Clayton's Organic Beef | Check it out on Potluck

Happy first day of summer! I just did a product review and recipe featuring Clayton's Organic Beef over on Potluck, ShopRite's blog. Although I cooked the steak indoors, this recipe can easily be adapted for the grill.

Hop on over to Potluck and check out the recipe. If you live in the Mid-Atlantic region, you can buy Clayton's Organic Beef at your local ShopRite.

I received Clayton's Organic Beef compliments of ShopRite. I am a contributor for their blog, Potluck. All opinions are my own and Keeley and ShopRite go way back... as in, before the days of blogging.

Beef Enchiladas

I love Tex-Mex food, or at least the Mid-Atlantic approximation of real Tex-Mex that I get around here.  Salsa, tacos, burritos, Chipotle... all of these things make me very, very happy.  I've had the pleasure of visiting the great state of Texas twice and I can assure you that the highlight of my visit was the cuisine.  While it's not always good for your waistline, Tex-Mex is really tasty and a welcome departure from the typical soups, salads, pastas and pizzas that we serve so much around this house.

I've posted and tried a few enchilada recipes, including these delicious Pork Enchiladas.  I like that you can stuff enchiladas with any meat (or even beans and veggies) and that you can go authentic and use corn tortillas or you can break all the rules and use flour tortillas.  I recently tried a great recipe from (who else?) my BFF Pioneer Woman and it came out really well.

Her recipe calls for mixing ground beef with onions and green chilies (and I can see myself trying pork or chicken, too)...

Making a red sauce from canned enchilada sauce and chicken broth (again, I'll be borrowing this technique) and thickening it with a little flour...

She adds in some chopped black olives and tops hers with sour cream.  I omitted both of these ingredients, but you can put them back in if it works for you.

I think enchiladas are a great vehicle for leftover lean meats like pulled pork, rotisserie chicken or even roast beef.

The Pioneer Woman's recipe made a ton of enchiladas (enough to serve 6 hungry adults).  I served mine with Salsa Rice and we had a really good dinner, plus leftovers.  I assure you that these enchiladas are better than many I've eaten in restaurants and they are the best that I've made at home.  The filling is flavorful and they have the perfect amount of red sauce.  I topped mine with fresh cilantro and green onions and it gave them a nice, fresh finish.  Even my onion and pepper-hating husband liked these.

These are a bit involved for a weeknight (it took me nearly an hour to get them in the oven), but the leftovers heat up well and that's one of my qualifications for a good weekday meal.

Want the original recipe?  I pretty much followed this recipe from The Pioneer Woman.

P.S.
There's still time to enter the Emile Henry Giveaway!

Pioneer Woman's Pot Roast

Before I even get started, let me state that I (generally) don't like beef.  I don't eat hamburgers and I prefer to use turkey in my meatballs instead of ground beef.  I don't even like steak.  It's just the way I am.  I can't help it.

With all that said, I really enjoyed this pot roast.  And yes, it's a beef pot roast.  Special shout out to The Pioneer Woman for putting me on to this recipe.  It was easy (although I learned that beef is more expensive than poultry or pork) and my husband thought he had forgotten our anniversary when I put this meal on the table.  (He's a meat-eater who got stuck with a white meat-loving spouse.)  It was just that good.  I've also served this pot roast for company and it went over really well.  It made at least eight servings, but I'm sure the leftovers would be delicious on sandwiches.

Four pounds of thick, marbled beef... a rare purchase for me.

It takes about 30 minutes to chop and brown the necessary ingredients, then you place the entire pot in the oven for at least four hours.  Your house will smell amazing and you can go on with your day.  I like to do this on the weekend when I have work to do and it's great knowing that my dinner is in the oven simmering away.  I didn't do this in a slow cooker (the original recipe calls for the oven, so I stuck to the recipe), but maybe you could use the slow cooker and get the same results.

Carrots and onions, ready to be browned in the pot.

Ready for a four hour excursion in my oven... the house already smelled amazing!

There's no need for me to re-print this recipe since I made it exactly as shown on The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  Red wine is optional and I used it in the recipe.  I popped open a nice Cab and then served the rest with dinner.  Also, make sure you splurge and use fresh herbs.  I really think fresh thyme and rosemary makes a difference in this one.

It felt good to branch out and try a recipe that isn't in my normal repertoire.  I also felt great to make this completely from scratch without using any processed ingredients.  If you have 30 minutes of hands-on time, plus a few hours at home, you can make this pot roast.

Want the recipe?  Get it here.

Serve with mashed potatoes and the vegetables... all is right in the world.

Chunky Chili

I have a confession:  Until recently I never successfully made chili from scratch.  I tried, but I never got the balance of spices and the consistency right, so I relied on (gasp!) pre-packaged seasoning mixes.  

I had a taste for chili this past Sunday, but I wasn't in the mood to go back to the grocery store for a box of pre-packaged chili seasonings, so I decided to make up my own recipe.  The funny thing is that this recipe isn't even that complicated, unusual, or elaborate, but it tastes great and it convinced me that I won't be needing my chili training wheels anymore.

Several of the ingredients for this recipe were sitting in cans in my pantry:  black beans, small red beans, Ro-Tel, and tomato sauce.  Before I go any further, I acknowledge that some people think that chili with beans is just wrong.  I respect that opinion, but my family loves beans and I beans are healthy and low-fat, so I added tons of beans.  I also went to town on the veggies by adding bell peppers, onions and Ro-Tel (a canned mixture of tomatoes and green chiles that I can't believe I didn't know about until adulthood).

