Fallen Souffle

Last week I was a bit of a slacker and therefore did not cook alot, I ate alot of leftovers and Evan was stuck making burgers and steaks (aw shucks). Therefore I was going to be more prepared this week and make the week’s meals in advance. Yeah, I know it sounds crazy but it worked really well. I always make a menu for the week but this week I took it a step further and actually prepared some of the meals. Not only will this be easier during the week but I bought exactly when i needed for the week and used it, so things wouldn’t go bad.

Here is this week’s menu:
Monday- Lasagna with Turkey Sausage (Ina recipe)
Tuesday- On your own-Pizza Dough Available (Jen’s going out with the girls!)
Wednesday- Beef and Guinness Pies with Roasted Carrots
Thursday- Sweet and Tangy Flank Steak

But that’s not all!

I also made a marinate for fajitas and threw in a pound of skirt steak which was put in a ziploc and frozen. I know- I’m thinking ahead! I also deboned some skin on chicken breasts for some tequila lime chicken.

In addition to that I made a lemon yogurt poundcake (See pic-Ina recipe)as well as some chicken stock. No I was actually not in the kitchen all day, It took about 3 hours all together but considering I will have dinner ready and one dish to clean every night I am stoked.

The lasagna is completely prepared, I made some pizza dough for Evan so he can make a pizza or calzone, I made the base of the beef pie and the flank steak is marinating. Plus, we have dessert for the week!

Here are a few recipes I used:

Beef and Guinness Pies

2 lbs. stew meat
2 T. flour
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
2 T. vegetable oil
1 large onion chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
3 T. water
1 1/2 T. tomato paste
1 cup beef broth
1 cup Guinness beer
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. fresh rosemary chopped
1 sheet puff pastry
1 large egg beaten
1 T. water

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees.

2. Pat beef dry and roll the beef in the flour, salt and pepper mixture. Heat oil over medium-high heat and add beef in 2-3 batches and allow to brown for about 5 minutes. Let beef rest on a plate.

3. Add onion, garlic, and water to the pot and cook until onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook one minute, stirring and scraping the bits off the bottom of the pot. Stir in beef and juices, broth, beer, Worcestershire sauce, and rosemary bringing to a simmer.

4. Cover pot and transfer to the over. Braise until beef is very tender and sauce is thickened, about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Discard rosemary and cool stew completely.

(At this point you may refrigerate until ready to serve)

5. Preheat/increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.

6. Divide the stew between 4- 14 oz ramekins. Cut puff pastry into 4 squares. Combine egg and water to create a wash. Brush tops of ramekins with wash. Invert one square over each ramekin. Brush remaining wash over pastry and freeze 15 minutes to chill dough.

7. bake pies in preheated shallow baking pan until pastry is puffed and golden, about 20 minutes.

8. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees and bake 5 more minutes to fully cook dough.

Fajitas Marinade
Enough for 2 pounds of meat

1/4 cup lime juice
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. In a large resealable plastic bag, mix together the lime juice, water, olive oil, garlic, soy sauce, salt, and liquid smoke flavoring. Stir in cayenne and black pepper.

2. Place desired meat in the marinade, and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or overnight. Cook as desired.

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