Mr. Prof designer home

I've attempted homemade Chinese food many times and while the dishes are generally pretty tasty they always seem to be lacking something. The photo that accompanied Sally's Beef and Broccoli post had me hooked. Beef and Broccoli was my go-to dish at Chinese restaurants when I was a kid. I would go to a local spot with my grandmother once a week and I always ordered it, usually with extra sauce. It was thick and rich and so, so good I can almost taste it as I'm typing this post.

My sauce wasn't as thick and richly dark as the dish from my childhood, but this was spot-on in terms of flavor. I doubled the sauce recipe below since I love extra sauce and I wish I'd done it when I made the dish - the sauce really made it perfect. I also needed more sauce for the marinade - the original recipe didn't coat all the beef. This is a real winner.

Beef and Broccoli
As seen on Bewitching Kitchen, adapted from Simply Recipes

1 pound flank steak or sirloin, sliced thinly across the grain
1 pound broccoli florets
2 tablespoons grape seed oil
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded, cut in slices
1 clove garlic, very finely minced
1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons water

For the beef marinade
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Freshly ground black pepper

For the sauce
4 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth (or water)

Start by marinating the beef: mix all ingredients in a bowl, add the pieces of beef and stir to coat the slices. Let it stand for 10 minutes, while you prepare the sauce and blanch the broccoli.

Make the sauce by mixing the oyster sauce, rice wine (or sherry), soy sauce, and chicken stock (or water) in a small bowl. Reserve. Place the broccoli in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain very well and reserve.

Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat until a bead of water sizzles and instantly evaporates upon contact. Add the cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the yellow bell pepper and cook it for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly, until it begins to soften. Remove and reserve. Make sure the pan is again very hot, and add the slices of beef, spreading them out all over the surface of the wok or pan in a single layer (preferably not touching). Let the beef fry undisturbed for 1 minute. Flip the beef slices over, add the garlic and reserved bell pepper to the pan and fry for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute until the beef is cooked through.

Pour in the sauce, add the blanched broccoli and bring to a boil. Pour in the dissolved cornstarch and cook, stirring, until the sauce boils and thickens, 30 seconds. Serve over rice.

I'm always looking for quick sandwiches to make for dinner on Tuesday nights. I get home late from my exercise class and it's nice to just throw together a quick sandwich that I prepped earlier. These Roast Beef & Cheddar Panini might not sound special but holy yum were they good.

Like Kate said in her blog post, the chipotle mayo and caramelized onions elevate this from an ordinary sandwich to something extraordinary. Make sure you use a nice, sharp cheddar so the flavor doesn't get lost in the shuffle. I actually brought out my Griddler to make these and I'm glad I did - the crispy bread really adds the finishing touch to these sandwiches. If you're looking for something a little different give these a try.

Roast Beef & Cheddar Panini
As seen on Kate's Recipe Box, originally from Williams Sonoma
Makes 4 sandwiches

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons chipotle sauce
1/3 cup mayonnaise
Cooking spray
8 slices country-style bread
Sliced cheddar cheese, to taste
3/4 lb thin slices roast beef

In a large skillet over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onions, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are completely limp, 10 to 15 minutes. Uncover the pan, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are golden brown and sweet, 35 to 45 minutes; do not allow them to burn. Remove the pan from the heat and let the onions cool to room temperature.

Preheat an electric panini maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Stir chipotle sauce into mayonnaise.

Spray one side of each bread slice with cooking spray. Lay the slices, oiled side down, on a clean work surface. Spread the top of each slice with some of the mayonnaise mixture. Add slices of cheese. Divide the roast beef into four even amounts and place the slices on four pieces of the bread. Evenly divide the caramelized onions and top the roast beef with the onions. Top with the other bread slice, oiled side up.

Place each sandwich on the preheated panini maker and cook according to the manufacturer’s instructions until the bread is golden and the cheese is melted, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer the sandwich to a cutting board and cut in half. Serve immediately.

To many people fall means chili. I have a go-to recipe I use whenever SP asks me to make chili, but I saw this Traditional Chili over at Southern Pink Lemonade and figured I'd give it a try.

This was an incredibly easy recipe - brown the beef, onions and garlic, add in the rest of the ingredients and leave it alone for a few hours. My chili was a little thick, so I had to add in some water as it was cooking. I modified the recipe to add in some water and cut the beer in half - a full bottle was a little too overpowering.

