beef – Cooking the Books

January 15, 2021

Heading to Israel, via Italy, for pastel

Of course, times being what they are, my title is metaphorical not literal. The few times I’ve left my house to go anywhere other than for a walk in the neighborhood I’ve been asked the laughable (to me) question: Have you traveled outside the state?

“[Person]”, I say, “I have not even left my house.” Because my trips are mostly to the doctor’s office, I hear a “Same,” and we both sigh.

Anyway, my recipe this week is a pastel, which I understand is an Israeli breakfast item, and definitely is a delightful meat pie. However, I found the recipe through an Italian food site called Labna, and I loved that it included a red wine, which I’m not sure is traditional.

It was supposed to be an easy dish, so I made it on a weekday. As I got more than halfway into the process, I realized some steps involved cooling/chilling the parts, and I decided for my sanity and our hunger, to make a quick box meal while I continued the steps to the pastel.

So, be smarter than me, and read the entire directions before assuming how quick this will be.

However, other than the down time, it is actually pretty easy and simple; the pie crust is pre-made puff pastry; otherwise, it’s cooking some meat and vegetables together.

I mean, I’m still glad I made it, after finally tasting it the next day, but next time, I’ll try to be better about reading all the directions.

Here’s what I did, tweaking the recipe to add carrots and also upping the spice amounts:

Ingredients

~2 T. vegetable oil
3 medium onions, chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
2 lb. ground beef
1 T. ground cinnamon
2 T. ground cumin
3 T. chopped parsley
1 c. red wine
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 sheets of puff pastry
3 eggs, divided
2 T. sesame seeds (I probably used a little more, but didn’t measure)

Directions

Heat a couple tablespoons in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and carrots and saute until the onions have softened, but not browned. Add the beef and the spices and parsley, and stir to combine. Cook until the beef begins to brown.

Pour in the wine and cook until the wine has evaporated, about 5 more minutes. [Time consuming direction incoming!] Let the mixture cool completely.

While the beef is cooling, line a 9 x 13 baking dish with parchment paper, and then place one layer of pastry on the paper, pulling and pressing on the dough to cover the sides of the baking dish. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Once the beef is cool, add in two whisked eggs, and stir to combine. Spoon mixture over the prepared pastry dough, and then top with the remaining sheet of pastry dough. Pinch the two pieces of puff pastry together to lock in the filling.

[Another time consuming note incoming!] Chill the pie in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Once ready to bake, heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Whisk the remaining egg and brush it over the pastry. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Bake the pie until golden and puffed on top, about 40 minutes, and allow to cool about 15 minutes before cutting, and enjoy!

October 19, 2020

Hearty beefy pie for a fall night

Sometimes, you just need an easy homemade dinner. Especially when you already took a week off from blogging. So, when I saw this beef pie recipe used mostly frozen vegetables, saving on chopping, I couldn’t resist.

Plus, the dough — which the recipe says can be store-bought, but after a year of making pies, I just don’t trust any dough but my own — only goes on top so it’s less work and less baking time.

Oh, and did I mention there was beer?! And not just any beer but a Guinness!

The only problem with the recipe was its calling for mushrooms, but that was easily mended by replacing it with carrots, which was the only thing I ended up chopping. And frankly, since the meal nearly overflowed its container as is, even though it called for a 9-inch skillet, the carrot could be skipped.

Otherwise, it was everything that it advertised. Simple. Tasty. Hearty.

Sometimes, you can’t ask for more than that.

“X” marks the spot where there’s a very delicious meat pie filling underneath a yummy buttery crust.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1 T. olive oil
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 carrot, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 T. tomato paste
1 c. frozen pearl onions
2 t. thyme
3 T. all-purpose flour
8 oz. Guinness
1 c. frozen butternut squash pieces
1 c. frozen peas
1 pie crust, store-bought or homemade and chilled
1 large egg, beaten

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a 9-inch skillet on the stove top over medium heat. Add the beef, carrots, and salt and pepper, to taste, and cook, breaking up the beef with a spoon until browned, about 6 minutes. Add the tomato paste, and cook for another 2 minutes. Stir in the onions, and thyme, and then sprinkle with flour, stirring, for about 30 seconds.

