My sister and her family were over for dinner one night and she had the idea of making beef skewers. So she got all the things for this dish and asked me to find a marinade for said dish. I threw a few ideas at her until we came to one we liked. Unfortunately, I didn't have all the things needed so, I improvised!
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1/2 cup soy sauce
* 1/4 cup water
* 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
* 2 tablespoons dry mustard
* 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
* 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper
* 1/2 cup wine vinegar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons dried parsley
* 2 garlic cloves, crushed
* 1/3 cup lemon juice
* 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
* 3 lbs top round beef, cut into large cubes (or sirloin steaks, cubed)
* 1 green bell pepper (seeded and cut into large squares)
* 1 red bell pepper (seeded and cut into large squares)
* 1 yellow bell pepper (seeded and cut into large squares)
* Pearl onions, peeled
* Whole button mushrooms (cleaned and stems trimmed)
* Wooden skewers
Directions:
1) Soak wooden skewers in water first thing up until you are almost ready for grilling!
2) Mix all of the marinade ingredients and set aside.
3) Once meat and vegetables are cleaned, trimmed, and cut, add to the marinade. Let this sit for at least an hour, the longer it sits the more it will absorb the flavors from the marinade.
4) Assemble skewers according to your preference, I think its best to start and finish with a cube of meat. I think that it helps things from falling off the skewer.
5) Place on a hot grill and cook until the meat is medium rare to medium.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Spaghetti with Meat Balls
Who doesn't like spaghetti and meatballs? This is one dish that I know my kids will always eat and like any good mom, I take advantage of this by sneaking extra veggies into the sauce!
Meatball Ingredients:
3 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Secret Sauce Ingredients:
16 ounce jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
2 cups of fresh or frozen carrots
Directions:
1)Pre-heat oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil.
2)In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients for the meatballs. Mix until everything is just combined, trying not to over mix that will cause the meat to get tough.
3)Form 2 ounce balls and place on the baking sheets. The baking process takes about 20 minutes. Half way through baking turn the meat balls so that all sides brown equally.
4)When meatballs are finished add to your sauce and serve. These are also really good for meatball sub-sandwiches!
Sauce Directions:
1)Steam carrots until fork tender. Don't throw out the water in the pan just yet.
2)In a blender or food processor put all of the carrots and puree.
3)If the mixture is to thick add some of the water that was used to steam the carrots. That will help to get a really nice carrot puree.
4)Add carrot puree to your favorite spaghetti/marinara sauce! The carrots will make your sauce slightly sweeter but no one really notices at my house.
Meatball Ingredients:
3 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons of salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Secret Sauce Ingredients:
16 ounce jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
2 cups of fresh or frozen carrots
Directions:
1)Pre-heat oven to 350 and line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil.
2)In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients for the meatballs. Mix until everything is just combined, trying not to over mix that will cause the meat to get tough.
3)Form 2 ounce balls and place on the baking sheets. The baking process takes about 20 minutes. Half way through baking turn the meat balls so that all sides brown equally.
4)When meatballs are finished add to your sauce and serve. These are also really good for meatball sub-sandwiches!
Sauce Directions:
1)Steam carrots until fork tender. Don't throw out the water in the pan just yet.
2)In a blender or food processor put all of the carrots and puree.
3)If the mixture is to thick add some of the water that was used to steam the carrots. That will help to get a really nice carrot puree.
4)Add carrot puree to your favorite spaghetti/marinara sauce! The carrots will make your sauce slightly sweeter but no one really notices at my house.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
BBQ Pork Spare Ribs
One of my favorite things in the world to eat are barbequed ribs. I haven't been to successful in getting down a recipe that I really like though. I've made them in the oven, I've made them on the grill, I've boiled them and then finished them in the oven, but alas I still haven't found that "slap your momma" good recipe. One thing that I am coming to the realization of is that, the secret truly is in a killer dry rub and a killer sauce! The recipe that I used this time around came out pretty good but I think with a little more experimenting it could be great!
Ingredients:
1 slab spare ribs
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon of chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika (smoked if you got it)
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dried minced onion (this will be in the spice section of the grocery store)
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups of your favorite barbeque sauce for basting
Directions:
Preheat your grill and make sure that your charcoal is very low in the in the grill. Or if you are using a gas grill you will want a medium low heat.
1)Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and throw your slab on the pan. I read that taking the membrane off of the bone side of the ribs helps in getting a more tender piece of meat. I tried this and I think it does help, it does take a little bit of time but the end result is good.
2)Mix all of your dry ingredients together in a bowl and then pack it on to your slab. If you have time, let you meat sit with this rub on it for at least an hour in the refrigerator. If you have A Lot of time let it sit overnight or 48 hours in the refrigerator.
