Yuengling Beef Stew

May 25, 2013 by 2 Comments

Yuengling Beef Stew by JavaCupcake.com

I’m always on the lookout for a new dinner recipe.  I pin recipes to Pinterest all the time to my “It’s Dinner Time!” board to save for later.   So this week, when it was time to make the menu and grocery list, I decided it was time to add Gimme Some Oven’s Guinness Beef Stew to the mix.

We already had some beer in the house… but it wasn’t Guinness.  What we did have was a case of my husband’s favorite beer from Pennsylvania, Yuengling.  Being out here in Germany, we only get this beef a couple times a year when the stores bring in a couple palates to the Shoppette.  I’m pretty certain though that this beer is probably BETTER in this stew than Guinness.

I also didn’t have all the spices that the recipe called for, so I used what was in my kitchen.  Which seriously  you totally can do that too.  That’s what I love about recipes like this… they are really so versatile.  You can’t mess it up.

I served the stew is big bowls with Euro rolls.  Hard on the outside, but soft on the inside… slathered with butter.  Yum!  I hope you make this for your family… it’s sooooooo rich and delicious!  This Yuengling Beef Stew is definitely a winner and a recipe we’ll make again!

Enjoy!

Yuengling Beef Stew by JavaCupcake.com

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Yuengling Beef Stew

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours

6-8 generous bowls of stew

Ingredients

  • 4-5lb chuck roast
  • olive oil
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 large onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 2 bottles of Yuengling Beer
  • 3 large carrots, cut into chunks
  • 4 stalks of celery, chut into chunks
  • 4 large yellow potatoes, cut into chunks
  • 3 14.5oz cans of beef broth
  • 3 Tbsp tomato paste
  • salt/pepper
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 cup flour + 1/2 bottle of Yuengling beer

Instructions

  1. Trim the chuck roast of all fat and cut into 1 inch cubes. Generously season all sides with salt and pepper the dredge cubes in 1 cup of flour.
  2. In a large, heavy sided pot on medium high heat, heat 1-2 Tbsp olive oil.
  3. In small batches, shake off extra flour from the meat and place in the hot oil. Cook on all sides until browned... about 4-6 minutes. Remove cooked meat to a bowl and set aside.
  4. Once all the meat has been browned, add the onions to the pan and 1-2 Tbsp more olive oil. With a wooden spoon, scrape the bottom of the pan to get up any chunks of goodness. Cook the onions 5-6 minutes until the edges brown and the onions become translucent. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
  6. Pour in the 2 bottles of beer and bring to a simmer. Again, get up any chunks off the bottom of the pan with your wooden spoon.
  7. Add the cooked meat, potatoes, carrots, celery, tomato paste, beef broth, water and spices. Mix gently to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 60 minutes.
  8. Mix 1/4 cup flour and 1/2 bottle of Yuengling beer together and add to the stew. Continue to simmer until thickens, about 30 minutes.
  9. Serve with crusty bread and a Yuengling!
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Filed Under: alcohol, beer, dinner, recipes, soups and stew

Roast Beef Sliders

February 19, 2013 by 3 Comments

Roast Beef Sliders by JavaCupcake.com

I’m always looking for a new way to serve up a roast.  A couple weeks ago, I showed you how we make Salsa Roast to use for burritos.  Today, I’ll be giving you  my Roast Beef Sliders recipe.

This is another super simple crock pot recipe that takes little time to prep, but it’s big on flavor! Plus – if you don’t have exactly the ingredients I used, you can improvise with whatever you have in your kitchen and it’ll be just as delish!

Typically, the rolls you would use for a slider are the soft dinner rolls.  But, since we’re in Germany, we used a traditional brotchen.  It’s a roll that’s hard and crusty on the outside and soft on the inside.  Perfect to hold up against and sauce you may want to dip your slider in.  But, you can use any roll you’d like.

Let’s talk cheese.  I don’t really enjoy cheese on sliders or sandwiches.  And truth be told- I really only like cheddar cheese once in a while.  So – I’m not having cheese on my slider.  My husband though – he loves cheese and he put muenster on his slider.   You could use any cheese you wanted… heck, my daughter put American on hers.  (Gross, btw.)

I didn’t use any kind of sauce or dressing on the sliders either, but a horseradish spread would be tasty.  It’s really up to you!

Enjoy!

UPDATE:
The next night, we sliced the roast beef and put it on toasted onion rolls. The beef & left over onions had been stored overnight in an airtight container covered in the pan juices so it had a super delicious coating of flavor on it. The sliders super yummy the first night… but cold, sliced roast beef sandwiches for night two were equally, if not even more delicious!

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Roast Beef Sliders

Yield: Serves 6-8 people

1-2 sliders

Ingredients

    Roast Beef
  • 3-4lb chuck roast
  • 1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 cans beef broth
  • 1 packet of Onion Gravy Mix
  • 1 packet of Au Jus Mix
  • Pepper
    • Sauteed onions
  • 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • salt & pepper
    • Toppings
  • Cheese - like swiss, muenster, provolone or whatever you like!
  • Horseradish spread/sauce (optional)
    • Bread
  • Brotchen - round dinner rolls - crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside

Instructions

  1. In your crock pot, combine the beef broth and gravy, au jus packets. Whisk until all the clumps are gone.
  2. Season the roast generously with pepper. Rub the pepper into the roast.
  3. Place the roast in the crock pot, cover with sliced onions, attach lid and cook on low for 8-9 hours.
  4. Remove the roast to a cutting board. Cover with foil and allow to rest.
  5. While the roast is resting, prepare the onions. Place 2 Tbsp olive oil in a hot pan. Add the sliced onions and cook on medium-high until they are caramelized, using a wooden spoon to move the onions around. They will be a golden brown with some dark edges when they're done. Salt/pepper to taste. Keep onions warm until ready to build sliders.
  6. Slice the rolls in half and toast both sides on a baking sheet in your oven using the broiler.
  7. Using a fork, pull apart the meat into small, stringy chunks. Put the meat chunks in a bowl and spoon the au jus from the crock pot over the meat to keep it moist.
    8. Assembly
  8. Open your toasted rolls and layer chunks of meat on the bottom piece. Drizzle a little extra au jus over the meat.
  9. Top with sauteed onions and a slice with cheese.
  10. Using the broiler in the oven, place the rolls on the top shelf for a few seconds to melt the cheese.
  11. Add and sauce you have to the top bun and place on top of the melted cheese.
  12. Serve with a small bowl of au jus for dipping.
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Filed Under: crock pot meals, crock pot meals, dinner, recipes, roast, sliders

Broccoli and Chicken Mac & Cheese

February 3, 2013 by 2 Comments

Broccoli & Chicken Mac n' Cheese by JavaCupcake.com

I’m always up for trying new dinner recipes.  So when I’m browsing pins on Pinterest, I’m keeping an eye open for dinner ideas that are simple yet look super delicious.  When I saw this recipe from Damn Delicious pinned, I KNEW in an instant that our family needed to try it for dinner.

Broccoli and Chicken Mac & Cheese.  How could you go wrong with that?  OH – and it’s a 30 minute meal? DONE! It’s on the menu!

The night I ended up making this, my husband ended up working late… so he didn’t get to eat it while it was still hot and fresh.  BUT, my teenager and baby ate it and they both had seconds!  The hubby did end up eating it for lunch the next two days and has been begging me to make it again so he can enjoy it hot!

I think next time, I’ll try and use sun dried tomatoes that aren’t in oil.  I didn’t like the texture and flavor that the oil added to the cheese sauce… but my hubby liked it.  I’m sure if I hadn’t seen the jar or oil the tomatoes had been sitting in I wouldn’t have even noticed.  :)

If you wanted to make this healthier, I’d suggest using skim or non-fat milk and low fat cheese.  And add more veggies too… this would be a very healthy meal!

ENJOY!

Broccoli & Chicken Mac n' Cheese by JavaCupcake.com

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Broccoli & Chicken Mac & Cheese

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: 5-6 servings

1 cup of mac & cheese

Chunks of chicken and broccoi with pasta shells covered in rich and creamy cheese sauce... in only 30 minutes!

