John’s Campfire Gyros

We went camping with John’s side of the family last weekend and had a blast. John was in charge of Saturday night’s dinner and decided to throw together kabobs for gyros. I recommended beef because raw chicken + camping makes me nervous, so he went that route. These were so tasty grilled over an open flame, and don’t require a lot of work.

Meatloaf with Garlic Sauce

Another Ina recipe winner. Really satisfying meatloaf, and I really prefer the garlic sauce to the typical meatloaf toppings like ketchup. John liked his with HP sauce.

Homemade Beef Stock

This is not something I make regularly because beef stock isn’t really like chicken stock – you don’t just have cow carcasses laying around after a simple dinner. But I did end up with two bags of meaty beef bones when we bought our share of a cow, and this seemed like the obvious way to use them. I loved how gelatinous and rich the broth turned out. I’ll be using some of it for French Onion soup later this week. And I actually saved the beef that fell off the bones: it came out almost like braised short rib. John will make tacos with some of it tonight.

Kitchen Resolution: Homemade Beef Jerky

Our food dehydrator has officially been  broken in. Got this recipe from the “Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It” cookbook. My sister and I had planned to have a “jerky-off” (classy) when we came up to visit…but I totally left mine in the fridge.

Beef Negamaki and Chicken Yakitori

Mm, izakaya night. I wanted to make negamaki but was worried I didn’t have enough steak, so I decided to throw together some yakitori with the same marinade.

 

Fajita Salad

I threw this together kind of impromptu, and it turned out really well.

Lemongrass Beef

This cookbook recipe never made it up on the blog, it seems. Well, it was delicious.

Onion Meatballs

Probably wouldn’t make this again, but a basic recipe from my Alcatraz cookbook.

John’s Slow Cooker Barbacoa Tacos

I really loved this recipe from John. Have used the leftover meat in quesadillas, in breakfast burritos. It smells really spicy when you cook it but turns out flavorful but not all that hot. Spice fans might want to add some jalapeno peppers, etc.

Stuffed Cabbage, Julia’s Version

This recipe, from Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 2, was really labor intensive but turned out delicious.