MMM Beef

Oh dear! I'm posting again already! What has happened to me? Oh right, the new layout. I just love it! Anyway, I was dreadfully divided about what to cook for dinner. You see, I was craving spaghetti with beefy tomato sauce, something that has no recipe whatsoever because the sauce comes from a jar. But I also have a super fantastic recipe for a hearty, beefy ragu that I've been wanting to try for a few weeks now. What's a pregant girl to do?

No, I didn't make both! Are you crazy?!? I haven't been able to eat leftovers lately so the last thing I need is an overabundance of spaghetti meals in my fridge. Gross. I went with the recipe, obviously, so that I could have something to share with you. Oh man, am I glad I did! It was exactly what I've been wanting today. Beef and tomatoes and pasta. Pretty sure the only thing that could make it better would have been some alfredo sauce (mmm, pink sauce). I also added some spicy Italian suasage because I wanted to.

And can I just say that I'm addicted to bread at the mo? I seriously need to get my lust checked out or learn how to make it myself before I go broke buying it from the store. It is seriously that good right now with some butter. I might actually need to go break off another piece before I finish this post up. Gotta keep my energy up to give you the recipe now don't I?

Penne with Hearty Beef Ragu
Recipe by Confections of a Foodie Bride, adapted by me

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary
12 oz ground beef, extra lean
2/3 cup red wine (I used beef stock cause the mell of wine does things to my insides that is not fun)
3 Tbsp tomato paste
2 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 2-3 inch section of Parmesan rind (optional; I did not use this because I didn't remember to buy fresh Parm)
1 lb whole wheat penne (I actually debated on just using spaghetti but then I thought about and decided to do the whole wheat penne; I was good)

1. Add the olive oil to a dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery and rosemary and cook until the vegetables are softened, 8-10 minutes. Add 1 to 2 Tbsp water, if needed, to keep the pan from drying out and the vegetables from browning.
2. Add the ground beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook until browned, about 10 minutes. Add the wine and tomato paste. Cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the alcohol has evaporated, about 4 minutes.
3. Reduce the heat to low and add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Cover partially and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick and aromatic, about 40 minutes. Add the Parmesan rind and cook an additional 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Before the sauce is finished, cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain the pasta. Remove the rind and add the pasta to the sauce, stirring to combine. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies

Can I tell you a secret? My weakness is frozen dinners. I could eat a frozen dinner every day for breakfast (I even did that for about a month). Every meal could come out of my freezer, and I would be insanely happy. One frozen meal that I just cannot eat is the potpie. I remember eating them as a kid, and I'm pretty sure that I liked them. Nowadays though, the thought of eating a potpie makes me sick (I think I can blame this on my aversion to raw dough and how the pie crust always seems doughy; it's why I won't eat dumplings either). Luckily for the hubby, Jamie Oliver has a wonderful "almost" potpie.

I say almost because it only reminds me of those offensive frozen dishes. Jamie's British Beef and Onion Pie is everything that meat pie should be. Filled with yummy veg, high quality ground beef, and an assortment of fresh herbs and fun British condiments (hey Anne, guess what they started selling at my grocery store...yeah, Marmite). Thankfully my personal sous chef did not have class tonight so he was able to get all of the chopping done fairly quickly.

Just as an extra special tip, don't roll your pie crust too thin. Because of my aversion to doughy things, I rolled mine pretty thin (the recipe does say 1/8-inch which is pretty thin as it is). Needless to say my crust was more of soppy mess. It still tasted good though.

British Beef and Onion Pie
Recipe by Jamie Oliver

3 medium onions
2 carrots
2 stalks celery
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
Olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 lb good-quality ground beef
1 tsp English mustard
1 tsp Marmite
1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 qt beef broth
2 x 9-inch pie crusts
1 large egg, beaten or a splash of milk

1. For the filling: Peel and roughly chop your onions, carrots, and celery. Remove the rosemary leaves from the stalks and chop finely. Place a large casserole-type pan on high heat. Add 2 lugs of olive oil, all the veg, the rosemary, and the bay leaves. Stirevery minute for around 10 minutes or until the veggies have softened and lightly colored. Stir in the ground beef, breaking up any large chunks with a wooden spoon. Brown. Add the mustard, Marmite, Worcestershire sauce, and 2 tsps of flour. Add the beef broth and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer with the lid slightly askew for about an hour, stirring every now and then to stop it from catching.
2. To make the pie: Fill a large baking dish with the beef filling and allow it to cool down. Remove the pastry from the fridge 10 minutes before you need to roll it out. Preheat the oevn to 350F. Dust a clean work surface and your rolling pin with some flour and lay the pie crustsone on top of the other, then fold in half and roll out the pastry to 1/8-inch thick. Once it's large enough to cover your serving dish easily, wind the pastry around the rolling pin and unroll it over the dish. Run a knife around the edge of the dish to trim off any excess pastry. Using a fork, press down around the edge of the pastry to "crimp" it. Make a hole in the middle of the pastry using the tip of a knife. Brush the top of the pastry with beaten egg or a little milk. Bake on the bottom shelf of the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until the pastry if golden and crisp.

