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Thursday, February 19, 2009

I WON!


Okay, I'm still ranting about the beef. I can't help it, I'm a housewife and a large portion of my life revolves around my failures and successes (such as they are) in the kitchen. It will be over soon, I promise.

You see, I decided I was not going to be done in by a lifeless hunk of meat. Not this time. I had spent good money on it and expended precious time on it and I was going to WIN. So, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth, I used the wonders of the Internet to do quick search on what to do with hopelessly overcooked beef and lo! I was not left wanting!

Looooooooong story short, I diced up that sorry, sad-looking beef and treated it to a lovely, long, hot, rejuvenating bath in some low-sodium beef broth and a liberal amount of red wine. Put the lid on for some privacy and left it to gently simmer for about 30 minutes. When I came back, the meat was magically tender and palatable!

Then POW another flash of brilliance knocked me off my feet again! I quickly flipped through my trusty America's Test Kitchen cookbook and found, not one, but, two recipes suitable for braised from the dead beef.

Let me just tell you, I am the Woman Who Saved The Beef this week! First was Beef Stroganoff. I've never made it before. It was absolutely delicious. Even Redheaded Snippet liked it (Man-Cub wouldn't go near it but let's ignore him right now, shall we?)!

Next was Beef Pot Pie. Whoo whee, that was some good stuff! Man-Cub ate only the meat of his portion, but we're still ignoring him so that is inconsequential. The rest of us LOVED it!

So, I saved what was once a moderately-priced cut of meat and wound up getting two rather stupendous meals out of it. And the best part? Because it had already been cooked (twice), it took almost no time at all the whip up both dishes!

It really makes me wish I was put together enough to roast a whole chicken and a whole roast every Saturday and just make all my meals from them all week long. Don't you think that would make things much easier? But, like I said, I'd need to be put together for that...

I may have saved the beef this week, but let's not get carried away.

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