Beef Kebabs
How is it that two people can remember things so differently? If you ask my mother she'll say she's only made beef kebabs a couple times in her life. If you ask me, one of my favorite childhood memories is my mother's kebabs, cooked over the little cast iron hibachi grill my parents had on the back porch. My most vivid memory of them was the time I was recovering from pneumonia, hadn't eaten anything for 3 weeks, and was allowed for the first time to sip some broth. And sip I did while the rest of the family ate beautiful, smoky, meaty, hearty, beefy kebabs. It. Was. So. Unfair. I can still smell them now. There was nothing I wanted more in the world at that moment than those kebabs. Sigh.
Funny, the
emotional ties we can have with food, isn't it?
I love,
really truly love beef kebabs. Why? They're fun, they're on a stick. You can
make your own, just they way you want them (lots of mushrooms please). If
you've marinated the meat properly (several hours or preferably overnight),
they're the most juicy wonderful morsels you could possibly eat.
A few tips
that will help ensure your kebabs turn out well. Marinate the meat, the longer
the better. Use double skewers to make them easier to turn. Use bamboo or
wooden skewers so that the inside of the steak pieces stay nice and pink. Keep
a little space between the items (more space than shown in the photo above, I
sort of forgot that part when I did the batch pictured), so that the food
grills versus steams. And most important, keep an eye on them! Do a finger test for doneness, or if the grill is too
hot, tap the meat with the end of your tongs to see how much its giving. The
meat and veggies will continue to cook a little once you've taken them off the
grill and they are resting, so keep that in mind.
Beef
Kebabs Recipe
- Prep time: 45 minutes
- Cook time: 15 minutes
Using bamboo or wooden skewers instead of
metal will help keep the steak from getting overcooked on the inside. Metal
transfers heat, so is useful to use for chicken, or a meat that you want to
cook all the way through, but not so useful for steak that you want done rare
or medium rare.
Ingredients
Marinade Ingredients:
·
1/3 cup olive
oil
·
1/3 cup
soy sauce
·
3 Tbsp red
wine vinegar
·
1/4 cup
honey
·
2 cloves
garlic, minced
·
1 Tbsp
minced fresh ginger
·
Freshly
ground black pepper to taste
Kebab Ingredients:
- 1
1/2 lbs top sirloin steak, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
- 1
large bell pepper
- 1-2
medium red onions
- 1/2
to a pound button mushrooms
- About
20 bamboo or wooden skewers
Method
1 Mix the marinade ingredients together in a
bowl and add the meat. Cover and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes,
preferably several hours or even overnight. (Heck, I've kept the meat
marinating for a couple days, still great.)
2 Soak the skewers in water for at least 30
minutes before grilling. This will help prevent them from completely burning up
on the grill.
3 Cut the vegetables into chunks roughly the
width of the beef pieces. Taking care not to poke yourself, thread the meat and
vegetables onto double bamboo skewers. One way to do this safely is to put the
piece that you are trying to pierce on a cutting board, and then push the
skewers through the piece to the board. Using double skewers will help you turn
the kebabs on the grill. If you keep a little space between the pieces, they
will grill more evenly. Paint the kebabs with some of the remaining marinade.
3 Prepare your grill for high, direct heat.
Grill for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on how hot your grill is, and how done you
would like your meat, turning occasionally. Let rest for 5 minutes before
serving.
Beef Stroganoff
According to the Wikipedia, Beef Stroganoff was invented by a chef working for a Russian general, Count Pavel Stroganov, in the 1890s. It became popular in the U.S. in the 1950s from servicemen returning from Europe and China after WWII. Beef Stroganoff is basically tender strips of beef and mushrooms cooked in a sour cream sauce and served over noodles, rice, or even French fries. You will want to make this with a tender cut of beef, such as tenderloin or top sirloin. For a quick version you can use ground beef instead of beef strips. You can also easily substitute yogurt for sour cream and leave out the mushrooms entirely.
Beef
Stroganoff Recipe
- Prep time: 10 minutes
- Cook time: 20 minutes
It helps to cut thin strips of the beef by
putting the meat into the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes first.
