Tag Archives: Beef

Cheeseburger Rolls

Posted on April 19, 2016 | Leave a comment

I love spring rolls…probably too much. I also love a good pub treat that you can serve at a game night table. I’m loving this idea of putting anything you want into spring roll form. I mean who hasn’t indulged in the occasional pizza roll? I was introduced to sausage rolls and thought….couldn’t we put a burger in here? So, I figured I would give it a go. I put in some of the things I like cheese burger wise and ran with it. The result is delicious and great for game night, whichever kind you indulge in. In my case it’s board and card games. Keep these in mind for International Tabletop Day if like myself you don’t have a local event to go to. Celebrate with friends and tasty treats!
image

  • 6 phyllo dough sheets
  • 1 tsp butter, melted
  • 1 egg white
  • 8 ounces extra lean ground beef
  • 1 pkg lipton onion soup mix, dry
  • 1 mini dill pickle, minced
  • 1 tbsp mustard
  • 1 tbsp ketchup
  • 30g shredded light cheese (I went with mozzarellissima light because it melts wonderfully)
  1. Preheat 350F
  2. Mix the ground beef and soup mix together. Brown in a pan.
  3. Add mustard, ketchup, and pickle to the beef and stir.
  4. Layer three phyllo sheets, brushing with butter between the layers. Brush egg white on the top layer. Cut the sheet into columns. I get six.
  5. Place a tablespoon of the beef mixture at the bottom of each column. Top with a bit of cheese, make sure you have enough for 12 rolls. Lift the bottom of the column wrapping filling, fold in the sides, and roll up.Click here if you need some visual guidance. It’s not my site but the method is the same.
  6. Brush on top with egg white. Place on a lined or greased sheet.
  7. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have made all twelve and bake for 20-25 minutes. they should look nice a golden brown.

Makes 12 omnom worthy rolls. Each roll is 87.5 calories, 4 grams fat, 6.9g carbs, .3 grams fibre, 5.7 grams protein, .1g sugars, 1.7 g saturated fat. 3 SP each or 2 PP for you weight watcher folks.

Leave a comment

Posted in Comfort Foods, Craving Buster, Snack

Tagged , ,

Hardcore Hobbit: Mince and Taters

Posted on May 24, 2013 | 1 comment

What a lovely Scottish dish this one is, some of you might know this better as mince and tatties. In LOTRO you make this comforting food using leek stock, carrot, taters, herbs, and beef. Like the description says this is a simple and extremely satisfying meal. A traditional approach to this tends to be a bit of a…well…rustic presentation. I’m going to pretty it up a little but I feel it’s still rustic and so tasty. I played around a bit with my usual gravy recipe too, instead of flour I worked with potato starch. A very successful experiment, I have to say as a thickener, potato starch is pretty awesome and of course, gluten free for those who worry about that.

100_2976

  • 1 lb extra lean ground beef
  • 1/2 cup grated carrot
  • 2 tsp worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 small onion, diced
  • 1/8 tsp ground cloves
  • 1/4 tsp mustard powder
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 red potato
  • 2 cups leek or beef stock
  • 2 tbl potato starch
  • 2 tbl light butter
  1. In a bowl combine beef, carrot, onion,worcestershire sauce, cloves, mustard powder, salt and pepper. Form into small, slider sized patties about 2-3 oz each.
  2. In a med-high heat pan sear each patty for 2 minutes on each side. Set aside.
  3. In a sauce pan melt the butter.
  4. Add the potato starch and stir to create a roux.
  5. Whisk continuously as you pour the stock slowly in.
  6. Allow the gravy to come to a boil for 2 minutes then lower the heat to a simmer. Season gravy to taste. Add the patties and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
  7. Meanwhile wash and cube potatoes. Bring water to a boil in another pot. Add potatoes, cook until fork tender (about 10-15 minutes). Drain, add a bit of stock and mash.
  8. Serve your mince patties, with a mountain of tatties (having a close encounters moment like I did is not required), and gravy. Enjoy!

