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Beef, Dinner, Lactose Free, Mexican, Recipes

Shredded Beef Tacos

November 29, 2014

Anyone familiar with this blog is aware that I love Mexican dishes, all of them: tacos, burritos, enchiladas, tamales…. I always have Sopa de Arroz and Cuban style black beans stashed in the freezer. They are staple side dishes that go with every Mexican meal. In fact, I am happy just to eat a big bowl of beans and rice with some fresh cilantro scattered over the top.

Cook’s Illustrated, with their tried and true recipes, once again caught my eye with this recipe; shredded beef tacos. The idea of tender, shredded beef on warm corn tortillas was just too inviting. I called Times Supermarket and asked the butcher if he could prepare 3 pounds of boneless short ribs cut into 2-inch cubes for me. No problem! Knowing that short ribs are quite “rich” I was a bit nervous when I picked up my order. The short ribs were beautiful. Just slightly marbled, but overall well-trimmed and lean.

I was skeptical about the procedure to brown the meat called for by the recipe. I shouldn’t have had any doubts. The meat was browned to perfection. Never doubt Cook’s Illustrated.

Decadent and rich, the short ribs turned out great. We warmed corn tortillas on the comal and served them with a cabbage-carrot slaw.

Shredded Beef Tacos

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

Serves 6 – 8

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups beer (I used Sierra Nevada)

1/2 cup cider vinegar

2 ounces (4 – 6) dried ancho chiles, stemmed, seeded, and torn into 1-inch pieces

2 tablespoons tomato paste

6 garlic cloves, lightly crushed and peeled

3 bay leaves

2 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons dried oregano

Salt and pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 large onion, sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds

3 pounds boneless beef short ribs, trimmed and cut into 2-inch cubes

Preparation

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine beer, vinegar, anchos, tomato paste, garlic, bay leaves, cumin, oregano, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, cloves, and cinnamon in Dutch oven. Arrange onion rounds in a single layer on the bottom of pot. Place beef on top of onion rounds in a single layer. Cover and cook until meat is well browned and tender, 2 1/2 – 3 hours.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer beef to a large bowl, cover loosely with foil, and set aside. Strain liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup (do not wash pot). Discard onion rounds and bay leaves. Transfer remaining solids to the blender. Let strained liquid settle for 5 minutes, then skim any fat off the surface. Pour 1 cup liquid into blender with reserved solids and blend until smooth, about 40 – 60 seconds. Transfer sauce to now-empty pot.

Using two forks, shred beef into bite-size pieces. Bring sauce to a simmer over medium heat. Add shredded beef and stir to coat. Season with salt to taste. (Beef can be refrigerated for up to 2 days; gently reheat before serving).

Spoon small amount of beef into each warm tortilla and serve with cabbage slaw, queso fresco (I used feta), sour cream and lime wedges.

Beef, Dinner, Recipes

Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs

October 19, 2014

Braised meats are one of my favorite indulgences. There’s something so satisfying about a big pot of beef stew or, in this case, short ribs, gently cooking for a few hours until the meat is meltingly tender. I found this irresistible recipe in Bon Appetit: Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs. An entire bottle of red wine mind you.

After a quick trip to the market, I returned home with some very nice looking short ribs and a bottle of red wine.

As with most braised dishes, the meat is first browned well before adding the other ingredients. Those leftover bits of goodness on the bottom of the pan are priceless and add so much flavor to the dish.

Though there’s sparse pickings in our garden now due to the weather being so hot, we do have a few nice tomato bushes (trees!) and an abundance of mangoes. I’m grateful for the various selections of herbs that grow so well in this dry area of Maui. They come in handy when you need just a few sprigs of this and that, as is the case with this recipe.

