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Moroccan Steak with Couscous

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Couscous, a North African dish of small steamed balls of semolina is considered to be a pasta. It’s also a grain my mom introduced to me back in the 90’s and one we eat as a side dish regularly. We grew up taught to always have a carb on our plate with our meal. This was either pasta, rice or potatoes. But is it really necessary? Not really, as long as you are eating enough of each food group throughout the day.

Moroccan Beef on Couscous

For dinners I love to cook a protein and have a great side, salad or grain to go with it. We always put fresh veggies of some sort of the table for the kids to munch on before and during our meals ensuring they get lots of veggies in them.

If the thought of meat on the couscous doesn’t appeal to you, try a couscous salad on the side. The first one I ever had was made by my mom and full of artichokes, sun dried tomatoes and more. We made a yogurt drizzle using a little Greek Yogurt mixed with a splash of water, juice of one lemon and a pinch of salt.

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Moroccan Steak on Couscous
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs sirloin or top sirloin steak
  • 2 tbsp ras el hanout spice
  • 1 tbsp coarse salt
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • ⅓ cup lemon juice
  • lemon zest from one lemon
  • 2 cups fine couscous
  • salt and pepper in pinch bowls
  • 4 scallions, sliced thin
  • 1 398ml can chick peas
  • ½ cup fresh mint, chopped
  • ¼ cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • ¼ cup toasted pepitas
Instructions
  1. At least an hour before (or more) you are ready to cook, rub steak with ras el hanout and salt on both sides. Lightly drizzle with olive oil. Cover and let sit in the refrigerator until ready to cook. Remove to counter at least 30 minutes before cooking steak.
  2. To cook steak heat grill pan over medium high heat. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil and add steak. Get a good sear on one side then turn over cooking til desired doneness. Remove from pan, let rest on plate covered for 5 minutes. Thinly slice and set aside.
  3. Add 1 tbsp olive oil, chicken stock and lemon juice to a medium sized pot. Bring to a boil on stove and remove from heat. Stir in couscous, a pinch of lemon zest, pinch of salt and pepper, and let stand for five minutes Fluff with a fork, taste for seasoning adding more salt and pepper as needed.
  4. To serve, spread couscous out on a platter. Sprinkle on sliced scallions, chick peas, mint and parsley. Top with sliced steak. Add pepitas and leftover lemon zest.

 

Beef Stew with Bacon

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Beef Stew with Bacon
Beef Stew with Bacon

A long time ago my mom used to cook the shit out of pork and beef roasts. Truth be known I was in a recent session with Vikram Vij and he also advised his mom would cook the shit out of things to, so I blame him for my potty mouth. The only way I could choke down her roasts was to smother them in HP Sauce – more truths. This continued mistreatment of roasts while I was a child led me to have trust relationships with roast beef. I do enjoy beef, like I really really enjoy steak, satay, stir-fry. We also enjoy roasts on a regular basis as a family, however I still am not a huge fan of roast beef. But I will eat it.

Beef Stew with Bacon
Beef Stew with Bacon

This leads us to stew, another cut I have a strange relationship with. Possibly for the same reasons – it was made regularly and slightly over cooked. My family enjoys stew so it’s made flavourful and moist in this house. Mostly.

Beef Stew with Bacon
Beef Stew with Bacon

In my quest to love stew, I added some sauteed mushrooms, chopped chives and broken chunks of double cream brie. And a few hot pepper flakes. Go big or go home right? Guess what? I LOVED it! We get a flavour punch from adding leftover frozen beef broth from our last Teriyaki Beef Fondue. What you’ve never had a beef broth fondue? You really should. Regular beef broth is also dandy in a handy. Finally some leftover parsnips resembling potatoes went into the stew and nobody was the wiser (winning).

Beef Stew with Bacon
Beef Stew with Bacon

I finished the stew with a few sprinkles of hot pepper flakes cause I like the heat!

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Beef Stew with Bacon
Author: 
Recipe type: dinner, lunch
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 4 slices thick cut bacon, chopped into 1 inch pieces
  • 2 lbs beef stew cubs (boneless beef chuck cut into 2 inch cubes)
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 3 carrots, chopped
  • 2 parsnips, peeled and chopped
  • 4 yellow potatoes,c hopped
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic.
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 3 cups beef broth
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp parsley, chopped
  • 1 tbsp chives, chopped into longer pieces
  • ¼ cup double cream brie, tore into smaller pieces
  • 1 baguette, torn into crusty chunks for dipping
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. In a large wide 6-8 quart heavy pot with a lid, fry bacon pan over medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Add your beef to pot in smaller batches, add flour and stir until lightly browned. Remove bacon and beef to platter. Toss in carrots, parsnips, potatoes, onion, celery and garlic. Stir occasionally and cook for another 6 minutes.
  4. Push vegetables aside, making a hole in the middle of pot and add tomato paste. Stir for about one minute then mix in vegetables.
  5. Pour in beef broth, bay leaves, salt and pepper and thyme. Bring to a boil. Drop in beef and bacon, cover and cook in oven until meat is very tender 1 - 2 hours.
  6. Season with salt and pepper, remove bay leaves and serve hot with mushrooms, chives, brie, a sprinkle of parsley and crusty bread.
Notes
To saute mushrooms add 1 tbsp butter to a hot pan. Toss in mushrooms and stir until moisture is released. Season with salt and pepper and cook until brown.

Smokey BBQ Beef on a Bun

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BBQ Beef on a Bun makes you think summer doesn’t it?! It really does for us as we serve up this recipe every summer and get the whole neighborhood smelling our smoked, grilled beef.

This is another one of those recipes I’ve been making for over 20 years and never documented. It’s like your mom or grandma makes something and it’s so ingrained in their brain, they make it without even thinking about it. I’ve got so many of those recipes ingrained in my brain, it’s terrifying.

It was 2003 and I started a new job with a company in the South of Calgary. This rather large company would throw an employee and friends Stampede Barbecue every July. I was in charge of organizing this shindig and ensuring there was enough food and beverages to go around for hundreds of people. The company had a commercial BBQ and every year they barbecued these beef roasts after marinating them all night. I watched, I learned, I oversaw the cooking and this is where my inspiration to make my own beef on a bun came from.

Beef Roast on the BBQ
Beef Roast on the BBQ

This roast serves quite a crowd. We recently had our end of Summer BBQ with 33 adults and kids. We cooked up extra hot dogs for the kids and even after several of the men went back for thirds, but we still ended up with close to half of our roast leftover. Which was great for leftover dishes in the days to follow.

If you have less to feed, buy a smaller roast. And plan for some delicious leftover dishes. We we had beef on a bun twice throughout the week, Beef Pot Pie, beef quesadillas and Beef Soup before I was done with the beef and tossed the rest in the freezer until next time.

You need to prepare this bad boy the day before to let it marinate giving you added flavour. Buy the extra large ziplock bags – the ones for your kids sports stuff and make sure you have wood chips and a smoker, or extra heavy duty tin foil. Watch it become a family favourite.