Makes 6 patties, a whole bunch of potatoes, and more gravy than you actually need…I’m a gravy eating monster and I couldn’t finish it. Each patty contains 142 calories, 9.7 grams fat, .4 gram carbohydrate, 0 fibre, and 10.6 grams protein. Each 1/2 cup of potato contains 117 calories, .1 gram fat, 26.7 grams carbs, 4.1 grams fibre, and 2.9 grams protein. Each tbl of gravy contains 12.5 calories, .8 gram fat, 1.4 grams carb, 0 fibre, and .1 gram protein. *phew* That was a lot of math today. You know what would finish this dish even better? An english pea puree. That is another story though.

1 Comment

Posted in Comfort Foods, Dinner, The Hardcore Hobbit

Tagged , , , , , ,

Spiced Irish Beef

Posted on July 2, 2012 | Leave a comment

Can you believe it? We are still waiting to move into that house we were supposed to get at the end of May. Crazy. Now we are stuck in our old place waiting for a closing date. So, no hobbit videos until we get this all sorted out, especially since my list of hobbit recipes and their notes are already packed. For now how about some tasty beef? This one is traditionally served around the holidays in winter but it sure is tasty with a side of colcannon or on a nice summer salad. Warm or cold it is delicious! I think I may be fondest of it as a cold cut though. Ready for some tasty?

  • 4 lbs eye of round or sirloin (your choice really)
  • 12 cloves, ground
  • 1 tsp ground mace
  • 1 tsp ground juniper berries
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tbl ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 4 tbl brown sugar
  • 1 clove garlic, pressed
  • 1 cup guiness beer or water
  1. Combine the spices and sugar.
  2. Rub into the meat and cover. Refrigerate overnight.
  3. This is best left to marinate for a couple of days, traditionally it is done for a week. Overnight is good too. Turn the meat and cover every 12 hours if possible. Should end up looking like this:
  4. Preheat oven to 350F. Remove from marinade. Place in a baking dish as close to the size of your cut of meat as possible. Cover with the water or beer. Bake for 30-40 minutes.
  5. Serve warm or allow to cool, either way slice thinly.

Makes 8 hearty servings. Each serving contains (if you used water) 305 calories, 8.8 grams fat, 2 grams carbs, no fibre, 51.7 grams protein. Great for a dinner before or after hiking. Have some of this waiting in your fridge already made and sliced for your salad and you are set! Or for a special treat, colcannon! I suggest slicing thinner than I have in the picture for a salad topper.

Leave a comment

Posted in Comfort Foods, Dinner

Tagged , , , , ,

Hardcore Hobbit: Roast Beef

Posted on November 14, 2011 | 2 comments

As LOTRO says, “nothing can beat this savory pot roast”. So delicious! I don’t make roast very often because of the expense of buying one, what I keep forgetting though is each time I buy one it makes a few meals, not just one. With that consideration it’s actually a bargain when you pick one up on sale and oh so tasty. In the game roast beef is made with salt, cauliflower, and marinated beef (beef, green onion, salt). I highly recommend doing a roast in the crockpot, I find I get the most tender meat this way with very little fuss. I also always cook my roast from frozen, again omg tender! It will also make it’s own gravy this way. My mouth is watering just thinking about this roast again. Time to get to pictures and recipes before I raid the fridge.

  • 1 roast of choice, frozen
  • 2 tbl cornstarch
  • 2 pouches beef low salt oxo
  • 1 tsp herbs de provence
  • 4 tbl white wine
  • 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 1 tsp dry mustard powder
  • pinch salt and pepper
  • 2 cup cauliflower
  • 2 tbl margarine
  • 1 tsp steak spice
  • green onion, sliced
  1. Place the roast in a crockpot, top and surrounding with the next nine ingredients on the list.
  2. Cover and cook for 6 hours on high or 10 hours on low.
  3. Before serving, boil a pot of water. Add the cauliflower and cook until fork tender, about 10 minutes or less. Drain. Add the margarine and steak spice. Mash. Season to taste.
  4. Serve and top with gravy from the crockpot and green onions.

There are so many variables in this recipe, cut of meat, size of cut, etc. So sadly I cannot give nutritional values for this one. The picture above is from my husband’s plate, it is a surly dwarf portion for sure. A hobbit trying to watch their figure should probably aim for a portion that looks more like this:and go easy on the gravy…I know…it’s hard. So nummy!

