beef bourguignon

Beef or Boeuf?

After watching Julie & Julia while spending a weekend away in the Catskills last weekend, I was inspired to take my new Le Creuset dutch oven for a spin and make an attempt at Julia Child's Beef ("boeuf" if you're fancy and/or French) Bourguignon. I was going to actually go out about buy her cookbook, but it was too wordy and daunting, so the recipe below is compiled from different variations I found online (most of which were very confusing). Keep in mind this thing takes around 5 hours start-to-finish, though you're only active for about an hour of that time. Great for a lazy, rainy day. Here's what you'll need:

pasta w/ meat sauce

This is an old staple that everyone probably already knows how to make, but I'm sharing because you never know. It's also awesome because this recipe will feed you (as a single person) for literally a week, and it's great reheated. You can play around with the individual ingredients, but here's a basic recipe for you:

• 1 lb. ground beef (I go with the 80/20)
• 2 large cans of San Marzano diced tomatoes
• 2 tiny cans of tomato paste
• 2 cups of arugula
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• Sprinkle of red pepper flakes

caprese pizza

When you're working crazy hours and have absolutely no time, sometimes there's nothing better than a 5 minute pizza. This caprese is beyond easy, yet quite tasty. Here's what you'll need:

• 1 small can of tomato sauce
• 1 large tomato
• 1 ball bufala mozzarella
• A few basil leaves
• 10" whole wheat flatbreads (these came in packs of 5 for $2 at my market) or ready-made pizza crusts

steak picadillo soft tacos

Confession: I love tacos. I make the chicken tacos featured on the blog awhile back all the time. I'm obsessed. I was craving them again tonight, but I came across a different taco recipe, and decided to give it a whir. Shocker: it was awesome! Here's what you'll need:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 12-ounce strip of skirt steak
• 3/4 cup canned diced tomatoes with jalapenos
• 1/3 cup halved drained pimiento-stuffed green olives
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 cup feta cheese
• 8 corn tortillas

turkey meatloaf

The other night it looked like it was getting ready to pour, so I decided to settle in with a meal that takes a little longer than most of mine to prepare. Believe it or not, all of the recipes on this site clock it at or under 30 minutes. I've been eyeing up a couple turkey meatloaf recipes for awhile, and decided to combine a few. Here's what I came up with:

• 1 1/2 lb. ground turkey
• 1 cup chopped yellow onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (Italian, as always)
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup ketchup

Begin by sautéing the chopped onion with the oil, salt, pepper and thyme over medium heat for about 5-10 minutes, or until they soften and begin to brown.  Turn the heat down to medium-low and add the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste and chicken stock.  Cook for another few minutes until everything blends and reduces nicely.

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, bread crumbs and egg.  Once the onion mixture is done and cooled a bit, add and mix well.  Roll into a nice little loaf shape, and top with a nice layer of ketchup.

Bake at 325 degrees for about an hour (depending on the thickness) and you're done.  Not crazy-longer than my typical meal, but definitely one worth waiting for.

Bon chappétit!