Beef Stir Fry

So the other night I decided to make myself some stir fry. I know, I know. It's nothing new and why is he posting this? Well, this time I changed it up a little bit.

Ingredients:
1 lb Stir Fry Beef
1 can Cut Baby Corn
1 can Bean Sprouts
1 cup Frozen Peas
1 cup Frozen Cut Green Beans
Sesame Seeds
Spicy Brown Mustard
Sesame Seed Oil
Sweet & Sour Sauce
Stir Fry Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Garlic Salt
Vegetable Oil

Alright, first step of course is to assemble your ingredients.

Now I chose to cut up the stir fry meat first. You don't have to do this but you would be left with huge strips of meat instead of size appropriate pieces. Cutting them smaller solves that issue.

Using a wok, pour in a spoonful of Vegetable Oil and turn the heat to MEDIUM. Add in your cut up Stir Fry Beef. Add in a few dashes of Sesame Seed Oil.

Add in some Lime Juice, Spicy Brown Mustard, Sesame Seeds, Teriyaki Sauce, and Garlic Salt. I used a good squirt of the Lime Juice bottle. Maybe a spoonful of Spicy Brown Mustard. A dusting of Garlic Salt. Go crazy with the Teriyaki Sauce, because why not!?

Once the meat is done cooking, which should be right when it turns that grayish brown color of being cooked. Strain the meat out of the wok and place in a bowl to the side. I put mine in the microwave to retain heat better.

In your wok you still have the liquid mixture. Add in your Frozen Peas and Frozen Cut Green Beans.

Some more Spicy Brown Mustard? I think so.

Add in a good sized amount of Sweet & Sour Sauce. About the same amount of Stir Fry Sauce.

Now mix it around. Get your can of Cut Baby Corns and Bean Sprouts. Open them up and drain them of all liquid. I chose to put the Baby Corns in first, then the Bean Sprouts.

Mix them around and let them cook for awhile. You can check when they are done by tasting a piece of the Baby Corns. Once those are done, everything else should be too.

Now that it's done, you get the Stir Fry Beef out and throw that back in the wok.

Mix.

Now give it a minute or two of cooking. Turn off heat and serve. Enjoy.

Simple Burritos

So I wanted something quick and easy to eat this weekend and I came up with Burritos. In the area I live there is a large influence of TexMex/Mexican/Latino cooking, which makes me very happy. So much good food around here that I have to try my hand at it quite often.

Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Beef
1 can Black Beans
1 Green Bell Pepper
1 Jalapeno Pepper
Lime Juice
Tortillas
Garlic Salt
Shredded Cheese

I began by gathering my ingredients. This is a pretty cheap dinner to make, so keep that in mind for during the week when you want something tasty, cheap, and quick.

I then diced up the Peppers.

Now I opened the can of black beans and put them in sauce pot and turned the heat to MEDIUM so they are nice and hot.

Time to cook up the Ground Beef. Very simple process, make sure to dice it up finely while cooking if you can. I added Garlic Salt to the meat, along with a healthy dash of Lime Juice. Makes the meat tasty and unique!

Alright, now get your Tortillas. I put some Gruyere cheese down first. I know an odd cheese choice for this, however I like the twist on flavor that it does in a Mexican themed dish.

Now I have everything ready to go.

I put it together quite simply, all lined up next to each other. Topped off with a Monterey Colby Jack Cheese mix. The second one I made was not so pretty looking, and did not last long enough to take a picture. Enjoy.

Quick Habanero Chili!

Alright, as most of you know I like my chili. I make it quite often, even if I do not post it up here that often. Well, this time I used a Habanero Chili Pepper.

Ingredients:
1 lb Ground Chili Meat
1/3 stick Butter
6 Roma Tomatoes
2 Poblano Peppers
2 Anaheim Peppers
4 Caribe Peppers
1 Habanero Pepper
1 can Rotel(drained)
1 can Kidney Beans
2 cans Black Beans
1 can Tomato Sauce
1 can Tomato Paste
Fennel Powder
Fenugreek Powder
Ancho Chili Powder
Turmeric Powder
Garlic Salt
Marjoram
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
1/2 bottle of Leinenkugel's Honeyweiss Beer

I apologize for the limited number of pictures in this recipe as I had a brain fart and did not even think to take pictures until I started the recipe.