Ingredients
·
6 Tbsp
butter
·
1 pound of
top sirloin or tenderloin, cut thin into 1-inch wide by 2 1/2-inch long strips
·
1/3 cup
chopped shallots (can substitute onions)
·
1/2 pound
cremini mushrooms, sliced
·
Salt to
taste
·
Pepper to
taste
·
1/8
teaspoon nutmeg
·
1/2
teaspoon of dry tarragon or 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh tarragon
·
1 cup of
sour cream at room temperature
Method
1 Melt 3 Tbsp of butter in a large skillet on
medium heat. Increase the heat to high/med-high and add the strips of beef. You
want to cook the beef quickly, browning on each side, so the temp needs to be
high enough to brown the beef, but not so high as to burn the butter. You may
need to work in batches. While cooking the beef, sprinkle with some salt and
pepper. When both sides are browned, remove the beef to a bowl and set aside.
2 In the same pan, reduce the heat to medium
and add the shallots. Cook the shallots for a minute or two, allowing them to
soak up any meat drippings. Remove the shallots to the same bowl as the meat
and set aside.
3 In the same pan, melt another 3 Tbsp of
butter. Increase heat to medium high and add the mushrooms. Cook, stirring
occasionally for about 4 minutes. While cooking, sprinkle the nutmeg and the
tarragon on the mushrooms.
4 Reduce the heat to low and add the sour
cream to the mushrooms. You may want to add a tablespoon or two of water to
thin the sauce (or not). Mix in the sour cream thoroughly. Do not let it come
to a simmer or boil or the sour cream will curdle. Stir in the beef and
shallots. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve immediately over egg noodles,
fettucine, potatoes, or rice. (Potatoes, rice, and gluten-free pasta are
gluten-free options.)
Beef Wellington
A few
months ago my father got an inkling to make Beef Wellington, beef tenderloin
smothered with mushroom duxelles, wrapped in puff pastry and baked. Who knows
where he got the idea, maybe just curiosity. Beef Wellington is one of those
dishes that was a lot more popular 40 years ago than it is now. But once my dad
decides he wants to make something, come hell or high water, it will be made.
It also helps that Chef Gordon Ramsey has a video
online on how to make his version of Beef Wellington, using Parma ham wrapped
around the fillet instead of the more traditional pâté de foie gras. So, we
recently set out to make it, dad channelling Chef Ramsey, albeit without the
yelling and swearing (though I'm guessing that if dad thought he could get away
with acting like Chef Ramsey around the rest of us, he would). It's actually a
lot easier to make than it looks, assuming you are using ready-made puff
pastry, and the result is fantastic. A great idea for a father's day dinner for
the beef-loving dads out there.
Beef
Wellington Recipe
Ingredients
·
1 lb beef
tenderloin fillet
·
Salt and
pepper
·
Canola,
grapeseed, or olive oil
·
1 lb
mushrooms (we used half cremini, half shiitake)
·
4 thin
slices ham (Parma ham if you can get it) or prosciutto
·
2 Tbsp
yellow mustard (we used Coleman's Original English Mustard)
·
7 ounces
puff pastry (needs 3 hours to defrost in refrigerator if using frozen)
·
2 egg
yolks, beaten
Method
1 Preheat oven to 400°F.
2 Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a large
pan on high heat. Season the fillet generously with salt and pepper. Sear the
fillet in the pan on all sides until well browned (hint: do not move the fillet
until it has had a chance to brown). Remove the fillet from the pan and let
cool. Once cooled, brush the fillet on all sides with mustard.
3 Chop the mushrooms and put them into a food
processor and purée. Heat a large sauté pan on medium high heat. Scrape the
mushroom purée into the pan and let cook down, allowing the mushrooms to
release their moisture. When the moisture released by the mushrooms has boiled
away, set aside the mushrooms to cool.
4 Roll out a large piece of plastic wrap. Lay
out the slices of ham on the plastic wrap so that they overlap. Spread the
mushroom mixture over the ham. Place the beef fillet in the middle, roll the
mushroom and ham over the fillet, using the plastic wrap so that you do this
tightly. Wrap up the beef fillet into a tight barrel shape, twisting the ends
of the plastic wrap to secure. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
5 On a lightly floured surface, roll out the
puff pastry sheet to a size that will wrap around the beef fillet. Unwrap the
fillet from the plastic wrap and place in the middle of the pastry dough. Brush
the edges of the pastry with the beaten eggs. Fold the pastry around the
fillet, cutting off any excess at the ends (pastry that is more than 2 layers
thick will not cook all the way, try to limit the overlap). Place on a small
plate, seam side down, and brush beaten egg yolks all over the top. Chill for
5-10 minutes.