Full disclosure - I'm not a big fan of chili. I made this because SP loves it and so I'd have leftovers for the freezer. I've got big plans to make chili cheese fries sometime this fall.

Traditional Chili
Adapted by Peace, Love, and French Fries, as seen on Southern Pink Lemonade

1 1/2 - 2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, finely diced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
2- 15 ounce cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed (you could also use black beans or pinto beans)
24 ounces tomato sauce
6 ounce bottle of beer
8 ounces water
6 ounce can tomato paste
4 1/5 ounce can diced green chilies
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon cumin
1-2 teaspoons cayenne pepper, depending on how spicy you would like your chili
1 teaspoon paprika
1-2 teaspoons hot sauce, depending on how spicy you would like your chili

In a large soup pot or dutch oven, brown ground beef with onion and garlic over medium-high heat. Drain beef of excess grease, if necessary. Add the remaining ingredients to the pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low. Allow chili to simmer for 3 hours or until thickened. Stir occasionally.

Top with shredded cheese, green onions, or sour cream, if you would like. You can also serve chili over rice, fries, or even top your hotdog with it.

The night I made this for dinner the original plan had been to make Swedish Meatballs with Egg Noodles. But that morning I just couldn't stand the thought of rolling out all the meatballs, not to mention I wasn't in the mood for those flavors. At all. I asked the ladies on my cooking board for inspiration and Creamy Taco Mac way, which I made back in 2010, was mentioned. While we enjoyed it, I haven't made it since, but I remembered that Elly had turned it into a One-Pot Creamy Taco Mac, cooking the pasta with the rest of the ingredients they way I do for my Skillet Beef Stroganoff. Perfect.

Since I had half a large zucchini in the fridge I decided to sub that for the green pepper. Since I didn't have cream cheese I simply left it out and I didn't miss it. The starch from the pasta acted as a binder and brought the whole dish together, especially since I let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving so it could cool slightly. I added sliced scallions as a garnish for some bright onion flavor and I also left the tomatoes with their juice instead of draining them. For a meal that I decided to make only a few hours before dinnertime, this came together surprisingly well.

Creamy Taco Mac
Slightly adapted from Elly Says Opa!

1 lb. ground beef or sirloin
1 onion, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes
3 to 3 1/4 cups low-sodium beef broth
4 tablespoons taco seasoning (recipe below, or use a low-sodium store-bought mix)
8 oz. small pasta shapes, like elbows or small shells
1/2 cup sour cream (low fat is fine)
Shredded cheddar
2-3 scallions, sliced (garnish)

Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the ground beef. Do not stir. Once browned on the bottom, flip the beef, breaking it up, and stir in the onion and zucchini. Cook until onion is translucent and beef is browned. (Drain fat, if necessary.)

Stir in the undrained diced tomatoes, broth, and taco seasoning. Season to taste with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Stir in the pasta. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, about 10 minutes.

Off the heat, add the sour cream and cheddar. Re-season to taste, if necessary. Garnish with sliced scallions.

Taco Seasoning

2 tablespoons mild chili powder
1 tablespoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
3/4 teaspoon paprika

Mix all the spices together. This makes enough seasoning for the 4 tablespoons needed in this recipe.

I'm really getting into beans lately. They're so good for you and versatile to boot. I really need to start keeping a few cans in the pantry for those nights when I don't know what to make for dinner. I remember one of my favorite meals when I studied abroad in England was pasta with tomatoes, red or green bell pepper, onions, garlic and a can of red kidney beans. I cooked all the veggies in olive oil and the oil made a nice sauce for the pasta. It was delicious.

But, I digress. This post is about these Spicy Beef and Bean Burritos, which Jill thoughtfully posted on the day I was planning to make Beef Tostados only to realize the night before that I'd used up all the bacon. Can't make homemade refried beans without bacon (well, you probably could but why would you want to?) And thus these burritos were born.

I omitted the can of black beans from the original recipe, subbing in one pound of ground beef since I'd already defrosted it for the tostados. I also left out the chipotle pepper since I wanted Baby Girl to eat it and swapped the cucumber for avocado since I had one in the fridge that needed to be used up. This recipe makes a ton of filling, so I ended up freezing about half of it. That will come in nice and handy when I need another fast dinner. I made a quesadilla with the leftover filling for lunch the next day that was positively lip-smacking. Unfortunately my tortillas were fajita-size so the burrito I attempted to photograph wasn't really big enough to cut in half, but it was still delicious.

