4 posts tagged “beef”

 

 

 

It’s the middle of October and now is the time to bring out the sweaters, blankets and beer mugs—because October is the month for Beer Fests! What better way to celebrate the return of colder days than with a nice big frosty mug of amber ale? If beer had a best friend, it would be cheddar and my new favorite place to obtain some fine gourmet cheese is right here in Hammonton. Bagliani’s market has an entire section of its store dedicated to some of the most delicious and gourmet cheese I have ever had the privilege of tasting. The staff is very knowledgeable and eager to help you pick just the right block of cheese for your meal.

 

As I was picking out ingredients for my October Beef Fest meal, I came across the cheese aisle and there it was: a beautiful hunk of sharp cheddar cheese made with stout. Looking at the hunk of cheese was like staring at a mosaic with the white cheddar beautifully marbled with the dark, chocolate brown stout. I knew I had to buy it first and think of a recipe later. Other cheese were definitely too good to pass up such as pesto, port and even toffee flavored cheeses. The variety was endless and very enticing, surely many a meal will be born from this aisle alone!

 

So in order to combine the two ideas I had for my grocery items, I decided to make a delicious chili made with beer and along with it serve a cheesy beer bread. When my husband came home to this amazing Oktoberfest feast, he simply said that he didn’t know what he did, but he would keep doing it if it meant more beer fests were in his future!  Again, it’s guy food…and as we dug into our meal of beef, beer and bread we both realized there was only one thing missing…bacon of course! So feel free to add some chunks of cooked bacon to the chili or beer bread when you try these recipes and enjoy!

 

Beef-n-Beer Chili

inspired by Bon Appetit

 

Ingredients

 

1 tblsp ground cumin
3 tablespoons chili powder

3 pounds ground chuck
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 green bell pepper, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1.5 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes with added puree
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained
1 12-ounce bottle dark beer (such as stout)

Sour cream
Chopped green onions
Coarsely grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese

Directions

 

Sauté beef in heavy large pot over medium-high heat until no longer pink, breaking up with spoon, about 8 minutes. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, all bell peppers. Sauté until vegetables begin to soften, about 15 minutes. Add mixture to pot with meat. Mix in spices. Add crushed tomatoes, beans, and beer. Bring chili to boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, stirring often. Season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD Can be made ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated up to 2 days (or freeze up to 1 month). Rewarm over medium-low heat.

Ladle chili into bowls. Serve with sour cream, green onions, and cheese. We topped ours with stout cheddar crumbles.

 

This cheesy beer bread was absolutely delicious and so easy to make…you’ll be proud to brag that you made this from scratch and no one has to know how easy it really was! I used Sam Adam’s Octoberfest to make this, but you can use any lager such as Yuengling. The melted butter on top provided a wonderfully moist texture to this quick bread. This was the recipe I had in mind when I brought home my stout cheddar and it was a match made in heaven!

 

Cheesy Beer Bread

inspired by Bon Appetit

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

3 c. all purpose flour
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 c. shredded sharp cheddar
12 oz. bottle of lager or stout (I used Sam Adams Oktoberfest)
2 Tbsp butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare loaf pan for baking.
In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and garlic powder.
Whisk to combine well.
Add cheese and whisk to combine.
Slowly add beer to dry ingredients and stir lightly until combined.
Knead dough lightly until it just comes together.
Place into prepared loaf pan and pour melted butter over top.
Place in oven to bake for 55-60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean.

I think nothing is sweeter than when two people can cook together harmoniously in one kitchen. In my household, our roles are clear: I cook, he eats. But my fabulous friend Kerry and her boyfriend Ryan know how to get along in the kitchen perfectly by having two separate recipes come together with their wonderful Crazy Burgers Fondue.

 

Ryan’s made up his Crazy Burgers by stuffing ground beef with crisp bacon and gorgonzola cheese, while Kerry (his lovely kitchen counterpart) made up the cheese fondue. The couple got their idea one night because they were craving Chickie-n-Pete’s famous “crabby fries” which are French fries seasoned with Old Bay and served with a side of American cheese dip. The two expanded on the restaurant’s idea and cooked up these delicious and fun burgers (served with their own crabby fries, of course!).

 

When I saw this recipe, I knew I just had to give it a try! It’s a great meal for both as it’s got the fun of fondue, but at the same time it’s totally guy food…I mean come on—burgers stuffed with bacon and dipped in cheese? What guy wouldn’t think of that as heaven? And the best part is that it’s served like it’s on a stick! Meat + bacon + cheese dip + on a stick = every man’s fantasy meal. So ladies, I suggest that next time you try impressing a date, forgo the filet and bring out the bacon!