Ingredients

  • 1 small onion
  • 1.25lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
  • salt/pepper
  • 8oz large pasta shells
  • 12oz bag frozen broccoli florettes
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup julienned sun dried tomatoes (from a jar, in oil)
  • 8oz Colby & Monterrey jack shredded cheese

Instructions

  1. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the pasta shells for 8-9 minutes. Add the broccoli and bring back to a boil. Cook an additional 3 minutes or until pasta is tender.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, dice the onion then cut chicken into bite size pieces.
  3. Pour 1-2 Tbsp of the oil from the jar of the sun dried tomatoes into a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Check on the noodles & broccoli.
  4. Add the onions to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes or until they start to lose their color. Add the chicken and cook until no longer pink. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Move the chicken to a bowl and cover with foil.
  6. By this time, the noodles & broccoli should be cooked. Pour the noodles & broccoli into a strainer to drain the water off. Return them to the large pot.
  7. Using the same pan that you cooked the chicken in, whisk the heavy cream and tomatoes together over medium. 1/4 cup at a time, add the cheese and whisk until melted and smooth. alt and Pepper to taste.
  8. In the large pot with the noodles, add the chicken and onions and pour the cheese mixture over the top. Toss together until everything is evenly coated with cheese.
  9. Serve and enjoy!

Notes

Store in an air tight container for up to a week in the fridge!

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Filed Under: 30 minutes or less, chicken, dinner, macaroni and cheese, pasta, recipes

Salsa Roast Burritos

January 30, 2013 by 2 Comments

Salsa Roast Burritos by JavaCupcake.com

Every Sunday, I sit down with my husband and we plan out the weeks meals and we’ve got a calendar for the fridge to help us keep track of it all.  At the same time, we also make the grocery list to take to the market later that same day.  As I was looking at this weeks menu, I noticed a particular number of super delicious meals on the menu and a thought occurred to me.

Would my readers be interested in more than just desserts?

So… I asked you.  And 99% of you answered… YES!  I post pictures of what I’m making for dinner anyways, why not take pictures and share the recipes too!  So here my friends… is my first dinner post.

Salsa Roast Burritos by JavaCupcake.com

Salsa Roast.  It’s one of our family favorites and the two best things about it… 1) It’s SO SIMPLE to make and 2) It lasts for TWO nights of dinner and maybe even a lunch or two for the husband!  You can do so many things with this roast once it’s cooked… but our most favorite thing is to make burritos with it!

You only need two ingredients for this roast too.  Chuck Roast and Pace Chunky Salsa.  What you put in your burrito… well, that’s up to you!  I like it basic… meat, cheese, salsa, tomatoes and lettuce.  My hubby likes it with all those things plus sour cream and jalapenos.

And the BEST part about this recipe – it’s enough to feed my family of 4 for TWO nights plus lunch leftovers!  Serve it with my fabulous refried beans and you’ve got an amazing meal!

Enjoy!

Salsa Roast Burritos by JavaCupcake.com

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Salsa Roast Burritos

Yield: Serves 3-4 for two meals

2 burritos

Shredded beef, full of flavor - perfect for burritos or tacos!

Ingredients

    Roast
  • 2-3lb Chuck Roast
  • 3-4 cups Pace Chunky Salsa (Medium)
    • Burritos
  • Tortillas
  • Various toppings:
  • -Mexican cheese
  • -shredded lettuce
  • -diced or sliced tomato
  • -sliced jalapenos
  • -refried beans
  • -guacamole
  • -salsa
  • -sour cream

Instructions

  1. Turn your crock pot to high.
  2. Place chuck roast in the crock pot and cover with 3-4 cups of the salsa. Make sure the top of the roast is completely covered in salsa.
  3. Put the cover on the crockpot and cook for 2 hours on high.
  4. Reduce to low and cook 4-5 more hours (or until you're ready to eat).
  5. Remove roast and place on a cutting board. Using a fork, shred meat and place into a large bowl.
  6. Ladle some of the juice from the crock pot onto the roast to keep it moist. How much you use is up to how juicy you want your meat.
    7. Burritos
  7. Warm your tortillas in the microwave until soft.
  8. Place about a 1/4 cup of meat across the tortilla.
  9. Add cheese, lettuce and any other desired topping.
  10. Roll tortilla over toppings and eat!
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Filed Under: dinner, Mexican, recipes, roast

Easy Homemade Refried Beans

April 13, 2012 by 7 Comments

So, this recipe is not what I’d typically post about on my blog… but I’ve made these beans a dozen times over the last 3 months and they are one of my most favorite creations, EVER! I am actually eating these beans now for a late afternoon lunch.