6 Place the pastry-wrapped fillet on a baking
pan. Brush the exposed surface again with beaten eggs. Score the top of the
pastry with a sharp knife, not going all the way through the pastry. Sprinkle
the top with coarse salt. Bake for 25-35 minutes. The pastry should be nicely
golden when done. (To ensure that your roast is medium rare, test with an
instant read meat thermometer. Pull out at 125-130°F for medium rare.) Remove
from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Slice in 1-inch thick
slices.
Swiss Steak
Swiss
steak is a method of slow-cooking a relatively tough cut of beef, such as a
round steak. The meat is browned, and then braised in a tomato sauce. According
to The American Century Cookbook, recipes first
starting showing up for Swiss steak in the 1930s. Reynolds Wrap Aluminum
popularized it in the late 40s by promoting the recipe as a use for its foil.
You can cook this steak on a stove-top (which is the method we describe here),
or wrap it in foil and place on a cookie sheet and cook it in the oven. The
"Swiss" in Swiss Steak has nothing to do with Switzerland, but refers
to the process of tenderizing a tough cut of meat. The following is my mother's
method for making Swiss Steak.
Swiss
Steak Recipe
Ingredients
·
One 2 to
2.5 pound round or top round steak, about an inch thick
·
A couple
tablespoons of flour
·
Salt and
pepper
·
3 Tbsp
grapeseed oil, or other high smoke point oil for browning (canola)
·
1 onion,
roughly chopped
·
1 clove
garlic, chopped
·
2 cups
puréed tomatoes (canned or fresh)
·
2
teaspoons each of fresh thyme, sage, marjoram, or 1/2 teaspoon each of dried
Optional: Vegetables such as potatoes,
carrots, or green beans
Method
1 Rub flour into both sides of the steak.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat a wide, shallow (3 inches), covered pan to
medium high heat. Add 2 Tbsp of oil to coat the pan. Place the steak in the
pan, and cook for approximately 10 minutes on each side, enough to brown the
steak.
2 Remove the steak from the pan and set aside.
Add onions and garlic to the pan and another tablespoon of oil. Cook the onions
and garlic for 3-5 minutes, using a metal spatula to scrape up any steak
drippings, mixing them in with the onions. Add half of the herbs to the onions.
Return the steak to the pan, placing it on top of the onions. Crowd the onions
around and on top of the steak. Sprinkle the rest of the herbs on top of the
steak. Add the 2 cups of puréed tomatoes to the pan.
3 Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid. Use
a high lid if available. A high lid will help circulate the steam and moisture
from the cooking juices and keep the steak moist. Bring the steak in the tomato
purée to a simmer and then lower the heat to the lowest heat possible to
maintain a low simmer (we use the warm setting on our electric range).
4 Cook for 1 1/2 hours. While the steak is
cooking, you may want to slightly pre-cook vegetables that you want to serve
with the steak. For example, for this dish we steamed 4 small, peeled,
quartered russet potatoes and 2 carrots, quartered lengthwise and cut into 2
inch segments, for 5-10 minutes. (You could use other vegetables, such as green
beans, or no vegetables at all.) After 1 1/2 hours of cooking time for the
steak, we uncovered the pan, turned the steak over, added the potatoes and
carrots, covered the pan and cooked the steak and vegetables for another 30 minutes.
The reason that you might want to pre-cook
the vegetables a bit first is that the steak is cooking at a very low heat.
You'll have more control over how cooked the vegetables are if you pre-cook
them a bit first.
5 The steak should be done after a total
cooking time of 2 hours. To check it, you can poke it with a fork. The meat
should be quite tender. To serve, remove the steak and slice it on a carving
board. Alternatively, you could have started with individual steaks that were
smaller. Spoon the sauce over the steak.
