Creamy Ground Beef and Mushroom Surprise

This good old ground beef recipe has probably fallen out of favor a little bit in the last few years because some people consider it one of the more fattening dishes.

That’s fine with me – I’m happy to pump out an extra hour or two of exercise if it means I get a big bowl of bacon/mushroom /beef goodness.

 

Creamy Ground Beef and Mushroom Surprise

 

Ingredients:

·         1/2 lb. lean ground beef

·         4 slices of bacon

·         1/4 cup onions, chopped

·         3 cups sliced mushrooms

·         1 cup whipping cream

·         4 cloves garlic, chopped finely

·         3 eggs, beaten

·         2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

·         1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

·         Pasta of choice

Preparation:

1.       In a large pot start cooking your pasta of choice.

2.      Cook the bacon in a large skillet until cooked. Remove from the skillet, leaving the juices in the skillet.

3.      Use that same skillet to cook the ground beef, onion, mushrooms and garlic, along with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until beef is cooked and then drain.

4.      Once pasta is cooked, drain and return to the pot. Stir through the whipping cream and cook over medium-high heat for no more than 2 minutes.

5.      Stir through the bacon, eggs and the ground beef mixture and cook over medium heat for 2 or 3 minutes, continually stirring everything through.

6.      Either stir through the Parmesan cheese or use purely as a topping on the plate. Garnish with the parsley.

Happy Cooking ☺

 

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D’s Chili and Cheese Lasagne

A Great combination of Italian & Mexican.

I love chili and I love lasagna so this was a nice twist to combine the two. I easily made this as a double batch and made another tray to freeze. It’s an awesome dish to pull out of the freezer, microwave, throw on some Taco Sauce and ready to go!

Ingredients: 

·         1 lb. (450 g) lean ground beef

·         2 cloves garlic, minced

·         1 jar (645 mL) pasta sauce

·         1/4 cup water

·         1 can (19 oz. /540 mL) black beans, rinsed

·         1 green pepper, finely chopped

·         3/4 cup thick and chunky salsa

·         1 Tbsp. chili powder

·         2 tsp. ground cumin

·         9 lasagne noodle s, cooked

·         1-1/2 cups low-fat cottage cheese

·         2 cups  Tex Mex Shredded Cheese

Preparation:

1.       Heat oven to 375°F.

2.     Brown meat with garlic in large skillet. Add next 7 ingredients; stir. Simmer 5 min., stirring occasionally.

3.     Spread 2 cups meat sauce onto bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; cover with layers of 3 noodles, 1/2 cup each cottage cheese and shredded cheese, and 2 cups of the remaining meat sauce. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining shredded cheese.

4.     Bake 1 hour 10 min. or until heated through, uncovering after 1 hour. Let stand 10 min. before cutting to serve.

Happy Cooking ☺

Burger Porn: The Ultimate Backyard Cheese Burger

Deeply charred ground beef dripping juice onto a soft bun, melted cheese oozing over the edges—I'm obsessed with this Ultimate Grilled Cheeseburger.  After researching the chemistry behind the deliciousness of every component—the meat, cheese, bun, sauce—I uncovered a method for making the ultimate backyard burger. It starts with fresh ground beef and ends with a special sauce that puts ketchup to shame.

 

 

Ingredients:

·         1 ½ lbs. fresh ground beef

·         1½ tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste

·         2 egg yolks

·         ¼ cup canola oil

·         1 small leek, finely chopped

·         1 small shallot, finely chopped

·         ½ cup heavy cream

·         ½ cup dry vermouth

·         ¼ cup finely chopped spicy cucumber pickles, plus 3 tsp. pickle juice from jar

·         2 tsp. Dijon mustard

·         8 slices cheese such as white or yellow American

·         4 hamburger buns, lightly toasted

·         Lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and pickled jalapeños, for serving

Preparation:

1.       Mix ground beef with salt and egg yolks in a bowl; divide meat into 4 patties about 1″ thick and place on a plate. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

2.       Heat oil in a 12″ skillet over medium heat. Add leeks and shallots; cook until soft, 6–8 minutes. Add cream and vermouth; simmer until thickened, 4–6 minutes. Stir in pickles, juice, mustard, and salt.

3.       Set a gas grill to medium high; grill burgers, flipping them once, until cooked to desired doneness. Melt 2 slices cheese on each burger; serve on buns with sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and jalapeños.

