Showing posts sorted by date for query lamb. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query lamb. Sort by relevance Show all posts
I picked up a small package of stew beef at the grocery store the other day because I had in mind to make myself a pot of stew. We've had some really nasty weather recently and I was really craving comfort food.
There is nothing quite like a nice bowl of beef stew on a cold winter's day for bringing comfort into your life.
There no shortage of stew recipes here on the blog. It is a real family favorite. Stew with Dumplings is a real winner. This is a recipe sized for two.
This Oven Braised Stew is also really enjoyed from time to time. We are also no strangers to delicious Lamb Stew. Stew has been bringing comfort and sustenance to my home for many, many years.
Like I said, I had in mind to make a nice stew with the beef, but then I spied this recipe on TOH for Tender Beef and Noodles for Two. It looked really appealing.
I decided to go with it. I had everything in the house, including the egg noodles. I didn't want to dig out my slow cooker however, so I adapted the recipe to cook it in my cast iron Dutch oven on top of the stove. It was delicious!!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE TENDER BEEF AND NOODLES FOR TWO
Very simple ingredients. I am sure you probably have everything in your home to make this delicious entrée today! It looks like a long list of ingredients, but trust me when I tell you they are very simple things, and not a lot is needed of any one thing.
- 1/2 pound (8 ounces) lean boneless stewing beef, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 tsp canola oil
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 cup (240ml) water divided
- 1/3 cup (80g) tomato ketchup
- 1 TBS soft light brown sugar
- 1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/4 tsp dry mustard powder
- 1 cup (90g) uncooked egg noodles
- 1 1/2 TBS plain all purpose flour
Small amounts of a variety of ingredients combine deliciously to make a fabulously tasty gravy. It almost has a hint of BBQ, but at the same time is completely different than BBQ.
Its rich and sweet and tangy, all at the same time. Plus the dry mustard powder gives it a tiny bit of heat, which is most pleasant.
HOW TO MAKE TENDER BEEF AND NOODLES FOR TWO
Like I said, the original recipe was meant to be cooked in the slow cooker. That process would have taken five hours however, and I just didn't want to wait five hours!
And so I adapted the instructions, etc. in order to cook it in a pot on top of the stove. The main difference was the amount of liquid, and the flour used to thicken it at the end.
Cooking this in the slow cooker would produce much more liquid and so you would naturally need more flour at the end to thicken the gravy. I basically cut the amount of flour in half as I did not have as many juices and didn't need the same amount of flour to thicken what I have.
In fact, I thought the gravy was a bit too thick with what I used and so I thinned it out a bit with boiling water. Judge accordingly. You know how thick or thin you like your gravy.
Have ready a small flame proof Dutch oven. Prepare your meat and onions.
Heat the oil in the Dutch oven until hot. Add the beef and onions. Brown all over in the hot oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
Add half of the water, along with the ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, paprika and dry mustard. Give it a good stir, bring to the boil, then reduce to a slow simmer.
Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until the meat is falling apart and very tender. Check periodically to make sure it is not boiling dry. You can add a bit more water if it seems low.
Whisk the flour together with the remaining water until smooth. Whisk into the meat, stirring constantly until the gravy thickens. Simmer over low heat while you cook the noodles.
Taste and adjust seasoning as required.
Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain well.
Serve the noodles, buttered if desired, with half of the meat mixture spooned over top and a vegetable or salad on the side.
This was really good. I happened to have egg noodles on hand, but I think it would be good served with any kind of pasta.
Bow ties, fusilli, fettuccini, corkscrew pasta, even macaroni would be nice with this.
Of course, if you are not a fan of pasta or noodles, you could also serve this tender meat in gravy with mounds of buttery fluffy mashed potatoes, or even rice.
At the end of the day its all about what brings you personal joy. I like pasta myself and I especially love noodles, but this would be delicious no matter what carb you choose to serve it with! You just want something which is going to cradle that delicious meat and sauce.
I had some brussels sprouts which needed using up and so that is the vegetable I chose to serve on the side, but in truth any vegetable would go well. Enjoy!!
Beef and Noodles for Two
Yield: 2
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 2 HourTotal time: 2 H & 15 M
Tender pieces of beef in a delicious gravy spooned over egg noodles. This makes for a fabulously tasty supper for two with a vegetable or a salad on the side.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound (8 ounces) lean boneless stewing beef, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
- 1 tsp canola oil
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 cup (240ml) water divided
- 1/3 cup (80g) tomato ketchup
- 1 TBS soft light brown sugar
- 1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 1/4 tsp dry mustard powder
- 1 cup (90g) uncooked egg noodles
- 1 1/2 TBS plain all purpose flour
Instructions
- Have ready a small flame proof Dutch oven. Prepare your meat and onions.
