Cow

Ingredients
For the roast
2 cups fresh cilantro
6 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon celery seed
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (3-pound) boneless rump roast, trimmed

For the Cilantro-Horseradish Pesto
1 bunch fresh cilantro
¹⁄₄ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon prepared grated horseradish
¹⁄₂ teaspoon coarse salt
¹⁄₄ cup olive oil
4 Kaiser or other crusty sandwich rolls

Instructions
1. Combine cilantro, garlic, celery seed, salt, and pepper in food processor and process until smooth.  Rub this paste all over roast and refrigerate 10 to 60 minutes. 

2. Heat oven to 425*F.  Place meat on rack set into rimmed baking sheet. 

3. Roast 30 minutes then decrease heat to 300*F and roast until instant read thermometer reads 125*F, about 10 minutes per pound. 

4. Remove from oven and let stand at least 10 minutes before thinly slicing. 

5.  Meanwhile, combine all pesto ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.  To serve, place slices of beef on rolls and top with pesto. 

Comments
This recipe is from Food Network.  I wish I had made some notes while ordering the bulk cow, since I’m sure I had something in mind for rump roast while ordering.  I’m not sure what my intention was, though, so I tracked down this recipe to try instead. 

My only complaint is that the cut isn’t amazing and the grain direction changes which makes slicing hard, but that’s hardly a fault of the recipe.  The pesto was delicious and these made nice little sandwiches.

Internet - Food TV

Ingredients
For the steaks
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 steaks, at least 1-inch thick (I used NY Strip steaks, any tender steak will do.)

For the herb sauce
1 small shallot, minced
¹⁄₂ cup white wine
¹⁄₄ cup Steak Sauce Base
¹⁄₄ teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons fresh chives, minced
1 ¹⁄₂ teaspoons fresh parsley, minced
1 teaspoon fresh tarragon, minced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Salt and ground black pepper

Instructions
1. For the steaks: Heat oil in 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat until smoking. Meanwhile, pat steaks dry with paper towels and season both sides with salt and pepper. Lay steaks in pan, leaving ¹⁄₄ inch between them. Cook, without moving steaks, until well browned, about 4 minutes. Using tongs, flip steaks and continue to cook until instant-read thermometer inserted in center registers 120*F for rare to medium-rare, 3 to 7 minutes. Remove steaks to platter and tent loosely with foil while preparing herb sauce.

2. For the herb sauce: Return now-empty skillet to medium-low heat; add shallot and cook, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add wine and bring to simmer, scraping bottom of pan with wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Add ¹⁄₄ cup Steak Sauce Base, vinegar, and any accumulated juices from steak; return to simmer and cook until slightly reduced, about 1 minute. Off heat, stir in chives, parsley, tarragon, and butter, season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over steaks and serve immediately. 

Comments
This recipe is from the Cook’s Illustrated 2011 Annual.  We accidentally got some NY Strips in our recent bulk cow pickup – we had wanted the cut whole, not as steaks.  Luckily, we like NY Strips so it’s all good.  It’s rare that I get the chance to cook steaks inside these days, Art usually claims them all for grilling!  But I saw this recipe and decided it would be fun to try and a good way to use up some steaks from the freezer. 

The sauce was deliciously rich and flavorful.  Almost impossibly rich, in fact.  The steaks were cooked perfectly, but I owe that to judicious use of my very awesome instant read thermometer.  Will I ever make the sauce again?  Doubtful.  It took hours and was not worth it.  However, I’d use this method for steaks again with no problems and pair it with another delicious sauce or compound butter. 

Shown here with Spaghetti al Limone.

Cook’s Illustrated 2011

Ingredients
3-5 pounds flank steak
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup onions, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
²⁄₃ cup water
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
¹⁄₂ cup sour cream

Instructions
1. Heat grill or broiler. 

2. Season steak with salt and pepper.  Grill or broil about 6 minutes per side, or until desired doneness is reached.  Rest 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. 

3. Meanwhile, heat oil and butter in large skillet.  Add onion and cook until soft, 3 to 5 minutes.  Add mushrooms and cook until tender, 5 to 10 minutes more.  Stir in water, mustard, Worcestershire, and thyme.  Cook 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. 

4. Slice steak across grain and top with mushroom sauce. 

Comments
This recipe is from Taste and Tell. It sort of reminded me of stroganoff in sauce form over flank steak.  This was my first time grilling flank steak myself and I was fairly pleased with how it turned out.  It’s sort of a difficult cut of meat because it’s much thicker on one end than the other!  But I had my meat thermometer and was happy.  This sauce would work well on other steaks too. 

Shown here with Creamy Tater Tot Casserole.

