Posts tagged ‘beef’

Jan 13

Beef And Eggplant Ragu

I love a good meaty pasta dish, it’s rich and perfect cold weather fare. This recipe couldn’t be easier, and has a surprise ingredient, eggplant which adds an amazing flavor and texture, it’s similar to a bolognese but not your traditional recipe. I have posted recipes from Windy before, well, it was a few years ago and I posted her recipe for turkey meatballs in a cream sauce. She doesn’t have a food blog but I think she should. Her recipes are delicious, nutritious and budget conscience. Whether making this for one or a family (it tastes even better the next day) you should give this recipe a try. You can use whatever type of pasta you like, whether long noodles or a substantial pasta like rigatoni it is wonderful, gnocchi would be great as well.

Beef and eggplant ragu

Serves 4 generously

4 garlic cloves chopped
1 shallot chopped
1/2 small onion (red or yellow)
1 lb 80% Lean ground beef
1 small Eggplant peeled and cubed
1 28 oz can Tomato Puree
1 cup red wine
Salt
Pepper
3 Bay Leaves
1 tsp sugar (optional)

Dice and sautée garlic, shallots and onion for about 3 min. Add ground beef. Cook until ground beef is browned then add eggplant and cook about 4 min longer. Add canned tomato, wine, salt, pepper, sugar and bay leaves. Cover and simmer for about 20-30 min.
Cook pasta of your choice. I used fettuccine. Toss pasta with sauce and sprinkle pecorino Romano on top. Also good with a dollop of ricotta. 😋

Nov 20

96 Comments

Bracciole For Fiesta Friday #95

The other day I was reminiscing about the Thanksgivings of my childhood and was thinking how much work my Mom put into the meal. My Dad was Italian my Mom American and on holidays we had a bit of a culture clash. Dad wanted Italian food and Mom a traditional Thanksgiving meal so in order to please everyone she made both, she roasted a capon, made dressing and the sides and homemade pasta and bracciole. If you have never heard of or had bracciole you should seek it out, it’s delicious, Round or flank steak cut and pounded thin and made into a roulade or rolled with a stuffing, The stuffings vary a bit but my Mom stuffed with bread soaked in milk, grated romano cheese, pine nuts, raisins and hard boiled egg. Roll and tie, sear and cook low and slow in the tomato sauce. It’s amazingly delicious and brings back memories of home and the holidays, My Mom’s always looked perfect and made a gorgeous presentation mine is not as beautiful but tastes almost exactly the same as hers. I lived in Italy years ago, in Napoli and one of my friends made this one day and I loved that she made small individual rolls, I thought it was a wonderful idea but opted to make it like my Mother and do one big roll.

I am bringing my childhood favorite, bracciole to the party this week which is hosted by Angie and the lovely co hosts Loretta @ Safari of the Mind and Petra @ Food Eat Love.

Bracciole

Serves 6-8

1 1/2-2 lb round or flank steak cut thin and pounded with malet

1 cup bread soaked in milk or water

2 hard boiled eggs

1/3 cup pecorino romano cheese grated

1/4 cup Italian parsley chopped

2 tbs toasted pine nuts

raisins a scattering- optional

salt and pepper to taste

your favorite recipe for tomato sauce or marinara

Bring steak to room temperature, lay on cutting board and pound thin but don’t over pound it so that it tears. Set aside
Squeeze the water out of the bread, hard boil the eggs peel and slice, grate your cheese, toast your pine nuts and chop your parsley.
Lay the steak out on the cutting board season with salt and pepper. have butchers twine ready to tie it up once rolled. Place a layer of the soaked bread on the steak at one end, not all the way to the long ends, leave about an inch on each end. sprinkle with romano cheese, parsley and some pine nuts and optional raisins. Lay the egg slices on top and season with some pepper. Fold each long end to the edge of the stuffing and start rolling making sure the ends are tucked in. Once it’s rolled tie it with butchers twine to keep it together.
Heat some olive oil in a dutch oven on high. Sear the meat on all sides, Remove from the pot and prepare your tomato sauce as you normally would. When sauce is ready to cook Place meat in sauce and simmer for at least 2 1/2 hours so that it’s very tender. To serve remove string or twine and slice in rounds, spoon sauce and grated cheese on top and enjoy.

bracciole

May 30

57 Comments

Fantastic Salad- Recipe From A Friend And A Beef Contest

My friend Abbie, who lives in Texas created this amazing salad for a Beef Contest and her recipe, Cali Avoado Steak Salad was chosen as one of the potential finalists, but in order to secure that coveted finalist spot she needs votes, because she is my friend and I want to help her I am posting her recipe and asking you all to help also, if you are so inclined. Thanks so much and here is the link to the site so you can vote. It sounds absolutely delicious and I can’t wait to make it!

