Carbonnade Flamande

 

This dish was made for my ‘journey’ to Belgium. Carbonnade flamande is a stew chocked with flavor, with onions and beef. Google translates tells me that carbonnade flamande means: beef stewed in beer seasoned with garlic and served with boiled potatoes. I wish I had looked at google before making this, because it would have gone great with potatoes. Instead I just enjoyed the stew on its own.

The use of mustard in the broth was unlike anything I’ve made before. I loved how thick the broth was. It’s the perfect bar examination prep food.

Carbonnade Flamande
(source)

Inredients
3 lbs chuck roast, cut into 1-inch pieces
salt and pepper, to taste
4 tbsp unsalted butter
3 medium onions, sliced
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups beef broth
1 1/2 cups Belgian beer
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp whole grain mustard
1 tbsp brown sugar

Directions

1. Pat the beef dry and season with salt and pepper. In a heavy pot over medium-high melt 2 tbsp of the butter. Add the beef and brown, 3 minutes per side. Remove the beef from the pot and set aside.

2. Add the remaining butter to the pot. Reduce heat to medium. Add the onions and season with salt. Cook until the onions are browned, about 15 minutes. Add the flour and stir until the onions are coated with the flour. Cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the broth, scraping the bottom of the pan to get loosen the browned bits. Stir in the beer, thyme, bay leaves, and the beef.

3. Increase the heat to medium-high. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, covered, for 2 hours. Stir occasionally. A half hour before serving stir in the mustard and brown sugar. When time to serve, remove the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.

* serves 6
* this recipe is shared with Tasteful Tuesday & Tempt My Tummy

Taco Salad

 

I’m part of the website swap-bot. I participate in a lot of recipe swaps. Recently one of the swaps I participated in was called Send Me Some New Recipes. The swap required that you mail an envelope with at least 25 recipes in it, taken from anywhere. I sent recipes to my partners cut from magazines, handwritten from my personal collection, and printed from blogs online. One of the envelopes I received was a ton (25) recipes written on neon index cards. I added these to my recipe box collection, which has become significantly fuller since I started swap-bot.

This recipe was written on a neon green index card. This was a super easy recipe and was very delicious.

Taco Salad

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
2 tbsp Penzey’s Bold Taco spice
3/4 cup water
10 cups romaine lettuce, torn into pieces
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup onion, chopped
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup salad dressing of choice
1/2 cup tortilla chips, crushed
sour cream, optional (also, guacamole could work!)

Directions

1. In a large skillet cook the ground beef over medium heat until no longer pink. Drain. Stir in the taco spice and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, cooking for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes.

2. In a large bowl combine the lettuce, tomatoes, onion, and cheese. Stir in the ground beef. Drizzle with the salad dressing and toss to coat. Sprinkle with the crushed chips. Serve with option sour cream or guacamole (or both!) on top.

* serves 5
* shared with Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, & #Foodie Friday

Braised Short Ribs In Tomatillo Sauce

 

The next country in my around-the-world adventure was Mexico. Though I make Mexican food frequently, I decided to search online for authentic Mexican recipes. My searching led me to Receta de Costillas de Res en Salsa Verde, or.. Braised Short Ribs In Tomatillo Sauce. Actually though, the literal translation is Beef Ribs Recipe for Green Salsa.

Anyway – I made the ribs and served it over tortilla chips. I don’t use tomatillos nearly as often as I should and every time I do, I’m always excited at how neat they are. If you’ve never had the opportunity to cook with tomatillos before, you should make yourself the opportunity now! And cook these ribs!

Braised Short Ribs in Tomatillo Sauce
(source)

Ingredients
2 lbs beef short ribs
1 1/2 lbs tomatillos, peeled
2 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno pepper
1 cup cilantro, chopped
salt, to taste
ground pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the short ribs to the pot and brown on each side.  Add 1/2 cup of water and cover the pot with a lid. Cook on medium heat for 1 1/2 hours.

2. While the meat is cooking place a griddle over medium-high heat. Roast the tomatillos, garlic, and jalapeno until charred.

3 . Once the meat is cooked, add the tomatillos, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, and some salt and pepper into the bowl of a food processor. Remove 1/2 cup of the meat juice from the cooked ribs and add the juice to the food processor. Process everything in the food processor, until well combined and a sauce is formed.

