Tag: beef

Lasagna in un altro modo

Scott and I spent a month in Italy this year. We rented a cozy place in our favorite town, Lucca, which is within the Tuscany region. He made this amazing lasagna. Even the pasta was made from scratch.

The secret to this dish is the Lucchese Spice. He found it in Lucca, and the ingredients are mysterious but we are guessing it has nutmeg, cumin, and cinnamon in it.

Ragu-

Ingredients-

½ cup Celery, Onion, Carrot Diced      

½ lb. Ground Pork or Sausage

 ½ lb. Ground Beef

28 oz. Tomato Sauce (Puree, Whole, or Crushed) I recommend Cento

28 0z. Water

½ cup Red or White Wine

Salt & Pepper

Lucchese Spice

Oregano

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVO)

You’ll need a Dutch oven or pot big enough to hold 60 oz.

Directions–      

  1. Add Celery, Onion, Carrot to pot on medium heat in about 2 TBS. EVO with some salt to help the veggies sweat. Cook until soft.
  2. Add Pork and continuously break up pork until fine and cooked through. Don’t skip this process, patience is key. I usually do it on medium low and keep breaking it up until I like the consistency of the meat. You have to add some EVO if it looks like its drying out.
  3. Repeat the same as #2 with the Beef.
  4. Once the meat is finely broken up add ½ Cup Red (bolder flavor) or White wine, I prefer white. Cook until the alcohol smell is gone. 
  5. Add 28 oz. tomato sauce, fill can with water to extract the leftover sauce and add to pot.
  6. Add Spices to your desired taste, but, about ½ teaspoon Lucchese should be enough, you can always add more of anything if you need as the sauce simmers.
  7. Simmer Sauce for at least FOUR HOURS, I find the best sauce simmers for at least six hours. Add water if sauce looks to thick.

Besciamella-

Ingredients-

The simple equation to besciamella is 1 part flour to 1 part butter to 10 parts milk, and can be adjusted as you need.

5 tablespoons butter, (70g)

5 tablespoons all-purpose flour, (70g)

4 and 1/4 cups whole milk, (1 litre)

1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Parmigiano Cheese

Salt (optional) and pepper, to taste

Directions-

 I like to do this about 30 minutes before I am ready to assemble the Lasagna.

  1. Melt butter in saucepan.
  2. In a separate pan, warm the milk, do not boil.
  3. Once melted add flour and stir until mixed (no chunks). It should have the viscosity of Elmers glue.
  4. On medium high heat add in the milk and stir vigorously with a whisk until it begins to thicken like pudding.
  5. Add the nutmeg and pepper and mix well.
  6. Grate some parmigiano into sauce, amount depends on you.

Noodles-

Buy a box, cook them. Or I can teach you how to make the homemade version.

Layering-

Directions–

  1. Place a light layer of sauce or besciamella on bottom of casserole dish.
  2. Place a layer of noodles overlapping.
  3. Add ragu to cover noodles but not thick.
  4. Add besciamella and spread out with ragu. It ain’t gonna look pretty but will mix well.
  5.  Grate a coating layer of parmigiano over layer.
  6. Repeat until you get to the top or you run out of ingredients.
  7. The top should be a layer of besciamella, or just another mixture of the ragu and besciamella. At this point you might have a lot of one or the other left over. No need to make more. And of course you’ll be wanting to add more grated Parmigiano on the top.

Bake at 400 Degree for 25 minutes. You can always cook a few minutes longer depending on your desire. Another method is 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes.  

Filet Mignon with Green Peppercorn Sauce

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Cooking the perfect steak is not an easy task. Getting the temperature just right takes practice. I spent many years of my life as a vegetarian and now that I am eating meat again, filet mignon is my favorite cut of beef. Medium rare is the temperature I strive for. I found this technique on floatingkitchen.net under the how to cook the perfect filet mignon heading, and she isn’t joking around, it is perfect. However, I did add the butter and an extra 4 minutes cooking time in the pan.

Picture above from a restaurant in Florence, Italy, one of my best meals there; filet mignon with green peppercorn sauce, sauce recipe below. Picture below a perfectly cooked filet mignon.

Ingredients:

  • 2 filet mignons, approx. 2 inches thick
  • 1 TBS extra-virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 TBS butter

Directions:

Remove the steaks from the refrigerator and let them get to room temperature, approx. 20 minutes. Set oven to 425 degrees. Season steaks with salt and pepper. Heat a large oven-proof sauté pan to medium-high heat (I use a cast iron). Add olive oil and let it heat up.