2 Comments

Posted in Comfort Foods, Crockpot Creations, Dinner, The Hardcore Hobbit

Tagged , , , , , ,

Banh Mi

Posted on August 24, 2011 | 4 comments

Otherwise known as the Vietnamese sub. This is one of those times that food network helped me find a new food to try. The show that clinched me having to try these subs featured a food truck named nomnom (you can already see why my curiosity was piqued.). Everyone flocked around this truck to get their unique sandwiches. I had to try it. So on our next visit out to Vancouver we hit vietsub, which many claim makes the best banh mi in Vancouver. I’m not a connoisseur yet but that was definitely one tasty sandwich.  It was spicy, the pickled veggies had a delightful crunchy pungency that coupled blissfully with the creaminess of the dressing. Oh yes, I am a banh mi fan. I can’t go toddling off to Vancouver everytime I crave one though. So, this is my attempt at my bon ami the banh mi.

  • 2 sub buns
  • 1 tbl light mayo
  • 1/2 tsp sriracha sauce (optional, I like my bahn mi to bite back)
  • 2 tbl liverwurst
  • 2 tbl fish sauce
  • 2 tbl soy sauce
  • 2 tbl canola oil
  • 2 tbl brown sugar, unpacked, divided
  • 2 cloves garlic, pressed
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/4 lb thin flash fry top sirloin steak
  • 1 carrot, thinly julienned
  • 2 oz daikon radish, thinly julienned
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tbl rice wine vinegar
  1. Combine the mayo and sriracha, cover and refrigerate.
  2. Combine the fish sauce, soy sauce, canola oil, 1 tbl sugar, garlic and pepper in a bowl. Add the flank steak. Cover, refrigerate and allow to marinate for atleast 4 hours.
  3. Combine the carrot, daikon, remaining sugar, salt, and rice wine vinegar in a bowl. Cover, refrigerate and allow to pickle for 4 hours. Turn once during this process. Drain.
  4. Heat a skillet to medium. Sear the steak for 2 minutes on each side. Set aside to rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice across the grain.
  5. Cut open the rolls, spread the cut top side with half the spicy mayo mix and the bottom half with 1 tbl of liverwurst.
  6. Top with the beef and the pickle mixture. Repeat with the other bun. Serve.

Serves two bon ami. Each serving (without bun) contains 216 calories, 10.8 grams fat, 1.4 grams fibre, 8.7 grams carbs, and 20.3 grams protein. Check out that protein! This is a great post workout treat.

4 Comments

Posted in Comfort Foods, Craving Buster, Dinner, Lunch

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Teriyaki Beef Stirfy

Posted on June 3, 2011 | Leave a comment

I have mentioned my love of japanese food right? Let’s talk about it some more then, shall we? I find japanese food to be such a comfort. In fact, when I was in getting some blood work done (which I’m a total wuss about) I mentioned it to the nurse when she was asking about my most comforting foods to distract me. Talking food keeps me conscious…is that an obsession? She was honestly surprised. Especially, when I mentioned it was sushi first, then teriyaki, that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about the world. She expected to hear mac and cheese or perhaps some sort of pot pie. Nope, if the world has let me down bring me sushi, teriyaki, and green tea….stat! In case of emergency break out the green tea ice cream.

  • 1/2 cup soy sauce (separated into 1/4 cup amounts)
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tbl honey (separated into 1 tbl portions)
  • 1 tbl dry sherry
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tbl minced shallot
  • 1 tbl cornstarch
  • 8 ounces lean beef steak
  • 1 cup broccoli
  1. Slice the beef thinly and place in a plastic bag and cover with 1/4 cup of soy sauce and 1 tbl of honey. Allow to marinate for atleast 4 hours, overnight is perfection.
  2. Remove the beef from the marinade. Discard marinade.
  3. Heat the pan or wok to medium high. Toss in the garlic and shallot and stir around for about 30 seconds. Add the beef and cook until almost done.
  4. Meanwhile, combine the remaining soy sauce, honey, water, cornstarch and sherry until smooth. Set aside.
  5. Add the broccoli to the beef with a sprinkle of water. This will give off a bit of steam for the broccoli to cook just slightly. I like my Broccoli barely cooked, if you like more add a bit more water and a bit more cooking time.
  6. Add the sauce and cook until thickened. Serve!

