Italian Beef Stew

      Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


       I love beef stew and I love that there are so many different ways to make it.  Some make it in the oven, some in the crock pot and some on the stovetop.  Then there's all of the variations of ingredients, carrots, celery, onion, tomatoes, potatoes, parsnips, peas and so on.  When  I found this recipe in (where else but) Cooking Light (I seem to have a theme going this week) I knew I had to make it.

     First of all it was Italian Beef Stew and I love all things Italian, so that caught my attention.  I also loved that it used fresh tomatoes instead of canned, I think that really makes this stew something special.  It also has mushrooms in the mix and I love mushrooms.  I've actually made this stew a number of times and have tweaked it just a little to suit my family, the main thing being I added potatoes.

     This recipe does take some time to make, but it would be perfect to spend a weekend afternoon in the kitchen putting this together.  Then as it simmers on your stovetop, it will fill your house with a wonderful aroma!

Italian Beef Stew



• 3 tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
• 3 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 lbs stew meat
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 2 lbs roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups beef stock
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tsp fresh oregano, minced ( I had dried and used about 1/2 tsp)
• 2 tsp fresh thyme, minced
• 8 oz cremini mushrooms, quartered
• 3/4 cup sliced carrot
• 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
• 1 tbsp parsley, chopped

Prep your veggies and herbs

Put flour, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper in a zip-loc bag.  Add beef, seal bag and shake to coat.

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a dutch oven over medium heat.  When pan is hot, add onion, chopped carrot and a little bit of salt and pepper, saute for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add garlic and saute for about 45 seconds, until garlic is fragrant.

Remove vegetable mixture from pan.  Increase heat to medium high and add 1 tbsp olive oil.  Add half of meat to pan.  Saute about 6 minutes, browning on all sides.  Remove from pan, add another tbsp of olive oil and add the rest of the meat, sauteing on all sides.

Remove beef from pan and set aside.

Add wine to pan and bring to a boil, scraping up all the browned bits.  Cook until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 5 minutes.

Return meat and the onion mixture to the pan.  Add tomato, beef broth, water, oregano, thyme and mushrooms as well.

Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Uncover and stir in carrots and potatoes. Simmer uncovered for 1 hour or until meat is very tender, stirring occasionally.

Stir in basil and parsley.  Add more salt and pepper if necessary.

ENJOY!


Shared at Everday Mom's Meals on 11/20/11
Shared at Mandy's Recipe Box on 11/22/11
Shared at Newlyweds Blog on 11/23/11

Mexican Night with Grilled Steak and Cheese Quesadillas

       Lisa's Dinnertime Dish has moved.  Please visit me at my new and improved blog site!  The new address is http://lisasdinnertimedish.com.  I look forward to seeing you at the new site!!


     This whole meal started because of a trip to Trader Joe's.  Which seems to happen to me a lot because everytime I go there I always seem to see something that looks interesting.  This particular trip the thing that caught my eye was a package of tortillas.  The package said that they were "truly handmade" and they actually looked like they were handmade, so I had to throw some into my cart.

     When I got home from the store I had a hungry 17 year old on my hands and so I told him to make himself a cheese quesadilla with the tortillas, which he did.  I had to have a taste of his creation to see if the tortillas were better than average and I must say, these were above average.  I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with the rest of the tortillas, but since they were so good, I definitely wanted to highlight them in something.  So I waited for inspiration to hit me....tacos?....enchiladas?.....fajitas?....

     Finally, a plan came together for me.  After rummaging around my kitchen, I found a small steak in the freezer, some Trader Joe's taco seasoning (which is excellent)and some cheddar cheese.  I then went to the store and bought what I needed to make pico de gallo and guacamole.  I was going to make grilled steak quesadillas with all the fixin's.

I am going to break this up into three recipes for you.  I will start with the pico de gallo, which is so fresh tasting and is really easy to make.

Pico de Gallo

• 2 medium size tomatoes (I used roma), seeded and chopped
• 1/4 of a red onion (you can use more if you want more onion flavor), finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, ribs and seeds removed (or not if you want it to be spicier) and finely chopped
• 2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
• juice of one lime
• salt and pepper

Chop up all of your veggies.

A great tip for getting the ribs and seeds out of the jalapeno is to use a spoon to scoop it out.

Put the veggies in a bowl and squeeze lime juice over them.  Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste.

Next up is the guacamole, which is another very easy thing to prepare and it is SO delicious!

Guacamole

• 2 avocadoes
• 1 small tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1 clove garlic
• juice of one lime
• salt and pepper

Cut each avocado in half , remove the pit and scoop the avocado out of the peel into a bowl.



Squeeze lime juice over the avocadoes and mash with a fork.

Add tomatoes to the bowl and grate garlic over the bowl with a micro-plane grater.  Combine well and add salt and pepper to taste.

Now...onto the quesadilla!

Grilled Steak and Cheese Quesadilla



• 1 lb round steak (that's what I used, but flank or skirt steak would work well, too)
• 1 to 2 tbsp taco seasoning mix (I used Trader Joe's)
• 1 can refried black beans (or regular refried beans)
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I used reduced fat)
• 8 - 8 inch flour tortillas
• pico de gallo
• guacamole
• shredded lettuce

Preheat grill pan (or the outdoor grill) over medium high heat

If using round steak, poke it with a fork on both sides to help tenderize.  Then rub the taco seasoning on both sides.

Drizzle steak with olive oil and place on preheated grill.  Grill for about 3-4 minutes per side for medium rare to medium.

Remove steak from the grill and let rest for 5 minutes.  Then slice steak across the grain on an angle into very thin slices.

To assemble quesadilla's, spread about 1/4 cup of refried beans on 4 of the tortillas.  Then divide steak slices equally between the 4 tortillas.  Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of cheese over each tortilla.  Finally, top each with the remaining 4 tortillas.

Brush grill with a little olive oil and grill tortillas on each side until crispy.

Cut each quesadilla into four pieces (a pizza cutter works well for this) and top with pico de gallo, guacamole and lettuce.  Serve immediately.

ENJOY!


Shared at Mandy's Recipe Box on 11/15/11
Shared at This Chick Cooks  on 11/16/11