Happy Cooking ☺

 

More Ultimate Burger Ideas

Here

Salisbury Steaks with Mushroom Sauce

  

This quick weeknight meal will help you fit dinner into the family's schedule every night.

                       Super inexpensive and done in 30 minutes!  

Salisbury Steaks with Mushroom Sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients:

·         1 lb. ground beef

·         1/2 teaspoon salt

·         1/4 teaspoon pepper

·         2 cans sliced mushrooms, drained            (reserve liquid)

·         2 tablespoons flour

·         2 teaspoon instant beef bouillon or 2 beef bouillon cube

Preparation:

1.       Mix meat, salt and pepper; shape mixture into 4 oval patties.

2.       In 8-inch skillet, cook patties over medium heat, turning occasionally, until done, 8 to 12 minutes.

3.       Remove patties to warm plate.

4.       Cook and stir mushrooms in same skillet until light brown. Stir in flour. Cook over low heat, stirring until mixture is bubbly.

5.       Remove from heat.

6.       Add enough water to reserved mushroom liquid to measure 1 cup. Stir liquid and bouillon into flour mixture.

7.       Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute then pour over meat.

Happy Cooking ☺

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D’s Meatballs in Red Wine Gravy

This is an excellent recipe for meatballs and gravy. The meatballs are light and flavorful with red onion and allspice. They are browned in a bit of virgin olive oil and cooked in beef stock and red wine. A must try!

Ingredients:

·         2 pounds ground beef

·         1 cup bread crumbs

·         1 medium red onion, finely diced

·         1/4 cup curly leaf parsley leaves, chopped

·         4 garlic cloves, diced

·         1 tablespoon cornstarch

·         1 cup heavy cream

·         2 large eggs, slightly beaten

·         1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

·         1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground white pepper

·         2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

·         2 teaspoons good-quality Balsamic Vinegar

·         3 tablespoons Virgin Olive oil

·         1/4 cup all-purpose flour

·         4 cups Beef Stock

·         2 cups good quality full-bodied red wine (optional)

·         Coarse sea salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

1.       Preheat oven to 325°

2.       In a large bowl, place the ground beef,  bread crumbs, onion, parsley, garlic, cornstarch, cream, eggs, allspice, white pepper, salt, and balsamic vinegar. Mix together  all ingredients. Shape the meat mixture into walnut-size balls.

3.       In a large frying pan or skillet, heat oil. Brown meatballs well on all sides and transfer to plate lined with paper towels. Then place meat balls into a roasting pan.

4.       Add flour to skillet, stir and scrape up some of the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the beef stock, wine, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir, scrapping up the rest of the browned bits until gravy simmers and begins to thicken. Pour the wine sauce over the uncooked meatballs, cover with a lid, and bake 1 1/2 hours.

5.       Remove from oven and serve in soup bowls over mashed potatoes, or your favorite tube-type pasta, or noodles.

Happy Cooking ☺

How to Make 8 Meals from 4 lbs. of Ground Beef

To see a list of over 50 Ground Beef Recipes to help stretch your food dollar and keep things lively at the table, please click here.  

Most people I know are trying to figure out how to stretch an already tight grocery budget so I’e set out to bring you a few tips that may help the process a bit.

Today’s post is how I divide up my uncooked ground beef to get the most meals.

Here we go, four pounds of ground beef.

Now if I were to just cook beef right out of the package for supper, I’d likely grab two pounds of it. We’d have an awfully meaty dish, but I’d be doing good to get one or two meals out of the entire tray.

Instead, I take my tray and cut the ground beef into eight different sections like this.

Package each section into a quart sized zipper seal freezer bag.

 Flatten each bag with the heel of my hand and let squeeze out as much air as I can before sealing.

I flatten it for two reasons:

1. This takes up less space in the freezer

2. It thaws REALLY quickly when it’s all thinned out like this.

Stack all of the layers (if you want) and freeze.

Each bag now has about 1/2 pound of ground beef in it.

This will work for most ground beef recipes. If a recipe calls for more, you have two options:

1. Make the recipe with less beef

2. Use two bags of beef

Substitute 1/2 cup cooked white or brown rice for 1/2 of the beef. This works especially well in skillet meals, casseroles where beef is its own layer, and fillings such as sloppy Joes or tacos. There are tons of recipes like that at the link below!

To see a list of over 50 Ground Beef Recipes to help stretch your food dollar and keep things lively at the table, please click here.

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Click Here. 

Happy Cooking ☺