4. Remove the ribs from the pot. Add the tomatillo salsa to the pan and cook for three minutes.

5. With two forks, remove the beef from the ribs, shredding it into pieces. Add the meat back into the pot with the salsa and cook for 3 more minutes.

* serves 6
* Shared with Full Plate Thursday, Showcase Your Talent Thursday, & Catch A Glimpse Party

Spicy Asian Hamburger

Final number one is out of the way. I have three finals and a paper until I’ll no longer be a law student, but will start studying for the bar exam instead. I guess that’s still sort of a law student though, isn’t it? I probably should be studying for my exam for tomorrow, but I feel sort of brain dead after the one I had today.

On Sunday of this week I made this delicious hamburger. Infused with Asian flavors, this made such a great meal. And instead of serving it just with french fries, I roasted some asparagus as well and tossed the french fries and the asparagus in Argyle Street Asian Blend, which I had received from a Foodie Pen Pals some months back. And instead of ketchup for the fries, I mixed up some sriacha, mayonnaise,  and ketchup which also was the spread on the burger. Both the fries and the asparagus tasted good with the dip.

All in all, this was a very satisfying meal!

Spicy Asian Hamburger
(source)

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ginger, minced
1 tbsp chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 large egg
1 tbsp vegetable oil
all-purpose flour (for dusting)
4 hamburger buns
2 green onions, roughly chopped
1 tomato, sliced
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tsp sriacha

Directions

1. In a large bowl combine the ground beef, garlic, ginger, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, breadcrumbs, and egg. Mix together with your hands. Shape the mixture into four patties and dust with flour.

2. In a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, add the vegetable oil. Once hot add the patties. Cook for 4-5 minutes per side.

3. In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, ketchup, and sriacha.

4. Toast the buns. Spread each bun with some of the sriacha spread. Place a burger on each bun and top with tomato. Cover with other half of the bun.

* serves 4
* Shared with Kahakai Kitchen’s Souper Sundays, Wednesday Whatsits, Cast Party Wednesday, & The Busy Bees

Foodie Pen Pals: April

This month my FPP buddy was a lovely lady named Haley. Haley is from Arizona and sent me a very heavy box of local foods. She also included a recipe, which I made (and will share in this post!) I loved getting a recipe (hint hint hint, next FPP: send me recipes!) At this point, if you haven’t heard about Foodie Pen Pals, you’re probably wondering what on earth I’m talking about.

• On the 5th of the month you receive an email pairing you with information about who you’re paired with. You email that person to get information pertaining to allergies and dietary restriction.
• By the 15th you put together a box of treats and mail them to your partner.
• On the last day of the month you post a blog post about your box of treat

Easy, yeah?

 

Like I said, this was a heavy box of food! I was actually surprised when I picked it up to carry it in the house. This is by far the heaviest package I’ve received. I was so excited to dig in and see what was in there. And needless to say, I was not disappointed!

 

First things first, chili mango. This is something I never have had and I was hesitant to try it. While the idea of sweet and spicy seems so great, I took the first bite like a little bird. I’m still not really sure what I think about this. It’s probably not something I’d buy again, but at the same time it was good and a lot of fun to get to try something new.

 

Haley included this strawberry jelly on the request of her child. I ate it in one swift swoop. I used to get these as a kid, so it was a nice journey back.

 

I haven’t tried this cactus jelly yet. But the color of it is beautiful! I haven’t taken the time to look up recipes I could use this with, so I should do that.

 

Haley also included this Mango Jalapeno Jelly, along with a recipe for a grilled cheese using this jelly. I haven’t made the sandwich yet, but I do intend to soon!

 

Next were these little hot sauces. They are so cute – I love miniatures! I haven’t cracked open any of them yet though – I think the Hot Sauce from Hell will be first.

 

This was Matt’s choice from the box to steal from me (it seems with every FPP box, he has to grab something and claim it for his own.) This jerky is made different from the traditional beef jerky. First you cook the meat and then you dehydrate it.

 

Next (and the heaviest thing in the box) was the Nopalitos, or tender cactus. I haven’t tried this yet either. Ideas on how to use it?

