Grandmas Beef And Noodle Food

GRANDMA'S BEEF AND NOODLE CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rapid boil. Cook egg noodles at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, 7 to 9 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir ground beef, bell pepper, and onion in the hot skillet until beef is browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir flour into the drippings in the pan; slowly whisk in milk and season with salt and pepper. Stir in 1 cup Cheddar cheese, olives, and pimentos.
• Drain noodles and fold into the beef mixture. Transfer to a casserole dish and cover with remaining cheese.
• Bake in the preheated oven until bubbly and cheese is melted and browned, about 40 minutes.

GRANDMA'S BEEF AND NOODLES

Steps:

• Heat an oval dutch oven (any braising dish will work, although Grandma always used an oval, about 5 qts, which happened to be what I have too) over medium high heat. When it is hot, add the oil and heat it to shimmering. In the meantime, dry the beef thoroughly and coat and rub it in salt and pepper. Be generous here, there should be a decent coat of salt on the meat. Place the beef in the heated oil and sear on all sides. Take your time and let a crust develop before turning it. Get as many sides as you can--due to shape you may miss some, which is ok.
• Preheat the oven to 300 F to be ready in 3-4 hours--if you need to take longer you can also cook it at 275 for the first few hours and take more like 5-6 hours total.
• Remove the beef and place on a dish that will catch the juices. Throw the onions and garlic into the pot. Turn down the heat if it is too hot, which will happen with cast iron. Cook until the onions are translucent. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, just a splash or 2. Add the 2 cups beef stock and bring to a boil. Add the beef, with its juices, back into the pan. Cover the pan with parchment paper hanging over the sides and place a heavy, tight fitting lid on top of that. Place in the oven for 3-4 hours. Turn the beef over halfway through, especially if your cut of beef is higher than the liquid line.
• When the beef is falling apart tender, break it apart into bite sized clumps. Add canned beef if using. Add enough stock to be able to cook the noodles and add some salt if using homemade.
• Bring to a boil on the stovetop over medium high heat and add the noodles. When the noodles are done, take notice of now thick or watery the sauce is. If it is too watery, let it simmer, uncovered. Mix 1-2 tablespoons flour (depending on how watery you think it is) with the equivalent of cold water and add it to the sauce. The finished dish should be saucier than mine looks (see notes above about my stock problem). Taste for salt and pepper.
• If you have some guests who need heat in their food no matter what, serve with red chil pepper flakes (Grandma just rolled over in her grave, as did Grandpa too, but what can I say I am married to a Chile Head).

BEEF AND NOODLES

Steps:

• Add oil to a large dutch oven over medium heat.
• Sprinkle the flour over the meat and toss to evenly coat cubes with flour.
• Brown half of the coated meat in hot oil. Remove from pan. Brown the remaining meat and remove. Set aside.
• In the same pan, brown the onion and garlic, adding more oil, if necessary. Drain off any excess fat. Return all meat to the pot.
• Stir in the broth, wine, marjoram, and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 1-1/2 to 2 hours or until meat is tender.
• When meat is tender, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool briefly.
• In the meantime, stir noodles into broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low.
• Shred beef and add back to pot with noodles.
• Cook, uncovered, for about 30 minutes or until noodles are tender and mixture is thick. Add additional broth or water if necessary (if noodles are absorbing it all).

BEEF AND NOODLES

Steps:

• Heat a skillet over medium-high heat; cook steak, working in batches, until seared and browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Transfer seared steak to a plate.
• Melt butter in the same skillet over medium heat and saute onion until softened, 5 to 10 minutes. Add steak to onion and pour beef stock over steak; season with bay leaves, thyme, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover skillet with a lid, and simmer until steak is tender, 50 minutes to 1 hour 50 minutes. Stir peas and cornstarch into steak mixture; cook uncovered until liquid thickens, about 10 minutes.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook egg noodles in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 5 minutes; drain. Serve beef mixture over noodles.