Rump Roast European Goulash (Czech Gulas)
Gulas is a traditional dish in the Czech Republic. Every pub or restaurant that you go to has their own unique version. Often is is served with "Knedliky" (bread dumplings) or freshly baked bread along with their amazing beer! (Which by the way, you can purchase in the U.S. as well, most of the liquor stores will carry Pilsner Urquell, Budvar or Staropramen).
Last year, I was lucky enough to take a quick trip to the Czech Republic and meet up with my family, visit beautiful castles, cathedrals, eat gulas and as you can see from the photos, I have enjoyed their amazing beer as well. A visit to the Czech Republic should be on your bucket list!
When I got home, I had to recreate gulas for my family and it has been added to our dinner rotation list. The bread dumplings are little bit hard to make, so we substitute with sautéed gnocchi. There are a couple of Czech restaurants in the Denver area and they do sell already made bread dumplings.
I hope you will try this recipe and also visit Prague along other beautiful cities and towns in the Czech Republic.
Ingredients:
- 3T Ranch Rump Roast (about 3-4 lbs), cut up into one inch cubes or stew meat
- 1 tablespoon of Hungarian paprika (see note)
- 1/2 tablespoon of salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder
- 3 tablespoons of corn starch
- 32 oz of beef stock (you can also do 1/2 beef stock & 1/2 Czech beer)
- 1 onion - thinly sliced
- 1 green pepper - thinly sliced
- 3 garlic cloves - minced
- 1 heaping tablespoon of tomato paste
- 2-3 tablespoons of canola oil
Directions:
- Cut up your rump roast. Pat dry with paper towel.
- Mix the spices except paprika with corn starch. (You will be adding paprika once the beef cubes are sautéed as adding the paprika too early can make the dish bitter).
- Drench the beef in the spice and corn starch mixture. Shake off excess.
- Turn the instantpot on the sautéed mode and brown your meat in one tablespoon of oil . At this point, you don't want to cook the meat, just give it a nice color. Maybe 30 seconds on each side. Don't overcrowd your pot, brown the meat in batches.
- Take our the meat out, pour in another tablespoon of oil and saute the onion and pepper until translucent, put in minced garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Turn off your saute mode on the instantpot.
- Put the meat back along with the veggies and stir in one tablespoon of tomato paste and 1 tablespoon of paprika. Stir only for 30 seconds.
- Pour in beef stock or 1/2 beef stock 1/2 Czech beer liquid combo, stir to combine the beef, the veggies and the liquid.
- Close and seal the instanpot lid and set manual pressure for 30 minutes, natural release.
- Once the beef is cooked, you can thicken the sauce (if desired) with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and 1/2 cup of the sauce. Pour back in the sauce to thicken. I typically do that while the instantpot is on the saute mode for a couple of minutes or until the sauce thickens.
- I like to serve gulas with gnocchi. Use a large cast iron skillet, heat it up and put in two tablespoons of grassfed butter along with gnocchi. This way, the pasta will have a nice crunch, yet soft in the middle. Cook and stir for about 10 minutes.
And as they say in the Czech Republic - Dobrou Chut - Bon Appetit
3T Beef Roast Leftovers - Roast Pockets
Well, we are on a week three on being at home and still adjusting to the always changing COVID-19 regulations and recommendations. We are typically home/ranch bodies end of March and April anyways, as it is a calving season for us and the Cowboss has to check on the mamas and the calves many times a day, but we do miss seeing our friends and family.
Calving season is a big deal on our ranch, we are very dedicated to make sure all of our mamas and calves have the best care. A good calving season will ensure that in two years, we will have enough animals to sell. Yep! This year's calving season effects our business in two years! Some days can be long and turn into evenings when a mama cow is in distress. I'm thankful that Scott is a season calf delivery cowboy and most of our births are pretty uneventful! We are expecting 60 calves this year and so far we have 15 little farts running around!
Since, our schools have been canceled, we have taken the opportunity to incorporate calving season into homeschooling. Even our little guy, Junior, who is 3, is now counting to 15 as he loves checking on the calves every morning and making sure they are all accounted for! Allie is very curious about the circle of life and how animals grow. (Future vet in the family?! It sure would be useful)! And our oldest, the Top Ranch Hand has been helping out with feeding the animals and fixing fence. Fixing fence is a never ending project, the good thing is that you really get to see every corner of the ranch pastures. He is learning that money is easily spent, but you have to do a good job at work to earn it.