- Heat the oil in the Dutch oven until hot. Add the beef and onions. Brown all over in the hot oil. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Add half of the water, along with the ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, paprika and dry mustard. Give it a good stir, bring to the boil, then reduce to a slow simmer.
- Cover and simmer over low heat for 1 1/2 to 2 hours until the meat is falling apart and very tender. Check periodically to make sure it is not boiling dry. You can add a bit more water if it seems low.
- Whisk the flour together with the remaining water until smooth. Whisk into the meat, stirring constantly until the gravy thickens. Simmer over low heat while you cook the noodles.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as required.
- Cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain well.
- Serve the noodles, buttered if desired, with half of the meat mixture spooned over top and a vegetable or salad on the side.
Notes:
Optionally this can be cooked in the slow cooker. Brown the meat and onions as above, then put together with the remaining ingredients in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until the meat is tender, about 5 hours. Increase the flour to 3 TBS and whisk together with the water. Whisk into the meat mixture in the slow cooker. Cover and cook for a further 30 minutes until thickened. Taste and adjust seasoning as required.
I wanted to share a really delicious recipe for using up leftovers with you today. Beef Pinwheels with Gravy. Its a really simple dish to make and a real family pleaser.
Let it be noted you can make this same recipe with any kind of leftover meat or poultry and gravy. I have even made it with cooked fish with a white sauce as a gravy.
My mother always told me I was the Queen of Leftovers. I guess I have always been able to turn what is leftover from a dinner, no matter the dinner, into another delicious meal.
Its just what I do. I have always hated waste and try to use up everything that I can. It really irks me if I have to throw any kind of food away! Especially when there are people in the world that go hungry every day on a regular basis.
This is a really simple way to make a little bit of protein go further. Although today I made the recipe specifically to feed just two or three people, I have also given quantities so that you can make the same dish for 4 to 6 people (depending on appetites.)
You can also use this recipe if you don't have any leftovers by browning ground beef, turkey, lamb, chicken or pork in the same quantities and utilizing the gravy recipe I shared yesterday.
If you are a vegetarian, you can substitute your favorite vegetarian meat substitute for the meat shown here. Soy mince, etc. all work fine and as I said if you are a pescatarian, you can use cooked fish.
Tuna and salmon are especially good. In that case I would also add a bit of minced bell pepper to the fish. Use a cream sauce, or basic béchamel in that case.
You can even use leftover cooked vegetables. That is how very versatile this recipe truly is.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE BEEF PINWHEELS WITH GRAVY
Its a great way to use up any leftovers you might have from your roast dinner. Cooked meat/poultry and gravy.
For the filling:
- finely chopped cooked meat
- grated onion
- salt & pepper
- parsley flakes
- gravy
- Worcestershire sauce
For the crust:
- all purpose plain flour
- baking powder
- salt
- butter
- milk
So you can see there is nothing extraordinary used here! This is the type of recipe that kept homemakers going, staying within budgets and feeding their families economically for years! Yes, simple old fashioned tastiness!
HOW TO MAKE BEEF PINWHEELS WITH GRAVY
These are so simple to make, even a child could create them. It is composed of a simple biscuit dough, spread with a meat filling, rolled up, sliced, baked and then served hot with gravy!
To make the biscuit dough, simply sift the dry ingredients into a bowl, then drop in the butter. Cut the butter in using a pastry blender or two round bladed knives until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.
Stir in the milk using a fork until you have a soft dough, then turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently a few times before patting out to a rectangle.
Don't pat it out too thinly or you risk tearing your dough when you go to roll it.
Making the filling is also very easy to do. Just mince your beef/protein into tiny pieces and then mix them together with the grated onion, a small quantity of gravy to bind, some seasoning and Worcestershire sauce.
You could add cheese if you wanted to, or even chopped olives, peppers, etc. Its all about what you and your family enjoy eating!
You want your filling to be moist but you don't want it to be soggy, so do use caution when adding anything liquid to the mix. You also don't want your meat shredded, so do chop as much as you can.
Spread the filling out on the patted out dough to cover it from end to end and edge to edge. You then need to roll it up as tightly as you can, just like you are making a jelly roll, pinching the edges closed.
You will need a sharp knife to cut the roll into slices crosswise. You can also use dental floss if you have it. It gives you a nice clean edge.
Once you have it all sliced you need to pop the slices, cut side down into a buttered baking dish. I apologize for using an old tinfoil plate.
