Beef & Mushroom Pasties

I am rather obsessed with British cooking shows right now... I even bought some lamb pasties at a local farmer's market and fell in love. So when my favorite guys on YouTube made pasties, I just had to give it a try... With my own twist.  They turned out amazing! The filling was delicious and the pastry was light and flaky with no "soggy bottoms." LOL

First you have to make your pastry:
1 1/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup ice cold water
Mix four and salt together and cut in shortening until it forms fine crumbs. Slowly stir in ice cold water just until it forms a ball. Flatten out slightly and wrap in plastic wrap and place in fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 365.

Next I used some of my leftover cold Buttery Beef & Mushroom Stew from the fridge. I mixed it with a handful of frozen peas & carrots mix and another handful of frozen hashbrown potatoes.

Roll out the dough on a well-floured surface until thin. Cut into large 5-6" circles. This recipe makes 4 circles.

Place dough on large baking sheet.  Place about 1/3 cup of filling in center of each circles. Wet the edges of the dough with water. Bring up both sides and crimp edges well. The pasties are standing up on the tray rather than laying down flat.

Brush with a beaten egg mixed with a touch of water.

Bake for about 45 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve with tomato jam, if desired.

Foil Packet Bibimbap

I had leftover cooked rice and hamburger and all the fixings for bibimbap. But I wanted something fast and something I could cook outside. It's just too hot in the kitchen to cook! So I wondered if you could put it all in a foil packet on the grill.

Yup... you can.

Place a scoop of cooked white rice in the center of a piece of foil. Place individual sized servings of cooked hamburger (with some fresh minced garlic on top) and your choice of matchstick-sliced veggies around the rice.

You can use so many different veggies, but some are more traditional:
carrots
cucumbers
spinach (you don't have to cut this up)
mushrooms
bean sprouts

Drizzle with sesame oil, vegetable oil and soy sauce to taste.

Seal up the foil packets and cook over medium coals until heated through, turning once while cooking. Cooking time depends on the heat of your grill and how full your packets are.

Open packets, top with an over easy cooked egg and some sesame seeds.

Squirt some gochujang (Korean hot sauce) on top, mix it all together and eat with chopsticks. Or a fork... ;)

Mexican Grilled Steaks

This makes a FANTASTIC steak! Tender, spicy and absolutely delicious!

Mix these ingredients in a small bowl:

1 Tablespoon salt, chili powder, garlic powder and oregano

1 teaspoon cumin and cracked black pepper

Rub into steaks and place in zipper bag.

Pour 1/3 cup vinegar into bag.

Lay flat in fridge and let marinade at least 4 hours before grilling.

Grill over hot coals.

Brush with a little bit of olive oil garlic mixture from grilled red peppers.

This is good just on a plate or as fajitas with a grilled onion.

Pressure Cooker Broccoli Beef

This recipe uses the 2 pot system to keep the rice and meat separate.

I way overcooked the broccoli and I am writing this recipe the way I think I should try next time...

Ingredients:
thinly cut steak slices
onion, sliced
fresh broccoli florets

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon beef bouillon
crushed red pepper, to taste

Whisk together for sauce



Turn pot on to the 15 minute chicken/meat setting and let heat up for about 5 minutes with the lid off. Add sesame oil and saute steak until brown.

Then add sauce and put the steamer tray in. Then I put equal parts of white rice and water in a small pot that fit on top of the steamer with the lid on.

Then I set it for 6 minutes on the rice/risotto setting.

Let it natural release for 10 minutes. Release any remaining steam.

Remove rice and add broccoli and onions to the meat.

Set for 2 minutes on vegetable setting. Quick release steam, stir and serve over rice...

Crock Pot Beef Burgundy

This is a super easy meal to cook in the crock pot when you are short of time or forgot to start it earlier in the day. It was super tasty and tender! And it’s French… ooo la la! ;)

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

2 pounds beef stew meat

2 Tbsp oil

1 onion, sliced

8 mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

3 cloves minced garlic

2-3 bay leaves

1 cup burgundy wine

1/2 cup beef broth

Dredge the stew meat in the flour, salt & pepper mixture. Heat oil in large skillet and brown meat on medium heat. Place beef in crock pot. Pour wine and broth over meat. Top with remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours or high for 3 hours. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Cranberry Merlot Meatballs

This is one of my new favorite crock pot meals! I can make it in a snap and it tastes rather fancy and elegant. If I use frozen meatballs, it only takes a minute to throw it all together and cooks on high in only about 3 hours. We love it served over mashed potatoes but is also a lovely appetizer!