I have been contributing to a smooth calving season in the kitchen. The cowboys are always hungry, especially after cold long day. Since, we are bound to be at home at least until the end of April, I have been trying and creating new recipes. Our grocery store has been out of stock for certain items, so I have been forced to improvise and really use up our supplies in the pantry, fridge and freezer. Nothing goes to waste.
We are big fans of beef roasts and last week I have made BBQ Pulled Beef for dinner, which was a hit. The next day, I wanted to make sandwiches for lunch for my crew, but the store was out of cold cuts and so I came up with beef roast leftover pockets. BBQ pulled beef leftovers were the perfect substitution. It was warm, easy and a crowd pleaser. You can use any kind of beef roast leftovers, this recipe is versatile. Scott teased me that the plate had a salad with a balsamic glaze.. We really are a Ranch Dressing family! ;)
Ingredients:
- 10 frozen dinner rolls (Rhodes)
- 1 egg, 1 tablespoon water for egg wash
Filling:
- 2 cups leftover beef roast - shredded and liquid drained
- 1 cup shredded Cheddar
- 20 pickled jalapeño slices
Directions:
- Put frozen rolls onto a baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel and let it thaw and rise for 2 hours. Don't go more than 2 hours the dough will be harder to work with.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Roll out each dinner roll into a thin circle.
- Put 1 tablespoon of shredded beef in the center and top it with 1 scant tablespoon of cheddar and top with two jalapeño slices.
- Mix 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl.
- Brush egg wash around the edges of the dough.
- Fold over the dough and press edges together with a fork. (It is important that you drain the liquid from your roast or the pocket will not seal correctly).
- Put pockets on silicon or parchment lined baking sheet and brush the tops with the egg wash.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
I like to serve these beef roast leftover pockets warm with a fresh salad and yes, Ranch Dressing!
3T Beef Ramen
We had a couple of weeks earlier this winter, when the whole family was under the weather and beef broth was on the remedy list for colds. The hot broth or soup can help you ease any harsh cold or ache. My kids became big fans, especially when I started adding Ramen noodles. Our beef bundles include soup bones, which are perfect for making healthy grassfed/grass finished beef broth.
We hope you will try our recipe and your family will love it as much as ours.
Ingredients:
Beef Broth
- 2 3T soup bone packages (about 3 lbs)
- 3 large carrots - roughly chopped
- 4 stalks celery - roughly chopped
- 1 onion - roughly chopped
- 10 cups of water
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 375.
- Cut up your veggies into large chunks.
- Put soup bones and veggies on a cookie sheet and mix with 1 tablespoon of canola oil.
- Roast in the oven for 45 minutes.
- I don't use any salt and pepper at this point as I want to be able to season my broth as I'm making other dishes with this delish liquid.
- Put your roasted bones and veggies into the Instant Pot.
- Pour in 10 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar.
- Seal the lid and set it for 120 minutes on high manual.
- Use slow release.
- Discard bones and vegetables and store your broth in the fridge. (You can certainly use the meat from the bones in this Ramen).
- The next day, your broth will have gelatin consistency and will have a thin layer of fat.
- When getting ready to use the broth for your Ramen, stir the gelatin broth to incorporate the healthy fat, so you can measure 3 cups of broth.
- The broth will last up to a week in the fridge or you can freeze it as well. I'm a big fan of using ice cube trays to freeze my broth in.
- You can use the broth in sauces, soups, drink it..
- Just two ice cubes of beef broth will bring a huge flavor to any of your dishes.
- Since the broth will turn into gelatin, I typically delude it with water.
Ramen
- 3 squares of your favorite Ramen (Costco or King Soopers have plenty of tasty choices)
- Veggies of your choice - cut into bite size pieces
- 1/2 onion
- 1 red bell pepper or 1 large thinly sliced carrot
- 1 zucchini
- 8 mushrooms
- 1/2 bok choy
- 1/2 cup of fresh snap peas
- 1 can (14oz) bean sprouts
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 3 cups beef broth
- 3 cups water
- 1/2 tablespoon salt to season the soup before serving
- 4 hardboiled egg
Directions:
- Cut up your vegetables into bite size pieces.
- Stir fry your vegetables in 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, after a couple of minutes add 1 tablespoon of canola oil.
- Stir ginger and soy into the vegetables.
- Taste it and use salt and pepper to taste.
- Heat up 3 cups of water and 3 cups of broth in a big pot.
- Bring to boil and put in three squares of Ramen noodles. (Cook per directions on the box. It doesn't take long).
