Braised Short Rib Macaroni and Cheese

I've said it before and I'll say it again - mac and cheese is by far one of my all time favourite meals. It's easy to throw together, and you can make so many different variations. I was feeling pretty exhausted tonight and almost just made a box of KD for dinner. However, I am also in supreme procrastination mode, so decided to whip up a new variation. I have to say I think this might be the best macaroni and cheese I have ever made! I think it was the combination of the different cheeses and the braised short ribs. You can really use whatever cheese you want, you just need about 2 3/4 cups of it. Whatever it was - loved it!

Sunday Night Dinner - Three Bean and Beef Chili

Chili is such a versatile dish. After making it a few times you can start to play with what you include. It's also a great dish to make using what's left in the fridge from the week. Tonight after a very long day working on an accounting assignment I was really tempted to forego making dinner and order a pizza, but decided to throw together a quick chili. Very glad I did because now we also have lunch for tomorrow!

Make Ahead Meal - Cottage Pie

When I'm stressed and worrying about the work week ahead I will sometimes spend some extra time in the kitchen. Usually this involves prepping meals and veggies, but sometimes results in some extra baking for us to enjoy. Tonight I put on some Frank Sinatra, opened a bottle of red wine, and decided to make some Cottage Pie. Sometimes known as Shepherd's Pie, I use the name Cottage Pie because true Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb. While I probably could have used the time doing some prep work or drafting one of the four assignments due next week, at least we have some good meals in the freezer. I doubled the recipe so I have two Cottage Pie's ready to go.

Mushroom Beef Bundles

For those of you in Ontario, I do hope that you try and pick up the LCBO Food & Drink magazine when it comes out. When I first moved to BC I missed it dearly, until my mom got me a subscription. I had no idea, but at the time, if you lived outside of Ontario, you could get the Food & Drink delivered to your door! And what a fantastic magazine - great articles, fantastic recipes, and lots of entertaining tips and ideas. I just checked, and now they have opened up the subscriptions to anyone in Canada or even Internationally - click here for more info. They also have a lot of their recipes available online at http://www.lcbo.com/fooddrink/.

A few years ago Brent made a recipe from the Autumn 2009 edition, and it turned out great. So when we were having some friends over for a simple Saturday night dinner and games night, I decided to try my hand at the recipe. They were fantastic and this is a recipe you could really play around with. Next time I might do a chicken pot pie variation.

Slow Cooker Beef Ragu

I have a feeling the slow cooker is going to become my best friend when I go back to work in a couple of months. That and freezer meals will hopefully help get me through the first couple of months of juggling work, school and a baby. This recipe will definitely come in handy, especially because you don't have to sear the meat or anything before throwing everything in the slow cooker. And apparently it freezes well, let's hope so because I froze the leftovers for another meal sometime.

Vegetable Beef Noodle Soup

I love making a menu plan for the upcoming week, and find that the pros definitely outweigh the cons with this task. I make a grocery list and know each day what needs to be prepped, as well as being confident that I usually have everything I need for the recipe. The main con is not knowing in advance what you might feel like on a specific night, or whether your dish is going to match other circumstances. In particular, it was a beautiful sunny day today, not necessarily a day I would be looking at having a hot bowl of hearty soup. But still, the soup was fantastic, and regardless of the weather outside was thoroughly enjoyed. Because this soup has noodles, if you are going to reheat it you may need to add some more water. Also, I found after the soup had simmered for 2 hours it had lost quite a bit of liquid. I ended up adding 2 cups of water at the end, and it really didn't lose any of the flavour. 

Vegetable Beef Noodle Soup

- 450 g stewing beef cubes

- 1/2 tsp pepper

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1 tbsp vegetable oil

- 3 carrots, chopped

- 2 ribs celery, chopped

- 1 onion, chopped

- 3 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 pkg (1 L) low-sodium or homemade beef broth

- 2 tbsp tomato paste

- 1 tsp herbes de Provence

- 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar

- 1 cup large curly egg noodles

- 1/2 cup frozen peas

- 3 cups baby spinach

Sprinkle beef with pepper and salt. In Dutch oven heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook beef, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 6 minutes. Add carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened, another 6 minutes. 

