3T Ranch Reaches 100 Cows!
The 3T Ranch has reached a huge milestone this week. Our 100th cow was born during a sunny morning earlier this week. We have had a decent amount of rain and hail, yet this little creature waited for the sun to shine through and then arrive. Mama aka "Milk Mustache" (she is all black except her white mustache) and the baby are doing just fine and have already re-joined the herd.
The Cowboss and I have started 3T Ranch about five and half years ago with 10 cows and always dreamed of having 100. Sometime people take the words "hard work pays off" for granted, but it has sure worked for us. I can't tell you how many times the boys had to feed the cows in a snowstorm with their ski goggles on, so they can see at least a couple inches in front of them or when the Cowboss spent hours with first-time mama to help her through the delivery or when they had to fix fence in the beaming sun.. Yet, we wouldn't have it any other way, our work is so rewarding.
We would like to say a HUGE Thank You to all of our customers who support us, watch us grow and appreciate all the work that goes into our style of ranching.
Italian Beef Sandwiches
I have been searching for new recipes to add to our "staples dinner list" and came across these Italian Beef Sandwiches. Our family loves roast, our favorite is smoke roast of any kind. The Cowboss does an excellent job smoking our beef, but I have to say these Italian Beef Sandwiches come as very close second! Plus it can't get any easier to make them.
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs 3T Ranch beef roast (any type of roast will be do just fine)
- 1 packet of Zesty Italian Dressing Seasoning
- 1 cup water
- 16 ounce jar banana peppers or 1/2 of the banana peppers jar and whole jar of red roasted peppers
- Sandwich rolls
- Pepper Jack Cheese
Directions:
- Place roast into the crockpot, sprinkle the seasoning and pour the entire jar of banana peppers including the liquid over the meat.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
- Pour in 1 cup of water.
- Cover and cook for another 4 hours. I find that our meat likes the low temperatures better.
- Shred the meat with forks and place onto broiled sandwich rolls. As you can see in my pictures, I have put the cheese on top of the meat and put it into the oven for a couple of minutes to melt it. My Cowboss had a good idea.. Broil the rolls and melt the cheese and then put the meat on the bun. Extra layer to prevent a soggy bun.
Have to give credit to Buns in My Oven website for this wonderful recipe. It is a winner.
Dobrou chut!
Baked Ground Beef Chimichangas
Mexican cuisine is always a hit at our home, but I thought I would change up our ground beef burritos into chimichangas.
Chimichangas are basically fried burritos, but we are watching what we eat. Grassfed/grass finished beef is so good for you and you don't want to ruin your healthy meal by frying everything. So, I decided to baked my chimichangas and it was a hit. The burritos got nice and crisp .
Here is the recipe:
Ingredients:
- 1 lb 3T Ranch ground beef
- 1/2 onion - small dice
- 1 bell pepper - small dice
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 can green chili sauce or green chili enchilada sauce
- 5 flour tortillas
- Spanish rice (I have used the box, but you can certainly make it from scratch)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar
- Canola oil in a spray
- 1 tablespoon chopped up cilantro
Directions:
- Saute onions and peppers in a cast iron skillet until translucent. Set aside.
- Cook your ground beef with cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
- Mix peppers and onions with the ground beef along with the shredded cheddar cheese.
- Heat your oven to 375 degrees.
- Spray your cookie sheet with the canola oil.
- Steam your flour tortillas in the microwave. Make sure to put a wet towel over your tortillas and microwave for about a minute. This way, your tortillas will be easy to roll up.
- Divide the meat mixture onto the five tortillas. Here is a quick way to roll them up.
- Put the burritos onto the cookie sheet and spray with the canola oil.
- Bake for about 20 minutes and broil for about 2-3 minutes.
- Your chimichangas are nice and crisp!
- Heat up your green chili sauce or green chili enchilada sauce over your chimichangas.
- Serve with rice, avocado and salsa.
Dobrou chut!
Beef and Broccoli
Finally! Our freezer is filled again with beef! Our customers come first, therefore we get our beef on the last round of processing. It was worth the wait! I wanted to have beef that night for dinner, so we have decided for an easy and fast recipe.