When I was in the UK, I had tons of resources when it came to using dishes for baking and for presentation for that matter, and a lovely sunny window right next to my dining room table for taking photographs.
I don't have all of those resources here in Canada. I am slowly building things up again. I try hard not to think about what I had to leave behind.
There is nothing to be gained from that. Instead I am moving forward with gratitude for just what I do have and using what I do have.
Unfortunately that means that occasionally you will see me using a tin pie plate leftover from a frozen pie, or the same dishes over and over again. I know that those of you who have taken this difficult journey with me will forgive me of that.
I am grateful for each and every one of you and all the support and help you gave me. Its hard to believe that a year has passed since I had to make that very difficult decision and journey now.
I could have never predicted just how well I would be doing just a year on from that sad, sad time! I am blessed!
Anyways, back to the Pinwheels. I do hope you will be inspired to want to try them, whether you make the smaller version, or the larger version.
Whether you use beef, or chicken or pork, lamb or fish, or even vegetables.
I do so hope that you enjoy the end results as much as we always have. Its a tried and true family favorite and a great way to use things up and stretch the budget without anyone feeling hard done by or deprived!
Beef Pinwheels with Gravy
Yield: 2 - 3
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 30 Min
These tasty beef filled swirls are an excellent way to use some of the leftovers from your Sunday dinner. Don't have beef? Why not try it with chicken or turkey? Lamb and pork would also work well. They are quite simply delicious. See recipe notes to double quantities to feed more.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (250g) finely chopped cooked beef
- 1/4 cup (60g) leftover gravy
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 TBS finely grated onion
- black pepper to taste
- splash of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup (140g) all purpose plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 TBS cold butter
- 1/3 cup (80ml) milk
- Extra gravy, heated
- your favorite vegetables to serve on the side
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450*F/ 230*C/ gas mark 7. Have ready a small pie dish that is well buttered.
- To make the filling, mash all of the ingredients together in a small bowl. If you think it is a bit dry, you can add a bit more gravy or some mayonnaise. Its your choice. You want a moist filling, but not soggy.
- To make the crust sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Drop in the butter. Cut the butter into the flour using a pastry blended or two round bladed knifes until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.
- Stir in the milk, using a fork to make a soft dough. Tip out onto a floured board and knead gently a few times to bring it all together and then lightly pat out to a rectangle that is roughly 4 by six inches in size. (Don't make it too thin of the filling will break through)
- Spread the meat filling evenly over top of the dough. Roll the dough up tightly as for cinnamon rolls from the long edge. Cut the roll crosswise into 6 1-inch thick slices. Place the slices cut side down into the prepared pie tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes until risen and golden brown and the meat filling has heated through.
- Serve hot with extra gravy for spooning over top and your favorite vegetable on the side.
Notes:
To double up and feed six.
Quantities for the dough: 2 cups flour, 4 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 4 TBS butter, 3/4 cup milk
Quantities for the filling: 2 cups minced beef, 1/2 cup gravy, 2 TBS grated onion, Worcestershire sauce to taste, black pepper to taste.
This old fashioned potato side dish has been a favorite in my family for many, many years. My grandmother made it for her family and my mother made it for us. My own children also enjoyed it.
Of course like any of these dishes, each generation adds something into the mix. I strongly suspect in my grandmother's day it was just the corn, milk, potatoes, onions and seasoning.
Mom always added a bit of summer savory to the mix. I no longer do that myself, but I do like to add some cheese to the layers.
Basically it is just creamed corn, sliced potato, and sliced onion layered in a baking dish with some flour and cheese, as well as seasoning between the layers.
A bit of milk is poured over top and then the whole lot is baked in the oven until the potatoes are tender. I also like to add a layer of buttered cracker crumbs on top.
I am a person who likes a bit of crunch on things like this. You can't beat buttered cracker crumbs, although I have also been known to use bread crumbs as well when I didn't have any crackers.
I love that crunchy buttery topping and my family did as well. When this was on the menu, my children were very happy campers!
I loved it because I could make the dish as large or as small as I needed it to be, depending on how many mouths there were sitting around the table. Its very easy to amp up or amp down. A lot of these old recipes are!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CORN AND POTATO SCALLOP
Simple store cupboard ingredients. I love recipes like this. Simple ingredients put together in a most delicious way!
- potatoes
- onions
- grated cheese
- whole milk
- salt and black pepper
- creamed corn
- all purpose flour
- buttered cracker crumbs
Unlike regular scalloped potatoes, there is no need to make a cream sauce on top of the stove. This simple recipe leaves that step out.