Internet - Taste and Tell

Ingredients
4-5 pound top round roast
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 425*F. 

2. Rub oil into meat then season well, on all sides, with salt and pepper.  Place on rack set into rimmed baking sheet. 

3. Roast 30 minutes then decrease heat to 300*F and roast until instant read thermometer reads 125*F, about 10 minutes per pound. 

4. Remove from oven and cool at room temperature.  Wrap in foil and refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Comments
This recipe is from the amazing The River Cottage Meat Book which was a Christmas present from our awesome friend, Brian.  What a great book.  I used it while figuring out what cuts of meat to order with our recent bulk meat order.  While I was using it for research, I marked this recipe as a “must make soon.”  Wow, am I glad I did!  This roast beef was perfect. 

I served it as open face simple sandwiches using homemade bread, local lettuce and tomatoes, red onion, and a bit of mayonnaise and mustard.  Best roast beef sandwich I’ve ever eaten.  YUM.  I’m not sure off the top of my head how many top round roasts we got with our cow order, but I might be using this recipe for all of them. 

Shown here with Bread.

The River Cottage Meat Book

Ingredients
For the bacon onion balsamic jam
6 thick slices bacon, cut into small pieces
2 medium red onions, halved and thinly sliced
²⁄₃ cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Salt and pepper

For the burgers
4 thick slices bacon, minced
2 pounds ground beef
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper

Instructions
1. For the jam: Cook bacon in medium saucepan over medium heat until browned and beginning to crisp.  Remove bacon with slotted spoon and pour off all but 2 tablespoons of oil from saucepan. 

2. Add onion to saucepan with bacon grease, season with salt and pepper, then cover the pan and cook for 2 minutes.  Remove lid and add 2 tablespoons water.  Stir well, scrapping up any bits from pan.  Replace cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 10 minutes, or until onions are softened and beginning to brown.  Add vinegar, mustard, ²⁄₃ cup water, and bacon to saucepan.  Bring mixture to simmer and continue cooking until liquid has thickened and becomes mostly absorbed, about 5 more minutes.  (Jam can be made up to 2 days ahead of time, stored in the fridge, and warmed before serving.)

3. For the burgers: Combine bacon, ground beef, Worcestershire, 1 teaspoon salt and ¹⁄₂ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.  Gently mix until combined and form into six equal-sized patties.  Heat grill or prepare pan over medium heat.  Cook burgers 5 minutes per side, or until desired doneness is reached.

4. Serve burgers topped with jam. 

Comments
This recipe is from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures and wow, it was awesome.  While the burgers were lovely, I’m not sure they were that much more amazing than regular burgers.  However, the jam was really something special.  I would make this again in a heartbeat to go with steaks or burgers.  I might even add it to the Christmas roster! 

Shown here with Cheater Mustard Greens and Spicy Potato Wedges.

Internet - Tracey’s Culinary Adventures

Ingredients
3 ¹⁄₂ pounds chuck roast or steaks, cut into 1-inch pieces
Olive oil
2 pounds onions, sliced into ¹⁄₄-inch half moons (3-4 medium onions)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 ¹⁄₂ cups beef broth
12 ounces beer (I used whatever random beer Art picked up last time he bought beer.)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon cider vinegar or red apple balsamic vinegar (I need to stock up on this stuff.)

Instructions
1. Heat oven to 300*F. 

2. Season beef with salt and pepper.  Heat 1 tablespoon oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add ¹⁄₄ to ¹⁄₃ of the beef to Dutch oven in a single layer.  Cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until one side of meat is well browned, then remove from Dutch oven.  Add more oil if necessary and repeat with remaining beef. 

3. Reduce heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon oil.  Add onions, ¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt and tomato paste.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are lightly browned, about 15 minutes.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add flour and stir to coat onions.  Cook until flour is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. 

4. Stir in beef broth, scraping bottom of pan with wood spoon to loosen any browned bits.  Add beer, thyme, bay leaves, vinegar, and beef along with any accumulated juices.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Increase heat to high and bring to boil, stirring occasionally.  Cover pot partially with lid then transfer to oven.  Cook until beef is tender, about 2 to 3 hours. 

5. Remove thyme and bay leaves before serving. 

Comments
This recipe is from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures and I found it while looking for a way to use up the chuck roasts and steaks in the freezer.  Cuts from the chuck of the cow tend to be great for braising which happens to be one of the only meat preparations that Art Does Not Like.  No pot roasts for him, thank you very much!  However, we’d gotten some chuck roasts and steaks in our meat CSA, so I needed to use them up regardless of Art’s feelings. 

This was fantastic.  Very reminiscent of beef stew with great, rich flavors in the sauce.  I could easily see adding carrots, celery, and potato cubes to turn this into a heartier beef stew if I ever get to make it again. 

