easy one pot beef stew

I was looking for a recipe for braised beef and came across one. But it says it will take 2 hours in the oven, or 4-6 hours in a slow cooker. It was already 4:30pm and I only had an hour to make dinner. So I put everything in the pot and made it over the stove. It turned out really yummy and it only took 45-50 minutes! If I ever make the 2-hour oven braised beef, I will post it on the blog. For today, here's what I did (the picture doesn't look too appetizing... need to work on photo taking skill. haha)

Ingredients: 

Beef - 2 cups (cut in 1-inch chunks)
Water- 1/2 cup
Stock - 1/2 cup + more to add later one (if you have about 2 cups, it should be enough)
Red wine - 1/4 cup (optional)
Soy sauce - 4 TBS
Apple cider vinegar - 4 TBS
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Brown sugar - 1/2 TBS

Carrots - 3 medium (chopped into 1 inch)
Onion - 1 small (chopped)
Potatoes - 3 small (chopped)

Prep:

1. Cut all veggies & beef into chunks
2. Cook rice

Cook:

1. Put all the ingredients (veggies first then place beef on top) in a 5-qrt or bigger pot. Cover and bring it to boil on med high. Reduce heat to low. 
2. Check and stir occasionally. Add stock if it's getting dry. Simmer on low for 40-45 minutes.
3. Adjust taste if needed.

Serve:

1. Serve with rice.

sweet & sour meatballs

There are many recipes for sweet and sour sauce. You can also make it with any meat of your choice. This time round, I tried with meatballs. It turned out pretty good and my daughter loved it -- she loves balls, so it's a fun dish for kids. :) 

Ingredients:

[Meatballs]
Ground meat - 1 and half cups ** see TIPS
Breadcrumbs - 1/4 cup
Egg white - 1
Parsley (dry or fresh) - 2 TBS
Green onion - 1 TBS (chopped)
Salt & pepper - 1 tsp each
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp

[Other ingredients]
Onion - 1/2 med (chopped into 1-inch cubes)
Green bell pepper - 1 small (chopped into 1-inch cubes)
Red or Yellow bell pepper - 1 small (chopped into 1-inch cubes)
Garlic - 2 cloves (minced)
Sliced Pineapple - small can (drained)

[Sweet & Sour sauce]
Tomato Ketchup - 2 TBS
Plum sauce - 2 tsp
Rice vinegar - 1/2 tsp
Worcestershire sauce - 1/2 tsp
Oyster sauce - 2 tsp
Sugar - 2 tsp
Corn starch - 1 tsp
Water - 2 TBS  

Prep:

1. Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Mix well.
2. Cut vegetables, mince garlic and drain pineapple can. 
3. Mix meatball ingredients in a bowl. Use hands to mix - it's fun! Make a 1-inch balls (smaller or bigger, depending on your preference).

Cook: 

1. In a wok, heat 2TBS of oil in a wok. When it's hot, fry the meatballs until they are nicely browned (3-5 minutes). Take it out on a plate. **see TIPS
2. In the same wok, heat 1 TBS of oil. Fry garlic and onion until fragrant (about 2-3 minutes). Add in green and red/yellow peppers. Fry for another 2 minutes. 
3. Add the meatballs in and mix well with onion and peppers. Fry for another 3-5 minutes.
4. Add in the mixed sauce. Uncover the wok and mix the sauce with meatballs and veggies. Simmer for 5 minutes.
5. Add in pineapple slices. Fry for another 2 minutes.

Serve:

1. Serve with rice and Chinese veggies. 

TIPS

• For ground meat, you can use pork, chicken or beef or combination of meat. I like to use chicken and pork. 
• You can also deep-fry the meatballs. Just lightly coat them with flour/corn starch mixture (1:1 ratio) and deep-fry until golden brown.

black pepper beef

(Sorry, it's a bit blurry - I need to work on my photo-taking skill.)

I am back! After two long months break, I am ready to experiment and post more recipes! I will start with a simple dish. This dish goes perfectly with hot rice.  The original recipe came from www.rasamalaysia.com.  It is one of my favorite to-go website for awesome recipes!

Ingredients:

Beef - 500g (thin sliced)
Onion - 1 (medium - cubed)
Freshly ground pepper - 1~2 tsp (depends on your taste)
Garlic salt - dash (to taste) 
Green onion - 3 stalks (chopped)

[Beef Marinade]

Garlic - 2 cloves (minced)
Ginger - 1 inch cube (minced) 
Salt - 1 tsp
Soy sauce - 1 tsp
Dark soy sauce - 1 tsp
Oyster sauce - 2tsp
Worcestershire sauce - 2 tsp
Cooking rice wine [optional] - 1 tsp
Sesame oil - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 and half tsp
Cornstarch - 1 tsp

Prep:

1. Cut beef into thin slices.
2. Mince garlic and ginger (or use blender for faster process). 
3. In a Ziplock bag or glass bowl, marinade beef for at least 30 minutes (You can marinade overnight, too)
4. Cut onion into 1 inch cubes.

Cook:

1. Heat the wok with 1 TBS of vegetable oil.
2. Fry onion until fragrant (about 4-5 minutes). 
3. Add in marinaded beef to onion. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Add freshly ground pepper.
4. Add in green onion and adjust taste with salt (and more pepper if you want.) 

Serve:

1. Serve with hot rice. Mmm... yummy! 

TIPS

• For stir-fry, choose beef cuts that are not too lean. If it's too lean, it tends to be tougher. But if you only have lean meat, then massage the beef as you marinade and marinade longer. 

 

old-fashioned beef stew/soup

My husband's parents are awesome cooks, so are his extended family members. This recipe is a slightly tweaked version from his aunt who cooks really well. You can tell that she's a good cook when you see her children love to cook, too. Is cooking hereditary? When I got married, she wrote in a cookbook (her gift to us), "A full stomach is a good start to a marriage. Have a great marriage filled with many exciting meals!" 
This soup turned out really good and hearty - perfect for negative 16F degrees weather. :) It looks simple, but it's full of flavors!

Ingredients: 

Boneless beef round steak - 1 lb (1 inch cube)

[Beef marinade] 
Soy sauce - 1 TBS
Garlic salt - 1/2 tsp
Pepper - 1/2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp

Chicken or Beef stock - 2 cups
Water - 1 cup
Worcestershire sauce - 1 tsp
Bay leaves - 2 med or 3 small (med = 1 inch)
Garlic - 3 cloves (minced)
Paparika - 1/2 tsp
Black pepper - 1/4 tsp

Carrots - 3 med or 4 small
Potatoes - 4 med or 5 small
Onions - 1 big
Tomatoes - 2 big

[For stew]
Cornstarch - 1 TBS
Water - 2 TBS

Prep: 

1. Cut beef into 1 inch chunks. In a bowl or Ziplock bag, add beef marinade. Massage the meat with your hands for 3-4 minutes. Set it aside for at least 20 minutes. 
2. Cut the veggies in 1 inch chunks (you can cut onion smaller if you wish). Set them aside. 
3. Mince garlic.

Cook:

1. In a large pot (at least 5 quart), add 1-2 TBS of olive oil. Fry minced garlic and add marinaded beef and brown them on both sides. 
2. Add in 2 cups of beef or chicken broth and 1/2 cup of water. Bring to boil. Turn the heat to low and simmer for an hour. Stir occasionally. **see TIPS
3. Add veggies and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes until vegetables are tender.
4. [If you want stew] Combine 2 TBS of water and 1 TBS of cornstarch slurry. Simmer soup until thickened. 
5. Season with salt. 

Serve:

1. It goes really well with rice. You can even add pasta inside to make it into a soup pasta. Yum! 

TIPS

• If you don't like strong herby taste, discard bay leaves after simmering the soup for the first hour (before you add veggies). 

kimchee hambuger

Hamburgers are versatile. You can make it with one type or any combination of ground meat. You can season it any way you like - Asian or Western. You can chop veggies finely and sneak them inside the meat and kiddos won't know it's there!  