Asparagus Artichoke Salad
Although
for the most part we can get asparagus all year long, I usually only get them
in the spring, when they are in season. How can you resist, when you see
hundreds of them in the produce section, saluting you like bundled, upright
green soldiers? "Hello m'am. Please cook me." So, we buy asparagus,
and more asparagus. Here is a recipe for what to do with our long green
friends, when you're tired of everything else. (Thank you Whole Foods deli
section for the idea.) Grill them or roast them (grilling will taste better if you
can do it), and toss them in a simple salad with marinated artichoke hearts,
shallots, and grape tomatoes. Carry on...
Asparagus
Artichoke Salad Recipe
·
Prep time: 10 minutes
·
Cook time: 12 minutes
Thick asparagus spears are easier than thin
to roast or grill without becoming too dry or over-cooked.
Ingredients
·
1 large
shallot, sliced thin (can sub a few thin slices of red onion or some sliced
spring onion)
·
2-3 Tbsp
lemon juice
·
2 pounds
thick asparagus, rinsed, tough ends broken off and discarded (or saved for
stock)
·
2 Tbsp
olive oil, divided
·
Salt
·
1 teaspoon
garlic powder
·
1 pint
grape or cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
·
1 15-ounce
jar of good quality marinated artichoke hearts, quartered or cut in half
(depending on the size of the artichokes)
Method
1 Soak the sliced shallots in the lemon juice
as you get ready to make the rest of the salad.
2a To roast the asparagus, preheat the oven to
400°F. Coat the asparagus spears with 1 Tbsp of olive oil, and salt them well.
Lay in a single layer in a foil-lined roasting pan, and cook for 8-10 minutes
until lightly browned and fork tender.
2b To grill the asparagus, prepare your charcoal
or gas grill for high direct heat. Coat the asparagus with 1 Tbsp of olive oil
and sprinkle with salt. Grill them until nicely charred and fork tender,
between 5 to 10 minutes.
Remove the asparagus from the oven or grill
and cut into bite-sized pieces.
3 Put the asparagus and all the remaining
ingredients into a large bowl and mix to combine. Add as much of the marinating
liquid from the jarred artichokes as you like. Serve chilled or at room
temperature.
Spring Minestrone Soup
Minestrone
is one of my favorite soups, and it is infinitely malleable with the seasons.
This version celebrates springtime, when fresh, new vegetables begin to show up
at the market. I know to make this soup whenever I can get asparagus,
artichokes and peas all at the same time. These vegetables form the backbone to
the soup.
Another
good thing about this minestrone is that it takes only about an hour to make,
from start to finish, including prep time. Classic minestrone takes at least a couple hours
to make, and my own recipe for minestrone takes 8 hours.
There's something to be said for a quick version.
Keep in
mind that the ingredients below are a guide. Minestrone is supposed to be
free-form, with whatever looks good at the produce market. Don't like artichoke
hearts? Skip them. Despise chickpeas? Use some other bean. Just be sure to use
lots of different kinds of vegetables and you'll be fine.
The other
key to this recipe is to build the soup like a house. Don't toss everything in
all at once, or some vegetables will be overcooked and some undercooked. This
is why when you read my recipe below you will see that I add ingredients little
by little.
Feel free
to use canned or frozen vegetables in some cases. I use canned chickpeas and
will often use frozen peas, which are almost as good as fresh. For a special
occasion, use all fresh ingredients, though, as you can definitely taste the
difference.
Spring
Minestrone Soup Recipe
- Prep time: 20 minutes
- Cook time: 40 minutes
You can either make fresh pesto for this recipe, or you can just buy
some high-quality pesto in the market.
Ingredients
·
2 Tbsp
olive oil
·
6 green
onions
·
2 green
garlic stalks, or 2 large garlic cloves
·
1 pound
baby potatoes, or Yukon gold potatoes cut into 1-inch chunks
·
1 15-ounce
can of diced tomatoes
·
1 quart
vegetable or chicken stock
·
Salt
·
1/2 pound
artichoke hearts (fresh or frozen), chopped roughly
·
1 15-ounce
can of chickpeas
·
1 cup peas
(fresh or frozen)
·
1/2 pound
asparagus, cut into 1-inch chunks
·
2 cups
greens (dandelion, chard, spinach, kale, arugula, etc), sliced into thin
ribbons
·
Up to 1/4
cup pesto
·
Grated
parmesan or pecorino cheese for garnish
Method
1 Chop the green onions and green garlic and
separate the white and light green parts from the green tops. If you are using
regular garlic cloves, put them with the white parts of the green onions. Slice
the potatoes and artichoke hearts into chunks you would want to eat with a
spoon.
