Stuffed Peppers

 Always a favorite at our house, but I don’t use green peppers, usually red or orange.

4 large bell peppers ( I cut mine in half lengthwise)

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 cup white rice

1 medium onion, chopped

1 - 1 pound can of diced tomatoes

1 cup tomato sauce

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper to taste.

Clean peppers and cook for 5 minutes in boiling water to soften.  Remove and sprinkle liberally with salt.

Cook the 1/2 cup rice according to package.

Fry ground beef with onion until browned, add tomatoes, tomato sauce and worcestershire sauce. Mix in rice and cheddar cheese into mixture.

Place salted peppers in greased large casserole dish and fill with meat mixture. If there is any extra, it can just be placed with the peppers and cooked along with them.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour.  Yummy.

Shepherd’s Pie

Delectable comfort food...

2 lbs. lean ground beef

2 Tbsp. Flour

1 large onion, diced

2 ribs celery, diced

4 carrots, diced

1 bottle Guinness Stout

2 TBSP. Worcestershire sauce

1 cup beef broth

1 tsp. Thyme, dried

1 tsp. Rosemary, dried

1 tsp. Garlic powder

2 TBSP. tomato paste.

1 cup frozen peas

4 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1 inch dice

1/4 cup butter

Milk

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

Boil potatoes in salted water until tender.  Drain well and beat with electric mixer.  Add butter and beat again.  Slowly pour in enough milk while beating to turn potatoes light and fluffy.  Set aside.

Put Guinness in a saucepan and simmer until in has reduced by half.  Add broth, all seasonings, and tomato paste.

Sauté onion, celery, and carrots in a bit of olive oil until softened.  Remove from pan and fry ground beef until browned.chopping up well. Sprinkle flour over meat and stir.  Stir in sautéed vegetables.

Pour in sauce mixture and mix well.

You can either pour meat mixture in a large casserole or just leave it in the skillet.  Place mashed potatoes over the meat mixture and spread around to cover the top.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Sprinkle cheese over the top and bake another 15 to 20 minutes.

Eat up!

Guinness Beef Stew (crockpot)

Best stew  I've ever made.  Please don't add other seasonings, it will change the flavor too much and you will lose the wonderful, rich flavor.


2 - 3 pounds beef chuck mock tenderloin steaks
2 medium onions - medium dice
8 oz. mushrooms - quartered
12 baby Yukon Gold potatoes, washed and quartered
4 carrots - peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch lengths and then quartered
1 cup beef broth
1 12oz. bottle of Guinness Draft
Salt and pepper.

Pre-heat crockpot on HIGH.

Trim any tough spots on the steaks and cut into quarters.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper and fry a few pieces at a time in a little oil in a hot skillet until 2 sides have browned.  Transfer to crockpot.

Fry onion in same skillet until transluscent.  Add Guinness to de-glaze skillet.  Once it begins to simmer, transfer to the crockpot.

Add other ingredients to crockpot and stir.  Place lid on top and cook for about 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

If you want to thicken the stew (I always do), use 2 heaping TBSP. corn starch desolved in a little water.  Stir into finished stew and let it return to a simmer.

Cooking the stew using larger pieces of the ingredients allows it to not turn into mush.

Spanish Stew

I served this over unpeeled, mashed yukon gold potatoes.  Heavenly!

(You can adjust the amounts of smoked paprika and tomato paste to your liking.  Just don't add too much tomato as it will overwhelm the sauce.)

4 to 5 pound boneless beef chuck or cross rib roast
Salt & Pepper
Flour
oil

4 large carrots peeled and each cut into 4 chunks
2 cups diced yellow onion
4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 bottle red wine (if you won't drink it, don't cook with it...just not too sweet)
1  cup beef broth
2 TBSP. tomato paste (I like the Italian type in the tube)
2 TBSP. smoked paprika
1 tsp. dried thyme
 8 ounces crimini mushrooms -cleaned and halved.

Trim the excess fat and silver skin from the pot roast, ending up with about 8 nice sized chunks.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour.
Pour a thin coat of cooking oil into a large skillet, and saute the meat chunks on each side until browned. (Don't put too many chunks in the pan at once or they won't brown well and will begin to lose their liquid.)
Put carrot chunks in bottom of a large dutch oven.  Put meat chunks on top.
In leftover pan drippings, saute the onion until they are turning a nice golden color.  Add garlic and saute for another minute or so.  Stir in 2 to 3 TBSP. of the leftover dredging flour and saute for another minute. De-glaze the pan with the wine and then add the broth.  Mixture should be starting to thicken a bit.
Add tomato paste, paprika and thyme.  Pour over the top of the beef and cover dutch oven well.
Cook in 300 degree oven for 2 hours.  Stir in the mushrooms and cook 1 more hour, or until meat is very tender.

