It’s been a long time since I’ve done a recipe post… even though I’m cooking more than ever!!

Last August, my daughter and I opened a recreational cooking school called The Curious Kitchen. A month passed by and we decided to open for lunch (basically we had to pay the rent and the cooking concept had not taken off as quickly as hoped). Then we figured, “we’re open for lunch, might as well open for breakfast, too”…

It’s been about 8 months now, and the cooking concept took off! And so did our breakfast and lunch service! And our catering! And our private parties!

We’re so happy, and blessed, and busy!!

I’ve felt bad neglecting my Saucy Girls Kitchen blog. So, I’m back… and I’m posting one of my favorite things in the world. Moroccan Beef Stew.

Don’t eat beef? Just leave it out. This stew it so flavorful that you don’t need it!!

Moroccan Beef Stew

INGREDIENTS
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 lb. lean Beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 cloves Garlic, minced
1 medium Onion, chopped
4 Tomatoes, chopped
1 tsp Cumin
½ tsp Ginger
½ tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Coriander
¼ tsp Cardamom
3 Carrots, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
1 – 15 oz. can Garbanzo Beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup Raisins
3 to 4 cups Beef Stock
¼ cup Cashews, toasted
3 Scallions, sliced thin
½ cup Cilantro, leaves only (reserving some for garnish)
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Sour Cream, optional

METHOD
Place olive oil in a large heavy saucepan and heat over medium-high heat.
Add beef and sauté until brown no all sides, about 4 minutes.
Add garlic, onion, tomato and spices.
Sauté for another 2 minutes.
Add carrots, garbanzo beans, raisins, beef stock and cashews.
Continue to cook over medium heat until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes.
Add in the scallions and cilantro.
Taste and season with salt and pepper, as desired.
Serve over Basmati Rice and top with sour cream, if desired.
Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
1 pkg Puffed Pastry
1/2 lb. Laura’s lean Ground Beef
3 cloves Garlic, minced
2 Eggs, hardboiled and diced
1/4 cup Green Olives, diced
1/4 cup canned Tomatoes, chopped and drained
1 tsp Parsley
1/2 tsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp fresh Ground Black Pepper
a few dashes of Cayenne Pepper

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Allow puff pastry dough to thaw.
Meanwhile, brown the ground beef and drain off any excess grease.
Stir the rest of the ingredients into the ground beef.
Taste and adjust seasoning, if desired.

Set aside to cool.
Roll out your puffed pastry dough.
Cut rounds about 5 inches in diameter… I used a martini glass with a wide rim.  

Place a heaping tablespoon of the meat filling in the center of the round.
Lightly wet the outer rim of the pastry round and fold pastry dough over, using a fork to pinch ends together and seal.
Continue until you have used all the pastry dough and filling.

Now you have the option to bake them in the oven or fry them in vegetable oil.
Bake in a 350 oven until the pastry if lightly browned and puffed, about 20 minutes.

– – OR – –

Fry individually in hot oil for about 3 to 5 minutes, until brown and pastry dough is cooked through.
If the dough is not cooked through you can continue to cook them in a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes.
I like to serve mine with Sriracha Sauce and sour cream.
Enjoy!

There just something about homemade stew that’s comforting, especially in the fall & winter months. Whenever I make stew I always serve it with some type of bread, to sop up all the saucy goodness. But this time I decided to serve it in a homemade pie crust. I halved the recipe for the pie crust and it was perfect for 2 servings. I pre-baked the pie crusts in 2 individual ovenproof baking dishes.

When the beef stew was ready, I filled up the pie shells and served it. So good!!

