Archive for the ‘Beef’ Category
Memorial Day Party Foods
May 25th, 2013 | 
Author: I’ve gathered some of my favorite dishes for you to take or prepare for this holiday weekend. Now hurry up and get to cooking cause I’m hungry 
Memorial Day Party Foods
♥ Smoked Chili Candied Bacon – we’re talking MAN CANDY
♥ Toasted Almond Chocolate Caramel Bark with Sea Salt
♥ Strawberry Margaritta Jello Shots
♥ Lasagna Roll Ups
♥ Watermelon Feta Salad
♥ Tater Topped Meatloaf Balls
♥ Blueberry Buckle
♥ Chicken Prosciutto Roulade
♥ Cheesy Shaved Beef Stuffed Potatoes
♥ Pittsburgh Slaw
♥ Tomato Zucchini Tart
♥ Pepperoni Pretzel Bread
♥ Roasted Cauliflower Hummus
♥ Margarita Chicken Meatballs
♥ Chocolate Peanut Butter Bacon Pretzels
♥ Apple Crostata
♥ Twisted Cheesy Herbed Breadstick Twirls
♥ Watermelon Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa
♥ Nutella Tofee Krispy Bars
♥ Stuffed Shells
♥ Raspberry Brownie Trifle
Posted in Appetizers, Beef, Bread Basics, Cakes/Cupcakes, Chicken, Cocktails & Drinks, Desserts, Main Dishes, Pies, Pork & Sausage, Recipes, Salads, Side Dishes, Snacks n'at, Sweet Treats | 
Tags: Apple Crostata, Blueberry Buckle, Cheesy Shaved Beef Stuffed Potatoes, Chicken Prosciutto Roulade, Chocolate Peanut Butter Bacon Pretzels, Lasagna Roll Ups, Margarita Chicken Meatballs, Memorial Day, Nutella Tofee Krispy Bars, Pepperoni Pretzel Bread, pittsburgh slaw, Raspberry Brownie Trifle, Roasted Cauliflower Hummus, Smoked Chili Candied Bacon – we’re talking MAN CANDY, Strawberry Margaritta Jello Shots, stuffed shells, Tater Topped Meatloaf Balls, Toasted Almond Chocolate Caramel Bark with Sea Salt, Tomato Zucchini Tart, Twisted Cheesy Herbed Breadstick Twirls, Watermelon Feta Salad, Watermelon Pineapple Jalapeno Salsa | 
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Aloha Burgers
So I had some ground meat thawed and buns already made up. Now I could have gone your typical burger route with ketchup and stuff but I just can’t do typical. See there’s a restaurant that he LOOOOOOOOOOOVES their pineapple burgers. I mean LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES! To the point we were going there at least once a week for months on end. I, however, am sick of that place and need a year to recover from going there again. But since he loves that place, we go there often… no, like A LOT. Ugh! But I digress. Back to me and this chunk of ground beef. I wanted to try and recreate some facsimile of this burger he loves. Literally there is no rhyme or reason on what I put into this burger or how I made the glazed pineapples. I’m pretty sure this isn’t out the restaurant makes them BUT all I know is my baby was in LOVE LOVE LOVE with this burger! He said it was identical, if not better, than the one he orders.
WOO HOO! Hot Damn! We got a winner here Virginia! wait, who’s Virgina??? *shrugs* LOL Of course I just can’t make A burger or even 2 burgers, no, I have to make 6. Um you do know that I really don’t eat ground beef, right ANNNNNNNNNNNND it’s just Mr. Fantabulous and I, right? LOL But being the food snob that I am and cook extraordinaire (well okay, self-proclaimed), I tried it. Now I didn’t go with the tomatoes (gag), raw onions (double raw gag) or god forbid the mayo (OMG I would rather stick a fork in my eye if I had to eat it), I kept mine simple with just meat, bun, lettuce and glazed pineapple.
