Friday Food: Nothin' But Beef

Friday

Short version: Bunless hamburgers, bread and butter, coleslaw

Long version: A. cooked the hamburgers on the grill, which is always the best way to cook meat.

I made the coleslaw from one of our own cabbages. We had eight seedlings that I planted out on St. Patrick's Day, and all eight of them need to be harvested before we leave for a month. The first one I made into coleslaw. I'll be giving several away, and the rest will just have to wait in the refrigerator until we get back and I can make sauerkraut or something.

Saturday

Short version: Cube steak in barbecue sauce, leftover rice, leftover coleslaw

Long version: I had thought I might make stir-fry with the cube steak, but then I, um, didn't. Instead I cut the cube steak into chunks and dumped some leftover mustard vinaigrette on it to marinate. Then I browned it, added some diced onion, some barbecue sauce and the last of a bottle of ketchup shaken with water. Simple, but tasty. Especially with the leftover coleslaw.

Sunday

Short version: A Father's Day Feast of T-bone steak, oven fries, roasted garlic, asparagus

Long version: A. told me that for Father's Day, he wanted to work on the roof of the new house. So that's what he did.

This roof is much less dangerous than the terrifying roof at Blackrock, so Cubby could help. 

I find it amusing that the special part of this meal wasn't the steak--which we have at least once a week--but the rest of it. A. loves french fries, which this time were just oven fries with beef tallow and olive oil.

I roasted three heads of A.'s garlic that had gotten damaged with the shovel while he was digging them up. Two of them were eaten at that one meal. A. loves roasted garlic even more than french fries.

I do not generally buy asparagus at a store, because I am only too aware of how inferior it is to "real" asparagus from a garden. But the tiny store near us had some that didn't look too terrible, and it is one of A.'s favorite vegetables, so I bought it. I just steamed it and put butter and salt on it.

Monday

Short version: Bunless hamburgers, rice, frozen green beans

Long version: I was supposed to make spaghetti and meatballs with Cubby this day. He's been asking to make it for about two weeks, and I finally told him we would definitely do it on Monday. He went so far as to write it on the calendar for me so I wouldn't forget.

And then I got sick Sunday night and was definitely operating at less than 100% all day Monday.

I took out the ground beef, but I couldn't bring myself to go through the many steps involved in making meatballs. Particularly with an assistant. So I had to disappoint the budding chef and make hamburgers instead.

Tuesday

Short version: Spaghetti and meatballs, roasted sweet potato/bell pepper/onion/broccoli

Long version: There was a reason I had told Cubby we would make spaghetti and meatballs on Monday: Because it was relatively cool that day. It was not cool on Tuesday. But a promise is a promise, and spaghetti and meatballs there must be. The kitchen was over 80 degrees by the time I finished all the broiling, baking, and boiling necessary to make spaghetti and meatballs.

They were really good, though, as always. And a bonus to having Cubby help me make them* was after we had been through all the steps, he said, "Meatballs are complicated." Yeah, they kind of are, even with my simplified method. And that, son, is why I don't make them more often. Maybe now he'll stop bugging me to make them so much.

One day he will learn that most people use jarred sauce for pasta and possibly even frozen meatballs, but I can hope that his taste buds will be so accustomed to homemade food that it will be worth it to him to make the effort. Given the fact that he told me nobody's meatballs are as good as mine (as well he should--mothers expect nothing less) and that the prepared meatballs they used to serve at his old school cafeteria in New York looked gross, I think he's well on his way.

Wednesday

Short version: Vaguely goulash-type soup, leftover spaghetti and meatballs, frozen vegetables

Long version: When I went freezer diving in the morning, I surfaced with a package of mystery beef. It was one of the things given to us by Ray, and it was the only thing not labeled. It looked pretty freezer burned, so I figured I'd better use it up.

It looked like some kind of bony roast, so I chunked it (still solidly frozen) into my enameled Dutch oven with some tomato juice, garlic powder, bay leaf, salt, and pepper and cooked it until the meat could be pulled off.

I still don't know where on the cow it came from--somewhere near the shoulder, maybe?--but it was a high ratio of bone to meat, so I only got about a cup of meat off it. I had some sour cream and a few potatoes I wanted to finish up before our trip, so I decided to make something like goulash with it.

To do that, I sauteed chopped onions in a skillet until soft, then added paprika to that, dumped all that in with the meat, added chopped carrots and potatoes, and simmered that until the vegetables were soft. I also put in some peas so I wouldn't have to serve a separate vegetable and finished it off with the sour cream. It was surprisingly good.

The children ate leftover spaghetti and meatballs and the frozen vegetables. Peas and green beans. Still frozen. They like them that way, and anyway, it was hot.

Perfect for basking, says Poppy Lizard.

Thursday

Short version: Beef stir-fry, rice

Long version: Apparently, stir-fry is now Jack's favorite food. He asked me wistfully a few days ago if I could make it again, because he loves it so much. What he really loves is the peanut butter in the sauce. That child would eat peanut butter three times a day if he could.

Actually, it occurs to me that yesterday he did eat peanut butter in some form for all three meals. Proof that sometimes dreams do come true.

Anyway.

I had a bunch of already-cooked vegetables to use up, and I figured the stir-fry would be a good way to do that, so I made it. Everyone was happy. Except Charlie. He doesn't really like stir-fry. Oh well. Five out of six is good enough.

We're leaving for Blackrock Monday and anticipate getting there Thursday, so it's possible I might manage my regularly scheduled Friday Food next week. But it's also possible I won't, and either way, I think the internet will go on.

Okay, your turn! What'd you eat this week?

* We did not use the recipe in his cookbook, because it was for turkey pesto meatballs. I have neither ground turkey nor pesto and will never purchase those items. I bought ground turkey once, and it was so disgusting I vowed never to do so again. As for pesto, that we only have when there is basil in the garden. Store pesto is not worth eating, in my opinion.