Ground Beef Stroganoff

Quick and easy to make, this delicious microwave recipe is pure comfort food!

Ground Beef Stroganoff:

1 lb. (500 g) lean ground beef

½ c. (125 mL) finely chopped onion

2 tbsp. (25 mL) all-purpose flour

½ tsp. (2.5 mL) salt

½ tsp. (2.5 mL) paprika

1 c. (250 mL) canned mushrooms, drained (or 1 c. (250 mL) fresh mushroom slices, lightly sautéed)

One 10-oz. (284 mL) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 c. (250 mL) dairy sour cream

Cook ground beef and onions in microwave-safe casserole 6 min. at high power, stirring every 2 min. (see Note). In small bowl, combine flour, salt, and paprika. Stir in to beef-and-onion mixture with soup. Cook 5 min., stirring halfway through cooking time. Add sour cream. Return to microwave for 2 min. at 50% power, stirring halfway through cooking time. 

Note: To use the cooked ground beef hot-water “rinsing” method I described in my Feb. 15, 2014 recipe for Bobotie, cook beef in microwave-safe casserole at high power for 6 min., stirring every 2 min. In sieve, rinse with hot water and blot dry. Return cooked beef to microwave-safe dish before adding onions and a squirt of oil in which to sauté them at high power for about 2 min. 

For more Stroganoff recipes, see One Click: Stroganoff.

Bobotie

I love the versatility of ground beef, but not its fat content. I buy only lean ground beef - but also do something else. After scramble-frying the meat separately in most ground beef recipes, I place it in a sieve, rinsing it with very hot water to wash away the last of its fat. I then blot the meat dry and proceed with the recipe, one of my favorites being this one. 

Bobotie is a North American adaptation of a popular South African dish. I like to serve it with well-washed saffron-tinted basmati rice. Although this dish may “look” like meat loaf, it doesn’t taste like meat loaf. I could happily eat Bobotie for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! I’m sorry to say that I don’t know this recipe’s source, so am unable to provide the appropriate credit.

Bobotie:

3 tbsp. (45 mL) butter, melted

2 medium onions, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 slices white bread (yes, white!), each torn into 8 pieces 

1-¼ c. (310 mL) milk

1-½ lb. (700 g) ground beef or ground lamb

2 eggs, divided

2 tbsp. (25 mL) curry powder

1 tbsp. (15 mL) sugar

2 tbsp. (25 mL) lemon juice

¼ tsp. (1.25 mL) salt

¼ tsp. (1.25 mL) freshly ground pepper

½ c. (125 mL) sliced almonds or pine nuts

⅓ c. (80 mL) seedless raisins

Preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Bring butter just to sizzling in small skillet. Add onions and garlic, cooking until tender and onion is translucent. As onion and garlic cook, soak bread in milk for 5 min. In large bowl, combine ground meat with 1 beaten egg, the cooked onion and garlic, curry powder, sugar, lemon juice, salt, pepper, almonds or pine nuts, and raisins. Squeeze out bread, reserving milk. Add bread to meat mixture.  Combine well to evenly distribute bread, seasonings, nuts, and raisins. Pat meat mixture into greased 9-in. square casserole dish, smoothing top. Beat reserved milk with remaining egg, pouring over meat. Bake 1 hr. or until meat is cooked through and top is lightly browned. Serves 4-to-6.

Broccoli Slaw (Version 1)

This has some of the elements of a coleslaw, but technically, isn’t because it contains no cabbage. However, “coleslaw” seems an excellent description, so that’s what I’ll call it. The other word for this tasty slaw is “healthy!” Because that’s how you’ll feel when you eat it.

Broccoli Slaw:

To Prepare the Slaw:

3 c. (375 mL) fresh, crisp broccoli flowerets, uncooked

1 medium carrot, uncooked and diced fine

1 crisp apple, skin on, chopped in ½-in. (1.2 cm) pieces

⅓ c. (80 mL) plumped raisins or dried, sweetened cranberry-flavored raisins (See Note)

¼ c. (60 mL) sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds, toasted (See Further Note)

Combine and toss all ingredients except sunflower or pumpkin seeds.