I opted for a mixture of ground turkey and ground beef because I don't really like beef and I knew I could get the beefy taste that most people want with a blend of ground meats simmered in beef stock.  The result?  This is some good chili! My only complaint is that it could be spicier, but you could remedy that by adding a chopped jalapeno or adding a bit more cayenne pepper.  A word of caution:  this recipe has enough salty ingredients that I opted not to add any salt.  I suggest you prepare the recipe as stated and then add salt to taste, if necessary.

I made a big pot (8-10 servings) on Sunday afternoon, let it simmer until dinnertime, and I plan to enjoy the leftovers for lunch at work.  I've also successfully frozen chili in the past, so that's an option, too.  I like my chili with tortilla chips or grilled cheese or on nachos.  How do you like your chili?  Are you a beans or no beans person?  Is there a food that you love to eat, but haven't mastered?

Chunky Chili
a Keeley original
8-10 servings


1 large onion, diced
1 fresh bell pepper (I used red, green would work, too), diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground turkey
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
3 Tablespoons chili powder
1 Tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 14-ounce can Ro-Tel (original flavor)
1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can small red or kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
2 cups low-sodium beef stock
2 Tablespoons corn flour (Masa, look for it in the Hispanic/Latino aisle) dissolved in 1/3 cup warm water

Add a few tablespoons of vegetable oil to a large pot or Dutch oven.  Heat to medium and saute onions and peppers for 3-5 minutes, or until softened.  Add in garlic and saute for another minute, stirring constantly.

Add ground turkey and ground beef and increase heat to medium high.  Cook, stirring frequently to break up the meat, for 8-10 minutes or until meat is cooked through.  Drain any excess liquid or fat from the pot.

Add cumin, chili powder, oregano, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and cinnamon to the meat.  Stir to combine.

Add tomato sauce, beef broth, beans, and Ro-Tel to the pot.  Stir to combine.

Pour masa mixture into the pot and stir to combine.

Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 90 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Taste for seasonings and serve hot or refrigerate and reheat later.

Super Bowl Meatballs

This is a true diet-busting weekend.  It's Super Bowl Sunday and the Mid Atlantic was just hit by a huge snowstorm/blizzard.  We've been confined to our home for the past 36 hours (it was wonderful) and we woke up this morning to sunny skies, cold weather, and over two feet of snow.  We spent yesterday eating pizza, watching movies, and sleeping for hours.  It's absolutely wonderful.

Although our team isn't in the Super Bowl, we'll take any excuse to eat chicken wings and potato chips, so we're planning a special menu for this evening.  We're headed to my mom's house.  She made up a batch of sangria and I'm bringing homemade meatballs and potato skins.  We'll also be picking up some wings from a local restaurant and spending several hours laying on the couch with our dogs and not sticking to our healthy diets.  Good times!  (Oh, and we'll be back in the gym tomorrow).

My mom and I have been making these meatballs for at least 15 years.  When we first moved to Delaware from New Jersey, my mom ran into a restaurant chef who gave her his secret ingredients for great meatballs:  Stove Top Stuffing mix and grape jelly.  I know it sounds crazy and not authentic Italian, but then again, I'm not Italian (although I've had some really delicious Italian food and I watch Giada deLaurentis on the Food Network, but I digress). 

To make a long story short, his recipe morphed into my version that I use today.  It's really easy and you could use ground turkey, pork, beef (or a combination).  I almost always use beef.  We serve these meatballs with marinara sauce on hoagie rolls as meatball subs or with spaghetti.  They freeze really well and make a great weeknight dinner.  I've carried a Crock Pot full of these meatballs to work for several occasions and everyone seems to like them.  We nearly had a riot at our home when we ran out of these meatballs at our 2008 Christmas Party.

First you dump all the ingredients in a large bowl:  ground beef, an egg, bread crumbs, seasonings, Parmesan cheese, and grape jelly.  I know the grape jelly sounds insane and I would never eat it on its own, but it's good in this recipe, trust me.

Then you mix it all up with your (very clean) hands.  It'll be cold and mushy, but the best way to get it all together is to squeeze and knead it well with your hands.

Next, you use your hands to form the meat into golf ball sized meatballs.  Place the meatballs on a baking sheet (lined with foil and sprayed with non stick spray, just in case there's not enough fat in that meat!).

Bake them for about 20 minutes, let them cool a bit.  Then, enjoy them with pasta, or on a sandwich, or straight up off the baking sheet.

Remember, these freeze well and they travel well in a Crock Pot, too.  I don't normally eat beef, but I like these meatballs.  My family enjoys these and I believe you will, too.

Meatballs
a family recipe

3 pounds ground beef (you can also try turkey, pork, veal, or a combination)
1 cup bread crumbs (I use Italian style) 
2/3 cup grape jelly
1 egg
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons seasoned salt (I use Lawry's, you could just use salt)
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Use your hands to mix all ingredients in a large bowl.  Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick spray.  Create golf ball-sized meatballs.  Place them close together (but not touching) on the baking sheet.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until meatballs are evenly browned.  Remove meatballs from baking sheet and transfer to a plate to cool.

Serve with marinara sauce and pasta or as meatball subs.  Enjoy!