Folks lemme tell you what, this was really, really good. No, like REALLY good! The burger was sweet and tender and that glazed pineapple was insane! I can’t wait to make more of that pineapple and put it on say ice cream… or just a fork. LOL
| Aloha Burgers |
|
- 1lb 85% ground beef
- 1 Tbl bacon drippings *See Note
- Scant 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbl brown sugar, divided
- 1 1/2 tsp Montreal Steak Seasoning
- 1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbl pineapple juice
- 6 pineapple rings, drained
- 6 slices red onions
- 6 slices tomatoes
- 6 large leaves of lettuce
- 6 kaiser or onion buns, lightly toasted
- In a bowl add the ground beef, bacon drippings, 2 Tbl brown sugar, steak seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, pineapple juice.
- Gently mix just to combine. Don’t over mix.
- Form into 6 round patties.
- Using your thumb, gently press down the middle of the burger creating an indentation.
- Drizzle some olive oil on a plate and set the burgers on top while you heat up the pan.
- Place a 12” round cast iron pan on the stove over medium heat.
- Heat for 1 minute or until the pan is good an hot.
- Add 3 burgers to the pan ensuring there is room between them. Do not crowd.
- Cook 3-5 minutes or until the bottom is starting to brown nicely.
- While the burgers are cooking, place the 1/2 cup brown sugar in a non-stick pan over medium heat.
- Place the pineapple rings in the brown sugar and cook.
- As the sugar begins to liquefy and bubble, reduce the heat to medium-low.
- Cook for 3-4 minutes per side.
- Flip the burgers and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until desired doneness is met. (I cooked for 4 minutes.
- Once the sugar starts to caramelize, remove the pineapple and place on top of the burgers while they finish cooking.
- On the bottom of a lightly toasted bun place a leaf of lettuce.
- Place a pineapple topped burger on top followed by a ring of red onion and a tomato slice.
- Finish it off with your condiment of choice, add the toasted top and enjoy!
If you don’t have bacon drippings on hand, simply fry up 4 pieces of bacon, set aside (as in stuff in your face while you cook) and let the grease cool slightly. You want that flavor in your burger but not the actual bacon.
Just look at how juicy this bad mama jama is! cue music…
She’s a bad mama jama
Just as fine as she can be, hey
She’s a bad mama jama
Just as fine as she can be
Her body measurements are perfect in every dimension
She’s got a figure that’s sho’ ‘nuff gettin’ attention
She’s poetry in motion, a beautiful sight to see
I get so excited viewin’ her anatomy
Yeah, sorry about that! I loved that song by Carl Carlton and I so went all funktastic on you all. LOL The song is CLASSIC!
Anyway, this burger is ALL that AND the bag of chips!
Posted in Appetizers, Beef, Main Dishes, Recipes, Side Dishes, Snacks n'at |
Tags: Aloha Burgers, glazed pineapple, hamburger, sliders |
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Pittsburgh Style Grilled Cheese n’at
N’at is pretty much defined as “in other words”. Here we would say “Yunz going dahnthan n’at?” If you said that to any Pittsburgher they would know exactly what you said.
Well another thing that is iconic to Pittsburgh is Primanti Bros. who put themselves on the map for their simplistic, but delicious creations of taking 2 thick cut pieces of bread, your choice of meat (with optional fried egg), cheese, vinegary slaw, tomato slices, fresh cut fries and calling it a sandwich. This sandwich I swear tasted the best at 2am, after the bars closed and you were with your friends ‘dahnthan’. It was just magical.
Sadly, even though I still live in the Pittsburgh it’s a hike for me to get to that original store in the Strip so I needed to come up with my own version when that craving struck. It took me quite a while actually to perfect my version of it. The breads, meats, egg, fries, so forth were simple. It was that slaw that threw me for a loop. See most people, when they think of slaw think of a creamy mayo based one (kind of like KFC which I LOVE which is odd considering I despise mayo!). But here that wouldn’t work on this sammich as it would make the bread soggy as well as the fries and that is just horrible! Kind of like if you grew up poor your family couldn’t afford real hamburger buns and you had to eat that greasy hamburger between 2 slices of white bread that inevitably fell apart because the grease and ketchup ate through it! LOL
FINALLY the other day I felt that I finally perfected the Pittsburgh Slaw thus the sammich. And what perfect timing! I mean it’s National Grilled Cheese month so I had to put a spin on this dish and turn it into a grilled cheese adaption! Brilliant, right?!