- Mix your stir fry vegetables into the broth with noodles.
- Season with salt. I have used about 1/2 tablespoon. It is a big pot of soup.
- Serve with hardboiled egg in each bowl.
- Serves 4 people.
Dobrou chut!
3T Tamale Pie
It was a fun night at our 3T Ranch making this tasty dinner. It feels good to be back into the swing of things and our regular schedule. Don't take me wrong, we all love the holiday season, but we are more disciplined when we stick to our regular schedule and we eat better.
I sure enjoy when the kids want to help cooking dinner. Allie helped to measure the ingredients, Junior herded his cows around the kitchen counter and it makes my heart happy when Luke goes for seconds or thirds for dinner. The Cowboss added this meal to our "Family Dinner Rotation". I think they liked the Tamale Pie!
I hope you will try this recipe and have a fun family dinner evening. Sometimes, it doesn't have to be anything big, just happy people around the kitchen table to make a wonderful family memory.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 14.5 oz can of organic creamed corn
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 lb 3T ground beef
- 10 oz can of whole green chile peppers - diced up
- 1 packet of Taco Seasoning or you can easily make your own
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 15 oz enchilada sauce (We like Hatch Organic Red Enchilada Sauce)
- 1 cup of enchilada sauce will be poured over the partially baked cornbread
- Save the remaining enchilada sauce to serve with your baked dish
- 1 cup shredded Pepper Jack cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Serve it with - guacamole, sour cream, extra enchilada sauce, salsa, Spanish rice.
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a baking dish.
- Mix together the dry ingredients - cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt.
- Add the following to your dry mixture - egg, sour cream, creamed corn and milk.
- Pour the cornbread mixture into the baking dish.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
- In the meantime, cook your 3T ground beef, put in your seasoning. Your own taco mix or taco packet from the store is just fine too.
- Cut up the chile peppers and put in with the ground beef.
- Take the cornbread out of the oven. The cornbread won't be fully cooked, that is OK it will go back in the oven after the dish is assembled.
- Poke holes in the cornbread with a fork and pour 1 cup of enchilada sauce over it.
- Now comes the meat mixture and peppers and cheese.
- Put your dish onto a cookie sheet to avoid any messes in the oven.
- Bake for additional 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.
- Serve with Spanish rice, guacamole, sour cream, extra enchilada sauce and salsa. My crew liked pouring the extra enchilada sauce over their slice of tamale pie.
Dobrou Chut!
Are you an Instapot user yet? This is my "go to" gadget these days. I use it at least three times a week. It saves time, but I really like how it cooks the beef. All of the beef cuts are nice and tender in a nick of time.
It seems like we went from summer to winter this year in one day. We are finishing up a few ranch projects before the Cowboss and the Top Ranch Hand bring the cows home. The cows have been enjoying the summer pastures and around Thanksgiving, we bring everyone home. During the winter we feed hay and yes.. even on those snowy cold days when schools and business are closed.. we venture outside to feed our herd. Then, spring rolls around and we keep a tight watch on the mama cows to make sure that we have healthy calves and healthy mamas. In early May, we load up the mamas, calves, yearlings and take them again to our summer pastures. The bulls have to wait until June 19th. Cows are pregnant for 9 months and by releasing the bulls on June 19th, we make sure that we don't have any winter calves. That's how the cycle goes on our ranch.
The Mexican Street Tacos are perfect for a busy night. You can get the dish prepped in less than 5 minutes and let it cook while you finish up your chores or homework or like us, finish setting up concrete forms.
Ingredients:
- 3-4 lb round roast or 1-2 round steaks (depending on size)
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of pepper
- 1/2 onion - sliced
- 1 red pepper - sliced
- 1 can (10 oz.) whole green chile peppers (no liquid)
- 1 can (7.76 oz.) La Costena Chipotle Salsa (you can find it by the enchilada sauces at the grocery store)
- 1 cup of water
- 1 bunch of cilantro
Directions:
- If you are using a round roast, quarter the roast, this will ensure that your roast will be tender and cook faster.
- If you are using round steaks, just put the cuts into the instapot.
- Beef is in the instapot, now salt, pepper, onion, green chile and red peppers go in.
- Pour Chipotle salsa over the meat.
- Pour 1 cup of water around the beef. You want the Chipotle salsa to say on top of the meat.
- Seal per instapot instructions and cook for 60 minutes on the "meat/stew" setting for round roast and 45 minutes for round steaks.
- When cooking is complete use slow release.