First step is to put your stockpot on the stove top with the Butter in it. Turn the heat to MEDIUM-HIGH.

Once the Butter is mostly melted, put in your Ground Chili Meat. It's really just rough ground beef but goes by that name. Add Garlic Salt, Lawry's Seasoned Salt. Stir together at length.

Usually I use a food processor here but today, I used my blender. Larger quantity at a quicker pace. I drained my can of Rotel and once I sliced the Roma Tomatoes, I added all of it to the blender and pureed. Into the stockpot once the meat is mostly browned.

I poured in my half bottle of Leinenkugel's at this point.

Now dice your peppers. I started with the Caribe, then Anaheim, Poblano, and threw the Habanero on top. Puree. To this I added a dash of the Beer to smooth it out some. Add to pot.

Now add your Kidney Beans and Black Beans. Drain them first! Then the Tomato Sauce and Paste.

I did a good spoonful or two of all the seasonings at this point. I went a little light on the Garlic Salt and Lawry's since they are already in the dish.

Mix like crazy then let simmer for about 30 minutes. Enjoy.

Veggie Surprise!

I decided to have this last night as a healthy-ish dinner alternative to eating meat. I know it sounds weird, however too much meat isn't really the best idea ever.

Ingredients:
1 cup Frozen Corn
1 cup Frozen Peas
1 box Ditalini Pasta
1/4 cup diced Scallions
1/2 lb Green Beans
Ground Black Pepper
Italian Herb Mix
Parmesan Cheese
Sea Salt
1/4 stick Butter

I began this by gathering my ingredients.

I then started the water boiling for my Pasta. Once that began to boil, I added in my pasta. I also added a pot of water with the 2 cups of frozen vegetables as well. Heat on MEDIUM once boiling.

Now, I turned to the Green Beans. I put a saucepan on the stovetop with the Butter in it. Heat to MEDIUM. Once the Butter is mostly melted, add in your Green Beans. Mix to coat. Lightly dust with 2 pinches of Sea Salt and 3 of Ground Black Pepper. Mix again.

Now that you have everything going, step back and enjoy the satisfaction of cooking your own meal. Yes, it's nice.

Ok back to business! Make sure to mix your Green Beans up until they are done cooking. Taste test to determine. You could also tell that about the time your Pasta is done, everything else is as well.

Now I strained out the Pasta first and put it in a large mixing bowl. I then added in the Peas/Corn that I strained. I mixed this all together.

I plated that mixture and topped with the Green Beans and Scallions. A light dusting of Italian Herb Mix and Parmesan Cheese to top it all off. Enjoy.

Steak w/ Green Beans

At work today, I was discussing steak and how amazing it is with several coworkers. This got me thinking that I should cook some steak tonight for dinner. Well, as luck would have it after work I was going to the grocery store anyway! This is the result and my tasty dinner!

Ingredients:
1.2 lb Flank Steak
0.5 lb uncut Green Beans
0.5 stick Butter
1/4 cup Olive Oil
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Black Pepper
Garlic Salt
Fennel Powder
Lawry's Seasoning
Sesame Seeds

For the Green Beans:

I began by getting the beans out.

I then cut off the stems of the beans where they connected to the actual plant. And put them in a bowl with a heavy dash of Italian Herb Mix.

I then had a pot of water boiling which I added them to. Italian Herb Mix and all.

I let them cook for about 5 minutes. Then I turned the heat off and let them sit while I turned my attention to the steak.

For the Flank Steak:

Take your meat out.

I cut the steak in half for ease of use while cooking it in a saucepan. I then seasoned it starting with a thorough coating of Lawry's. On top of that were light dustings of Fennel Powder and Ground Black Pepper. I added quite a covering of Garlic Salt on top of this because I love garlic.