Whisk together:

1 can jellied cranberry sauce

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup merlot (or any red wine or cranberry juice)

2 teaspoons stone ground mustard (or any other hot mustard)

Pour over 30-40 meatballs.

Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 5-6 hours, or until meatballs are hot.

Serve over mashed potatoes or as an appetizer.

Greek Pita Tacos

This is an interesting twist on your standard taco with a little bit of Greek thrown in for fun! Opa!

1 pound hamburger

1/2 cup red onion, chopped

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon each: oregano, dill weed, garlic powder, lemon pepper, ground mustard, salt, black pepper

1 can diced tomatoes

1 small can sliced olives

3 large handfuls of baby spinach

feta cheese

pitas

Brown 1 pound of ground beef in a large skillet. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is tender.

Add tomatoes and seasonings. Cook until liquid is absorbed. Add olives and spinach. Cook for about 2-3 minutes or until spinach is wilted.

Serve on pitas with crumbled feta cheese.

my 1/2 teaspoon was dirty and I was too lazy to clean it LOL

 

add spinach 1 handful at a time and cook down

 

I also served ours with sliced cucumbers and hummus on the side

these pitas from Costco are amazing!

Blackberry BBQ Sauce

Behind the fence in the backyard is completely overgrown with blackberries which means a freezer full of blackberry jam every summer! The best way to get rid of the extra is to make Blackberry BBQ Sauce.

1 cup ketchup

3 Tablespoons brown sugar

1/3 cup blackberry jam

1 teaspoon mustard

1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar

Mix it in a small bowl. Use as you would any other BBQ sauce.

I poured mine over a beef roast in the crock pot and cooked it on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours.

Shred the beef and serve on hamburger buns.

Buttery Beef and Mushroom Stew

I have made this a couple of times now and we LOVE it! It is best served over mashed potatoes. I know most stews have potatoes in them but I like them over or topped with mashed potatoes best of all!

This stew is tasty, quick and easy and cooks in the crock pot while you’re busy doing other things that you want and need to do. What could be better?

2 pounds beef stew meat

1 pound mushrooms, quartered

1 stick butter

2 Tablespoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon each of dill, garlic powder and dried onion flakes

1/2 teaspoon each of basil and ground black pepper

Combine everything in the crock pot and cook on high 4 hours or on low 6-8 hours or until beef is tender. Mix 2 Tablespoons cornstarch and 2 Tablespoons cold water until smooth. Stir into simmering stew until thick and well combined.

 

Serve over mashed potatoes.

Irish Baked Potato

I’m sure I’ve mentioned already that we LOVE corned beef and cabbage around here! I make it every St Patrick’s Day and serve it with potatoes on the side. Yesterday, I thought I’d throw it all together and see what happened. It made for a yummy, stick to your ribs supper that is the perfect way to use up any leftover corned beef! If you have any…

Just bake some nice big potatoes until they are tender.

Sauté some chopped cabbage in butter with some sliced onions. Season with salt and pepper. Throw in some shredded corned beef and heat through.

Mash up your potato, add plenty of butter and top with your cabbage, onion, corned beef mixture.

It is really good with a really cold dark Guinness stout!!!

April Fool’s Day Cake & Flowers

I have never really successfully pulled off a good April Fool’s Day prank. And I have to say that I sort of had a complex about it. But not anymore… Yesterday I finally did it!

Our church has a potluck every Sunday night at our Family Nite service and I decided they would be my next target.

My contributions: Cake and a flower arrangement. Or were they???

I brought them both to the church and set them right on the dessert table. I stuck a server next to the “cake” and a spoon in the flower arrangement. I got my dinner and sat where I had a good spot to watch them. For the longest time, no one touched either of them. People went for the already cut brownies and the easy-to-serve cherry cobbler. No one ever wants to be the first to cut into the cake… And no one wants to figure out why there’s a spoon in the flowers???

