Tag: dinner

Steak with Jack

It’s always fun to find new ways to make steak, and it’s even more fun when it involved a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Whiskey.  I found this recipe (where else?) in the Pioneer Woman’s Cookbook.  Since she has to make food for cowboys, she tends to cook a lot of steak and potatoes.  This recipe is a new favorite, and I think if you try it, you’ll love it too.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 2 of your favorite cuts of steak
  • 5 tbsp of butter, divided
  • Half a large onion, or one small onion
  • 1/4 cup Jack Daniel’s Whiskey (you can also use your favorite brand of whiskey)
  • 1/4 cup beef stock or broth
  • 1/4 cup cream (I used half & half)
  • Salt and Pepper

Start by melting 2 tbsp of butter in a medium skillet over medium heat.

 

Finely chop your onion and add it to the skillet.

 

Cook on medium heat until your onions start to turn brown (caramelize).

 

Next comes the main ingredient, Jack Daniel’s Whiskey!  Made in Lynchburg, TN, which just so happens to be a dry county.  Isn’t that ironic?  Steve and I went with his parents last year to the Jack Daniel’s Distillery and took a tour of the grounds and the whiskey making process.  You definitely need a strong stomach to go on that tour, because there is a very strong odor when you’re walking through the distillery where they have huge vats of brewing whiskey.

 

When your onions have caramelized a bit, it’s time to add the whiskey.  If you have a gas stove, I would recommend turning off your burners while you’re pouring the whiskey.  You don’t want your kitchen to catch on fire.

 

You’re pretty much going to let all of the whiskey evaporate so that only the flavor of whiskey is left.  And yes, you can serve this dish to children.  All the alcohol is cooked out of the whiskey.

 

Next, add the chicken stock.

 

Season with salt and pepper.

 

Add another tablespoon of butter to the sauce and stir it around until it melts.  Everything is better with butter.  Just keep telling yourself that.

 

Next it’s time to add the cream.  It makes the sauce……er……creamy.  My other name is Captain Obvious in case you were wondering.

 

Bring the sauce to a bubble and then turn the heat down to low and let simmer while you prepare the steaks.  Give it a little stir occasionally.

 

Melt your last 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium high heat.

 

Generously season your steaks with salt and pepper and add them to the hot skillet.  We like our steaks cooked medium, so I cooked them for about 4 minutes on each side.

 

Once your steaks are cooked how you like them, transfer to a plate and generously spoon the whiskey cream sauce over the steaks.

 

 

Doesn’t that look gorgeous?  And let me tell you, it’s really tasty too!  This would be wonderful with some mashed potatoes.  I was trying to add a little bit of healthiness to my dinner, so I cooked some zucchini (in butter) to go along with my steak.

 

This recipe makes 2 servings of sauce, unless you don’t spoon as much sauce on your steaks.  If that’s the case, you could probably stretch it into 4 servings.  I hope you enjoy!  I know we certainly did.

Mexican Beef Stew

I don’t think there is a more easy meal to prepare than one that is cooked in a Crock Pot.  All you have to do is toss the ingredients in the pot, set the timer, and fahgettaboudit.  This Mexican Beef Stew was one such meal!  I love that I can have dinner waiting for us when we get home, instead of having to go through the ordeal of deciding what to make and making sure that I have all the ingredients I need.  Steve and I bought ingredients for a weeks worth of Crock Pot dinners.  Oh, and did I mention that since we had spent over $500 at Kroger last month, we got 60 cents off per gallon when we filled up the gas tank this morning!  We ended up paying only $2.75 per gallon!!!  Oh yes….that’s right!!!

Now, back to the stew.  Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 1 1/2 lbs beef for stew, cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, coarsely chopped
  • 1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, mostly drained
  • 1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
  • 1 can Campbell’s® Condensed Beef Consomme´
  • 1 cup chunky salsa (I used Pace® Chunky Salsa)
  • 2 tbsp chili powder 
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic, minced

Start by cutting the beef into 1 inch cubes.  You can also buy stew meat that is already cubed if your grocery store provides that.

Thoroughly coat the meat in flour….no we’re not making chicken fried steak!

Throw the flour-coated meat into a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook until browned.