 

Beef ready for the bun
Beef ready for the bun

 

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Smokey BBQ Beef on a Bun
Author: 
 
Ingredients
  • 10-15lb Top Sirloin Beef Roast
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 3 tbsp spice rub for beef (your favourite)
  • 1 cup BBQ sauce + more for later (your favourite)
  • 1 very large seal-able plastic bag
  • 24 burger style buns
  • Apple or mesquite wood chips (we use both mixed together)
  • BBQ smoke box or heavy duty tin foil
  • water
  • beef broth
Instructions
  1. The day before: Place your roast on a large baking sheet.
  2. With a small pairing knife gently stab the meat several times all around the entire roast making slits. Not viciously but just enough to add slits allowing the spice and BBQ sauce to permeate the meat while it marinates.
  3. Sprinkle on garlic powder and spice mix rubbing it all over the meat, even in the slits you made.
  4. Place meat in larger than normal plastic bag. Pour in the BBQ sauce moving the roast around to ensure it is entirely coated. Seal up bag and place in refrigerator for a minimum of 12 hours.
  5. The day of the BBQ: Remove beef from bag one hour before cooking and place in large roasting pan. Let sit on counter until ready to BBQ. Put your wood chips in a large bowl of water and let them soak for 30 minutes up to 60 minutes.
  6. Get your smoke box ready by filling with wet wood chips. It's OK if you do not have a smoke box, simply place wood chips on a large piece of tin foil, loosely close it up and poke some holes to allow smoke to escape.
  7. Preheat your BBQ to around 250F. Once ready keep your burner on at one end of your grill, and leave the other side off. Arrange the smoke box over the flame and close lid to let it start smoking. Once you see smoke place your roasting pan with roast on the burner that is turned off. Add ½ cup water to pan and close lid.
  8. Check the wood chips and your roast every 30 - 60 minutes and replenish as needed. This cooking method is low and slow and will take approximately 4-6 hours depending on the size of your roast. Add more water to keep some liquid at the bottom of the roasting pan and baste your roast with the liquid each time you check it.
  9. The meat is done when the inside temperature reaches ~160 degrees. When you check the wood. Remove from grill, tent with tin foil, and let sit. Once cooled we use a meat slicer to slice into very thin pieces, placing back into the roasting pan with juice, some additional warmed beef broth and more BBQ sauce. Cutting and shaving it thin with a sharp knife also works.
  10. Mix together and serve with buns.

 

Beef & Mushroom Spring Rolls

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One of my favourite things to eat (of many) is well spring rolls. The kids and I enjoy making the fresh salad type rolls but my secret love is for fried spring rolls. Sometimes I visit a local Vietnamese restaurant during lunch and pick up an order of spring rolls all to myself. And eat them in the truck lol. It’s that mom time alone where I don’t have to share with anyone. Even in the truck. I’ll take it.

I’ve made them before, but it’s been awhile. My son has recently started liking them as much as I do, so when we order Vietnamese food we end up fighting over the spring rolls. Note above alone time.

Mushroom-Beef-SR-v1

With a blend and extend challenge upon us thanks to Mushrooms Canada, I’ve been trying to think outside of the box to create a blended appetizer. Spring Rolls came to mind and the flavourings I use in the Thai Salad with Jalapeno & Mint I make. I took inspiration from this recipe and went for it. My son loved them so much he must have eaten four within minutes.

Beef, Mushrooms & Veggies ready for rolling
Beef, Mushrooms & Veggies ready for rolling

Made from ground beef and minced mushrooms, plus a few veggies for good measure, these spring rolls contain minced mushrooms and ground beef. This is how you add another serving of vegetables to the plate.

Here’s the method.

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Beef & Mushroom Spring Rolls
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 20
 
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 lb lean ground beef
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp ginger, freshly grated
  • ¾ cup minced mushrooms
  • 3 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 cup napa cabbage
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 2 green onions, sliced thin
  • 1 package of spring roll wrappers (20)
  • 1 egg, whipped up in a bowl
  • 1 wok
  • canola oil
  • 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
Instructions
  1. In a medium sized bowl, combine the soy sauce, fish sauce and cornstarch. Add in the ground beef and mix well. Set aside to marinate while you prepare and slice your other ingredients.
  2. Thinly slice your napa cabbage, leafy parts only. Peel and grate your carrots. Let carrots sit on a paper towel to absorb some of the moisture. Slice onions.
  3. Heat 2 tsp of sesame oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add your ground beef and cook until beef starts to get a nice golden brown. Sprinkle on sugar, add garlic, ginger and mushrooms. Continue to cook another couple of minutes until flavours well combined. Remove from heat and onto plate and let cool.
  4. In second pan add 1 tsp of sesame oil. Toss in cabbage, carrots and onions. Cook approximately 3 minutes until vegetables soft. Remove from heat and set aside in pan to cool.
  5. Once meat and veggies are cool mix together. Mix in cilantro. Set aside.
  6. Place spring roll wrapper in a diamond shape with a corner facing you. Place 2 tablespoons of filling near corner - that will be plenty. Fold over corner and roll tight.
  7. Fold over right and left side trying not to allow any pockets. Keep it tight and roll until it looks like an envelope then stop. With your finger rub a little egg wash along the out edge of the wrapper as though you were licking an envelop. Continue rolling and ensure sealed. Set aside and keep under plastic wrap.
  8. Carry on until all rolled. Do not stack. Keep all under plastic wrap until ready to cook.
  9. When you’re ready to fry, heat up 1½″ of canola oil to 350F. I like to use my wok.
  10. Carefully drop spring rolls in frying 4-5 at a time and turning constantly for even browning.
  11. Once they are golden brown place on a rack to cool down and drain.
  12. Serve with Thai Chili Sauce or your favourite dipping sauce.

Mushroom-Beef-rolling
2 tablespoons of filling on the wrapper

 

Mushroom-Beef-blend
Little envelope ready for some egg wash

 

 

Grilled Beef Satay

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Beef Satay is the perfect, light summer meal. Use your favourite marinade or try this one the next time you make these. They literally melt in your mouth. Make sure you cut your beef thin and let it marinade for at least an hour or more depending the cut of beef you use.

If you are using a cheaper cut of steak like I did (inside round), ensure you have acid in your marinade to tenderize the steak and let marinate for longer than an hour if you can. With this meal I par-boiled some baby potatoes, let them cool, skewered them and added olive oil, salt and pepper. A few minutes on the grill finished them off.

This is an easy and tasty meal to get your Summer Grilling on!

Grilled Beef Satay
Grilled Beef Satay

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Grilled Beef Satay
Author: 
Recipe type: Lunch, dinner
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 1-2 lbs Inside Round Steak
  • ¼ cup sherry
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 1 garlic scape rough chopped and pressed a few times to soften
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • ½ tsp sambal oelek
  • 20 bamboo skewers, soaked in water
Instructions
  1. Mix together sherry, soy sauce, garlic scape, sesame oil, oyster sauce and sambal oelek. Pour into a clear plastic zip up bag and set aside.
  2. Cut your steak into thin slices. Add to marinade. Squish all together, close bag and place in fridge to marinate at least one hour or longer. Let your bamboo skewers soak during this time.
  3. Remove from marinade and thread beef onto skewers.
  4. On a preheated grill over medium-high, grill the satay skewers for 2-3 minutes per side or until done.
  5. These skewers are so flavourful they do not need any dip or sauce. Enjoy!