Thanks for saving the day, Jill!

Spicy Beef and Bean Burritos
Modified from Annie’s Eats, as seen on JBean Cuisine

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 lb ground beef
2 cloves garlic, grated or minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon minced chipotle in adobo sauce (I omitted)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 small pinch of cayenne pepper
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 cup water, vegetable broth or chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste
6 tablespoons of your favorite store-bought salsa

For serving:
6 (9- or 10-inch) flour tortillas, warmed
Shredded cheddar cheese
Diced cherry tomatoes
Shredded romaine lettuce
Diced red onion
Diced avocado
Low-fat sour cream or Greek yogurt
Diced cilantro

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent and slightly brown. Add the beef and cook until no longer pink. Drain off any fat. Add the garlic, chili powder, chipotle, cumin, salt and cayenne; stir, cooking just until fragrant, 30-60 seconds. Add the beans and the water or broth to the skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and allow the mixture to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the salsa.

Spoon about a third of a cup of the bean mixture down the center of each tortilla. Top each serving with a pinch of shredded cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, onion, avocado, cilantro and sour cream. Roll the tortilla up tightly, burrito style, and serve immediately.

As I said in Friday's post, I decided to make one sweet and one savory recipe from Jaida's blog, Sweet Beginnings, for the SRC-style recipe swap. Friday brought you the sweet recipe, now here's the savory.


I decided to go with something from her Taco Tuesday posts and then narrowed it down further by looking for a ground beef taco recipe since I have a bunch of ground beef taking up space in my freezer. I was sold when I reached the first recipe in her Taco Tuesday series, Sriracha Beef Tacos. I loved the Ultimate Sriracha Burger that inspired the tacos and already had most of the ingredients on hand.


Jaida isn't a fan of blue cheese but we are, so I switched the dressing back from ranch to blue cheese. I used cheddar instead of pepper jack because I had some on hand and I decreased the amount of Sriracha because I can't handle as much spice as Jaida.

I think 2 tablespoons of chili powder was too much and, unfortunately, the ground beef was a tad gritty because of it. The flavor was still good but the texture was off-putting. I've decreased the amount in the recipe below. These were still beautiful tacos with great flavor, not to mention a nice change of pace from the usual ground beef taco.

Sriracha Beef Tacos
Slightly Modified from Sweet Beginnings

1 lb lean ground sirloin
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion or shallot, finely chopped
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon Sriracha*, divided
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing
8-10 flour tortillas
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
2 cups shredded lettuce

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, add garlic and shallot and cook for 1-2 minutes, until softened. Add sirloin, stir to combine, and cook until browned. Add water, chili powder, cumin and 1/2 tablespoon Sriracha to sirloin mixture. Stir, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes.

While taco mixture finishes cooking, combine blue cheese dressing and remaining 1/2 tablespoon Sriracha in a small bowl. Set aside.

Warm flour tortillas; Spoon taco mixture into tortillas and top with Sriracha sauce, cheese, lettuce and tomato.

*Sriracha is pretty spicy, so adjust the amount according to your tolerance level. If you don’t do well with spicy, you may want to test it 1 teaspoon at a time.

I did an inventory the other weekend and discovered that I have a lot of ground beef in my freezer. I'm always looking for new ground beef recipes, so I figured this was a great time to branch out. My friend Elly had linked to these Soutzoukakia in a recent post, and they sounded so simple and delicious I put them on the menu.


These were a big hit with the whole family. Baby Girl usually eats a day behind us (although we're trying to change that, depending on when SP gets home from work), but she asked for a taste of mine and ended up inhaling two meatballs from my plate. I saved two meatballs for her for next night's dinner and again she inhaled them and asked for more. This is a big deal because she's been off meatballs for awhile now. I really enjoyed the flavors in the meatballs and loved the tomato sauce over the mashed potatoes. Delicious and easy. Thanks for helping me branch out, Elly!

Soutzoukakia
Elly Says Opa!

1 medium onion, divided
1 lb. ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 clove garlic, pressed
2-3 tablespoons fresh parsley
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-2 tablespoons bread crumbs (optional)
Olive oil
1 (15 oz.) can tomato sauce
1 (15 oz.) can water
2 bay leaves
1/2 – 1 teaspoon cumin (start with 1/2 and taste-test)
1 pinch sugar
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon corn starch dissolved in 1/2 cup water

Finely mince or grate half of the onion into a large bowl. Mix in the beef, salt and pepper, oregano, garlic, parsley, egg, and breadcrumbs (if using). Form the mixture into elongated/oval-shaped meatballs. (I got 14 meatballs).

