Beef Broccolini TALL blonde Style

When it comes to Chinese food in America the classics are fine with me. This cuisine is not part of my heritage nor am I classically kitchen trained so I am not a food snob here. There are those times when over sugaring and over deep frying in Chinese dishes can be cloying and dulls the senses.  Here is TALL blonde's more savory version of Beef Broccoli. Meal shopping is also easier and economical with ground beef vs. today's pricey steak.

Vietnamese Shaking Beef

 

I have a personal story related to this dish through being brought up by my very old fashioned Western European parents. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area surrounded by a bounty of great food both through local grocery store offerings and restaurants of food from around the world. San Francisco is home to a popular Vietnamese restaurant known for their Shaking Beef dish, correctly known as Bo Luc Lac. This is a deep, dark, rich beef perfumed dish. 

A few years ago we finally made the trek to try this dish. It arrived to our table in a steaming loud sizzling presentation dish.  To make shock, this dish was chunks of seared beef served on a bed of fresh watercress salad. Wha? Huh?  I have been eating  beef steak with watercress since I was old enough to eat adult food.  This is a French inspired dish obviously developed during the French occupation of Vietnam.  So when I hear someone refer to Vietnamese Shaking Beef, I quietly smile inside.

TALL Blonde's recipe below uses fresh arugula salad for ease of supply and makes a great compliment to the seared beef. Serves 6.

ADOBO - Quick & Dirty

 

I have been cooking for so long and mastered nearly all the basics that I find myself branching out to dishes and cuisines that are outside of my comfort or familiarity zone. I have simplified a classic adobo recipe compared to the traditional but still offers complex flavors. To add to this recipes' simplicity I used regular cubed stew beef instead of a more classic flank steak.

Note: there is spicy heat.

Adobo weather it is Mexican or Filipino is generally served as a sauce with chicken or pork. For all you red blooded eaters out there this recipe features beef. This recipe leans towards Mexican cuisine and while a great adobo takes hours of preparation and dozens of warm toasty ingredients you can make a great tasting  adobo with fewer ingredients and prep. steps.  I also prefer to use my crockpot for my long slow braise dishes rather than the oven. The oven simply over heats one's small apartment and clean up is so much easier. Serves 6.

Decadent Beef Wellington - Bouef en Croute

MMMMmmmmmmm, Beef Wellington; aka 'Bouef en Croute'. A wonderful combination of buttery crust blanket wrapped around a beautiful medium rare Filet Mignon roast lovingly bathed in a cognac fois gras and shallot vest. Although some folks believe this is a classic French dish because of its undyeable richness of flavor and depth of aromatic sauce it's origin is actually from New Zealand.  Evidence of a British Kingdom producing elegant food. HA!

This recipe is not for the faint of heart, it takes some planning, there are four major steps in its creation and it is expensive due to the cut of meat, but oh so worth it.  10 years ago I made this dish in a 5-course dinner for 10 friends and it was quite an effort but they still talk about it to this day. Perfect for a holiday dinner or very special occasion, perhaps replacing your November turkey or December ham.

I have made this recipe using home-made Puff Pastry and it tasted fabulous (as pictured), but this recipe is tricky enough where I opt in for the ready made stuff and minimize the extra steps.

Pot Roast - Nightshade Free

 

I love a great stew, can be made ahead, can be slow cooked in the oven or crockpot. I have never used an InstaPot but I assume it can handle the challenge.  Nightshade-free cooking is my latest area of culinary experimentation and a move towards good health.  Click nightshade free recipes in the Category link of this blog if you are curious.  Like all stews you are likely using an inexpensive cut of meat, slow cooking and always a treat served with a crusty toasted sourdough baguette for that savory umami sauce or served sliced and poured over cooked and hot wide egg noodles, especially on a cold day....as in San Francisco in July (ha ha).

San Mateo Tacos

 

I love it when a plan comes together, first time's a charm. These beef tacos with sautéed onions turned out so scrummy that I had to jump on my laptop and share the recipe.  Even if it is only to memorialize the details of the recipe for my own use and not rely on a flawed memory. I was also looking for an alternative taco recipe that is nightshade-free.