This recipe is really quite easy to make… and you’ll never want to go back to making canned refried beans again.  Seriously… they are THAT GOOD.

The next time you have taco night at your house… make these beans too!

(PS… Sorry for the crappy camera phone picture!! lol)

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Easy Homemade Refried Beans

51

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: About 3 cups of beans

Ingredients

  • 4-6 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 3-4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 15oz cans pinto beans (I used reduced sodium)
  • 1/2 large onion, diced
  • 2 Tbsp diced green chilies (I used canned)
  • 1/2 cup diced canned tomatoes (any flavor variety you like)
  • 1 large clove of garlic, thru the press or minced
  • Salt/pepper to taste
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • pinch of chili powder (or to taste if you like it spicy)
  • 1/2-3/4 cup water

Instructions

  1. Drain and rinse the pinto beans. Set aside.
  2. In a large pan on high heat, melt the butter with the olive oil.
  3. Add the diced onions and sauté until they begin to soften.
  4. Add in the green chilies, tomatoes and garlic and continue to cook until heated through (about 3-4 minutes).
  5. Add the prepped pinto beans salt/pepper, red pepper flakes, chili powder.and water. Stir together and cook until bubbling. NOTE: Start with 1/2 cup of water. If the beans seem too thick, add more.
  6. With a potato masher, must the beans until no more remain whole.
  7. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the beans are the consistency you desire.
  8. To serve: Top with melted cheese and a side of tortilla chips!

Notes

If you wanted to make these lower in fat, omit the butter and oil and spray pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Also, the measurements for all the ingredients are approximate. I make these a little different every time. If you wanted them spicy, add more heat! If you don't like tomatoes, don't add them! Use your imagination, the possibilities are endless!

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Filed Under: dinner, recipes, snacks

Potato Salad

August 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Today I made potato salad.  Do I like potato salad?  No.  Will I eat the potato salad?  Nope.  So why did I make it?  Well, my hubby likes it and he doesn’t often get things only he likes to eat with dinner.  So, today I made potato salad.

I remember watching my Mom make potato salad as a kid.  Cutting the taters and veggies and just “eye balling” the mayo and seasoning as she whipped it up to perfection.  I wish I was that good.  But alas, I needed a recipe.  I used the basics from Tyler Florence’s recipe on the Food Network’s website… but I didn’t get all worried if I didn’t have all the ingredients in the recipe.  I just used what we had in the pantry and did what my mom did… “eye balled it.”

The hubby says it’s super delicious.  I think I’d make my Mom proud too. :)

JavaCupcake’s Potato Salad
Makes about 4-5 cups salad

*NOTE*  When you make this, if you don’t have everything I do… it’s okay.  Use what you’ve got in your kitchen.  Also… measurements aren’t exact, I put what I thought looked like a good amount of everything in and estimated what the amount was for the recipe!  It’s not like baking where it has to be exact!  Have fun with it! 

1 1/2 lbs white potatoes (I used two large potatoes)
2 eggs
1 tbsp salt

2 scallions, chopped
1 large celery stalk, chopped
1/4 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 small red pepper, chopped
1/4 cup pickles, chopped
2 large strips bacon, crispy and chopped
1 tbsp pickle juice
1/2 tbsp red pepper flakes
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 generous cup mayo
1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
salt/pepper to taste

