Beef – Page 9 – Fun Foodie Family

Steak, Twice Baked Potatoes, and Pan Steamed Broccoli

Beef, Date Night, potatoes, Side dishes...veggies

Hey guys! Hope you all had a lovely Valentines Day! We spend it together as a family. Last year, I made fondue. This year I made steak and potatoes. Not just any kind of potatoes; twice baked potatoes. I have made these before on the blog. Of course, I have made steak on the blog lots of times. Here is a recap with some pretty food pictures.

Ribeye https://funfoodiefamily.com/2013/08/19/perfect-ribeye/

Twice Baked Potato:

I wrapped 4 potatoes in aluminum foil and baked them for about 45 minutes. I cooked 5 pieces of bacon in a pan. I let potatoes cool a bit, then I spooned the potato filling in a medium bowl leaving the skins. I mixed in 2 tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of sour cream. I spooned the mixture into skins and added shredded mild cheddar and the chopped bacon on top. Put back in a 350 oven for about 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted all over the top.

Broccoli- I cut all the florets off 2 stalks of broccoli. I put them in a pan with a couple tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper, and a couple tablespoons of water. Then I put a top on them and cooked them on med. heat. I shook the pan every so often. It cooked about 12 minutes- still bright green and tender but not mushy. You can save your stalks to put in soup or use to make veggie stock!

Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

Beef, Crockpot /Make Ahead Meals, Throwback Thursday

Hey there! Happy Thursday!

Wait? WHAT??? Is it only Monday? Darn it! I thought for sure we were at least to Thursday. Oh well…

All kidding aside, I decided to try to make at least one crock pot meal a week, especially on a crazy weeknight. I plan on making more meals in my crockpot these next couple of cold and crappy months. As my friend Bonnie calls it, JanFeb. JanFeb. is a summer loving beach bum’s worst nightmare. When I am dreaming of bikinis and flip flops, JanFeb. wakes up my warm blanket smothered body and slaps me in the face with ice and wind. I actually have to leave my warm bed and freeze my butt off the rest of the day. Blah! Eat some of this…then go to the gym in case you still want to fit in that bikini…

So today, Monday, Jan. 5, I decided that I will use my crock pot at least once a week. I am not even going to bother putting it back under the counter. Be on the lookout for for more crock pot recipes these next couple of months.

This one of my family’s favorites. I tried to take a better end picture as well, but no such luck. I actually find food from crock pots very hard to photograph. Everything has cooked all day together and mashed their flavors together. Good for your tummy, but not really photogenic. Maybe one day I will be able to capture a perfect picture of it!

But until then, these cute little sous-chefs make up for it!

Easy Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

Beef sirloin cut into chunks or strips
salt and pepper, to taste
3 tablespoons butter or margarine
1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, sliced in half
1 medium onion, sliced or diced into medium sized pieces
1 bag frozen pas
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups beef broth- reduced sodium or so sodium is best
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce
3 crushed and finely diced garlic (or 1 tablespoon garlic powder)
1 package of cutup cream cheese (room temp.) or sour cream (or a combo)
1 package wide egg noodles
Season the beef with salt and pepper and let stand (in refrigerator) as you prepare the other ingredients – let stand for up to two hours.

Directions

Brown the meat in your pan. Let it cool and add it to your crock pot. Cook your chopped onions, garlic, and sliced mushrooms in the beef drippings with a few shakes of olive oil. You can prepare this part the night before and put in your fridge until the morning.

In the morning, add your Worcestershire sauce and beef broth. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. Near the end, add your peas. Make a slurry by whisking your flour and a tablespoon of the liquid from the crock pot together. Add that and your room temperature cream cheese (or sour cream, or combo of each.

Cook egg noodles and add all together at the end.

Chicken Bruschetta with Pasta – Gluten Free!!!

Beef, Chicken, Crockpot /Make Ahead Meals, gluten free, Pasta, Side dishes...veggies, potatoes, grains

Hey guys. So one of my friends was going to come and hang out and offered to bring dinner tonight. I was going to take her up on it, when I totally felt like I needed to cook something. I told her to bring a salad and some red wine; I would take care of the rest. I had no idea what I wanted to make.

I had a day to myself… I went to Pilates, went to lunch, and got my hair done. Then I decided to go to Fresh Market to look around and decide once I got there.

I really wanted to make my Bruchetta Chicken with pasta and marinara. But my friend is gluten free, so I needed to first make sure I could find a decent gluten free pasta. Quinoa pasta is supposedly gluey, plus it cost like $8. Then I saw brown rice pasta. I thought I remembered Rachel Ray say she really liked this, plus it was on sale for $3ish. Score! I got chicken breasts, tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, anchovies (don’t balk yet!), and all the other ingredients for the sauce..

Bruchetta Marinara Sauce

Ingredients

2-3 anchovies
1/2 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1/2 container mushrooms sliced and chopped
1 28 oz. can of crushed crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
4 squirts of tomato paste
1/3 bottle of red wine; I used Cabernet
2 tablespoons of Worcestershire
2 pats of butter
3 tablespoons sugar.
3 tablespoons of Dried Italian Herb mixture
fresh basil crushed and chopped
1 bay leaf

Directions

Heat a large dutch oven on med-high heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 2-3 anchovies. I know some people are going to make the stink eye at my anchovies. Don’t ya’ll. One of the main ingredients in Worcestershire is anchovies! Worcestershire is a chef’s best secret ingredient. You eat it is Caesar Salad, Hamburgers, Meatloaf etc… Once those tiny fish hit the pan, they melt like butter. You will thank me. Please try them. If you want to try to make this, but don’t have anchovies, just add a couple more tablespoons of Worcestershire.

Add a bit more olive oil and your onions. Cook down for 2-3 minutes with a bit of salt and pepper. Add your Mushrooms and garlic. Cook for a few more minutes before adding your tomato paste. Mix that around for a few minutes. A deep tomato smell will fill the air after a couple of minutes. Then add in your wine and Worcestershire. Mix and reduce down for 5 minutes or so. Add your herbs, bay leaf, and sugar. Mix and Reduce to low. Cook for at least 1 hour…the longer the better.

Bruchetta Chicken

4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts- season each side with salt and pepper.
Then, brown both sides of chicken in your cast iron skillet. Each side about 8-10 minutes. Put the pan in a 350 oven.

Cut a tomato and some mozzarella. Thinly slice some basil. I roll mine up then chop it up. Place these on top of your chicken in the oven. When you start to see your cheese melt a bit, turn on the broil. Cook until all the cheese is melted and browned on top.

I made the brown rice pasta according to the package. It still had a bit of a bite to it, so I added it the sauce. I mixed well. So yummy! I wouldn’t mind buying this pasta again for a gluten free friend =)

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Beef, Pasta, Pork

Hey guys! Happy Friday! Yesterday I ran to the store after work and picked up the ingredients for spaghetti and meatballs. Lizzie has been asking for this for a few days, so I figured I would honor her request. This was a pretty simple recipe. I usually just make them with just beef, but this time I spied some mild ground Italian sausage, so I thought I might change up my normal recipe and use 2 meats. Perfection! I hope you give it a try next time your family is craving meatballs. It is SO much better than those frozen ones. My family raved about them, and I got 5 sets of thumbs up for this meal!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

For the Meatballs-
1 pound ground sausage
1 pound ground beef (I used sirloin)
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
about 2 teaspoons each of onion powder, garlic powder, fennel seeds, salt, and pepper
tablespoon or so of dried Italian Herbs or a good handful of fresh herbs
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese

Mix all of the above ingredients. Do not over mix. Make into small-medium sized balls. I use a small ice cream scoop to make mine. Brown each side in a bit of oil in a large dutch oven. Take out. You will continue to let them cook in the sauce…

Easy Sauce (this makes tons of sauce…freeze the leftovers or use for a future meal)
1 chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 container mushrooms, sliced (optional)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large can of tomato sauce
1 large can of diced tomatoes
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
1 glass red wine
A couple tablespoons of Worcestershire
1 tablespoon of sugar
Any fresh or dried herbs you have- I added rosemary, thyme, oregano, and marjoram
You could even add in some chopped parsley if you have it.

Start by adding your chopped onion to the pan you cooked your meat in. Cook that for a a few minutes. Then add your garlic,mushrooms, and tomato paste. Mix until combined, about 2 minutes. Then add in your wine. Scrape off all those brown pieces on the bottom of your pan. Add in all your tomatoes, Worcestershire, sugar, and herbs. Mix well. Add your meatballs back in. Cook until meatballs have cooked through and your sauce is hot, about 20-30 more minutes depending on the size of your meatballs. Perfect over spaghetti!

Strip Steak with Thyme and Butter

Beef

Hey, ya’ll! So Friday was my birthday. I have had a great birthday weekend full of great family, friends, and food! Here is one way I spoiled myself this weekend…I bought some strip steak that was on sale. I thought of this recipe when I remembered I had some thyme already in my fridge. SO GOOD!!!!!

Ingredients

2 New York Stip Steaks
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
3 thyme sprigs
2 cloves garlic, crushed

Directions

Try to let steaks stand 30 minutes at room temperature.
Sprinkle salt and pepper evenly over steaks. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add oil to pan and coat evenly.
Add steaks to pan; cook about 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Reduce heat to medium-low; add butter, thyme, and garlic to pan. Tilt pan a bit to you so butter collects; cook 1 1/2 minutes, basting steaks with butter constantly. Remove steaks from pan; cover loosely with foil. Let stand 10 minutes.

There may be a bit more butter left in the pan. You can use that to baste the steak even more when you are ready to serve.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: