![Pan-Grilled Ribeye Steak with Creamy Herb Sauce]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Dec 30, 2014 | Beef, Red Meat Dishes
Recently I’ve been cooking with a lot of Angus beef products from Crescent Foods, which is a game changer for the halal food market here in the United States. It’s not easy to get beef from a grass-fed halal source, but Crescent has done an amazing job of sourcing it from New Zealand and providing it to us in a variety of stores throughout the country. Being in Chicago, I’m fortunate that it is available in some stores, but not everywhere yet- us halal consumers have to ask for it so that more stores will consider carrying it.
For this super easy and quick recipe, I used the Angus Ribeye Steak that Crescent carries. They also have beef cubes, ground beef, beef burgers and more. I also used a grill pan with ridges so you can get those really great grill marks in the dead of winter when you can’t go outside and grill!
I start out by salting the pan (add pepper, too, if you like) and a nice big pat of butter so that when it melts, it will cover the underside of the steak. I like to let it cook long enough that it gets a nice dark brown color and not move it until it easily moves itself with a little nudge of a spatula (silicone here, nothing metal or it will scratch the cast iron pan), around 5-7 minutes.
That gives me just enough time to prepare the no-cook creamy sauce that will go on top of the finished steak. All you need is some sour cream, mayonnaise, parsley and salt. Put it all in a small bowl and mix, then set aside until the steak is done.
Once the first side is cooked to your liking, turn it over gently and let it cook on the other side. Don’t do too much of that flipping, otherwise you’ll ruin the nice and neat grill marks. I like to do another 5-7 minutes, then find something to cover the pan for a couple minutes, just to be sure it’s well done, as I’m not keen on rare or medium rare meats.
Once it comes off the pan, you can salt again just a bit and even add a small pat of butter on top of the sizzling meat- it’s really delicious that way; otherwise just let it cool for a few minutes and add the cream sauce directly on top. If you’d rather not, you can simply serve it as a dipping sauce.
I absolutely loved this recipe, which is simply the product of starting with a high quality ingredient and not doing too much to it in the process of cooking to interfere with it. It came out juicy and tender and with just the right amount of cream on top, I felt like it was something you might order from a gourmet restaurant. Serve with some sort of potato dish, home-baked fries or even rice. Who needs to go out to eat?
[yumprint-recipe id=’62’]
![Beef Kabobs with Grilled Vegetables]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Jul 19, 2014 | Beef, Iftar, Middle Eastern, Ramadan, Red Meat Dishes
Summertime is the best time to have kebobs- out on the grill, finally! Although here, it’s been a very rainy season plus with Ramadan falling in summer this year, it’s been a little difficult to get out on the BBQ before dark, so this recipe can be made indoors or out. I’ll show you how.
Here’s what you need:
Fresh beef cubes (such as for stew). I’m using the newest product out of Crescent Foods, their grass fed, hormone & antibiotic-free beef~ very exciting! Use their store locator to see if a nearby location sells it in your area.
Fresh herbs- I use mint, oregano, marjoram, rosemary- basically everything I have growing in my garden right now.
Plus spices- ground cumin, black pepper and salt. Also citrus zest, minced garlic and fresh lime.
For the skewers, you can use a variety of veggies, but I chose red pepper, green pepper, onion and tomatoes. I like red, white and green, for some strange reason.
To get started mixing up the ingredients, you’ll first make a paste- that helps the spices to stick to the meat nicely and for the garlic not to burn when cooking.
I like to use a mortar and pestle because you can really control how densely you’ll pound it all together. You can also do this in a small spice grinder or food processor, if you wish. Basically, you’re just making a paste out of the ingredients: minced garlic, salt and pepper.
Next, remove the leaves from the stems of fresh herbs. You can even chop them finely or pound them into the paste above, too.
Just make sure they’re small if you’re interested in keeping them in the meat mixture marinade when cooking the meat; if not, it’s just for flavor during the time it marinates.
Next, add the cumin to the meat. This could also have been added to the garlic paste made above- quite honestly, I just forgot to do it, but since it’s already a powder, it’s fine to add like this. The point is to make sure the spices will adhere to the meat.
Add the citrus zest, fresh or dried.
Add the garlic paste.
And the herbs.
Add the olive oil.
Mix all together.
Add the lime juice, lime faced down.
Helps it squeeze out everything…
Let the meat marinate like this for at least 30 minutes, refrigerated.
Now prepare the skewers. The very first vegetable cut should be pushed down with the inside facing up, as it serves sort of like a holder for the next few items.
I place a pepper, then tomato, then meat then onion and pepper. Repeat. It seems to hold nicely like this.
