President Ford’s Braised Eye of Round Steak …. is what’s for dinner!

It’s just me and the hubby at home today cause the munchkin is visiting her daddy for the weekend.  I look forward to cooking on these “just for 2” kinds of weekends.

So I had beef eye of round steaks.  What to do with them?  They’re a tougher, less expensive cut of meat so I knew I’d have to cook the heck out of them but I’m SO tired of making “Swiss steaks” with this cut.  

This is what I found and it was absolutely delicious and PACKED with flavor!  Give it a try, I’m pretty sure you won’t be disappointed 😉  Btw…  the note said that former US president Gerald Ford requested this dinner regularly.  It was his favorite.

President Ford’s Braised Eye of Round Steak

Ingredients

2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 large onions, sliced thin 

4 eye of round steaks, about an inch thick

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/4 cup flour for coating

1 cup beef consomme, undiluted (I used 1 can of Cambell’s beef consomme)

1 cup burgundy wine

1 tsp chopped parsley, optional (can be fresh or dried for garnish)

Directions

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add onions and cook for about 5 minutes but don’t brown them (just long enough to soften and let the juices run).  Remove onions from skillet using a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl.  Season the steaks with thyme, salt and garlic powder on both sides.  Rub in seasoning.  Dust steaks lightly with flour on both sides.  Fry steaks in skillet over medium high heat until brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.

Pour beef consomme and burgundy wine over steaks and return onions to skillet as well.  Cook over medium high heat until aroma of wine dissipates, about 2 to 3 minutes.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for approximately 1 hour, or until steaks are fork tender.

Serve over rice, potatoes or egg noodles.  I made my porcini risotto YUMMMMMMMMM!

Beef and Guinness Stew (Casserole)

The ONLY thing good about winter, in my humble opinion, is the excuse to load up on all the comfort food my little heart desires 🙂  Today is SO cold and gloomy in my little corner of the world.  I COULD get out of my bed comfort zone and drive around looking for something lovely to photograph but that would just require me to have to learn how to actually USE my expensive new camera.  I wouldn’t want to hurt my brain so I think I’ll just stay home and cook:-)  Besides, I’m pretty hungry.

This is a recipe I use often because it’s absolutely DELISH!  I didn’t even have to alter the recipe.  It comes from a cookbook I bought in a little Irish town in Kentucky (Too bad I can’t remember the name of the town!  lol).  Ireland’s Comfort Food, Pidgeon’s Press

Beef and Guinness Casserole (*but it’s more like a stew!)

Ingredients:

2 TBSP oil

2 lbs beef, trimmed and cubed (*I use stew meat from chuck roast)

2 TBSP tomato puree (*I use tomato paste)

1- 14 oz can tomatoes, chopped

2 tsp mustard (*I use Dijon)

1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup Guinness beer (*I use any dark beer we happen to have)

3 3/4 cups chicken stock

pepper to taste

3 carrots, peeled and diced (*ok, I never dice my carrots)

2 large onions, peeled and sliced

4 mushrooms, sliced (*I don’t usually have mushrooms so it’s ok without)

1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water

2 TBSP parsley

boiled potatoes or rice for serving

Heat oil in a large pot, add the meat (be sure and don’t over crowd or the meat won’t brown) and cook until brown on all sides.  Add the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Guinness, chicken stock and pepper; cover with lid and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add the vegetables, cover and cook an additional 40-50 minutes or until the meat is tender; add the cornstarch mixture to thicken if needed.  Sprinkle with parsley and serve over potatoes or rice.

Enjoy!

Individual Amish Beef Potpies

I’m feeling a little under the weather right now, be that as it may, dinner still has to be made, right?  I mean, if we want to eat, that is.  So what do I do when my heart isn’t really in it?  All I know is that I have a package of ground beef and I’m pretty disappointed with the recipes on Pinterest lately… SO I dug out one of the 100,000 cookbooks (yes, I collect cook books the way I collect shoes!).  This recipe comes from The Homestyle Amish Kitchen Cookbook, Harvest House Publishers.  I grabbed my daughter and we went to work making:

Individual Beef Potpies

1 beef bouillon cube

2 cups boiling water

3 1/2 cups cooked beef or cooked hamburger (*I used 1 1/2 lb ground beef)

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 tsp salt (*I used 2 tsp)

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp pepper

1 package frozen mixed vegetables (*I used California Blend – Green Giant)

1/4 cup flour

pastry (see below)

Dissolve the bouillon cube in the 2 cups boiling water and add the beef, Worcestershire sauce, salt, sugar, paprika, and pepper.  Add the frozen vegetables and cook mixture for 5 minutes.  Combine the flour with enough water to make a thin paste and slowly add it into the meat and vegetable mixture.  Continue stirring and cooking until mixture thickens.  Keep warm.  When you have made the pastry, spoon the meat and vegetable mixture into 6 individual oven-proof custard cups or ramekins that are 6 to 8 ounces each.  Do not overfill (like I did!  lol)

Pastry

1 cup flour

1/2 cup cornmeal

3/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup shortening

4 TBSP cold water (I had to use about 8 TBSP)

Sift together the flour, cornmeal and salt.  Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Sprinkle the water by tablespoonfuls over the mixture and stir lightly with a fork until just damp.  Then, using your hands, work dough gently and as little as possible until the dough holds together and forms a ball.  You might need to add a bit more cold water.

Divide dough into 6 parts and roll each to form a ball large enough to fit over the top of the meat and vegetables in each baking cup.  (Julia and I patted them kind of flat like you’d do if you were making hamburger patties).  Turn under and crimp edges.  Make several cuts (or make a cross) in the pastry to allow steam to escape while baking.

Bake at 450 for 12-14 minutes