Start your Butter melting in a large saucepan. Heat on medium.

Once it's mostly melted, add in your steaks seasoned side down. Then cover the top unseasoned side with a similar spice mix as you just did previously.

Add in some Olive Oil and flip the steaks. This should be done about 1 minute later.

Let cook, covered, for about 3 minutes. Open up, flip.

Now after a few more minutes they should be thoroughly cooked. Turn off heat and plate. I dusted with Sesame Seeds and added the Green Beens on the side. Enjoy.

Chili: The Second Coming

Today I thought that since Autumn is closely approaching, that I should cook up some Chili once again. I could say that I cooked up this Chili because the weather is getting cooler and all, however this is Texas where it doesn't cool down much for another month or two. I felt that I have been too long without quality Chili and it seemed like a good weekend to do so.

Ingredients
1 lb Ground Beef
5 LG Tomatoes
1 LG White Onion
2 Green Bell Peppers
3 Poblano Peppers
1 Jalapeno Pepper
1 cup Basil Leaves
1 cup Green Onions / Scallions
1 can Tomato Sauce
2 cans Black Beans
2 cans Kidney Beans
1/4 stick Butter
2 cups Red Wine
1/2 cup Lime Juice
Italian Herb Mix
Dill
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Cumin/Coriander Mix
Smoked Hot Spanish Paprika
Fennel Powder
Ground Black Pepper
Sea Salt
Ancho Chili Powder
Lowry's Seasoning
Secret Spice Mix!

I started by gathering all my ingredients and food processor together.

I then proceeded to use my food processor to puree all 5 LG Tomatoes and put them into a plastic mixing bowl.

Now, my stockpot I put in a 1/4 stick of regular Butter and turned the heat to medium. I waited until the Butter started to melt significantly and added in the pound of Ground Beef. I used a spatula to mix it into the Butter, and added a good dusting of Lowry's Seasoning at this point. Mix it all again.

Now that it's cooking, add in your Lime Juice while mixing it around. I also added in all the spices at this point, which sort of mellows the entire spiciness of at the end. I put in just a pinch of the Dill and Sea Salt. The Italian Herb Mix I used was only about 1 cup. As for the rest of the seasonings, use as much as you want. I put in quite a lot of them considering they will be the spices for the entire pot of chili.

Once the meat appears to be mostly browned, if not appearing blackened, pour in your pureed Tomatoes.

Mix well. Turn your heat to a little bit below medium.

Now, using the food processor puree your LG White Onion. Pour this into the pot and then mix well.

Next, I used some fresh Basil Leaves and shredded them using the food processor. Then I added them directly into the pot.

After that, I grabbed my Scallions and proceeded to chop them up and threw them into the pot.

Now, I diced up the Green Bell Peppers and then pureed them in the food processor. In they went to the pot. Oddly enough, they change color from green to an almost white/seafoam green color when pureed.

Now it's the pepper's turn. I chopped up the Poblano Peppers and Jalapeno together in the food processor. In they went.

Finally, it was just time to add the canned beans. First Kidney Beans.

Second the Black Beans. I did not take a picture of the Tomato Paste going in since it disappears right away anyway.

Here I put in the Secret Spice Mix. Which isn't all that secret. It's the mix I use for Chili, Steak, Burgers, and sometimes Pork Chops. A combination of garlic salt, lowry's, black pepper, turmeric, curry powder, paprika, sea salt, cumin/coriander, and basil. I only used 2 spoonfuls of it.

Now let it come to a boil. Mix it up together and mostly cover it. Turn the heat down to simmer or a little higher.

I checked on it 10 minutes later and mixed it together.

I mixed regularly and then checked about an hour later.

Now, at this point I tasted it. YUM! Time to serve.

Yes, that is a delicious beer that was needed while devouring this Chili. I believe it was a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, which makes a great pairing in my opinion. Enjoy...I know I did!