Chop up your onion.  I only used half an onion, but you can use a whole one if it would make you happier.  I’ve never been a real onion fan.  Unless of course it’s in the form of an onion ring!

Once your meat is browned, throw it into your Crock Pot (or slow cooker if you prefer).

Toss in the onion.

Next comes the beans!  I drained almost all of the liquid out of the can before dumping it in.

Drain the canned corn, and add it to the pot.  It looks like a lot, but once it all gets mixed around it will look more evenly distributed.

I had never cooked with Beef Consomme´ before this recipe, and didn’t really even know what it was.  It looks and smells like a very concentrated beef broth, in case you’re like me and have never cooked with it before.

Pour the beef consomme´ into the pot.

Next, pour a cup of chunky salsa into the pot.  I used Pace® Chunky Salsa, but you can use whatever brand you want.  I don’t know if fresh salsa would work well in this recipe, but if you want to try it out with fresh salsa, let me know how it turns out!

Finally, add the chili powder, ground cumin, and garlic powder (or minced garlic if you decided to use that).

Give it all a good stir, and set your temperature to low, and cook for 8-10 hours.  If you don’t have 8-10 hours to wait, you can also cook it on high for 4-5 hours.

Here’s what the stew will look like after 8 hours of cooking.  Yum! Yum!  I love that the house smells so good when we walk through the door after a long day at work.  So nice to come home and have dinner ready!

Pour several big ladle fulls of stew into your favorite bowl and enjoy!  I know this isn’t exactly a “summer” dinner, but crank that A/C up and you’ll be in the mood for hot stew in no time! 🙂

 

Lasagna

I’ve never been much of a lasagna fan, but after seeing this recipe on The Pioneer Woman website, I decided to give it a try.  It’s actually fairly easy to make, and it tasted GREAT!!  So if you are a person that likes lasagna, I suggest trying this recipe on for size….or taste.

Here’s what you’ll need:  (I halved this recipe since I was only making it for 2 people.  We still ended up having over 3 servings left and we were STUFFED!)

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 lb hot breakfast sausage

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans (14.5 oz) whole tomatoes (you can use diced tomatoes if you don’t want such big chunks in your meat sauce)

2 cans (6 oz) tomato paste (I used tomato sauce since I realized I was out of tomato paste at the exact moment when I needed to add it to the skillet)

4 tbsp dried parsely

2 tbsp dried basil

2 tsp salt

3 cups lowfat cottage cheese

2 whole beaten eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 lb sliced mozzarella cheese

1 package (10 oz) lasagna noodles (I used whole wheat lasagna, but you can use whatever you want.  Unfortunately I didn’t have any 5 net carb Dreamfields lasagna)

Preheat oven to 350°.  Add beef and sausage to a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat.

Add garlic to the meat.  I grated my garlic over a microplane, because I think it blends more evenly, and the flavor can saturate the meat more so than if I just chopped it very finely.

Brown the meat and stir to thoroughly combine.

Drain most of that lovely fat.  Can’t you just feel it clogging your arteries just by looking at it?

Add tomatoes, tomato paste (or sauce in my case), basil, 1 tsp of salt, and 2 tbsp of the parsley.

Stir until thoroughly combined, and let simmer for about 20-30 minutes.  I chopped the tomatoes up with my wooden spoon as I stirred.

In a medium bowl add the cottage cheese….

…egg…

…Parmesan cheese…

…and the rest of the salt and parsley.

Stir until thoroughly combined and set aside.

Meanwhile, drop some lasagna noodles into a large pot of boiling water and cook to “al dente” (still has a bite to it).

Now it’s time to assemble the lasagna.  Start by laying the lasagna noodles in a baking dish.  Overlap the noodles as you go.

Spoon half of the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles.

Lay a layer of cheese on top of the cottage cheese.

Spread half of the meat sauce on top of the cheese.  Then repeat the process all over again, ending with a meat layer on the top.

Liberally sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top of the meat.  And if you’re like me….throw a handful of cheese in your mouth.  Yum!

Pop it in the oven for 20-30 minutes, or until it’s all bubbly on the top.

After struggling to keep the square of lasagna you just cut on your spatula and not all over the counter, place it on a plate and eat!  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!