INGREDIENTS
Pie Crust, make your own or store bought is fine

For Beef Stew:
2 to 3 Tbsp Flour
1 lb. cubed Beef Stew Meat
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 Garlic Cloves, halved
4 cups Beef Broth
3 Potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
3 or 4 Carrots, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
3 Celery Stalks, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 large Onion, peeled and cut into large pieces
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp fresh Parsley, chopped
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp fresh ground Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/2 tsp Rosemary
1 Bay Leaf
1/2 cup Red Wine, if desired (optional)

METHOD
Place the flour in a large bowl and add the beef, stirring to coat completely with the flour.
Set aside.
In a heavy large saucepan place the olive oil over medium heat.
Add in the garlic cloves to flavor the olive oil allow to saute for a minute, stirring once or twice (don’t let the garlic burn).
Put the beef in the saucepan and cook until browned, stirring as needed.
Once the beef is done, add in the beef stock, stirring to release anything that is sticking to the pan.
Add in the Worcestershire Sauce, parsley, salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, bay leaf and red wine.
Cover and allow to cook for about an hour on low heat.
Add in the veggies and cook for an additional 30 minutes, or until tender.
Taste and season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.
Enjoy!

NOTE:
If you like your stew thicker than it turns out, you can make a slurry with a little flour and cold milk or water.
Stir it until there are no lumps and then add it into the stew, stirring the entire time.
Allow it to come to a boil for a minute or two and it will thicken up.

This is such a comforting, hardy dish that it’s perfect for fall. When the nights are cool there’s nothing better than a big bowl of hot chili. I like to use lots of vegetables in mine. My chili never turns out the same way twice, because I use whatever veggies I happen to have on hand. I also use different types of beans, or sometimes 2 or 3 different types of beans in one chili. You can make it your own, but here’s how I made it this time…

INGREDIENTS
1 lb. lean ground Beef
1 Onion, medium dice
3 cloves of Garlic, minced
3 stalks of Celery, medium dice
1 yellow Bell Pepper, medium dice
1 to 2 cups of Corn (fresh, frozen or canned – minus the liquid)
1 16 oz can of Diced Tomatoes, with juice
1 16 oz can of Chili Beans or Kidney Beans, drained
2 to 3 cups of Beef Broth
3 to 4 Tbsp Chili Powder
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Grated Cheese, Chopped Scallions & Sour Cream, as garnish – if desired

METHOD
In a large heavy saucepan cook the ground beef.
It’s important to use lean ground beef, so you don’t have excess oil/fat from the meat.
Once meat is almost cooked through, add the onion and garlic.
Continue to cook for a minute or two to soften the onion.
Add in the celery, bell pepper, corn, tomatoes and juice, beans, beef broth and chili powder.
Stir to combine and allow to cook for about 20 minutes, or until all the veggies are tender.
If you need more liquid, just add more beef broth…
Taste and season with additional chili powder, salt and pepper if necessary
Serve with grated Cheddar & Jack Cheese, Chopped Scallions and Sour Cream, if desired.

NOTE: Sometimes I will add different colors of bell pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, jalapeno, etc.

As soon as the bottles arrived at our house I opened them up and did a taste test on my finger. They were so good that I couldn’t wait to try cooking with them!  Plus, the ingredients are 100% natural. Outta The Park BBQ Sauces have no high fructose corn syrup, no MSG and no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. Gotta love that!!

The first thing I made was an appetizer. I took some Boar’s Head Pancetta and placed it on a baking sheet. In a 350 oven for about 20 minutes, until the Pancetta is cooked and crispy. Take it out of the oven and spread about half a teaspoon of Outta The Park’s Hot & Spicy BBQ Sauce on each Pancetta round. Then a little sprinkle of brown sugar on top of each one. Pop them back into the oven for another 5 minutes, until the brown sugar is melted and bubbly. Allow these to cool before you enjoy them. Just pick them up like a chip. They are sweet, spicy, and oh, so good!!