Heat enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a medium Dutch oven or pot over medium-high. Pan-fry the meatballs, in batches, until they are browned on all sides. Remove the meatballs from the pot and drain the oil.

Put the pot back over the heat and add 1 tablespoon oil. Dice the other half of the onion, and add it to the pot; cook until translucent. Add the tomato sauce, water, bay leaves, cumin, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Bring the mixture to a low boil and add the meatballs. Simmer for at least 15 minutes, but longer is fine too. Add the corn starch slurry at the end. Remove the bay leaves and serve over mashed potatoes.

My friend Lishie recently posted this recipe for Mom's Helper, a homemade version of the infamous Hamburger Helper. I needed a quick and easy meal to make on Super Bowl Sunday afternoon that we could take for lunch on Monday. SP said you can't go wrong with beef, pasta and cheese sauce so I gave it a whirl.


After I put aside our lunches and some for Baby Girl's dinner there was still another serving in the pan, which was incredible since the recipe only calls for 1/2-lb of pasta. This meal really stretches a buck, that's for sure. SP snacked on it in the afternoon before we went to a Super Bowl party and deemed it delicious. I enjoyed it for lunch the next day.

I used nugget pasta (also called radiatore) and I upped the amount of Italian seasoning since 1 teaspoon didn't seem like enough. I added salt and pepper to the cheese sauce and the beef mixture since I always season with both. I also erred on the bigger side of the estimates Lishie gave in her original recipe.

Baby Girl gobbled this up, although she picked around most of the bigger chunks of meat. She used to love meatballs but lately she doesn't want anything to do with them. Weirdo! Thanks for a great recipe, Lishie!

Mom's Helper
Modified from DeLish

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1 lb. ground beef
Salt and pepper
8 oz. elbow macaroni (or other small pasta)
4 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large saute pan with deep sides, heat the oil over medium heat. Saute the onion until translucent, then add the garlic and dried herbs. Season with salt and pepper then stir to combine. Add the ground beef and cook through, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, boil the water for the macaroni. Cook the pasta al dente. Drain.
Drain the oil from the beef mixture (you can use a strainer or just put a lid on the pot and invert). Combine the beef mixture and the cooked pasta. Set aside.

Using a small sauce pan, melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk to combine. Slowly add the milk and allow to thicken. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat and add the cheese. Whisk to melt the cheese.

Pour the cheese sauce over the hamburger/macaroni-mix and stir to combine.

I feel like a broken record when I say I found a recipe on Cassie's blog. As I've said before, she and I share a similar cooking style so it's only natural that we'd make each others recipe often. Whenever I make tacos SP wants rice on the side, so when I saw this Taco Rice I figured it was a win-win.


I promise the rice is in there somewhere. Not my best food styling moment but I was experimenting with the lights from my new light box and ended up overdoing the plate a bit.

I was a little disappointed by this dish. It lacked oomph. There wasn't any sauce, which is a big no-no in our house since we love our sauces. And SP told me he really missed the taco shells. After talking it over with Cassie she said her husband often adds crushed tortilla chips to his serving, so I modified the directions below to reflect that. I also changed the ingredient list a bit so there'd be some sauce. I'll definitely try this one again because I think it has potential.

Taco Rice
Cassie Craves

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 clove minced garlic
1 pound ground beef
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup salsa
1/4 cup sour cream,
4 cups steamed rice
Shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, crushed tortilla chips and shredded mozzarella for topping

Heat the vegetable oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and saute until the onions are barely soft. Add the ground beef and break it into small chunks. Add the cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and tomato paste. Let this simmer for about 5 minutes. Combine salsa and sour cream. Stir into the ground beef.

Spread 1/2 to 1 cup of the steamed rice on each plate. Top with the seasoned beef. Top with shredded lettuce, tomatoes, crushed chips and cheese.

These days I love any recipe that involves browning meat and veggies and allowing them to either slowly simmer on the stove or continue cooking in the oven. When I saw this recipe for Beef Goulash on my friend Melissa's blog I knew it would be perfect for a cool fall evening.