Add steaks an let cook undisturbed for 4 minutes. Flip them over and cook on the other side for another 4 minutes. Place 1 TBS butter on each filet and immediately place in pre-heated over. Cook for another 7 minutes or to your desired temperature.

5 minutes=rare

6 minutes= medium-rare

7 minutes= medium

Transfer steaks to a plate and let rest for 5-10minutes while tented with foil.

Green Peppercorn Sauce

Original recipe found on http://www.thespruceeats.com, I have made minor modifications to directions.

Ingredients:

  • Fine Sea Salt
  • 4 TBS dried peppercorns
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup cognac, brandy or Marsala wine
  • 1/2 cup cream

Directions:

Coarsely grind 3 TBS of the peppercorns with a mortar, blender, food processor….whatever you have. Spread the coarsely ground peppercorns onto both sides of fillets before cooking. Cook the fillets as described above.

Add the cognac to a skillet and stir well over medium heat. If you are using the same skillet you cooked the fillets in its a bonus. I use a cast iron and transfer my fillets to a cooking pan for the oven. Add the cream and remaining TBS of peppercorns. Salt to taste. Let the sauce thicken slightly then spoon over fillets.

Lem’s Bar-B-Q House BBQ Sauce

americas-best-bbq

Hello to my fellow blogosphere friends.  I have been away awhile while completing my degree but, never fail, I will continue to post and post all my favorite recipes.  This is the best homemade BBQ sauce I have ever made.  I have doubled, tripled, quadrupled, the recipe as needed.  It is really good and, like all recipes, can be tweaked to your liking.  I found this recipe in the book America’s Best BBQ by Davis and Kirk.  Lem’s BBQ House is located in Chicago, Illinois at 311 E. 75th St., if you’re ever in the area.

Ingredients:

  • 1/3 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 TBS granulated sugar
  • 2 TBS apple cider vinegar
  • 1 TBS chili powder
  • 1 tsp. dry mustard
  • 2 TBS Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tsp. sea salt
  • 1 tsp. finely ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp. ground celery salt

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve all sugars, stirring occasionally for 30 minutes, cool to room temperature.

Taco Salad

I’ve tried every diet out there. After I had my children I had 20 lbs to lose after each one. The only diet that worked, with exercise of course, was the Suzanne Somer’s diet. In the process I bought 2 of her books and still make a handful of her recipes. This particular recipe is found in her book, Eat Great, Lose Weight. You can make taco salad or tacos if you want the carbs.

Ingredients;

  • 2 TBS vegetable oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 5 garlic cloves, pressed
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
  • 1 head lettuce, chopped
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 6 oz cheese, grated
  • 6 TBS sour cream
  • 6 green onions, chopped
  • Salsa

Directions;

Heat oil in a large skillet. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook 1 minute longer. Turn up heat to high and add beef. Cook until browned. Drain excess fat. Lower heat and add all spices, water and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for 10 minutes. Assemble salad.

Pot Roast by Julia and Jacques

Watching Julia Child’s show on PBS is the reason I started my passion for cooking. This recipe is from Julia and Jacques cooking at home show. I have found I need to add more liquid to keep the roast tender and the cooking time will vary depending on the size of the roast. She added a large white turnip cut into pieces, but I omitted that because I don’t like turnips. I have been attempting to make the perfect pot roast and this one has a delicious flavor and is one of my favorites thus far.

Ingredients:

  • 1 chuck roast
  • 1-2 Tbsp Vegetable oil
  • 1 white onion, chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme
  • 5-6 tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 ½ cup white wine (add enough wine and water to cover meat and keep meat covered by liquid at all times)
  • 1 cup water
  • Salt and pepper
  • 8-10 small whole onions
  • ½ pound small baby carrots
  • 4 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed

Directions:

Cut fat off roast, salt and pepper entire roast. Heat vegetable oil in stock pot that is oven proof. Brown meat on all sides. Add white onion, thyme, tomatoes, white wine, water, and salt. Bring to boil. Cover and place in oven for 3-4 hours at 350 degrees.

Add small onions, carrots, potatoes and return to oven, cook covered in oven 1-1 ½ hours.