Thank you, Anne, for the Marmite!

I Heart My Nana!

So, remember a few recipes ago how I asked if anyone had a good recipe for tomato sauce? And do you remember how I said that my family doesn't have one? Well, I felt extremely silly when I went through my recipe box and came across a family recipe in my nana's handwriting for tomato sauce. To be completely honest, this recipe is a really good base. There are so many things that can be added to this simple sauce to make it truly your own. I stayed pretty close to Nana's recipe this time around so I could give an honest opinion. Next time, I'm going to add bay leaf and more garlic (probably more spices than that even). Enjoy!

Nana's Tomato Sauce

1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 or 2 cans tomato paste (depends on desired consistency; I used 2 cans)
1 clove garlic, chopped
Basil, to taste
Oregano, to taste
1 onion, chopped
Olive oil

1. In a large pot, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onion is almost translucent. Stir in spices, crushed tomatoes, and paste.
2. Cook on medium-low heat for an hour or an hour and a half.

Per Nana's notes on the bottom of my recipe card, "You can cheat and use jar sauce, but scratch tastes better." I also added 1 lb ground beef, browned and drained as well as spicy Italian sausage. So yummy!

Simple Meal Monday

So I just spent half an hour on this post and Blogger deleted it. I'll try again later.

Here we go again, round two. I had every intention of posting this yesterday but got distracted by other things (namely a hot bath because I smelled from running). Then I planned to post it this morning, but we all know how that turned out. Anyway, I title this post Simple Meal Monday because it truly is one of the easiest meals you can make.



In my family, we call them taco pockets (it's exactly what it sounds like). It's based off a recipe for Taco Ring from Pampered Chef that I had tried at one my mom's PC parties that she hosted years ago. We've been hooked ever since, but it's a bit time consuming to do the ring. That's how the pockets came around (I'm sure others have done this too). It only requires four ingredients, one of which isn't necessary. It can also be altered and suited to your own family's tastes. Enjoy!


Taco Pockets

Recipe adapted from Pampered Chef

1 lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
2 tubes crescent rolls
Shredded cheese (amount depends on how much you like; we love a lot but others could do without).

1. Preheat oven according to crescent roll package. In a medium-sized pan, brown the ground beef. Drain and add taco seasoning and any other ingredients the package calls for (mine called for 3/4 cup water). Bring to a boil and simmer until the juice has been soaked up by the meat.
2. Open crescent roll packages and place crescents on a baking sheet. Do not separate (you want a package of 8 crescents to make 4 rectangles). Place about 3 Tbl of the meat on one side of the rectangle. Top with cheese. Fold the rectangle over and pinch the sides closed.
3. Place in the preheated oven and cook according to the crescent roll package.

Thanks to PB Swirl and Meg for your words of encouragement. I really appreciate it.

Dinner and a Movie!

Sorry I haven't posted in the past couple of days. It's been a bit busy around here, but I'm back now and will be until next Friday when I leave for the west coast for my family reunion (I'll try to at least post some photos of my family while I'm gone).

Tonight, I had a Greek night. It was my first foray into Greek food, if you don't count the Greek salads I've had (which I don't since I didn't make them, natch). Since I went Greek, I had to go with a Greek movie. I realize it's not actually Greek, but it's still a great movie. Can you guess what it is? Yeah, My Big Fat Greek Wedding starring Nia Vardalos. I don't know what it is about this movie, but I love it. Every time it comes on TV, I watch it. I just can't help myself. When it showed up the $5 bin at Wal-Mart, I jumped at the chance to own it. One of my favorite scenes is near the beginning when a 6-year old Toula brings her lunch to school. "What's that?" the little blond girl asks snidely. " Moussakas," little Toula answers. "Moose caca?!??" And so begins the movie.

