Beer and Brown Sugar Marinade

I like red meat. It just screams "dinner" to me. Chicken's okay, don't get me wrong, and I like fish, but for some reason they don't say "dinner" in quite the same way. I can't quite explain it, but there's something about having a hunk of steak for dinner that just feels good. As you all probably also know, I'm a big fan of teriyaki. Love it. My steak teriyaki is one of my favorite meals, both to eat and to prepare. When I spotted this recipe on Allrecipes.com, I couldn't skip over it, I had to print it out to try it. The only change I made was doubling the marinade ingredients, and it was definitely a super yummy meal, and quite easy to put together. So thank you, Craig Jones, wherever you are, for this one, it's awesome.

Beer and Brown Sugar Steak Marinade

adapted from Allrecipes.com, courtesy of Craig Jones

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2 16 oz beef sirloin steaks (I used thinly sliced NY Strip steaks, and they were awesome)

1/2 cup dark beer

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (I used some of my own teriyaki sauce)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp seasoned salt (think Lawry's)

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1. Preheat grill, or grill pan on stove, for high heat.

2. Use a fork to poke holes all over the surface of the steaks, and place steaks in a large baking dish. In a bowl, mix together beer, teriyaki sauce, and brown sugar. Pour sauce over steaks, and let sit about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with half of the seasoned salt, pepper and garlic powder; set aside for 10 minutes. Turn steaks over, sprinkle with remaining seasoned salt, pepper and garlic powder, and continue to marinate for 10 more minutes.

3. Remove steaks from marinade. Pour marinade into small saucepan, bring to a boil and cook for several minutes.

4. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill steaks for 7 minutes per side, or to desired doneness. During the last few minutes of grilling, baste steaks with boiled marinade to enhance the flavor and ensure juiciness.

Pan Seared Steak with Red Wine Sauce

Beef. It's what's for dinner. I was a big fan of those commercials, and not just because I liked the Aaron Copeland music it used. I am a big fan of beef for dinner. I try not to have it too frequently, because I know red meat is best in moderation, but it's absolutely one of the best things for dinner in my book. When I found this recipe, I had a hunch that it was right up my alley. I've recently learned that I'm a huge fan of red wine pan sauces (hello brown sugar pork with red wine sauce!), so I knew I had to try this.

This was a good recipe - I'm not a master yet at pan-searing steaks, but all in all, it turned out well. Baby was less than interested, but that's not abnormal. I made crispy roasted potatoes to go with, which he enjoyed dipping in his red wine sauce. I would probably make this again, but I would double the ingredients for the pan sauce, except for the shallot. I like to have lots of sauce with my meat, but that's just me. Enjoy!



Pan Seared Steak with Red Wine Sauce
adapted from Cook's Illustrated
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2 boneless 8-oz ribeye steaks or top loin steaks, 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick, thoroughly dried with paper towels

Table salt and ground black pepper

1 small shallot, minced (about 2 tablespoons)

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1/4 cup dry red wine, like Cabernet Sauvignon

1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 bay leaf

1 1/3 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces

1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves

1. Heat heavy-bottomed 10-inch skillet over high heat until very hot, about 3 minutes. Meanwhile, season both sides of steaks with salt and pepper.

2. Lay steaks in pan, leaving 1/4-inch of space between each; reduce heat to medium-high and cook without moving until well-browned, about 4 minutes. Using tongs, flip steaks; cook 4 minutes more for rare, 5 more for medium rare, and 6 more for medium. Transfer steaks to large plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

3. Off heat, add shallot and sugar to empty skillet; using pan's residual heat, cook, stirring frequently, until shallots are slightly softened and browned and sugar is melted, about 45 seconds. Return skillet to high heat, add wine, broth and bay leaf; bring to boil, scraping up browned bits on pan bottom with wooden spoon. Boil until liquid is reduced to 3 tbsp, about 4 minutes. Stir in vinegar and mustard; cook at medium heat to blend flavors, about 1 minute longer. Off heat, whisk in butter until melted and sauce is thickened and glossy. Add thyme and seasont o taste with salt and pepper. Remove bay leaf, spoon sauce over steaks and serve immediately.

Beef Stroganoff

Beef stroganoff wasn't a recipe I was familiar with until I grew up. I always knew it as noodles and mushrooms as a kid. It was actually one of my favorite things to eat back then. And, interestingly enough, I didn't even have the mushroom version. My parents did, but my mom would make a separate pan for me without the mushrooms - I've never been a fan, even as a kid. It's the texture that creeps me out. I don't hate the flavor they give, but I definitely don't want one in my mouth. Husband's the same way, so I skip the mushrooms when I make beef stroganoff. If one mushroom were to happen to wind up on his plate, I think he'd never forgive me, so my beef stroganoff isn't quite as tasty as my mom's was. Oh well.

Beef Stroganoff

2 pounds top round steak or London broil (should serve 4-6 people)

3 medium-sized yellow onions and a tbsp of olive oil

1 carton button mushrooms (I always skip these!)

1 container sour cream (not the smallest - but the one just larger)

2 Knorr beef stock cubes and half a cup of water

Egg noodles to serve with

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Slice onions and fry on medium heat in a large pot with a tablespoon of olive oil and a dash of salt for about five minutes. Set aside.

3. Slice beef into thin strips about 2 inches long.

4. In small portions, put beef in hot pot; sear and set aside. Repeat until all beef has beef has been seared (2-3 minutes, tops!).