 

For some variations on this dish, try mixing together different kinds of cheese such as Gruyere, Manchego and Swiss for a lovely gourmet fondue feast! Also, if you prefer, use ground bison, chicken or turkey instead of ground round. Thanks to Ryan and Kerry for a fabulous recipe and my husband thanks you for the fabulous feast! Seriously…he’s still drooling.

 

Ryan and Kerry’s Crazy Burger Fondue

 

For the burgers:

 

1lb ground meat

1 Tblsp Montreal Steak seasoning (a Mangia! addition)

Gorgonzola cheese or goat cheese

About 3-4 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled

 

Season meat and add in crumbled bacon. Form into patties and develop a small well in the center. Stuff with gorgonzola fold meat over it. Grill burgers until done to your preferred temperature

 

For the fondue

 

About 2lbs of preferred combination of cheeses, but no more than 4 (suggestions: Pecorino, Swiss, Gruyere, Manchego, American, Cheddar)

1 c. white wine

1 Tblsp cornstarch

2 Tblsp lemon juice

 

Grate cheese together in food processor. Toss in cornstarch. Turn fondue pot to medium temperature and bring wine and lemon juice to a simmer. Slowly add in cheese, one spoonful at a time. Keep stirring the mixture until all the cheese is incorporated. Keep fondue pot heated at the warm setting while serving.

 

Remember some fun fondue rules while enjoying with your guests:

 

In longstanding Swiss tradition, a morsel is lost in the fondue dip by a man he buys a bottle of wine and if such a thing happens to befall a lady, she kisses the man on her left. A fun idea might be for the hosts of the dinner party to make up their own rules but please keep this one at the top of the list: No double-dipping!

Fact: Chili was my favorite member of TLC.

 

So I've been lazy and today I'm sick so I'll be even lazier with my posts today.

The gist: I made chili. It was cold outside. You figure the pun out in your head.

I got the recipe from a co-worker who obtained it from the foodnetwork.com.  I never had chili like this before; full of spices like cinnamon and cumin.  I added my own spin on it by subbing the kidney beans with a can of "chili beans" be accident. I washed off the chili sauce and was left with a variety of beans that I think worked great with the meal. Gotta love those food bloopers as vox neighbor Julie says!

 

 

Chili in Bread Bowls

Foodnetwork.com

 

 

Ingredients (for the chili)

1 1/4lb  lean ground beef

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1/4 c. red wine

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 clove garlic, minced

1 15oz. can black beans

1 15 oz. can red kidney beans

1 14 oz can stewed tomatoes with jalepenos and spices, drained

 

Directions for chili

 Heat 2 tblsp vegetable oil ina large stock pot over med heat. Add beef and cook 5 minutes, until browned, breaking up the meat as it cooks. 

 

Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to med-low, partially cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients for Bread Bowls

Cooking Spray

1 lb fresh or frozen pizza dough, thawed

1/2 c. shredded cheddar

Directions for Bread Bowls

Divide dough into 4 equal portions and roll each into a ball.  Place balls on prepared baking sheet, top with shredded cheese and bake for 15 minutes (note: mine took WAY longer than 15 minutes to bake. with my oven it was more like 30-40 minutes!).

 

Remove from oven and when cool enough to handle, sut a small portion from the center making a bowl for the chili.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoon chili into bowls and top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So to ring in the New Year, I decided to try out an old classic for the first time.  I was pretty excited since it was from my new pie book that I got for Christmas. It was delicious and so much fun to make! I modified the recipe slightly based on availabilty, convenience and my own personal taste.  The original recipe called for a liver pate to be used for the filling. Instead, I opted to throw the mushroom mixture into a food processor to provide that same sort of texture, but make it more appetizing to my own preference.

 

 

 

Beef Wellington

 

Ingredients

For the Pastry:

ready-made puff pastry shells (thawed)

1 egg beaten to glaze

 

For the Filling:

 

2 Tbsp butter

1 onion, finely chopped

1 carton of baby portobellas or white mushrooms, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2-4 fillets of tenderloin beef

 

Directions

 

Melt the butter in a large skillet and cook the onion for about 5 minutes or until it begins to soften.  Add the mushrooms and cook until soft and creamy. Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

 

 

Throw mushroom mixture into food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roll out puff pastry onto lightly floured surface.

Spread the misture down the middle of the pastry and lay the cut of beef on top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brush the edges with the beaten egg and fold the pastry over the meat to enclose it in a neat parcel, sealing the edges well. Place the meat parcel onto a baking sheet, seam side down.  Cut decorative leaves from any extra pastry.  Brush the parcel with the beaten egg, decorate with leaves (or whatever shape you like!), brush with egg and chill for ten minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bake for 40-45 minutes until the crust is golden and puffed up.  Let stand for ten minutes before serving and enjoy!