French Dip Crescent Sandwiches with Au Jus

This was a good meal on a cold night...something about dipping the warm sandwich into the hot au jus just made me feel all warm inside. Plus, talk about E-A-S-Y! It's a win-win!


French Dip Crescent Sandwiches with Au Jus for dipping
adapted from Mama Loves Food, photo from bakingbad.com

You need
1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls (8 individual rolls)
4 slices swiss cheese, cut in half
16 slices deli roast beef

Make it
1- unroll crescent rolls and separate into triangles, following the perforated lines
2- place 2 slices of roast beef and 1/2 slice of swiss cheese onto each of the 8 rolls
3- roll up each roll, starting at the wide end
4- bake in preheated oven according to directions on crescent roll package

Au Jus dipping sauce
You need

1 or 2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
3 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp all purpose flour (optional)

Make it
1- saute onion in olive oil until softened.
2- add garlic to pan and stir for about 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
3- add water, bouillon cubes and Worcestershire sauce, dissolving bouillon cubes as you stir. bring to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer for about 15 minutes.
4- uncover and let cook until reduced by about 1/2.
5- strain out all garlic and onion, keeping only sauce and serve immediately.
6- optional- if you want to thicken it up even more- whisk flour into a few tbsp of cold water, whisking vigorously to reduce clumping. return the sauce to the pan and stir in flour mixture. bring to boil, stir and serve.

New Mexican Lasagna

I always come back from New Mexico inspired to cook---I think it's mostly about New Mexican green chiles. Yum! So, upon arriving home from our trip last week, I made this dish. Ross named it New Mexican Lasagna. I was trying to make a dish that we had at his parents' house. It was different than his mom's dish but it was also so good!! I had made enough {I thought} for two meals worth. Well, Ross had other plans! I went to put the baby down for the night and came back to a tiny sliver left in the pan! So much for leftovers! I just LOVE when he likes something so much. It makes me feel like a good wife :)

New Mexican Lasagna

1 lb ground turkey (or beef)
1 can low fat cream of chicken soup
1 can green enchilada sauce
15 corn tortillas
a few handfulls crushed tortilla chips
1 1/2 cups reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
fajita seasoning
chopped green chiles (not jalapenos)


-brown turkey. drain fat. stir in green chiles and sprinkle with fajita seasoning.
-in a separate bowl, mix together cream of chicken soup and green chile enchilada sauce. reserve about 1/4 can of enchilada sauce for later.
-spray bottom of 8x8 pan. layer 5 corn tortillas, sauce mixture, meat, cheese and repeat three times. (you will probably have to tear up the tortillas to make them cover the entire pan)
-top with crushed chips. pour remaining enchilada sauce over chips. top with cheese. bake for about 30 minutes on 350, or until cheese is nice and bubbly.

Sweet and Spicy Brisket

I made this last night and it was great! Then, today I made the same thing with chicken but I cooked it in the crock pot.

3 lb brisket
1/2 can beer
Meat tenderizer
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon of each of the following: onion powder, garlic powder, ground mustard, celery salt
1/2 tablespoon of each of the following: cayenne pepper (more or less to taste), cumin, paprika, sage

Generously sprinkle meat with tenderizer. Cut small slits in meat and stuff with minced garlic. Mix together all seasonings and sugar. Rub into meat very well. Put brisket in baking dish and pour beer over it. Cover tightly with foil or lid. Bake at 350 for 2 hours. Then, reduce heat to 200 and cook for 7-9 more hours, or until fully cooked and tender.

Taco Soup

I finally measured the ingredients when I was making this last night. Ross loves it. It's fabulous for days like we are having...snowy, 0* windchill. Bring on the warm soup!

1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 can rotel
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 small can tomato sauce
1 cup frozen corn
1 pack taco seasoning
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp baking soda
salt to taste


-Brown beef in large soup pot. Drain out all grease.
-Saute onion and garlic in olive oil and add beef back to pot.
-Add all ingredients except for beans and corn.
-When you add the baking soda, it will foam all up. This helps to cut the acidity from the tomatoes.
-Simmer for at least one hour, adding beans and corn about 20 minutes before you are ready to serve.
-Serve topped with shredded cheese, tortilla chips and sour cream.

Green Chile Beef Adovada

Ross' family is from New Mexico and therefore, I have learned lots about the state's obsession with Hatch green chiles. They are SO fabulous! Another common dish in New Mexico is Carne Adovada. It is a typically a pork and red chile dish but here, I've made it with beef and green chile sauce and served it in tortillas with avocados. Yummy!