I served this with potatoes, but it would work very well over just about any sort of starch.  I’ll be having some of the leftovers with rice at some point. 

Shown here with BBQ Potatoes.

Internet - Tracey’s Culinary Adventures

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
¹⁄₂ teaspoon dried thyme
¹⁄₂ teaspoon black pepper
¹⁄₂ teaspoon sea salt
3-4 pound sirloin tip roast

Instructions
1. Heat oven (or grill) to 375*F. 

2. Mix all ingredients aside from sirloin tip roast in immersion blender cup and blend into herb paste.  Spread herb mixture evenly over roast. 

3. Place in baking pan (or on grill) and cook until thermometer reads 125*F for medium rare, about 40 minutes.  Cover with foil and rest for 5 to 10 minutes before thinly slicing. 

Comments
This recipe is from Purely Primal.  I’ve ended up with an unusual number of sirloin tip roasts over the last year and I’ve learned that it’s not a cut I particularly care for.  This roast, however, was pretty tasty.  I had to bake it instead of grilling it due to the weather, but it seemed to turn out well enough.  This roast was nice and flavorful, but not especially tender due to the cut. 

Shown here with Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

Internet - Purely Primal

Ingredients
8 strips bacon
8 hot dogs
8 slices cheddar cheese (about 1 inch high and 3-4 inches long)
1 package Pillsbury crescent rolls

Instructions
1.  Heat oven to 350*F. 

2. Cook bacon between sheets of paper towels in microwave about 3 to 5 minutes until bacon is starting to cook but still pliable. 

3. Cut slit into each hot dog, about halfway through.  Fill each slice with piece of cheese.  Wrap bacon around cheese-filled hot dog. 

4. Place each hot dog on edge of crescent roll then roll up as instructed by packaging with hot dog in the middle. 

5. Place wrapped hot dogs on baking sheet and bake 13 to 17 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and cooked through. 

Comments
This is a favorite from my childhood and I’ve been thinking about it ever since we got our first package of hot dogs from Zekiah.  I asked my mom a few questions about how she did things and it was simple enough from there!  I thought they were delicious and Art and Lance were pleasantly surprised too.  Thanks Mom!

Shown here with French Fries and Dipping Sauce.

Person - Mom

Ingredients
4 pounds skirt steak
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions
1. Fire up your grill.  Season skirt steaks with salt and pepper. 

2. Grill over hot fire until meat is charred on the outside and done to your liking on the inside, about 2 to 3 minutes per side, depending on thickness of meat.  Transfer to carving board, let rest 5 minutes, then thinly slice against the grain. 

Comments
This recipe is hardly a recipe at all.  Just apply fire to meat until done! 

Skirt steaks are amazing, but I’ve never been able to find them even at my local butcher.  I had to get these from my local farm where I buy our other local meats.  I’ve had skirt steak in restaurants, but this is the first time I’ve had them to make at home.  The cut is so rich and buttery and it’s amazing.  Very rich and fatty, but oh so tender.  We all devoured this meal. 

Shown here with Chimichurri and Cartofi Aburiti.

Person - Gwen

Ingredients
For the burgers
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound ground beef
3 tablespoons onion, minced
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¹⁄₂ tablespoon ground cinnamon
¹⁄₂ teaspoon ground allspice
¹⁄₄ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground ginger
¹⁄₄ teaspoon ground black pepper

For the sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
¹⁄₄ cup olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

For serving
Cucumber, thinly sliced
Tomatoes, thinly sliced
Lettuce
Pita bread

Instructions
1. Combine all burger ingredients in medium bowl and form into 3 to 4 patties. 

2. Prepare grill, grill pan, or skillet.  Spray patties with cooking spray and cook about 5 minutes per side for medium rare. 

3. Combine all sauce ingredients in small bowl.  Serve burgers with sauce, pitas, cucumber, tomatoes, and lettuce. 

Comments
This recipe is from allrecipes.com.  I turned it into burgers and used beef instead of lamb based on some recommendations in the comments.  I also ended up making a sauce that was mentioned in a comment and we ended up eating them as open face sandwiches on pita bread since the pita bread was resistant to being opened and they were a bit messy with the sauce and everything. 

These were delicious and there were complaints around the table that I hadn’t doubled the recipe.  The burgers are very well spiced and every bite was full of flavor.  You could easily make these with lamb or chicken, depending on what you’ve got and what you eat. 

The sauce is very similar in flavor to aioli but significantly more lemony than the aioli I’ve made in the past.  This would be easy enough to modify by reducing the amount of lemon juice used, if desired.

Internet - allrecipes