Beef – Page 5 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Pressed Reuben Sandwiches

What to do with still the remaining homemade corned beef in the fridge? Reuben sandwiches, of course! They were actually the reason why I made my own corned beef in the first place because I’ve been curious about how they are made ever since I tasted a really good version from Gettin’ Hungry, themorning deli on Hudson Street with the giant wooden lion inside. The origin of the Reuben sandwich is still being disputed, but it is essentially a grilled sandwich made with corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and Russian dressing on rye bread.

I also don’t eat a lot of sandwiches besides the Vietnamese kind, but when I make them at home, I like them to be elaborate. But there are two things I don’t stock in the kitchen: ketchup and mayonnaise. It was snowing outside, but I made the trip to the grocery store anyway to pick them up. In the same aisle, I discovered horseradish cream sauce from Kraft. It looked like mayonnaise, but I guessed correctly, a touch of dried horseradish was included in the mix. Reuben sandwiches require a Russian dressing that looks like Thousand Island, but I figure, I can get away with this ready-made type especially after already spending five hours making my own corned beef the other day.

Combine the following to make Russian dressing if you don’t want to use ready-made horseradish cream sauce:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 tbsp ketchup
1 1/2 tsp prepared horseradish
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt, pepper

Ingredients:
corned beef, shredded; thinly-sliced if not homemade
Swiss cheese slices
sauerkraut, excess water squeezed off using paper towels
8 slices rye bread
horseradish cream sauce
half a stick unsalted butter, softened in microwave for 15 seconds

1. Spread one side of each bread slice evenly with some butter. With buttered sides down, spread horseradish cream on four slices and with some corned beef, sauerkraut and equal portions of cheese. Top with remaining slices, buttered side up.
2. Place large skillet over high heat and melt a small knob of butter. Reduce heat to low and add sandwiches. Using an iron grill press, put on top of the sandwiches and press. Cook until browned and crisp on both sides, about 2 minutes a side. Transfer to a platter lined with parchment paper. Cut in half and serve.

Homemade Corned Beef with Cabbage and Potatoes

It’s feeling a lot like the holidays outside and all I’ve been drinking, besides wine, is Guinness draft. And what else matches with a full-bodied glass of Guinness? Corned beef, cabbage and potatoes! (Besides oysters, of course.) This recipe involves a lot of planning. In my case, I made sure I went straight home after work on the 10th day so that the brisket wasn’t going to sit in brine another day. But once you start cooking, it’s really a no-brainer. I set the timer of the stove an hour at a time once I started to slow-cook the brisket to remind me to check. After three hours, the vegetables took another half an hour.

If you can’t find ready-made pickling spices, you can easily combine the following and make your own:
2 cinnamon sticks, broken
1 tbsp mustard seeds
2 tsps black peppercorns
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole allspice
1 tsp powder ginger
4 dried bay leaves

Ingredients:
1 fresh beef brisket, about 4 pounds
1 small head of cabbage, cut in small wedges
6 medium red potatoes, halved
3 ribs celery, cut in 2-inch pieces
2 cups of baby carrots
2 large onions, cut in wedges
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsps whole grain mustard
3 tablespoons pickling spices
1 1/2 cups kosher salt
1 cup granulated sugar

1. Using a large Dutch oven, make the corned beef brine. Combine about 10 cups of water, salt, sugar, mustard, spices, and 3 cloves minced garlic. Bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat and set aside to cool. When cool enough, add the brisket. If necessary, add more cold water to cover the beef. Using a heavy bowl, weigh the brisket down so it will stay submerged in the water. Cover the pan and refrigerate for up to 10 days in the refrigerator.
2. When ready to cook, discard the brine and rinse the brisket well with cold water. Return to the Dutch oven and cover with cold water. Add the celery, onions and the remaining garlic. Bring to a boil and skim off impurities. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 3 hours.
3. Add the potatoes, carrots and cabbage. Continue to cook in medium-low heat until vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes more.
4. To serve, remove corned beef from liquid and slice in small chunks. Add cabbage, potatoes and carrots on the side. Drizzle some of the liquid on top of the corned beef and all over vegetables.

Mloukhiya, Tunisian Beef Stew

My new thing lately is buying cookbooks when I travel. My latest is a Tunisian cookbook with all of its recipes written in French. The Internet was very helpful when it came to figuring out what I needed to do to make it edible. It wasn’t just the pretty food photographs that made me buy it, but this mloukhiya recipe. When the Dr. and I were traveling in Tunisia and scouring the food markets, one of the least familiar spice we saw for sale was that of the corète of Japan. Whenever we asked the seller, they told us it was powdered spinach because of its color. A trip to the grocery store in Carthage solved the mystery. I went to the spice aisle and picked a packet up with an English translation of its contents.

I later found out–happily, too–that the mloukhiya plant is what we Filipinos call saluyot because the English name of the plant translated to corchorus. This recipe is a beef stew using the powdered leaves simmered for a long time until it is thick and almost black. You know it’s done when it has the consistency of stewed okra. My father is Ilocano, but I don’t remember ever eating, or liking, saluyot. I may have to revisit those childhood memories.

