New Zealand beef Archives - My Halal Kitchen

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?

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Sweet & Sour Beef

by Yvonne Maffei | Jun 21, 2014 | Beef

I don’t make Asian food that often at home, but I really do love it. I recently had a real craving for sweet and sour something– whether it be seafood, beef or chicken. Many of the recipes I found used ketchup for the sauce (which I’m not a huge fan of when it comes to cooking with it) and other prepared sauces for the ‘sweet and sour’ part. Instead, I tested my own version of a homemade sweet and sour combination that worked really well, particularly with a high quality Halal meat like the Billy Doe Meats.

The ingredients I used are fairly simple and can be found in just about any grocery store international aisle: cane sugar, pineapple vinegar (or any fruity vinegar- apple cider vinegar is particularly good here), tomato sauce, sesame oil or toasted sesame oil (or a combination of the two).

I also used some greens from my garden: kale, spinach, celery and Swiss chard. You can use just one of these, if you like.

If I had to choose just one, it would be kale- it’s thicker than spinach and tends to hold onto the meat a little better, if that’s all the greens you’re using.

But the Swiss chard does add some nice color when using the stems.

I also added carrots- shredded, but also the leftover chunky parts, as nothing is wasted. Garlic, too. Of course.

After everything is chopped, the larger parts plus the onion and garlic get sautéd in the sesame oil. You can use a wok or Dutch oven to do this.

I added ground ginger for added spice because I didn’t have fresh on hand. Either one works and freshly chopped is always preferable- to me, anyway.

Use high heat once those ingredients are in the pot.

Add the beef cubes. These looked fabulous.

And the tomato sauce, vinegar, sugar and corn starch.

Then the greens and shredded carrots, basically the thin stuff.

Now we’re seeing more color, which is always nice when you’re about to eat the dish soon after cooking it. Makes it so much more appealing.

Then you’ll need to cover it, reduce the heat and let the beef cook. The greens will actually add moisture to the meat, making it nice and soft after about 25 minutes. I like to serve it over rice or noodles, but I could it all by itself, too.

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