Add the stout and simmer until the liquid has thickened, about 1 minute. Add ½ c. water and bring to a simmer. Add the squash and peas, return to a simmer, and then remove from heat. The dish will be fairly full, but it’ll make a nice hearty pie.

Roll out, or unroll if using store bought, the pastry dough into about a 10- to 12-inch round, and place on top of the still-hot filling, tucking in the remainder of the dough around the edges. Cut an “X” in the middle, and brush with egg.

Bake in the oven for 30 to 35 minutes until the crust is golden. Let rest for about 5 minutes, and then enjoy!

November 2, 2019

Ghoul-ash!

I know it’s a day past Halloween, but I couldn’t resist a terrible pun. That’s right, I made goulash, or ghoul-ash for the spooky set.

My friend and gaming buddy Jenny made goulash in a crock pot earlier this year for one of our epic Pathfinder games, and I immediately fell in love. And, more importantly, I thought that it would be an amazing dish for my Dutch oven year.

It just took about half a year to get to it. Thankfully, she was able to track down the recipe and then remember what she actually did for the most part, and then, I took that and adapted it yet again and added some ingredients she omitted and some ingredients from another recipe.

Authentic Hungarian it probably is not. But Jenny’s recipe was so good I wanted to eat it again, and none of the other recipes were nearly as inspiring as hers.

Also, spooky it is not. I just happened to make it this time of year. Maybe it’s just dressed up as a ghoul? I tried. Sorry.

There was so much. There was so much paprika. It was great. Sorry it’s gone.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

1 (16 oz.) box rotini (or medium pasta), cooked according to package directions
1 ½ lb. ground beef, lean
2 T. vegetable oil
2 medium onions, diced
2 medium carrots, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
4 to 5 T. paprika (a mix of smoky and spicy if you’ve got it, or whatever you like, to taste)
2 cloves garlic (I used the jar stuff)
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste
8 oz. shredded cheddar

Directions

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, brown the meat in a large Dutch oven on the stove top over medium heat, about 10 minutes. Add the oil and onions, carrots, and bell pepper, and cook another 5 to 7 minutes until the vegetables are softened. Add the diced and crushed tomatoes, garlic, bay leaves, paprika, salt and pepper, and bring to a boil, which shouldn’t take long.

Remove from heat, and stir in the cooked pasta and cheddar.

Cover the goulash, and bake in the oven for about 20 to 25 minutes until bubbling. Let cool slightly, and enjoy!

August 9, 2019

Don’t be a drip, make this beef recipe

I don’t often say this, but thank God for air conditioning. I’m cold-blooded by nature so if I’m just sitting and the A/C is on, I’m under a blanket or wrapped in a cardigan.

But this week’s recipe called for the oven to be on for about 5 hours, and I’m pretty grateful that I did not have to heat an already scorching house.

Even though the drip beef I made (based on a Pioneer Woman recipe my sweetie came across) warmed the house for one day, the best part about it is that we didn’t turn on the oven for the next several days as we made our way through the leftovers.

The microwave and toaster took care of reheating our many, many drip beef sandwiches.

The Pioneer Woman recipe gave two different ways to make this but there wasn’t a question in my mind that I’d be making the one with pepperoncinis. Even better that it was with loaded with Italian herbs as well.

I did, however, snag the sliced onions from the other recipe and add them to this one. It was not particularly noticeable but I was still glad for the little bit of onion flavor added.

The recipe was really easy, put together in less than 5 minutes, and checked only occasionally over the hours it sat in the oven. The hardest part was using forks to shred the beef, but with the A/C on, for me, it wasn’t too bad to stick my face over the Dutch oven. Besides, if done right, the meat should shred with very little effort.

I’m not usually a big beef person but this was a treat. We finished the 3 pounds we made in a few short days. Amazing.