- Shred the beef and the green chile peppers and put back in the instapot, so the beef can absorb the tasty sauce!
- Serve with tortilla, shredded cheese, chopped up cilantro and rice.
Beef Enchilada Pasta
April gives us just enough taste of the warm spring weather and then we get hit with another snow storm! As I'm typing up this recipe, the snow is coming down really hard and we are expecting another blizzard. Many businesses are closing down for the day and I wouldn't be surprised that schools will call a snow day for tomorrow. We sure do need the moisture after a very dry summer last year. I will be happy about the green grass later this year, but it is cold and snowy right now.
Our new favorite recipe on days like today is Beef Enchilada Pasta. You can make it mild or as hot as you like it. Since, we have little guys, I went with the mild version today.
You can use ground beef for this recipe, but I think it really adds POW flavor, if you cook up the ground beef chorizo.
Ingredients:
- 1 lbs of 3T ground beef or beef chorizo
- 1 box of your favorite pasta
- 1 chopped up medium size onion
- 4 finely chopped up garlic cloves
- 1 chopped up bell pepper
- 1 cup of your favorite salsa
- 15 oz can of Hatch Organic Red Enchilada Sauce
- 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 bunch of chopped up cilantro
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Cook pasta per box directions.
- Saute onion, garlic and pepper, stir in ground beef or chorizo and cook until done.
- I typically use my pasta pot as it is big enough to stir in the rest of the ingredients.
- Stir in pasta, garlic, onion, pepper, ground beef, salsa, enchilada sauce and cheese. Heat through, so the cheese is nice and melted.
- Taste it! Does it need more salt or pepper?
- Sprinkle with cilantro.
- Ready to serve!
Beef Tacos for Busy Summer Nights
Are your summer days packed with activities and dinner becomes a big headache? The 3T crew is busy with ranch construction projects, fixing fences, transporting cattle to summer pastures and the kids have their own summer activities. Plus, we have decided to get not one, but two puppies.. I know, who does that? Their parents are great cattle working dogs and we could always use help to work our cows. So, I don't know about you, but by dinnertime, I'm pretty tired.
Here is an easy summer recipe, so you can enjoy dinner on your deck or patio. Nobody wants to spend a couple of hours making dinner. Even better.. The InstaPot or CrockPot will do the cooking for you in this recipe, so you can enjoy a Margarita while dinner is cooking on its own!
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs 3T Ranch Beef Roast (you can also use flank or skirt steak)
- 1 tablespoon dry oregano
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 tablespoon ground pepper
- 1 diced medium sweet onion
- 1 diced bell pepper
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 4 chopped garlic cloves
- 1 can (7.76 oz) LaCostena Chipotle Sauce or Chile in Adobo Sauce (if using Chile in Adobo Sauce - use two peppers and scrape out the seeds, then use all of the sauce from the can and discard the rest of the peppers It would be too spicy to use all of the peppers).
- 1 cup beef broth (2 cups of beef broth for CrockPot version)
Directions for InstaPot: Preferred 3T method
- Cut up your roast into bigger chunks. (I think the beef cooks better vs just putting in the whole roast).
- Set your InstaPot on "sear" and pour in 1/4 cup of canola oil.
- Dry off your beef chunks with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper.
- Now, that the pot is hot, sear the beef chunks on all sides. Take out the beef.
- Time to sauté the onion and bell peppers. Give it a couple of minutes to sauté the veggies before adding the garlic. You don't want the garlic to burn. Cook until all veggies are tender.
- TIP: if your onion is getting a little burned before being tender add a little bit of water to the pot.
- Add oregano, one can of Chipotle Sauce and one cup of beef broth and stir all together.
- Beef goes back in the pot, close the lid and set your InstaPot on "Beef Stew". Depending on your InstaPot setting, your beef will be done in about 60 minutes. If you are using steaks, you can cut down the cooking to 35 minutes.
Directions for CrockPot: This recipe
- You can certainly use CrockPot for this recipe as well.
- Dry off your beef chunks with a paper towel and season with salt and pepper.
- Heat your skillet and add 1/4 cup of oil.
- Sear the beef in a skillet on all sides. Take out.
- Time to sauté the onion and bell peppers. Give it a couple of minutes to sauté the veggies before adding the garlic. You don't want the garlic to burn. Cook until all veggies are tender.
- TIP: if your onion is getting a little burned before being tender add a little bit of water to the pot.
- Put in the CrockPot - oregano, one can of Chipotle Sauce and two cups of beef broth and stir all together.