The next night, I baked some Salmon for dinner. I slathered the Original Outta the Park BBQ Sauce all over the Salmon and put it into a 300 degree oven. Baked it for about 15 minutes. Then put a little more BBQ Sauce on top and put it back into the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes. Wow, the flavor was intense and wonderful! Can’t wait to try it on some shrimp. Yum…

My next taste sensation came in the form of a burger. I added the Outta the Park Hot & Spicy Sauce right into the ground beef. That’s all I added and the flavor was perfect. I used about 1/4 of a cup to about half a pound of ground beef. Mix it up, form the patties and grill. When the burgers were done I put some Pepper Jack Cheese on top to melt. Grilled buns, sauteed onion, fresh lettuce, tomato, the burger, some mayo and you’ve got the Ultimate Burger! It was so flavorful and juicy.

I didn’t make French Fries with this burger, but the next time I do make fries I’m going to make a dipping sauce with Outta The Park Sauce and Mayo. I know it’s gonna be deliciously addicting.

I plan on ordering some more Outta The Park Sauce before I run out. If you want to order some you can do so by clicking here.

Thank you Beth, from www.OuttaTheParkSauce.com for the opportunity to enjoy your wonderful sauces. You definitely have a new fan!!

We’ve been on a real salad kick for the last few weeks. This steak salad is hearty enough to be the entire meal, as it was for us. I actually had to look at the picture to remember what I put in this salad. My husband is still talking about how wonderful it was. It actually had a little bit of everything in it… greens, cheese, meat, spice, crunch, creaminess. The flavors all just came together so wonderfully. It would be hard not to be satisfied eating this!

In the cheese specialty section at your grocery store they sell a combination of Feta Cheese, Roasted Red Pepper and Black Olives in olive oil with herbs and spices. It’s really yummy and we always have it in our fridge. I used that in this salad, and it was all that was needed as the salad dressing.

I didn’t toss the salad. Instead just start with a layer of lettuces and then sprinkling the other ingredients evenly onto the salad.

I’m not going to put any measurements in this recipe, just listing the ingredients. It’s a salad, so it’s super easy!!

INGREDIENTS
Romaine Lettuce
Spring Mix of Baby Greens
Corn – cut fresh off the cob
Kalamata Olives
Pepperoncini (I love these!)
Spring Onions, chopped
Grilled Mushrooms, quartered
Grilled Poblano Pepper, sliced
Roasted Red Pepper & Feta Cheese Mixture (as described in intro)
Salt & Pepper, to taste
Top with thinly sliced grilled Steak
Enjoy!!

Mini Meatloaf ~ It’s what’s for dinner!

Meatloaf is definitely some serious comfort food for me, along with the potatoes that I typically serve with it. I made individual meatloafs because I think they make a great presentation, and I love the hardboiled egg inside.

Plus, there’s no fighting over the pieces of bacon.  hehehe

I really like to add lots of vegetables to the meatloaf because it makes it so delicious and flavorful!

Veggies for meatloaf

I hope you’ll give my recipe a try next time you’re in need of some comfort food!

This recipe serves 2.

INGREDIENTS
2 Hardboiled Eggs
1/2 lb. Ground Beef
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 White Onion, diced
2 Carrots, diced
1/3 Green Bell Pepper, diced
1/3 Yellow Bell Pepper, diced
1 egg, raw
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp Granulated Garlic
1 tsp Parsley (dry is fine)
A few dashes of Worcestershire Sauce
1 tsp Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Ketchup or Barbecue Sauce
2 pieces Bacon, raw

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Hardboil 2 eggs, peel and set aside.
Add olive oil to a medium frying pan and saute the onion, carrot, and peppers over low heat until soft.
While the veggies are cooking, place ground beef in a large bowl.
Add the egg, Italian Seasoning, garlic, parsley, Worcestershire Sauce, salt and pepper to the ground beef and combine.
Once the veggies are soft add them to the meat mixture.
Divide meat into 2 portions.
Shape into small loaves, putting the hardboiled egg in the middle.
Place loaves onto baking sheet and put a thin layer of Ketchup or Barbecue Sauce on each.
Wrap a piece of raw bacon around each loaf, being sure the bacon ends are tucked under to prevent the bacon from curling.
Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

Mini Meatloafs ready for the oven