beef | Rantings of an Amateur Chef

Innovation in the Kitchen

May 16, 2013

The Ranting Chef Baking, Beef, Cheese, Lunch, Pork beef, cooking, dinner, food, Gourmet, lunch, mushroom, pork, postaday, recipe, recipes, spices, tomato 4 Comments

Some inventions are related to great need while others are inspiration in the middle of the night. This one was brought about by a minor annoyance.

I host a chili cook-off every year and my wife came up with a great idea several years ago to turn our upright freezer into a drink cooler for the party. It is in the area of the party, holds enough cans and bottles to serve the 40 or so attendees and keeps them cold. We just need to occasionally turn it on low and then turn it off after things are ice cold, so the drinks don’t become…uh…ice.

As a result of using the freezer this way, we need to move all frozen items into the freezer that is part of our refrigerator. Leading up to the party I’ll strive to use up as much as I can that is frozen, but there is always quite a bit we have to cram into the freezer compartment. Once everything is moved we defrost the freezer, dry it out and load it up with beverages.

This year I did not do a very good job of using up frozen items and when it came time to move the items, the freezer compartment was completely full. During the following couple of days whenever I would need something from the freezer, it often meant moving 4-5 items to get to what I wanted. After the third or fourth time of moving a frozen pie crust, a bag of meatballs, a box of puff pastry and a little bag of tomato paste (every recipe only needs 1 tablespoon but the smallest can is 6oz, so I’ve started freezing the remainder), I decided to make something so I wouldn’t have to touch them any more.

Meatball pie! It did not retain the pie shape when put on the plate, but tasted really good.

I added carrots, onion, green pepper, spaghetti sauce and cheese.

Dice and saute the veggies.

Meanwhile heat up the meatballs with some sauce and the paste. I thought the paste would help thicken things and hold the “pie” together a bit better than the sauce alone.

Add it all together.

Put it into the pie crust.

Cover with cheese.

Lay the puff pastry over it and trim.

After baking.

It was very good. My eldest son wants me to make it again. But that means I’d have to touch those items again!

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Quick Lunch, Quick Post

April 24, 2013

The Ranting Chef Beef, Cheese, Low Carb, Lunch, Recipes, Snack beef, cheese, cooking, dinner, food, Gourmet, low carb, lunch, postaday, recipe, recipes, sandwich, Snack 5 Comments

This is another quick post for a quick lunch recipe. The dill slaw is very tasty and I was surprised at how delicious these wraps are. Make them!

Great flavors.

A surprising number of ingredients.

The slaw.

Making the wrap.

You know a wrap is good when you need two or three toothpicks to keep it together!

Roast Beef Wraps With Dill Slaw

Prep Time: 0 hours 15 minutes | Cook Time: 0 hours 0 minutes | Makes: 4 servings | Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

3 cups shredded coleslaw mix
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons horseradish, drained
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 pound sliced dill-flavored havarti cheese
1/2 pound deli-sliced roast beef
4 whole-wheat wraps
Vegetable or potato chips, for serving (optional)

Directions:

Make the slaw: Toss the coleslaw mix, dill, vinegar, sugar, mayonnaise, sour cream, horseradish, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste in a bowl.Layer the cheese, roast beef and slaw in the center of the wraps. Fold in the sides, then roll up tightly. Cut in half and serve with chips, if desired.Per serving: Calories 434; Total Fat 25 grams; Saturated 9 grams; Total Carbohydrate 26 grams; Fiber 1 grams; Protein 25 grams; Cholesterol 71 milligrams; Sodium 1,061 milligrams

Source: http://m.foodnetwork.com/recipes/recipe/546883

Diced! – Ajax – Turkey Chili with Bacon and Ginger Snaps

April 17, 2013

The Ranting Chef Beef, Chili, Low Carb, Pork, Recipes beef, Chili, cooking, dinner, food, Gourmet, low carb, pork, postaday, recipe, recipes, spices, tomato Leave a comment

Today we have an entrant for the second course of the Diced! competition. Contestants were instructed to create or find a recipe for a main dish containing the following ingredients: Ground Turkey, Gingersnap Cookies, Greek Yogurt and Fresh Jalapeños. They were instructed to make their dish and create a blog post about it, including pictures. You can help determine who advances to the next round. On Friday, after the last post, I will post a poll where you can vote for up to two of the contestants to move on. Vote for the post you like the best. You can vote because of the inventiveness, the yummyness, the use of ingredients, the quality of the writing and pictures or for any other reason. The poll will be active for one week only. Check back and vote. In the event of a tie, the Ranting Chef will choose who advances. More information about Diced! can be found here.

We started with five contestants and have three remaining (in alphabetical order): Ajax, Jenna and Maggie. Ellie had the fewest amount of votes after the first round and Mikaela had to drop out of the competition.

Today’s contestant, AJAX is a former F-16 pilot and blogger over at Like A Fighter Pilot. His posts, as demonstrated below, contain entries for mind, boy and spirit. Check out his blog and his Diced! entry below…

Round Two

Photo by stormyweather.dk

Mind – Competitors know about the pre-game jitters. The excitement of the moment, the adrenaline, the fear of the unknown, all contribute to the butterflies dancing in your stomach. There have been many studies on how stress can actually improve performance up to a certain point. Stress and anticipation heightens senses and can focus energy. It can also be crippling. I am in constant awe when I read about what the greatest generation did during WW II. I had the opportunity of meeting a B-17 turret gunner who flew 117 missions and made it back alive. Statistically this was next to impossible from 1942-43 when Sergeant Roth started flying; the time before the allies still had not established air superiority. Tour length was established at 25 missions, but many didn’t make it that far. The thing that is amazing is the bravery it took to go on mission number 2, 3, 4 and so on. The first mission was fueled by bravado and curiosity, after that it was pure guts when reality set in and their friends didn’t return. I asked Sergeant Roth what kept him going, he said it was his sense duty and commitment to his brothers. Imagine what we could all accomplish with that kind of dedication.

