Sunday, January 18, 2009

Sloppy Joes from Scratch


Hi! We made sloppy joes from scratch last night.
The recipe is below. It was definitely better than the can stuff. We didn't get ground pork (just did it with ground beef) like it said because they didn't have it at the grocery. Also, I used more like 2 tbs of olive oil (instead of 1/4 canola).
And I accidentally forgot to get tomato sauce (I was really sleepy yesterday) but we had some diced tomatoes and it turned out fine.
Ingredients
FOR THE SLOPPY JOES:
1/4 cup canola oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and diced
1 red onion, diced
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup red wine
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
24 slider rolls or sweet Hawaiian rolls
Directions
Prepare the sloppy joes: In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, combine the canola oil, bell peppers, jalapeno and onion; cook for 5 minutes. Add the beef and pork; cook thoroughly, breaking up the meat as it browns. Add the garlic. Depending on the amount of residual grease, you may need to drain some of the fat from the pan. Deglaze with the red wine, then stir in the remaining sloppy joe ingredients (except the rolls) and season with 1 tablespoon each salt and freshly ground pepper. Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. If the sauce gets too thick as it simmers, add up to 1 cup water to adjust the consistency. Toast the rolls and set aside.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Chorizo Tacos with Lime Marinated Onions, Poblano Chiles and Yams

The picture of this one is below. It was delicious but quite spicy. I scratched my face after cooking and it was burning quite badly (does that happen to you too?). Also topping it with a little feta added a nice compliment.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Steak with Charred Onions, Zucchini, and Balsamic Vinegar


Hi! We made steak with onions and zucchini tonight. We were supposed to make it with filet mignon but we couldn't find any in our grocery so we just got a nice cut of beef. The zucchini and onions were delicious but we kind of over-cooked the steak because it was more thinly cut than filet mignon would have been. Also we used our mandolin slicer (Christmas present from Sarah- thanks!) to cut the onions and zucchini. The mandolin slicer helped us get the slices thinner than we would have been able to be hand.
So maybe I would make a recipe like this with the zucchini and onions as a side dish because they were great.
Chrisbear cooking

using the mandolin slicer



mandolin slicer (and a little bit of my bread machine)



Saturday, January 10, 2009

Pizza with Tomato, Basil, Artichoke Hearts, Feta, Mozzarella



Tonight we made pizza with tomato, basil, artichoke hearts, feta, and mozzarella. It was delicious and we just kind of threw on things we thought would be good. We have a good sense of flavor profiles now :)

The crust was Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free Pizza Crust. It was quite good as far gluten free products go. It required only water and olive oil.

We haven't really made pizza before because of the gluten problem- but this one turned out great!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Chicken Soup with Dill, Aspargus, and Baby Peas

We made this for lunch today (see recipe in an earlier post). It was simple, delicious, and nutritious. I'd recommend it.




















Friday, January 2, 2009

Braised Beef Shank with Coriander, Fennel and Star Anise

We made braised beef shank with coriander, fennel, and star anise. It was delicious!!! We couldn't find lamb shank at the butcher near us or Whole Foods so we went with beef shank instead. It had an interesting Asian flavor with a delicious port accent.

Here are the aromatics:




The meat after it was browned: