Beef Archives - Zest Blog

Big Kahuna Burger

alison — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 22:47:10 +0000

Big Kahuna Burger

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Ingredients

Ground Beef/Elk/Bison | 1/3 lb patties

Pineapple Rings | 1 can, or 1 fresh pineapple

Bacon | 1 lb

American Cheese | 12 slices

Pepper jack Cheese | 12 slices

Onion – chopped & griddled | 1 large

Lettuce | 1 head

Tomato | 3 large

Chick Fil A Polynesian Sauce | 1 bottle

Directions

Using your hands, gently mix the ground meat (we used beef & elk) in a medium bowl. Form meat into 1/3lb patties.

Grill pineapple slices until golden grill marks are achieved. Fry bacon in large pan until crisp. Drain bacon fat as desired and add chopped onion to hot pan and cook until perfect.

Cook burgers until desired doneness on a grill of choice: gas, charcoal or even one from George Foreman’s empire all work well. Place a piece of bacon on each and then top with a piece of American cheese & pepper jack cheese to hinge the bacon in place. Top with a grilled pineapple slice and onion and serve on farmhouse rolls spread with Polynesian sauce. Garnish with lettuce and tomato as desired. Serve with an ice cold Cherry Coke, coleslaw and some corn on the cob.

Yield: 12

Prep time: 45 min

Total time: 1 hour

Why this recipe?

Growing up we used to come to LA every summer and attend “Camp Grandma”.
Somewhere around 1999-2001, Aunt Sue made a trip down to the South Bay to be our unofficial camp councilor. She took Kelly and I on some amazing adventures! We went body surfing at Redondo Beach, wandered the Redondo pier for souvenirs to take home (mom still uses the Redondo spoon rest to this day) and ate at every important family spot in the South Bay.

We even got to go to Woody’d Schmorgasburger on PCH, which has since shut down. For anyone who didn’t go to Woody’s, it was the best burger joint you could get a hamburger and then carry it over to a little self-service counter stocked with ketchup, mustard, onions, pickles, salsa, barbecue sauce and more! They also had a self serve ice cream bar, which was amazing before I learned I was allergic to milk!

The most memorable part of our summer with Camp Councilor Aunt Sue was playing the Pulp Fiction soundtrack over and over. Now, Kelly and I were definitely too young to WATCH Pulp fiction, but the soundtrack is an amazing mix of the Ventures playing surf music and classic 60’s jams. Every time The Ventures come on it takes me right back to the South Bay and all the fun we have there!

So this burger is an homage to Wood’s Schmorgasburger and to the Big Kahuna Burger chain seen in Pulp Fiction and other Tarantino movies. With the Polynesian flare of the islands that Sue once inhabited, the Big Kahuna burger is sure to make you smile!

Since that summer, Aunt Sue has always helped and encouraged us to come back to Redondo as often as possible. One year, she couldn’t make it down to visit, so she got me and Kelly a rental car that we took to EVERY place we could think of from Hollywood to Long Beach!

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Tangerine Beef

Alison — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 17:02:36 +0000

I am a huge fan of stir fry; you can prep ahead of time (or even freeze in the marinade), it is a great way to clean out the fridge, it is usually healthy and everything goes in one pot! This is one that BF has been loving lately. This is a take-out-at-home kind of meal that will leave you satisfied for Chinese without all the extra fat. I usually add peppers to this, but it would be a great beef and broccoli substitute also. The sauce is sweet and salty and the cornstarch help to reduce everything to nicely cover the beef. I have not tried it with other types of meat, but I am sure that would be great too. As a freezer meal, I usually freeze it with the soy and cornstarch and freeze the sauce in a separate bag to be added at the right point. Flank steak is a great cut of meat that tends to be relatively inexpensive. It can be tough, so marinading it really helps. I have also found that the cornstarch really gives this a bit of extra help making it super tender. I like to cook the meat on pretty high heat (even though it can cause a bit of smoke and splatter) but I think it helps to sear the meat and keep it juicy on the inside. I did find a great tip last week: if you cut the steak when it is partially frozen, you can get super thin slices. A really good knife is on my wish list, but that is how I make due with what I have! This originally came from Guy’s Big Bite on the food network and I have tweaked it a bit over time. Try it out for an easy week night meal!

