WebLove: What your favorite steak says about you

Ever wonder what your favorite cut says about you? The people at Omaha Steaks did, and they found out. While this is a pretty unscientific survey, I have to say I definitely see some accuracies in myself and some of those closest to me!

Courtesy of FoxNews.com


  What about you?

Frito taco pie

On occasion, while planning my trip to the grocery store, I’ll ask the Mr. if there’s anything he wants me to cook in the next few days. Sometimes he has suggestions, sometimes he doesn’t. As a journalist, I always have follow-up questions when he doesn't.

“Is there anything you like I don’t make enough of?” I asked, not too long ago.

“Stuff with Fritos in it,” he said.

Challenge accepted.

The first meal was a knock-off of Sonic’s half hot dog, half Frito chili pie. You know, basically a chili cheese dog with a bunch of Fritos on it. The second meal (featured below), however, was my own spin on the Frito chili pie. It’s much faster to make than the original since spicy taco meat is subbed for chili. 

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 packet hot taco seasoning (or mild, if you prefer)

Water

Fritos

Taco sauce

Mexican blend cheese

Pickled nacho sliced jalapenos

Sour cream (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350

Brown ground beef on the stovetop over medium-high heat. Drain, if necessary.

Mix taco seasoning and water according to package directions. Simmer about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Arrange Fritos on individual plates, topping with meat, taco sauce, cheese and jalapenos. Repeat.

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

If desired, top with sour cream.

The Mr.’s looked like this:

Beef love in print, chipotle flank steak recipe

I’m a complete magazine junkie. So, it’s probably no surprise that I get just plain giddy when beef is being featured in one of the many mainstream magazines I either subscribe to, pick up at the grocery store or airport or glance at while I’m getting my hair cut.

When this month’s Redbook arrived, I was happy to spot 2 beefy mentions.

1.       This ad from the Beef Checkoff, featuring a yummy-sounding recipe and a photo and note from one of the many real ranching families who feed the world. Even better, I know this family and they have a tremendous love for the land and dedication to the industry.

2.       This fun fact about Guy Fieri. While Redbook may have given the credit to the eggplant he didn’t want, it’s important to remember what he did want: steak.

Where have you spotted positive mentions of beef lately?

CFS minis

Me: “Have you ever had the chicken minis at Chick-fil-A? I’m thinking about doing those with beef.”

The Mr.: “Do you think I would ever order anything with 'mini' in the name?"

Point taken.

That’s why I didn’t tell him what I was thinking of calling these. But, mini or not, they are quite substantial little treats equally suited for breakfast, lunch, dinner or parties. As a substitution idea, you could also make them with biscuits for a different spin.

Ingredients

1 package cube steak

Rhodes frozen white dinner rolls (1 per patty, see below)

1.5 cups buttermilk

12 ounces beer

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups flour

Coarse sea salt

Coarse black pepper

Cayenne pepper (optional)

Garlic powder

Vegetable oil

Directions

Let rolls rise according to package directions. (I’m a fan of the quick method, which involves cheating a little bit with a warm oven and some boiling water.)

Cut cube steaks and form into roll-size patties. I found I could make 2-3 patties per cube steak, but this will vary greatly depending on the size of the cube steaks you’re working with.

Pour flour on a plate and season generously with the spices. Mix it around and add a little more seasoning.

Mix buttermilk, beer and eggs in a bowl.

Dredge patties into the dry mixture, into the wet mixture and then back in the dry. Place on a plate you’ve sprinkled with flour and place in fridge until you’re ready to cook them.

Heat vegetable oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat. You’ll know it’s hot enough when a flour piece rises quickly to the top.  

Add patties to the oil carefully and cook about 3 minutes per side or until nice and brown. (Cooking time will vary based on size of patties, oil depth, how many you are cooking at once, etc.) Drain on paper towels.

While they are cooking, bake rolls according to package directions. I like to put just a touch of butter on top of each before I start baking them.

When rolls are done, remove from oven and allow to cool about a minute before splitting. I didn’t completely separate mine, leaving a little bit of a pocket to stick the steak in. Slide the steak in, and repeat with remaining rolls. If desired, serve with gravy for dipping. (Click here for my favorite gravy recipe.)

Ours looked like this:

Corona con lima marinade

(This post brought to you by whoever left a Corona in our fridge. Title courtesy of Gary P. Nunn.)

Ingredients

12 ounces Corona

2 generous squirts of lime juice

5 garlic cloves, minced

Sea salt

Coarse pepper

Garlic powder

Directions

Season 1-2 pounds of beef with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Place in Ziploc bag.

Add beer, lime juice and garlic cloves.

Refrigerate for 2-8 hours.

Remove beef and pat dry. If desired, add more of the dry seasonings.

