Terrific Topper for Grilled Steaks – Tasty Tuesday

Welcome back for another edition of Tasty Tuesday! With BBQ season in full swing here I thought that we would revisit a very tasty dish that is fabuloso on grilled steaks. It is so easy to make and so flavorful. Today’s recipe is Sauteed Mushrooms. Ready to head into the kitchen?

Ingredients
1/2# crimini mushrooms
4 cloves of garlic
2 TBS butter
fresh ground black pepper

A short list. Let’s get this together. First take the mushrooms, rinse them in water and then towel dry removing any lingering soil from the mushroom. Make thick slices, and take a few to chop up.

Crimini Mushrooms

Next, chop up the garlic. Take out a saute pan and add the butter and the garlic.

4 cloves of garlic with 2 TBS butter

Turn the heat on to medium heat. When you can just smell the aroma of the garlic, add in the mushrooms and a few twists of fresh cracked pepper. Stir. Let the mushrooms sweat. Here is a photo of them mid-way through.

Midway through cooking

The fragrance is amazing isn’t it? Here is what they look like when they are done.

Serve these puppies up!

Total cooking time is between 10-15 minutes. Spoon equal portions over your grilled steaks.

Sauteed Mushrooms

Feel free to use these too over chicken or some juicy pork chops done on the grill!

Well thanks for stopping by today and stay tuned for another excellent recipe coming to your kitchen next week! Be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Ginger Orange Short Ribs – Tasty Tuesday

I love cooking in my crock pot and today’s recipe adds another one to the list of crock pot recipes that I have shared with you. Today I feature another tasty beef short rib recipe that is rich and flavorful! Let’s stop for a preview.

Short Rib Preview

For this easy recipe, plan on a half hour of prep time and 10 hours of cooking. This recipe serves 8. Are you ready to head into the kitchen? Let’s go!

Ingredients
2 packages of short ribs, there will be 7-8 ribs
1 tsp kosher salt
3/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper
3 small leeks, greens trimmed off and discarded
5 large cloves of garlic
1 1/4″ slice of fresh garlic, skin peeled off
1 star anise
2 chile de arbol
even mix of sherry and brandy, poured to 1/3 cup total
2 oranges, juiced, and skins cut into strips
1/4 cup of light brown sugar, packed tight
fresh cilantro
4 oranges to serve with the dish

Rub the ribs with the salt and pepper.

Ribs are ready to brown

Pre-cook them under the broiler until brown on all sides. While these are browning, let’s get the remaining ingredients ready. Take the leeks and cut into thick slices. Remove the papery skin off the garlic and slice thinly. Set aside the star anise and the chiles. Pour out the sherry and brandy. Juice the oranges and cut the skin into strips and measure out the soy sauce and brown sugar.

Now put the leeks into the crock pot.

Leeks are added to the crock pot

Place the browned short ribs over the leeks.

Browned ribs are added to the crock pot

Now add the garlic and ginger slices and the chiles. Break up the star anise as you add it.

Add in the garlic, ginger, chiles and star anise

In a bowl combine the sherry, brandy, orange juice, orange rind (give these a bit of a twist so that the essential oils get added), soy sauce and brown sugar. Stir well to combine. Then pour this over the ribs.

Mix the sherry, brandy, orange juice, soy sauce, brown sugar and orange rinds together

Pour the mixture over the ribs

These are now ready to cook! Set the crock pot on low heat, set the timer for 10 hours, cover it and let it do its thing.

When the timer goes off, remove the lid, remove the ribs from the crock pot. The bones should slide right out of the meat. Set the meat aside. Toss the chiles, orange peels, and skim the fat. Slice up the oranges. Wash and chop up a good fistful of cilantro. Serve the ribs over rice, spoon a little juice over the meat then top with cilantro and serve with some sliced orange.

Serve the short ribs over rice

I think that you will enjoy the amazing flavors of this dish. Please let me know if you try this dish.

Thanks for stopping by today and stay tuned for another amazing recipe coming to you next week! Be well… ^..^

Now place the

Read Full Post »

Simple Beef Stroganoff – Tasty Tuesday

It is another edition of Tasty Tuesday! Today we will be preparing a simple yet elegant beef stroganoff that is sure to please you and your family! It is the addition of whole grain mustard that really “beefs” up this recipe! Ready to head into the kitchen?