Spinach Feta Burgers

2 lbs leanest ground beef
6 oz fresh spinach
4 oz crumbled low fat feta cheese
2 cloves garlic - minced
salt & pepper

DIRECTIONS

Saute spinach in non stick skillet, using a small amount of cooking spray. Right before spinach is completely wilted, add garlic and saute. Chop spinach and add into the ground beef along with the feta cheese and seasonings. Form into 8 patties, and fry in skillet.

Beef Stew with Red Wine

Pretty darn close to Julia Child's classic recipe.

4 lb. stew meat
2 yellow onions - chopped
5 large carrots - peeled and cut in 1 inch long chunks
12 small yellow potatoes - whole
3 cloves garlic - minced
1/3 bottle of red wine (if you wouldn't drink it, don't cook with it!)
2 Tbsp. beef "Better than Boullion"
1 Tbsp dried thyme
3 large bay leaves
salt & pepper
all purpose flour
cooking oil
water

DIRECTIONS
Dredge stew meat in mixture of flour, salt and pepper. Making sure you don't overcrowd the pan, saute meat until browned in a few TBSP of cooking oil. (4 lbs of meat will take about 5 separate skillets full.)
When meat is finished, saute onion and garlic for about 5 minutes in same skillet. Pour in wine and add about 2 tsp. salt to taste. Pour this over the meat, which has been placed in a large dutch oven. Add carrots, potatoes, and seasonings. Mix the boullion with about 3 cups hot water and pour on top of stew. If needed, add enough hot water to not quite cover the stew mixture. Stir everything together well. Cover with a tight fitting lid and bake at 350 degrees for 3 hours. ENJOY!

Cabbage Rolls (Pigs in the Blankets)

This recipe comes originally from my paternal grandmother, who passed away before I was born.  My mother kept it alive, and I make them as soon as the weather starts to turn cold...

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 medium onion -- minced
2 eggs
2/3 cup raw white rice
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 large cabbage
1 to 1 1/2 quarts Beef broth

Mix together meat, onion, egg, rice and salt and pepper. In the meantime core and wash cabbage and begin to steam.  As outer leaves soften, remove and save. Once all cabbage is done steaming, divide the meat mixture into 10 equal portions and form into balls. place each ball of meat onto the edge of a cabbage leaf and roll up burrito style.   Layer rolls in large pan with grate on the bottom to keep rolls from burning. Chop left over cabbage and layer in between the rolls. Mix together the crushed tomatoes and beef broth. Pour over rolls and cover with lid. Let simmer on medium low heat for about 2 hours.

salt and pepper broth to taste.

Makes 10 rolls.

Navajo Tacos

I actually bought this recipe for a dollar at a Indian Fry Bread stand on the Navajo Reservation.  It included the fry bread recipe as a "bonus".  You will find that recipe in the "Breads" section.

1 pound hamburger
1 small onion -- chopped
salt and pepper -- to taste
2 cans pinto beans, with jalapeno's
shredded cheddar cheese
taco sauce
shredded lettuce
sour cream
chopped tomatoes

Fry hamburger, onion, salt and pepper together until browned. Add the two cans of Ranch Style Pinto Beans with Jalapenos. Bring to a simmer.

Spread part of mixture on each fry bread, add cheese, lettuce, tomato, salsa, and sour cream to taste. YUM!

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Italian Beef

4 pounds beef cross rib or chuck roast -- boneless
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons oregano
1 can beer
1 jar pepperocini peppers including juice (sliced if you can find them)
2 beef bouillon cubes


Mix together all ingredients in crock pot. Cook on high for 8-10 hours. Shred meat and serve on sourdough rolls using the juice for dipping. Mozzerella or provelone cheese slices are also good on sandwiches. (You can also cook covered in oven at 250 degrees for about 8 hours if you threw away your crock pot).

Beef Tenderloin ala Emeril

This is our Christmas main dish, I just wish that by the time the serving plate gets around to me that there would be some left!

Do yourself a HUGE favor and grate the horseradish outside...

3 1/2 pounds beef tenderloin
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Emeril's Essence
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/2 pound fresh horseradish -- peeled and grated
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic -- chopped
1/2 tablespoon salt
2 cups worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub the tenderloin witht he oil and creole seasoning. Heat a saute pan to high heat, then sear the meat until evenly browned on all sides. Remove from heat. Line shallow baking pan with rack with aluminum foil. Place tenderloin on the rack. Rub top and sides of meat with the mustard. Combine horseradish, pepper, garlic and salt in small mixing bowl. Using hands, press the mixture evenly over the mustard. Roast tenderloin about 30 minutes for rare, 35 minutes for medium. Remove from oven and let rest 5 minutes before slicing. Drizzle meat with worcestershire sauce.