Kelly

Tangerine Beef

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 pound flank steak or tri-tip, cut in thin strips on the bias

1 bell pepper cleaned and sliced

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons chili sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup freshly squeezed tangerine juice (sometimes I cheat and use tangerine juice from Whole Foods)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

3 scallions, chopped

1/4 tangerine, zested

In a plastic bag combine the soy sauce and cornstarch and mix well. Add beef, cover, and let marinate for 20 minutes in the refrigerator.

Mix the sherry, hoisin, honey, chili sauce, soy sauce, and tangerine juice in a container and shake until combined.

In large pan or wok, heat oil on high. Add the ginger and beef and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. I like to do this in batches to get a really good sear, but you can do it all together if you have a great big pan!

Then add the veggies followed by the sauce mixture.

…and cook for another 2-5 minutes on medium heat until sauce thickens. See the bubbles?? J

Serve over brown rice and garnish with scallions and tangerine zest. Enjoy!

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Pho at Home

Alison — Sun, 15 Sep 2013 23:51:59 +0000

I got inspired to cook Pho in two ways. The first was from a WSJ article on the subject. The second was Ali and Geff who like this dish at a favorite restaurant for a weeknight dinner.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444180004578018390589710484.html

Another one I liked while researching this was this one below. I liked their opinions and details;

http://www.inspiredtaste.net/4307/vietnamese-soup-pho/

I don’t know of any great places for Pho in Boulder, but I did go to a noodle shop once in LA so I had a bit of a concept. Geff and Uncle Stacy provided a gift of some beef bones to get me started, but I have to say it was a bit overwhelming with my limited knowledge of the end game. So I started with the broth with the intention to freeze…Which I did. I wasn’t crazy though about the weird gray color of the stock. So, I kept that but started again with a more traditional stock with roasted bones. Think a cross between Ad Hock and Jacques Pepin. Anyway, I prefer roasted bones and veg for my beef stock. Still added the crazy roasted ginger and other spices. We did not use fish sauce as it’s not a fav in our house, but use it if you like it.

Yum…even though it was in the heat of summer Pho was great and fun to try. But, be prepared; it’s an adventure and lots of work!

Mary

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Peruvian Ground Beef Stew

Zest Blog — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 21:42:40 +0000

There are some recipes like beef stew (or in our family, ground beef hash) that are comfort food staples. Just the smell brings back memories of home and family. There are others, like this stew, that are derivatives of those classics and may be (Gasp!) better than the original. This one came about when we started making Grandma’s traditional beef stew but found ourselves without all the ingredients. It became a game of saving the stew, and I think it came out amazing. It is both hearty and light at the same time and saves really well. In fact, I ate it for three days. The sweet potatoes helped to thicken it without any flour (a great option for those of you who are gluten free!) Let us know what you think!

Kelly & Mary

1 ¼ lb 85% Ground Beef

1 large onion

2 t Hungarian Sweet Paprika

Salt & Pepper

1 quart beef broth

2 T Ancho chili powder

1 t Guajillo chili

1 Yellow Pepper, chopped

½ cup petite frozen peas

2 sweet potatoes, chopped

1 pasilla negro chile

1 clove garlic

Brown the ground beef, making sure to break the beef up forming small crumbles.

When you have a good amount of liquid and fat coming out of the meat, use a paper towel to remove some of the fat. Add the chili powders, paprika and salt and pepper and continue to cook until browned. When the beef is browned, add the onion and cook until fragrant and translucent.

Add sweet potatoes. Pour in the beef broth and then add water to cover.

Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer for about an hour. Meanwhile, toast the whole pasilla chile over an open flame (or a frying pan) until slightly toasted and fragrant, about 1-2 min. Break into pieces into a blender add 1 cup of water and 1 clove of garlic and blend about 30 seconds.

Strain puree into a pan and simmer until reduced by about half. Add to the stew along with the rest of the vegetables. (You don’t HAVE to do this step since it is a bit of a process, but I loved the smokiness and depth that this added.) Allow to simmer 15-20 more min to marry the flavors and allow the peppers to soften.

Top with a bit of goat cheese, Greek yogurt or sour cream and enjoy with a salad and tortillas or bread.

Yum Yum Yum.

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Super Bowl Chili

Zest Blog — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:27:02 +0000

Chili is always good, any time of the year but if you add 18″ of snow on the ground AND the Super Bowl, you have the perfect combination. This is such a great Super Bowl compliment because you can prepare it ahead and leave it simmering and let people enjoy it as they are ready. We like to lay out a variety of toppings and accompaniments and leave it to our guests. It is low key and always delicious. We tend to like our chili a little spicier than some people, so we might tone this down a little for company and leave some Tabasco out for adjustments. You could make up some cornbread to serve with the chili or go easy and stick to chips, saltines or tortillas. Now grab a bowl and enjoy the game (or the commercials)!

Mary & Kelly

Chili

Serves 6

1 ¼ Lbs 85% Lean Ground Beef

1 large can Hunts tomato sauce

1 large can Kuners chili beans

1 large onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 T Gebhardts chili powder

3 T Ancho chili powder

1-3 T Guajillo chili powder

1 t Oregano

Salt & Pepper

Brown the ground beef, making sure to break the beef up forming small crumbles.

When you have a good amount of liquid and fat coming out of the meat, use a paper towel to remove some of the fat.

Add the chili powder and salt and pepper and continue to cook until browned.

When the beef is browned, add the onion and garlic and cook until fragrant and translucent. Add the tomato sauce. Pour off some of the excess chili sauce from the beans, then add to the pot.

Allow to simmer for about an hour, adding water if necessary. Taste for seasonings and adjust as necessary. The color should be deep red.

If you are making this for children you can add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar as my grandma did. If the flavor is flat, add a little vinegar (red wine, sherry or apple cider are best). You can continue to simmer and add more water or seasoning as you like. You can always add some water if you like a thinner consistency or to stretch this if more people show up!

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Americana Steak

Alison — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 13:41:28 +0000

Americana Steak

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How did you spend America’s birthday? We spent the weekend entertaining our wonderful family who came to town. Our tour included lots of Colorado highlights and classic American activities including golf, baseball, and BBQ. We kicked off the weekend with this fabulous steak that has quickly become a favorite to make for guests. This mustard marinade makes the steak tender and gives it a fabulous flavor while the accompaniments round out the dish. Bonus, you can make the marinade and sauces ahead and leave the steak to soak in the fridge all day. I know it looks like a lot of ingredients, but most are pantry items that you will have around. Trust me, this never fails to impress!

We hope you had a HAPPY 4^th!

Kelly

Mustard Steak with Watercress Sauce

Courtesy of the ‘Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook‘

3 ½ pounds steak (ie- hanger or New York strip)

Marinade:

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 t peeled and minced fresh ginger

¼ c soy sauce

1 T yellow, black, or brown mustard seeds, lightly toasted

2 T Dijon mustard

2 T coarse-grain mustard

¼ c extra virgin olive oil

¼ c sherry vinegar

1 t freshly ground black pepper

½ t salt

Watercress Sauce:

½ c mayonnaise

¼ c sour cream

1 t chopped shallots

2 cloves garlic

½ bunch watercress, coarse stems removed

1 ½ t Dijon mustard

1 t freshly squeezed lemon juice

Pinch of salt

Pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Trim any surface fat, and tenderize your steak. Cut into equal size steaks. To make the marinade, combine all the ingredients and mix well. Place the steaks in a nonreactive dish, pour the marinade over them, cover, and marinade in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 12 hours maximum. If you marinate the longer than 12 hours, the marinade macerates (slightly cooks) the meat enough that it will no longer cook up rare.