Serves 2 generous portions. Each serving contains 240 calories, 4.6 grams fat, 18.6 grams carbs, 1.7 grams fibre, and 29.4 grams protein. Great on rice or noodles to complete that take out japanese experience.

Leave a comment

Posted in Comfort Foods, Dinner

Tagged , , , , ,

Hardcore Hobbit: Salted Beef Delights

Posted on May 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

“Choice cuts of beef, dried and salted.” Beef jerky time!! I love making beef jerky. I have a dehydrator that is probably older than I am but boy to I love that thing. I love making up a batch of jerky this time of year in preparation for any camping trips that may come up. It’s a camping staple! Beef jerky from the store is always so bland and expensive. Making your own is the best way to go, especially when the beef sales start. I got my flank steak 20% off! In LOTRO salted beef delights are made with a bag of salt, green onion, and flank of beef. I used soy sauce instead of a bag of salt…it contains a bag of salt already hehehe. For a lower salt version it’s easy to just replace with low sodium soy sauce and still get tasty flavour.

  • atleast 1 pound of flank steak
  • 2/3 cup worcestershire sauce
  • 2/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1 tbl honey
  • 1 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 2 green onion, sliced
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes (or more if you want more kick)
  1. Trim the flank steak of as much fat as possible. Slice into thin strips and place in a large freezer bag.
  2. Combine the remaining ingredients and pour into the freezer bag. Turn the bag a few times to make sure the meat is coated. Squeeze out the air and seal. Keep in fridge to marinate 24 hours.
  3. Layer the meat in your dehydrator and follow it’s instructions. If you do not have a dehydrator you can do it using the oven method. Set the oven to 160F, place the beef on a broiling pan in a single layer. Pop into the oven with the door cracked open slightly for 8 hours.

Makes about 10 servings. Each serving contains 79 calories, 3.4 grams of fat, 2.2 grams of carbs, no fibre (big surprise there right? hehe), 9.3 grams of protein. Enjoy and have some safe camping trips all you hobbits out there!

Leave a comment

Posted in Comfort Foods, Snack, The Hardcore Hobbit

Tagged ,

Philly Cheese Steak

Posted on May 4, 2011 | 2 comments

This is one of those recipes that isn’t much of a recipe really. More like an example of how to make those naughty things we love a bit healthier. My husband loves philly cheese steaks, especially when they come in pizza form. So with some leftover buns I decided to give making these healthier a go and see if they pass with the cheese steak eater. They did! Here is what I did.

  • Thinly sliced eye of round steak, tossed in montreal steak spice
  • thinly sliced 4 crimini mushrooms
  • thinly sliced 1/2 sweet onion
  • thinly sliced 1/2 red pepper
  • 4 sliced of reduced fat provolone cheese
  • 2 herbed sub buns
  1. Saute the steak in a hot pan until done. Remove and set aside and keep warm.
  2. Add the mushrooms and onions to the pan and cook until the juices come out and the onion caramelize slightly. You can add the red peppers to the cooking mixture if you like. I like mine to have some crunch left in them.
  3. Layer the steak in the cut buns, top with the mushroom and onion mixture. Layer red peppers on top and then the cheese.
  4. Arrange the sandwiches on a flat pan and put under the broiler until the cheese is bubbly. Serve!

Makes two subs. There is so much room for variation in this recipe it’s difficult to post nutritionals for it. I will say though that for us it was what I usually spend on dinner. This philly was totally conquered and really easy.

2 Comments

Posted in Comfort Foods, Craving Buster, Dinner

Tagged , , , ,

Meat Cupcake

Posted on April 20, 2011 | 4 comments

Yup. You read that right. When I first brought our puppy Kaylee home, 2 years ago, I re-watched Firefly with her. She needed to see the real Kaylee that she was named after, she slept through most of it ofcourse. One moment that caught my eye was Simon’s birthday that takes place in the episode ‘out of gas’. Kaylee says (the character, not the dog…if the pup starts telling me things I understand, then the rumors of my craziness have no longer been exaggerated):

Kaylee: [about Simon’s birthday cake] Couldn’t get ahold of no flour, so it’s mostly protein. In fact, it’s pretty much what we just had for dinner.
[everyone laughs]
Kaylee: But I tried to get the frosting as chocolatey tasting as possible.