 

Baked Ziti

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My mom started buying me cookbooks in the late 80’s, so I blame her for my obsession. I have to blame someone right? It was around the same time she started entering her recipes, my recipes and any family member who was willing to give up a recipe into our local town cookbooks. I’ve got two of these small town family cookbooks with a handful of my recipes in them. Seems so ironic to me with where I ended up in life, as a food blogger and writer with a full time passion for food. Destiny perhaps or, someone knew before I did where my path would go.

Baked Ziti
Baked Ziti

My cookbook obsession runs deep. For years I’ve had cooking magazine subscriptions. In fact I’ve only within the past two years cancelled a few of them because I’m running out of room. I’ve also been lucky enough to receive many cookbooks as gifts from media events, and I take them out from the library from time to time. In fact I’m even thinking about joining a 12 month Instagram Monthly Cookbook Club this month because I love cookbooks so much. It could be worse I think.

Guy On Fire
Guy On Fire

A recent trip to the library with the kids to pick up some books and I ended up coming home with Guy Fieri’s “Guy on Fire Cookbook”. I refrained from bringing home a huge pile, as I have in the past (new goals right) and only brought home one cookbook. See cookbooks inspire me, and I certainly do enjoy this book by Guy.

After choosing no less than 20 recipes to try I had to narrow it down to one. So I choose pasta. My family loved this recipe. Guy uses olive oil, I used canola oil. I also used less red hot pepper flakes and it was still a bit spicy for one of the minions, but it was oh so delicious. And that fresh rosemary on top – a show stopper.

In this cookbook Guy shares 130 recipes for adventures in the outdoors. I noted several of the BBQ’d meat recipes required brining the night before so you will have to allow yourself the time to do this. After pouring through it several times, I can tell you it’s fun and has several recipes I would like to try. I love that he’s dedicated it to his dad and father-in-law. Lucky “guy”.

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Baked Ziti
Author: 
Recipe type: Dinner
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 Italian sausages, uncooked
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 28 oz diced tomatoes with juice
  • 1 28 oz crushed tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp dried thyme
  • 1 tbsp dried basil
  • ¼ tsp dried red pepper flakes
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 lb ziti or penne
  • 1 lb fresh mozzarella, grated
  • 1½ cup ricotta chesee
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup parmesan, grated
  • 2 tbsp fresh parsley, for garnish
  • 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped for garnish
  • Cooking spray
Instructions
  1. Heat canola oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 5-7 minutes, until the onion starts to soften.
  2. Add the sausage and beef, breaking it up with a masher or spoon. Saute until it's cooked through and is starting to brown nicely.
  3. Add thyme, basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir and cook another 2 minutes.
  4. Add tomatoes and any juice, stirring occasionally for 25 minutes. Remove from heat, seat aside to cool slightly.
  5. Preheat oven to 375 F.
  6. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water until just short of al dente. Drain the pasta and reserve.
  7. In a large bowl, combine ¾ of the mozzarella, ricotta, egg, salt and a pinch of pepper. Mix well and toss in the pasta. Add the meat mixture and toss all ingredients to combine.
  8. Spray a casserole dish or large cast iron pan with cooking spray. Pour the mixture in and top the ziti with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
  9. Bake for 20-25 minutes until bubbly and golden brown. Garnish with parsley & rosemary.

 

Blueberry Bourbon BBQ Sauce

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Inspired by BC Blueberries, a bottle of bourbon I was recently given, a bottle of Guy Fieri Bourbon/Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce, and a Crosby Molasses contest, I decided to try and create a Blueberry BBQ Sauce. With molasses. I’ve never made a BBQ sauce with molasses before but I know it’s been done. The bourbon was honestly an afterthought but it works. In fact I have received 4 thumbs up from the in-laws on this BBQ Sauce. Yahoo!

If you don’t like bourbon, leave the bourbon out. The first night we had it we slathered it on a pork tenderloin. Next we mixed it into turkey burgers (with blueberries) and used it as a sauce for the top.

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Blueberry Bourbon BBQ Sauce
Recipe type: BBQ sauce,
Serves: 2 cups
 
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp canola oil
  • ⅓ cup red onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • ¼ cup bourbon
  • 1 cup ketchup
  • ¼ cup Crosby's Molasses
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar + 1 tsp
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp prepared mustard
  • 1 tsp chipotles in adobo
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • ¼ cup water
  • salt & pepper
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in garlic cooking for an additional minute. Pour in bourbon and cook off for 1 minute.
  3. Reduce the heat to low. Add the ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, mustard, chipotle, blueberries, water and a pinch of salt & pepper.
  4. Simmer 30 minutes.
  5. Taste after simmering and adjust salt & pepper as needed.

 

Blueberry BBQ Sauce
Blueberry BBQ Sauce

 

 

Badlands Pickle Burger

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Like it or not, Fall is around the corner. It’s the perfect time for pickling or canning extra vegetables from the garden. In fact I am wanting to make another batch of these tasty Quick Pickle Cucumbers since there are so many of the smaller cucumbers in the stores and markets. Everyone in our family loves these little bites.

Our Bakers Burger Blast Burger Recipes have been far and few between this year. I’ve created a couple of burgers but haven’t tested them to the point of perfection (in my books). When I came up with this burger recipe I tried a few different kinds of cheese, with the sausage, without the sausage until eventually these flavours really worked well together. Biggest challenge was trying NOT to eat all the pickles before the burgers were done!!

Here in Alberta we have what’s known as the “Wild West” Badlands. They are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been eroded by wind and water leaving behind beautiful statues and scenery. We love to visit the Badlands and this is how the name came to be.

The perfect burger for the pickle lover!

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Badlands Pickle Burger
Author: 
Recipe type: dinner, lunch, burgers
 
Ingredients
  • 1 lb ground chuck (burger)
  • 1 link Italian sausage in casing (we love Spolumbos)
  • ½ small onion, grated + juice
  • ½ cup dill pickles, minced
  • Salt & pepper
  • 4 slices Aged Applewood Cheddar Cheese, (slice thin)
  • Tomato, sliced thin
  • Butter Lettuce
  • Buns
  • Bacon slices, cooked
  • Dill Pickle Aioli
Instructions
  1. Remove sausage from casing and place in a bowl. Add ground chuck, grated onion with juice, pickles and a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix to combine.
  2. Form into 4 patties. Over medium high heat, grill burger until done, about 3-4 minutes per side.
  3. Place cheese slices on burgers just before burgers are ready to come off the grill and cover grill for a couple minutes or until cheese is melted.
  4. If you like your bun grilled, put it on grill and toast it while cheese is melting.
  5. Assemble burger with tomato, lettuce, bacon slices, and dill pickle Aioli.
Notes
To make Dill Pickle Aioli combine 1 cup mayonnaise, ¼ cup dill pickles chopped fine, 1 tbsp pickle juice, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp fresh dill chopped, 2 tsp jalapeno minced, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Let sit in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving.

 

Thai Beef in Toast Cups with Mango Salsa

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In my daily activities I come across many contests and challenges out there for food bloggers. What you learn along the way is you have to be picky and choosy with what you take on as recipe testing, buying ingredients, making notes, testing again until you get it right, photographing and the like all takes a tremendous amount of time. Which is why I admittedly do not enter as many as I used to. Although I still love a challenge which is where this Thai Beef in Toast Cups with Mango Salsa recipe comes in.