Photo by worldwartwozone.com

Cheers

AJAX a.k.a. “The Raging Scotsman”

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photo by crossfitpride.com

Body – Strength, Leg Day

Wingman

5 minutes of jump ropes

5 minutes of 12-24” box jumps

4 rounds of

25 Air Squats

25 Walking Lunges

25 Standing Calf Raises

25 Burpees

Flight Leads

5 minutes of jump ropes

5 minutes of 12-24” box jumps

3 Sets Each of

25x 25 lbs. kettle bell swings

10x 95 lbs. squats

10x 45 lbs. lunges

10x Good Mornings

10x 45 lbs. straight leg deadlifts

10x 45 lbs. calf raises with shrug

Instructors

300 double unders

5 minutes AMRAP 24” box jumps

3 Sets Each of

25x 50 lbs. kettle bell swings

10x 225 lbs. squats

10x 95 lbs. lunges

10x 45lb good mornings

10x 135 lbs. straight leg deadlifts

10x 225 lbs. calf raises with shrug

Weapons Instructor Course

500 double unders

5 minutes AMRAP 36” box jumps

3 Sets Each of

25x 50 lbs. kettle bell swings

10x 315 lbs. squats

10x 135 lbs. lunges

10x 45lb good mornings

10x 225 lbs. straight leg deadlifts

10x 225 lbs. calf raises with shrug

Finish with 1000m all out row

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Recipe of the Day

Turkey Chili with Bacon and Ginger Snaps

Rachel Ray’s chili heavily modified by AJAX

Photo by AJAX

Serves – 8

Prep time – 36 (HARRRUMP) minutes active, 50 minutes total

Nutrition – 500 calories, 44 grams protein, 27 grams fat, 18 grams carbs

Ingredients

1.5 pounds ground turkey

6 slices super thick bacon, ½ inch strips

1 pound top sirloin steak, DICED!

1 large sweet yellow onion DICED!

1 fresh jalapeno, DICED!

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 15 ounce can of tomato sauce

4 Tablespoons of Pete’s hot sauce

2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire

1 teaspoon Tobasco

½ cup of brown sugar

8 ground ginger snaps, about ¾ cup

½ cup of chili powder

2 teaspoons of salt

1 Tablespoon of ground black pepper

¾ cup of beef stock

½ cup of sour cream

1 cup of plain Greek yogurt

Directions

Gather all the ingredients. Cut the sirloin into quarter to half-inch cubes. Slice the bacon into half-inch strips. Dice the onion, jalapeno, and crush the garlic. Chop the ginger snaps in a food processor until fine crumbs. Combine in a medium bowl the tomato sauce, Worcestershire, hot sauce, Tobasco, brown sugar, and crumbled ginger snaps. Combine in a separate bowl the yogurt and sour cream.

Cook the bacon in a large pot until the fat is rendered and starting to crisp, about 6 minutes. Add the turkey and the sirloin and cook on high heat until browned, about 10 more minutes. Add to the turkey, sirloin, salt, pepper, and chili powder, cooking for 1 more minute. Add the onion, jalapeno and garlic cooking until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the tomato, Worcestershire, hot sauce, gingersnap mixture, bring to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. Add ½ cup of beef stock and simmer to desired consistency, about 10-15 minutes.

Serve with yogurt sour cream mixture and garnish with cilantro and saltine crackers.

MackNBee taste rating 3 out of 4

AJAX ease of prep rating 4 out of 4

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Spirit – Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Remember – check back after the last post to vote on who advances in the Diced! competition.

Fallen Out of the Rotation

April 10, 2013

The Ranting Chef Beef, Kosher, Lunch, Recipes, Turkey beef, cooking, dinner, food, frying, Gourmet, Kosher, lunch, postaday, recipe, recipes, turkey 5 Comments

It is always fun to flip through your old standby recipes (either electronically through an app like Paprika, or through cards in a box) and see what you haven’t made for a while. Often the thought of the recipe will bring back fond memories of long ago.

One recipe that I recently saw again was onion burgers. Oh the memories. As my dad travelled quite a bit and my mom worked outside the home, weeknight dinners were often either prepared ahead of time for the slow cooker or were quick to cook. There were probably 8-10 in the standard rotation and in many cases these were the recipes my brother and I learned to first cook.

Now that I think about it, I think I’ve only made onion burgers a handful of times in the last twenty years. It is such an easy weeknight dinner or weekend lunch. Very much like sloppy joes, but without the tomato base.

Only four ingredients. I like to use a quick dissolving flour like Wondra, to reduce any likelihood of lumps.

Fry up the meat. I used ground turkey here but I think the beef flavor works a little better with the onion.

Add the can of soup and thicken with flour. You have to walk the line between soup and paste. You want to end up with a consistency similar to Sloppy Joes.

I added some deep fried onions on top. Yum!