 

These cans of hominy and green chile peppers provided the base for a delicious dinner, which Haley provided me the recipe. She had sent me an email and asked if I used my slow cooker; do I ever! I made the crcokpot pozole before class one day and it provided a great  meal for several days. The first day I just had a bowl of it. The next two days I used it over french fries, sort of similar to chili cheese fries, but pozole cheese fries instead. I’d had hominy before, but I’ve never actually used it myself. It was a super easy recipe with a lot of flavor!

 

Crockpot Pozole

Ingredients
1 tbsp canola oil
2 lb boneless pork loin, cubed
2 14.5 oz cans red enchilada sauce
1 30 oz can hominy
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 can diced green chilies, drained
2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups water

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. Add meat and cook, browning the sides.

2. Place the meat in a crock pot. Cover with enchilada sauce. Top with hominy, onions, chilies, garlic, cayenne, and oregano. Add the water.

3. Cook on high for 6-7 hours. Add salt and cilantro and cook on low for 30 more minutes.

(serve with lime wedges, shredded cheese,s our cream, green onions, and flour tortillas)

* serves about 8
* sharing this recipe with Tempt My Tummy

Parmesan Baked Pork Chops over Roasted Cabbage

 

The idea of slicing cabbage into chunks, smearing olive oil on top of it, and sticking it in the oven seemed rather foreign to me. There just seemed something wrong about it, something that should never be done or something. But I pushed my judgments aside because Martha Stewart usually knows what she’s talking about when it comes to food. If it’s okay with Martha, it’s worth trying.

Even though these two recipes had different cooking times and temperatures, I stuck the cabbage in the oven at the same time I was doing the pork chops. Parts of it came out a little charred, but it was easier than putting the cabbage in for 40 minutes at 400 and then putting the pork in for 30 more minutes at 425.

Most of dinner’s cook time last night involved watching Project Runway, because I had to wait for it to cook.

It was a delicious meal and I’ll definitely do cabbage this way again.

Parmesan Baked Pork Chops
(source)

Ingredients
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp pepper
1 egg, beaten
2 tsp Worcestershire
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
2 pork chops, boneless

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. In a shallow dish combine the flour, salt, paprika, and pepper. In another shallow dish combine the egg and Worcestershire sauce. In a final shallow dish combine the bread crumbs and Parmesan.

2. Coat each pork chop with the flour. Then dip in the egg. Finally coat with the bread crumbs. Place in a baking dish. Bake for 35 minutes. Serve on top of cabbage (recipe follows.)

* serves 2

 

Roasted Cabbage
(source)

Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
1 head of cabbage, cut into 1-inch thick rounds
salt and pepper, to taste
ground thyme, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. Brush a rimmed baking sheet with 1 tbsp olive oil. Place the cabbage rounds on the baking sheet.

2. Brush the cabbage with the remaining olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme. Bake for 35 minutes.

* serves 6

* This recipe is shared with Weekend Cooking

Yakisoba

 

This month Chris asked us bloggers to join him on a trip to Japan. I sometimes wish Chris’s travels with us were real. My brother’s been to Japan three times. I’m sure if he ate my dinner he would have turned his nose up and claimed it not to be Japanese enough. I’m not claiming it’s super authentic either. I had to make several substitutions that probably minimized it’s Japanese value because I couldn’t justify buying sake (rice wine) or mirin (a sweeter rice wine) for cooking this dish. I had some sake and had to toss it because it was way too old. I just can’t justify buying ingredients I don’t use frequently. So I used white wine instead.

I probably should have just taken a picture of the Japanese curry and the tonksatsu that we had for lunch at the Japanese restaurant.

Yakisoba
(the more authentic recipe)

Ingredients
6 oz dried chow mein noodles
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 oz pork chop, cut into small chunks
2 oz cabbage, shredded
2 oz carrot, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp white wine
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp sesame oil

Directions

1. Cook the noodles per package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat a large skillet or wok and add the oil. Add the garlic and stir, cooking until brown. Add the pork and stir a few times.  Next add the cabbage, carrots, and onions. Stir a few more times. Add the noodles and the remaining ingredients. Stir fry until the vegetables are cooked and the noodles are warmed through.