When my husband was sent to Greece, he came across an awesome cookbook that he sent me. I hadn't had the opportunity to use it until last weekend when I saw it sitting on my cookbook shelf, beckoning me. When I opened it and came across the recipe for moussakas, I was transported back to my favorite scene from the movie and knew I had to at least attempt to make it. I had every intention of making baklava to go with it, but dinner took longer than I expected to make. I promise to make some later and post it. So for you, dear reader, please enjoy my "moose caca."

Moussakas
Recipe from Cretan Cuisine (I couldn't find it on Amazon, but trust me, this one has some fun recipes

2 lbs eggplants, sliced
2 lbs potatoes, sliced
2 cups olive oil
1 lb ground beef
1 cup red wine ( I used Yellow Tail Cabernet Sauvignon)
1 onion, finely diced
2-3 tomatoes, diced (it actually called for it being grated, but how do you grate a tomato?)
Becahmel sauce (recipe can be found here; I was having a hard time following the recipe in the book which was on a different page with a completely different recipe, the whole book was a bit confusing to be honest)
1/2 lb cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using the olive oil, fry the eggplant and potatoes and allow to drain for 2-3 hours (I did not let mine drain for that long because it would have been past midnight before I got to have dinner; I also fried them until they got browned a little).
2. In a medium-sized pan, saute the onions in the leftover olive oil. Add the ground beef and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the red wine and tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and allow to cook for 20-25 minutes.
3. In a 9x13 pan, place a layer of potatoes. Place a layer of eggplant then add some of the meat mixture. Continue to layer until all of the ingredients are gone or until the pan is full. Top with the bechamel sauce and cheddar cheese.
4. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the sauce becomes slightly brown and the cheese has broiled.

Beefburger Parcels

I feel like I’ve been running out of ideas lately. When I got up this morning, I stared blankly into my freezer not sure what I wanted to make. There was the requisite ground beef and chicken. There was also steak, cubed steak, and ground lamb. For whatever reason, I still have the 4-lb chicken from when I was supposed to make a roasted chicken (that’ll be on here later). So I pulled out a package of ground beef, sure I could think of something quick and yummy to make for dinner.

As I sat at work, a client’s 1040 information in front of me, it hit me. Why not try out that Beefburger Parcel recipe you found ages ago? Basically the poor man’s Beef Wellington, the recipe is simple and straightforward. I found it a couple of years ago while looking around on All Recipes and had just never gotten around to making it.

Being a fairly picky eater and having an even pickier roommate, I had to tweak the recipe quite a bit. My sister does not like onions. Neither of us do mushrooms, not even cream of mushroom soup (I chalk that up to it grossing me out more than anything…it’s a fungus; fungus has been known to grow on people’s feet…BLECH!). So I omitted the onions and mushies, but you certainly don’t have to.

I wasn’t sure what to make as a side dish tonight. I knew my sister might not be eating with me, but I also knew that she would need me to pack her a lunch for work tomorrow. I’ve wanted to try out a recipe for onion risotto for months now, but since she won’t come anywhere near the onions, I’ll have to save it for this weekend while she’s out of town. Mashed potatoes it is! I don’t know why, but she and I love red potatoes the best (it’s not like we grew up eating them, and I don’t think I ever even had them until I was living on my own, so I have no idea where our obsession with them came from). We leave the skins on to get what little nutrition can be found in potatoes.

Overall, I think the meal came out pretty tasty. It certainly would have been better with more tweaking (or less). I certainly would have liked the onions at least mixed in with the meat, and I wish I had been paying attention at the grocery store and picked up some more garlic. Cheers!

Beefburger Parcels
Recipe from All Recipes. Adapted by me

1 pound ground beef
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, finely chopped
1 (17.25 ounce) package frozen puff pastry
1 egg, beaten
1 cup red grape juice (I used red wine, but you could also use beef broth)
1 cube beef bouillon
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch, mixed with equal parts water

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil grate. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
In a large bowl, combine ground beef, 1 chopped onion, garlic, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Season with Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Add egg, and mix well. Shape into 4 thick patties, not too large in diameter. Cook burgers on grill until brown.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute 1 chopped onion, and chopped mushrooms until brown and caramelized.
Cut puff pastry into 4 squares, and roll pieces large enough to wrap burgers. Divide mushroom mixture into the center of each pastry, then top with burgers. Wrap pastry around burgers, and seal edges. Place parcels seam side down on a baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown. Serve with Red Grape Sauce.
Meanwhile, make Red Grape Sauce: In a saucepan over medium heat, combine grape juice, Worcestershire sauce, and bouillon. Mix the cornstarch with water, and stir into sauce. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened.