Showing posts with label Beef. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beef. Show all posts
Creamy Beef Linguine
.jpg)
I recently came to the conclusion that I am truly immersed in mommyhood, when the success of my dinner is determined by my 3 year old asking for his third helping of dinner. Some women may hold their breath and sneak quick peaks at their men, trying to gauge by their expression if they like dinner or not; Not I. With the picky palate of a 3 year old, success is when he eats more than 3 bites of the food I painstakingly - or sometimes sloppily - prepared for him. Of course, I have learned to keep my eyes on my own plate of food, for if the little prince even suspects that I am watching him...dinner is over. So what was it that a preschooler embraced so heartily? Creamy Beef Linguine...or worms as the kid called it.
Dinner was the result of my husband asking for some kind of pasta, because he was tired of plain meat, and me rummaging through my pantry to see what I could throw together. I felt sort of like a witch cooking a mysterious brew over a cauldron - minus the ugly wart and pointy hat - with all the odds and ends I threw in. It turned out pretty tasty though, something that I would even heat up and eat leftovers of.
Creamy Beef Linguine
1 1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup beef or chicken broth
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1 lb ground beef
8 oz uncooked linguine
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the ground beef all at once but do not stir at first, this allows the beef to form a crispy golden brown exterior. Season the top side with seasoned salt, to your own tastes. When the bottom side of the meat has turned golden brown, flip it over and season the new side with season salt. Cook the meat until done, and set aside.
Heat milk and broth together in a microwave, or on the stove. Set aside. In a medium pot cook the linguine until done, according to package instructions.
While the pasta is cooking: In a large skillet over medium-high heat add the butter, then turn down to medium heat and let the butter melt. Add the onion, garlic, salt, and pepper, and saute until the onions are soft. Whisk the flour into the butter mixture, until it turns golden. Pour in the hot liquid and whisk vigorously until there are no lumps. Stir occasionally until the sauce thickens. Add the parmesan cheese and sour cream, and stir until the cheese melts. Add the cooked beef and stir to mix. Remove from heat.
Place the cooked linguine on a serving platter, then pour the beef sauce over the pasta. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Tip: Heating the milk before adding it to the flour helps to prevent lumps in your sauce.
.jpg)
Steak & Cheddar Nachos
One of my favorite appetizers at a local restaurant is smoked steak nachos. They layer thick, manly sized slices of smoked steak on mounds of crispy tortilla chips and gooey cheese. Topped with lettuce, tomato, sour cream, guacamole, and jalapenos, they are a definite appetite crusher. Since I acquired some leftover steaks from my husbands birthday dinner at the in-laws, I decided to slice them up and make my own steak nachos for dinner. I was feeling a little adventuresome and made a cheese sauce to pour over them, instead of plain shredded cheese, which turned out very tasty. Since the cheese sauce is more liquid in consistency, you have to be careful not to pour too much and make the chips soggy - which I did - but they were good nonetheless.
Steak & Cheddar Nachos
6-oz milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
10 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/8 tsp cumin
1 can kidney beans, drained
2 steak fillets, cooked and sliced
6 cherry tomatoes, sliced
lettuce, shredded
tortilla chips
Heat oven to 350F. Place tortilla chips on a baking sheet, and put in the oven to warm up.
In the meantime: In a measuring cup, add the milk, beaten eggs, salt, and pepper. Over medium heat, pour the mixture into a medium sized saucepan and add the shredded cheese. Cook and stir until the cheese is melted. Add the cumin and kidney beans, stir to combine. Cook until the cheese sauce is hot all the way through. Remove the chips from the oven, and pour some of the cheese sauce over the tortilla chips. Don't pour too much, or the chips will get soggy. Layer the sliced steak over the cheese sauce. Sprinkle shredded lettuce and tomatoes over the steak. Drizzle some sour cream over the top of everything. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Poor Man's Stew or Doodleberry Soup?
