Steak Marinade

11 June, 201410 June, 2014Marissa

This recipe came about because I didn’t have any Worcestershire sauce in the house and wanted to marinade a steak. Apparently most people who marinade steaks consider it an essential ingredient, so I had to come up with something of my own. This is such a big hit at our house, we haven’t tried any other recipe since.

Steak Marinade

1/2 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 Tablespoon brown sugar

1 Tablespoon honey

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

1/8 teaspoon chili powder

Steak marinade made without Worcestershire sauce. marissabaker.wordpress.com

Add all ingredients to a container large enough to hold 4 to 6 steaks. Whisk ingredients until thoroughly combined. Add steaks and marinade in the refrigerator for 2 to 6 hours. If not all the steaks are covered with marinade, turn them in the container several times while marinading.

Remove steaks from marinade. Broil or grill steaks until they’re cooked how you like them. Bush with the left-over marinade once or twice while cooking.

Crock-Pot Italian Roast

19 March, 201418 March, 2014Marissa

When we started raising our own beef, I decided it was time to experiment. So one time when I was putting a roast into the crock pot, I just started dumping spices in, added some of that red wine vinegar that was left over from a salad dressing, and thickened it to make a gravy. This is the result. My brother, who can single-handedly eat 1/3 to 1/2 of the roast by himself, tells me this is one of his favorite meals.

Crock-Pot Italian Roast

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1/2 cup tapioca or corn starch

2 cups water

2 cups beef broth

3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1, 3-pound roast of beef, unthawed

4-5 potatoes, cut

4-6 carrots, cut

In crock-pot, whisk the tapioca starch with about ½ cup of the water. Add the remaining water, broth, and seasonings. Whisk until thoroughly combined.

Place roast in the crock-pot. Cut enough potatoes and carrots to fill most of the remaining space in the crock-pot. Turn the crock pot on to cook at low or high heat (see below). Stir at least once in the first hour, to prevent starch from sticking to the bottom of the crock pot as it thickens.

Cooking times will vary between crock pots. As a general guide, cook on low heat for 6 to 7 hours, or until the meat is cooked through and falls apart. If speed is important, cook on high heat for about 4 hours. In this case, the roast will be less tender.

Korean Beef

8 January, 201410 January, 2014Marissa

I found this recipe through Pinterest, and we have all fallen in love with it. The flavor is so good, yet there are very few ingredients and it is very simple to make. The original recipe is by Lizzy Writes, and I have changed nothing. Her suggestion about ginger has also been very helpful — freeze it. She chops it into sections, which I am trying, but I’ve also discovered that grating it fresh and wraping the grated ginger in aluminum foil to freeze it works as well.

Korean Beef

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1 pound lean ground beef

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 – 1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

1/2 – 1 teaspoon crushed red peppers (to desired spiciness)

1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced

Heat a large skillet or wok over medium heat and brown hamburger with garlic in the sesame oil. This works best if the beef is fresh or unthawed.

Drain most of the fat and add brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, and red peppers. Simmer for a few minutes to blend the flavors. Serve over steamed rice and top with green onions.

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Sesame Stir Fry

24 July, 20138 July, 2014Marissa

On Friday, my oven stopped working. I was in the middle of trying out a new recipe for snickerdoodle bars, and the oven refused to heat up beyond 165 degrees. The repair man said he wouldn’t make it out to our house until this Friday, so I’m stuck making stove-top meals.

sesame chicken stir-fry recipe — sesame chicken

Well, maybe “stuck” isn’t the right word when I can cook things like this wonderful stir fry. It is has a thick, sweet sauce and works equally well with chicken or beef. Unlike the sesame chicken or beef you usually find at Chinese take-out places, this meat isn’t deep fried. I like the un-fried taste for this dish, but if you want to try crispy chicken in the sesame sauce you could use the chicken from my General Tso’s recipe.

Sesame Stir Fry

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3 whole boneless chicken breasts or 1 pound of beef

Marinade

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice wine

1 tablespoon tapioca starch

a few drops of sesame oil

Cut the meat into 1-inch cubes. Mix the marinade ingredients and marinate the meat for 20 minutes.

Sauce

½ cup water

¼ cup tapioca starch (or cornstarch)

1 cup chicken or beef broth

1/8 cup rice vinegar

¾ cup sugar

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 clove garlic (minced)

Mix together the water and tapioca starch in a small sauce pan. Add broth, and the remainder of the sauce ingredients. Set aside (you’ll be heating this to a boil in a little while).

Cooking

Sesame beef stir-fry recipe — Sesame Beef

Fry the meat in a wok or deep skillet until done. Add desired vegetables and stir fry. I typically use carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms. When I have them, I add bamboo shoots and cabbage. Really, you can use whatever you like.

Just before vegetables are finished cooking, bring sauce to a boil, stirring continuously. Pour the sauce over the chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve with rice.

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