2 In a large pot set over medium-high heat,
warm the olive oil for 1 minute. Add the white parts of the green onions as
well as the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the potatoes, stir to combine
and cook 1 minute.
3 Add the diced tomatoes with their liquid and
the quart of vegetable or chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, add salt to taste,
then cover and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
4 Add the artichoke hearts and cook another 5
minutes, then add the chickpeas and green peas and cook another 5 minutes.
Remove the cover from the soup and add the asparagus. Cook 2 minutes. Add the
greens and the green parts from the green onions and green garlic, if using.
Stir well to combine and cook 1 minute.
5 Turn off the heat and stir in the pesto.
Serve topped with grated cheese.
Baked Shrimp
in Tomato Feta Sauce
A dish
doesn't have to be complicated, or take a lot of time, to be good. My father
found this recipe for baked shrimp in a tomato sauce with feta cheese in a
special publication by Fine Cooking (one of our favorite food
magazines) called Eat Smart. Now my dad will be the first to tell
you that he doesn't like shrimp. Most shrimp recipes I propose are usually met
with that reminder and a change of subject. But this one caught his eye for
some reason. We made it early one afternoon so we could get good light for a
photograph, and then had to taste it. We kept tasting it, and tasting it, and
then we had to call my mother over because we were well on our way to eating
the whole pan. The only thing I wish we had at the time was some crusty Italian
bread to dip in the sauce.
Baked
Shrimp in Tomato Feta Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
·
1 Tbsp
olive oil
·
1 medium
onion, chopped
·
2 cloves
garlic, minced
·
2
14.5-ounce cans of diced tomatoes
·
1/4 cup
minced fresh parsley
·
1 Tbsp
minced fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
·
1 to 1 1/4
pounds medium sized raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (can leave tails on), thaw
if frozen
·
Pinch of
salt, more to taste
·
Pinch
black pepper, more to taste
·
3 ounces
feta cheese (about 2/3 cup, crumbled)
Method
1 Preheat oven to 425°F. Heat oil in a large,
oven-proof skillet on medium high heat. Add the onions and cook until softened,
3-5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds more.
2 Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer,
reduce heat and let simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the juices thicken a bit.
3 Remove from heat. Stir in the herbs, shrimp,
feta cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Place pan in oven and bake,
uncovered, until shrimp are cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.
Serve immediately. Serve with crusty French
or Italian loaf bread, pasta, or rice.
Basic Tomato
Sauce
A good
tomato sauce is the foundation for so many wonderful dishes - pizza, pasta,
chicken, and fish. Here is a recipe for a basic tomato sauce that starts with a
soffritto
of onions, carrots, and celery cooked in a little olive oil, to which garlic,
tomatoes and seasonings are added. Simple and delicious. The sauce can be
dressed up with mushrooms, sausage, olives, wine, and all manner of vegetables.
For a tantalizing version of a tomato-based sauce check out Sean's sauce over
at Hedonia. What's your favorite tomato sauce
recipe?
Basic
Tomato Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 2
Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2
medium onion, finely chopped
- 1
small carrot or 1/2 large carrot, finely chopped
- 1
small stalk of celery, including the green tops, finely chopped
- 2
Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1
clove garlic, minced
- 1/2
teaspoon dried basil or 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 1
28 oz. can whole tomatoes, including the juice, or 1 3/4 pound of fresh
tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and
chopped
- 1
teaspoon tomato paste
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
1 Heat olive oil in a large wide skillet on
medium heat. Add the chopped onion, carrot, celery and parsley. Stir to coat.
Reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet and cook for 15 to 20 minutes,
stirring occasionally until the vegetables are softened and cooked through.
2 Remove cover and add the minced garlic.
Increase the heat to medium high. Cook for garlic for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes,
including the juice and shredding them with your fingers if you are using
canned whole tomatoes. Add the tomato paste and the basil. Season with salt and
pepper to taste. Bring to a low simmer, reduce the heat to low and cook,
uncovered until thickened, about 15 minutes. If you want you can push the sauce
through a food mill, or blend it with an immersion blender, to give it a smooth
consistency.
Makes 2 1/2 cups of sauce.
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