The Dackel Princess

A quick and easy dinner that everyone will love.

MEAT MIXTURE
1 pound Lean Ground Beef
1 tsp butter
1/2 small onion diced
1/2 cup Seasoned Breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons Dry Mustard
1 cube Beef Bouillon, Crumbed (or Powdered Beef Base)
4 dashes Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tablespoon Ketchup
Salt And Pepper
Gravy
1 whole Onion, halved or quartered and thinly sliced
2 cups Beef Broth
4 dashes Worcestershire (additional)
1 Tablespoon Ketchup (additional)
1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet (optional)
1 teaspoon Corn Starch Mixed With A Little Beef Broth To Make A Thin Paste
Salt And Pepper, to taste
More Broth If Needed For Thinning
Mashed Potatoes, For Serving
Buttered Peas, For Serving
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, For Frying
1 Tablespoon Butter, For Frying

Preparation Instructions:

Cook onion in 1 tsp butter until soft and translucent. Cool.
Combine all the ingredients for the meat mixture and knead until all combined. Form into 4 to 6 oval patties, then make lines across the patties to give them a “steak” appearance.

Fry in a skillet with oil and butter over medium-high heat on both sides until no longer pink in the middle. Remove from the pan and pour off excess grease.

Reduce the heat to medium and add in the sliced onions. Stir and cook for several minutes, or until golden brown and somewhat soft. Add the beef stock, Worcestershire, and ketchup. Stir and cook to reduce.

OPTIONAL: Add Kitchen Bouquet, which will give the gravy a deeper color and a bit more flavor.

OPTIONAL: Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of the cornstarch/broth mixture to give the gravy a little gloss and to thicken it up a bit without lightening it (as flour would.)

Return the steaks to the gravy. Spoon gravy over the top and let them simmer and heat back up for a couple of minutes.

Serve with mashed potatoes and peas!

Last night I decided to redeem myself after Sunday’s french fry and onion ring disaster. I had a wonderful pork roast and wanted to try something new. Hubby loved it, and so did I!  Here is what I did.

Roast Pork

Ingredients

• 3 lbs pork loin roast,

• 1/3 cup honey

• 1/3 cup Dijon mustard

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary & thyme

• 1 cup water, divided

• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place pork roast in a shallow metal pan.
3. Combine honey and Dijon mustard. (I also added the spices to this and poured it all over the pork)
4. Coat top and sides of roast with this mixture.
5. Sprinkle garlic powder and rosemary over entire coated surface.
6. Roast meat for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.
7. Remove from oven and add 1/3 cup water to the bottom of the pan.
8. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and roast meat for 35 minutes per pound or until meat thermometer reaches 175 degrees.
9. Check roast occasionally and add a little more water to pan to keep honey drippings from scorching.
10. When meat is done, remove from oven and place on carving board.
11. Scrape pan and enjoy the juices, by pouring over meat slices.
12. I served this with tiny pearl onions, baked potatoes and asparagus.

Hearty Beef Stew

This hearty beef stew tastes better if refrigerated overnight, making it the perfect make-ahead meal (overnight can be expanded to several days too!).
Ingredients:

• 2 pounds top round or chuck steak with all fat and gristle removed, cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 cup flour 2 teaspoons salt
• black pepper
• 1 medium onion chopped fine
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped green or red pepper
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cloves garlic, mashed
• 1 bay leaf, crumbled
• 1/2 pound mushrooms sliced in thick pieces
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 8 – 10 pearl onions
• 1/2 cup petite peas
• 1/2 pound carrots cut into chunks
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1 glass red wine
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
• thyme and parsley
• Add 1-2 diced potatoes (I had leftovers)

Instructions:

• Dredge the meat in the flour mixed with the salt and several big grinds of pepper, coating it on all sides and using up all of the flour.
• Melt 6 tablespoons butter in a large Dutch Oven and brown the pieces of meat in the butter over a brisk heat.
• Turn the meat to brown on all sides and scrape the pan from time to time to prevent the flour from sticking. This will take 10 or 15 minutes.
• Toward the end of the time add the mashed garlic and bay leaf to the Dutch Oven.
• Then add diced onion, celery, peppers to pot. When the meat is browned, start to add other ingredients to your cast iron pot, with a tight-fitting lid.
• Cook the mushrooms in the skillet in the remaining butter and add to the Dutch Oven.
• Stir wine into the Dutch Oven with the tomato paste.
• Meantime, clean the pearl onions, and carrots and add to pot.
• Pour in about 2 cups chicken broth. Simmer slowly.
• Sprinkle the dish with dried (or fresh) thyme.
• Simmer gently for an hour. Add the potatoes and peas, wait for 15 minutes.
• Taste the stew for seasoning, arrange it so that an attractive array of vegetables is on top. Garnish with parsley or any other green herb. Cover it.
• Fifteen or 20 minutes before you are ready to serve the stew, turn the heat on and reheat it slowly.
• Take it to the table and remove the cover there, so that its aroma will be enjoyed by all.
• A bowl of rice makes a nice accompaniment.