Beef Liver and Onions

Yes, I really typed that.  Liver.  It was in a side of beef that we had purchased a while ago, and I had no idea what to do with it.  I've had people tell me to cook it "low and slow" and "high and fast."  What to do?  I asked a couple friends then went surfing around the internet for help.

What I learned:

1. Soaking the liver in milk rids it of that liver-y taste (if you don't like it).
2. Don't overcook the liver; it will become tough.

Based on these things, I decided that higher and faster would be the way I would go.  One thing I didn't like, though, was the onions cut in rings.  The next time I made this, I just chunked them up--no strings of onions to try and cut through, and the taste was the same.  (I have texture issues...)

This recipe turned out delicious!  I was surprised that I liked liver; now on the off-chance we order more beef in the future, I'll know exactly what to do with the liver we get.

Here's the recipe!

Beef Liver and Onions

1 1/2 pounds of sliced beef liver
milk as needed to cover the liver (one cup, maybe more)
2-4 tablespoons of butter/oil/lard (whatever you use, or combination), divided
2 medium/large onions, either cut into rings or chopped to your preferred size
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup or so of all-purpose flour
garlic powder, salt, pepper -- for seasoning

Gently rinse liver slices under cold water, swipe moister away with fingers, and place in a bowl.  Pour milk over liver until covered; let stand 30 minutes to an hour.

Heat two tablespoons of butter/oil/lard in a large skillet set on medium heat.  Stir in the onions and garlic and saute until soft.  Remove to a separate bowl.

Drain the milk from the liver.  Season the liver with salt, pepper, and garlic, and dredge in the flour (or sprinkle the flour over the slices).

Meanwhile, heat the remaining two tablespoons butter/oil in the skillet on medium-high.  Place the coated liver slices in the pan; cook until nice and brown on the bottoms.  Flip and cook the other sides until browned.  Add the onions back into the skillet and reduce heat to medium.  Cook just a bit longer to meld the flavors together.  Don't overcook!  Cut a piece to see if it's a teeny bit pink inside, then remove from heat and serve.

Back to life,
Christine

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Summer Kebabs Marinade

As with all my recipes, it is below--as in, after all the stories and pictures.  :)

If you follow my blog at all, you know we've been struggling financially since Fernando was laid off last autumn.  We are in the process of starting our own business, which is a slow process.  More money goes out than comes in, and expenses have to be cut.  (I promise there's a recipe.)

For meals, I want to plan as much as possible.  However, with leaner times here, I tend to pick something in the freezer and see what I can make with it.  When I opened my freezer door recently, this package of kebab meat called my name.  This is what you would call a blessing meal, because that package of kebab meat was given to us by friends whom we helped move this past April.  I remembered a marinade that Fernando and I had put together, and guessed/hoped we had the (simple) ingredients for it, since they're typical pantry staples I usually stock.

We have been skimpy on veggies these past several months, gladly accepting gifts from friends and thankfully picking what we can from our garden this summer.  For the kebabs, we used organic sweet red peppers, given to us by another friend whom we helped with her family's friendship garden.  Isn't the Lord good to us?  We think so.  :)

Kebabs are a great summertime meal, combining meat and veggies on the grill.  It's an even better summertime meal when your husband does the grilling!  Just add another side dish--rice, potatoes, or corn muffins or whatever you have on hand--and your meal is complete.

Here is the kebab process in pictures:  Simply make the marinade, marinate the meat, put it on skewers (if using wood, make sure you soak them in water for 10-15 minutes so they don't burn) with the veggies of your choice, then grill according to your grill specifications.

Marinate the kebab meat.

My awesome Grillmaster.

Teriyaki Ginger Kebabs, and chicken sausage with asadero cheese (from Costco)

Teriyaki Ginger Marinade 
Yield:  Enough marinade for 1-2 pounds kebab meat

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (or 1/4 teaspoon ground)
2 tablespoons teriyaki sauce (I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos)
4 teaspoons toasted sesame oil (yes, I had this in my pantry!)
2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
1 teaspoon sugar (I used cane juice crystals)

Grate the fresh ginger with a microplane grater.  In a small bowl, combine all ingredients.  Pour it over your meat; you may use a plastic sealable bag, or whatever works.  I used a four-cup glass measuring bowl.  I cover my marinating meat and put in the fridge.  Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.

Assemble your kebabs--alternate meat and veggies on skewers, and simply grill to doneness.  I wish I could tell you how to grill, but I can't.  Just one more thing--discard any remaining marinade; you don't want to use it on your meat on the grill, since the raw meat was soaking in it.  Seems a shame, but that's the way of it.

These kebabs were tender and delicious, and the sweet red peppers were amazing.  You can also use this marinade for steaks or any other meat you'd marinate.

Enjoy!


Back to life,
Christine

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Beef and Broccoli Casserole

I took these photos a while ago, so I don't have a main "pin this on Pinterest!" image.  Sorry about that.  Plus, we haven't even eaten this casserole yet!  I'll explain as I go along.

So, you can see that huge bowl of cooked ground beef below, and you're probably wondering why you would want to cook up that much for one recipe (it's four pounds).  Well, that's because it's a quadruple batch.  A family at church was on the verge of having a baby (they now have a new little boy!), and we wanted to bless them with a freezer meal--something that could be pulled out when they needed a meal, and thawed and baked.