To make the sauce, combine all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and whirl until bright green and pureed to a desired consistency. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

Grill the steaks over medium-hot fire for 3-5 minutes, rotating them a quarter turn to make nice crosshatch grill marks when the meat moves freely and no longer sticks to the grill. Flip the steaks and cook for another 3-5 minutes, again rotating the steaks to make nice grill marks. Let steaks rest for five minutes before serving.

You can either serve whole steaks or do as we do and slice the steak. Serve with the sauce and our trusty onion jam.

We also served succotash…look out for that later this week!

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Steak Salad for Supper

Zest Blog — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 17:25:38 +0000

A trip to the farmer’s market left us with piles of early lettuce, arugula, French radishes and tomatoes. Instead of spending $100 on each of us getting a nice Filet, we bought one ½ pound beef tenderloin filet for $12 at the “nice” store, since we are hardly going to cook it. The question was whether to grill the steak or pan fry. I wanted this to be almost raw, a quick sear on each side to make a crust, so I didn’t know if the (disappointing Jenn-Air) gas grill would get hot enough. So I pulled out my old trusty cast iron pan. I figured, searing hot, 2 minutes per side, to break down the fat and get a nice crust. And, frankly, it came out perfect.
Prep your salad by washing and drying your lettuce. Make salad dressing by combining 2 T. good olive oil plus 1 ½ t. sherry vinegar, a crushed clove of garlic and salt and pepper. Shake well and set aside until later. You can do all this ahead and chill while you take a nap after the Farmer’s market!
After your nap, cut up tomatoes, radishes, cabbage and measure your capers and shave the Parmesan. We like to lay all the ingredients out in our salad bowl.

Next, trim off the silver skin (that the expensive store left on). Crush some peppercorns, with the heavy cast iron pan. The heavy pan will keep the pepper from flying away! Preheat the pan until SUPERhot on high. Add 1 T. Canola Oil and spread around the pan. Cover the steak with the crushed pepper and some Celtic salt. Press onto the meat so it stays on. Put the steak in the pan fat side down (on its side) for 2 minutes. It will smoke, don’t worry, just turn on your fan. Flip and cook 2 minutes per side. Let steak rest for 5 minutes.

Toss salad. Slice steak against the grain and into super thin slices.

Add cooked steak to the top of the salad. YUM!

Mary

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Weeknight Dinners: Tacos

Alison — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 03:05:22 +0000

Tacos are always a family favorite. You can pretty much make them from start to finish in 20 minutes. It is great for finicky eaters because you can keep everything on the side and let everyone choose their own combo. Tacos can also be a great way to empty the fridge and the pantry.

Our tacos usually start with 85% ground beef, some kind of beans, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. Traditionally, we used Gebhardt Chili Powder, but lately we have been experimenting with some more heat (ancho and guajillo chili powders). These get added to taste to the ground beef while browning it along with salt and black pepper. When the beef is brown, remove some of the fat (we usually just use paper towels, but you can pour it off). Add onion and garlic to the browned meat and saute until the onions are soft and garlic is fragrant. Adjust the seasoning as needed. We sometimes add chili beans or tomatoes to the meat. Other times will serve beans on the side.

Some traditional Mexican toppings are radishes, cilantro (love it or hate it), onion, and salsa (pico de gallo). We also add avocado, scallions, and the ever present Tabasco. If you have a gas stove, you can just heat the tortillas directly over the flame until soft and lightly colored on both sides. Otherwise, warm them in the microwave or oven.

This is a great meal to get on the table quickly or for a fun and hands on party where your guests can help! Get creative and make it yours!

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