Ingredients: 

Ground meat - 3 cups (I used 1/2 beef, 1/2 pork)
Onion - 1/2 med (finely chopped)
Carrots - 1 med (finely chopped)
Kimchee - 1/2 cup (chopped)

Garlic salt - 1/4 tsp (or you can use regular salt + 2 cloves of garlic - minced)
Pepper - 1/4 tsp
Kojujyan - 1-2 TBS (depending on how spicy you want it) **see TIPS
Egg white - 1

[Other optional veggies]
Zucchini - 1/2 (finely chopped)
Mushroom - 1/4 cup (finely chopped)

Prep:

1. Chop onion, carrots and kimchee (and other optional veggies) 

Cook:

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Using your hands, mix it well. If it appears too wet, add 1-2 TBS of flour or breadcrumbs. 
2. Take 1/2 cup of meat and make it into an oval shape. While you are shaping, toss from one hand to another (my mom always said it gets the air out... so I do it, too. haha)
3. If you are not cooking immediately, sarang wrap it and keep in the fridge until ready to fry.
4. Heat 2 TBS of olive oil on the non-stick pan (medium heat). When it's hot, fry the burgers for 3-4 minutes on one side. Flip to the other side and fry for 3-4 more minutes. 
5. Steam the burgers by adding 2 TBS of water to the pan. Cover and steam cook for 5 minutes. 

Serve:

1. You can serve the burgers several ways - 1) Cheeseburger style (put a slice of cheese on top and heat in the microwave for 30 seconds), 2) Fried/poached egg (I like runny egg yolk over my burger, but I'm pregnant now so... too bad) or 3) use Kojujyan sweet and sour sauce from calamari salad recipe.
2. Serve with rice or bread.

 TIPS

• You can add miso (soy bean paste) Korean or Japanese instead of Kojujyan for milder taste. 

japchae (korean-style stir fried noodles)

We have a Korean cousin who can cook really good food. We live so far away from them now and we miss them (and their Korean food) so much. So we tried to recreate it. I love getting recipes from www.maangchi.com! 

Ingredients:

Korean starch noodle "dangmyun" - 2 bunches
Beef - 1/3 lbs
Spinach - 1 bunch
Carrots - 1 med (sliced)
Onion - 1 med (sliced)
Shiitake mushroom - 1/2 cup (soaked and sliced)
White mushroom - 2 cups (sliced)
Garlic - 3 cloves (minced)
Green onion - 6 stalks

Eggs - 2 (beaten) 

[seasoning to prepare]
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Sugar
Pepper
Sesame seeds

Korean noodle

Prep: 

1. Soak shiitake mushroom in warm water. Squeeze water and slice thinly.
2. Slice white mushrooms, carrots (matchstick-shaped pieces 5 cm long), green onions (7 cm long pieces), and onion into thin slices. 
3. Wash spinach.
4. Slice beef and marinade with 1 tsp of soy sauce and dash of salt and pepper. 

Cook: **see TIPS

1. Bring big pot of water to boil. Add bunch of spinach and blanch for 1 minute. Take it out and wash it in cold water couple of times and cut into 5 cm length. Add in 1/2 TBS of soy sauce and 1 tsp of sesame oil to spinach. Keep the boiling water.
2. In the same pot of hot water, boil 2 bunches of noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and put in a large bowl.
3. Using scissors, cut the noodles into shorter strands and add 1 TBS of soy sauce and 1 TBS of sesame oil. Mix and set it aside.
4. On a frying pan or wok, put a 2 tsp of olive oil. Fry carrot strips and stir it consistently for couple of minutes (until somewhat soft). Take it out on a big serving dish.
5. Add another 2 tsp of olive oil and fry sliced onion and fry until translucent (about 3-4 minutes). Take it out in the serving dish with carrots. 
6. In the same wok, fry sliced white mushrooms and fry for 2 minutes. Put it together with carrots and onions.
7. Fry green onion next. Add in 1 tsp of olive oil if the pan is dry. Fry for 1 minute. Take it out.
8. On the same wok or frying pan, add 2 tsp of olive oil. Fry together with shiitake mushrooms. Cook until meat is done. Add in 3 cloves of minced garlic, 1/2 TBS soy sauce, and 1/2 TBS sugar. Cook for another minute and add them in the large bowl with other veggies.
9. Add 2 tbs of soy sauce, 3 tbs of sugar, 2 tbs of sesame oil, and 1 ts of ground pepper to the large bowl. Mix all ingredients, then sprinkle 1 tbs of toasted sesame seeds on the top.

Serve:

1. Cook thin slices of egg (with 1 tsp salt) on frying pan and cut into thin slices for garnish on top.
2. Serve with rice and Kimchi, or as a side dish. (I didn't know it was a side dish! we had it as a main dish. haha)
3. We also made Korean green onion pancake along this dish. It turned out great!