I think my blogging experience is rubbing off on my son. My husband was trying to eat some cheese and crackers today, and my son walked up with his "camera" and said, "Wait, Dad.. put the cheese on the crackers like this, now let me take a picture." I guess the sight of me with camera in hand, taking an endless amount of pictures of the food I make, has left an impression in his little brain. We may have a little chef in the making. He was along side me again today while I prepared dinner for tonight. He had taken the leftover frozen vegetables and made his own "soup" at his little kitchen. He calls it Doodleberry Soup.
.
Being the loving mom that I am, when he asked if I would like to taste it, I had to agree. My stage face really came into play, because he had poured a copious amount of garlic powder and chili powder on top. While his version of Poor Man's Stew might need a little tweaking, mine is tried and true and completely satisfying.
The recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law, and it is similar to something my parents used to make called Hobo Stew. I typically make it in the winter, but decided there was no rule against making stew in the summer. It is called Poor Man's Stew, because it is made with ground beef rather than stew meat, which is quite a bit less expensive. It's a recipe that you can easily adapt to suit your own tastes.
Poor Man’s Stew
1 lb. hamburger meat, cooked and drained
Season salt
2-3 Cups frozen vegetables (or 2 cans mixed vegetables, drained)
1 can whole new potatoes, drained and cut into bite sized pieces.
1 can red kidney beans, drained
4 small cans tomato sauce or 2 large cans
1 tablespoons ketchup
¼ cup picante sauce or salsa (optional)
1 chopped onion (optional)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
water or beef broth (optional)
Brown the hamburger with some season salt, and drain off the grease. Place the meat in a large pot or crock pot. Add the vegetables, cut up potatoes, beans, tomato sauce, ketchup, onion, and spices. Depending on how thick you want it you can add a little water or beef broth to thin it down if desired. I usually add about a cup of water or broth. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours. The longer you let this simmer before eating, the better it will be. The flavors soak into the vegetables and it tastes even better.
You can do a lot of different variations with this recipe. I have used many different types of vegetables and beans. You can also play around with the proportions, it is a very forgiving recipe. You can even add some cooked elbow macaroni for a different variation. Taste and season as desired, I use less chili powder because my husband doesn't like spicy food. But you can add more to taste. This keeps very well for several days in the refrigerator, and tastes even better heated up the next day. We may have to change the name of this soup in our house, since my son will only refer to it as Doodleberry Soup now.
.
I present....Chef Cade...
and his Doodleberry Soup
Being the loving mom that I am, when he asked if I would like to taste it, I had to agree. My stage face really came into play, because he had poured a copious amount of garlic powder and chili powder on top. While his version of Poor Man's Stew might need a little tweaking, mine is tried and true and completely satisfying.
1 lb. hamburger meat, cooked and drained
Season salt
2-3 Cups frozen vegetables (or 2 cans mixed vegetables, drained)
1 can whole new potatoes, drained and cut into bite sized pieces.
1 can red kidney beans, drained
4 small cans tomato sauce or 2 large cans
1 tablespoons ketchup
¼ cup picante sauce or salsa (optional)
1 chopped onion (optional)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
water or beef broth (optional)
Brown the hamburger with some season salt, and drain off the grease. Place the meat in a large pot or crock pot. Add the vegetables, cut up potatoes, beans, tomato sauce, ketchup, onion, and spices. Depending on how thick you want it you can add a little water or beef broth to thin it down if desired. I usually add about a cup of water or broth. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours. The longer you let this simmer before eating, the better it will be. The flavors soak into the vegetables and it tastes even better.
You can do a lot of different variations with this recipe. I have used many different types of vegetables and beans. You can also play around with the proportions, it is a very forgiving recipe. You can even add some cooked elbow macaroni for a different variation. Taste and season as desired, I use less chili powder because my husband doesn't like spicy food. But you can add more to taste. This keeps very well for several days in the refrigerator, and tastes even better heated up the next day. We may have to change the name of this soup in our house, since my son will only refer to it as Doodleberry Soup now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