Two to three pieces of meat on an average size skewer seems to work nicely. Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet if you’ll be making these in an oven (which you can absolutely do).
Or prepare a grill- get it nice and hot before you place the skewers on top.
Cooking times will vary (see directions below), depending up on whether or not you’ll be grilling indoors or out, or roasting these in the oven.
Either way, I like to serve on top of buttery saffron Basmati rice. Tender meat, grilled vegetables and buttery rice. What could be better on a summer day?
What’s your favorite way to have kebobs?
[yumprint-recipe id=’28’]
![Slow Cooker Beef Stew: My Family Recipe for the Ultimate Comfort Food]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Dec 17, 2012 | American, Beef, Dinner, Recipes, Red Meat Dishes, Slow Cook, Stews & Curries, Winter
I always crave comfort food in the winter time, but right now as a nation and a global community, it looks as though we could all use a lot of comforting, whether it’s through the gathering together of a community or our small family meals we need to be there for one another and offer support, a lending ear or a shoulder to lean on.
The smell and taste of my mom’s recipe for her Classic Beef Stew is one that has been with me since I was a child. Although she was a working mom, on her shorter days or days off she would often begin making it early in the morning and put it in the crock pot to cook all day long so it would be ready by the time I arrived home from school. I still remember all of the ingredients by heart and how they looked on the kitchen counter as she prepared it. I also remember being in a bit of awe as to how it would all fit so neatly into her round crock pot with the glass cover that eventually began to steam underneath. Later in the day she made white rice on the side, which indicated that it was almost time to eat since that was the last thing to do before getting ready to serve what to me was the ultimate comfort: knowing exactly what to expect in this meal and feeling cared for, loved and comforted through every bite. (more…)
![Slow Cooker Beef Stew: My Family Recipe for the Ultimate Comfort Food]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Dec 17, 2012 | American, Beef, Dinner, Recipes, Red Meat Dishes, Slow Cook, Stews & Curries, Winter
I always crave comfort food in the winter time, but right now as a nation and a global community, it looks as though we could all use a lot of comforting, whether it’s through the gathering together of a community or our small family meals we need to be there for one another and offer support, a lending ear or a shoulder to lean on.
The smell and taste of my mom’s recipe for her Classic Beef Stew is one that has been with me since I was a child. Although she was a working mom, on her shorter days or days off she would often begin making it early in the morning and put it in the crock pot to cook all day long so it would be ready by the time I arrived home from school. I still remember all of the ingredients by heart and how they looked on the kitchen counter as she prepared it. I also remember being in a bit of awe as to how it would all fit so neatly into her round crock pot with the glass cover that eventually began to steam underneath. Later in the day she made white rice on the side, which indicated that it was almost time to eat since that was the last thing to do before getting ready to serve what to me was the ultimate comfort: knowing exactly what to expect in this meal and feeling cared for, loved and comforted through every bite. (more…)
![Slow Cooker Haleem]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Jul 31, 2012 | Dinner, Iftar, Lamb, Pakistani, Ramadan, Recipes, Red Meat Dishes, Slow Cook, South Asian
I’ve been told for years that haleem, the puréed meat and grains dish with South Asian flavors, is a favorite Iftar dish for so many Muslims observing the Ramadan fast. Though not a common way of eating meat American-style, (cooked down for hours and combined with grains all puréed together) if you pre-judge it and dismiss it, you may never really experience the potentially satisfying eating experience it offers. It’s also quite nourishing.
My version of mildy-spiced haleem (more…)
![Lamb Stew with Pumpkin, Plantain, Sweet Potato and Chickpeas]()
by Yvonne Maffei | Nov 13, 2011 | Dinner, Fall, Lamb, Latin, North African, Recipes, Red Meat Dishes, Slow Cook, Stews & Curries
When we look through recipes online or in magazines, what really prompts us to go out of our way to make a list and head out to the store with the intention of buying all the ingredients specifically for that recipe we enjoyed looking at so much? 
I look at food for a living, literally, and am incredibly delighted by the vibrant colors and gorgeous photography that exists in the blogosphere and in the publishing world. I can’t, however, make everything that awakens my stomach or inspires me to fly off the couch and dig into my cabinets for every spice listed in a recipe so that I, too, can make a gorgeous Thai noodle dish.
There is one Libyan dish, however, that prompted me to set out to use up our Qurbani meat to make this dish called Tbeikhet ‘Eid which features pumpkin, chickpeas and raisins. I liked the idea of using seasonal produce like pumpkin so much that I decided to give it a try, though digressing a bit by using other ingredients that I had at home that were in much need of being used: (more…)
