Ingredients

• 12 ounce bag egg noodles
• 1 medium white onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 bell pepper, seeded, ribs removed, chopped fine
• 3 minced clove of garlic
• Grapeseed oil or olive oil for sauting
• 1 1/2 pounds ground round beef
• Salt
• 4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 1 28-ounce can tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups frozen corn (can use canned corn or creamed corn)
• 1 15-ounce can of black olives, strained and chopped
• 1 pound cheddar cheese, grated

Method

1 Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the egg noodles.

2 Heat 2 Tbsp of oil on medium high heat in a large, heavy bottomed pot. Add the onions and bell pepper and saut until softened. Add garlic and cook for a minute more. Add the tomatoes, breaking them up with your fingers or a knife, if you are using whole canned tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to warm.

3 In a separate skillet, heat to medium-high. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil to the pan and brown the meat, working in batches. Break up about half of the ground beef into the pan. Do not stir, but let sit and cook for a minute or two until brown. Sprinkle a little salt over the meat while cooking. Once brown on one side, stir the meat a little to get the other sides browned. Once the meat is thoroughly browned, use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the pan and put it in with the tomatoes, onions, and peppers. Brown the second batch of ground beef the same way.

4 Using the same pan that you had used for browning the beef, saut the mushrooms in the remaining oil and beef drippings. Once browned, add the mushrooms to the beef and tomato mixture.

5 While the mushrooms are cooking, add the egg noodle pasta to the boiling water. Cook as directed, about 4-5 minutes. Strain when cooked, but still a little firm (al dente).

6 Add egg noodles, corn, chopped olives, and about two thirds of the cheese to the large pot of beef and tomato mixture. Gently mix in.

7 Transfer mixture to a large casserole dish, or to two casserole dishes if you don’t have one that is large enough. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of casserole(s). Place in the oven. Cook for 30 minutes (can go as long as an hour).

Serves 8.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 1/4 pounds well-marbled chuck beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch pieces (NOT extra-lean)
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 6 cups beef stock or canned beef broth
• I cup of Guinness beer
• 1 cup of fine red wine
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
• 3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 7 cups)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 cups 1/2-inch pieces peeled carrots
• Salt and Pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Method

1 Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Lightly salt the beef pieces. Working in batches if necessary, add the beef (do not crowd the pan, or the meat will steam and not brown) and cook, without stirring, until nicely browned on one side, then use tongs to turn the pieces over. Continue to cook in this manner until all sides are browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saut 1 minute. Add beef stock, Guinness, red wine, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

2 While the meat and stock is simmering, melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion and carrots. Saut vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Set aside until the beef stew in step one has simmered for one hour.

3 Add vegetables to beef stew. Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 40 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat. Transfer stew to serving bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with parsley and serve. (Can be prepared up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer before serving.)

Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients

• 1 pound top sirloin or chuck steaks (about 1/2 inch thick), trimmed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• Olive oil, grapeseed oil, or canola oil
• 2 medium bell peppers, one red, one green, sliced into 1/4-inch strips
• 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced lengthwise (root to top)
• A dozen cherry tomatoes, cut in half, or one large tomato, roughly chopped
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Method

1 Season the steaks with salt and pepper and rub minced garlic over them, both sides. Place the steaks between two sheets of plastic wrap. With a meat pounder, pound the steaks to a 1/4 inch thickness. Let the steaks sit for 10 minutes to absorb the flavor of the garlic. Then cut them across the grain in 1/2-inch wide strips.

2 While the steak is sitting, heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large skillet on medium high to high heat. Add the sliced onions and bell peppers, cook, stirring, until just barely tender, about 1-2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook for another minute. Remove the vegetables from the pan to a bowl and keep warm.

3 Heat an additional 2 Tbsp of oil in the skillet on medium high to high heat, until the oil is shimmering, but not smoking. Add the strips of beef let the beef brown initially, without stirring, but as soon as it is brown on at least one side, then stir. Cook for no more than a minute (for rare). Add the vegetables and Worcestershire and cook for a half minute longer, stirring. Remove from heat.