Mloukhiya is generally prepared to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the Festival of Fast-Breaking, or the end of Ramadan. Because I’ve inundated you with Tunisian stories for the past two weeks, I just thought it was appropriate to publish this recipe today. I still have to check out the African store in my neighborhood to see if they sell the spice.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of beef chunks
1 large onion, quartered
1 packet of powdered mloukhiya
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 bay leaves
3 sprigs of mint leaves, leave some for garnish
chili flakes
salt, pepper, oil

1. Season the beef chunks with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
2. In the meantime, in a large Dutch oven, add the mloukhiya in 8 cups of water and some olive oil. Slowly stir with a heat-resistant spatula until the powder is fully-mixed in. Use the spatula to keep the mloukhiya from sticking to the sides of the pot.
3. When the mixture takes the consistency of a thick cream, bring to a boil, uncovered, and then lower the heat and simmer, covered. Stir occasionally and pour in a little water from time to time in order to maintain its initial volume.
4. Add the beef chunks with the rest of the ingredients and continue to simmer for about 2 hours, or until beef is cooked through. Season with salt, pepper and chili flakes.

Korean Bulgogi and Bibimbap

What possessed you? the Dr. asked as he cleaned off his bowl of bibimbap. I’ve always done Korean kalbi at home but have never done bulgogi, so I guess it was just about time. I haven’t had Korean food in a while and I was craving that sweet meat flavor.

In Korean, bulgogi is “fire meat” because rib-eye or sirloin is traditionally grilled. Bibimbap is translated as “mixed rice.” A bibimbap bowl consists of warm white rice topped with sautÃ©ed vegetables, the bulgogi and a fried egg. Kochujang, a spicy Korean condiment made of fermented soy beans and chilis, is served with it. You mix everything together just before eating.

The Dr. said my version tasted “just like the real thing.” I even think it looked like the real thing! I think I deserve some points.

Ingredients:
1 small carrot, julienned
1 bunch spinach, thoroughly washed
4 shiitake mushrooms, dirt rubbed off using a dry paper towel
1 egg
1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
1 tbsp sesame oil
Korean kochujang paste

For the bulgogi:
1 pound rib-eye boneless beef steak, sliced in 1/4-inch thick pieces
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 Asian pear, grated with juices
2 tbsps finely chopped garlic
1 small white onion, roughly chopped
2 stalks scallions, roughly chopped
1 small knob ginger, peeled, grated
2 tbsps light brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsps sesame seeds, toasted
2 tbsps sesame oil
a pinch of ground red pepper
black pepper

1. Whisk together all the bulgogi marinade ingredients in a large baking dish. Add the thinly sliced beef and turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. When ready to prepare bibimbap, heat a stove top grill to high. Grill marinated beef for 1 to 2 minutes per side without overcrowding. Remove to a plate.
3. In the meantime, using a frying pan, heat some peanut oil and sautÃ© spinach. Season with some salt. Remove to a plate. Using the same pan, add the mushrooms and sautÃ© by adding in sesame oil. Remove to the same plate. Keeping the same frying pan, add a little more peanut oil and fry the egg over easy. Remove to the same plate.
4. To serve, put a serving of cooked rice in large slightly shallow bowl. Place bulgogi on top to one side. Cover the rest of the rice by adding the vegetables and mushrooms. Put egg on top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve with kochujang paste on the side. To eat, mix well.

Rib-Eye Steak with Red Onion Pickles

Tony tore a page off his psychiatrist’s copy of Departures magazine before he got kicked out of her office. The page had a steak recipe on it. And after the bloodbath in The Sopranos last night, I could only think of eating a thick rib-eye steak for dinner. After an hour of push-ups, lunges and sprints in Central Park, I walked to the Fairway supermarket to pick up a $26 rib-eye steak. I will never know what recipe Tony wanted to replicate, but maybe Carmela will put these red onion pickles on the side.

Ingredients:
1 pound rib-eye steak, excess fat trimmed
2 cloves of garlic, minced
olive oil, salt, pepper

For the red onion pickles:
2 large red onions, peeled, sliced into thin rounds, separated into rings
1 bunch of red beets
1 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
salt

1. Pickle the red onions ahead of time. In a saucepan, cook the beets in boiling water until tender, about 30 minutes. When the beets are cooked, remove from the pan. Save 1/2 cup of the beet juice in a large bowl. In this bowl, combine the red wine vinegar, sugar, salt and 1 cup of water. Add the onions to the bowl and make sure they are completely submerged in the pickling liquid. Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours.
2. Rub salt and pepper all over the steak. Drizzle with some olive oil. Using a knife, make several slits on one side of the steak and insert garlic pieces. Set aside until ready to cook.
3. Heat an oven-proof frying pan. When the pan is hot enough but not smoking, sear one side of the steak for about 8 minutes. Slowly lift with a pair of tongs and turn over to cook the other side for another 6 minutes. Transfer the pan to the oven and broil on high for another 5 minutes or until medium-rare.
4. Remove the steak to a chopping board and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice against the grain when ready to serve. Top with red onion pickles.