I had this on the menu for a recent Sunday, but didn't end up eating it until lunch the next day. We had a crazy busy day with a birthday party and a baptism, plus we ate a ton of great Italian food at the reception following the baptism. When dinnertime rolled around we weren't hungry, although SP did have a quick taste and pronounced it delicious.

It might not sound like a lot of food, but this is a rich dish. I was worried when I saw how much the beef had cooked down, but a little goes a long way. The original recipe called for only 3/4 cup beef broth, but after an hour my pot was looking very dry so I added another cup. I would recommend using a full can of diced tomatoes (15 ounces) and 1 cup beef broth, then checking after an hour and adding another cup of beef broth if necessary. I also found that my large Le Crueset Dutch oven was way too big for this meal. Unfortunately I don't have anything smaller but if you do, I recommend a smaller Dutch oven. Or just double the recipe and freeze half for another time.

Beef Goulash
Slightly Modified from I Was Born to Cook

1 1/4 pounds chuck roast, excess fat trimmed, cut into large cubes
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
15-oz can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 teaspoons flour
2 cups beef broth, divided
1 tablespoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Egg noodles, cooked according to package directions
Sour cream for topping

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Heat oil in a oven safe casserole dish and add beef, cooking until brown. Add onions and garlic, and cook until onions are transparent. Add paprika and stir.

Add tomatoes and tomato paste. Dissolve flour in 1 cup beef broth and add to pot. Add thyme, then salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, stirring often.

Cover tightly and place in oven. Cook for 1 hour. After an hour, if the mixture looks dry, add another 1 cup beef broth. Cover and cook an additional hour. Serve with egg noodles and a dollop of sour cream.

Serves 3.

Another delicious recipe from Cassie, this one for Roast Beef with Mushroom Gravy. I recently discovered why I was having so much trouble with my crock pot (mine is very large so standard recipes tend to burn, a problem I've solved by adding a Pyrex or Corningware dish to make the cooking area smaller) so I'm no longer hesitant to use it.


I prepped the onions and mushrooms the night before so I could sear the beef in the morning before heading to work. I loved coming home to a house that smelled of delicious roast beef with gravy. My only complaint was the greasiness of the gravy. My cut of beef let off a lot of fat, so next time I'll strain the gravy through my fat separator before serving. I served the roast with mashed potatoes but I think egg noodles would also be awesome and am planning to do that next time. Thanks for another winner, Cassie!

Roast Beef with Mushroom Gravy
Cassie Craves

1 3-pound beef roast
2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 10.75-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet dry mushroom gravy mix
1 cup water

In a Dutch oven, heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon of butter over medium-high heat. Season beef roast liberally with salt and pepper. Add beef roast and sear on all sides until caramelized. Add to the bottom of a crock pot.

To same pot, add remaining tablespoon of butter, mushrooms and onions. Cook until mushrooms are brown and onions are soft, then season with salt and pepper. Stir in garlic and cook and stir for 30 seconds. Stir in beef broth and scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to release browned bits. Add mushroom mixture to meat in crock pot.

Mix together cream of mushroom soup and mushroom gravy mix. Pour over meat and mushroom mixture.

Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, until meat begins to fall apart. If it looks greasy, strain mushrooms and onions from the gravy then put gravy into a fat separator. Add the mushrooms and onions back in and serve with mashed potatoes or egg noodles.

Want to see what other Tailgating/Appetizer recipes were made during the swap? Here is the link to the Tailgating/Appetizer Recipe Swap Roundup

Fall is in the air and that means only one thing for many people - the start of football season. I decided to make tailgating/appetizers the theme for the recipe swap to give people some new ideas for fun snacks to make during the games.

My recipe for Philly Cheesesteak Spring Rolls with Spicy Ketchup was perfect, seeing as I live outside of Philly and love a good cheesesteak.


These were rich and delicious, although it made WAY more than the 4 rolls the original recipe called for. I overfilled the rolls and still ended up with 13 rolls, plus an extra sheet and a half (don't know where the half came from) that I used to make a breakfast roll with egg and cheese. I fried up two rolls for us to snack on and froze the rest, along with the breakfast roll, to fry at a later date.

I don't usually do this (and I apologize for the horrible photos/lighting) but I did a step-by-step for the rolling part of the recipe. Just reading the directions confused me until I watched a YouTube video for how to roll an egg roll, so I thought I'd save you the trouble and try to document it in photos.