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

Adapted from Jenny Rosenstrach & Andy Ward/Bon Appetit Magazine

6 Servings

Ingredients

5 lbs. bone-in beef short ribs, cut crosswise into 2″ pieces

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons canola oil

3 medium onions, chopped

2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 750-ml bottle dry red wine (I used an Australian Cabernet Sauvignon)

10 sprigs flat leaf parsley

8 sprigs thyme

4 sprigs oregano

2 small sprigs rosemary

2 small bay leaves

8 garlic cloves

4 cups beef stock

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°. Season short ribs generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. (I used my 5 1/2 quart Le Creuset which neatly fit all ingredients. Feel free to use a larger sized oven safe pot but not smaller). Working in two batches, brown short ribs on all sides about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer short ribs to a plate. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons drippings from pot (my short ribs were trimmed well so I didn’t have much fat to pour out).

Add onions, carrots, and celery to pot and cook over medium heat, stirring often, until onions are browned, about 5 minutes (adjust heat as needed). Add flour and tomato paste; cook , stirring constantly, until well combined and deep red, about 2 minutes. Stir in wine, then add short ribs with any accumulated juices. Bring to a boil; lower heat to medium and simmer until wine is reduced by half, about 30 minutes. Add all herbs to pot along with garlic. Stir in stock and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Bring to a boil, cover and transfer to oven.

Cook until short ribs are tender, 2 – 2 1/2 hours. Spoon any accumulated fat from surface of sauce and discard; season sauce to taste with freshly ground black pepper and additional salt if desired. Serve in shallow bowls over mashed potatoes with sauce spooned over.

Beef, Dinner, Korean, Lactose Free, Recipes

Best Beef Bulgogi

August 31, 2014

Korean food is rapidly becoming one of America’s favorite ethnic cuisines and it is no surprise given its bold, spicy flavors. Korean barbecue beef known as bulgogi is a particular favorite. This bulgogi recipe is so good it will become habit-forming. Grilling the beef instead of pan-frying it gives it that bit of barbecue flavor along with lovely grill marks. My favorite way to serve bulgogi is with rice and a side of mac salad or green salad, kimchi and homemade takuan (plate lunch!) but it is equally delicious stuffed in a banh mi with a generous amount of do chua pickles. It’s just beautiful.

After a quick soak in this flavorful marinade you’ll have the best barbecued bulgogi. Melt in your mouth super thin slices of lean, tender beef thrown on the grill is ready in just a few minutes. The original recipes calls for flank steak but I much prefer to use the more tender filet mignon or top sirloin. Thanks to TNCouch for sharing the recipe via allrecipes.com.

Best Beef Bulgogi

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 pound filet mignon or top sirloin, slightly frozen for easier slicing, sliced very thin

5 tablespoons soy sauce

2 1/2 tablespoons white sugar

1/4 cup chopped green onions

2 tablespoons minced garlic

1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation

Thinly slice partially frozen beef and place in a shallow bowl. Combine soy sauce, sugar, green onion, garlic, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and ground black pepper in a small bowl. Pour over beef. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour, turning once halfway through marinating time.

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil the grate.

Quickly grill beef on hot grill until slightly charred and cooked through, 1 – 2 minutes per side.

Beef, Dinner, Recipes, Sauces

Filet Mignon with Morel Bordelaise & Béarnaise Sauce

November 25, 2013

Every now and then it’s nice to indulge in an extravagant dinner. That could mean going out to a favorite restaurant or as we did last night “put on the Ritz” at home. This dinner had its origin in our daughter Katie’s obsession with mushroom hunting. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, which is a mushroom hunter’s paradise. She sent us a few jars of her dried mushrooms. Her dried morels were the basis of a delectable sauce for a marvelous steak.

These dried mushrooms plump up beautifully once soaked in warm water for 15 minutes or so. It’s hard to tell they were ever dried.

There’s actually a novelty song called “I Just Love Morels Too Much.”

Sautéed morels.

I’ve learned that the best filet mignon are found at our local Whole Foods store. You will pay dearly, but they are worth it. The Whole Foods filets are in a category of their own. They are trimmed beautifully, tender and flavorful.

Demi-glace is a key ingredient in this recipe and a little goes a long way. We like the veal demi-glace from Williams-Sonoma.

Red wine, shallots, thyme and a bay leaf. The liquid is reduced to just a few tablespoons as shown above. The thyme sprigs and bay leaf are removed and the demi-glace is added to the reduction. Soon you’ll have one of the best home-made sauces imaginable!