Ingredients
1 small onion, sliced thinly
1/2# of shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 TBS butter
1# steak, cut into 1/4″ slices
1/3 cup of brandy
1/2 cup beef broth
1 bay leaf
1 tsp whole grain mustard
1 cup of sour cream
egg noodles, buttered with parsley

Ingredients

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and onion and cook until gently browned.

Brown the mushrooms and onion

When these are done, remove from the skillet and set aside. Now we turn to the beef. Add this to the skillet and brown the meat.

Brown the beef

Once the beef is browned, slowly add in the brandy.

Gratuitous pouring shot of the brandy

Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the broth, bay leaf and whole grain mustard. Now tell me, doesn’t that mustard look amazing?

Bay and whole grain mustard are added

With everything now incorporated, add back the mushroom and onion mixture.

Mushrooms and onion are added back

Cook for another couple of minutes. Turn the heat down to low, and add in the sour cream.

Add the sour cream

Stir continuously until steam begins to rise from the pan.

Heat through

The dish is now ready to serve! I like serving this over buttered egg noodles that have a bit of parsley added. Here is what the dish looks like before you gobble it up!

Serve over buttered noodles with parsley!

There you have it! With preparation and cooking time, expect to spend an hour in the kitchen. This dish will serve four.

Thanks for stepping into the kitchen with me, and I hope to see you back next week! Be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Let’s Make Enchiladas! Tasty Tuesday

Hello world! Today is Tasty Tuesday and have I got an easy and very tasty recipe for you to try! The recipe featured today is my favorite Enchilada recipe! Let me entice you with a preview!

Preview

Doesn’t that look good? This dish will serve 6. Well let’s head on into the kitchen! We begin with our list of ingredients…

Ingredients
1 1/2# ground beef
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro, lightly chopped
1 7 oz. can fire roasted diced green chiles
2 TBS cumin
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1 tub medium hot salsa
1 28 oz. can of enchilada sauce
1# of Mexican cheese blend, split 1/3# and 2/3#
1 package of large flour tortillas
Sour cream
Cilantro leaves

Let’s start by getting all the ingredients together and ready to use. In a large skillet, heat over medium high heat, and add the ground beef, the onion and the lightly chopped cilantro.

Burger, onions and cilantro

Cook the meat until browned, breaking it up as you go. It should look like this:

Brown burger and drain

Drain the meat but leave about 1 TBS of the liquid in the pan with the meat. Next, add in the green chiles and stir to blend.

Add in fire roasted green chiles

Oh, boy does the kitchen smell good! Now let’s add in the cumin, oregano and 4 TBS of salsa.

Add in cumin, oregano and salsa

Cook for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add in the 1/3# of the cheese blend.

Add in the cheese to the beef mixture

Your mixture should now look like this:

Cheesy yummy goodness!

Now is the time to preheat the oven. Set your temperature to 350° F or 177° C. Let’s get our pan ready for the enchiladas, shall we?

Use a 9 x 13 glass baking pan. I use glass because it will not react to the tomato in the sauce. Coat the bottom with about 5 TBS of the enchilada sauce and 5 TBS of the salsa and stir them together. Your pan should look like this:

Prepare the baking pan

Now, let’s go on to making the enchiladas! Take a tortilla and lay this on a plate. To the center spoon in 3 heaping spoonfuls, and spread as this next photo shows.

Meat goes onto a tortilla

Now fold in the sides, then take the edge closest to you and roll it up! Add this to your pan with the seam side down. When you are done with all the enchiladas your pan should look like this:

Enchiladas all wrapped up

Now pour the enchilada sauce over the enchiladas leaving about 1/2 cup as reserve. Then spoon two good size spoonfuls of salsa over each enchilada. Let’s take a look!

Cover with sauce and salsa

Now, for the remaining cheese. Cover the enchiladas with the remaining cheese spreading it evenly over the enchiladas.

Cover with remaining cheese

Now pop that pan into the oven and set the timer to 30 minutes. Midway through cooking, check out your enchiladas. I like to spoon some of the sauce over them at this point.

As it cooks spoon sauce over the cheesy enchiladas

When the timer goes off, serve this up with a hefty spoonful of sour cream topped with cilantro!

Dinner is served!

Now doesn’t that look good? Tuck the reserved sauce away in the fridge if you are not going to eat all 6 servings. This will give you a bit extra to add to the enchiladas when you reheat them!

