then return meat along with any juices accumulated on plate to pot. Cover pot with lid and transfer to oven. Braise until meat is very tender, 3 hours. Transfer meat to a plate, and boil sauce until reduced by about one-third, about 5 minute. Season with salt.

Cool completely in sauce, uncovered, and then chill in sauce, covered for up to three days. Skim any fat from surface of sauce. Reheat, covered, in a preheated 350°F oven until hot, 30 to 45 minutes – an hour is fine, too – then slice across the grain. Mine fell apart, but we thought that was a fine thing.

Serve atop polenta or mashies and spoon veggie gravy over meat and starch.

Cheeseburger Pizza from the Taste & Create Blog Recipe Swap

As part of the Taste and Create monthly blog recipe exchange, I was paired with Nicole from For the Love of Food. She’s an American living in Germany who began her food blog five year ago to help some vegetarian friends learn healthy cooking. Her writing is engaging, and her photos are glorious. If you struggle with producing interesting visuals for your blog as I do, check out her article on food styling (photos on the left are my current (lack of) style and the right photos are my desired state).

I haven’t made pizza for a while, and I knew my guys would love her original recipe for Cheeseburger Pizza. Who wouldn’t? Using sesame seeds on the pizza stone in addition to cornmeal and the “special sauce” seemed a fitting tribute to the cheeseburger. A bacon cheeseburger nonetheless.

 (oops, the aroma was so tantalizing that we dove in to it before I took a photo)

I must fess up that I used my normal modified Eating Well pizza dough recipe. I subbed ground bison for the ground beef because we don’t buy beef, and I had garden tomatoes that were screaming to be used. Craig called this an excuse to slip tomatoes on pizza, which he knows I lovvvvve. Sorry, no American cheese either. I don't eat such on a burger, so why would I on pizza? I used a mix of shredded Gouda and cheddar. While it appears I made a number of changes, I consider these exceptionally minor. What I produced certainly reflects the spirit of Nicole’s recipe. The recipe below is with my changes.

The resulting pizza? A WINNER. We all loved it and declared it one of the best I’ve made in recent memory. The tangy barbecue-flavored sauce “makes” the pizza, and the subtle nuttiness of the Gouda imparts a bit of complexity to a simple pizza. Nicole, thanks! What a tasty recipe.

Cheeseburger Pizza
Few tablespoons of sesame seeds

Few tablespoons of corn meal
“Special sauce” – recipe below
12 ounces ground bison or lean ground beef
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 cup diced fresh tomatoes
1/2 cup Gouda cheese, shredded
1 cup cheddar, shredded
4 slices of bacon, chopped

Make the whole wheat pizza dough posted here. In addition to cornmeal, sprinkle sesame seeds on the pizza stone so that it’s like a sesame seed bun.

With the pizza stone in the oven, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Once the oven is at that temperature, heat the pizza stone for at least 15 minutes. Longer is fine too.

Cook the chopped bacon over medium heat until crispy. Remove from pan, "pat" grease with paper towels, and set aside. Drain all but 1 tablespoon of the bacon drippings from the pan. Add the ground bison (or beef) and heat over medium heat until browned, making sure not break up the meat too much. You want it to look like burger pieces and not like taco meat. Add the red onion slices, soy sauce, garlic powder, and pepper and cook until the soy sauce absorbs into the meat. Remove from heat and set aside.

Special Sauce

6 tablespoons ketchup (Trader Joe’s organic ketchup is preferred because it contains no HFCS and has real tomato flavor)
2 tablespoon yellow mustard
2 tablespoon tomato paste

Combine the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. If it’s too thick for your tastes, add water until it’s the desired sauce consistency.

To assemble the pizza, on top of the dough, layer the special sauce, burger mixture, tomatoes, bacon, and cheese mixture.

Bake for 10-12 minutes.



Sensitive New Age Sloppy Joes

It’s complicated. Somehow I only managed to menu plan this week through Wednesday. It came to the end-of-the-work day today, around 6:30PM, and I had the look of, “What’s for dinner?” I pulled some ground bison from the freezer and decided Sloppy Joes would be a perfect comfort food after a challenging work day. Later I learned how much my guys heart Sloppy Joes. They were high-fiving over it. Seriously. Mom was finally making “normal” food, until Craig saw me with the jalapeños, cumin, allspice, molasses (?!), apple cider. Certainly not Manwich. What the hell is that??

This is modified from a tofu recipe from Rebar, a vegetarian restaurant in Victoria, British Columbia, where we dined a number of years that even Craig REALLY liked. The problem was I had no tofu, but I had bison.

These are THE best Sloppy Joes I’ve ever made. Yes, campy, but with bold flavors, generously seasoned. With the additions of beans as specified in the original recipe, it would make a tasty chili. We served it with coleslaw and chips.

(In) Sensitive New Age Sloppy Joes - the Meat Version 

Serves 4

1 T vegetable oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp salt

2 jalapeno peppers, minced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ancho chile powder

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1 1/2 T molasses

2 chipotle peppers diced

1 teaspoon adobo sauce from the chipotles

1/2 cup tomato sauce ** I used leftover homemade pizza sauce, so I would season plain tomato sauce a bt

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp liquid smoke

1/2 tomatoes, chopped

4 whole wheat Kaiser buns

Heat oil in wide-bottomed pot. Sauté onion with 1 tsp salt until translucent. Add garlic, jalapenos, red pepper and sauté until vegetables soften. Add the bison and cook until no longer pink. Add the cumin, chile powder, and allspice. Sauté for a few minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cover partially and simmer for 30 minutes.