To Prepare the Dressing:

2 tbsp. (30 mL) apple-cider vinegar

2 tbsp. (30 mL) maple syrup

¼ c. (60 mL) plain yogurt

¼ c. (60 mL) mayonnaise

Combine well, tossing with slaw. Sprinkle with sunflower or pumpkin seeds. Serves 4.

Note: See the Index for How to Plump Dried Fruit. In the Time Zone and at the Latitude Where I Live, dried cranberries are sold as “Craisins.”

Further Note: See the Index for How to Toast Nuts. Because these seeds are small, they require only 5 min. in a toaster oven.

A mix of nutritious ingredients to pep you up! 

Valentine’s Day Cookies

I’ve been cleaning up after Frankie’s messy attempt at making Valentine’s Day Cookies. His tail’s been out of joint, but he’s okay now, waiting for me to decorate the finished cookies so he can test them. This recipe involves a moderate level of difficulty. These cookies take several hours to make, but most of that is chilling time. 

The result is a beautiful cookie - perfect for special occasions such as Valentine’s Day (with red food coloring), St. Patrick’s Day (with green food coloring), Autumn (with orange and brown food coloring), the holidays (with red and green food coloring), or Spring (with pastel food coloring). I’ve modified this recipe from one I found for Pinwheel Cookies in Wilton’s Gifts From the Kitchen (Woodridge, IL, 2007). 

Valentine’s Day Cookies:

½ c. (125 mL) butter or margarine, softened

½ c. (125 mL) granulated sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. (5 mL) vanilla extract

¼ tsp. (1.25 mL) peppermint extract

1-½ c. (375 mL) all-purpose flour

Dash salt

¼ tsp. (1.25 mL) red gel food color

2 tbsp. (30 mL) red sparkly crystalline sugar

2 tbsp. (30 mL) white sparkly crystalline sugar 

Three 1-oz. (28 g) squares white chocolate, chopped or equivalent amount of white chocolate melting wafers

In a large bowl using electric mixer, cream butter and sugar together about 5 min., until no grainy feeling remains when mixture is rubbed between thumb and forefinger. Add egg and extracts, mixing well. Add flour and salt, also mixing well. 

So here we have the perfect cookie dough!

Divide dough into two equal block-shaped portions, each weighing 8 oz. or 250 g. Add gel food color to one portion, kneading well to distribute color evenly. 

Bowls of tinted and untinted dough. 

Place each portion on separate sheet of waxed paper. With rolling pin, roll to form rectangle measuring 4 x 5 in. (10 x 12 cm). Wrap in cello, refrigerating at least 1 hr. or overnight, as convenient.

Separately wrap red and white blocks of dough; chill.

Remove one block of dough from refrigerator. Place on long sheet of waxed paper (see Note) with dampened cloth underneath, to prevent paper from sliding as you work. Cover top of dough with second sheet of waxed paper, leaving ends free.  

With rolling pin, roll to form a rectangle measuring 6 x 11 in. (15 x 28 cm), straightening and measuring the rectangle with a ruler. Repeat with second block of dough. On flat surface such as a baking sheet, briefly chill both portions of rolled dough to firm them. 

Roll out dough: Measure and straighten edges with a ruler.

Lift waxed paper sheet under white dough rectangle, quickly flipping over red dough rectangle. Use ruler to even sides once again. Gently press the two portions of dough together with your fingers. Using the bottom sheet of waxed paper, carefully roll long end of the joined cookie doughs, jelly-roll style. Wrap roll in cello, chilling 1-to-2 hr. until firm. 

Roll colored doughs, one atop the other, jelly-roll style.