TIPS

•  Don't let the long instruction stop you from making this dish! Basically, you fry everything separately and mix everything at the end. Just pay attention to the bold seasonings.

holiday leftovers: prime rib tomato soup

In our family, we don't have turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas. We have prime rib instead! We like bone-in so we can use the bones as stock for soup. It's hearty and the best part is, you get to finish your leftovers! So give prime rib a chance for your next holiday dinner. :)

Ingredients:

Prime Rib bones with some meat  on - 4 big bones (cut in half)

Water - 4 quart
Roma Tomatoes - 3 small or 2 med (wedges)
Potatoes - 3 med (wedges)
Carrots - 3 small or 2 med (wedges)
Onion - 1 med (cubed)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Prep:

1. Cut the prime rib bones in half (or in threes if you prefer smaller pieces). If you don't have knife strong enough to cut the bones, just put the whole bones in (don't destroy your knife!)
2. Wash and cut all veggies. Set aside. 

Cook:

1. Heat 4 quart water in 5 quart (or bigger) pot. Bring to boil.
2. Add in prime rib bones & meat and onion. Cover and boil for 10 minutes under high heat. You might need to open the lid half way through.
3. Turn down the heat to medium heat. Add in carrots. Let it cook for 10 more minutes. 
4. Turn down the heat to medium low, add in carrots and tomatoes. Simmer for at least 30 minutes. I cooked it for about an hour on low heat.
5. Taste the soup. Add salt & pepper if you like.

Serve:

1. Serve with warm bread sticks or side of rice will be nice, too. 

Meatloaf

Apologize for blurry picture

If you imagine meatloaf to be dry and bland, then you should try give this recipe a try! All you do is mix and put in the oven. I've researched several top rated meatloaf recipes and took out what sounded good to me and combined them into one. I was a bit worried about how it'll come out, but it was a success! 

Ingredients: 

Ground beef - 1 lbs 12 oz
Brown sugar - 2 TBS
Ketchup - 1/2 cup
Eggs - 2 (beaten)
Dry onion soup mix - 3/4 packet
Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
Shredded cheese - 1/3 cup
Buttery round crackers (like Ritz) - 1 cup
Worcestershire sauce - 1/2 TBS **see TIPS

[Glaze]
Ketchup - 1/2 cup
Worcestershire sauce - 1 TBS
Yellow mustard (powder) - 1 TBS
Brown sugar - 1/4 cup

Prep:

1. In a Ziplock bag, crush butter crackers. 
2. Prepare 5 by 9 (or 10) loaf pan. Line with double aluminum foil (or single layer of baking aluminum foil) 
3. Mix glaze ingredients together and set it aside

Glaze

Cook:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a big bowl, mix all ingredients together. Use your hands (important! make sure it's clean, though. haha) and mix in all together. The consistency should be somewhat wet - it's hard to make a meatball out of it, but solid enough to be pressed down into the pan. 
3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. 
4. Take it out and put the glaze. Return to the oven for another 15 minutes. Take it out and let it cool for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

 Serve:

1. It goes well with mashed potatoes, grilled veggies, salad and/or dinner rolls. 
2. Some people eat meatloaf as a sandwich - maybe give it a try with the leftovers? 

TIPS

• Instead of Worcestershire sauce, you can use BBQ sauce or Steak sauce. 

miso gyudon

Gyudon usually comes with thin sliced beef, but this time I used cubed steak meat, marinated in miso sauce. It's cooked to medium rare so it's like eating steak (with cheaper cut of meat). If you are craving for meat, but got tight budget, this recipe is for you. :) 

Ingredients:

Beef - 1 lbs
Onion - 1 med (sliced)

[Miso marinade]
Miso - 2 TBS
Soy sauce - 2 tsp
Sugar - 2 tsp
Salt & Pepper - 1/2 tsp each
Mirin - 1 TBS
Sake (optional) - 2 tsp

Rice - 2 cups

Prep:

1. Cut beef into cubes (1/2 inch cube). Marinade in a bowl for about an hour.
2. Thin slice onion.
3. Cook rice 

Cook:

1. On a frying pan or wok, heat 1 TBS of olive oil. When it's hot, fry onion until translucent (about 3 minutes). Add in beef and fry for 2 minutes. Flip and fry the other side for another minute or so. 
2. Mix 1 TBS of water in the marinade bowl or bag. Mix well. Pour into the frying pan. 
3. Let it simmer for 2 minutes.