Weeks ago I caught wind of a contest featuring ground beef and mushrooms encouraging us Food Bloggers to Blend & Extend these two special ingredients to show you can get more vegetables (in this case mushrooms) into your meals without the family knowing. We are fortunate in that our kids love almost all vegetables fresh with mushrooms being one of them. My daughter actually eats them whole and peels them like a banana (there’s one in every crowd)!

Thai Beef in Toast Cups with Mango Salsa
Thai Beef in Toast Cups with Mango Salsa

When I started recipe testing for this challenge I made three separate beef and mushroom dishes over the course of a couple of days. Each recipe had it’s own unique flavour profile and was inspired by recipes I already make. The caveat, they needed to be bite size.

To each recipe I added just over a cup of minced fresh white button mushrooms. I was pleasantly surprised you couldn’t even tell there were mushrooms mixed in with the beef. The kids, not any wiser, enjoyed each recipe for different reasons. As such new recipes have been born and at least one will be entered into the contest.

 

Thai Beef in Toast Cups with Mango Salsa
Thai Beef in Toast Cups with Mango Salsa

 

The inspiration for this recipe comes from two I currently make which are both very popular on the blog. Cesar Salad in Toast Cups and a Pork Thai Salad with Jalapeno & Mint. I took the flavour profile from the Pork Thai Salad and infused it into the beef, mixing in mushrooms, and topping it with a delicious mango salsa. I make varieties of the Salad Toast Cups so using the toast cup itself as the vessel to hold the beef and mushroom mixture worked perfectly. I knew I wanted to top it with something fresh so a minced mango salsa was prepared to top the beef. The flavour combination worked well. Out of six taste testers (young and old) I’d say only 1 gave it a thumbs down.

Here is how I made Thai Beef in Toast Cups with Mango Salsa.

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Thai Beef in Toast Cups with Mango Salsa
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Serves: 12
 
Ingredients
  • 1½ lbs ground beef
  • 1 cup white button mushrooms, finely diced
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 2 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 tbsp soya sauce
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 cup mango, diced small
  • 2 tbsp red onion, small dice
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, remove seeds, small dice
  • 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
  • salt
  • ½ lime, juiced
  • 6 pieces of normal size bread (like wonderbread) with all 4 sides/crusts removed
  • Cooking spray or melted butter
  • Mini muffin tins
Instructions
  1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat.
  2. Add beef and break it up into smaller crumbles. Cook a few more minutes and add in your mushrooms. Continue to cook until you get a good brown on the beef. Brown = flavour.
  3. In a bowl or cup mix together ½ cup water, fish sauce, sugar, sesame oil, soya sauce and stir. Pour into beef mixture, cook until almost all liquid is gone and flavours combined. Set aside to cool a bit.
  4. To make the salsa, in a bowl mix together mango, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, pinch of salt and lime juice. Set aside.
  5. To make toast cups, preheat your oven to 350F
  6. Cut the crusts off each piece of bread. Cut each piece into four equal squares.
  7. Spray mini muffin tins with cooking spray or brush with melted butter.
  8. Flatten each piece of bread a little with your hand or a rolling pin. Gently press each bread square into a mini muffin cup. Give another quick spray or brush of melted butter. Continue until you have filled all 12 mini muffin cups or if you have two pans, 24. If you do not have two pans, you will need to do this two times.
  9. Place in oven and bake for 6-8 minutes or until the bread has turned lightly brown. Remove from pan, place on platter and begin assembling.
  10. Scoop a little beef mixture into each toast cup. Top with a small amount of the mango salsa. If you have juice in the salsa sprinkle a little on top. You can either top with a cilantro leaf or serve as is. Serve immediately.

 

Whiskey Marinated Flank Steak

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My man loves his whiskey. But only once in a while. Our liquor cabinet holds quite a few bottles of liquor that rarely gets touched. Especially those little ones. You know how sometimes you buy a bottle of something and it has a little mini me bottle attached, well there are several mini me bottles in the cabinet that are taking up space. So I used one.

And it came down like this….I picked up not one, but two mini bottles of whiskey and set to make a marinade. One I used in the marinade and the other (a Spiced Whiskey Vanilla to be exact) I consumed over ice because it sounded amazing. And it was.

A few more things went into the Ziplock bag followed by the flank steak. We marinated this bad boy for a couple hours and then grilled it up to perfection (rare and tender). The outcome was simple but flavourful. Here’s how I did it.

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Whiskey Marinated Flank Steak
Author: 
Recipe type: Dinner, lunch
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 1 Flank Steak
  • ⅓ cup whiskey
  • 1 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sweet red chili sauce
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • ziplock bag
Instructions
  1. Pour whiskey, mustard, soy sauce, sweet red chili sauce and brown sugar into ziplock bag. Squishy to combine.
  2. Add steak, shake and swoosh it around so steak gets covered in marinade. Close bag.
  3. Place in refrigerator and let marinate for about 2 hours.
  4. Over medium high heat grill steak for approximately 5 minutes per side. 10-12 minutes will get you a rare steak. Remove and let rest for 5 minutes before carving.

 

 

Cheese Stuffed Burger

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Who doesn’t love a stuffed burger? This simple Cheese Stuffed Burger is a great way to change up burger night with the family. Or friends.

Tried making a version of a stuffed burger last year, following a luscious and tasty outing to Naina’s Kitchen here in Calgary. My burger was nothing to write home about about but Naina’s stuffed burger was the talk of the town. So much so they won the first ever YYC Burger Week, 2013.

The great thing about making a stuffed burger is, well, you can stuff it with anything. A little sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, pesto, any kind of cheese, sundried tomato and olive tapenade, almost anything goes!

As YYC Burger Week 2014 is fast approaching I was bound and determined to make a stuffed burger, again. This time it worked and it worked well. Don’t you find that happens sometimes. You make a recipe and it’s OK. Make it again another time and it just bedazzles.

In this family of four my girl doesn’t like hot dogs or burgers. I know it’s a sin. But she does like quinoa salad and tabbouleh salad so that’s a fair trade in my books. When I was growing up I was forced to eat the food I didn’t like. Tragic. Fortunately it didn’t affect my love for all kinds of food. Now grown up with kids of my own, we don’t follow those same ridiculous rules I grew up with. But we do make amendments. Our kids are required to try one bite of food at each meal, and this night was no different. So she did. And she liked the burger, or so she said. But still wouldn’t eat it. Fair enough, here’s your bowl of tabbouleh salad kid, save some for me.

We had a day or two last week where the weather was decent enough to fire up the grill and slap on some meat. So we called it Burger Night. Or the return of the Bakers Burger Blast. So many burgers, so little time. These burgers tasted so good I think we will be having them again this weekend. Although the weather forecast is dreadfully cold (-39 with the wind chill), and as such, all grilling will happen indoors, on our grill pan.

Boom Shaka Laka…here’s how you make your very own delicious stuffed burger.