Preheat oven to 375 deg. F. Remove roll from refrigerator; unwrap.  Cut crosswise into ¼-in. (.6 cm) rounds. 

Slice into rounds.

Place on parchment-lined baking sheet, 1-in. (2.5 cm) apart. These cookies make look small, but they spread! Bake about 8 min., until edges are lightly golden. Remove from oven. Set baking sheet on wire rack until cookies are completely cool, about 10 min.

Baked and cooled! But we aren’t finished yet!

Place chopped white chocolate or white chocolate melting wafers into microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at half power 1-to-2 min., stirring every 30 sec. until chocolate is melted. Using the back of a teaspoon, spread small amount of slightly warm chocolate around half the edge of cooled cookie. 

Add red and white sparkly sugars to small bowl, combining well. Immediately roll edges of cookie in sparkly sugar. Place cookie on parchment paper until chocolate sets. Repeat with remaining cookies. Makes about 3 doz.

Dip into sparkly sugars.

Note: Do not use parchment paper underneath block of dough to roll cookies out jelly-roll style. Waxed paper is more pliable than parchment. It won’t stick to your dough, as parchment does. 

Further Note: On their own, these cookies aren’t very sweet. They need the little oomph! of sweetness the chocolate and sugar provide, so don’t skip that special step. 

Sugar-dipped Valentine’s Day Cookies

Variation: It’s also fun to make Lemon Drops. Using lemon extract instead of the vanilla and mint in this recipe, follow the same method as with these rolled cookies. Color half the dough light yellow and half, darker yellow. Beading melted white chocolate around the edge, dip cookie edge n sparkly yellow crystalline sugar. These sugars are available in many colors, either online or in cooking and craft specialty stores, as you choose.

The Shirley Temple

She was adorable. With that, anyone would agree. And clever, learning all those scripted lines, charming songs, and tap-dance numbers. And inspirational, lifting spirits and bringing smiles to a generation in the grip of the Great Depression. And now, a few weeks shy of her 86^th birthday, she has left us. Long live Shirley Temple - and the fizzy little drink that was her namesake.

I drank my first Shirley Temple when I was 18. Serving it in a wide, low glass, Trader Vic’s floated a white camellia on it, which was how things were done in those days. The drink didn’t contain a drop of alcohol, but it was pink and fizzy and arrived decorated with a cherry and a tiny straw and that wonderfully memorable camellia. I was giddy with excitement. It was altogether the best drink I’d ever had, and ever have had, to this day. You think I wouldn’t ask for the recipe? This is precisely how Trader Vic’s made it! 

The Shirley Temple:

3 or 4 ice cubes

1 tbsp. (15 mL) grenadine

½ c. (125 mL) lemon-lime soft drink (“soda”) such as 7-Up

¼ c. (60 mL) no-pulp orange juice

1 skewered maraschino cherry (mandatory)

1 bar straw (mandatory)

1 white camellia (optional)

A sprinkling of stardust (mandatory)

Chill a broad, low glass such as a large brandy snifter. Shake together (do not whirl in a blender), three or four ice cubes, grenadine, lemon-lime drink, and pulp-free orange juice. Strain and serve, topped with a cherry, a bar straw, and (sigh!) a white camellia. Sprinkle with stardust. None in the air? Then honey, you’re wasting your time. Serves 1. 

Ron’s Famous Whiskey BBQ Salmon

Salmon and whiskey … It doesn’t get any better than this! The name is well deserved. This is one of the best - if not the best - salmon marinades I’ve ever had. Five stars, Ron! Ron insists the only rye whiskey to use is Crown Royal, but I’m sure any quality whiskey will do very nicely.