Serve alone (low carb), or with steamed rice. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 3-4 lbs oxtails, patted dry
• Salt and pepper
• 2 onions, peeled and quartered
• 2 carrots, cut into 1-inch sections
• Zest of one orange, removed in strips with a vegetable peeler
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 4 quarts water
• 1/3 cup fresh cranberries
• 10 oz mushrooms, chopped coarse
• 3 ribs celery, cut into 1-inch sections
• 4 sprigs of thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cloves
• 1 teaspoon peppercorns

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 450F. In a large roasting pan combine the oxtails, patted dry and seasoned with salt and pepper, the onions, the carrots, and the zest. Roast mixture in the middle of the oven, turning the oxtails are browned, and transfer it to a large stockpot.

2 Deglaze the roasting pan with the wine over high heat, scraping up the brown bits, and add the deglazing liquid to the stockpot with the water, cranberries, mushrooms, celery, thyme, bay leaf, cloves, and peppercorns. Bring the liquid to a boil, skimming the froth, and simmer gently, uncovered, for 3 hours.

3 Ladle the mixture through a sieve lined with a rinsed and squeezed kitchen towel into a large bowl. Reserve the oxtails for another use, such as oxtail pate. Discard the remaining solids. The bouillon can be made 3 days in advance and kept chilled. Discard excess fat (leave enough to cover soup when chilled). Bring the bouillon just to a boil and ladle it into warmed bowls.

Makes 8 cups. Serves 6 to 8.

Ingredients

• 3 to 4 lbs of a brisket cut of beef
• 3/4 cup barbeque sauce
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup of water

Method

Preheat oven to 350oF.

Mix barbeque sauce, soy sauce, and water. Spread generously over meat. Wrap the roast in aluminum foil and place on baking pan. Bake 1 hour per 1 lb of meat.

OR

Place sauce and meat in oven roasting bag. Put a teaspoon of flour in the bag. Poke a couple small holes in the bag. Cooking time may be faster with this method (or you can reduce the temperature to 325o).

Serves 8.

Ingredients

• 1 lb beef tenderloin fillet
• Salt and pepper
• Canola, grapeseed, or olive oil
• 1 lb mushrooms (we used half cremini, half shiitake)
• 4 thin slices ham (Parma ham if you can get it) or prosciutto
• 2 Tbsp yellow mustard (we used Coleman’s Original English Mustard)
• 7 ounces puff pastry (needs 3 hours to defrost in refrigerator if using frozen)
• 2 egg yolks, beaten

Method

1 Preheat oven to 400F.

2 Heat a tablespoon or two of oil in a large pan on high heat. Season the fillet generously with salt and pepper. Sear the fillet in the pan on all sides until well browned (hint: do not move the fillet until it has had a chance to brown). Remove the fillet from the pan and let cool. Once cooled, brush the fillet on all sides with mustard.

3 Chop the mushrooms put them into a food processor and pure. Heat a large saut pan on medium high heat. Scrape the mushroom pure into the pan and let cook down, allowing the mushrooms to release their moisture. When the moisture released by the mushrooms has boiled away, set aside the mushrooms to cool.

4 Roll out a large piece of plastic wrap. Lay out the slices of ham on the plastic wrap so that they overlap. Spread the mushroom mixture over the ham. Place the beef fillet in the middle, roll the mushroom and ham over the fillet, using the plastic wrap so that you do this tightly. Wrap up the beef fillet into a tight barrel shape, twisting the ends of the plastic wrap to secure. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.

5 On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry sheet to a size that will wrap around the beef fillet. Unwrap the fillet from the plastic wrap and place in the middle of the pastry dough. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten eggs. Fold the pastry around the fillet, cutting off any excess at the ends (pastry that is more than 2 layers thick will not cook all the way, try to limit the overlap). Place on a small plate, seam side down, and brush beaten egg yolks all over the top. Chill for 5-10 minutes.

6 Place the pastry-wrapped fillet on a baking pan. Brush the exposed surface again with beaten eggs. Score the top of the pastry with a sharp knife, not going all the way through the pastry. Sprinkle the top with coarse salt. Bake for 25-35 minutes. The pastry should be nicely golden when done. (To ensure that your roast is medium rare, test with an instant read meat thermometer. Pull out at 125-130F for medium rare.) Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Slice in 1-inch thick slices.

Serves 4.

Recipe adapted from this video for making Beef Wellington by Chef Gordon Ramsey.