Well, I am going to go eat! Thanks for stopping by today and see you next time for another fabulous recipe! Be well… ^..^

Read Full Post »

Slow Cooked Beef with Mushrooms – Tasty Tuesday

Good day and welcome to Tasty Tuesday! For today, I wanted to share with you an easy beef recipe that takes about a half hour to prepare and then 8 hours of cooking time in the crock pot. The flavors are amazing, and the aromas that will fill your home while this is cooking will make others believe that you have been slaving in the kitchen! Here is a preview of this dish…

Preview

Looks good, doesn’t it? Let’s head into the kitchen…

Ingredients
6 tri-tip strips or 6 medium hanger steaks (I used a combo of these because of limited availability in the store)
1# cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 onion sliced and separated
1 TBS fresh thyme, leaves stripped from stems and minced
1 tsp of Spanish paprika
3/4 cup of chicken stock
1/4 cup sherry
1/4 cup of flour
4 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TBS dried parsley
1/2 cup of heavy cream

Ingredients

The first thing that I do is get all of the ingredients prepped and ready to use. This cuts down the prep time of this dish, or any other.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 TBS of olive oil. Add the mushrooms and saute until the mushrooms begin to brown.

Brown the mushrooms

Move them to the crock pot. Then add another TBS of oil to the skillet and heat. Add in the meat and brown on both sides. Remove the meat to a plate.

Browned beef

Add the remaining oil to the pan, heat and then add the onion, thyme and paprika.

Cook up the onions, paprika and thyme

Cook until the onions become translucent. Then add in the flour. Stir to coat.

Flour is incorporated in to the onions

Add in the chicken broth and sherry. This will be a bit thick. Add it to the crockpot.

The mushrooms and onions provide a bed for the beef

To the crock pot, add in the meat and any juices that have accumulated on the plate.

Beef is added

Cover and cook for 8 hours.

After the timer goes off on the crock pot, remove the meat to a plate and cover with foil. The meat will be very tender. To the liquid remaining in the pot, add in the cream and cook on high for about 15 minutes.

Sauce

Add the meat back to the crock pot and stir to coat the meat. I served this dish with green beans and baked potatoes! Check it out!

Dinner is served!

Thanks for joining me in the kitchen on this Tasty Tuesday! Enjoy your day, and be well…

Read Full Post »

Burger, Chile and Rice Casserole – Tasty Tuesday!

Welcome back to Tasty Tuesday! The recipe I am featuring today is quick and easy to make, and is very flavorful too! Today’s recipe is a casserole made with burger, rice, cheese and chips! Here is a preview of what we are cooking up today!

Preview

Looks good! Ready to head on into the kitchen with me? Let’s go!

Ingredients
1# ground beef
1/2 cup onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin, divided in half
1 tsp of pasilla chili powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 cans fire roasted green chiles
3 1/2 cups cooked long grain rice
1/2 package cream cheese
8 ounces grated pepper jack cheese
8 ounces grated medium cheddar
Tortilla chips
1 avocado

Now let’s get started with the meat. In a skillet break up the ground beef, add the onion, garlic, 3/4 tsp of cumin, chile powder, salt and pepper.

Burger, onion, garlic and spices ready to brown

Over medium heat, brown the meat breaking it into small pieces. When done, the onions should be soft. Drain off the fat and set aside.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Take the cooked rice and, the remaining cumin and 3 TBS of the green chiles and combine. In a 9 x 13 baking pan, first spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray, add the rice to the pan pushing it down to get an even layer. Top this with chunks of the cream cheese as shown in this next photo.

Rice added to baking pan and topped with cream cheese

Now spread the ground beef over the rice and cream cheese.

Top with ground beef

Next, spread the pepper jack cheese over the beef evenly.

Top with cheese

Now take the tortilla chips and add a single layer over the cheese.

Top with tortilla chips

Top the tortilla chips with the cheddar and the remaining green chiles. In my excitement of making this recipe I forgot to photograph the casserole before it went into the oven. Here is is midway through cooking.

Midway through baking

Place the pan in the oven and cook until the cheese on top is bubbly and just getting a slight brown tinge to it. Here is what it looks like right out of the oven!

Right out of the oven!

Serve this up with a couple of slices of avocado, and hot sauce if you like!

Serve topped with avocado!

I hope that you enjoyed today’s Tasty Tuesday! Be well! ^..^

Read Full Post »

One Easy Amazing Dinner!

