Beef Curry Pies - Hand Pies

 
Cold weather finally!  Easy comfort food is on the menu.  I don't know about you but the easiest organic meat to find is ground beef yet, recipes for ground meat seem to be chili, hamburger, meatballs - not again my kids scream! Although, their favorite dish is my sweet and sour meatballs . 
Epicurious to the rescue with this hand pies.  These would be great for a Super Bowl Party too.
FYI Costco has the best price on organic ground beef.

I cut potatoes too big.

Cupcake pans make it easy.

Choice - make more pies or make a covered top?  I choose more pies so I cut excesses into strips. 

Hand full of fun and tasty



Beef and Curry Pie 

from Epicurious

Adapted

3/4 pound organic ground beef

2 tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

½ teaspoon garlic

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)
1 tablespoon curry powder (preferably Madras)
1 large organic russet (baking) potato, ¼ inch pieces (1 cup)
10 tablespoons water
¼ cup frozen peas, thawed
2 (17 ¼ ounce) packages frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
 

1. Mix together beef, soy sauce, sugar, salt, pepper and garlic with your hands until combined well
2. Heat oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat, then add beef and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up beef into small pieces, until just browned, about 4 minutes
3. Drain beef in a colander set over a bowl (reserve skillet) and return beef drippings to uncleaned skillet
4. Heat drippings over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Add curry powder and potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are translucent, 3 to 5 minutes more
6. Add water and cook, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet, until liquid is absorbed and potatoes are tender, about 1 minute
7. Return beef to skillet and stir in peas, then cool filling, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes
8. Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 400°F
9. Roll out one sheet of dough into a 12-inch square on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin and cut out 4 (5-inch) rounds with cutter.
10.  Spray cupcake pan with light oil
11.  Place round of pastry in each cupcake cup
12.  Mound filling onto each
13.  Cut excessive pasty and cover tops
14.  Bake until pies are deep golden brown and puffed, 25 to 30 minutes
15.  Cool pies to warm, about 10 minutes, or room temperature

Notes:
Reheat on a baking sheet in middle of a 350°F oven until filling is hot, about 15 minutes.

Original Recipe Beef and Curry Pie

 

Korean Sizzling Beef

Obsessed, I have been obsessed.  Like millions of others who learned of the huge price drop on the HP Touchpad.  I want one! I am hoping to have one in my hot little hands soon.  A great affordable option to keep me busy while waiting at a bevy of kid activities.  I am tired of drooling at those around me with an IPad., so cool yet so expensive.  In our house we laugh and refer to Lord of the Rings – precious…my precious because someone is always obsessed with something.

Well back to the food because we love good food and this recipe is so wonderful I made it twice already.

 A cast iron griddle an indispensable kitchen gadget - just look at those grill marks on the beef -beautiful!  Our garden fresh chives pictured above.

Korean Sizzling Beef

from Marcia Kiesel

Food and Wine

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons dry white wine

2 large garlic cloves, very finely chopped

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper

One 2 1/2-pound beef flank steak, cut across the grain into twenty 1/4-inch-thick slices

16 scallions

Vegetable oil, for rubbing

Salt

Steamed rice, for serving

~ in a large, shallow dish, combine the soy sauce with the sugar, white wine, chopped garlic, toasted sesame oil and crushed red pepper, stirring to dissolve the sugar

~  add the sliced flank steak and coat thoroughly in the marinade

~ cover and refrigerate the steak for at least 4 hours or overnight

~ light a grill or heat a griddle

~ rub the scallions all over with vegetable oil and grill them over high heat, turning once, until the scallions are just softened, about 2 minutes

~ season with salt

~ working in batches, grill the steak over high heat until the slices are richly browned and medium-rare, about 30 seconds per side

~ transfer the steak to a serving platter and serve with the grilled scallions and steamed rice

 from our garden: chives

Barley Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Jacques Pepin recipes equals great food - one problem sometimes a plethora dirty pots and pans.  This recipe is no exception.  Pots and pans and I added the pressure cooker too.  I of course started the recipe without realizing once everything was ready and put together baking time was 1 hour and 20 minutes.  Nine pm dinner not a good idea, whereas pressure cooker time of 6 minutes high pressure and then slow release of 7 minutes, great idea. 