                   This recipe requires extra time 

for marination

Ron’s Famous Whiskey BBQ Salmon:

1 large salmon fillet, skin left on

To Prepare the Marinade:

2 c. (500 mL) demerara sugar

6 cloves garlic, crushed

½ c. (60 mL) soy sauce

2 tbsp. (20 mL) dry mustard

1 c. (250 mL) rye whiskey

2 tbsp. (30 mL) ketchup

3-in. (7.5 cm) piece of ginger, peeled, sliced and crushed

1 c. (250 mL) canola oil

Combine marinade ingredients, stirring well. Lay salmon fillet skin-side down in rectangular glass dish or lidded marinade container. Cover with marinade, refrigerating at least 3 hr. Barbecue salmon at medium heat with top of BBQ closed. Do not turn over. Salmon is done when flesh is opaque and fat rises to the top. Fillets more than 2 in. (5 cm) thick should be marinated overnight.

Ron chose a fresh slab of sockeye salmon, also known as

red salmon or blueback. Spring salmon - also called chinook,

king, tyee, or Quinnat - is another excellent choice.

Let the marination begin!

Done to perfection!

Ron’s Ultimate Nachos

Ron cooks with Guy Confidence. But his confidence was shattered when he put a crystal dish into the microwave oven to warm his Ultimate Nachos. The results were predictable: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHkvD7-u7y8

But my, my, were those nachos good! 

Ron’s Ultimate Nachos:

⅓-to-½ c. (80-to-125 mL) processed cheese spread such as Cheez Whiz

4-to-6 slices canned or fresh small jalapeño peppers, chopped finely

½ tsp. (2.5 mL) (more or less) hot sauce such as Tabasco

Combine well, warming on stove top or in microwave oven at low power setting. Pour over nachos, serving warm. Do not use crystal bowl to heat. Do not overheat. 

How to Separate Eggs: Two Easy Ways

My mother did it the usual way (Eggs, dummy!), with the shell often breaking the yolk. I did it that way for years! And then I learned a far simpler way that evolved naturally from experience. As you crack the egg, gently drop it into your hand, catching the yolk as the white slips through. 

But there’s a new trick, as shown in this YouTube video. Golly!

If you can’t view this on your mobile device, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/embed/iAp8pEaWB1Y

Shredded Crab Salad

This easy salad is one of my top, top favorites! I make it almost every time I see artificial crab in the seafood counter. Plug the words “artificial crab” into the small search engine at the top left of this page to find several other recipes that use this excellent product. 

Shredded Crab Salad:

About 11 oz. (300-plus g) “flake-style” artificial crab, shredded

¼ c. (60 mL) celery, diced small

1 green onion (“spring onion”), sliced finely

2 tbsp. (30 mL) finely minced fresh parsley

2 tbsp. (30 mL) frozen peas, uncooked

2-½ tbsp. (37 mL) mayonnaise

1-½ tbsp. (22 mL) plain yogurt

Salt and pepper, to taste

Fresh parsley sprigs, as garnish (optional)

In a work bowl, toss together all ingredients except last four. Mix mayonnaise, yogurt, and seasoning in small bowl, combining well before adding. Transfer to salad plates, serving on a bed of lettuce, or transfer to small salad bowl. Garnish with parsley, as desired. Yields 4 portions.

Start with ultra-fresh artificial crab!

Dice celery finely.

Chop green onion, too.

Toss before adding mayo, yogurt, and seasonings.

Ready to serve in minutes!

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Potato Mash

Corned beef and cabbage … True comfort food! Ever cooked it? Here’s how:

Corned Beef and Cabbage with Potato Mash:

Just enough water to cover meat

2-to-2-½ lb. (about 1 kg) corned beef bagged in brine

2 tbsp. (30 mL) prepared horseradish (optional)

Hunk of cabbage, coarsely chopped, as required

Mashed potatoes, as required (see Note)

Dijon-style mustard 

In a large pot, bring water to simmering point. Slip corned beef and brine in bag into water. For extra flavor and zing! add a little horseradish to the cooking water. Simmer, covered, about 3 hr., topping up water as needed. About 20 min. before corned beef finishes cooking, add cabbage to same water in which meat beef is simmering to let cabbage absorb flavor of meat and brine. Cover and cook cabbage 20 min., or until soft. Drain meat and cabbage well. Slice corned beef over mashed potatoes with cabbage on the side. Serve with Dijon-style mustard. 