Philly Cheesesteak Spring Rolls with Spicy Ketchup
Modified from Does Not Cook Well With Others

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 pounds thin-sliced beef, such as Landis, or Steak-Umms
1/2 a large onion, sliced
1/3 pound American cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 pound provolone cheese, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 package spring roll wrappers, 9 1/2-inches in size
2 eggs, beaten with a splash of water
Canola oil

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced beef and cook, chopping with two spatulas to shred, until no longer pink, 5-7 minutes. Strain beef, discarding liquid, and set aside. Return skillet to medium heat, add more oil and the onion. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 20 minutes. Once onion is cooked, add beef back to the skillet.

Reduce heat to medium-low, place cheese slices on top of beef, and allow to melt, 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, toss beef and cheese to mix together and set aside to let cool.

Place 1 wrapper on a clean work surface, keeping other wrappers covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Brush entire surface of wrapper with egg. Form about 1/3 cup of the beef mixture into a log along one edge of the wrapper.


Roll up wrapper, leaving ends open.


Place a second wrapper on the work surface with a corner facing you, brush the corners with egg yolk, and lay the first roll across the bottom corner of the second wrapper.


Roll up wrapper, tightly folding the ends over halfway through. Press down slightly to seal and set aside.


Repeat process with remaining wrappers and filling.

(If freezing, individually wrap each roll in plastic wrap and place in a freezer bag).

Pour canola oil into a heavy medium pot to a depth of 2-inches and heat over medium heat until temperature registers 350 F on a deep-fry thermometer. Fry spring rolls in batches, turning over halfway through, until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Serve whole, or cut in half on a bias, with spicy ketchup dipping sauce (recipe below).

Spicy Ketchup Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1/3 teaspoon cayenne

Combine the ketchup, mustard, honey, and cayenne in a small bowl. Cover and set aside.

I'm sure most people have a handful of meals that bring them back to their childhood. Roast Beef with Onion Gravy is one of mine. This is my dad's favorite meal and one my stepmom made for his birthday every year. I don't know why it's taken me this long to attempt to make it, but I finally emailed her to ask how she made the gravy and was surprised to hear it was as simple as water and onion soup mix in the bottom of the roasting pan.


We had purchased an obscenely large beef tenderloin for Christmas, so after the holiday we vacuum-sealed two, 4-lb roasts and froze them. Seeing as they're getting dangerously close to having a birthday, I figured I better use them quickly. This roast was the second of the two, the first one I made a few weeks ago with my all-time favorite potato gratin recipe. In keeping with my dad's favorites, I served this with mashed potatoes and what was supposed to be peas, until I checked the freezer and saw we were out. Baby Girl loves her peas, so I wasn't surprised to see we'd gone through another bag. I just subbed green beans for the peas. Hopefully my dad won't mind the substitution.


One bite and I was transported back to my childhood. The gravy was perfect, the beef tender, the mashed potatoes rich and buttery. Perfection on a plate. I'll definitely be making this again soon, maybe even for my dad the next time he and my stepmom are in town.

Roast Beef with Onion Gravy
Recipe from my stepmom

1 (3 1/2-4-lb) beef roast
Salt and pepper
1 packet onion soup mix
3 cups cold water, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Sprinkle salt and pepper over all sides of the roast. Place roast on a rack set in a roasting pan and put in the oven.

Dissolve the onion soup mix with 3 cups of cold water (doesn’t completely dissolve) and add it to the bottom of the pan with the roast 15 minutes after putting it in the oven. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees. Baste the roast with the mixture as it cooks, about every half hour. For medium the roast will take about 2-2 1/2 hours. Add water to the bottom of the roasting pan, as needed so the drippings and soup mix don't dry out and burn.

When the roast is done, take the remaining drippings and pour into a small pot and bring to boil, adding water as needed to make the amount of gravy you want. Combine cornstarch and 2 tablespoons water until cornstarch is dissolved, then add to the gravy until it thickens.

Serve the gravy on the side, with the sliced beef, peas and mashed potatoes.

Living near Philadelphia, we are big fans of cheesesteaks. Many restaurants near us make their own cheesesteaks and, of course, there are the popular restaurants in the city itself. SP even made his own version recently. So when I saw this recipe for Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes on Kelly's blog, I had to give it a try.