1 or 2 lb lean beef roast
Olive oil
2 cans or jars of Hatch green chile salsa

Brown your beef on all sides in the olive oil. This will take about 5 minutes a side; be sure to include the edges. This step is very important because it seals in all of the juices. Cover beef with salsa. Cover dish and bake at 350 for 2-3 hours. I actually make mine in an electric pressure cooker (amazing tool) and it cooks for 55 minutes. Shred beef and put back into green chile salsa. Serve.

Korean BBQ Beef Kabobs

Recipe adapted from Our Best Bites


Ingredients
1 1/2 lb. sirloin steak, cut against the grain into thin (about 1/4") slices
1/2 c. rice wine or pear juice (1 4 oz. bottle of pear juice from the baby food aisle is perfect and cheap)
1/2 c. low-sodium soy sauce (regular soy sauce makes it taste vaguely like beef jerky)
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
2 tsp. Sriracha chili sauce
1 1/2 tsp. sesame or olive oil

1/2 cup beef broth
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 cup cool water

Combine wine or pear juice, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic, chili sauce, and sesame oil in a large bowl. Add sliced steak. Marinate at room temperature for 1 hour or up to 8 hours in the refrigerator. Preheat the grill. While the grill is heating, thread the steak pieces onto bamboo skewers. Keep marinate for dipping sauce. Cook over medium-high heat for about 3-4 minutes per side, being careful not to let the meat get too cooked. Serve immediately; serves 4-6.

Dipping sauce: This can be made before grilling. Mix extra marinate with beef broth in sauce pan. In small cup or bowl, mix water with cornstarch until there are no lumps. When marinade mixture reaches a boil, pour in 1/2 of the cornstarch mixture. Continue to cook and stir over high heat to thicken sauce, adding more cornstarch mixture to thicken as desired.

Tostadas

I made these for dinner tonight and Ross couldn't stop ooohing and aaaahing! Nothing makes me feel better as a wife! Plus, they were super super easy!



Ingredients
8 Corn tostada chips
1 lb ground beef
1/4 block Velveta
Lettuce shreds
3 tbsp salsa
Beef fajita seasoning
Shredded cheese
Refried beans

Directions
1- Heat tostada chips in oven for 6-7 minutes.
2- While tostadas are baking, brown beef and drain fat. Mix in salsa, fajita seasoning and velveta until melted and well mixed.
3- Warm beans and spread over tostada chips.
4- Sprinkle with cheese and broil until melted.
5- Top with beef mixture and lettuce.

Shepherd's Pie and Shepherd's Pocket

I don't know why, but lately I have been wanting to make Shepherd's Pie. I've never had it, never made it, never seen it made...but it popped into my mind (probably the result of having FoodNetwork constantly on my TV, whether I'm watching it or not). So, after some research and tweaking, here's my rendition.

Customary Shepherd's Pie

Filling
1 lb ground beef
1 can green beans (drained)
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet onion soup mix (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Minced garlic (2 heaping spoonfulls)
Chopped onion (maybe 2/3 cup?)
1 tsp rosemary
Olive oil
{Mashed potatoes for topping}

Directions
Brown beef in dutch oven-type dish. Drain grease and keep beef out of dish. Sprinkle a few tsp of olive oil in pan. Allow to warm and add onion. Saute for 2-3 minutes and then add garlic. (it's important to do it this way, so that the garlic doesn't burn and the onions cook all the way through) Add beef and add all other ingredients back into pot; mix well. Spread beef mixture into baking dish so that beef mixture is about 2-3 inches thick. Spread mashed potatoes on top, covering all beef. Bake in 350* oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until potatoes are golden brown.

Shepherd's Pockets (as Ross named them)

Follow previous recipe, except use 1/2 a packet of onion soup mix instead of entire pack. Omit mashed potatoes and use pop-out French bread dough instead. I like Pillsbury brand--it's by the biscuits in the cold section at the store.

Make beef filling. Roll out french bread dough. If you look carefully, there is a seam and you can unroll it. Cut into pieces that are twice the desired size of finished pocket. (you are going to fold it over) Place a few spoonfulls of filling in center of half of the dough. Fold dough over beef to create pocket. Press edges firmly together. Bake on greased cookie sheet for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown.