Perfect roast beef sandwich

I've had such a craving lately for roast beef sandwiches. This is my idea of the perfect combination of flavors for a roast beef sandwich.

Perfect Roast Beef Sandwich
2 half-inch slices toasted sourdough pugliese bread
2 Tbsp dijon-horseradish sauce (see below)
3-4 slices thin, rare roast beef
1 thin slice sharp cheddar cheese
1 leaf butter lettuce

Spread the both slices of toasted bread with the mustard sauce, then top with the meat, cheese and lettuce. Enjoy!

Dijon-Horseradish Sauce
2 Tbsp lowfat sour cream
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp prepared horseradish
salt & pepper

Mix the first three ingredients together in a small bowl, and add salt & pepper to taste. Makes enough for 2-3 sandwiches.

Irish Beef Stew

In honor of the holiday, I made a lovely beef stew with Guinness yesterday for Mr Wonderful to take to his potluck party at work today. The worst part about it is that I don't get to have any! This holiday-appropriate veggie-laden stew will be my contribution to Sweetnicks' ARF/5-a-day roundup this week.

Irish Beef Stew
1/4 c EVOO
1 onion, diced fairly large
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 carrots, chopped into large chunks
2 huge russet potatoes, cut into 2" dice
1 1/4 lb beef stew meat, cut into about 2" dice
1/2 c flour, divided
1 Tbsp fresh thyme
1 bottle Guinness beer
4 c beef stock
1 bay leaf
4 Tbsp butter (half stick)
salt & pepper

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, carrots, and potatoes. Season well with salt & pepper. Saute for a few minutes to give the veggies color (they will be very, very undercooked), and then remove from the pot. Salt & pepper the beef and shake it in a ziploc bag filled with 1/4 c of the flour, until the meat is all coated. Saute the meat in batches, until it's lightly browned on all sides. When the meat is all browned, return everything to the pot (including veggies), and add the thyme and Guinness. Scrape the bottom of the pot to get all the browned bits up while the alcohol cooks out, then add in the beef stock and the bay leaf. Raise the heat, bringing the stew to a simmer, then reduce back to medium-low and cook for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are done. If the stew hasn't thickened enough, you can make a quick roux to thicken it (I needed to do this): melt the half-stick of butter in a pan, then add a 1/4 c of flour. Let the mixture cook for a minute or two, then add the roux, a spoonful at a time, to the stew and stir well to combine. Let the mixture bubble away for a few minutes before you add more of the roux - it takes a few minutes to thicken up. (I only needed to add about half of the roux mixture to get my stew to the right consistency.)

Serve with Irish soda bread or some other nice fresh, dense, crusty bread.

Pan-fried Veal Cutlets with Pinot-Mushroom Reduction Sauce

Whew, sounds complicated, right? Well, not really. And the sauce REALLY turned out well. In fact, it was the very best part of the meal.

Pan-fried Veal Cutlets with Pinot-Mushroom Reduction Sauce
EVOO (lots)
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 c sliced cremini (baby portobella) mushrooms
1/2 c Pinot Noir wine (I used Blackstone, it was on sale)
1/2 c chicken stock4 veal cutlets
1 egg, beaten lightly
1 c breadcrumbs (Italian season flavor, if you've got it, otherwise throw in some Mrs Dash or whatever with the plain breadcrumbs)
1/4 c freshly grated parmesan
salt & pepper

Turn on oven to the lowest setting.

Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat with a couple of tablespoons of the olive oil. When the butter is all melted and beginning to bubble, add the diced onion and mushrooms. Saute for about 6-7 minutes, until the veggies are soft and begin to caramelize slightly. Season with salt and pepper, saute for a minute more, and then remove the veggies from the pan and add a little more olive oil.

In the meantime, mix up the breadcrumbs and parmesan in a large shallow bowl. Season the cutlets with salt and pepper, then dip them first in the beaten egg and then in the breadcrumb mixture, pressing the breadcrumbs into the meat so that they adhere better. Saute the cutlets in batches, adding more olive oil as needed to ensure that they don't stick, and being sure not to crowd the pan (you can probably fit two at a time in a 12" pan). Cook the meat for about 2-3 minutes per side, until they are golden brown and crispy on the outside. Transfer the cutlets to a baking sheet and put them in the oven to stay warm.

When all the cutlets have been cooked, return the mushrooms and onions to the pan and add the wine, scraping up any browned bits at the bottom of the pan. Allow the wine to cook out for a minute, then add the chicken stock, and turn up the heat to medium-high. Boil vigorously for a few minutes, until the sauce is reduced by at least half.

Serve the cutlets immediately, topped with the sauce. This would go great with buttered noodles, but I made garlic mashed potatoes this time.

Beef Stew

A traditional beef stew with red wine, carrots, potatoes, celery, rosemary, garlic, etc.

Recipe coming soon.

Open-Faced Burgers with Gorgonzola and Sauteed Mushrooms

Dinner 4/15/2007
Originally uploaded by snarkmeister.

I made this fantastically yummy dinner tonight because I had a craving for something beefy and fattening, but I wanted to use up some of the veggies and the French bread I had on hand.

Open-Faced Burgers with Gorgonzola and Sauteed Mushrooms

2 slices pepper bacon (or regular bacon, but make sure it's GOOD bacon)
1/2 lb ground beef
2 Tbsp diced red onion (or whatever, to taste)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbsp steak sauce
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 sliced mushrooms
2 Tbsp crumbled Gorgonzola
1 1" thick slice French bread, cut in half
1 cup loosely packed baby spinach
Salt & pepper to taste
Mustard Vinaigrette

Preheat oven to 400° and put a saute pan over medium-high heat. Pop the bacon in the pan and let it crisp up slowly. While the bacon cooks, gently mix together the ground beef, onions, garlic, steak sauce and salt & pepper to taste. Form into two 1/4 pound patties.

When oven is preheated, put the french bread in on a cookie sheet. Let it toast for about 10 minutes, turning once.

When the bacon is just this side of burning, remove it and drain off most of the bacon fat. Add the olive oil to the hot skillet and slide in the burgers. Cook about 3 minutes on each side, until just done in the middle. Put a half-slice of toasted french bread on each plate, then top with the burgers. Immediately put Gorgonzola on top of burgers. Saute the mushrooms in the pan for a few minutes, until softened and golden brown, then put the mushrooms on top of the burgers and cheese.

Add some spinach to the plates. Top the burgers and spinach with crumbled pepper bacon, then drizzle everything with the vinaigrette (see below). Sit down and enjoy with a nice tall beer!


Mustard Vinaigrette

1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Put mustard, vinegar, salt & pepper in the bowl. Add the olive oil in a slow steady stream, whisking the whole time, until oil is incorporated.