Filet Mignon with Morel Bordelaise & Béarnaise Sauce

Serves 2 (Recipe can be doubled or tripled to serve more)

Ingredients

3/4 ounce dried morels

2 teaspoons butter or olive oil

salt and pepper

1 cup chicken or beef broth

2 tablespoons Williams-Sonoma demi-glace (veal or beef)

1 cup red wine (or white wine for the red wine sensitive)

2 small shallots, finely diced

2 four inch sprigs fresh thyme

1 small bay leaf

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons sour cream

2 six to eight ounce filet mignon rubbed with olive oil and seasoned with coarse sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, grilled or pan fried to desired doneness.

Bearnaise Sauce recipe

Preparation

Rehydrate morels in a bowl filled with warm water for about 15 minutes. Drain and pat morels with paper towels to absorb excess water. Chop morels into small pieces and sauté in butter or olive oil until warm, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat and whisk the chicken or beef broth with the demi-glace in a small saucepan until blended into uniform consistency. Remove from heat and set aside.

Place red wine, diced shallots, thyme and bay leaf in a medium saucepan over medium – medium high heat and reduce until most of the liquid is gone (about 10 minutes). Remove from the heat and discard thyme and bay leaf. Add demi-glace mixture and morels. You can prepare the sauce up to this point earlier in the day and store in the refrigerator. Just before the steaks are done, return the sauce to the stove over medium heat. Once warm, stir in the butter then whisk in the sour cream and reduce if a thicker sauce is desired.

Spoon Morel Bordelaise sauce on a dinner plate, place filet mignon on sauce and top with a dollop of Béarnaise sauce. Excellent accompaniments are Potato & Leek Gratin and Glazed Carrots with Tarragon.

Beans, Beef, Dinner, Mexican, Recipes

Best Black Bean Chili

October 22, 2013

A while back I was checking out recipes on various food blogs and I stumbled into this really delicious black bean chili recipe on Kaylyn’s Kitchen blog. The recipe comes from Fine Cooking magazine. I liked the idea that Kaylyn used lean ground beef and simmered the chili for a few hours. I did just as she suggested and the chili turned out to be so delicious I now make it on a regular basis.

All the ingredients should be easy to find in your grocery store with one exception. I buy Hatch ground red chile powder from The Chile Shop (Santa Fe, NM) directly from their store. This particular chile is mild and earthy. It doesn’t give off any heat but adds a wonderful rich chile flavor to the dishes you use it in, such as this black bean chili and also adovada sauce. If you buy chile powder at your grocery store look for one that is pure mild chile powder without any other added ingredients. Otherwise give the folks at The Chile Shop a call. You’ll be happy you did.

We often grill burritos stuffed with black bean chili, sopa de arroz and extra sharp cheddar. If you’ve never had a grilled burrito, give it a try. It takes just a few minutes on the gas grill and is a nice change from your typical soft burrito.

Best Black Bean Chili

Adapted from Kaylyn’s Kitchen Blog & Fine Cooking Magazine

Makes 8 1/2 cups

Ingredients

4 cans black beans

1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes

2 (or more) diced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I scrape out the seeds)

1 – 2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound lean ground beef (I use ground sirloin)

1 medium onion, finely diced

5 tablespoons Hatch mild chile powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 14.5 oz. can beef broth

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preparation

Drain 3 cans black beans into a colander and rinse well, until no more foam appears. Set aside.

In a food processor, puree 1 can of undrained black beans with the diced tomatoes and their liquid along with the chipotle peppers. Process for about 30 seconds, or until the mixture is fairly smooth. Taste the bean mixture and add more chipotle peppers if you want it to be a bit spicier. Set aside.

In the bottom of a heavy soup pot (I use a 5 1/2 quart Le Creuset Dutch oven) heat 1 tablespoon olive oil and brown beef, using the back of a turner to break it into small pieces. Remove beef to a bowl, add a bit more olive oil to the pot and the diced onions. Lower the heat a little and cook the onions until they are softened but not starting to brown. Add the chile powder and cumin and sauté about 30 seconds.