Note: Surely you know how to make mashed potatoes? If not, here’s the basic recipe - nothing fancy, no roasted garlic, no cream, no bacon bits, no beaten-in lobster purée, no pretentiously named “smashed” potatoes … Just the real meal deal, take it or leave it. 

Potato Mash:

Russet or other all-purpose potatoes, as required

Butter or margarine, as required

Milk (I use skim), as required

Salt and pepper, as required

Rinse and peel potatoes. Quarter and add to large pot of cold water. Bring to boil over high heat, immediately lowering heat to simmer. Cover and cook 15-to-25 min., or until a small, sharp knife meets no resistance. Drain potatoes and return to pot. Mash with potato masher, removing as many lumps as possible (Purists use a potato ricer to do this job, but I live dangerously, happily eating gluey potatoes). 

Add butter, sampling as you go along. Potatoes should taste buttery - but not sickeningly so. Add milk slowly - too much will make potatoes slushy! Season to taste. Using an electric hand mixer, whip the heck out of this. Serve at once, directly from pot to the plate. So eat, already! Is that basic enough for you?

Add the water: Simmer it.

Add the meat: The fat will simmer away.

Chop the cabbage into larger-than-normal chunks.

Simmer cabbage beside meat in last 20 min. of cooking.

Serve with mashed potatoes. Sliced thinly, is corned beef
is also great on rye bread with Dijon-style mustard.

For another excellent corned beef recipe, see Ron’s Corned Beef Hash, indexed under Brunches: Corned Beef.

Frankie Cooks Flank Steak with Mushrooms and Wine

Announcer: “She shoots! She scores!”

Frankie the Fish: “Mom’s on TV! Dad and I ah watchink!”

Announcer: “Can she do it? Will she do it? Yesssss! She’s dribbled the ball over the 25-yard line, straight into the bleachers! But no … NOOOOO! Here comes Dennis Rodman, heading straight for her!”

WHUMP! 

Nicole, as millions watch: “도움! 고통! 고통!” (“Why am I speaking Korean?”)

Frankie: “They’re cawwying Mom away on a stwetch-ah. Bye, Mom! Oh, well. Mom was the Supah Bowl’s hunchback. I fink she was playink wif the Dolphins. Dolphins make me sc-ah-ed. They want to eat me. I want mo-ah Cheezies, Dad! Befo-ah Mom went to pway baseball in the Supah Bowl, she said this wecipe would put hai-ah on my chest. I don’t want hai-ah on my chest! I’ll dwown!!!”

Ron: “Where’d you get that Boston accent, Frankie?”

Flank Steak with Mushrooms and Wine:

1 tbsp. (15 mL) canola oil

2 tbsp. (30 mL) butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 large fresh mushroom, sliced 

⅓ celery stalk, chopped

⅓ c. (80 mL) unseasoned croutons

⅛ tsp. (0.63 mL) poultry seasoning

⅛ tsp. (0.63 mL) onion salt

⅛ tsp. (0.63 mL) black pepper 

1-½ lb. (about 750 g) flank steak (see Note)

½ c. (125 mL) dry white wine

2 tsp. (10 mL) fresh parsley, finely minced, as garnish

Preheat oven to 300 deg. F. Melt oil and butter in medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion, mushroom, and celery. Sauté 5 min., or until onion is tender and translucent. Stir in croutons and seasonings, combining well. Cool to room temperature. 