Cook as desired.

This marinade is perfect for less tender cuts you want to throw on the grill!

WebLove: Vittles and Bits’ Cheesy Bacon Oven Chips

I was on Pinterest last week when I came across a photo of a side dish from Vittles and Bits that I knew I had to make immediately. (Click here for the recipe.)



Photo courtesy of vittlesandbits.blogspot.com

Doesn't that look amazing?

Now, granted, it was part of some list of French fry alternatives that frankly I found offensive. Avocado fries are not fries. Zucchini chips are not chips. Let’s call a spade a spade here, folks. But these looked so good I could put aside the fact that they made such a list and give them a try.

We liked them. A lot. So much I thought I’d share with you guys. I will say that, next time, I will slice them a little thinner since mine weren’t quite as chip-like as I would have hoped. But they were still really good. Also, I skipped making the sauce because we’re not big on chipotle — the Mr. preferred regular ranch and I’m a ketchup girl.

They’re the perfect complement for a steak or burger, and I highly recommend them. Hope you enjoy them too!

7 cooking tips for July

The last 2 months have been crazy for the Mr. and me, something that’s glaringly obvious if you look at the lack of posts on the blog. Between our jobs, travel to weddings, showers, meetings and family functions, puppy kindergarten for Vegas, and just general summer busyness, the blog has definitely taken a hit. (Though those of you who follow Make Mine Beef on Facebook know beef consumption and love is just as high as ever around here!) But, I hope to turn that around this month and can’t wait to share lots of goodies with you soon.

When I hosted Make Mine Beef’s live Facebook chat a few months ago, you guys were full of awesome ideas for future content. And, just because some of those ideas haven’t shown up on the blog yet doesn’t mean they aren’t coming! I hope to bring them all to fruition during the next few months. And today, I’m using one of those ideas and sharing some good old-fashioned cooking tips. Nothing to revolutionary here — just a few things I’ve picked up that might possibly help someone else, too.

So, without further ado, Make Mine Beef’s 7 random cooking tips in honor of the seventh month:

Dry meat browns better.  I’m only somewhat embarrassed to admit I learned this from Julia Child. Except not so much from her, as from the movie Julie and Julia. Ever since, I’ve patted my steaks dry with a paper towel before seasoning them. Who says you can’t learn anything from the movies?

Water + vinegar + baking soda works wonders on the stickiest, nastiest pots and pans. I learned this one via Pinterest, and it’s one of those things from Pinterest that actually works. You know, unlike the “just like Texas Roadhouse cinnamon butter” recipe that completely ruined my day that time. If you have a pot or pan that has some burnt-on-food stuck to the bottom or sides, there’s no need to scrub and scrub and scrub. Just fill it about halfway up with water, add a few splashes of white vinegar and return to the stove on medium-high heat until it boils. Remove from heat, sprinkle in some baking soda and it will scrub away much easier. Love this for those times I wasn’t paying enough attention to a sauce and end up with a mess.

Use the grill’s heat to keep it clean between uses. This is a tip from my mom, a master griller. After taking your steaks or burgers off the grill, turn the heat up a little and leave it on for about 15 minutes. It will “burn off” a lot of the yuck and make your grill much easier to clean. Tip within a tip: set a kitchen timer to remind you to turn the grill off, or else you’ll think about it 3 hours later — or the next day — when you’ve run out of propane.

Moist cakes, brownies and other baked goods every time? It’s as easy as water. I learned this one from my grandmother. Anytime you bake something sweet, especially something that has a tendency to dry out a little, just cook it with a pan of water underneath. I always put a cake pan full of water on the lower rack and let it heat up as the oven preheats. The steam from the lower rack will keep whatever is cooking on the top rack moist and delicious. This tip is the best thing to ever happen to my brownies!

Disposable pans are a (insert my maiden name here) family tradition. This one really needs no explanation. Disposable pans are fantastic and probably the biggest time-saver ever. You know, until my dreams of a disposable stovetop and self-cleaning kitchen are fulfilled.

Crisco is much better than oil for seasoning cast-iron skillets. Again, thank you Pinterest. How did I never know this before? Old school Crisco works about a million times better than regular oil when seasoning cast-iron skillets. Just smooth some on a hot, clean skillet using a paper towel and you’re all set. It soaks right in and creates an awesome surface for the next meal.

Dawn is the perfect degreaser — for clothes. If you’re like me, you get an oil splatter on your clothes almost every time you fry. While an apron works wonders, I’m pretty good at finding the one uncovered spot and getting grease there. But, recently I learned a super easy tip that works fantastically. Just pre-treat any grease spots with a little Dawn (I always pre-treat while I am still wearing the clothes so I don’t forget) and voila… It almost always washes out.

What are some of your favorite kitchen tips?