savory pepper steak
Posted: June 28, 2014 Filed under: casseroles and one-dish meals, meats poultry and fish | Tags: beef-flavored gravy, cooking oil, flour, garlic, green pepper, onion, steak, tomatoes, white rice, worcestershire sauce Leave a comment
Peter Piper and Patrick Picked This Plate of Pepper Steak
The old saying goes “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
I know Mom loved this recipe: a) because I found it in her cookbook and b) because it has black pepper in it and I love pepper and know she did as well!
Foodie Tips ~
♥ Never trust anything that is ⅛ teaspoon in size. Either don’t waste your time adding it into your dish or pump up the jam and add more. In this case I’d add way more than ⅛ of pepper. Go for the gusto!
i. ingredients
1-½ pounds | round steak, cut 1/2 inch thick
¼ cup | all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon | salt
⅛ teaspoon | fresh cracked pepper
¼ cup | cooking oil or shortening (we used oil)
8 ounce can (1 cup) | tomatoes
1-¾ cups | water
½ cup | white onion, chopped
1 clove | garlic, minced
1 tablespoon | beef-flavored gravy base
1-½ teaspoons | worcestershire sauce
2 large | green peppers, cut into strips
to serve | hot cooked white rice
ii. what to do
1. Cut steak into strips.
2. Combine flour, salt and pepper and coat the steak strips.
3. In a large skillet, cook the steak strips in hot oil until until browned on all sides.
4. Drain the tomatoes, reserving their liquid.
5. Add the tomato liquid, water, onion, garlic, and gravy base to the steak. Cover and simmer in the skillet for about 75 minutes until the meat is tender.
6. Uncover and stir-in the worcestershire and the green pepper strips. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes more. If desired, you can thicken the gravy by adding a mixture of flour and cold water.
7. Add the drained tomatoes then cook for about 5 minutes.
8. Take a few deep sniffs of your dish. It smells like AWESOME!
TO SERVE: Pour spoonfuls of the peppery steak and gravy over hot rice. The recipe says this yields 6 servings. But if you’re like me, this dish actually yields 2 bountiful servings. :)
This dish was brought to you by the letter “P”!
PS ~ Now that we have peppered steak on the brain let’s watch a Peter Piper video from one of my favorite childhood TV shows – Sesame Street.
texas style chili
Posted: October 18, 2013 Filed under: casseroles and one-dish meals, meats poultry and fish | Tags: chili powder, garlic, green pepper, monterey jack cheese, onions, oregano, salad oil, steak, sugar, tomato paste, tomatoes Leave a comment
No Beans About It
Those who know my passion for chili know that I insist that the best chili on the planet is the chili that contains beans. My hips don’t lie.
Right or wrong this sweet bowl of red texas style chili recipe does not have beans and there’s something about it that I absolutely loved … I nervously shelled about $20 for the steak to the folks at HEB and I’m happy to report that it was absolutely delicious! I learned tonight that I actually prefer this type of chili meat over ground anything (even chili ground) so this recipe taught me never to say never in the kitchen.
Giddy up!
foodie tips ~
♥ Salad Oil? It’s not salad dressing; more like veggie oil, olive oil and the like. Read more about salad oil here.
♥ Sorry, onion lovers! To avoid “the burpies” we deviated from this recipe and included all of the onions all at once vs. using some fresh on top to garnish. Feel free to keep it raw and real (note Jill’s recipe card below for details).
♥ Chili Lover? Check out my other family favorite – Kiker’s Kicker Award-Winning Pot Licker Chili recipe. Yay, food awards … I’m important!
♥ For the dismount also consider serving with saltines or tortilla chips. It keeps you honest.
i. ingredients
3 ½ – 4 pounds | boneless beef chuck blade steak
¼ cup | salad oil
2 cups | onions, chopped
3 medium | green peppers, diced
4 cloves | garlic, crushed
2 28-ounce cans | tomatoes
12-ounce can | tomato paste
2 cups | water
⅓ cup | chili powder
¼ cup | sugar
2 tablespoons | salt
2 teaspoons | oregano leaves
¾ teaspoon | cracked black pepper
to garnish | monterey jack cheese, shredded
ii. what to do
1. Cut steak into ½” cubes.
2. Heat the oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Cook the meat cubes in clusters ⅓ at a time until it’s all browned. Let’s have a look, shall we?
What a simply delightful video, yes?
3. Remove the meat and set aside, reserving the drippings in the dutch oven.
4. To the drippings add the onions, green peppers and garlic. Cook 10 minutes.
5. Return the meat to the dutch oven and add the next eight ingredients (except the cheese, which is a garnish).
6. Heat to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer at least 1 ½ hours. This gives you enough time to play some Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Burgertime or Galaga.
7. When serving, sprinkle with the cheese and more fresh onion, if desired.
Yields 12 servings. Or 6 hungry Texans.
Below is a scan of the original chili recipe Mom scored from Jill Root.
Who Is Jill Root?
Jill Root was a great lady. She was the mother-in-law of my much, much oldest brother Tim. After my Dad died, Jill, Mom (Betty), Tim and I spent many Christmases together with the rest of the Root family, so I can promise you she had a heart of gold. You can read more about Jill here.
Thank you Jill for this recipe! I found a way to make my chili even better (coming soon).
Betty's Cook Nook 