Here’s what I did, tweaking the recipe slightly:

Ingredients

2.5 to 4 lbs. beef chuck roast
4 T. butter
1 onion, halved and thickly sliced
2 c. beef broth
1 T. dried basil
1 T. dried oregano
1 T. dried thyme
¾ T. dried rosemary
Pepper, to taste
16 oz. jar pepperoncinis, with juices
Deli rolls, toasted (for serving)
Cheese slices (provolone worked well), optional (for serving)

Directions

Heat the oven to 275 degrees. Meanwhile, over medium heat, melt the butter on the stove and then add the onion slices. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes until just starting to brown.

Turn off stovetop. Add the remaining ingredients to the Dutch oven, except the rolls and cheese if using.

Cover and bake in the oven for 5 to 6 hours until the meat is very tender and starting to fall apart. If it’s not yet tender, keep cooking at 30-minute intervals until tender.

Remove from oven and shred meat with two forks, leaving no large chunks. Serve immediately or keep warm on the stovetop until ready to eat, and enjoy as sammies.

May 31, 2019

A little off beef stroganoff

Because of my family’s hatred of mushrooms, I had not had beef stroganoff until my sweetie introduced me to it. When he did, he made the mushrooms separate, and I had a not-quite-right stroganoff that I quite liked.

I took that not-quite-right recipe a step further off and made it into a casserole, roughly following a Rachel Ray recipe.

I liked that this recipe had more herbs than usual recipes, and I liked even more that it had a cheesy crunchy breadcrumb topping.

While it was otherwise mostly traditional, I found that the casserole form was on the dry end instead of the usual goopy sour creamy sauce that coats the egg noodles. So, I ended up making an extra sauce using the remaining sour cream, a little bit of cream, and of course, more Worcestershire sauce. With that addition, it was an amazing delight.

I even managed to make the mushrooms all right so that my sweetie could enjoy them mixed into his bowls of stroganoff.

Here’s what I did:

Ingredients

12 to 16 oz. bag egg noodles
7 T. butter, divided (3 for noodles, 4 for breadcrumbs)
3 T. olive oil
1 ½ lb. ground beef
3 T. Worcestershire sauce, plus more for extra sauce if desired
3 large shallots, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ c. white wine
1 ½ c. stock (the original recipe says to use beef stock; we keep a homemade vegetable — sometimes with chicken — stock on hand so I just used that)
¼ c. heavy cream, plus more for extra sauce if desired
½ c. sour cream, plus more for extra sauce if desired
2 c. homemade breadcrumbs (rye is recommended; I had french in the freezer ready so I used that instead)
1 c. shredded gruyere (Swiss will do in a pinch)
1 c. chopped herbs, divided (some mix of chives, dill, and parsley)
3 T. dried thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste
8 to 12 oz. mushrooms, sliced (definitely optional)

Directions

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, cook the egg noodles for 2 minutes less than package instructions (using Dutch oven if desired). Toss the noodles with 3 T. butter, half the herbs, salt, and pepper.

Heat the Dutch oven, add the olive oil, and cook the beef until browned. Add the shallots, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. (If using mushrooms, you can add them now as well; or if you’re a split house like ours, you can cook the mushrooms separately with some oil while preparing the beef.)

Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until shallots are slightly softened. Add the wine and cook until mostly evaporated. Add the stock, and simmer for 5 minutes uncovered, stirring occasionally. Stir in the heavy cream and sour cream.

Mix the noodles into the beef mixture and set aside to quickly prepare the breadcrumbs.

Prepare the breadcrumbs by melting the remaining 4 T. butter, and then mixing it with the breadcrumbs, gruyere, and remaining herbs.

Top the beef and noodle mixture with the breadcrumb mixture.

Bake in the prepared oven for about 15 minutes until the breadcrumbs have browned, let cool slightly and enjoy!

(If the mixture is too dry, mix together about ½ c. sour cream, 2 T. cream, and 2 T. Worcestershire sauce, or to taste, and dollop on top of individual servings.)