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Cheese Stuffed Burger
Author: 
Recipe type: dinner, lunch, burger, entree, main
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 1.5 - 2 lbs ground beef (80 lean/20 fat)
  • ½ - ¾ cup cubed (1 inch) old cheddar cheese, or more
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Take some burger, flatten it and form it into a flat patty. You will need to form two thin patties for each burger.
  2. In the center of 4 patties, place 2-3 cheese cubes. You may get a 5th or 6th burger depending on how big you make them.
  3. Take a second thin patty and place on top. Gently push/pinch together all the edges surrounding the patty to seal the burger.
  4. Over medium heat on the BBQ, grill burger for about 15 minutes, flipping once or twice as you go. Once cooked remove from heat, cover with foil and let sit to rest for a few minutes.
  5. Get your bun ready and add your favourite condiments. Make my slaw (recipe below) or top with your favourite burger toppings.
Notes
To make the slaw combine: ¼ cup sliced cabbage, ½ seeded & chopped jalapeno, ½ cup sliced red onion, 3 julienned radishes, 1 julienned green apple. For vinaigrette whisk together 3 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp lemon, 1 tsp dijon mustard and a pinch of salt and pepper. Pour over slaw and stir to combine.

 

Ginger Beef Burger

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We are definitely not fair weather BBQ people. How can you be living in Canada where winter comes 6 months a year! Hubs and I both grew up in small Northern Canadian Towns, and as such you learn early that most winter weather is acceptable to BBQ, unless it’s blizzarding and/or below -10. At this point it becomes challenging to manage the heat as the BBQ starts to get grumpy.

The night I created these burgers we were drinking a ginger beer. I decided to pour some into the burger mixture along with some fresh ginger. I tossed a few other things in from the fridge and a ginger burger was born. We devoured these burgers that evening and to quickly to document or photograph.

Enter round two of ginger beef burger. Started with the same base by adding ginger beer and fresh ginger to the burger, but went a different route and tossed in a few other items I had sitting around. The flavour was even better. I’m sure if I aimed for a round three the burger would be outstanding, but I’m going to stop here because it was pretty darn good and sometimes you just need to quit while you are ahead.

Because I am having a love affair with caramelized onions, I had to top my burger with a slice of cheese, little mayo, some lettuce, my Caramelized Onion with Ginger mixture and some Quick Pickle Cucumbers. I found keeping the condiments simple, allows the subtle flavour of the burger to shine.

And yes in case you are wondering the bun in my burger photo is upside down. Why be ordinary? I wanted to shake it up a bit and help stop the burger from sliding. Don’t laugh, it worked!

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Ginger Beef Burger
Author: 
Recipe type: Dinner, Grilling, Lunch, BBQ,
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • 1.5 lbs beef burger
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated/minced
  • ⅓ cup ginger beer
  • 1 tbsp parsley, chopped
  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp green onion, sliced
  • salt and pepper
  • burger buns
  • your favourite condiments
  • cheese slices
Instructions
  1. Combine burger through green onion in a bowl with a pinch of salt and pepper and mix lightly.
  2. Form your burgers. You should get about six good size burgers.
  3. Grill over medium heat until completely cooked through.
  4. If you like, toast your buns, cut side down, until lightly browned.
  5. While still on the grill top your burger with your favourite cheese and grill until cheese starts to ooze a little.
  6. Place burger on bun and add your favourite condiments.

 

Moroccan Beef Noodle Skillet

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Consider this a healthy alternative to Hamburger Helper. It’s easy to make and so much better for you then the stuff you get in a box with an ingredients list full of words you don’t understand. Give this a try and you will be hooked on how easy it is to make. Also a great recipe for those activity evenings that have us rushing out the door, or pair it with a beer and you have a quick hearty meal for one. I made this the other day for lunch for the munchkins and they gobbled it up.

I’m doing lots of experimenting this week with my new spice from The Missing Ingredient, a Vancouver based company who offers a monthly food subscription service. I love the box of goodies they’ve bestowed upon me this month. I talk more about them in my last post Ras el hanout Roasted Cauliflower with Chick Peas.

There are a variety of ways to serve this dish. You can stuff a potato, toss into a pita with some veggies, put in a soft or hard shell taco with your favourite fixins, put it in a wrap with cheese, hollow out a small bun and dollop some into it sloppy joe style, or mix it with your favourite noodles or rice. When I made it I cooked up some shell noodles, saved a cup of the pasta water and mixed the pasta with the burger. I added in about half a cup of the cooking water to marry it all together.

Important to remember you can make this dish with any spice. Albeit a packet of taco, fajita or burrito seasoning, chili powder or  really any spice blend you have tucked away in your cabinet. You could also substitute ground lamb, pork, chicken or turkey…even ground round (veggie cuisine). So many options can make this a new dish every week!

This dinner in a hurry is ready in less than 30 minutes.

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Moroccan Beef Noodle Skillet
Author: 
Recipe type: Dinner, Lunch
 
Ingredients
  • 1 lb lean ground beef
  • 2 stalks celery, small dice
  • ½ green pepper, small dice
  • ½ small onion, small dice
  • ¼ cup frozen peas
  • 1 tsp Ras el hanout spice
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • 3 tbsp tomato puree or sauce
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup water
  • oil
Instructions
  1. Put pan over medium high heat and add a drizzle of oil.
  2. Toss in your ground beef and break it up. Let it simmer until all the fat is starting to cook off, then add your celery, green pepper and onion. Reduce to a simmer. Let cook until the meat starts to brown. Remember there is flavour in the brown!
  3. Once your vegetables start to soften, add in your spices, tomato puree, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes.
  4. Stir in your water and frozen peas, and let mixture simmer until most of water is absorbed.
  5. Toss it with your favourite cooked pasta or serve in any of the variations offered above.
Notes
Moroccan Ras de hanout is a combination of many spices. If you can not find this blend in your area, substitute with an equal mixture of the following spices: ¼ ginger, cloves, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon and paprika. Or you can simply use any spice blend you have for this dish.

 

Taco Salad Bowls

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You won’t believe how simple these taco bowls are to make! Might take you a couple times but rest assured you got this!

A custard cup is all you need to shape the flour tortilla wrap. That, a little time in the oven, a little extra taco seasoning (homemade or store bought) and some cooking spray gives you the perfect vessel to hold your taco salad. Whatever taco seasoning is left over, seal in a ziplock or jar with a lid and save for next time.

These bowls can be used for any kind of salad. Being that they are fairly thin I wouldn’t recommend a warm chili or stew as they would collapse from the moisture. You can also make them in advance, store them in ziplock bags and take them camping.

taco-salad-bowls

Have fun with your tacos! Especially when meals are rushed. We’ve make several recipes with tacos including tacos in a bag, tacos wraps, salads, taco nachos, taco pasta and taco pizzas with more experimenting yet to be done! The kids also love making mini taco salads in scoops!

If you love tacos as much as we do, it’s time to channel your inner taco ninja!