Stir in broth, 3 cups of water, tomato paste, herbes de Provence and vinegar. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, partially cover and simmer until beef is tender, about 2 hours. Stir maybe every 20-30 minutes. 

Stir in noodles and peas; cook over medium heat until noodles are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in spinach. 

Sunday Night Dinner - Retro Style

For dinner tonight I decided to go old school and make meatloaf. We didn't have meatloaf a lot growing up, to be honest I can't remember having it at home ever. This recipe is nice because it makes about 4 servings, which is perfect because meatloaf isn't something I could eat every day, although I'm sure Brent would be happy with more leftovers!

Beef and Mushroom Stew

There's something so great about a nice hearty stew on a crisp fall day. For some reason this recipe didn't call for any red wine, which really had me confused. Not to worry, I found a way to incorporate it into the recipe. On that note, when cooking with wine, the old saying 'that wine is only good for cooking' is really bad advice. You want to cook with wine that you like to drink, because the flavour of the wine is what sticks around after the alcohol is cooked off. I would go one step further and suggest that you plan to serve the same wine from your recipe with the meal. Just make sure you have enough for the recipe, prep and dinner!

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Slow cookers are fabulous inventions. Even though some recipes do take a bit of prep time (chopping, searing, seasoning), there is something so satisfying about getting dinner ready hours in advance, with nothing to do but wait for the timer to go off.

Like many people, our slow cooker does not get a lot of use in the summer months. However, once the winter hits, I find myself taking it out almost weekly. It's a great way to make a big batch of something to feed you for a few days. Especially those days where it's dark when you leave your house in the morning and dark when you leave the office. I find sometimes I just don't want to come home and prepare dinner, and then worry about packing lunches. Those days I just want to curl up with a book, or watch a movie. Preparing a few days worth of dinners/lunches with a slow cooker gives me that opportunity, without feeling any guilt!

The other great thing with slow cookers are the recipes! You can find a recipe to cook almost anything in a slow cooker. Plus, you can really play around a lot with the ingredients and flavours. This beef stew was simple, but oh so good.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew (adapted from Canadian Living)

- 2 lb stewing beef cubes

- 2 tbsp vegetable oil

- 2 onions, chopped

- 2 tbsp chili powder

- 1 tsp each salt and pepper

- 4 each large carrots and stalks celery, cut in 1 inch chunks

- 1 tbsp each cider vinegar and liquid honey

- 1 3/4 cups beef broth

- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

- 1 1/2 cups each frozen corn and frozen peas

In large skillet, heat half of the oil over medium-high heat; brown beef in batches and transfer to slow cooker.

Drain fat from pan and add remaining oil. Fry onions, chili powder, salt and pepper over medium heat, stirring occasionally until onion is softened, about 4 minutes. Scrape into slow cooker. Add carrots, celery, vinegar and honey.

Add 1 cup of the broth to skillet; bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from bottom of skillet. Scrape into slow cooker with remaining broth. Stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low until beef is tender, about 6 - 8 hours. Skim off any fat. Move beef and vegetables to 1 side of slow cooker.

In small bowl, whisk flour with 1/2 cup water; whisk into liquid in slow cooker and stir to redistribute ingredients. Cover and cook on high about 15 minutes, until thickened. Add corn and peas and cook until steaming hot.

Best enjoyed with some fresh bread and a glass of wine. We discovered a little bakery near our place and bought a nice thick loaf that was perfect for sopping up all the good bits at the bottom of your bowl. Enjoy!

Sunday Night Dinner - Boeuf Bourguignon

That's really just a fancy name for Beef Stew with red wine. But that's just too easy to say right? I've been wanting to try Boeuf Bourguignon for quite a while, but I never had the right pot. So along came my birthday and Brent got me a beautiful Le Creuset dutch oven. I was so excited I decided to make Boeuf Bourguignon the next day. I went through a few of my cookbooks and online and then settled on a mix of Julia Child and Ina Garten. In the Barefoot Contessa's recipe, it calles for 1 pound frozen small whole onions. Now I just couldn't find those, and I'd looked in a few grocery stores, including the fancy pants Yaletown Urban Fare. So I decided to prep my own pearl onions. It does take some time, but these were really good. You can either do this first or while the stew is cooking.