Add the beef broth, browned ground beef, pureed bean mixture, tomato paste and salt and pepper. Stir to combine and simmer for 1 hour on very low heat.

Add the reserved drained beans to the pot and continue to simmer for 1/2 hour. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.

The chili is delicious served with cornbread or stuffed in a flour tortilla with a bit of cheese. Here in Hawaii, we like to serve chili over a steaming bowl of hot rice.

Beef, Dinner, Pressure Cooker, Recipes

Best Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

July 7, 2013

After contemplating buying a pressure cooker for a long time and reading a recent review in Cook’s Illustrated, John finally hit the “place your order” button on Amazon and in a week we had our new 8 1/2 quart Fissler pressure cooker. We agreed on beef stew as our first trial recipe. I found a few recipes that I thought would guide me in the right direction and just gave it a go. The beef stew turned out remarkably good. I was in love with our pressure cooker from that day on.

I did learn that the vegetables needed less cooking time because they were a bit too soft the first time around so I decreased the cooking time to 5 minutes and they were perfect.

Swanson beef stock works really well in the stew. With the addition of a few tablespoons of veal demi glace, the gravy turns out rich and flavorful just as though you had simmered your stew for hours yet it takes just 25 minutes in the pressure cooker for fork tender beef stew.

I bought a little over 3 pounds of chuck roast and trimmed it really well. I ended up with 2 1/2 pounds of good looking meat for my stew. Below is my recipe for perfect pressure cooker beef stew.

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

Serves 6 – 8

Ingredients

2 1/2 pounds well trimmed chuck roast cut into 2 inch cubes

2 tablespoons flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 26 ounce box Swanson Beef Cooking Stock

2 tablespoons veal demi glace (optional but highly recommended, we use Williams Sonoma brand)

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes with liquid, pureed in a food processor

4 medium carrots, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces

1 1/4 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces (I used fingerlings, I love the way they keep their shape)

3 teaspoons fresh thyme

1 cup green peas

Preparation

Trim the meat well and cut into large cubes, about 2 inches (they will shrink considerably). Place meat in a large bowl and season with 2 teaspoons of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper making sure to coat all sides well. Sprinkle in the flour and with your hands (I use disposable gloves) mix the seasoned meat with the flour.

Combine the beef stock and demi glace with the Worcestershire and Dijon mustard. Set aside.

Quickly puree the diced tomatoes in a food processor, just a few pulses does the job. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your pressure cooker over medium-high heat. Add half of the beef to the pan and brown well without moving the pieces then turn over and brown the other side. (Just an advance warning. Once you add the meat to the hot oil there will be a lot of wild spattering going on so use a spatter screen if you have one). Remove browned pieces to a plate and continue cooking the other pieces adding more olive oil if needed. Once all the beef has browned, discard any excess fat in the pan.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the onions and garlic and sauté for about 2 minutes just until the onion softens. Stir in the beef stock mixture and tomatoes and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Return the beef to the pressure cooker and bring the mixture to a simmer.

Cover the pressure cooker, lock the lid in place and over medium-high heat bring it to full pressure. Once the pressure cooker comes up to pressure, lower the heat to a low burner setting so that it maintains pressure without exceeding it and set the timer for 20 minutes.

Remove the cooker from the heat and release the pressure using the quick release method by pressing the button on the handle or by running cold water over the lid in the sink. Taste the gravy and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the carrots, potatoes and thyme to the pressure cooker. Cover the cooker once again, lock the lid and bring back to high pressure. Once the cooker is at full pressure, turn the heat down to low to medium low and cook for 5 minutes.

Remove the cooker from the heat and release the pressure. To thicken the gravy add a few shakes of Wondra and let the stew simmer for just a few minutes. Stir in the peas before serving. We like spooning the stew over hot rice that soaks up all the delicious gravy.

***I used an 8 1/2 quart pressure cooker.

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Shredded Beef Tacos

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Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs

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Best Beef Bulgogi

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Filet Mignon with Morel Bordelaise & Béarnaise Sauce

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Best Black Bean Chili

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Best Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

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