This was so just.. perfect! If you’re from Pittsburgh or have had one of those famous sammiches you are going to FALL IN LOVE with this! Whether you an hour from the ‘Burgh or 4,000 miles this will Bring You Home!
This sammich is Pittsburgh!
| Pittsburgh Style Grilled Cheese n’at |
- 1 pound eye of round steak, partially frozen
- 3 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 cups Pittsburgh Slaw
- 8 thick slices of Provolone Cheese or Jarlsberg Cheese
- 8 1” thick slices of hearty bread (Italian or Olive Oil bread works great)
- 8 ounces of fresh cut fries, fried, lightly salted and hot (you want roughly 8-12 fries per sandwich, 12-18 if you’re fry fanatic!)
- 8 slices of fresh tomato
- 4 fried eggs *optional
- 4 Tbl butter
- Using a very sharp knife, slice the meat against the grain in 1/4” slices. Having it partially frozen will make it easier to cut.
- Place the strips of beef on a plate and season with salt and pepper.
- Drizzle with 1 Tbl olive oil and gently toss to combine.
- Allow to sit out for at least 30 minutes or until the beef is room temperature.
- When you’re ready to cook the beef, place the oil in a large stainless steel skillet and heat over medium-high.
- Add the remaining olive oil to the pan and gently roll the pan around to cover the entire bottom with oil.
- Add the steak into the pan and allow to cook for 1 minute without touching it.
- Using tongs, gently move the steak around cooking on all sides or until just cooked through. ~2 minutes.
- Remove the steak from the pan and set aside.
- While the steak is resting, heat a grill pan over medium-low heat.
- Butter both sides of the bread.
- Place the inside buttered sides down on the pan.
- Grill for 3-6 minutes or until golden brown.
- Flip the bread over and place 1 slice of cheese on each side.
- For each sandwich, top one side with 8-12 fries
- On the other half of the sandwich, top with 4 ounces of cooked steak, 1 fried egg, 2 slices of tomato and 1/2 cup of Pittsburgh slaw.
- Grill for 4-6 minutes or until the side against the pan is golden brown.
- Carefully flip the French fry side on top of the steak-egg-tomato-slaw side.
- Plate and allow to cool just for 30 seconds before cutting.
If you didn’t want steak, you could easily substitute in chicken, portabella mushrooms, grilled eggplant or zucchini.
For deli-meats leave just grill slightly (minus the salt pepper). Capicola, Salami, Ham & Turkey, Roast Beef – all fantabulous!
My 2nd personal favorite – Fried egg and tons of BACON! SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!
Cheesy Shaved Beef Stuffed Baked Potatoes
But with taters, there’s just something magical about them. However, cause there’s always a however with me, taters are supposedly bad for you due to them being high in carbs. One day carbs are bad, next they are ok, next they are good and then back to bad. Frankly I have no clue what’s good for or not good for me anymore. I just go with what I’m craving and adjust the rest of my daily intake accordingly along with exercise. Well Friday I wanted taters but for 2 reasons.
- I had a the suckiest of suck days at work. Love my job but there are those that we all work with that you honestly just can’t stand. And,
- I was tired – headache (from having a sucky day) and it was Friday.
The last thing I really wanted to do was cook a big meal. Truthfully I wasn’t hungry at all but I knew I had to eat something. So there I stood, pantry doors wide open and just staring at the containers of stuff. I got on my tippy toes – nuffin I wanted, looked eye-level – nuffin appealing, bent over slightly – still nuffin and then on the lowest shelf I found 4 ginormous baking potatoes. Okay, I’ll fess up… I hadn’t give potatoes even a thought for dinner BUT they kinda-sorta-were-dying meaning they were on their way to turning bad and they were just too damn pretty to let die. I grabbed those puppies, scrubbed ‘em up, poked ‘em with a knife (which was actually pretty therapeutic considering I was already ticked off from my day), coated them with some oil, lots of salt and popped ‘em in the oven. Now I didn’t want just a plain ol’ baked tater. I needed some type of protein in it. I could have gone with a Sunrise Potato but I wasn’t feeling eggs. I rummaged through my fridge, found some leftover roast beef, cheddar and voila! I hurried up and chopped up some onions to caramelize them, thinly shaved the roast beef (literally I just cut it against the grain super super fine. If you freeze the meat partially and then slice it on a mandolin that works great too!).