5. Slice mushrooms in half.

6. Turn heat off your burner. Combine all onions, mushrooms and beef in pot.

7. Heat up about half a cup of water in the microwave and dissolve the two Knorr stock cubes in the water. Add to pot. Add four heaping spoonfuls of sour cream and mix it all up.

8. Add salt and pepper to taste. Don't be tempted to add any more water; it may look dry, but a lot of water is going to come out of the onions, mushrooms and steak.

9. Cover with lid, put in oven, and cook for about an hour in a half. When it's done, stir in two more heaping spoonfuls of sour cream and you're done!

Serve atop hot egg noodles and enjoy!

Click here for printable recipe

Steak & Onion Sandwiches

Did you know that Everyday Food is put out by Martha? In theory, it's her more user-friendly recipes, and earlier this year during a trip to Home Goods with my best friend, I picked up their cookbook anthology, Everyday Food: Great Food Fast, which so far has yet to let me down. This recipe is one I happened to watch my best friend prepare this last week and it smelled so awesome that I had to hurry up and put it on my own menu.

This was a super easy meal to put together this weekend. We all (except Baby, but then again he's not into meat) really enjoyed it. I used cuban bread for the toasted country bread, and I used yellow onions for my medium onions.

Steak & Onion Sandwiches
Everyday Food: Great Food Fast

Click here for printable recipe **NEW! Tell me if you like this feature!**

3 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium onions, sliced into 1/2-inch-thick rings
Course salt and fresh ground pepper
4 minute steaks (3 ounces each)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Toasted country bread

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onions until browned, tossing occasionally, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; remove.
2. Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the same skillet over high heat. Season the steaks with salt and pepper. Cook for 30 seconds on each side; remove. Add the Worcestershire sauce and 2 tablespoons of water to the skillet, scraping up the browned bits with a wooden spoon. Return the onions to the skillet; toss.
3. Sandwich the steak and onions between toasted country bread. Serve immediately.

Beef Teriyaki

Mmm, good dinner tonight. I know, beef teriyaki wasn't on the menu for tonight, it was supposed to be earlier this week, but it's been a hairy week, dinner-wise, so things got made totally out of order. No big deal, though really. This beef teriyaki recipe is so good that my 15-month-old even enjoys it, and he's a little picky (wonder where that comes from). He wound up covered in rice by the end of dinner, but he enjoyed himself immensely.

This recipe is really quite simple, once you have the ingredients on hand. I generally keep a good amount of sirloin (my personal favorite choice of steak cut for this dish) on hand in the freezer - if I can get a good deal on it, I'll buy a ton and wrap it in Press `n Seal Freezer and bag it up. One of the key ingredients in this recipe is a bit exotic, and may not be something you have around the house: mirin. You should be able to find it in the Asian or International Foods aisle at your grocery store. It's kind of like a sweet version of sake. Some cookbooks I've read say you can substitute dry sherry for mirin, and personally, I think that it tastes totally different than mirin. Go get the mirin. Really. Oh - and you can use fresh grated ginger, if you're into that, I just use the jarred version because I'm lazy.

Type A Mommy's Beef Teriyaki

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1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons mirin
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds steak, sliced thin in bite-size pieces (I use top sirloin mostly)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1. Slice up your steak. Try to make the pieces the same size, where possible.
2. Heat up your vegetable oil in a 12-inch skillet, over medium-high heat until smoking.
3. Put your soy sauce, sugar, mirin, cornstarch, ginger and garlic cloves together in a small bowl and stir. Set aside for now.
3. Cook steak in batches. Do NOT crowd the pan - it will result in rubbery steak. Cook each batch for about 2 minutes per side. Set aside cooked steak in a bowl, and start your next batch. I usually wind up doing about 4 batches, all in all.
4. Once you've cooked all your steak, turn the heat down to medium and stir up your teriyaki sauce, then add to skillet. Stir sauce around skillet, making sure to scrape up any browned bits left in your skillet.
5. Simmer sauce over medium heat until thickened, dark and syrupy. This should take as little as 5 minutes, or as many as 10. Once thickened, add meat and any accumulated juices back to pan and stir well. I usually let the meat simmer in the sauce for one minute or two while I finish preparing my rice to go with. Serve immediately.NOTE: Feel free to add any stir-fry friendly vegetables you would like to this dish. Onions and broccoli go especially well with this.

Type A Mommy's Meatloaf

Sorry, folks, but I was so hungry last night that I neglected to take a photo of my beautiful meatloaf before my friend and I devoured it. Whoops. Oh well. I'll be making it again next week, so hopefully, I'll remember to take one and I'll post it then.

So...everyone has a recipe for meatloaf, and every one of them seems different. This is the meatloaf that I grew up with, that my mother made, though I've tweaked it a little bit over the years to suit my taste a little better.

Type A Mommy's Meatloaf
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1- 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef (ground chuck is preferrable)
1 egg
1/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons Worshistire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Accent
1 tablespoon dried onions

*** NOTE: Put your meatloaf together the night before you plan to eat it and refrigerate overnight. It tastes best this way.
1. Beat egg. Add ketchup, breadcrumbs, Worshistire sauce, salt, Accent, and onions. Mix well, and set aside for at least five minutes.
2. Add ground beef. Mix well with hands until mixture is fully combined.
3. Wet hands. Shape meatloaf with wet hands into a ball, deposit ball into casserole dish with cover. Cover meatloaf and refrigerate overnight.
4. Bake, covered, at 350 for 1 hour for a 1 lb ground beef meatloaf, 1 hour and 30 minutes for a 1 1/2 lb ground beef meatloaf. Let meatloaf sit, covered, in casserole dish for at least five minutes before serving.