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Taco Salad
Author: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 1 lb ground meat
  • 2 packages taco seasoning
  • 4 small wraps
  • cooking spray
  • taco fixin's
  • custard cups
Instructions
  1. Over medium high heat in a sauce pan, add and brown your meat. Follow instructions on taco seasoning package and cook until liquid absorbed.
  2. Preheat oven to 350.
  3. Turn custard cups upside down and place on baking sheet. Give a quick spray on bottom of cups with cooking spray. Take one wrap and carefully mold it to the bottom of the custard cup, centering it and shaping with your hands to form a bowl shape. They might rip if the wraps are cold, so ensure they are room temperature. Don't worry if the wrap doesn't stick or looks funny, as it bakes in the oven it will follow the shape of the cup and firm up.
  4. Next spray the bottom of the wrap and sprinkle with extra taco seasoning or even just salt and pepper. Bake in oven for 2-3 minutes.
  5. Open oven and carefully remove wraps from custard cups. Put hot custard cups aside to cool down. Place wraps back on baking sheet right side up and allow to bake for another 2 minutes if still soft in the middle. Watching and checking to ensure they do not burn. Once they have firmed up remove from oven and let cool.
  6. Once cooled I add in lettuce, a scoop of taco meat and whatever fixins float my boat at the time. We like to put the bowls of toppings on the table and let everyone help themselves.
Notes
Fixin's are anything you like on tacos! Some of our favourites are jalapenos, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, grilled corn sliced off the cob, fresh salsa, avocado, guacamole, sour cream, black beans, cheese.

 

taco-salad-01

 

 

The Blue Cheese, Pear and Dark Ale Caramelized Onion Burger

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I was recently at a private event here in Calgary for Jelly Modern Doughnuts. It was an interactive evening where we got to decorate doughnuts and as an ice breaker we were asked to create a new doughnut. Sounds easy enough right? Well then we were told to go around and ask other attendees what their doughnut creation was and give them a sticker if you loved their idea. The most stickers won. Sadly my doughnut idea didn’t win but the combination remains a tried and true favourite in many variations; blue cheese, pear, toasted walnuts on top with a honey drizzle. This is what lead to the inspiration for our new burger, The Blue Cheese, Pear and Dark Ale Caramelized Onion Burger. For the sauce I grabbed some chipotle peppers in adobe sauce, mixed it with mayo, and we ended up with a delicious Chipotle Mayo to accompany the burger.

Not every one in my family loves burgers but that doesn’t stop us from trying new creations regularly. This version, surprisingly, was loved by the entire family.

Burgers are also a great meal to have when you are camping. We mix up a batch of fresh burgers in advance, freeze them individually in burger containers/set given to us by friends and transfer them to the trailer freezer when it’s time to go. It’s the perfect camping meal. You make/take as many as your family will eat and won’t have any leftovers. Everyone loves a good burger while sitting around the campfire.

And here is the next addition to our Triple B (Bakers Burger Blast).

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The Blue Cheese, Pear and Dark Ale Caramelized Onion Burger
Recipe type: lunch, dinner, camping, main,
 
Ingredients
  • 1-1/2 lbs ground beef
  • ½ cup grated white cheddar cheese
  • 1 pear sliced thin and rough chopped
  • 1 onion sliced into thin rings
  • 1 tsp spice blend, your favourite, we used za'atar
  • Olive oil
  • 1 tsp butter
  • salt & pepper
  • ½ cup dark beer
  • ½ cup blue cheese crumbles
  • ¾ cup chipotle mayo
Instructions
  1. Melt butter and olive oil in pan over medium high heat. Add in your onions, turn the heat down and let your onions cook slowly. After about 10 minutes pour in your dark ale. Cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the onions are soft and lightly browned. The liquid will evaporate. Set aside to cool.
  2. Combine burger, cheese, pear, ¼ cup of the caramelized onions, spice blend, salt, pepper and shape into patties.
  3. Grill over medium heat until completely cooked through. Toast your buns, cut side down, until lightly browned.
  4. While still on the grill top your burger with some blue cheese and then the leftover caramelized onions. Leave on grill until cheese starts to ooze a little into the onions.
  5. Once off the grill spread some chipotle mayo on your bun and top with fresh spinach.
  6. This makes 5 good sized burgers or 8 medium sized burgers.
Notes
To make chipotle mayo combine ¾ cup mayo with 1-2 tbsp chipotles in adobe sauce. For a finer consistency puree.

 

 

 

Beef Noodle Soup

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Kids activity nights require quick meals.  I had some leftover roast beef (sliced thin) from a recent roast dinner and had been wanting to do a Vietnamese Beef style Pho (or my rendition of it) for awhile.   Of course I decided to make the soup on an activity night and did not have the time or ingredients to make it the way a Pho should be made.  So I went with what I had and came up with this delicious tasting Beef Noodle Soup.

You can use any leftover roast (cut thin), or steak.  The vermicelli noodles can be the rice kind or regular pasta version.  Precooked noodles makes it easy to assemble this dish quickly.   Play around with seasonings if you wish until you find a flavour combination you like.  A squeeze of lime and some bean sprouts would have been equally delicious to add before serving.

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Beef Noodle Soup
Recipe type: Entree, Lunch, Main, Dinner, Soup
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 2 tetra packs beef stock (7 cups approx.)
  • 1-2 cups cooked leftover roast beef, chopped
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
  • 1 celery stalk, diced
  • ½ onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1-2 tsp fish sauce
  • couple drops sriracha sauce
  • 1-2 green onions, chopped
  • ¼ cup parsley, chopped
  • Vermicelli noodles (precooked)
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • olive oil
Instructions
  1. Pour a glug of olive oil in a hot pan. Add your chopped onion, carrots and celery. Cook until they soften. Add garlic, cook for an extra 1-2 minutes.
  2. Pour in your beef stock and bring to a boil. Add worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, couple drops sriracha sauce, fish sauce and a pinch of salt & pepper. Turn down and let simmer about 20 minutes.
  3. Place cooked noodles in a bowl. With a ladle pour in some soup and top with green onions & parsley.

 

 

 

 

Alberta Burger

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3 out of 4 of us really enjoy a good burger and I am proud my kids are not uber fussy about all the things we put in the burgers. They save the fussiness for the burger preparation “ketchup, cheese and some mayo please” is all they like on their burgers although they boy is becoming more experimental in his lettuce adventures.  Baby steps.

This burger is flavoured with spices of the Middle East and served up in a pita allowing everyone to choose their toppings. We served it with a minted yogurt sauce that my little girl mixed up (and liked!).

In considering what to name this burger I decided to firstly pay homage to my birth Province and place where my babies were born. Secondly celebrate the diversity in cultures that makes Alberta such an incredible place to live.  It’s not just plain beef & buffalo here anymore!

As always if you are on the Wild Rose D-Tox you can not have the yogurt sauce or pita. Use a lettuce leaf instead and add some fresh salsa.

You could easily substitute ground pork or lamb in this recipe. Yummy goodness all wrapped up in a pita.

5.0 from 1 reviews
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Alberta Burger
Recipe type: Burgers, Lunch, BBQ, Grilling, Dinner
 
Ingredients
  • 1½ lb ground beef
  • ½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • ¼ cup red onion, minced
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika (smoked is good too)
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • Pinch of salt & pepper
  • Pita or buns
Instructions
  1. ADD all ingredients in a bowl and combine until just mixed. Shape into oval patties, you should get approximately 6-8 patties.
  2. ON a heated grill cook approximately 5 minutes per side on medium high heat. Serve in a pita with your favourite fixin's.
Notes
To make Minted Yogurt Sauce: In a bowl mix together ½ cup diced tomatoes (seeded), ½ cup diced cucumber (seeded), ½ cup plain greek yogurt, 2 tbsp fresh mint (chopped), 1 garlic clove (minced) and a pinch of salt.