I don't have very many recipes that can be frozen like this, but I created this one for this very purpose.  For this particular day of preparation, we made four casseroles and froze all four, one for the D. family and the other three for future meals for our family.  Or, perhaps someone else would need a meal and then we'd be able to quickly bless them without having to make something all over again!

Brown rice goes very well in this tomato-based dish (you can use white, too).

I left off the cheese topping in all but the D. family's dish.

We'll top ours with fresh when we're ready to bake them.

Here's the casserole with cheese on top.

Four pans destined for the freezer.

I put plastic wrap on top of the cheese/meat before covering it with foil.

Quick and easy directions right on the aluminum foil.

Beef and Broccoli Casserole

1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained
2 14.5-oz. cans diced tomatoes
one head broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces and steamed just til tender
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Northwoods seasoning (from Penzey's spices--substitute some paprika, thyme, and pepper)
shredded cheddar cheese for topping (or use your favorite)

Mix everything up and pour into a 13x9 casserole dish.  Top with shredded cheese.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes, until hot and bubbly.

Easy!  Freezes well!  The D. family loved it.  And now I have some in my own freezer for one of those busy days...

If there's another photo below, then we've eaten one of our casseroles and I remembered to take a picture of it.  :)


Back to life,
Christine

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Confetti Rice with Beef ~ One-Dish Meal

It seems I have had just a little extra time on my hands lately.  It also seems I've been hard at work doing not much!  Except for dinner, that is--that meal has come together nicely each night this week.  So nicely, in fact, that I've had time to stop and document each night's process with photos.  And that's doubly nice.

I've been trying my hand at creating images that look nice on Pinterest.  I've learned--mostly the hard way--that I need to have vertical images for bigger pop.  And space somewhere within the image to imprint the name of the recipe.  I'm sure you want to know all this, huh?  Okay, okay, I'll stop now.

The Process

Confetti brings to mind lots of little pieces, and lots of different colors.  And that's what this meal is--lots of colorful veggies, some brown rice, some meat.  Colorful and delicious and healthy, too!

I always like to gather all my ingredients so I'm not prepping one ingredient, then searching for the next ingredient to measure, etc.  It's all at hand, ready to grab and chop, or measure into a measuring cup.

My kitchen work station, between the stove (left) and the sink (right).

The veggies are all added together, so they went into one four-cup prep bowl.

Meanwhile, the rice is simmering on the stove.

The meat and the veggies get mixed in a pot (I used a six-quart pot).

No seasoning needed other than salt and pepper--but I added this for a special flavor.

I also used a little beef bouillon when I simmered the meat and veggies.

The meat and veggies are cooked and awaiting the rice.

This is another one of those versatile recipes!  Don't be afraid to substitute your favorite veggies--or what you have on hand--for the ones I've listed.  Because I've listed the ones I happened to have on hand and used tonight.

Oh, and why not--go ahead and use ground chicken or turkey (change the bouillon to chicken)!  Or use some beans and go meatless.  And the seasoning--I used Cajun seasoning, but you could keep it simple and use plain salt and pepper (which is also delicious!) or your own favorite spice blend.  That's just how versatile this recipe is.

Hey, I just thought of something else--what if you have leftover rice in the fridge?  Even easier!  Mix it into your meat mixture once it's done, and heat the whole thing up gently.

The Recipe

Confetti Beef with Rice
Eight generous servings

two cups brown rice
4 cups water (or beef broth, or water with bouillon added)
1 pound beef
half a green pepper, chopped
half a red pepper, chopped
1 cup chopped carrot (I chopped up baby carrots)
1/2 cup chopped onion (any kind; I used yellow)
1 cup chopped crimini mushrooms (yeah, they're in there; they're just chopped finely and my non-'shroom guys didn't notice!)
salt and pepper to taste, or other seasoning
beef bouillon, if you're not using beef broth in the rice

In a two-quart saucepan, mix the rice and water or beef broth.  Bring to a boil; reduce to simmer, cover and cook until rice is tender, 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, chop all your veggies.  I chopped mine to a small dice; you can make this chunkier if that floats your boat!

At about the 15-minutes-to-go mark on the rice, add your meat and all your veggies to a six-quart pot.  Cook on medium, stirring from time to time until the meat is browned and the veggies are soft.  I didn't need to add any oil to this, but you can add a little if you need.  Add your seasonings in there somewhere during the cooking time.  Maybe a teaspoon of salt since you'll end up with a pretty full pot, but it's your call.  Once the meat is done, taste test and adjust your seasonings.  You can drain the mixture at this point if the meat is fatty, or you're concerned about the fat.

Once the rice is done, carefully scoop it into your meat mixture and stir.  Et voilà!  You're done.  Put it on a trivet or potholder and ring the dinner bell, 'cause it's time to eat!

I ate my portion on a bed of Romaine.

Back to life,
Christine

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Where's the Beef?

We waited and waited, and wondered and wondered.  We had purchase a side of beef from our farmers, and we were supposed to get it in early December...but it was January and we still didn't have it.  We finally received a phone call with our beef order, and the guys and I went to pick it up last weekend.

Eric and Samantha raise Murray Grey cattle for our yummy beef.

Because their cows were smaller on average this past year, Eric gave us the option of purchasing a second side.  So instead of a 1/4 side of beef, we ended up receiving a very large quarter side, but not quite a half.

The boys did all the work, and Fernando and I drove home happy.  Our freezer is now stocked again with yummy, 100% grass-fed beef.


Back to life,
Christine

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