I love cooking, as you know, and I love to find, or come up with new recipes! Over this last weekend I tried two recipes. One that I wanted to try for some time now is a potato recipe that I found from the site Walking on Sunshine. Her recipe: Bacon Cheese Potatoes. I thought that this would pair perfectly with another recipe that I got from my friend Conor Bofin over at One Man’s Meat. His recipe: Steak Frites. Then I added to this my simple recipe: Simple Sauteed Mushrooms!

I prepared the potatoes first as they were to be cooked in the crockpot. This simple recipe consisted of bacon, cheese and potatoes. Slice four red potatoes thinly, grate plenty of cheddar, and dice some bacon. Lois indicates that you can pre-cook the bacon, or not. I did not, but next time I make this I will because of the amount of fat. I used non-stick spray in my crock pot then layered potatoes, then bacon, then cheese. Lois likes to add salt and pepper on top of each layer. Forget the salt as the cheese and bacon add plenty! I was able to knock out three layers, dotted it with butter, and after 6 hours on low here is the finished recipe!

Bacon Cheese Potatoes

Now Conor’s steak recipe was a perfect pairing with these potatoes! And, it is a simple recipe too! I purchased two rib eye steaks that were about 3/4″ thick. Taking a big bunch of fresh thyme, I stripped the leaves off the stems and chopped up the thyme and then pressed the steaks into the thyme. The recipe says to get a cast iron pan very hot and then add 1 teaspoon of salt. I forgot this step. After adding the salt you are to place the steaks in the pan. It was at this point that I added the salt. The important thing with this recipe is not to disturb the steaks. I cooked them for 5 minutes then turned them over and cooked another 4 minutes. And, they came out beautiful. Check these out!

The Steaks

I cooked the mushrooms while the steaks were sizzling in the pan. Another easy recipe. Add butter and garlic to a hot pan, and when the aroma of the garlic comes up add the mushrooms and saute. Here they are!

The Mushrooms

And here is the finished dinner!

One easy dinner!

The flavors of this dinner: Amazing! Worth the time and one that will make your family and friends think you spent hours in the kitchen!

Have a terrific Tuesday! Thanks for stopping in for a bite! Be well! ^..^

Read Full Post »

Veal Marsala!

Veal is one of the “hard to find” meats here in the Sierra Foothills. I am not sure why this is but when I saw veal at the grocery store I had to buy it! I decided to make Veal Marsala, and the Marsala was not easy to find either, but I did! I started dancing in the aisle when I did and believe me I got some weird looks! So, let’s head on into the kitchen!

The ingredient list is simple!
3/4# veal sliced thinly
1/2 cup of flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
1 1/2 cups of Marsala wine
3 TBS butter
2 TBS fresh thyme leaves

A short list, but one packed with amazing flavors! Check it out!

Ingredients

The first thing you want to do, after getting your ingredients prepared and ready to use, as this is a quick cooking dinner, is coat your veal in the seasoned flour. Then heat the olive oil in a skillet and when it is hot add the veal. Do this in batches so you do not crowd the pan. Brown the meat. This takes about a minute a side!

Brown the meat

As it browns remove it from the pan and set aside. Then add your mushrooms. You want to brown these and cook out the liquids.

Browned mushrooms

Then add in the Marsala.

Add the marsala

Heat this to boiling and reduce to a simmer. Cook until the the liquid is reduced by about one third.

Reduce the liquid by a third

Then add back the meat to the pan along with the butter. The butter and the flour will thicken the sauce a bit.

The meat added back

Bring this back to a boil, then add the thyme leaves. When the aroma of the thyme comes up, the dish is done! I served this with roasted potatoes and fresh green beans…

Dinner is served!

The flavors in this dish: Amazing! And, the best part of it, the dish is easy to make. Anticipate your cooking time to about 25 minutes!

Thank you for dropping by today and for joining me in the kitchen! Go have a great Monday, and I will see you tomorrow!

Read Full Post »

Brisket Braised in a Belgian Style Ale!

I am really falling in love with cooking up a recipe using a beer or ale! The aromas of the food, not to mention the flavor, are rich and beautiful! So, when I came across a recipe in the December issue of Bon Appetit for a Belgian Ale – Braised Brisket, I just had to give it a go! I altered this recipe a bit, but it is based upon this recipe that I found! Shall we head into the kitchen?