* serves 2
* Besides Bloggers Around The World, I’m sharing this dish with Foodie Friends Friday, Foodie Friday, Weekend Potluck, & Foodie Friday

Sausage and Roasted Pepper Pasta

 

I have quite a collection of Cooking Light magazines from years ago. During my meal planning this week the Cooking Light from March 2009 made its way into my hands and after some looking I found this recipe which reminds me a lot of a dinner my old roommate Stephanie and I used to make. The Cooking Light version was better than what we used to do, because we used to saute the bell peppers instead of roasting them. I like the roasted pepper so much more.

But this dish did bring me back and make me feel nostalgic for the days before law school, the days of minimum wage jobs, time to hang out with friends, and to really do whatever I wanted. While I’m glad to be where I am now, it’s hard not to miss those days.

I served this pasta with garlic roasted asparagus. It was a nice dinner and a nice blast to the past.

Sausage and Roasted Pepper Sausage

Ingredients
2 green bell peppers
4 oz rotini noodles (or other noodle of choice)
2 sweet Italian sausages
1 tbsp tomato paste
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
a pinch of salt
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat the broiler.

2. Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise. Clean out the seeds and the membrane. Place each half on a broiler dish, skin side up. Flatten them with your hand. Broil for 10 minutes. Place the bell pepper in a ziplock bag for 15 minutes, sealed  Once the 15 minutes have passed, peel the skin off the peppers. Chop the peppers and set aside.

3. While the peppers are broiling, cook the noodles per the package directions.

4. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the sausage from its casing. Add to the pan and cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Add the bell peppers to the pan. Move the sausage mixture to the sides of the pan. Add the tomato paste to the middle of the pan and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir the tomato paste into the sausage. Stir in the pasta and 1/2 cup of water and cook for 3 minutes. Season with pepper, salt, and cheese.

* serves 2
* shared with Wednesday Whatsits, Cast Party Wednesday, & Catch A Glimpse Party

Shepherd’s Pie

 

I love mashed potatoes and I love meat. Shepherd’s Pie is the best mix of both of them. And it even makes a way to get the veggies in. After I made this dish I read about someone using cauliflower mash in place of the potatoes. I’d love to make it like that in the future. Or with sweet potato mash. Or what other kind of mashes could I use in place of the potatoes?

Make your best suggestions!

Shepherd’s Pie
(source)

Ingredients
8 oz ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
1 lb white potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
splash of milk
4 tbsp Brummel&Brown
1/4 cup beef broth
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the potatoes and boil for 20 minutes. Once they’re done, drain and mash together with some salt, milk, and 2 tbsp Brummel&Brown.

2. In a skillet melt the remaining Brummel&Brown. Saute the onions and frozen vegetables for 10 minutes.

3. Add the meat and cook until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Add the beef broth  and cook for 10 minutes.

4. Place the beef in the bottom of a casserole dish. Spread the mashed potatoes over the top.

5. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes.

* serves 2
* shared with Foodie Friends Friday, Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Freedom Fridays, & Foodie Friday

Roasted Italian Sausage with Potatoes and Mushrooms

 

This month at Alphabakes, the letter of the month is I. Caroline and Ros host Alphabakes every month – taking turns of who features it on her blog.

I racked my brain this month for something I could make with an I. I got stuck on Italian sausages, so I decided to take the savory route this month. This dish was super easy to make and had a lot of flavor. It took a while in the oven, but most of that time didn’t include actual labor. I love it when I can let the dish do its own thing while I do mine.

Roasted Italian Sausage with Potatoes and Mushrooms
(inspiration)

Ingredients
1 garlic clove
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/4 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbsp olive oil
4 medium potatoes, quartered
1 lb sweet Italian sausage, pushed out of the casing
2 onions, cut into chunks
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
4 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400.

2. Combine herbs, olive oil, salt, and pepper to the potatoes. Toss to mix.

3. Place the sausage and potatoes in a roasting dish. Roast for 30 minutes.

4. Add the onions and mushrooms. Roast for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.

5. Sprinkle with mozzarella and leave in the oven for 5 more minutes.

* serves 6
* Besides Alphabakes, this recipe is being shared with Mix It Up Monday & Mealtime Monday