These couldn't have been easier and the results were delicious. I added some green pepper for color and flavor and I think mushrooms would also be good. We only had two tablespoons of steak sauce left in the bottle, but that ended up being plenty. The cheese sauce is a great addition and made these taste like the cheesesteaks we know and love. I hollowed out the rolls to make a little bed for the meat mixture to sit in, which really helped keep everything together. I'll be making these again for sure.

Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
Adapted from Rachael Ray

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 softball-sized onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons steak sauce, such as A-1
1 cup beef stock
Salt and ground black pepper
4 dinner rolls
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup milk
1 cup provolone, shredded

In large skillet over medium-high heat add the oil and then brown the ground beef, about 5-6 minutes. Add the onion and green pepper and cook another 3-4 minutes, until the vegetables start to get tender. Stir in the steak sauce and beef stock, season with salt and pepper, bring up to a bubble and cook about 2 minutes.

Split open rolls and remove most of the soft insides, leaving a bed to hold the meat mixture. Toast the rolls and set aside.

While the meat is cooking, melt the butter in a medium-size pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the flour and cook about 1 minute. Whisk in milk, bring up to a bubble and let thicken, about 2 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in the cheese.

To serve, place a scoopful of the meat mixture onto the bottom of the rolls, then top with the cheese sauce and replace the top of the roll.

The theme for this week's recipe swap was Asian food. I received Cooking Light's Mongolian Beef from Amanda.


I didn't want to buy hoisin sauce since ingredients I don't use often end up dying a slow death in my fridge, so I searched online for a similar recipe and found this one for P. F. Chang's Mongolian Beef.

I've never had Mongolian Beef before so I can speak to how close the end result was to the restaurant version, but it was a good meal. It was a little sweet for my taste and I think I let the cornstarch sit too long on the meat because it didn't add a crispy coating, but SP loved it. I served it with rice and steamed broccoli.

Thanks Amanda!

P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 lb flank steak
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 large green onions, sliced

Make the sauce by heating 2 teaspoons of vegetable in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2 to 3 minutes or until the sauce thickens. Remove it from the heat.

Slice the flank steak against the grain into thin slices. Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts.

Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef. Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.

As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you may also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil). Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking.

Add the beef to the oil and saute for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges. Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly. After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon or a spider to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oil out of the wok or skillet. Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute. Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions. Cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate. Leave the excess sauce behind in the pan.

This was my first experience with a recipe swap and I really enjoyed it. The subject for this swap was an easy weeknight meal - something that could be made in less than 30 minutes, or prepped quickly and thrown in the crockpot.


When I first saw the recipe I knew it would be perfect for Sunday dinner. I also knew I would need to make some modifications. For starters, my crockpot and I have a love/hate relationship, so I decided to cook this in my Le Creuset dutch oven. I was also worried about buying 4lbs of meat for just the two of us. And an entire bottle of red wine seemed like too much for our tastes. I found a similar recipe online (see below) and ended up blending the two together.

The brisket cooked for a few hours in the oven and the smells wafting through the house were intoxicating. We both cleaned our plates (Baby Girl loved the mashed potatoes, but I couldn't convince her to try the brisket), saying we were happy to try something different. Thanks, Laurie!!

Here is the original recipe I was given:
Brisket
Laurie's Kitchen

2 large garlic cloves (chopped or whole)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
4 sprigs fresh rosemary, needles striped (sometimes I use dried)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 (4 pound) beef brisket, first-cut
Coarsely ground black pepper
5 large carrots, cut in 3-inch chunks
5 celery stalks, cut in 3-inch chunks
1 large red onion, halved
1 Bottle dry red wine (more or less depending on what fits in your crock pot)
1 (16-ounce) can whole tomatoes, hand-crushed
1 handful fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (dried is ok)
3 bay leaves (dried)
Beef or vegetable Broth (as needed to cover brisket if wine is not enough or if you are not a fan of a strong wine flavor)

Season both sides of the brisket with a fair amount of kosher salt and ground black pepper. Place a large pan over medium-high flame and coat with half of the olive oil. Put the brisket in the pan and sear to form a nice brown crust on both sides. Should only take a couple minutes per side. Transfer the brisket to your crock pot lay the vegetables,garlic and onions all around the brisket. Add the wine and tomatoes and beef broth if necessary; toss in the parsley, rosemary and bay leaves. Cook on low for about 6 to 8 hours until the beef is fork tender.

Remove the brisket to a cutting board and let it rest for 15 minutes. Scoop the vegetables out of the roasting pan and onto a platter.

