ronl@athena.UUCP ( Ron E. Lunde ) (09/29/85)
Hi.
It occurred to me a while ago that whenever we have guests over for dinner,
it's very likely that I'll make the same main dish that I made the last time
we had dinner guests (except if I have made the same thing for the same people
before). Actually, I have about 2 meals that I will pick from the first time
people visit. Are other people like that? If you have a favorite recipe or
two which you imagine almost anyone HAS to like, which look and smell good as
well as taste good, which are not time-critical (either it "will keep" or it
can be made in a few minutes), and which go well with wine, I'd like to see
them! (It took me about 3 months of experimentation a few years ago to settle
on the ones which I've been using since.)
Here's My Favorite:
Source: "Budget Recipes", by Jacqueline Heriteau
BEEF IN RED WINE
Ingredients:
2 pounds lean stewing beef, 1&1/2 inch cubes
1/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons fat
1 onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 cup red table wine
1 10 ounce can beef consomme
Instructions:
Dredge beef in flour. Heat a Dutch oven or a large heavy kettle; add fat
and brown beef cubes. Add remaining ingredients, cover, and simmer about
2 hours. If the sauce is too thin, simmer with cover off until reduced.
Serves 5 or 6.
Experience:
Actually serves 4 (around here). Use a dry red wine, since a sweet wine
doesn't seem to work as well. DON'T use dried garlic -- if you don't have
fresh garlic, don't bother with it (I'm not sure why this is, since it
seems to work OK in other recipes). This recipe doubles easily if you
have more that 4 people. It also reheats well. I usually serve it with
parseley'd rice and a fresh green vegetable (and with a green salad).
It's also a good idea to have something to munch on before dinner, since
it fills the air with an aroma that would make a rock salivate.
--
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| gneiss (n.) -- rock composed of layers of |
| quartz, mica, etc. As in "that's gneiss". |
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Ron Lunde - Tektronix Inc., CAE Systems Division (503) 629-1345
uucp: {ucbvax,decvax,pur-ee,cbosg,ihnss}!tektronix!teklds!ronl
CSnet: ronl@tek
ARPAnet:ronl.tek@rand-relaycharli@cylixd.UUCP (Charli Phillips) (10/04/85)
In article <405@athena.UUCP> ronl@athena.UUCP ( Ron E. Lunde ) writes: >Actually, I have about 2 meals that I will pick from the first time >people visit. Are other people like that? If you have a favorite recipe or >two which you imagine almost anyone HAS to like, which look and smell good as >well as taste good, which are not time-critical (either it "will keep" or it >can be made in a few minutes), and which go well with wine, I'd like to see >them! This recipe is simple to make, delicious, and not at all time-critical. I've only known one person who didn't like it. I know several who are addicted to it! (My mother always made sure to serve it the first day I was home on breaks from college. It was a wonderful welcome.) Italian Pepper Steak 2 - 3 pound roast flour salt freshly ground black pepper several onions several bell peppers olive oil 1/4 c. soy sauce 1 3/4 c. beef bullion Slice the roast into 1/4" thick strips. Dredge in flour. Salt lightly. Pepper *heavily*. Slice onions and peppers (length-wise, not into rings). You should have about equal volumes of onions, peppers, and meat. Get out a large, deep skillet or dutch oven and a shallow skillet. In the deep skillet, saute the onions and bell pepper until the onions are translucent. Add the soy sauce and beef bullion and simmer on low heat. Meanwhile, brown the meat, a few pieces at a time, in olive oil in the shallow skillet. As it cooks, move it to the onion-pepper mixture. Add more soy sauce and bullion, in the same proportions, if necessary, so that the liquid covers the meat. Simmer on low heat for two or three hours, until the meat is tender. Serve, garnished with sliced fresh tomatoes, over a bed of rice. (Even if you normally use white rice, for this use a mixture of half white rice and half brown.) A tossed salad, crunchy rolls with *real* butter, small green peas, and a good red wine finish the menu. If you can, make this a day or two in advance, then simmer another hour the day you intend to serve it. (The flavor gets even better!) charli