Hehe. So there it was, I too need to make a meat cake. Now, I didn’t make the frosting as chocolatey as possible but it does make for a mighty fine dinner.

  • 1 lb extra lean ground beef
  • 1/3 cup panko bread crubs
  • 1/2 cup garlic bbq sauce (divided into 1/4 cups)
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • 2 tbl dehydrated onion
  • 4 tbl egg substitute
  • 2 cloves garlic, pressed
  • 1/2 tsp italian spice blend
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 cup mashed potato
  1. Combine the ground beef, panko, 1/4 cup bbq sauce, parsley, dehydrated onion, egg substitute, garlic, and spices in a bowl until well mixed.
  2. Press the meat mixture into jumbo muffin cups (6) and top with the remaining 1/4 cup of bbq sauce.
  3. Bake at 350F for 40 minutes.
  4. Remove carefully from the muffin cups, place on your serving plate and top with mashed potatoes. I stuff my mashed potatoes in a sandwich bag, snipped the tip and piped onto each meat cake. Best done when the mashed potatoes are warm.

Makes 6 meat cupcakes, I do not include the potatoes in my serving analysis as everyone likes to make them different or even use the frozen ready made kind. Mine were made with just potatoes, a splash of chicken stock and a tbl of margarine. Each serving contains 224 calories, 13.2 grams of fat, .5 gram of fibre, 9.4 carbs, and 15.8 grams of protein. Each serving also contains a high dose of shiny. Heh, yet another firefly inspired meal…I need to get out more.

4 Comments

Posted in Comfort Foods, Dinner

Tagged , , , ,

Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy

Posted on March 4, 2011 | Leave a comment

We are still locked in those cold days of winter so we need something comforting and warming. I always shake my head when I see those frozen entree salisbury steak dinners. We can do so much better with just a bit of prep. You can even form these patties ahead of time, refrigerate or freeze them (as long as you started with fresh meat ofcourse). You could get this dish on the table in the time it takes to make one of those frozen dinners in the oven. Hehe, I can’t compete with the microwave. Want to know something interesting, they eat this in Japan. It is that international a dish, although out there they call it Hanbagu. I just like saying it, it makes me feel very engrish. Hanbagu is awesome! Fear the hanbagu! We love you hanbagu!

  • 400 grams extra lean ground beef
  • 1 onion thinly sliced
  • 200 grams mushrooms
  • 2 pkg beef oxo, reduced salt
  • 1 tbl light butter
  • 2 tbl cornstarch
  • 2 cloves garlic, pressed
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tbl montreal steak spice
  • 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Combine the beef, garlic, worcestershire sauce and montreal steak spice in a bowl. Form the mixture into small patties and set aside.
  2. Heat a pan to medium. Spray and add onions and mushrooms, cook until desired doneness, remove from pan. If you like a chunky gravy just set them aside. If you prefer a smoother gravy puree these with the water and set aside.
  3. Add the patties to the pan and sear on each side. Traditionally, you will finish cooking these in your gravy. If you are doing these remove them and set aside. If not, then cook until done.
  4. While the patties are searing or cooking. Add the cornstarch, oxo and butter to a small pot. Allow the butter to melt and stir to combine with the dry ingredient. Add the water or puree slowly, whisking the whole time to avoid lumps. Bring the sauce to a boil. If you had the onions and mushrooms set aside add them now.
  5. If you are cooking the patties in the sauce place them in your gravy now and allow to simmer covered for 20-30 minutes. If you opted for the cooked patties serve the sauce over the patties and enjoy!

Serves 4. Each serving of patties and mushroom gravy contains 291 calories, 18 grams of fat and 1.1 grams of fibre. Definitely one of those comfort foods, it may be low in calories but the fat is something you don’t want to do everyday. Tasty with rustic mashed potatoes (especially those royal mashed potatoes) and some cooked carrots.

Leave a comment

Posted in Comfort Foods, Dinner

Tagged , , , ,