And here is the recipe I ended up making (the original is linked below):
Zinfandel-Braised Beef Brisket with Onions
The Kitchen Sink

2 cups zinfandel or other fruity dry red wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 (2 1/2-pound) beef brisket, trimmed
2 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
Cooking spray
4 medium sliced sweet onions
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon dried thyme
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 - 2-lb bag carrots, peeled and cut into (1/2-inch-thick) slices
4 celery stalks, cut into (1/2-inch-thick) slices
Chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 325°. Combine first 3 ingredients, stirring with a whisk.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sprinkle beef with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add beef to pan; cook for 8 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove beef from pan; cover and set aside.

Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, onion, sugar, and 1 teaspoon thyme to pan. Cook 20 minutes or until onions are tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, carrots, and celery; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Place beef on top of onion mixture; pour wine mixture over beef. Cover and place in oven. Bake at 325° for 1 3/4 hours.

Remove dutch oven from oven and turn beef over. Place back in the oven for 45 minutes or until beef is tender. Remove beef from oven and cut across the grain into thin slices. Serve with onion mixture and sprinkle parsley on top.

I served the brisket over mashed potatoes with buttermilk biscuits on the side. I've never cooked a brisket before and according to the other ladies in the swap, this gave us all a chance to make something we wouldn't normally have made. I can't wait for the next one!

This year SP and I hosted Christmas dinner. It's an easy meal, the same one we've had for years at my stepgrandmother's house, but when you're the one cooking it there's immense pressure to make it fantastic.

We started with delicious olives, artichokes, meat, cheese, stuffed peppers and asparagus that my aunt brought:


The main course was roast beef. I followed the Wegmans cooking directions but left out the red wine sauce. I hadn't anticipated how long the beef would need to cook, so I'm glad we had stuff to nosh on while we waited. Here it is resting before I carved into it:


... and a few slices for the table:


Green beans with almonds:


Mashed potatoes (I used my ricer to get them silky smooth):


Yorkshire pudding:


... which is much easier to make then I would have thought. My plate for the first round:


Everything was delicious, if I do say so myself. Next year I think it'll be even better because I know how long everything takes to cook!

One night a few weekends ago SP wanted to make his own cheesesteaks.


He did a great job, but added garlic to the onions and green pepper, which added a flavor we didn't think went with the rest of the sandwiches. Next time I think they'll be perfect.

This is a delicious but rich dish. SP wasn't a fan so I don't think I'll be making it again soon, but it was beefy and cheesy and easy to make.



Lighthouse Lasagna
Potluck at Midnight Farm
1 pound ground round
1 small can tomato ­paste
1 (8-ounce) can tomato ­sauce
1 teaspoon ­sugar
Coarse salt
12 ounces egg ­noodles
1 tablespoon ­unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sour ­cream
5 ounces cream ­cheese, at room temperature
1 bunch scallions, ­finely chopped
8 ounces cheddar cheese, ­sliced

Heat the oven to 350 ­degrees.

Sauté the meat until lightly browned in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks. Add the tomato paste, tomato sauce, and sugar. (Next time I will add salt too) Fill the tomato paste can with water and stir it in. Simmer, covered, for 15 to 20 ­minutes.

Fill a large pot with water, salt it, and bring it to a boil. Add the egg
noodles and cook them until tender. Drain the noodles, then return them to the pot. Stir in the butter.

Mix the sour cream, cream cheese, and scallions in a small ­bowl. Make two layers of the ingredients in a large casserole dish, as ­follows: Spread a little sauce over the bottom of the dish, top with a layer of noodles, then spread half of the sour cream mixture and half of the meat sauce. Repeat these steps. Top the lasagna with the sliced ­cheddar.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the lasagna mixture is bubbly and the cheese is lightly ­browned.

I saw this recipe for Creamy Taco Mac over at Annie's Eats and knew it would be a hit at our house.





It was delicious and, like Annie said, a great way to make a Hamburger Helper-esque meal using fresh ingredients.



Creamy Taco Mac

Annie's Eats

1¼ lbs. ground turkey

8 oz. dry pasta shapes

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained

4 tbsp. taco seasoning

3 oz. cream cheese

½ cup sour cream

Salt and pepper

Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or sauté pan, cook the ground turkey over medium-high heat until no longer pink. A few minutes before the turkey is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet. Once the turkey is cooked through, mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Mix in the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes.

Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit. Remove from the heat and top with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.