Just when I began to despair that I had failed yet again, one of the youth group members took a slice of cake. I thought the reaction would be immediate. But he just slapped the piece of cake onto his plate with the rest of his desserts and went and sat down. How could he have not noticed??? Had I failed AGAIN after all??? Another girl took a piece and nonchalantly walked back to her table. I felt defeated. Well, at least I was going to get to take home my really yummy Flower Pot Mud Pie and I’d just eat the whole thing to make myself feel better…

No such luck, my children could no longer hold it in and (knowing what was really in the pot) eventually helped themselves to the dessert. At about that same time, I overheard quite a bit of laughing from the youth group table. Maybe it had worked after all??? Then I heard the, “Hey! What is this?” At the same time, Katie walked over half smiling and simply says, “I’m mad at you.” I have to confess that knowing I had made Katie mad actually made me very happy! ;o)

It turned out Robert hadn’t noticed either that his piece of “cake” was made entirely out of meat. Half of his table could clearly see this but all he saw was pink “frosting”, hence the laughter. Oblivious to all this, he went to take his first bite and exclaims, “Wait, is this meat?” The table begins to roll with laughter. It worked beautifully! About 5 minutes later, Katie walks back over to me and says, “Now I know why you did that!” Now I had to laugh.

No one suspected that my cake was actually meatloaf, nor that my flower arrangement was a dessert in disguise. But both were very delicious and were a big hit all the way around!

So if you’re looking for a fun and delicious prank for next year, here is the recipe for my Meatloaf Cake. The recipe is a bit of a variation on Sweet Anna’s smoky mini meatloafs. I also have to confess that this is the very first meatloaf that my family has enjoyed and only the second one I have ever made since being a grown-up!

3 pounds lean hamburger (I had 3 1/4 pounds)

1 1/2 cups quick oats

1/2-1 cup diced onion

2 cups milk

3 teaspoons salt (I didn’t use that much)

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Mix all ingredients together. I use my Kitchen Aid mixer but you can also do it by hand.

Press into a greased 9x13 metal baking pan. (you don’t want them to see through it).

2 cups ketchup

1/4 cup brown sugar

6 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon Chipotle Tobasco sauce (or more or less to taste)

Whisk together and spread on top of meatloaf.

Bake at 350 for about 1 hour or until it temps at 160-165.

*Mine had quite a bit of liquid around it when it was done baking. You can drain it off if you like but I just moved mine into another clean 9x13 baking pan.

When the meatloaf is almost done, prepare one 13oz box of instant mashed potatoes according to package directions. After they are done, whip them extra smooth with an electric mixer.

If you want to, add a bit of food coloring before whipping to give the potatoes that pretty frosting look. I did most of my potatoes in pink but left some white for decorations.

“Frost” your “cake” generously, making sure to cover it completely. If desired, serve with a lovely flower arrangement for dessert… ;o)   See recipe HERE.

Irish Beef Stew

I have made this twice now and we really like it! The first time we ate it as stew, this time I made it into a shepherd’s pie. Both were that perfect comfort food for cold winter evenings!

2-3 pounds beef stew meat, chunks

1 small onion, chopped

3-4 large carrots, peeled & sliced

6-10 mushrooms, rough chopped

5-7 potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2-3 stalks celery, sliced

1 bottle Guinness stout beer

1 Tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup beef broth

1 teaspoon thyme

3 bay leaves

salt and pepper, to taste

2-3 cups cabbage, rough chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Brown stew meat in a bit of oil in a skillet.

Add meat and remaining ingredients, except for cabbage and parsley, to the crock pot. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or on low 8-10 hours, or until tender and bubbly.

Add cabbage last hour of cooking. Stir in parsley just before thickening.

Thicken with flour & water mixture and whisk in until smooth and stew is thick.

Here’s what you do if you want to make shepherd’s pie with it.

Leave out the potatoes when making the stew. Make them into mashed potatoes instead.

When the stew is done, spoon it into a glass baking dish and top with mashed potatoes. If you want, sprinkle the potatoes with shredded white cheddar cheese.

Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes, until potatoes are a bit golden and cheese is melted.

Fall in Love with Your Crock Pot

Fall is the ideal time to cook with your crock pot! This meal was just what I needed on a day full of canning and errands, not much time to cook.

First I made a batch of Slow Cooker Beef & Mushrooms from Sweet Anna’s.

Then came a big pot of mashed potatoes from our garden!

For those of us that like squash, I baked up two acorn squash with butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and a bit of hot chili powder. The sweet hot combination was fantastic!

The green beans were for those who wouldn’t eat the really delicious acorn squash.

Remember, some of the best comfort foods come from your slow cooker…