When the taters are done, I tossed the beef, some seasonings and stuff with the onions and dinner pretty much served itself.
Now while my dinner was cooking (notice how I said *MY* dinner???), I made Mr. Fantabulous a plate of pasta as that, like clockwork was what he wanted. When *my dinner* was done, I plated it and sat down to eat it. Now I did get a few forkfuls of this meal (yes, it’s no longer just a baked potato but now it’s a full meal as it’s that hearty!) until I heard from behind me “Hey! What’s that? That looks really good! Do you mind (as he’s grabbing my fork and knife from my physical hands) if I try some OMG wow this is really, really good honey! Mmmmm!!!” LOL Gotta love that man! Actually I could only eat maybe a 1/3rd of it as it was that filling so I was happy he inhaled the rest.
| Cheesy Shaved Beef Stuffed Baked Potatoes |
|
- 4 large baking potatoes, scrubbed
- 1 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 very large yellow onion (or 2 big medium sized), rough chopped
- 6 Tbl butter, unsalted
- 1 cup shaved, cooked firmly packed roast beef *can substitute very thinly sliced deli roast beef
- 1 tsp worcestershire
- 1-2 cups sharp cheddar, coarsely shredded
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- 2 tsp chives, minced
- 4 Tbl sour cream
- Make your Perfectly Baked Potatoes in the oven.
- While the potatoes are baking, place a medium pot over-medium low heat.
- Add in the oil and 2 Tbl butter.
- When the butter is melted, add in the onions and stir.
- After 4 minutes, sprinkle with sugar and stir to combine.
- Allow to cook down for 30-40 minutes or until the onions are very soft and have begun to caramelize.
- When the potatoes are done, remove from the oven and place on a baking sheet allowing to cool for 5 minutes.
- Place the oven rack to the broiler position and put the broiler on high.
- Run a knife lengthwise across the salted top, leaving about 1/2 inch on both sides.
- Using both hands, pinch each side of the potato.
- While pinching, push towards the center of the potato, forcing it to open up.
- Keep pushing and squeeze the fluffy insides up.
- Take a spoon and remove just a few Tbl of the fleshy insides. You can save this for another use or just quickly put some butter and sour cream on it and inhale like I do. LOL
- Evenly divide the salt and pepper and sprinkle the inside of the potato.
- Place a Tbl of butter inside.
- Next, take the roast beef and add it into the pot with the onions.
- Gently stir just to combine.
- Divide the onion beef mixture and stuff it into the potatoes, mounding slightly.
- Divide the cheese and place heaping mounds on top.
- Place the baking sheet back in the oven under the broiler just until the cheese is melted. ~1-2 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and plate.
- Garnish with sour cream and chives.
Savory Reuben Jarlsberg Tart
Seriously, LOOK how fantabulous that looks!
Now we all know I have this insatiable love for an AMAZING Reuben. I personally think I make the Quintessential Perfect Reuben Sammich but then I’m biased and a HUUUUUUUUUUUUGE food snob. Just sayin… Go with it peeps, trust me on this. When I open my bistro, you’ll find out first hand. Then you’ll fall in love – first with the food, then with me cause well I’m just that damn lovable *wink*.
Last night when I got home from work I was on speed mode. See I got up late, got to work at 6:30am (which is unheard of considering my butt is at the gym by 5am every morning at work) thus I didn’t get to work out until after 4pm. Ran my 5 miles (yeah I know, insane) then drove 1.5 hours home. I still was on that ‘runners high’ if you will. I never quite ‘got that’ until I actually got into seriously working out and this whole running on purpose thing. I think that’s why I love working out early in the morning as it lasts the whole day for me and gives me the energy I need to endure my extremely stressful job. Anyway, when I got home I knew I wanted to make something with the leftovers (lord knows I have enough). As I was looking through my recipes I came across my Biscuit Crusted Summer Chicken Tart which I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE. Once I saw that I KNEW what I was making!