Instead the creamed corn, milk, cheese and flour work together in this tasty dish to make a creamy sauce.
HOW TO PREPARE THE VEGETABLES FOR CORN AND POTATO SCALLOP
Generally speaking one large potato and a small onion will be all you need for every two to three people. I like to use a russet type of potato. I do peel both the potato and the onion.
Once you have your potato peeled, cut it in half lengthwise and then cut each half crosswise into thin slices, each resembling a half moon.
The onion is treated the same way. Peel, cut in half lengthwise and then cut in half crosswise into half moons.
HOW TO MAKE CORN AND POTATO SCALLOP
Once you have your vegetables all prepped it is as simple as just layering things up in your casserole dish. Its not difficult at all.
The size of the casserole dish you use will depend on how many people you are feeding and how many potatoes you are using. Today I was making a small-batch which would feed only two to three people.
I used a 2-cup (1-pint) round Pyrex casserole dish which has a lid. Butter the dish really well. (This makes clean up a lot easier.)
I start by spreading about 1/4 of the can of creamed corn in the bottom of the dish. Onto that I put a layer of potatoes. I tend to do this in concentric circles, beginning at the outer edge.
Next I add a layer of onion. I always separate the half moons of sliced onion into separate bits. I just scatter some of these over top, and then dollop on another 1/4 of the can of creamed corn.
I season with some salt and pepper and sprinkle on a bit of flour and some grated cheese. Not a lot of any one thing, but just enough so that you know it is there. If you don't want to use cheese, you can dot with butter.
The cheese/butter works with the flour and cream corn to make a sauce when it bakes. I just keep repeating the layers until everything is used up, ending with some cheese on top if I can. Over that I scatter the buttered cracker crumbs.
It works out to 4 layers of creamed corn and three of everything else, if that makes sense. Once you have everything layered in you add some milk.
How much milk you need depends on how much you have in the dish and the size of your dish. I use the tip of a knife to move things around a bit so that the milk can get right down to the bottom of the dish.
You do not want anymore than 1/3 of the casserole dish filled with milk, unless you want a mess at the end. (Milk doubles in volume when heated!) Cover tightly and bake until the potatoes are tender and everything is bubbling away.
You can remove the cover for the last five to ten minutes of baking so that the cracker crumbs get all nicely browned and crispy. That's it!
This is such a simple homey dish. It wouldn't win any beauty contests, but I can tell you it would probably come first place in a taste contest because it is extremely delicious.
I can't think of anything that wouldn't go with this. Yesterday I had it with some roast ham, but it is just as good with chicken, or pork, lamb, fish, etc. Its just plain good eating no matter what!
I really hope you will make it! I used the smaller can of cream corn yesterday. When I make it for a larger group I use a large can, maybe even more depending.
I don't personally think there is such a thing as too much cream corn, but then again, I have been known to eat it with a spoon, cold and fresh out of the tin. 😆 Yes, I am that person!
Corn and Potato Scallop
Yield: 2 - 3
Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 45 MinTotal time: 1 Hour
This old fashioned side dish is an old family favorite. You can multiply it very easily to serve more people if you wish. Its delicious, easy to make and goes with just about any protein you can think of!
Ingredients
- 1 large potato, peeled
- 1 small onion, peeled
- 1 can of creamed corn (you may not need it all)
- 2 TBS flour to sprinkle
- salt and black pepper
- grated cheddar cheese to sprinkle (about 4 TBS)
- a handful of buttered cracker crumbs
- milk as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/180*C/ gas mark 4. Butter a small (2 cup/1 pint) deep glass baking dish.
- Cut the potato in half lengthwise and then cut into thin half-moons cross-wise. Do the same with the onion.
- Place 1/4 of the creamed corn in the bottom of the casserole dish. Top with 1/4 of the potatoes and the onions. Season with salt and pepper, sprinkle with 1/2 TBS flour and 1 TBS of the cheese. Repeat 3 times until you have all layered in the dish.
- Pour the milk over top, using the tip of a knife to move things around a tiny bit in order to allow it to get down to the bottom. Do not fill more than 1/3 of the baking dish with milk. Scatter the buttered cracker crumbs on top and then cover tightly with a lid.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour until the potatoes are soft and everything is bubbling. Uncover and allow to brown for about 10 minutes.
- Remove and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Notes:
You may want to place the casserole dish on a baking tray just in case it bubbles over in the oven. Also, I sometimes start this in the microwave to help it cook quicker. About 6 minutes on high, and then pop into the oven as above. It should be done in 35 minutes or so.
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