Tag: beef
Hickory Smoked Beef Sticks
Hickory Smoked Beef Sticks
If you’re from the Midwest, especially Minnesota and Wisconsin, you appreciate a good beef stick. Every independent meat shop with a smokehouse has their version. It is how they get rid of any beef trim, day old ground beef, dark steaks, etc. Every bit of it becomes either sausage or a beef stick. Ultimately, the beef stick gives that cow a second life. It is a perfect way in utilizing the entire animal’s muscle. If you have all of the necessary equipment to make beef sticks, then get ready for an afternoon project. You will want to use beef no leaner then 80% lean. Even fattier is better. I’ve learned that mixing all of your ingredients in a standing mixer is the best way. It is consistent, easier on the hands, and takes only 2 minutes. Pipe the meat through collagen casings instead of hog casings, and we’re half way there. You can choose to either cut the sticks now to your desired length or leave them whole and cut after smoking. Smoking beef sticks is a slow process. If you smoke the sticks to high of a temp, it will render out all of the fat, leaving your beef sticks dry as an actual stick. I preheat my smoker to 250 degrees. I place my wood chips in and let them light for 10 minutes. Then I place my beef sticks in on the racks. I instantly turn the temp down to 185 degrees. At this low of a temp, you’ll only have to change out your chips every 2 hours. So just once. You will want to check the internal temp at the 3 hour mark. Once your thermometer reads 160 degrees, pull the beef sticks from the smoker. Immediately submerge them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Dry them off, and they’re ready to eat. The beef sticks will keep in the refrigerator for 1 week.
Equipment
- standing mixer
- sausage stuffer
- Electric Smoker
- large bin
- Probe Thermometer
Ingredients
- 7 lbs 80% lean ground beef
- 2 1/2 tbsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp ground mustard
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp celery seed
- 1 1/2 tsp pink curing salts
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup ice water
- collagen casings
Wood Chips
- hickory wood chips
Instructions
- Add the ground beef and spices to a standing mixer. Using the paddle attachment, mix on low speed for 2 minutes, slowly incorporating the ice water. Let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before stuffing.
- Pipe the meat into the collagen casings.
- Let rest for 30 minutes before smoking.
- Place the beef sticks on the racks of your smoker, making sure that they don’t touch each other.
- Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees. Let the wood chips light on fire and smoke for 10 minutes. Place the beef sticks in the smoker and turn the temp down to 185 degrees.
- Smoke for about 4 hours until the temperature reaches 160 degrees.
- Once the internal temp is reached, immediately transfer the beef sticks to an ice bath in a large bin to stop the cooking process.
Prego Steak Sandwich
Prego Steak Sandwich
In addition to the prego rolls, the Portuguese also introduced the prego steak sandwich to South Africans. This might be the most ultimate steak sandwich you’ll ever eat. It is that good and fairly easy to make. Thinly sliced sirloin steaks are marinated in a peri peri based marinade, then quickly grilled. The steaks are topped on a prego roll with onion and tomato. I made a simple peri peri aioli to smear on top of the roll.
Servings: 4 sandwiches
Equipment
- immersion blender
Ingredients
Steak Marinade
- 3 tbsp peri peri sauce
- 1 small roma tomato chopped
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
Prego Sandwich
- 4 prego rolls sliced in half
- 1 1/2 lbs top sirloin cut into 4 steaks; each steak sliced in half and pounded to 1/8” thick
- tomato thinly sliced
- onion thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp peri peri sauce
- olive oil
Instructions
- Place the marinade ingredients in a small bowl.
- Using an immersion blender, purée the ingredients.
- Marinate the sirloin for 8 hours.
- Heat up a tbsp of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Toast the prego rolls until golden brown.
- Add another tbsp of olive oil to the pan. Increase the heat to high. Add in the sirloin in 2 batches, making sure not to overcrowd the pan.
- Cook the sirloin for no more than 2 minutes a side.
Sandwich Assembly
- Place 2 pieces of steak on the bottom part of the prego roll.
- Mix together the mayo and peri peri and smear the top part of the bun. Top the steak with sliced tomato and onion.
Prego Rolls
What a lot of people don’t realize is that South Africa was discovered by a Portuguese explorer in 1488, heavily influencing the country’s cuisine. The Portuguese introduced prego rolls (amongst many other things) to South Africa, becoming a staple at the dinner table. The rolls only have a couple of ingredients and are fairly easy to make if you have the patience to allow dough to rise. Prego rolls are good on their own with butter, but even better as a prego sandwich.
Equipment
- standing mixer with dough hook attachment
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 4 1/4 cups bread flour plus more
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Add the warm water, yeast, sugar, oil, and salt to the bowl of a standing mixer on low speed. Mix for 2 minutes. Pour in the milk.
- Slowly incorporate the flour into the bowl until a ball forms. Knead in the mixer on medium low speed for 5 minutes.
- Take the dough off the hook. Cover with a towel and let rise for 45 minutes.
- Lightly flour a clean surface. Roll the dough out into one long cylindrical shape. Cut that in half. Then cut 6 equal pieces out of each cylinder, for a total of 12 pieces.
- Roll each piece into a ball and cut an X into the top.
- Place each dough roll on a baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the rolls to rise for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the baking sheet on the center rack.
- Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown.
Peri Peri Sauce
Peri peri is eaten all over Southern African countries such as Mozambique and South African. The sauce, which can double as a marinade, has the perfect balance of sweet, salt, and acidity, with a tremendous amount of heat. It pairs well with just about every meat, fish, and seafood. The base of the sauce comes from African bird’s eye chilies. Since these peppers aren’t accessible outside of Africa, Thai red bird’s eye chilies are a suitable replacement. All of the ingredients are puréed in a food processor, then slowly simmered to cook out the raw flavor of the ingredients. Peri peri can be stored in an air tight container for up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 red onion chopped
- 8 garlic cloves chopped
- 1/2 cup red bird’s eye chilies chopped
- 1 red bell pepper seeded and chopped
- 2 small roma tomatoes chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 small lemons juiced and zested
- 4 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 tbsp oregano
- 1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
Instructions
- Place all of the ingredients in a food processor.
- Purée until smooth.
- Place the purée in a small pot over medium low heat. Simmer for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring.
Algerian Kefta
Algerian Kefta
Here is an Algerian version of one of my favorite dishes, kefta. This particular type of kefta are made from ground beef, onion, garlic, salt, and pepper. They are formed into flattened meatballs, pan fried, then topped with a tomato sauce. Serve the kefta with basmati rice.
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 cup white onion finely chopped; divided
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 roma tomatoes diced
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1 tsp ras el hanout
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Mix together the ground beef, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1/4 cup onion, salt and pepper.
- Roll into a dozen meatballs.
- Slightly flatten the meatballs into patties.
- Place the kefta in a sauté over medium high heat.
- Cook for 4 minutes a side.
- Remove from the pan and arrange on a platter.
- In the same pan, sauté the remaining onion for 5 minutes.
- Add in the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
- Add in the tomatoes, parsley, and ras el hanout. Sauté for 5 minute until tomatoes are soft.
- Pour in the water.
- Cook down for another 5 minutes.