  1. In a medium pot, bring potatoes and eggs to a simmer in salted water.  Simmer for about 20 minutes.  Remove the eggs and continue to cook the potatoes until a fork goes in easily to the center, about 10 more minutes.  Do not over cook the potatoes, you don’t want them mushy.
  2. While that is simmering, cook the bacon crispy and chop into small pieces.  Reserve a small amount of bacon as a garnish. Set the rest aside.
  3. Prep the rest of the salad.  Chop the scallions, celery, bell pepper, red pepper pickles, and bacon into 1/4″ pieces.  Reserve a small amount of scallions for garnish.
  4. Add the bacon, pickle juice, pepper flakes, parsley, lemon juice, vinegar, mayo and brown mustard to the veggies.  Mix until well combined.
  5. Salt and pepper to taste.
  6. Check on the potatoes and remove from the water to cool if they are cooked.
  7. Cut the eggs into small chunks and gently fold into the vegetable mixture.
  8. Cut the potatoes into approx. 1″ chunks and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before folding into the vegetable mixture.
  9. Add more salt/pepper if necessary.
  10. Garnish with any extra bacon or scallions.
Filed Under: dinner, recipes, salads

Herb, Honey & Apple Roasted Chicken

February 26, 2011 by Leave a Comment

My dad gave me a whole chicken out of his freezer and I thought to myself… what am I going to do with this darn chicken?  I’ve only made a whole chicken once before and I boiled it and used the chicken for soup (which is what I’m going to do with the leftovers of this chicken!).

So, we’ll roast this chicken, but seriously… how?  I Googled roasted chicken and saw that really, it’s a lot simpler than I thought.  So, I looked in my cabinet and came up with this blend.  It turned out so good.  The skin was crisp and full of flavor and the chicken…. oh so juicy and moist.  Seriously, it was probably one of the best chickens I’ve ever made!!!!

1 fresh whole chicken

For the cavity
1/2 apple
1/2 onion
4 large cloves garlic

Rub
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp rosemary
2 tbsp oregano
2 tbsp basil
1-2 tbsp coarse fresh ground sea salt
1-2 tbsp coarse fresh ground pepper

  1. Preheat oven to 450 F degrees.
  2. Prep chicken by giving it a good rinse under cold water. Remove any of the “extras” from the inside cavity.
  3. Cut 1/2 the apple and 1/2 the onion into 3 pieces. Cut the 4 cloves of garlic in half, you can leave the shells on the garlic because you’ll be removing them before serving.
  4. Shove the apples, onions, and garlic into the cavity of the chicken.
  5. Lay the chicken on a baking sheet.
  6. In a bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients. (NOTE: I didn’t measure anything when I made this rub. I just used the spices I had in my kitchen (you can use whatever you have, you don’t have to use exactly what I used) and eye balled what looked to be right for the amount of honey and olive oil. You want to be able to have a runny paste like consistency to rub on the chicken.)
  7. Rub this mixture all over the outside of the chicken. Make sure to flip it over and rub on the underside too. If any of it falls off the chicken onto the pan, just scoop it up and put it on the chicken.  You can see in the pic below that I failed to scoop up the rub that fell on the pan, well it burned onto the pan and was a pain to scrape off.
  9. Place chicken in the center of your oven and roast for 45 minutes uncovered. After 45 minutes, your chicken should have a nice dark brown crust. Cover the chicken with foil and roast for another 30 minutes.
  10. Remove roast from oven and let rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.

Note: I served my chicken with herb roasted potatoes that I added to the roasting pan at the same time I covered it. I left them in the oven for the 15 minutes my chicken was roasting and were perfect by the time I served dinner. Also made steamed veggies. I didn’t take a picture of the final meal though, I was too busy eating it!

Herb Roasted Potatoes
6 small russet potatoes (you can use whatever kind you want), quartered
salt/pepper to taste
extra virgin olive oil
spices

  1. Quarter the potatoes and drizzle with olive oil.
  2. Salt/pepper to taste.
  3. Sprinkle whatever spices you have on hand. I like rosemary and basil.
  4. Roast on a baking sheet at 450 F degrees for 30-45 minutes or until crispy and brown.
Filed Under: dinner, recipes

Chicken & Pasta Soup

March 29, 2010 by 2 Comments

So, I know this has NOTHING to do with baking or cupcakes… BUT… I got a new crock pot for my birthday (Thanks Mom & Dad) and needed to make something fabulous in it!! I’ve been working on eating healthy lately so I thought a good chicken noodle soup would be perfect! [Read more...]

Filed Under: dinner, recipes, soup