- Beef goes in the CrockPot.
- Set you CrockPot for high for 4 hours. (I don't like to cook my beef on low in the CrockPot. I think the beef gets too dry on the low setting).
- Make sure to check your liquid levels during cooking.
Beef is done, time to serve it to your crowd. You can certainly shred the beef, but we do like the beef in chunks. You can cut the beef into bitesize chunks. The beef is juicy and tender, you can discard the sauce the beef was cooking in. (Or you can certainly skim off the fat and reduce the liquid in a sauce pan. It will have a kick. The beef on its own is not spicy). I typically serve the beef with rice, guacamole, salsa, pepper jack cheese and Costco uncooked flour tortillas. I know it adds another step to your cooking, but it is so worth it! And if you really want to step it up.. Here is a recipe for Homemade Corn Tortillas!
Homemade Corn Tortillas:
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups masa harina, more for dusting
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons fat such as melted lard, butter or canola oil
- 1 cup hot water, plus more as needed
Directions:
- Place masa and salt in a bowl and throughly combine with the fat, mixing with fingers or a whisk. (KitchenAid works great for this). Slowly stream in the water while mixing until the dough comes together into a ball.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 1 minute.
- Divide the dough into 12 portions and form each into a smooth ball.
- Place masa balls on a baking sheet, cover with plastic, rest for 30 minutes.
- After the dough has rested, preheat a cast iron skillet over medium-high for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to medium.
- If the dough has dried slightly during resting, wet hands and roll each ball again to moisten. Place the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap and place directly in the center of the tortilla press. Press down firmly, then durn the tortilla 90 degrees and press again.
- Transfer it into the hot skillet. Cook the tortilla until brown spots appear on the bottom, about 1 minute. Flip with a thin metal spatula, and do the same on the other side.
TIP: Sur La Table has many great gadgets how to keep you tortillas warm while you are cooking the rest. The homemade tortillas might sound intimidating, but they are really easy. I have taken a class at Sur La Table with my friend and the tortillas were piece a cake to make and the flavor was amazing!!
Dobrou Chut!
3T Sloppy Joes - Kids Favorite!
This recipe is so good that I have made it twice in two days. It is a hit with adults and children. I have made the first batch for a fun nail party my friend invited us to. Doing your nails is a lot of work and the ladies enjoyed a small slider Sloppy Joes treat afterwards. My second batch was for my friend who just had her third baby girl. I love my MOPS mamas, what a great way to connect with other moms in the area and make life long friends. Our family has sure appreciated when our friends showed up with a warm meal when our children were babies. The Cowboss didn't have to cook for weeks even though he was on the cooking duties, so I could tend to our little rascals. I'm always happy to bring a meal to a friend and check out their new bundle of joy.
Sloppy Joes on a toasted bun is always a winner of a dinner. Our two little guys are not that coordinated yet to eat the Sloppy Joes on a bun, so I mix up the cooked beef mixture in their homemade mac and cheese. They can "skillfully" work the fork. ;)
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs 3T ground beef
- 2 cups chopped up celery or green peppers are great as well
- 1 cup chopped up onion
- 1 cup chopped up carrots
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon ground mustard
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1/2 tablespoon Lowry's Garlic Pepper Seasoning (optional, this is our 3T staple seasoning)
- 2 tablespoons of yellow mustard
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar (Taste it first after the first tablespoon. We have liked the savory version with just one tablespoon, but some people like the sweeter version)
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 - 3 tablespoons Canola oil
Directions.
- Cut up your veggies.
- Heat up your good size pot and put in 2 tablespoon of oil.
- Saute veggies for about 5-10 minutes.
- Include the another tablespoon of oil and stir in the ground beef. Stir for 5 minutes.
- Time to put in the seasoning - salt, pepper, ground mustard, garlic powder, Lowry's, yellow mustard, ketchup, sugar and Worcestershire Sauce.
- Stir to combine all of the ingredients and let it cook for another 10 minutes. Keep stirring.
- Time to serve it up on a toasted bun with homemade mac and cheese.
How easy wast that?! Dobrou chut!
Even the Smallest Ranch Hands Check the Cows - Swedish Meatballs
Every afternoon after their nap time, the kids and I venture outside to look for our yearlings. Our family likes schedule and know what comes next. You would be surprised, but the cows are predictable as well. Every afternoon around 3:00 PM, the yearlings come to water and then head to the north side of the property. Perfect timing to check out the young steers and heifers. I think Junior's first word was "moo", not mama or dada. That little guy sure loves his cows.