Fabulous and the barley was a delightful surprise.  Even the onion hater liked it and the next day it was better then the first.

Barley-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

from Jacques Pepin

Jacques Pepin's Table

adapted

1/2 cup pearl barley
9 1/2 cup water
1 head of cabbage
1 1/2T olive oil
6 garlic cloves minced
3T cider vinegar
1 pound lean organic ground beef
1/2t fresh ground pepper
1/2 t dried dill
1/2t caraway seeds
4 sprigs of thyme

Cider-Tomato Sauce
1 cup organic tomato sauce
2 1/2 cups organic chicken stock
1T brown sugar
1T cider vinegar

~ place barley in 1 1/2 cup water
~ bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover 30 minutes until tender
~ drain excess water
~ core cabbage and reserve core
~ bring 8 cups of water to a gentle boil
~ place cabbage into water and bring back to boil 6 to 8 minutes
~ carefully remove leaves one by one and place in strainer
~ heat oil in skillet medium high heat
~ when oil is hot add onion stirring occasionally 2 minutes
~ cut core and some of the smaller leaves into 1/2 inch pieces
~ add garlic to onions
~ stir and immediately add the cabbage pieces and vinegar
~ cook over medium heat 8 - 10 minutes or until cabbage is wilted
~ cool mixture in large bowl
~ once the mixture has cooled add barley, meat, dill and caraway and mix together
~ combined all sauce ingredients in pressure cooker pot and heat medium until blended and add thyme sprigs
~ lay cabbage leaves out
~ roll meat into meatballs and roll into cabbage leaves
~ place cabbage rolls into sauce
~ close lid and bring to high pressure 6 minutes and allow slow release 7 minutes

Where's the BEEF...in the Taco...Beef Taco's

Watching Survivor, I finally some time to breath and catch up, yeah!  No Tivo, so as the commercials roll I fondly recalled the classic Burger King commercials with the elderly lady demanding, "Where's the beef!".  We thought it was so funny but McDonald's golden arches and most wonderful french fries collected our coins.

American Test Kitchen beef taco recipe wonderful and versatile.  If you are not a red meat eater, try white meat ground turkey; my preference.

Beef Taco

from American Test Kitchen - Cook's Illustrated

Family Cookbook

adapted

1t safflower oil
3/4 sweet onion minced
3 garlic cloves minced
2T chili poser
1t cumin
1t coriander
1/2t fresh oregano minced
salt to taste
1 pound 90% lean ground beef or white meat ground turkey
1/2 cup smooth canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
3/4t cider vinegar
1t light brown sugar
flour or corn tortillas
lettuce
tomatoes
radishes
corn
beans
rice

~ heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat
~ add onions and cook until softened about 5 minutes
~ stir in garlic, spices and 1t salt and cook 30 seconds
~ stir in the ground beef and cook breaking it up with a wooden spoon unto no longer pink about 5 minutes
~ stir in tomato sauce, broth, vinegar and sugar and simmer until thickened about 10 minutes
~ season with salt to taste
~ serve with tortillas and all the rest  

from our garden- radishes, two types of lettuce and arugula

Pan-Seared Hamburgers

Burgers are delicious.  Great burgers are hard to find.   The best are cooked over an open fire, but what do you do when you don't want to go through the rigmarole?  Why use a great cast iron skillet or stove top grill.

burgers are dimpled in the middle

nice glaze from cast iron

Pan-Seared Hamburgers

from The Editor's of American Test Kitchen // American Test Kitchen

The Best New Recipes

1 1/2 pound 80% organic lean ground beef
1t salt
1/2t  freshly ground pepper
buns, onions, lettuce, tomato.........

~ break up the meat and sprinkle with salt and pepper
~ toss lightly with you hands to distribute seasonings
~ divide the meat into the amount of burgers you want to make
~ with cupped hands toss the portion back and forth to form loose ball
~ pat lightly to flatten 3/4 inch thick
~ press center of patty down with your fingertips until about 1/2 inch thick divot in the center is created
~ heat cast iron skillet / grill medium high heat
~ cook burgers turning only once to desired doneness
~ 3 minutes per side rare
~ 3 1/2 minutes medium rare
~ 4 minutes medium
~ 5 minutes well done