Admittedly I was nervous about some of the flavor combinations. This uses sweetened grilled onions and with a very beefy flavored cut of meat my fingers were crossed tight to the point of white knuckles that I made the right choices.  Turns out the luscious onions brought out the best in a rich beefy cut of meat.

Tacos are not a precise dish and approximate measurements will be shown here. I will say the more added flavor enhancing items listed in the recipe, the better the outcome.  So if I say oregano, add OREGANO!   You know how to cook, you can get this right.

Kofta & Salad - ISRAEL

Third in a three part series centering on typical food served in Israel. Everyone loves Kebabs (Kofta)  and here is TALL Blonde's version. I have previously tried recipes and felt the flavor components needed to be ramped up. That is my first contribution, the second contribution to this recipe is the option to consider using ground lamb instead of ground beef, some optional flavor suggestions and the elimination of the skewer so anyone can make these without the requirement of a grill. These patties make terrific sliders smothered with a little plain yogurt and diced green onions or spicy green harissa (recipe link below)

If you wish to try your hand at preparing a complete meal, check on my other recipes titled "Isreal Step One" and "Israel Step Two" for complimentary side dishes: Pita Bread, Tabbouleh, and Green Harissa.  I have included a recipe for refreshing Israeli Salad below.

Beef Stroganoff - easy video

Beef Stroganoff is pretty self explanatory with this 2 minute video #TLLBLND made for my talented and creative son who loves to cook like his mom.

5 Ingredients

TALLblonde plans on giving this out as holiday gifts in 2019. I have tried numerous recipes and they are all EASY to prepare, no special COOKING SKILLS, many dishes prepared in 15 MINUTES. Most recipes are measured to serve 2, so this means dinner for one with leftovers. Many recipes will also feed four servings. This QUICK and EASY cookbook by "The Naked Chef" Brit-born Jamie Oliver is not the quick and easy bland gut bombs of the past.  These recipes actually taste GRRREAT!

Scratch Corned Beef

Recipe Courtesy of Elsie Bauer

I scoured the internet for the ultimate home cured corned beef, after many disappointing pre-mixed corned beef polybag spice cocktails at the grocery store.  I had to believe there was something better tasting out there.  The following recipe is a copy of another online recipe that I selected as my test run solely based on the image of the finished product.  Red in color and very lean.  I was lucky to have blindly selected the recipe that most mirrored the flavor I was looking for.  The ultimate surprise was a flavorful slab of beef that also revealed some heat, as well as flavor.  To my ultimate surprise was the spice mix was classically East Indian and the end product was mouth watering oozing with flavor but did not taste like Indian buffet in a tent or chutney dipping sauce for meat.

Meatballs a la TLLBLND

I have made these little beef and pork gems at gome successfully for many years without giving them much thought.  Mainly because they are simple to make, require few ingredients and do not contain garlic or onions to disturb your "inner" happiness. Some of you gentle folk know what I am talking about (wink wink). My Brother-in-law shared with me that he wanted to begin cooking with his 7 year old son Nick as a new activity they can share together and eat more healthy. After a recent family lunch where I served these tasty spherical delights he asked for my recipe. So here it is for you to try and have the freedom to make changes and additions to create your own family recipe.

Pub-Style Burger

Pub-Style Gourmet Burger-The Luxury of Beef-

Beef Stew with Red Wine

I brown all my ingredients when cooking savory dishes, this is where the flavor is. A crock pot is what I generally use to cook my beef stew unless cooking for an army then I am forced to use the oven to carry the roasting pan needed to accommodate hungry mouths. Cooking in a crock pot does not mean dump all ingredients into the well, place the lid to seal, and crank the pot to high. I take the effort to brown all ingredients, not just the meat. You will be well rewarded.

Beef Jerky-Made At Home

One word:  A M A Z I N G.

Chicago Hot Dog

It took TALL Blonde a trip all the way to Chicago to discover what an authentic Chicago hot dog was made of and what makes it so special.  Once you taste one, you can never go back. In honor of the 'Windy City', here are the ingredients to make a classic Chicago Hot Dog:

Super Bowl Sourdough Special

Tail-Gaters and Super Bowl Fan Favorite

CHILI - Beer & Bitters Is The Secret

Hands down, this is the best tasting chili you have ever tried.

Black Jack Brisket