The afternoon outings keep us busy, the kids get some fresh air and explore the surrounding, including being curious about dry cow pies. Don't get me even started on that one! By the time we get home, we are ready to start our dinner routine.
A couple of nights ago I made Swedish Meatballs. It was easy and fast, so the little guys didn't lose their "cool" before dinner was served. The unique spices in the meatballs made it a nice change to the typical marinara meatballs.
Ingredients:
Meatballs
- 1 lb 3T ground beef
- 1/4 breadcrumbs (plain), panko also works great
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice (Don't overdo it with this spice, it is crucial to the recipe, but it can also overpower it. Measure for sure, don't eyeball it).
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups beef broth
- 1 cup 2% milk
- 1 tablespoon grain mustard
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- Lingonberry jam (Not a big deal, if you don't have it. It is a garnish).
Directions:
- Mix your meatball ingredients and heat up a large deep pan.
- Use a heaping tablespoon of the beef mixture to roll your meatballs.
- Put in oil in the pan and fry your meatballs on each side. They don't have to be cooked all the way through as you will finish the cooking process in the sauce. The meatballs need to have a nice crust on them.
- Take the meatballs out of the pan and start working on the sauce.
- Add a little bit of oil and stir in flour. Stir and let it cook for about 30 seconds. Slowly pour in the beef broth. Continue stirring, so you don't get lumps in the sauce.
- Add milk, mustard, salt and pepper.
- Let the sauce thicken while stirring for about 5 minutes.
- Put in meatballs and coat them in the sauce. Cook for another 5 minutes on low to medium heat.
- Right before serving stir in chopped up parsley.
- I have served the meatballs with mashed potatoes and green beens.
Tip: You don't have to use a lot of butter and cream to make tasty mashed potatoes. I have used only one tablespoon of grassfed butter and warm beef stock to make the potatoes creamy. The key point is the warm beef stock, it has to be warm. Salt, pepper and garlic/pepper seasoning is always a staple in the mashies.
Dobrou Chut!
Mexican Beef Barbacoa - 3T Test Kitchen
I enjoy watching the FB cooking videos, it gives me ideas on what to cook for my family. Last weekend, I have seen a tasty looking Mexican Beef Barbacoa. Our family likes beef and we like Mexican food, so I had to try it out. It came out delish and it is definitely on our dinner rotation list! I have made a few tweaks to suit our family's taste buds, but the core of the recipe was awesome. My Cowboss is on a roll to decrease the amount of sugar we eat, so I have omitted the sugar in this recipe all together.
Here is the link to the original recipe and below you can find our tweaks and tips!
Ingredients:
- 4 Chile De Ristra (mild) - dry chile peppers - The original recipe calls for a couple of different chile peppers, but I was only able to find Chile De Ristra at our grocery store. It was a great substitution. (soaked, stemmed and seeded)
- 1 (3 lb) beef chuck roast - I have used Eye of the Round Roast - this type of roast is very lean and great for this recipe as it has to cook for some time.
- Salt and Pepper
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 1 chipotle in adobo
- 6 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1/2 tablespoon pepper
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon - I have increased the amount of the spices. You need flavor, don't be afraid of it!
- 1/2 cup water - I have used the water that was left over from my Chile De Ristra soaking
Directions:
- Place dried peppers into a bowl or jar and fill with water until covered. Soak for 20 minutes until softened.
- Bring the roast to room temperature - about 30 minutes. Season roast with salt and pepper. Heat a large cast iron pot over high heat. Add in 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sear roast on all sides. Once seared, remove pot from heat and set aside.
- In a blender, add in Chile De Ristra peppers, chipotle, garlic, cider vinegar, salt, oregano, cinnamon, remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil, and water. Blend until smooth, adding more water if necessary to thin it out enough to blend.
- Pour sauce over chuck roast in the crock pot or insta pot. See specific directions for the crock pot or insta pot below.
- Shred and serve. If you are using Eye of the Round Roast - thinly slice the meat after you are done cooking the beef and put back into the sauce. The beef will absorb a good amount of the sauce and it will be nice and tender.
INSTANT POT: 3T's preferred method. Use the sear setting to sear seasoned roast. Make sauce and pour over meat. Cook on the beef/stew setting for about 70 minutes. Take out, thinly slice the meat, put it back into the insta pot and let it cook for another 5-10 minutes on the sear setting. Make sure to stir around and don't walk away!