 

Double Bacon Burger

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When you hear double bacon burger, what comes to mind?! Double patties, double the bacon? For me it’s usually double the bacon. That’s exactly what we did with this burger. We’ve doubled the bacon by adding cooked bacon on the burger and mincing some bacon while still raw and adding it to the burger before forming.

Don’t fret. We’ve been doing this for over 10 years and never once gotten sick or has the burger/bacon been under cooked. The key is either to grind the bacon or mince it very small. By doing this it melts right into the raw burger adding extra flavour keeping it juicy. Now having said that if you like your burger still mooing, you may not want to try or slightly fry your bacon a little first before adding to the raw meat.

I topped my burger with a little mayonnaise – sometimes flavoured, spinach/arugula mix, slow cooked & caramelized onions, crisped bacon and Gouda or Manchego cheese.

double-bacon-burger-v3

 

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
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Double Bacon Burger
Recipe type: Dinner, Entree, Main, Lunch, Burger
 
Ingredients
  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 4 slices bacon, chopped
  • ¼ cup parmesan cheese
  • salt & pepper
Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients and shape into patties. 1 pound of burger makes 4 good sized burgers or 6 medium sized burgers.
  2. Grill over medium heat until completely cooked through.
  3. Build your burger with your favourite fixins and enjoy.

 

 

Slow Cooker Beef & Barley Stew

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One thing we love to do as a family is fondue. Husband used to fondue as a kid, I was introduced to fondue in the 90’s, and currently own at least 4 or 5 fondue pots. A fondue variety is so much fun, especially when it includes broth, cheese and chocolate all in one night. When we beef broth fondue we add flavour enhancers like ginger and garlic to the broth plus we’ve usually marinated the beef and add those marinating juices as well. As the broth cooks down it intensifies the flavour.

Beef Stew is a comfort food we can’t get enough of. If you do not have leftover fondue broth, beef broth is just as delicious, and you can easily toss some additional garlic, and ginger into the pot as it cooks away.

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Slow Cooker Beef & Barley Stew
Recipe type: Main, Slowcooker, Supper, Entree
 
Ingredients
  • 1-2lbs stew beef (1/2-1 inch cubes)
  • oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 3-4 med sized carrots, chopped
  • ¾-1 cup barley
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ tsp ginger, minced
  • 6 cups beef broth
  • salt & pepper
Instructions
  1. In a skillet over medium high heat add your oil and brown/quick sear your beef in small batches. Remove from pan and place in slowcooker. Continue until all beef is browned.
  2. Turn heat down, pour a little more oil into pan and add your onions, carrots and celery stirring for about 5 minutes. IN the last 2 minutes add your garlic. Pour in a splash of beef broth and scrape up all the brown bits from the pan. Add contents of saucepan into slowcooker with beef.
  3. Pour in the remaining beef broth. Add your bay leaves, soy sauce, ginger and a pinch of salt & pepper. Give a stir and pour in your barley.
  4. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

 

Slow Cooker Beef Chili

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I make a couple different versions of chili. When I was single my favourites were Veggie Chili, and a Four Bean Chili. Enter the meat eater I married, and this is now one of our family favourites since it is slow cooked all day in the crockpot allowing the flavours to marry creating the most delicious tasting beef chili. We also make a mean chicken chili.

In this recipe I only add 2 tbsp of chili powder..any more makes it quite spicy, and I want the kids to eat it! Hubs likes to add more chili powder to his bowl after the fact to give it more heat. While I don’t quite understand this method since the spice would be a little raw for my liking, I don’t question bizarre behavior ha ha!

There are many ways we like to enjoy eating our chili keeping it fun for the kids: in a bread bowl, on nachos with melted cheese, in scoops (taco chips), chili dogs, chili on mac & cheese, chili on a pizza (yes it’s good), chili fries, like a sloppy joe on a bun, with corn muffins or better yet Chili Cheese Corn Muffins, in lasagna, and even on perogies. Don’t be afraid to experiment since a little chili goes a long way!

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Slow Cooker Beef Chili
Recipe type: Supper, Lunch,
 
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs ground beef
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds or cumin
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tbsp chili powder (or more if you like it spicy)
  • ½ tsp allspice
  • 1 tsp cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • ¼ cup tomato paste
  • 5 cups tomato sauce
  • ½ cup beef broth
  • 1 can (19oz) red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
  • 1 can (19oz) black beans, drained & rinsed
Instructions
  1. Over medium-high heat add your oil to a saucepan. Add beef and cook until nicely browned. Add to your slowcooker and put lid on.
  2. In same pan add oil and onions cooking until soft. Drop in garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, chili powder, allspice and cocoa powder stirring for a minute or two. Next add your worcestershire sauce, beef broth, tomato paste and tomato sauce stirring well. Bring sauce to a boil scraping up any bits from the bottom of the pan.
  3. Take pan off heat and pour over beef in slowcooker. Add your beans and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours or until hot & bubbling.
  4. Once ready bring slowcooker stoneware to table and serve.
  5. Add whatever crunchies & fixins you like!
Notes
Fixins can be anything you like: chopped jalapeno peppers, chopped cilantro, chopped bell peppers, chopped purple onion, chopped green onion, shredded cheese, hot sauce, chopped tomatoes, sour cream. Find the combo that works for you!

 

Grilled Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

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Steak has always been one of my favourite things. My dad would grill it up on occasion, but it would always be the same cut of steak and have to much of the same barbecue sauce added every time. This my friends is what food memories are all about – ahhh the good ole days!

These days I do steak a variety of ways. This Grilled Steak with Chimichurri Sauce is simple, yet the sauce packs a punch of flavour. Today I am using a top sirloin steak to go with my chimichurri. Mix together a few spices, some garlic and olive oil. Rub onto the steak and let sit for awhile. Mix up your chimichurri, grill your steak to your liking and Bob’s your uncle.

Chimichurri sauce originates from Argentina & South America and is a green sauce used to accompany any grilled meat or veg. I’ve had green, red and even a white chimichurri and it’s such a delicious flavour boost. Try adding some to roasted potatoes – super yum right?

As a side to the steak we grilled up some mushrooms and asparagus and filled half our plate with veggies.

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Grilled Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
Author: 
Recipe type: sauce, side
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs steak (whatever you enjoy, striploin, sirloin, filet)
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp coriander
  • ½ Pepper
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tbsp + ½ cup olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • ½ cup fresh parsley leaves
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice, fresh
  • 2 tbsp fresh oregano
  • 5 cloves garlic, peeled
  • ½ tsp each salt & pepper
Instructions
  1. Combine cumin, coriander, salt and pepper in a bowl. Sprinkle onto your steak. Add minced garlic and approximately 1 tbsp olive oil and rub everything onto the steaks. Let sit and marinate in fridge until ready to grill (at least 30 minutes).
  2. Mix up your chimichurri by blending together ½ cup olive oil, parsley, lemon juice, oregano, garlic and salt/pepper. Blend until combined and set aside.
  3. Grill your steak to your liking and serve with chimichurri sauce.

 

 

Steak with Chimichurri Sauce
Steak with Chimichurri Sauce

 

 

Taco & Pepper Pita Pizza

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Third times a charm?  Good thing I’ve had 5 workouts in 4 days to make myself feel better about these pizza experiments.  This will be the last pizza submission for this week as I am getting pizza’d out.  However having said that I have at least 4 more ideas spinning through my head for pizzas based on leftovers.