3)When the grill is ready place meat on the grill. Cook the meat for about 10-15 mins. then turn it and grill the other side for the same time. Continue this for the next 2-3 hours.
4)When your meat is nearly done grab a basting brush and your bbq sauce. Baste each side of the meat and watch it on the grill so it doesn't burn. Try to get at least 2 coats per side.
5)Once the meat is completely done, place it on a large baking sheet and let it rest for 10 mins. before cutting it. After it has rested cut and serve.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Stuffed Chicken Breast
This was and experiment that went well (unless my husband was just lying to spare my feelings)I made this for him at the last minute because he let me know, after I already started preparing dinner, that he is cutting out carbs from his diet. Since dinner was a pasta dish I had to figure out something else for him, and as the saying goes, "necessity is the mother of invention". Then came the lightening bolt, stuffed chicken breast! The chicken breasts I got from the store were huge, which are perfect for stuffing. We had cream cheese and a few other things that I was going to be using in the pasta so in my mind of course this would be awesome!
Ingredients:This is for a single serving...sorry guys you'll have to do the calculations for yourself if you wanna make more than one.
1 skinless boneless chicken breast
1/4 teaspoon garlic clove minced
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped shallot
1 tsp of dill
2 ounces of room temp cream cheese
4 sliced grape tomatoes
Directions:
1)Slice the chicken breast in half length wise but not all the way through, you want to be able to fold it back together like a sandwich. After you have done that you are going to lay the breast out flat, skin side up.
2)Put a piece of plastic wrap over it and get ready to pound it out. I flattened it out to about a 1/4 inch thick, and if you don't a have mallet to do this you can use a rolling pin, or a small piece of a 2x4(seriously). Once you have that done leave the plastic wrap over your chicken, so it doesn't dry out and set it aside.
3)The filling is very easy to do, in a small bowl put your cream cheese, minced garlic, chopped shallot, sliced tomatoes, and dill. Mix everything together with a spoon until well combined and there are no lumps of cream cheese.
4)If your chicken is still skin side up, gently turn it over so that you don't tear it and put the filling in and don't put a big clump in one spot. Spread it out a little. When you get all the filling in close up the chicken and get a skillet ready.
5)In a hot skillet I put about 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Put the chicken in the hot skillet skin side down cook for 7 minutes on a medium high heat, flip and cook the other side for 7 minutes. Remove from pan.
6)Now this is something you can do if A) you have some white wine and B) you like sauce. Leave the flame on under your pan and pour about a 1/4 cup of white wine into the pan. What you are doing is called deglazing and basically all that means is that you are getting all of the good little bits of flavor that are left in the pan. When you first pour the wine in stir it around to get all of the stuff that is stuck to the pan and then let the wine reduced by half. Once you have half of your liquid gone turn off the heat and pour the wine reduction over your chicken.
Ingredients:This is for a single serving...sorry guys you'll have to do the calculations for yourself if you wanna make more than one.
1 skinless boneless chicken breast
1/4 teaspoon garlic clove minced
1/4 teaspoon finely chopped shallot
1 tsp of dill
2 ounces of room temp cream cheese
4 sliced grape tomatoes
Directions:
1)Slice the chicken breast in half length wise but not all the way through, you want to be able to fold it back together like a sandwich. After you have done that you are going to lay the breast out flat, skin side up.
2)Put a piece of plastic wrap over it and get ready to pound it out. I flattened it out to about a 1/4 inch thick, and if you don't a have mallet to do this you can use a rolling pin, or a small piece of a 2x4(seriously). Once you have that done leave the plastic wrap over your chicken, so it doesn't dry out and set it aside.
3)The filling is very easy to do, in a small bowl put your cream cheese, minced garlic, chopped shallot, sliced tomatoes, and dill. Mix everything together with a spoon until well combined and there are no lumps of cream cheese.
4)If your chicken is still skin side up, gently turn it over so that you don't tear it and put the filling in and don't put a big clump in one spot. Spread it out a little. When you get all the filling in close up the chicken and get a skillet ready.
5)In a hot skillet I put about 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Put the chicken in the hot skillet skin side down cook for 7 minutes on a medium high heat, flip and cook the other side for 7 minutes. Remove from pan.
6)Now this is something you can do if A) you have some white wine and B) you like sauce. Leave the flame on under your pan and pour about a 1/4 cup of white wine into the pan. What you are doing is called deglazing and basically all that means is that you are getting all of the good little bits of flavor that are left in the pan. When you first pour the wine in stir it around to get all of the stuff that is stuck to the pan and then let the wine reduced by half. Once you have half of your liquid gone turn off the heat and pour the wine reduction over your chicken.
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