Tag Archives: beef

Black & Blue Salad, Modern

Food pics edited for FB copy 3 - Page 438

I love the look of the classic wedge salad with tomatoes, bacon and blue cheese. Very swanky. Unfortunately, iceberg lettuce has practically zero nutrition. So I remade this salad into a much hearty, healthier version…and it’s addictive!

INGREDIENTS:  Makes 6 entree-sized salads

1 pkg                    Center-cut bacon; cooked

1                          Orange pepper; fresh (not frozen), sliced with seeds removed

1                          Yellow pepper; fresh (not frozen), sliced with seeds removed

1/2                       Red onion; peeled & sliced

4T                        Grapeseed (preferred), vegetable or Canola oil

1 + 1/2,                10oz boxes 50/50 lettuce & spinach

2                          Crowns of fresh broccoli (crown = without the stalk, if there is stalk just                                      cut it off); chopped

8oz                      Mushrooms; sliced

1c                        Frozen peas; thawed

2                          Cucumbers; sliced

1/2c                     Roasted pumpkin seeds

1 cup                   Pecan pieces or halves

2 pints                 Cherry or grape tomatoes

2 bunches           Green onions

1 1/2 – 2#           Beef sirloin; cubed (use “Pan Frying” or “Stir Fry” quality beef)

Salt & pepper to taste for beef

Red wine (optional)

DRESSING INGREDIENTS:

2c                        Crumbled blue cheese

1/3c                     Mayonnaise

1/3c                     Sour cream

1/3c                     Buttermilk

1/3c                     Red wine vinegar

1/4c                     Onion; diced

3 cloves               Garlic; minced

1T                       Sugar or Agave syrup

1/4t                    Black pepper

Food pics edited for FB copy 3 - Page 437

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Cook bacon @ 325 degrees for about a half hour (flip bacon halfway through). Place cooked bacon on plate with paper towel so as to absorb extra grease. Set aside.
  2. While bacon is cooking, saute orange & yellow peppers and red onion in 2T oil on med-high heat on stove until they just start to blacken. Set aside.
  3. While bacon is still cooking, make the dressing – Combine dressing ingredients (except blue cheese) in a food processor or blender and blend thoroughly. Add blue cheese and mash together until well blended. Cover and refrigerate.
  4. Prepare remaining vegetables according to their descriptions above (chop, slice, etc).
  5. Using 6 large bowls, divide the lettuce into the bowls.
  6. Divide the remaining vegetables equally and layer on the lettuce beds.
  7. On med-high heat, cook the beef (salt and peppered) and 2T oil on stove until no longer raw or as you wish (it’s safest to cook meat completely through). It only takes a few minutes; do not overcook or the meat will be tough.
  8. Optional – add a few splashes of red wine to the beef and cook for another minute or two.
  9. Divide beef equally and add to salads.
  10. Drizzle dressing on top and serve immediately.

 

 

 

 

BBQ Pulled Pork or Beef – restaurant style

If you love BBQ and go to a restaurant to get it, you probably don’t put just one kind of sauce on your beef or pork. You put at least two, maybe three! That’s one reason why BBQ at home never tastes the same…because we’re dumping one kind of sauce on the meat.

My BBQ is the secret sauce of mixing different flavored sauces together and adding one special ingredient. This recipe is crazy easy and freezes great!

Now you can enjoy restaurant-style BBQ at home any time you want, and any time is a delicious time for BBQ!

INGREDIENTS:

1 pack          Pork shoulder (a.k.a. pork butt, however the cut is actually the shoulder) or                                  Beef chuck roast, whichever you prefer

1-2 bottles   Red, sweet BBQ sauce (Our very favorite is Old Mule Original, but if you can’t                                find it, Sweet Baby Ray’s Original or Stubb’s Original bbq sauce works)

1-2 bottles   Tangy, Memphis-style BBQ sauce (I use our local grocery store’s brand, but                                  any Memphis-style sauce will work)

1/2-3/4c      Red wine vinegar (secret ingredient!!)

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Place meat in a crock pot. Add 1c of water. Place lid on top and turn crock pot on high for several hours depending on the number of pounds of meat. Check it every couple of hours.
  2. When the meat is done, turn off the crock pot. You will know it’s done when it looks visibly cooked through (pork should not look raw/pink) and easily falls apart when you try to lift it with tongs.
  3. Using tongs, lift out a chunk of meat at a time and place it on a cutting board.
  4. Using two forks, separate the meat from everything else (fat, tendons, gristle, etc.). This is not hard to do, but does take some time.
  5. Then shred the meat with the two forks by pulling it apart.
  6. Put the shredded meat into a saucepot. Pour both sauces and red wine vinegar onto the meat and stir until blended.
  7. Keep the sauce pot on low heat until the sauce has thickened and BBQ is heated through.
  8. If freezing, let the BBQ cool to room temperature first. Never freeze meat hot. This recipe will typically yield several pounds of BBQ because of how the meat is packaged and sold, so call some friends to come over or pack up what you don’t need immediately and freeze it for later. Think sliders, sandwiches and my BBQ Slaw Salad recipe!