Ingredients:
- flank steak thinly sliced against the grain
- 1/2 cup of soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2-3 tablespoons brown sugar (start with two, you can always add more)
- 1/3 cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup beef broth (best beef broth is from beef soup bones, easy to make)
- 1 pound of broccoli thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- oil
Directions:
Heat oil in a large skillet and stir broccoli until nicely tender. Don't over do it!
In the meantime, cut your steak. In a bowl, mix together soy sauce, rice vinegar, brown sugar, cornstarch, ginger, garlic, sesame oil. Pour half of the mixture over the meat and coat it. Reserve the second part for the actual sauce.
Take broccoli out of the pan, pour in little bit more oil, let the pan come to temperature again and put in the meat in a single layer. I had to do three different batches, but it was worth it. Don't stir the meat right away, you want to have a nice crust on the meat. It takes one minute on the first side and 30 seconds on the other. Take out the meat. Remember, don't over cook it, the meat will go back into the sauce and it will cook some more.
Pour the remaining sauce into the pan along with the beef broth, let it thicken and put in the meat and the broccoli.
I have served the dish with coconut rice (you can already buy it in a box). It was a nice change to either white or fried rice, but either way you can't go wrong!
Give a try! Dobrou chut!
Round Steak
Round steak is not your typical cut that you can find at the grocery store, yet so tasty that it totally should be!
We like to use the round steak cut for fajitas. I cut my steak thinly against the grain and fry it with just a little splash of oil in my cast iron skillet. Make sure your skillet is preheated. This cut is super lean and it doesn't take very long to cook. You want to see some pink before taking it out of the pan. Seasoning is very simple, salt, pepper and little bit Wildtree Asada seasoning.
This cut is also great for Beef Stroganoff, the braising does wonders for it.
Give it a shot. Sirloin is tasty for sure, but many beef cuts are underutilized, round steak being one of them.
What is a Rib Steak?
We all know how delicious a Rib Eye Steak is, but what is a Rib Steak? Well, let me tell you that Rib Steak is even better than Rib Eye Steak. The Rib Eye is boneless and the Rib Steak includes the rib bone and is often called a "Bone-In Rib Eye Steak". Rib Steaks are also the same as Prime Rib. When combined as a multiple Rib Roast Section and roasted, it is Prime Rib. When each bone section is sliced and then grilled, it becomes a
Bone-in Rib Steak.
Now, how do we cook it?
You can grill it or we cooked it last night in the cast iron pan. The important step that many people forget is to bring the meat to room temperature (at least 30 minutes), dry it with paper towel and adequately salt it.
If you are grilling the steak, cook it low and slow. If you are using a cast iron pan, make sure to heat the pan first, then pour in one tablespoon of canola oil and I also include a little bit of butter. Let it heat up again. Sear the meat on both sides, the pan should be screaming hot and sizzling. I would say about two minutes on each side, check out the nice crust on our steak. Transfer the meat onto a cookie sheet with a rack, pour your oil and butter mixture from the cast iron pan onto the meat and put it into 475 degree oven for three minutes to finish the meat. Don't move from the kitchen, you can easily overcook the meat! Take the meat out of the oven and let it rest for about 4 minutes, cover it with foil.
Time to cut the steak and enjoy this wonderful cut. I have served the steak with loaded cauliflower mash. (Steamed cauliflower, 1/2 brick of cream cheese, 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar, 2 chopped up green onions, 2 cloves of chopped up garlic. Mix it all together, you can also use a little bit of your steaming liquid to make the perfect texture. Sprinkle with more cheese and bacon pieces).
Happy Birthday Cowboss/Prime Rib Roast
It is a weeklong birthday celebration at the ranch. We like to go all out for birthdays. Nothing better than to surprise the Cowboss with few unexpected, non-requested presents and of course great dinner or two or in this year's case.. three great dinners.
We had family over on Sunday to watch the game. Go Broncos! Well, they didn't win, but there is always next time. Our new smoker arrived a few weeks ago and since then the Cowboss have been producing culinary wonders. Smoked ham and chicken, pork green chili nachos, carrot cake, well you get the picture here. Nobody leaves the 3T Ranch hungry!
But the awaited meal was delivered on the actual birthday night. We have been saving the Prime Rib Roast for this special occasion. I was a little nervous, little intimidated and very excited. I sure didn't want to mess up this meal! I have read through at least 10 recipes, bought a new meat thermometer and finally went for it!
