beef

What’s On the (Romantic) Menu: Valentine Steaks

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This is just so gorgeous that I can’t even remember what else was for dinner.

Oh wait.  Mashed potatoes and kale.  Some sort of bread.  Butter.

Regardless, I started by salting the sirloins and covering them with crushed rosemary leaves.  I let the salt and aromatics work their magic while hubby and I worked on the above random vegetables.  I don’t often share the kitchen (I’m territorial), but it was late and he was being awesome.  During this time, I toasted sliced crimini and button mushrooms and onion slivers in my cast iron in some particularly amazing Amish butter that I got from a local health store.  This process takes a little bit of time.  You don’t want the heat so low that it takes all night, but you don’t want it so high that you burn the mushrooms before they have time to cook through.  Once these were golden and lovely and cooked through and crusty, I reserved them in another dish.

At this point, I raised the heat a touch and added more butter to the dish.  I seared the sirloins on both sides with their aromatics still pressed into the meat.  Once the meat was crusty and beautiful on both sides, I put them in a shallow roasting dish.  I deglazed the pan with some chianti and allowed it to reduce over heat while the other vegetables finished cooking.  When the rest of the food was ready to serve, I covered the meat with the mushrooms and onions and poured the wine reduction over.  This I topped with a double handful of freshly shredded parmesan and popped the dish into a blaring hot oven to toast for a few minutes while I set the table.  I let it rest the obligatory 15 minutes or so while everyone got to the table and plates were dished up.

It was blissfully, wonderfully, face-meltingly amazing.

I had the leftovers the next morning, and I did not share.

What’s On The Menu – Pressure Cooker Steaks

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This post is part of a series for 2016 on real meals served to my family of 7 that conserve energy and time while preserving nutrients.

Pressure Cooker Chuck Tender Steaks
Onion and Mushroom Gravy
Mashed Red Potatoes (stovetop)
Kale in Broth (microwave)

Put pressure cooker on sear/brown setting. Dredge steaks in flour and brown on all sides in hot oil; I always use organic extra virgin olive oil. Set aside. Sauté a large onion, slivered, and about 8 oz sliced mushrooms until well browned on the outside. This whole process will take about a half-hour.

Put salted water on to boil in a stew pot and drop in a few pounds of red potatoes, cubed, skins on. Once boiling, cover and reduce heat to simmer while other items cook.

Layer steaks and sautéed veggies in pressure cooker. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour broth over these (between a cup and a pint); tonight I used homemade turkey stock. Seal cooker and cook on high pressure for 20-25 minutes. I used the steak setting and reduced time to 20 minutes. (Please note that I use an electric pressure cooker and times may vary between brands.)

While steak cooks, fill a covered casserole with kale. Season with a little salt, about a cup and a half of broth, and a lump of butter (about 3 tablespoons). Mine was tender when microwaved on high, covered, for twelve minutes – stirred – and microwaved again for 2 minutes more.

When steaks finish cooking, move meat and veg to a serving dish, reserving broth. Change back to sear setting and stir in about a quarter cup of water with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch added. Be sure to use cool water and incorporate the cornstarch completely before adding to the hot pot, unless you enjoy lumpy cornstarch dumplings in your gravy. Stir frequently. When thickened, pour over meat and stir. I also added a big dollop of sour cream – about a quarter cup.

Drain potatoes and mash with about 4 tablespoons butter and some half-and-half or cream to thin. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Dinner was successful. The kids were excited about kale cooked in broth. Steaks weren’t as tender as I liked, but they were a cheap cut and still turned out well, all things considered.

Total time from start to finish – approximately one hour.

How to Rescue a Dry, Overdone Pot Roast

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Sermon run later than expected? Forget what time you put the roast on? Tried to do it overnight and ended up with a hard piece of meat and a pan coated with condensed juices?

As long as nothing burned, this can still be salvaged into a tasty meal. Take the meat out of the pan and set aside. Put at least 1 cup of hot water into the pan and set onto cold burners and heat VERY slowly at a low temp; my stove goes up to (10) and I never got above a (3). If you managed to burn the roast in a pan that’s unsafe to try the burner tops, try the deglazing with just hot water, and then pour it into a suitable saucepan to continue.

While the water is heating, use a whisk, fork, or even a spatula to start encouraging those condensed yummy bits to dissolve into the water. This process speeds up significantly once the condensation has softened a bit under the water. (This is called deglazing the pan, since your pan juices have formed a hard coating not unlike a glaze on a ceramic pot). Many people deglaze with wine, but I find it too sharp to use straight up in the gravy.

Once the water looks more like beef broth and less like weak tea (ew), tear apart the roast into tiny pieces and put them into the pan. Stir frequently to coat and soften the meat. Pour into it a mixture of cornstarch and water to thicken the gravy, and stir stir stir to prevent clumps.

This is fantastic served over rice. In fact, my mother used to serve rice about as often as she served potatoes with a roast, so this dish brought back fond memories.

Particulars: I used about 4 cups of water to deglaze a 9×13 baking pan, and I put into it a mixture of about 2 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch to 1/4c. cold water, mixed perfectly smooth before integrating in to the beef and broth. You may use more or less water, depending on the amount of “glaze” left on your pans; start with 1 cup and add until the mixture tastes pleasantly of beef, not like you’re chewing on undiluted bouillon granules 0.o

There it is, proof that even a ruined roast isn’t ruined.

Unless you burn it. Then you might as well go for sandwiches or takeout. Burned beef glaze does NOT make yummy gravy.

Mexican Casserole

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So, my husband loves his mother’s mexican casserole, but for obvious reasons, I don’t want all the preservatives and weirdness that comes with the cream-soup-sauce.  This evening, I whipped up my own version of perfectly awesome mexican casserole, without the canned soups.  Below is an approximation of my recipe, as I do most of my cooking by feel rather than by measurement.  Sorry, I forgot to take pictures!

Mexican Casserole


About 1.5-2 pounds of ground beef

Two small onions, minced

About a cup of diced mushrooms, fresh

About a third cup of flour (you could replace this with other thickeners)

Salt to taste

Garlic powder, to taste

A 14-oz or so can of good tomatoes (I used organic something-or-other without the BPA lining)

Minced jalepenos or green chiles, to taste.  I used two tablespoons or so for a very mild casserole.

About a quart of milk or so

Half a bag of tortilla chips, crushed

Three big handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese

Brown the beef with the onions and the mushrooms; cook until the onions are translucent and tender.  The fat is mostly absorbed by this time.  Salt and garlic to taste.  Sprinkle the flour over the meat mixture and stir thoroughly, coating the meat.  Stir for another minute or so, making sure everything is evenly coated and there are no clumps.  Add to this your milk, about a cup at a time, over medium heat.  Stir continuously.  Salt again.  Add tomatoes and chiles, and stir, stir, stir.  When the mixture is bubbly like thick gravy, turn off the heat.  Combine with the tortilla chips and pour into a 9″x13″ish casserole dish.  Cover liberally with shredded cheese and bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for about an hour, or until the cheese is crusty and browned all over.  Serve warm.  This is tasty with a side salad and perhaps some cilantro corn.