Leftover taco meat can be used many ways.  On a pizza for a quick lunch or supper is a quick meal for a busy family.  I love hot peppers and used pickled jalapeno’s in this recipe.  I also used regular peppers (orange, yellow & green) both sliced and diced.

Options are endless.  What I enjoy on a taco or taco salad is what I put on this pizza.  I did not use exact quantities below as some people may prefer more of a topping, others less.  You decide.

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Taco & Pepper Pita Pizza
 
Ingredients
  • 1 whole wheat pita
  • ¼-1/2 cup taco meat
  • ¼ cup peppers (cut into rings, or diced)
  • 1-2 tbsp salsa (or taco sauce)
  • 1 tbsp pickled jalapeno peppers (or banana peppers)
  • ¼ cup diced tomatoes
  • ½-1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese or monterey jack
  • ½ cup sliced lettuce (romaine)
Instructions
  1. Spread salsa on your pita with a spoon, knife or pastry brush.
  2. Next layer on your peppers, tomatoes and taco meat. Finally spread your cheese all over. I admittedly added a light dusting of shredded parmesan on top.
  3. Broil in oven for about 2-3 minutes or until cheese melted and bubbling. I bake mine on a pizza stone but a cookie sheet or pizza pan works just as well.
  4. Remove from oven, let sit for a few minutes before slicing. I sprinkled fresh lettuce on top. Outstanding.

 

Beef Carbonnade, Crockpot

0 · · 2 Comments

Spring has definitely sprung and today would have been a great night to BBQ. However I had some stew meat to use up so I decided to pull out the good old reliable slow cooker perhaps one last time until the Fall and make a nice hearty beer infused Beef Carbonnade, Crockpot.  It’s a Belgian dish and I choose this time to use a dark beer or more specifically Rickards Dark (an English style porter) because I had it on hand.

I initially found the flavour quite strong so I added in some beef broth to help mellow it a bit.  And take the edge off it did….however the flavour of the dark ale was still present (and yummy by all accounts).  We served it with a cheesy mashed potato.

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Beef Carbonnade, Crockpot
Author: 
Recipe type: Dinner, Entree, Main,
 
Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp oil
  • ½ half a package bacon
  • 2 lbs stewing beef
  • 2 medium onions, sliced thin
  • 6 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 tsp dried thyme leaves
  • 1 tsp old bay seasoning (or celery seeds if you have on hand)
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp seasoning salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • ¼ cup flour
  • 2 cups beer (or beer/beef broth combo)
Instructions
  1. Season your stew meat with salt & pepper.
  2. In a sauce pan over medium-high heat add a glug of oil and then brown your beef stew in batches. Transfer to Slowcooker.
  3. Next add in your bacon and cook until crisp. Remove and drain on paper towel. Set aside. Once cool cut into 1 inch pieces and add to the slow cooker.
  4. In pan with remaining bacon fat add in your sliced onions. Cook until soft. Add garlic, thyme, old bay seasoning, bay leaves, another dash of salt & pepper and cook for 1 minute or so. Sprinkle sugar over mixture in pan and stir well. Add flour and cook for another minute (stir as you go). Finally add your beer/broth combo, increase your heat a little and cook until mixture thickens.
  5. Pour saucepan mixture over beef & bacon. I give it a little stir, cover and cook on low for about 5-6 hours or until meat is tender. Remove bay leaves and serve immediately.

Simple Lasagna

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Simple Lasagna with 4 cheeses (provolone, ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella) is easier to make then you think.  Do not be intimidated.  Get your ingredients ready and put aside a little time (love) to make the lasagna and you will be so happy you did….there’s nothing like a home made lasagna.  Right now my dd does not like lasagna but that is ok. I still make it a couple times a year because the rest of us love it.

This is one of those recipes you make without thinking about measurements and such.  Today I took the time to measure out the ingredients so I could post this recipe.  And here we go….

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Simple Lasagna
Recipe type: Beef, Dinner, Kid Friendly, Lunch, Pasta, Simple
 
Ingredients
  • 1.5lbs ground beef
  • 2 jars of your favourite pasta sauce OR 4 cups of homemade tomato sauce
  • 1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced (or more if you love mushrooms)
  • ½ cup onion, diced
  • 2 tsp oregano
  • 2 tsp basil
  • 1 container ricotta cheese (500gr)
  • 2 cups or more mozzarella, shredded
  • 1 cup provolone, shredded or slices
  • ½ cup parmesan, shredded
  • 1 package oven ready lasagna noodles
  • salt & pepper
  • 1 head garlic
  • 1-2 cups fresh spinach, washed & chiffanade (chopped)
  • Hot pepper flakes
  • Olive Oil
  • Pam
Instructions
  1. Use either a 9x11 baking dish or 9x13. Spray with pam.
  2. Preheat your oven to 350F. Slice the top off your garlic and place in either a garlic baker or on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and kosher salt. Wrap foil around garlic to seal or place lid on garlic baker and put in oven for approximately 45-50 minutes or until garlic soft.
  3. In a sauce pan over medium high heat add your oil. Drop in your mushrooms and saute until nicely browned.
  4. In a heavy pot add another glug of oil (1 tbsp) and add your diced onions. Once the onions have cooked for a couple minutes add your burger. Cook until burger is browned (fat released from burger will also cook away). Always cook your burger until browned as the browning adds incredible flavour to the meat. Add your sauce, oregano, basil, roasted garlic and season with salt & pepper. Mix well. If your mushrooms are ready toss them in too. If you like hot pepper flakes now is the time to add them (1/2 tsp to start). Let the sauce simmer at least 30 minutes to combine flavours.
  5. In a bowl add all of your ricotta cheese. Mix in your fresh spinach, ¾ cup shredded mozzarella and a dash of salt & pepper. If you do not like spinach substitute parsley.
  6. You are now ready to assemble the lasagna. I start with a ladle of meat sauce on the bottom of your baking dish. Spread it around. Then add a layer of your ready to bake lasagna noodles. Another layer of meat sauce on top of the noodles…you want them to be covered so don’t be stingy here. Then noodles. At this point (I call it mid point) you are ready for your ricotta mixture. Spread it all over the noodles evenly so you have a nice layer of ricotta cheese. And then another layer of noodles. Spread more meat sauce on the noodles. More noodles go down and finally your last layer of meat sauce. If you have leftover meat sauce don’t worry as it can be frozen and used in a pasta dish layer. On top of the last layer of meat sauce spread out your mozzarella. We tend to use alot…even cheddar at this point. Add your provolone and parmesan.
  7. Tent with aluminum foil (allowing air for lasagna to breathe) and bake about 45 minutes. Then take the foil off and continue to bake until cheese is brown and bubbling. Remove from oven and let sit on counter 15-20 minutes to settle. Serve and enjoy.

Here is my mini chef H adding the sauce on the noodles.
Here is my mini chef H adding the sauce on the noodles.

 

Lasagna all assembled with slices of provolone on top.
Lasagna all assembled with slices of provolone on top.

 

Lasagna resting and ready for eating.
Lasagna resting and ready for eating.