Swiss Steak

Recipes can take you back in time. I am always on the look out. My friend Ashlie says this is what she would request her mom to make still today, it is from her childhood. I made a few changes...ENJOY! Ingredients: Cube steak (5-6) 2 large cans of tomato sauce, can of tomato paste, 1 cup of beef stock, onion chopped, green pepper chopped, worstershire sauce 1tbsp, salt, pepper

Salt and pepper both sides of the cube steak, the dredge in flour.

Brown in a bit of olive oil and a pat of butter. Olive oil prevents the oil from burning.

When you have a hot pan and do not touch the meat, you get a beautiful crust full of flavor.

While browning add tomato paste, worstershire and tomato sauce to a bowl and mix. 1 tsp of salt and cracked pepper.

When all the cubed steak has been browned on both sides, add to a 9x13 pan, pre-heat oven to 350. Add green pepper and onion to pan and brown.

layer the onion and green pepper in the pan covering the cube steak, then pour tomato mixtuer over the entire thing.

Look good already. Now bake for 3-4 hours, could also be put in a crock pot at this point, refrigerated and then started the next day.

Side dish is fire roasted veggies, I used broccoli and cauliflower. Simply cut up, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 450 for 20-30 min, finish with parmasean and a squeeze of fresh lemon. This is by far the only way to cook fresh veggies. I have a little helper here too. I promise no feet touched the food ;-)

Remeber to season your food, at the table is too late!! Even Lydia knows this important step.

Spread those veggies out!

Next simple smashed potatoes, skin on. If you haven't discovered Yukon Gold potatoes...get them. Thin skinned, buttery in texture and so good. I cube them, add to salted water and boil then smash roughly with butter, salt, pepper and milk, this is a great accompanyment to the yummy gravy made by the cube steak!

Roasting veggies like this makes them sweet, the kids like them too. Sweet potaotes with cumin, parsnips, brussel sprouts....possiblities are endless.

Dig in and enjoy!

Beef Short Ribs

This is a hearty stick to your ribs meal!! We recently bought a portion of a whole cow and short ribs came in the assortment, so I had to figure out how to make them. I first made this last year and it is a hit! Ingredients:
Beef short ribs about 5 pounds, 2 cups red wine, 4 carrots, 3 stalks of celery, onion, 1 lg can of tomato paste, bay leaf, thyme and garlic. Salt and pepper of course!

Although this looks complicated, it is not...puree the onion, garlic, carrots and celery. My food processor is broke, so I added it to a blender.

These are short ribs look like this.

Salt and pepper the ribs and brown them in a large pan, do this in shifts.

Place the ribs in a large roaster, preheat oven to 375.

Take the veggie puree and brown in the pan that you had the ribs in, add a touch of olive oil and salt and pepper. Leave until all water is almost gone then turn, you will end up with a dry ball of mush that smells AMAZING as it is cooking.

This is what it looks like, next add tomato paste, the whole large can.

This will brown for about 4-5 minutes to combine flavors. Salt and pepper this layer as well. Each new layer should always be re-seasoned. I do not ever need to add salt to my finished dish, if it is seasoned along the way it will taste better in the end.

Add 2 1/2 cups of red wine, Merlot of Cabernet work well just not sweet red. Add 2 cups of water as well.

Reduce this mixture for a few minutes until thick (around 7 minutes).

Pour over the ribs add 1 tsp of thyme and 2 bay leaves, cover with foil and bake for 3 hours, pull foil off for the last 30 minutes, at this point I skim the layer of oil off.

The finished ribs look like this. They are delicious. Sever with the "gravy" that has formed in the pan, I always serve with potatoes, but you can do whatever you like, fries, grilled veggies, rice, macaroni and cheese...limitless possibilities. ENJOY!!

Italian Beef

This is by far the best Italian Beef I have ever had. It is just as simple as it can be and I frequently make it on a Saturday just to keep in the fridge for quick lunches to take to work. I like it on a sub roll with mustard and horseradish. It is also delicious toasted with provolone cheese. Simply open the roll, broil for a few minutes (watch carefully they burn quick) add the beef to one side and the cheese to the other, broil until brown and bubbly. Enjoy.

Ingredients: Roast, small to med 2-5 pounds. I prefer rump roast. One jar of pepperonconi peppers with juice, pkg of italian beef, 1 pkg of dried french onion soup, 1 bottle of beer.

Dump all ingredients in the crock pot on low, for the day and then shred. It can be cooked on high for 5 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

Finished. ENJOY!!

Spinach and Chicken roll ups with risotto

This is a great chicken recipe, that my husband absolutely loves. I hope you do too.
Ingredients (a list in the beginning, just for my friend Amy D.)

Chicken breast (4) parmesan 1 cup, 1 block of cream cheese, garlic, onion, 1 pkg of chopped spinach, salt and pepper, egg, milk, bread crumbs, aborio rice, chicken broth, white wine, bread crumbs, jar of favorite spaghetti sauce and veggie of choice.
Thaw spinach in microwave, about 1 min and add to strainer. Squeeze all the water out, there is a bunch! Also soften cream cheese and preheat oven to 375.
While preparing spinach and cream cheese, pound chicken breast between plastic wrap until it is thinner and able to be rolled. It will almost double the size.

Next put cream cheese, about 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper, chop 2 cloves of garlic and spinach in a bowl and mix.

Prepare an egg wash with 1 egg and milk, take remaining parmesan and add to bowl with a handful of bread crumbs.

Spread spinach mixture onto chicken and roll up, dip in egg wash and roll into bread crumbs, put into baking dish.

Bake for 1 hour at 375.

Heat up spaghetti sauce, in a separate pan bring chicken broth to a simmer. Add olive oil in a large skillet and saute' garlic and onions then add arborio rice, which is risotto (find it in the pasta aisle or sometimes rice or Italian specialty aisle). Stir for about 1 minute.

When it looks like this, add a splash of white wine (1/4 cup).

As you stir the wine will dissolve, for about 30 min stir almost constantly and add a ladle of broth until almost dry then continue to add one ladle at a time test at about 20-25 min and it should be like rice, it will have a creamy consistency.

Chicken when finished.

The finished plate....MMMmmmm good!