Serve:

• Serve over hot rice. 
• It goes well with grilled veggies or salad 

beef & broccoli

 

One of the first dishes my husband made for me (when we were dating) was beef and broccoli. Ever since, I attempted to make beef and broccoli several times, but I can't make it as good as my husband's. My hubby is a good chef and I'm a lucky wife. :)

Ingredients:

Beef - 1/5 lb (sliced)
Broccoli - 1 head (pieces)
Onion - 1 small (chopped)
Garlic - 2 cloves (minced)
Ginger - 2 tsp (minced)

[Beef marinade]
Soy sauce - 2 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Salt & pepper - dash

[Sauce]
Soy sauce - 1 TBS
Oyster sauce - 2 TBS
Sugar - 2 tsp
Pepper - few drops

Corn starch - 1/2 TBS
Water - 1/2 TBS

Prep:

1. Slice the beef into thin slices. Marinade with beef marinade. Set it aside for 30 minutes.
2. Chop onion, cut broccoli in pieces, and mince garlic & ginger. 
3. Boil water in 3 or 4 quart pot. Blanch broccoli for 2 minutes. Drain and set it aside. 
4. Mix sauce in a bowl. In a separate bowl, make corn starch slurry (cornstarch + water).

Marinade beef

Chop onion, garlic and ginger

Mix sauce

Cook:

1. Heat the wok with 1 to 2 TBS of olive oil. Fry onion for 2-3 minutes until translucent.
2. Add in garlic and ginger. Fry for another minutes. 
3. Add in beef slices. Fry for until somewhat cooked (3 minutes-ish).
4. Pour in the sauce. Let it simmer for a minute or two. 
5. Add in cornstarch slurry and broccoli. Cook until the sauce thickens. 

Serve:

1. Serve over hot rice.

meaty loco moco

October is probably my husband's favorite month because there's Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. My husband has already decided to retire in Hawaii. Yup. So since we won't be able to make it to Kona this year, the least we could do was to eat Hawaiian food. Loco moco = Meat patty + Rice + Egg + Brown gravy. You can have it simple or you can add more toppings. This time we did meaty loco moco. We miss you, Hawaii! 

Ingredients: 

Rice - however much you want to eat (Japanese rice/short-grain rice)

Brown gravy - about 3 cups (depends how much you want to pour over your rice)
Milk - 1/3 cup

Eggs - 4 (one for each person or more if you desire)
Hamburger patties - 4 **see TIPS
SPAM - 1 can (sliced)
Bacon - 8 slices

[For those who want to add some greens]
Spinach - 3 handful/1 bunch
White mushroom - 2 cups (sliced)

[Optional toppings]
Katsu - see Katsudon recipe (chicken or pork)
Broccoli - 1 head (bite size pieces, blenched and lightly salted)
Breaded shrimp
Italian sausage or Portuguese sausage 

Prep: 

1. Make hamburger patties if you are making your own. See TIPS.
2. Cut SPAM
3. Cut mushrooms and set it aside
4. Cook rice. 

SPAM!

Cook:

1. In a frying pan, fry bacon until your desired crunchiness. Take it out on a paper-toweled plate. Drain some bacon fat, but not all. 
2. Using some bacon fat (about 1 TBS), fry SPAM until the edges get crunchy - about 2 minutes each side.
3. On the same pan, fry hamburger patties. 
4. Meanwhile, prepare brown gravy (follow the packaging). Add in milk and stir well.
5. On another frying pan or clean frying pan, heat 1/2 TBS of olive oil. Fry mushrooms for 2 minutes. Add in spinach and fry for another minutes. Lightly salt (1/2 tsp). 
6. Fry egg on frying pan, 1 minute on one side and 45 seconds on the other. You want the egg yolks to be runny.

Serve:

1. On a plate, scoop rice. Place the toppings on top of the rice. The top should be the egg.
2. Pour brown gravy on top of the rice. 

TIPS

• You can use store-bought hamburger patties, or you can try Italian sausage patties (or 50/50). 
• Easy hamburger recipe: ground beef (1/2 lbs), panko (1/4 cup), egg white (1), salt & pepper (1 tsp each), Paprika or other herbs if you wish to add.