Tag: beef

Beef Stroganoff Beef Stroganoff
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Beef Stroganoff

FloraD1 Comment
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This recipe is a favorite in the Deter household. Beef stroganoff is originally a Russian dish with beef sauteed in a sour cream sauce. It’s morphed into a dish that can contain any type of beef, sometimes has mushrooms, and is often served over egg noodles (although I have been known to serve it over cauliflower rice for myself). It’s incredibly retro and there’s absolutely nothing fancy about it.

My recipe has morphed a few times and probably resembles nothing like the traditional stroganoff of the 70s and 80s. First of all, no mushrooms. I happen to like them, but the boys don’t. So don’t even think adding them or using cream of mushroom soup. Mine doesn’t have any nutmeg, but you’ll find a ton of chopped rosemary. More than any normal person might like so feel free to use less. Finally, no beef tips. This one has ground beef.

I’m starting to wonder how this can even be called beef stroganoff, but let’s go with it because it’s tasty and filling and all that good stuff.

It starts out fresh rosemary, garlic, and red onions. It’s so much better with fresh rosemary, but you can use a teaspoon of chopped dried rosemary instead. Just don’t use that jarred minced garlic stuff. Always use fresh garlic. Never mind that it’s annoying to peel and chop.

Chopped these up and add them to your crumbled ground beef that’s been browning. I like to use the leanest beef possible to avoid a pool of grease.

Warning…the following photos you are about to see might seem scary and disgusting. Apparently beef stroganoff is not the supermodel of foods and looks rather unattractive. I swear it tastes better than it looks.

Add cream of chicken soup and some seasonings. Told you that no mushrooms would be harmed in the making of this dish.

Add sour cream and parsley. I use dried parsley, but fresh parsley works really well too.

Cook a little longer, toss with egg noodles, and this is what you end up with.

This recipe makes plenty for six people. Because there’s only three of us, I usually boil half of a bag (8 ounces) of noodles instead of a full bag, and use half of the sauce. Keep the leftover sauce and boil fresh noodles when it’s time for leftovers.

Beef Stroganoff

Beef Stroganoff

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Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary chopped finely
  • 1 cup red onions diced
  • 2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • 10.5 ounces condensed cream of chicken soup
  • 16 ounces egg noodles cooked
  • 16 ounces sour cream
  • 1 tablespoon dried parsley

Instructions
 

  • Crumble and brown ground beef with garlic, rosemary, and onion.
  • Add salt, pepper, paprika, and soup. Simmer for 5 minutes.
  • Add sour cream and parsley. Simmer until heated through.
  • Mix with cooked noodles and serve.
Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs
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Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs

FloraD
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I love my Instant Pot. Seriously. Yes, I also love my KitchenAid mixer, my grill pan, my Crock-Pot, my apple peeler/slicer/corer, etc. but I REALLY love my Instant Pot. I would have never attempted pressure cooking without it. I wouldn’t say using it cuts cooking time in half, but between the way it tenderizes tough cuts of meat and that it’s such a cool gadget, what’s not to love? It’s sort of magical. In goes something and out comes something else. It just makes life easier in so many ways.

Like spaghetti and meatballs. I’ve seen Instant Pot pasta recipes and many swear by them, but I wasn’t all that impressed. Boiling over the stove is still faster. But throw in meatballs and that’s a game changer.

Meatballs are time consuming. Working with raw meat that is best mixed up with your hands, but not too much or your meatballs will end up hard like golf balls. Forming a few dozen of them into perfect shaped balls. I’d rather be making cookies, frankly. Frying them in batches in a pan…ok, I did find this awesome Roasted Italian Meatball recipe by The Barefoot Contessa that is out of this world and cuts out the frying part. But it’s still a lot of work and sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it. Making a beef sauce is so much easier.

But there’s something about spaghetti and meatballs that reminds me of a simpler time.

On top of spaghetti,
All covered with cheese,
I lost my poor meatball
When somebody sneezed.

It rolled off the table
And onto the floor,
And then my poor meatball
Rolled right out the door

But I digress. Back to the Instant Pot. I’ve made Instant Pot pasta. I’ve made Instant Pot meatballs. Now I make them together.

I couldn’t find a recipe so I made up my own.

First, peel and mince your garlic. Let’s talk about peeling garlic. I know there are a million and one garlic peelers on the market, but you only need one. Your knife. I swear it’s true. I like using a cleaver, but any wide knife will do. Just vent your frustrations of the day by pressing down hard on each clove of garlic to smash it to smithereens. They’ll look like this and you’ll be able to easily peel the papery thin skins off the garlic with no trouble at all.

Add your minced garlic, shallots, egg, cheese, breadcrumbs, milk, and seasonings to a large bowl.

Let’s take a moment to talk about the shallot. I like shallots. In my opinion, they are underused. When you don’t want the sharpness of onions, use shallots, which are milder, sweeter, and are reminiscent of garlic. And one can never have too much garlic so shallots are a perfect compliment to garlic.

Add your ground meats (you’ll be using both ground beef and sausage). Mix it all up with your hands. No, you can’t get around that. All power to you if you use a cooking spoon or fork, but I never get the right results. Next, form into balls until you have about about a dozen. They might seem a little sticky, but that’s ok.

Pour the water and sauce in. If you like a thicker sauce, use more than a jar of sauce. Gently place your meatballs in your Instant Pot, without stacking them, but they can touch a little. The point is to make sure the meatballs are covered with liquid. Next, disregard the cardinal rule of making spaghetti: break the strands in half. I don’t know who made up this rule, but professional chefs on those cooking shows seem to frown on that. Whatever. Just listen to me. This won’t work unless the pasta is flat in the pot.

Add more water. And whatever you do, resist the temptation to stir! Seal the lid and cook. When it’s done, open it up and now you can stir.

What I like best about this recipe is that the mess is contained to one pot and you don’t need to babysit sauce, meatballs, and pasta. Dinner is served!

Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs

Instant Pot Spaghetti and Meatballs

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Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 shallot finely diced
  • 1 large egg beaten
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 pound lean ground beef
  • 4 ounces uncooked ground Italian sausage
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese finely grated
  • 1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
  • 2 cups water divided
  • 24 ounces marinara pasta sauce
  • 8 ounces dry spaghetti
  • grated Parmesan cheese for serving

Instructions
 

  • Lightly beat an egg in a large bowl. Mince garlic cloves and grate Parmesan cheese. Add both to the bowl. Add breadcrumbs, milk, kosher salt, and Italian seasoning. Add the ground beef and sausage to the bowl. 
  • Gently mix with your hands until well combined. Form and shape into 12 meatballs (about 2 tablespoons each). Set aside. 
  • Add 1/2 cup of water and sauce to the pot. Stir to combine. Add meatballs to the bottom without stacking them and with minimal touching.
  • Break the spaghetti in half and spread them in two layers over the meatballs. Do not stir.
  • Pour the remaining 1 1/2 cups of water over the pasta. Remember not to stir.
  • Seal the Instant Pot. Set to cook on HIGH pressure for 8 minutes.
  • Open the pressure release valve (quick release) as soon as the 8 minutes are up. Open the pressure cooker and stir the spaghetti into the sauce. Serve with grated Parmesan cheese.
Homemade Sloppy Joes Homemade Sloppy Joes
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Homemade Sloppy Joes

FloraD1 Comment
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I am child of the 80s, but I was deprived of Sloppy Joes. Sad, but true. Apparently my parents didn’t think much of it. I wished for that magical messy sandwich with the red sauce that came from a can because everything artificial was cool and I desperately wanted to be normal like the rest of the kids at the expense of taste. Put Capri Sun pouches and cheese handi-snacks in my lunch like the popular girls.

Wake up and move on to 2019. Everything is flipping healthy and homemade including Sloppy Joes. No cans. Tomatoes are locally grown. Beef is grass-feed and organic.

But I realized that my son had no idea what Sloppy Joes are (or Jello pudding pops, which I really need to address). To bring back a bit of my youth, I decided to make homemade Sloppy Joes, much to my husband’s chagrin. Apparently he’s blase about it too.

I found this recipe on The Kitchn and changed it up a bit like I usually do.

First, brown the ground beef.

I read somewhere that using a potato masher is awesome for crumbling meat. I tried it. Not so much. Could it be me? Not so much.

While browning the meat, FINELY chop up red bell pepper and onion (any type…I like red). I emphasize finely because I did not and my 12-year old son, the surgeon, dissected his meat to remove every damn single piece of vegetable. Argh.

By the way, I love this onion chopping trick. Cut the onion in half, but be sure to retain the root at one end. It holds on to the onion layers.

Slice lengthwise. Slice in 2-3 layers width wise. Chop. Voila! Diced onion. It’s a beautiful thing.

After admiring your onion handiwork, smash a garlic and minced it to smithereens. Throw the red bell pepper, onions, and garlic in a bowl and stage it for the next step.

Assuming your ground beef is cooked and crumbled, dump it in a bowl. In the same pan, add a tiny bit of olive if the pan is dry and throw in your pepper/onion/garlic mixture.

Let it do its thing and then add your seasonings. The kitchen should be smelling pretty good right now. Too bad there’s no fragrant candle to burn that would do it justice.

Add the tomato sauce, paste, sugar, and mustard. Add the meat back in.

Let it simmer for 15 minutes while the sauce thickens up.

Meanwhile, toast the buns. I love soft buns, but apparently using soft buns is the reason why my burgers end up soggy so just toast them. You won’t regret it.

When everything heated through and toasted, you’re ready to assemble.

Mmmmm…

It looks awful, but tastes amazing.

It also makes a lot. The boys had “sloppy tacos” the next night. LOL.

Homemade Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Joes

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Servings 8

Ingredients
  

  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
  • 1/2 medium onion finely chopped
  • 1/2 medium red bell pepper finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 15 ounces tomato sauce
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons brown sugar packed
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • hamburger buns toasted

Instructions
 

  • Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef. Crumble with a cooking spoon and cook until browned and cooked through, about 7 to 8 minutes. Transfer the browned beef to a plate; set aside.
  • Return the pan to medium-high heat. Add the onion, pepper, and garlic. Cook until
    softened, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add the chili powder, paprika, and salt. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  • Add the tomato sauce, tomato paste, brown sugar, and mustard. Stir to combine. Return the ground beef to the pan. Stir to incorporate.
  • Simmer the sauce, stirring often, until thickened, about 15 minutes.
  • Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Spoon onto the toasted buns.
Keyword beef