Pearl onions for Boeuf Bourguignon
I used 24 pearl onions. First you blanche them in boiling water for 1 minute. Drain and rinse in cold water. Slice the tips off onions, peel and score the root end with 1/4 inch cuts. Sautee onions in a single layer in a tbsp or two of butter until lightly browned. Add stock or water halfway up sides of onions, add a dash of sugar and some salt and pepper. Cover and simmer slowly for 25 minutes or until tender. If there is liquid remaining, drain and then set onions aside.

Boeuf Bourguignon (adapted from Barefoot in Paris)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 8 ounces bacon, diced
- 2 1/2 lbs beef, cut into 1-inch cubes (the stuff I got was top sirloin cut into stewing beef)
- 1 lb carrots, sliced diagonally into 1-inch pieces
- 2 yellow onions, sliced
-2 cloves chopped garlic
- 1 (750ml) bottle good dry wine
- 2 cups beef broth (approximately)
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 4 tbsps unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
- 3 tbsps flour
- 24 pearl onions, prepared (or 1 lb frozen)
- 1 lb mushrooms, stems discarded, caps thickly sliced

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Heat olive oil in large Dutch oven. Add bacon and cook over medium heat until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Remove to a large plate with a slotted spoon.


Dry the beef cubes with paper towels and sprinkle with salt and pepper. In batches and in single layers, sear the beef all over for 3-5 minutes. Remove seared beef to plate with bacon.

Toss carrots, onions, salt and pepper into the pan and cook over medium heat until onions are lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with any juices that have collected. Add the wine plus enough beef broth to almost cover the beef. Add tomato paste and thyme. Bring to boil, cover pot and place in oven for 1 1/4 hours, or until meat and vegetables are very tender. Remove from oven and place on top of stove.

Combine 2 tbsps of butter and the flour with a fork and stir into the stew. Add the prepared onions. In a medium pan saute mushrooms in remaining 2 tbsps butter over medium heat about 10 minutes. Add to stew and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

I served mine over mashed potatoes with bread on the side. So good!!!

Orange Beef with Cilantro Rice

This recipe was really easy to make and great for last minute entertaining.

Orange Beef
- finely grated peel of 1 orange
- juice of 2 oranges
- 1 tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1 pound stir fry steak ( or skirt steak, thinly sliced on the diagonal)
- 1 bunch scallions, white parts finely chopped, green parts cut into inch long pieces
- 1 tbsp brown sugar

Cilantro Rice
- long grain white rice
- fresh cilantro

Stir together orange peel, juice, olive oil, tamari and vinegar. Add steak and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook rice according to directions, on stove top or in rice cooker.

Heat 1 tbsp oil over high in large skillet. Using tongs, transfer beef to skillet. Cook, lightly tossing, for 5-7 minutes. Transfer meat to a plate.

Add scallions and cook over medium heat until wilted. Transfer to beef. Pour remaining marinade into skillet and bring to a boil, lower heat and reduce sauce. Whisk in sugar, return steak to skillet. Stir in cornstarch 1 tsp at a time if you're sauce isn't thickening.

Stir cilantro into rice and serve beef and rice together.

Sunday Night Dinner - Beef Tenderloin

I love the summer, and making dinner almost entirely from the market. It is something that makes me so happy!

After picking up a bounty of fresh fruit and vegetables from the West End Farmers Market yesterday, I wanted to make something simple for dinner to go along with it. So today I biked over to Granville Island and bought a couple of beef tenderloin steaks. Yes, they are a bit of a treat, but these steaks were so good, and there was enough for us to have sandwiches for lunch tomorrow.

Making the steaks is very simple, all I do is bring them to room temperature and sprinkle with either steak spice, or simply salt and pepper.

In a cast iron pan, melt a tbsp of butter, add some olive oil and heat. Sear steaks on all sides ~ 2-4 minutes a side ~ and then place pan in 350 oven and cook for about 10 -15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the steak and how you like it. Remove from oven, place steaks on cutting board and tent with foil.


Meanwhile, put cast iron pan on element on medium, add sliced mushrooms and onions, cooking slowly. Add a splash of wine and continue to cook, about 5 minutes. Serve over steak.


I served dinner with fresh potatoes, corn on the cob, and salad with a quick pomegranate juice, honey, olive oil, dijon mustard and vinegar dressing.