This recipe was so simple and literally took *maybe* 15 minutes to put together and pop in the oven. Even with making the biscuit crust from scratch, still only 15 minutes.
When this came out.. OH GOOD GOD! The smells were intoxicating. It took I had to not just stand there, oven door open, fork in hand and dig in!
So I mixed up the biscuit crust…
No looking at how dirty my oven door is!
.. and waited
…and waited
..and waited for like ever (well okay, like 20 minutes)
and THIS emerged…
Just LOOK at that golden crispy buttery biscuity crust!
yes… I said biscuity.
And so I waited…
…and waited…
…and waited (okay like 5 minutes) to remove the tart from the pan
Isn’t she GORGEOUS!
I mean seriously, she’s almost too pretty to touch!
I said ALMOST! Please, Mama needs food here people!
When I cut into this, you could hear the buttery, flaky layers ‘snapping – not sure how to describe it but make it and you’ll know what I’m talking about’.
When I took out that first piece, it was like the Gods of YUMNESS came down and kissed me for it!
I mean LOOK!
No seriously… LOOK!!! Like I LOOOOOOOOOOVE this thing!
Look at that filling!
It took the most incredible amount of will power I’ve ever had to stop at just one piece! This was so good that literally I wanted to kiss myself!
You NEED to make this! No, I’m serious, you HAVE TO MAKE THIS!
| Savory Reuben Jarlsberg Tart |
|
Biscuit Crust
- 2 cups flour, sifted (yes, sift it!)
- 1 Tbl plus 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 stick cold butter, cubed
- 1/2 cup cold milk
- 1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds
Filling
- 2 cups chopped Guinness Corned Beef *See note
- 1 cup sauerkraut, drained (I don’t rinse mine)
- 2-2 1/2 cups shredded Jarlsberg cheese
- 2-3 Tbl yellow mustard (or grainy mustard); if you don’t like that you can use 1000 island dressing
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, salt, caraway seed and baking powder.
- Cut in the butter to resemble coarse cornmeal.
- Add the milk and quickly stir to gather dough into a ball.
- Divide the balls to where one is slightly bigger than the other (this will be used for the base.
- Gently, on a lightly floured board roll out the bottom crust.
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Lightly spray a 9”-10” removable bottom tart pan.
- Place the crust into the pan and up the sides to where you have a 1/2” overhang.
- Lay 1 cup of cheese on the bottom crust and spread out evenly.
- Next add the corned beef followed by the sauerkraut.
- Next drizzle the mustard over top but be careful not to get it on the crust edges.
- Add the remaining cheese.
- Roll out the remaining biscuit ball and place on top of the tart.
- Gently pinch the top crust with the bottom crust to ensure a seal.
- Slit 2 holes in the top of the crust.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool 5 minutes before removing from the tart pan.
- If the sides are too soft, place the tart (minus the sides) back in the oven for 5-7 minutes, covering the top loosely with foil.
If you don’t have leftover Guinness Corned Beef, you can use deli corned beef but be sure it’s low sodium. Though you really, REALLY should make the Guinness Corned Beef.
I strongly recommend you use Jarlsberg in this. Trust me here. Swiss will work but the flavor Jarlsberg is so magical in this dish!
Now some of you asked how to make this if you don’t have a tart pan/pan with a removable bottom (think Spring form). No fret, I got ya covered! Simply take either parchment paper (sprayed) or foil (sprayed) and line a round cake pan with it leaving at least a 1″ overhang. Bake as normal and just use the overhang as the ‘handles’ to lift it out. Parchment paper is a tad tricky as it tends to get brittle when ‘exposed’ in the heat. If you want I would take 2 long strips of foil, fold them a few times (about 1″ wide) and place them down in the pan first criss-crossed (X), then line with parchment. Use the handles of the foil X’s to help take it out.
Posted in Appetizers, Beef, Bread Basics, Main Dishes, Recipes, Side Dishes |
Tags: corned beef, Savory Reuben Jarlsberg Tart, St. Paddy's Day, Tart |
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