Ingredients
Brisket of Beef, flat cut
Kosher salt
1/4 cup of Dijon mustard
1/4 cup of packed brown sugar
1 TBS of pressed ginger
Bacon fat
1 yellow onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup of flour
750 ml bottle Allagash Tripel Reserve Belgian Style Ale

Belgian Style Ale

4 cups of beef broth
1 bay leaf

The first thing that you do is season the brisket with the Kosher salt. I was liberal with this. Then tightly wrap the brisket in plastic wrap and place it back in the refrigerator. The recipe calls for 8 hours but I only did this for 4 hours. Remove it from the refrigerator an hour before cooking to allow it to warm up a bit. Meat cooks better the closer it gets to room temperature.

As the meat sits, make the mixture which you will slather the meat with. Place the mustard and brown sugar in a bowl. Now the recipe calls for one to grate the ginger. This is truly a pain in the rear! My experience with this was that the ginger does not drop off the grater but sticks in the little grates. I ended up spending about a half hour extricating what little I grated using a toothpick to lift the pieces. After getting what I could off the grater, I switched to my garlic/ginger press, which worked so much better! Add this to the mustard and sugar and then mix thoroughly.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. While the oven heats up, get out a baking pan with sides and place a rack in the bottom. Place the meat on the rack and them slather it will all of the mustard, sugar, ginger mix.

Brisket rubbed and ready for the oven

Let this sit until the oven is hot, then place this in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until it is a lovely golden brown.

As the meat starts baking, the next thing to do is prepare the braising sauce. I used my cast iron dutch oven. Heat the bacon fat over medium high heat. Use about 2 – 2 1/2 TBS. When this is hot, carefully add the onion. Cook these until they are a golden brown.

Browned onions

This takes about 10 minutes. Turn the heat down to low, and then slowly mix in the flour. Take your time! This ensures that you do not get lumps! Cook this until the flour turns a lovely golden color.

Next, slowly add in your ale stirring as you go. The aromas of the ale with the onions? Fabulous! Once this is incorporated into the onions, then add in the broth and the bay leaf. Turn off the heat.

By now your meat should be ready. Pull it out of the oven and then turn the temperature down to 300 degrees. Add the meat to the dutch oven.

Ready to start braising!

Cover this and place it in the oven. Cook this for 3 hours turning every half hour.

When this is done, remove from the oven, and remove the meat from the sauce. Let the meat sit covered for about 20 minutes before slicing. Place the dutch oven on a burner and heat to simmer until the sauce coats the spoon. When done, turn off the heat and cover. Slice up the meat.

Lovely sliced brisket

Serve up slices of the meat and cover with a bit of the sauce. Don’t forget your vegetables! I served this with roasted cauliflower and steamed spinach!

Dinner is served!

This was very yummy and the aromas in the house were amazing! We have enough for another dinner and we are looking forward to the increased flavors of it sitting overnight!

Please let me know if you try this recipe! Now go out and have a great Wednesday, and thanks for joining me in the kitchen!

Read Full Post »

Easy Taco Casserole

While I have done this dish before, I changed how I make this recipe and now it is even better! This is an easy dish to put together and very tasty too! Here is a preview!

Preview

Ready to head off into the kitchen?

Ingredients
2#’s ground beef
1 small onion chopped
2 packages of taco seasoning mix
1 1/2 cups of water
2 2 1/4 oz cans chopped green chiles
1 bunch fresh cilantro chopped
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 container of fresh salsa
Corn tortilla chips
1# medium cheddar cheese grated
Sour cream

Brown the ground beef with the onion.

Brown the meat

When browned, drain the fat off the meat. Then add in the taco seasoning mix and water.

Add in the taco seasoning

Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to simmer until most of the liquid is gone. Then add in the green chiles, cilantro and diced tomatoes. Stir to combine.

Next, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Add in the meat mixture. Top with about one cup of the grated cheddar.

Layer of cheese over the beef

Then top with salsa, using just enough to cover.

Then add salsa

Follow this with the tortilla chips,

Top with chips

then the remaining cheddar cheese.

Top with cheddar cheese

Cook in the middle rack of the oven for 30 minutes.

When done, remove from the oven

Right out of the oven

and serve!

Dinner is served!

We just topped this with some sour cream, but feel free to use this, along with some chopped olives, green onions, and a jalapeno chopped finely!

Now, wasn’t that easy?

Thank you for joining me in the kitchen today! Now go out and have a magnificent Monday!

Read Full Post »