Oxtail Stew

 

 

So this recipe came about because I had a few random leftovers from a cow that we had butchered last fall. I saw "OXTAIL" on the wrapper and was like, what?! What am I supposed to do with that? I was determined to cook it, somehow, someway. So, I scoured various recipe sites and saw that Oxtail is used in a lot of Asian cooking, Caribbean cooking and Italian cooking. Well, Italian cooking speaks my love language, so I started looking at the Italian recipes. I decided I wanted to cook it slow and didn't really want to have to mess with it, and this is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did, because it turned out simply amazing.

Ingredients:

2-3 lbs of oxtail chunks (If it doesn't come already chunked or segmented, ask your butcher to do it for you. You really want the marrow to be visible)

1 lb baby carrots (I get these because I really don't like chopping carrots)

6-8 golden potatoes

2 cans of diced tomatoes (regular size)

Italian seasoning

Kosher Salt

Ground Black Pepper

Red Wine

My kiddos don't like onions, but I think pearl onions would be fantastic in this.



I did this in my crock pot; which is 5.5 quarts. First put down a layer with your carrots covering the bottom. Then chop your potatoes into good size chunks and place those on top of your carrots. Then a layer of the diced tomatoes with the juices. Place the oxtail on top of this. Do a healthy sprinkling of salt and pepper and the Italian seasoning. I think people are afraid of seasoning and beef really responds best to a good sprinkling. Around your beef, pour enough of your red wine to not quite cover your carrot layer. I saw people suggesting a burgundy wine with this, but I really just think any good table red would work. I put mine in the crockpot on low for 3 hours and then thought it might take too long on low, so I bumped it up to high and cooked it for five hours like that and it was perfect. I think if you cooked it on high for 6 hours that would be a good place to start. Maybe start it on low if you're going to put it on early in the morning.

Swiss Steak

Ingredients

• 2 pounds round steak or cube steak
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Season the steaks with salt and pepper.

Place the flour into a pie plate or shallow dish. Dust the pieces of meat on both sides in the flour mixture.  Cover the meat with plastic wrap and pound out the steaks until they are thinner pieces.  Then dredge the pounded slices through the flour on both sides once more and set aside.

Add enough of the oil to just cover the bottom of a 4 to 5-quart Dutch oven(If you don't have a Dutch over, just use your largest skillet) set over medium-high heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the steaks to the pan, being careful not to overcrowd. Cook until golden brown on both sides, approximately 2 minutes per side. Remove the steaks to a plate and repeat until all of the steaks have been browned.

Remove the last steaks from the pot and add the onions and garlic. Saute for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the tomato paste and stir to combine. Next add the tomatoes, paprika, oregano, Worcestershire sauce and beef broth and stir to combine.

Return the meat to the pot, submerging it in the liquid. Cover the pot and place it in the oven on the middle rack. Cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until the meat is tender and falling apart.

We served this over mashed potatoes and it was super yummy. Recipe altered from an Alton Brown recipe.

Zucchini Chips

 

Zucchini Chips:

All you do is cut the zucchini in 1/4 inch slices. Dip it in some sort of oil and then in a mix of breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Place on a foil or parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 25 minutes at 400°. On one sheet I sprinkled Colby jack cheese on top... but I can't tell you which one was my favorite. They were both good!!! now you know what to do with all that zucchini that you keep pulling out of the garden;)

Strawberry Pie

This is a fantastic fresh strawberry pie recipe that was given to me by my dear friend Joanna Lowe summer 2011. I've been thinking about making it again this summer.

 

4 oz of cream cheese

1.5 cups powdered sugar

1/2 tub cool whip (plus more for topping)

4 oz box strawberry jello

1 box instant vanilla pudding

1.5 cups water

2+ cups strawberries

graham cracker pie shell

 

 Mix cheese powdered sugar together. Fold in cool whip and put in pie shell. Mix Jello and pudding together, add water and cook. Cool Jello and pudding mixture for about 5-10 minutes and add strawberries Pour into pie shell when cool. Top with more cool whip if desired. Chill.

Best Lemonade I have EVER made!!!

Made this recipe this morning... but changed it up a little. I juiced 4 lemons. Added 1/2 cup truvia to the lemon juice and mixed this together with 2 qt of cold water. Pretty good... definitely better than Kool - aid and almost as good as chick-fil-a:)

5 Cup Fruit Salad

Since I was a little girl I remember my mom making this dish... and one of the things I loved about it was even though it is filled with dessert type things we could eat it as a side dish:) One little girl wouldn't like that!!! I now let our children enjoy it right along side their Thanksgiving turkey or Easter ham... it is a FAVORITE!!!

5 Cup Fruit Salad

2 pkg. Dream Whip (made according to box)
2 cans pineapple chunks
2 cans mandarin oranges
1 jar cherries
bag of marshmallows

Mix together. Refrigerate for a couple of hours and enjoy!!!

***You can also add walnuts if you want but we leave those out because of sensitivities to nuts:)

Oreo Cookie Dessert

 

 

 

 

This is a dessert that my sister in law, Tamara Greenwood, has been bringing to family functions for a while now. It is super yummy and creamy. It is a recipe that has been in her family for a long time. I like the how recipes get grafted into other family recipe collections; through marriage, friendship and great dinners together. :)

 

 

1 pkg. oreos (leave 1 out for crumbling on top) Use half of pkg. for first layer and other half for second layer

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese softened

1 stick margarine softened

1 small box instant vanilla pudding

2 cups milk

½ cup powdered sugar

12 oz. cool whip

 

(Best if made the day/night before)

Allow cream cheese and margarine to soften and then mix.  Mix pudding with cream cheese/margarine mix, milk and powdered sugar for 2 minutes with electric mixer.  Stir in cool whip.  Make 1 layer of cookies, pour half of mixture over 1^st cookie layer, put another layer of cookies and pour rest of mixture over, crumble 1 cookie crust (take out cream and eat it!) on top.