Pound the meat with the sharp end of a meat mallet to break its tough connective tissue. You may want to “butterfly” the meat, so it will be thin enough to roll up your filling. To do that, see:

If you can’t view this YouTube video on your mobile device, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTYcw9U6KPs

 Center meat on generously sized piece of foil. Spread seasoned stuffing over flank steak to within 1 in. (2.54 cm) of edges. Starting at long end, bring meat together at long edges, securing with skewers or butcher’s twine or heat-tolerant silicone cooking bands. Turn meat seam-side down. Crimping foil edges as “walls,” pour wine around meat. Seal foil at top and sides. Bake 2-½-to-3 hr.

Let stand 10 min. at room temperature before garnishing with finely minced parsley, slicing across the grain, and serving.

Note: Use the size of flank steak that works best for you, adjusting ingredient quantities to your needs.

Chop and slice onion, mushroom, celery.

Place seasoned, sautéed stuffing over flank steak.

Secure with skewers, twine, or silicone cooking bands.

Secure the center first, and fastening the edges will be easier.

Pour wine over meat. Turn seam-side down. 

Wrap, seal, and bake 2-½-to-3 hr.

Let rest 10 min. Cut into thin slices, across the grain.

Note: Shredded flank steak makes fantastic sandwich and taco fillings! Let your food processor do the job on its pulse setting. Alternately, season shredded beef with Mexican spices such as chipotle sauce and peppers, combining it with rice for yet another meal.

Ants on a Log (Kid-Friendly)

While the adults chow down in front of the TV set during the Super Bowl, don’t ignore the little ’uns. Kids love this football favorite! 

Ants on a Log:

Celery stalks, as required

Smooth or chunky peanut butter, as required 

Raisins or currants, as required  

Rinse, dry, and trim celery stalks into 2-in. lengths. Fill hollow with peanut butter. Dot with raisins or currants. Step back to avoid being trampled by the stampede.

*   *   *

It’s almost game time, so I’d better strap on my cleats and head for MetLife Stadium! I’ve been secretly training all month as a front-end pinch hitter. It took awhile to adjust to the nose-plug tackle, but my Holy Grail pass is a slam dunk and I’ve managed to master the Heisman maneuver. 

I’m not sure if I’m playing for the Bronco Bulls or the Dodge Rams, but both uniforms fit pretty well, even if those shoulder pads looked wa-a-ay better in the ’80s. I won’t even talk about the pants, but I’d bet a pret-ty pen-ny that none of those footballers has ever given birth. And here’s a tip: If you guys want to look good for the camera, ditch the makeup. Only Avril Lavigne wears the raccoon look, and it isn’t so hot on her, either. Now tell me truthfully … Does this helmet make me look fat?

Spinach Bites with Spicy Mustard Sauce

Using frozen chopped spinach and herb-stuffing mix makes these savory bites easy to prepare. 

Spinach Bites with Spicy Mustard Sauce:

One 10-oz. (284 g) pkg frozen, chopped spinach

1 c. (250 mL) commercially made herb-seasoned stuffing mix

½ c. (125 mL) grated Parmesan cheese (see Note)

Dash nutmeg

3 eggs, beaten

⅓ c. plus 1 tbsp. (95 mL) butter or margarine, softened

When almost ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 deg. F. Thaw spinach, squeezing out excess moisture. Place spinach and remaining ingredients in blender or food processor, pulsing until smooth. Shape into walnut-sized balls. Refrigerate until firm, about 30 min. 

Place balls about 1-in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake 10-to-15 min. Drain on paper toweling. Serve with Spicy Mustard Sauce using dipping forks or picks.

Note: Use the powdered stuff to make these! 

Spicy Mustard Sauce:

⅓-to-½ c. (80-to-125 mL) powdered mustard

½ c. (125 mL) white vinegar

½ c. (125 mL) granulated sugar

1 egg yolk

In a small bowl, combine mustard and vinegar. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight. In a small saucepan, combine mustard-vinegar mixture with sugar and egg yolk. Simmer over low heat until slightly thickened. Cover and store in refrigerator up to 1 month. Yields 1-⅓ c. (330 mL) sauce.