Beef

Sunday Dinner: Asian Style

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A few Sundays ago, if you follow me on instagram you know I made
a boat load of wontons. What you don’t know is that I made an entire Asian
inspired Sunday dinner that day. I meant to post it last week, but life got in
the way, it happens.

Regardless, I spent a peaceful afternoon watching New Girl and
folding these little babies. I used this recipe pretty much to a tee (Check this
girl out she knows what’s up), because let’s be honest I have no clue what I’m
doing here with most Asian flavors, aside from soy sauce. The one main difference
is that I followed the instructions on the back of the wontons package to
create the shape you see. These came out magnificent! I loved them! Like totally
completely loved them, and have big plans to make them again in the future,
maybe with a few more changes/additions. I did however get uber fancy and make
my own dipping sauce.

Wonton Dipping Sauce

¼ cup rice wine vinegar

¼ cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp sesame seeds for garnish

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl and serve.

In addition to these guys I made Korean Style Beef in the crockpot.
It was totally inspired by this recipe, also from Damn Delicious, she’s
totally my new food blog crush can you tell? Anyway I wanted to make something
that was clean, so I took her photos, and general idea and made it my own. It
came out AWESOME! I am seriously proud of this one. It’s super easy and healthy
what more can you ask for? It’s definitely going into the I-have-to-work-too-late-to-cook-anything
rotation.

Clean Crockpot Korean Style Beef

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp raw honey

1 tbsp sesame sauce

2 cloves of garlic, crushed

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

½ tsp ground ginger

2 lbs lean beef roast, trimmed of visible fat

10 mini sweet peppers, sliced thin

1 cup broccoli florets (optional)

Sesame seeds for garnish

In a small bowl combine soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, red
pepper flakes, and ginger. Place roast in slow cooker and pour the mixture over
the top. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Remove the
roast from the slow cooker and shred the beef before returning it to the pot
with its juices and mini peppers and broccoli florets. Cook on high for another
30 minutes. Stir well and serve immediately.

To round out this meal I also added a little side salad of
bagged Asian slaw, simply because I felt more vegetables were required, and
after making all of the wontons I knew I would be to fried to make something
else.

Hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did. I’m also wondering what your favorite kind of take out is. I would really like to come up with some more easy, and clean takes on traditional take out so please give me some ideas!!

Slow Cooker Hungarian Goulash: An Impromptu Dinner Party

By Jessica

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Sometimes and an impromptu dinner party is the best kind of dinner party.

We were sitting on the couch enjoying our day off when we got a text from a friend who was in town staying with other friends. He told us yet another friend was there from across the country and was coming down. He asked if we could come over later that night.

The aspiring chef that I am had already put a roast in the crock pot to cook for just this recipe and I knew there would be left over’s if it was just Chuck and I. So I asked instead if they wanted to all come to our place to eat before we all went over to their house for an evening of heady drinking. Of course, they said yes, who wouldn’t?

I was nervous that there wouldn’t be enough so I put out some cheese and crackers because we always have it on hand. I shouldn’t have; I ended up putting enough for a dinner of 4 in the freezer. It appears that this is one of those recipes that can easily feed a crowd. It’s a homey, stick to your ribs kind of meal too so perhaps it should be paired with a nice light salad instead of the cheese and crackers that I served it with. Oh and a good German beer. This is a German-style recipe after all, and the heat from the paprika goes well with a nice hoppy beer, at least that’s what I thought.

Hungarian Goulash

1 lb Beef Chuck Roast
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
2 tbsp Hungarian paprika
2 tbsp butter
2 large carrots (peeled & chopped)
2 onions (peeled & chopped)
2 bay leaves
4 large tomatoes diced (2 cans diced can be used instead)
2 tablespoons flour (optional)

Season the meat with salt, pepper and paprika.
Melt butter in a large sauce pan over medium high heat. Sear the meat on all sides until a nice crust forms, about 2-3 minutes per side.
Place the meat in a crock pot and add the carrots, onions, bay leaves, and tomatoes. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours (high for 4 hours).
For a thicker sauce combine flour with ¼ cup broth or water and blend well. Add to the slow cooker and cook for an additional 30 minutes on high.

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Slow Cooker Pork Ragu

Slow Cooker Venison Pot Roast

American Style Venison Goulash

Greek Style Pasta Bake

By Jessica

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In our house lamb is something of a delicacy, its expensive
and sometimes hard to find. The favored way to prepare it is in a classic Irish
Sheppard’s pie. I swear if Chuck could
eat Sheppard’s Pie every day of his life he would without question, but I on
the other hand get bored very quickly. So recently when lamb was on sale I thought
it was the perfect time to try out some new recipes.

This particular one I have made before with regular old
ground beef, and it has always been good, but the addition of the lamb takes it
to a whole new level. It is amazing! I love the way the cinnamon really
elevates the dish to something other than a humdrum tomato based sauce, as well
as showcasing the flavors of the lamb.

I think this same dish could also be stretched a bit with
addition of more vegetables, some carrots, celery, or zucchini would make a
great healthy addition that would stretch it out for closer to 10 people. This
is defiantly something that I would serve to a large party, its clean, a little different,
and delicious!

Greek Style Pasta Bake

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

½ lb lean ground beef

½ lb ground lamb

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp dried oregano

2 cans low sodium diced tomatoes

2-3 cups fresh baby spinach

1 lb whole wheat pasta cooked according to package
instructions

6 oz feta cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet heat oil and
sauté onion until it begins to soften 1-2 minutes. Add garlic and cook for an
additional minute. Stir in ground beef and lamb, breaking it up while it cooks.
Once the meat has browned discard extra grease and stir in cinnamon, oregano
and tomatoes Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
Add spinach to the pan and gently stir until it has begun to wilt 1-2 minutes.
Transfer to a prepared baking dish and toss with pasta. Crumble or cube feta
over the top and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the feta begins to crisp on
top. (Serves 8)

IHello German! Roulade

By Jessica

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I think I’m on a German kick. as evidenced here.

Way back in August when I read My Berlin Kitchen I really wanted to make so many of the recipes but it was far too hot outside to be cooped in my tiny kitchen so I waited patiently, day dreaming about all of her wonderful soups and stews. Since her setting was obviously in Germany, there was definitely a German lilt to my daydreaming.

Growing up I was lucky enough to try a cornucopia of different German dishes, thanks to my step mother, Miss Amy. She spent some time working for a family friend at their German restaurant The Brauhaus in my home town and subsequently learned to cook many them.

Roulade is a dish that I avoided at a young age but learned to love as an adult. I mean warm pickles in gravy? W-E-I-R-D right? Yes. But also delicious.

To many of you this may seem so far out of the realm of good food, but for others it will be something that you must try now. Even if you are on the fence about it allow me to give you a little push by saying that it has a surprisingly mild flavor that I think many pallets can appreciate. I STRONGLY suggest you give it a try.

Besides look how pretty it looks!

Classic German Roulade

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lb beef sirloin or eye round steak, sliced thin

4-5 dill pickles

4-5 slices of thick cut bacon

1 medium onion, chopped

1 cup beef broth

1 tbsp flour

Fresh Parsley for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slice the steak into 3-4
inch wide strips, and lay one piece of bacon on each piece of steak, then a
pickle, and roll the meat around the pickle securing with either cooking twine
or tooth picks. In a large oven safe pan melt butter and oil over medium-high
heat then sear the meat rolls for 2-3 minutes per side, or until it has
browned. Remove the meat rolls from the pan and set aside. Add the onion to the
pan and sauté it for 2-3 minutes or until it begins to soften. Add the flour
and cook for an additional minute, then deglaze with broth, stirring thoroughly
until thickened. Return the rolled meat to the pan and toss with gravy. Place
in the oven for 20 minutes, or until the meat has been cooked through. Serve
immediately garnished with parsley.

Late Summer Vegetable Beef Stew

By Jessica

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There
is a chill in the air, but my garden is still producing quite the bounty, which
means I can’t deem this one a completely fall dish. It has the perfect blend of
warm fall comfort, and fresh delicious vegetables. So it must be a late summer
dish.

The
only things I actually needed to buy for this were the cabbage, and the beef,
everything else came from mine, or Miss Amy’s garden. What is it that is so
satisfying about being able to say that this simple, wonderful dish came
from the earth and was nurtured by my own hands? It really is a gratifying
feeling.

I
kept it made simply with very few extras, and every vegetable I had in stock.
This meant that it was easy, clean, and full of flavor. I mean really every
spoonful had a different complex of flavors. I wouldn’t be shy about straying
from the recipe with different vegetables; I think you will be hard pressed to
find something that wouldn’t be good in here.

Late
Summer Vegetable Beef Stew

1
tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil

1
lb lean steak, cut into 1-2inch pieces

1
medium onion, peeled & chopped

1
large bell pepper, chopped

2
large tomatoes, chopped

1
cup shredded or chopped cabbage

½
cup fresh corn

½
cup fresh or frozen peas

½
cup chopped green beans (fresh or frozen)

4
cups beef broth

1
sprig fresh oregano (1 tsp dried)

Salt
and pepper to taste

In
a thick bottomed sauce pan heat oil over medium high heat. Add steak and cook
for 4-5 minutes or until browned, stirring regularly. Remove from pan and set
aside. Add onion to the pan and cook until it begins to turn translucent, 2-3
minutes. Next stir in the rest of the vegetables, broth, oregano and bring to a
simmer. Cook at a simmer, stirring occasionally for 10-20 minutes or until the
vegetables have begun to soften. Serve immediately. (Serves 6)

Beef

Hungarian Goulash

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