Beef Tips and Gravy

I guess there's been some question as to whether or not anyone is reading. I think people are reading, just not posting!

Here's my favorite fall and winter recipe. Quick and easy and freezes well!

Beef Tips and Gravy

1-2 lbs of stew meat (I just buy one package, who knows how much is in it?)
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
8 oz sliced mushrooms
12 oz 7-up

Toss them all in a 9x13 pan. Stir it around a little to mix everything together. Cover tightly and bake at 350 for 3 hours (yes, three hours). Serve over mashed potatoes, rice or noodles.

To make ahead and freeze: Toss everything in a gallon sized freezer quality baggie (not a storage one). Smoosh it all around and freeze. On serving day, thaw, and follow the above directions. You can pre-prep several of these at once and have dinner in the freezer for several meals.

The end! This makes a great meal for company. It's quick and easy, requires little prep and clean up and since you put it on mid-afternoon, you have plenty of time to clean the house while dinner is cooking!

My brother's mother-in-law 's Gwen Curry

No recipe, just checking to see if anyone is reading here!

My mother-in-law's Lamb Curry

I don't have the recipe in front of me, but I think I remember it. I'll fix it later if I find a mistake. :-)

1 cup fresh coconut and 1 handful of cilantro (with or without stems) ground to a paste.*
sliced onion (1/8 of a big one? my mother-in-law's onions are the size of golf balls and she uses 1)
3 green chilies, slit in half lengthwise
1 tsp of crushed ginger and garlic (can chop then grind in mortar and pestle)
1 tsp coriander powder (can grind the seeds in a coffee grinder)
1/2-1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2-1 1/2 tsp salt
pinch turmeric
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
lamb shanks*

On medium heat, in oil, saute the onion, green chilies, and ginger-garlic paste (until the strong smell goes away). Add the coconut/cilantro paste. Fry it until it's dry. Add the coriander, cayenne pepper, salt, and turmeric. Fry for a few seconds. Add the tomatoes. Cover and cook for about 2-3 minutes, until the tomatoes can be squashed with a wooden spoon. Add the lamb. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Add about a cup of water and cover and cook for 30 minutes. Or, transfer to a pressure cooker with sufficient water and cook for 4 whistles (about 20 minutes). Serve over rice or with flat bread (rotis, chapatis, even tortillas would be good.)

*I used to have an Indian mixer, but I burned out the motor. It was a good one because you could grind things finely without having to add a lot of water. This time I used a food processor to break everything up, but it was still a little chunky for our taste, so I put it in the blender with some water, and then had to strain it with a sieve. Once I used just the food processor and you could totally feel the texture of the coconut, which wasn't too pleasant with lamb. Last time I used the blender and the coconut was fine, but it took forever to cook out all the water. This time was perfect with food processor, blender, sieve. but if you have a food processor that grinds things finely than you're set. Anyway. Turns out my mixer had a reset button on the bottom. It's okay now.

*My mother-in-law doesn't do this, and I didn't the first two times I made it, but this time I boiled the lamb first and drained off the fat. Then I put it in the fridge until I was ready for it, and the remaining fat totally congealed and I just sliced it right off. It was way less greasy than the other times I made it. Lamb can be pretty fatty. So what I did was sort of poach it. I covered the lamb in water and covered the pan and brought it to a boil then simmered it for 15 minutes. I also cut down the cooking time later so it wouldn't be too overcooked, since the meat was pretty well done after the poaching. But since we used a pressure cooker, it was still plenty tender. This is just if you're concerned about your fat intake or don't like your lamb too greasy. :-) We do this with chicken and ground beef and lots of stuff.

White Bread

In response to Jenn's request for bread recipes, here you go! My mom noted on this recipe card that it was her first loaf of bread. And mine, too!

1 1/4 C warm water
1 pkg dry yeast
2 T soft shortening
2 t salt
2 T sugar
3 c flour (I'd bet on all purpose)

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add salt, sugar, shotrening and half the flour. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed of mixer. Add remainging flour, blend with a spoon until smooth. Cover, let rise in a warm place 30 minutes. Beat 25 strokes, spread in a greased loaf pan. Smooth into shape. Let rise 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375. Bake 45 minutes.

OR

Dump liquid ingredients in your bread machine pan. Dump dry ingredients on top leaving out the yeast. Make a little well in the top of the dry ingredients. Dump the yeast in the well. Turn the thing on and let it do all the stirring, kneading, mixing, spreading and waiting. Go read my blog and enjoy your summer!

Banana Bread

From Better Homes and Gardens cookbook

Prep 25 minutes Bake 55 minutes Oven 350

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (5 medium)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cooking oil or melted butter or margarine
NO nuts (but other people can add 1/4 cup chopped walnuts)
optional: Streusel Topping*

1. Grease bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of one 9x5x3-inch or two 7 1/2x3 1/2x2-inch loaf pans; set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp salt. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl combine eggs, bananas, sugar, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Nut people fold in nuts. Spoon batter into prepared pans. If desired, sprinkle Streusel Topping over batter.

3. Bake in a 350 oven for 55 to 60 minutes for 9x5x3-inch pan, or 40 to 45 minutes for 7 1/2x3 1/2x2-inch pans, or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean (if necessary, cover loosely with foil the last 15 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning). Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.

*Streusel Topping: In a small bowl combine 1/4 cup packed brown sugar and 3 tablespoons all purpose flour. Using a pastry blender, cut in 2 T butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (Nut people can stir in 1/3 cup chopped walnuts.)

I think you could put the batter in a muffin pan and bake it for half the time.