Beef Tips in Mushroom Gravy

1.5 – 2# of cut of beef. (I used a nice looking London Broil)
Salt, Pepper, spring of rosemary
Mirepoix (onion, carrots, celery)
Beef Stock (homemade is best but a good organic stock works as well)
3-4 large button mushrooms, sliced
1 recipe of Pasta or 1# of dried egg noodles

Season the beef liberally with salt and cracked black pepper on both sides. Add to a heated pan to sear on both sides. Once seared, remove the meat from the pan and deglaze with a little bit of the stock. Add the mirepoix (chop an onion, 3-4 good size carrots and 4 ribs of celery – mirepoix adds a depth of flavor to stocks, sauces, etc.) to the pan. Place the meat on top of the mirepoix and add enough stock to come up about halfway to the meat. Strip the rosemary from the sprig and add. Cover and braise in a 275-300 degree oven until the meat is fork tender. (About 2 hours or so)

Once braised, remove from the oven. Take the meat out, cover and set aside so it can rest. Strain the braising liquid. In a large sauce pan, make a roux (equal parts of melted butter and flour. I used a 1/3 cup of each). Slowly whisk the braising liquid to the roux until there are no lumps. Add the mushrooms (you can use any type of mushroom. The hubby just prefers button mushrooms.) and cut the beef into small chunks. Add beef to the gravy. Season with salt and pepper to taste and simmer for about 15 minutes.

While the sauce is simmering, cook your pasta. You can either serve it over the pasta or just mix it together like I did. Serves at least 4.

Enjoy! I know we did!

Basic Pasta

Pasta…it can be a very daunting concept but it doesn’t need to be. In my opinion, there is nothing better than the taste of fresh pasta. And really it is not that hard.

The recipe is really easy.

1 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1-2 Tablespoon water, as needed.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Form a well in the middle and add the beaten egg. Mix with a fork, bringing in sides of the well little by little. The dough may be dry. If it is, you can start to add the water a tablespoon at a time. Knead for 3-4 minutes on a lightly floured surface.

Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. The resting is essential for a tender pasta as this allows the gluten to relax.

Using either a rolling pin or a pasta machine, roll out and cut to your desired thickness. Bring salted water to a boil and add pasta. Don’t walk away as fresh pasta does not take nearly as long as the dry variety to cook. Once al dente, drain and serve. Makes about 3-4 servings

Cheesecake Cupcakes

Okay I know what you are thinking. What? Cheesecake cupcakes? Yes and I’m telling you that they are soooooo yummy.

I have been craving cheesecake for a while and I told the hubby this. We were throwing ideas back and forth of what types of cheesecake to make when he mentioned these. I had made these a long while ago and they were good. So I set out to search through my plethora of cookbooks to find the recipe. (One could not have too many cookbooks.)

The basis of the recipe comes from The Cake Mix Bible. I made a few tweaks and I must say these were even better than I remember.

Cheesecake Cupcakes
Crust:
1 package classic yellow cake mix or chocolate cake mix
1/4 cup of butter, melted

Cheesecake Filling:
2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Top layer:
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/3 cup sugar

Fruit layer (optional):
2 cups fresh berries
1/2 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place foil or paper liners in 24 muffin cups.

For the crust, in a bowl combine the cake mix with the melted butter and mix until crumbly. You can use a mixer if you desire but I found it was just as easy to use a fork. Divide the mixture until the bottom of the muffin cups (approx 2 T each). Level the mixture but don’t press it down too much.

Now onto the cheesecake filling. Combine the cream cheese and the sugar at medium speed until the mixture is smooth. Now add the eggs and vanilla extract and mix well for about a minute. Spoon evenly over the crust mixture. Bake at 350 for 18 minutes or until set.

While the cheesecakes are baking, make the top layer. Combine the sour cream and sugar in a bowl. Spoon evenly over the cheesecakes and return back to the oven for 5 additional minutes. Cool completely.

The fruit topping is totally optional but I highly recommend it. For this one I used blackberries. I smashed the blackberries and then added the sugar. Spoon over the cheesecakes and serve cold.

Every one loved the individual cupcakes. The picture above shows the different layers. The crust tasted like almost like a graham cracker crust (the chocolate cake mix tastes like an oreo crust) and it has a nice crunch to it. The cheesecake was smooth and creamy. The sour cream added a nice tang to it and the blackberry sauce was just the crowning touch.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

So the other day as the husband and I brainstormed our grocery list the subject of stuffed bell peppers came up. They sounded good and we hadn’t had them in quite a while. I dig around looking for the recipe I used last time but try as I might I could not find it. So okay let’s wing it. I know the basic ingredients…bell peppers, ground meat, rice…

I have to say what I came up with was rather tasty.

Stuffed Bell Peppers
4-6 green bell peppers (can use any color but the husband prefers the green)
1 1/2 cup of cooked white rice
1 pound of hamburger (or any ground meat really)
1 small onion – diced
1 T minced garlic
1 t salt
1/4 t cracked black pepper
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t cumin
1/8 t nutmeg
1 1/2 t Worcestershire
8 oz no salt added tomato sauce
1/2 cup diced mushrooms
1/4 cup shredded cheese (I recommend applewood smoke Gruyere)

Cook your rice. Honestly, I cheat and use 5 minute rice. It’s easy.

While your rice is cooking, add the garlic, diced onions and hamburger in a skillet and cook until meat is done and onions is transparent. Drain the grease and return to the skillet. Add the spices, Worcestershire and tomato sauce. (Now don’t look at me strangely for the nutmeg. It’s actually quite tasty in savory dishes. Just remember that a little nutmeg can go a long way. And if you can…Fresh nutmeg is best.) Add the diced mushrooms and let simmer on low for about 5 minutes or so.

While that is simmering, prepare your bell peppers. I prefer to cut my bell peppers in half versus keeping it whole. You get a higher filling to bell pepper ratio. Make sure to cut off as much as the inner membranes as possible without damaging the outer shell.

Add the rice to the meat mixture and give it a good stir. Spoon the mixture into the prepared bell pepper shells and place on a cookie sheet. Put into a preheated 350 degree oven and back for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, pull out and add the shredded cheese if you want and put back into the over for another 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

Serve with a salad and enjoy! They turned out so good!