Cali Avocado Steak Salad

http://www.beefcookoff.org/recipevoting.aspx

1 beef top sirloin steak, cut 1 inch thick (about ½ pound)
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
¾ teaspoon pepper, divided
1 large California avocado
1 large navel orange
2 loaves Nan bread
4 cups mixed salad greens
1. Rub both sides of steak with 1 teaspoon olive oil; sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
2. Cut avocado in half; do not remove skin. Cut top and bottom off orange; squeeze juice from each end over avocado. Brush cut side of avocado with 1 teaspoon olive oil: sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt; set aside.
3. Brush both sides of nan bread with 2 teaspoons oil.
4. Place steak on grid over medium, ash-covered coals. Grill, uncovered, 11 to 15 minutes (over medium heat on preheated gas grill, covered 13 to 16 minutes) for medium rare (145°F) to medium (160°F) doneness, turning occasionally. During last 2 to 3 minutes of grilling, place avocado, cut side down, along with nan bread, on grid over medium coals, turning bread once.
5. Meanwhile, toss salad greens with remaining 2 teaspoons olive oil, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Remove skin from orange; cut into segments. Add to greens. Remove skin from grilled avocado; cut into slices. Carve steak into thin slices place on top of salad. Cut your nan bread into wedges and arrange around salad

Mar 2

19 Comments

Meatballs and Tomato Sauce

This is a terrific recipe for meatballs, we didn’t have them very often usually my Mom’s sauce was either meatless (Marinara) or cooked with chunks of beef and pork, but I do remember her meatballs being delicious, the consistency was soft and after leaving home I tried to make them like hers but never quite got there. I had never asked her for the recipe until last week and it was one of those Ah-ha moments when she gave me the list of ingredients. She adds Italian sausage meat, I had made them with ground pork and beef but never sausage. The taste is distinctive, the meatballs are very soft and moist (sometimes meatballs can be rubbery). They are seared and then cooked in the sauce slowly just about all day. Have it over pasta or make a meatball sub or grinder, anyway you serve it it’s delicious.

Makes: 16 large meatballs and approximately 8 cups of sauce

Sauce:

3 cloves garlic thinly siliced

1 shallot minced

4.5 oz tube tomato paste or 3/4 of a 6 oz can

3 28 oz cans whole tomatoes

olive oil for pan

5 leaves fresh basil +3 after sauce is cooked

salt and pepper to taste

NOTE: You can add a little sugar if your sauce is too sour (it happens sometimes)

Meatballs:

1 lb ground beef (80%fat) I like chuck

1 lb sausage meat

handful italian parsley chopped

1/2 cup grated parmigiano or pecorino romano cheese

2 large eggs

2 cups fresh breadcrumbs from day old bread (I like to use ciabatta)

1/2 cup water

2 tsp salt

several turns of the peppermill

You will need a large mixing bowl, add the meat and mix with spoon or with your hands. Pulse the bread in the food processor add to the meat along with 1/2 cup water, add the parsley, cheese, eggs and salt and pepper. Mix together until it’s all combined. Form into meatballs, I like mine about the size of a handball. In a non stick skillet heat some olive oil, place the meatballs about 1 inch apart and fry so they are browned on each side but not cooked through. Remove from the pan and set aside. Keep the oil and drippings in the skillet you will need it for the sauce.

To dutch oven add the oil from the meat that was fried (only enough to coat the bottom of the pan) then the shallot and cook until soft, add the garlic and let it cook until the garlic just starts to brown (takes only about 3 minutes) on medium high heat. Add the tomato paste and cook stirring constantly until it caramelizes. Puree the tomatoes in the blender or food processor until smooth and add to the onion,garlic and tomato paste, stir to combine and then add the meatballs and slow cook on medium/low heat covered for at least 3-4 hours stirring frequently, or if cooking all day use low heat so it just simmers, stirring occasionally.

Feb 2

6 Comments

Game Day-What To Eat? Beef Kebob on Grilled Flat Bread

Beef Kebobs on Flat Bread

Every day until the big game day on Sunday I am going to post a easy to make, tasty recipe that will satisfy. This is a beef Kebob, I used organic, grass fed beef, some grated onion then formed it onto sticks and grilled on the stove top sprinkled with some sumac for a little Middle Eastern Flair and topped with a simple chopped cucumber and tomato salad dressed only with fresh lemon. Simple, portable and delicious and easily made in advance. You can make these and just keep them wrapped in foil in a warm oven. The flat bread I grill on the stove top, directly on the burner on a medium flame (You cannot do that on an electric stove) turning to heat and slightly char the bread, it takes less than a minute so you can do this to order or make a batch wrap in foil and keep warm in the oven. You can also top this with yogurt or crumbled feta along with the salad.

Serves a crowd at least a dozen kebobs

2 lbs ground beef (preferably organic grass fed)

1 onion grated on the largest grate and drained of juices

2 egg yolks

salt and pepper to taste

sumac (optional) to sprinkle on meat after cooking)

2 small cucumbers diced

2 tomatoes diced

1 cup chopped parsley (optional)

juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Grate the onion and drain, I squeezed it in a double paper towel. Put the onion in a mixing bowl, add the beef, egg yolks and some salt and pepper, Mix well. Refrigerate for 1 hour

If you are using bamboo skewers submerge in water while the meat is resting in the refrigerator. Dice the cucumbers,optional parsley and tomatoes, add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.

Form meat onto skewers whatever size you want, heat your grill and place meat skewers onto grill. You want the meat cooked medium done. Let grill 3-4 minutes on each side turning over once. Test for doneness, just poke with your finger it should feel firm but not dry.

Remove from heat and tent with foil while you prepare your bread. Grill the bread either on the burner or in a pan, brush with olive oil and lay kebob onto bread, sprinkle with a little sumac (optional) and spoon some of the cucumber and tomato on top.