Friday Food: Beef, Beef, Bull

 

Friday

Short version: Green chili bull soup

Long version: I decided I really should use the beef stock that was in a cracked jar in the freezer. I don't know why glass jars ALWAYS crack in my freezer, but they do. I don't freeze things in glass jars anymore, mostly, but this was a jar that had been sitting in the refrigerator and I just popped it into the freezer when I was afraid it was about to go bad.

And then, of course, it cracked. Annoying.

Still usable, though. I just let it thaw in a big bowl and lifted out the big pieces of glass.

So I used that for the soup, which also had half a can of tomatoes that had been in the refrigerator for awhile, onion, garlic, quite a bit of roasted green chilis, carrots, and potatoes. Plus the bull beef, of course, which this time was a package of "steaks" that I cut up small.

I simmered the meat for about four hours, but I should have done it for another couple of hours. It was still pretty chewy, though the soup was tasty.

Saturday

Short version: Leftovers and garlic bread

Long version: Cubby and I had some of the leftover soup, and everyone else had some leftover taco meat with rice and cheese.

Random photo that is not at all timely.

Cubby got a new bike a couple of weeks ago--an early Christmas present from my parents--and had a great time putting it together with A. That boy still loves his tools.

Sunday

Short version: Let's burn everything! Roasted chicken with onions and peppers, baked potatoes, calabaza squash, peanut butter cookies.

Long version: Okay, I didn't burn everything, just several things. Charlie helped me make peanut butter cookies for dessert, and I charred those. I spent about ten minutes scraping the black bottoms off, and they were eaten, but definitely tasted pretty, uh, barbecued.

Incidentally, I was not going to make a dessert this Sunday, because we have a huge bag of candy from Halloween still, of course. But then Cubby asked what I was making, and when I informed him of my plan, he said, "But candy doesn't feel like a dessert. It isn't baked."

Okay.

I also charred on one side the squash cubes I was roasting, and allllmost burned the calabaza I was steaming in a pot when the water boiled off and the calabaza started sticking to the bottom of the pot. 

And, as a fun bonus, I burned my mouth when I tasted the peppers I had randomly put in the pan with the chicken. Apparently, immature Alma paprika peppers are spicy.

The chicken and baked potatoes survived unscathed.

Monday

Short version: Leftovers

Long version: Actually, the same leftovers as Saturday, but no garlic bread. The kids all ate rice, taco meat, cheese, and sour cream. A. ate the last of the bull soup, with some of the hot peppers from the roasting chicken added. I had a salad.

Tuesday

Short version: Meatloaf, roasted potatoes, mashed squash, frozen green peas

Long version: Miss Amelia gave us a couple of pounds of real ground beef from her son's ranch last weekend, and Cubby wistfully asked me if I could make meatloaf with it. I don't make meatloaf from the cheap Sysco ground beef, because it's too mushy and wet, so I haven't made meatloaf in awhile. There wasn't quite enough of Miss Amelia's ground beef to make all the meatloaf for this family, but I mixed it with some of the cheap stuff, and it was good.

Wednesday

Short version: Bunless cheeseburgers, rice, leftover squash and peas

Long version: Just some more of the Sysco ground beef I had left in the refrigerator, knowing I would need something I could make quickly after work. Cheeseburgers and rice are it.

Random photo break time!

Watching Daddy's house demolition from a safe distance.

Thursday

Short version: Bull meat, pasta with Funny's sauce, frozen green beans

Long version: I don't really know what this cut of meat was. It was labeled "London broil," but it was labeled by us and we don't know anything. It was very thick. I marinated it in vinegar and oil, plus spices, to hopefully tenderize it a bit. Then I just seared it, then sliced it as thin as I could against the grain. It was still basically raw inside. I put the slices back in the hot pan--now off the heat--and mixed in some of Finny's sauce and finely grated Romano cheese. It tasted really good, but it was still pretty chewy.

I think that's going to be the continuing theme with this bull meat.

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