Our prime rib roasts are about 2 lbs, perfect size for the four of us, second helpings and steak and egg breakfast in the morning.
Prime Rib Roast
- 3T Ranch prime rib roast bone in- 2lbs
- 3 rosemary sprigs
- 3 thyme sprigs
- 5 garlic cloves - minced
- 2 tablespoons of salt
- 2 tablespoons of crushed peppercorns
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Horseradish sauce:
- 2 tablespoons of horseradish
- 1&1/2 tablespoons of mayo
- 2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Directions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Pour olive oil all over the roast and rub it like you mean it!
- In a bowl put together chopped up rosemary, thyme, garlic, salt and peppercorns. I have used our small handy dandy mini food processor, but you an certainly chop it up as well. Mix it together and rub it all over the meat. Press the mixture into the meat.
- Put the roast onto a rack in a roasting pan and cook it at 500 degrees for about 15 minutes. This will give the meat a nice crust.
- Lower the temperature to 250 degrees and cook the meat for another hour or until the thermometer is about 140 degrees.
- Our beef is grass fed/grass finished, therefore, very lean. The cooking method should always be low and slow!
- Let the meat rest for about 10 minutes and make sure to cover it with foil. You don't want the tasty juices to run all over your cutting board.
- I have served this culinary wonder with popovers and wild rice.
- Mix the horseradish sauce and serve!
I would say, I made my guys pretty happy. After all, the prime rib was really easy to make. Happy Birthday Cowboss!
P.S. Whiskey tasting dinner is coming up on Thursday. Not a bad week for the birthday boy! Stay tuned for whiskey finger licking recipes!
Mexican Quiche
This recipe came from my good friend Liz and it will be one of our staples for sure! It makes two 9” pie crusts. Make basic taco meat 1lb. Follow recipe on McCormick’s taco packet. I have added chopped onion, 5 garlic cloves and fresh cilantro. Evenly divide the meat into the pie crusts. Mix together ½ cup of cream or milk, ¾ cup of salsa, salt, pepper, ½ cup of Mexican Four Cheese Blend and 8 large eggs. Evenly distribute over the meat in the pie crusts. Bake in 350 oven for about 40-50 minutes. Serve with a nice side salad. The cowboss said that cowboys don’t eat quiche, but he changed his mind after this recipe. It was a hit!
Perfect Pot Roast by The Pioneer Woman
It is fall and perfect time to get your crockpot out of hibernation to make this wonderful roast with red wine, rosemary, thyme..
INGREDIENTS
- 1 whole (4 To 5 Pounds) Chuck Roast
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 whole Onions
- 6 whole Carrots (Up To 8 Carrots)
- Salt To Taste
- Pepper To Taste
- 1 cup Red Wine (optional, You Can Use Beef Broth Instead)
- 2 cups To 3 Cups Beef Stock
- 3 sprigs Fresh Thyme, or more to taste
- 3 sprigs Fresh Rosemary, or more to taste
INSTRUCTIONS - (3T Ranch Tip - use a crockpot instead)!
First and foremost, choose a nicely marbled piece of meat. This will enhance the flavor of your pot roast like nothing else. Generously salt and pepper your chuck roast.
Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Then add 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil (or you can do a butter/olive oil split).
Cut two onions in half and cut 6 to 8 carrots into 2-inch slices (you can peel them, but you don’t have to). When the oil in the pot is very hot (but not smoking), add in the halved onions, browning them on one side and then the other. Remove the onions to a plate.
Throw the carrots into the same very hot pan and toss them around a bit until slightly browned, about a minute or so.
If needed, add a bit more olive oil to the very hot pan. Place the meat in the pan and sear it for about a minute on all sides until it is nice and brown all over. Remove the roast to a plate.
With the burner still on high, use either red wine or beef broth (about 1 cup) to deglaze the pan, scraping the bottom with a whisk to get all of that wonderful flavor up.
When the bottom of the pan is sufficiently deglazed, place the roast back into the pan and add enough beef stock to cover the meat halfway (about 2 to 3 cups). Add in the onion and the carrots, as well as 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary and about 3 sprigs of fresh thyme.
Put the lid on, then roast in a 275F oven for 3 hours (for a 3-pound roast). For a 4 to 5-pound roast, plan on 4 hours.