To serve, split Kaiser buns and generously ladle the Sloppy Joes over the bottom half of the bun. Replace the top and serve.

Make sure each serving is sufficiently SLOPPY and enjoy!

Amazing Buffalo Blue Burgers with Celery Slaw - Now That's a Burger

We made these before we went on vacation, and Craig is still talking about them and commented that these may become our new "go to" burger recipe. That's a bold statement as we have a few might tasty burgers in our repertoire. We love anything "Buffalo". I have recipes for Buffalo chicken pasta, pizza, salad, an amazing chicken dip, even Buffalo green beans.

(Phot courtesy of Nourish Network)

The tastes and textures of these burgers are quite complimentary and highly flavorsome. The fieriness of the burgers is offset by the creamy blue cheese sauce, and the slightly tart slaw adds a savory crunch. Since we get so much ground bison with our annual quarter-of-a-bison purchase, this will be a repeater in our  house as grill season hits.

Buffalo Blue Burgers with Celery Slaw

Serves 4

Blue Cheese Sauce
2 ounces blue cheese
1 tablespoon sour cream
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
2 tablespoons buttermilk, or lowfat milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Celery Slaw
1 cup celery, thinly sliced
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

Burgers
Bottled hot sauce (such as Frank's) to taste
1 pound ground buffalo, formed into 4, 3/4-inch thick patties
4 whole grain hamburger buns, split and toasted

Heat grill to medium-high heat.

In a small bowl, mix together blue cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, buttermilk, vinegar and a generous grind of black pepper and whisk until smooth.

In another bowl, toss celery with onion, parsley, oil, mustard, vinegar and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Generously brush both sides of burgers with mixture and place over direct heat on the grill. Brush with additional hot sauce. Cook 2-3 minutes, basting once, and flip. Cook another 2 minutes, until medium rare.

Place burgers on buns, top with celery slaw and drizzle with blue cheese mixture.

Guinness-Braised Beef Brisket - An Early St. Pat's Day Feast

We had an early St. Patrick’s dinner last night because I will be teaching on Wednesday. Corned beef may be Connor’s favorite meat. May be even more than a filet. He says could eat it every week, and I believe him. This recipe is great because you throw it in the slow cooker and forget about it. And the house smells divine. When Connor got home from work, he said even the garage had the aroma of corned beef. Since it’s such a rare treat, I splurge and get Straub’s Kobe corned beef. It’s kind of funny when I think about it that corned beef is the only Kobe beef I’ve ever tasted. It does make a difference. Since corned beef is brined, the brown sugar in this recipe counterbalances the saltiness of the brine, and the Guinness imparts its unique body and creamy, caramel taste. Plus the little ball inside the Guinness can is pretty cool. The meat is fall-apart, fork tender, in a beautiful dark pink color.

I served it with two sauces, both from Bon Appetit, a Horseradish Cream (favorite of the two sauces) and a Guinness Mustard (would be tasty on any sandwich), champ (Irish mashed potatoes made with butter, warmed milk, and green onions), the Barefoot Contessa’s sautéed cabbage, green beans with bacon (for the non-cabbage eaters, Craig and Emily), and a pudding cake made with rhubarb I had left in the freezer from last summer.

I doubled the recipe since my brisket was almost six pounds with plans of having Rachel sandwiches on Wednesday for dinner (not Rueben’s since my guys don’t like sauerkraut), but I’m not sure with all the grazing that’s gone on that we will have enough to do that.

Erin go Bragh!

Guinness-Braised Beef Brisket (Adapted from Cooking Light)

1 cup water

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup chopped celery
1 can Guinness stout
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 tablespoon dried dill
1 14 ½-oz can low-salt beef broth
6 black peppercorns
2 whole cloves
1 3-pound cured corned beef brisket, trimmed

Combine first 11 ingredients in a large electric slow cooker, stirring until well blended; top with beef. Cover and cook on HIGH 8 hours or until beef is tender. Remove beef; cut diagonally across grain into 1/4-inch slices. Discard broth mixture (BTW - I love picking out the slightly mushy, oh-so-flavorful carrots).

Aromatic Slow-Cooked Sweet & Sour Brisket

Today we drove to Philadelphia, MO to pick up the two Poland China breed hogs that we split with three other couples. Wow, they were some huge pigs, so large that Craig purchased a new Christmas present for us - another freezer. We laughed that we freezer #1 is the bison freezer and freezer #2 is the pig freezer.

Despite the dreariness of the day, the beauty of the rural Missouri countryside was to be appreciated, and it reminded me of an Andrew Wyeth landscape. And I think that nearly every city, state, and country has a town named after it in Missouri (Nevada, Louisiana, Mexico, Cuba, Montreal, Houston (in Texas County), the list goes on and on.

I threw a bison brisket in the slow cooker before we left and came home to a fragrant house. It shredded with a fork and melted in your mouth. I made hot and sour soup (homemade) for me and the guys had egg rolls (frozen) till I got everything else together - a simply veggie stir fry and a new find that everyone loved. In lieu of boring steamed brown rice, I picked up a package of Chinese Noodles from China Bowl. They were a non-fried ramen type noodle, took less than five minutes to cook, soft, and I envision they'd be great in soup.

Sweet and Sour Slow Cooker (Bison) Brisket

(from cookinglight.com - no modifications)

(Photo from Cooking Light)