I make similar cabbage rolls but use brown rice instead of white, since it’s healthier. White would be just as good, but brown rice has a bit of a nutty flavor you may like. I brown and drain my ground beef with diced onions, and make the sauce from canned tomato sauce (not jarred pasta sauce) with lemon juice, brown sugar, a little garlic powder, a dash of paprika, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and a scoop or two of raisins. I find the sweetness of the raisins and brown sugar works great against the tanginess of the onions, lemon juice, and tomatoes.
I pour the sauce over the meat and rice and mix well, then take my boiled cabbage leaves, stuff them with the mixture, pour more sauce over them in a baking pan, and bake for about 20 minutes to brown them up.
Brown up a bit of it, drain it, and freeze it in snack-size ziplock bags. Then you have the makings for a quesidilla anytime you want one - a bit of cheese, some onions, whatever else that’s in the fridge - put in a tortilla and: presto!
My grandmother’s sweet-and-sour meatballs. Alternately, you can use the meatball mixture (with a bit more rice) to stuff cabbage leaves, and then bake them in the sauce.
I say make the burgers anyway, but get Kaukunana (spelled COMPLETELY wrong) cheddar chesse. It’s soft. There is a place in Clayton (St. Louis, MO area) called the Fatted Calf, and they put soft cheddar cheese on their burgers and it’s heavenly. It melts on the burger. My mom found a substitute at the grocery store (aforementioned incorrectly spelled cheese) and it is wonderful. You’ll never settle for a slice of American on a burger again.
Similar to this (and I just made it for dinner last night) is my father’s ever-popular Macaroni Cheese Casserole. Make your mac ‘n’ cheese (with the sauce a little bit wetter than usual), add browned ground beef and mix all together. Put the mac ‘n’ cheese beefy mix in a casserole dish, top with mashed potato and any grated cheese you like. 20 minutes in the oven and enjoy! YUM!
1 lb ground beef
1/2 onion chopped
1 can refried beans
1 can Rotel tomatoes (diced)
1 sm can diced green chilis
1 sm can sliced black olives
16 oz jar of taco sauce
flour tortillas
grated cheese
Brown the meat with the onion. Drain grease, and add all the other canned stuff. Layer a little meat sauce in a 9 x 13 baking dish. Then tortillas, sauce, cheese, tortillas, sauce, cheese. Bake at 350° until bubbly, about 30 minutes.
I tried something very similar once, but I actually used lasagna noodles instead of the flour tortillas, and that red enchilada sauce that comes in a can – Old El Paso, I believe. It came out AWESOME. I used an envelope of taco seasoning with the ground beef, and blended sharp cheddar and pepper jack shredded cheeses on top. Kicked ass.
How 'bout Picadillo? (Cuban Beef Hash) The plantains are nice, but certainly not necessary. I like to add a little of the juice from the olives to give it a little more kick.
We usually have this over rice, or even toast., but you can get creative and use it for filling in tortillas, pie crust (think trunovers), etc.
Picadillo
(Cuban Beef Hash)
2 lbs. lean ground chuck
4 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup onions, finely chopped
2 lg. cloves of garlic, minced
1 lg. green pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp. oregano
2 tsp. salt
2 bay leaves
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ cup pimento-stuffed green olives
¼ cup seedless raisins
½ cup red wine
3 tbsp. tomato sauce
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut in tiny cubes
Ground pepper to taste
In a 12 inch deep skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté onions and green peppers until soft but not brown. Add ground beef, garlic, oregano, salt, ground pepper, bay leaves, cumin and tomato sauce.
Stir until meat is no longer red. Add wine, raisins, and olives. Cover and cook for about 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, in another skillet, deep fry the potato cubes until golden. Remove to a paper towel.
When the beef mixture is cooked, fold in the crisp fried potato cubes in to the beef.
Serve hot with long grain white rice and fried ripe plantains.
I think I just ran into this cheap ground beef phenomenon.
Just returned from albertson’s, soon after opening at 6 a.m. (they’re closed from 10-6). There were 3 approx. 1 lb packages of 85/15 ground beef for 1.11/lb Separate from the rest of the ground beef. There isn’t any albertson’s-labeled ground beef, usually it is moran’s at 3-4/lb.
Can anyone else check in with the butcher section closing and getting cheap ground beef?
My sister makes ‘hamburger soup’, which is basically just a regular vegetable-type soup with hamburger thrown in after it’s been lightly browned in a pan, and usually some egg noodles. She usually uses cheap frozen veggies, like corn and green beans, and some tomatoes and carrots.
This is a recipe I’ve posted before, but it’s relevant here, so:
Hobos
You’ll need 1.5-2lbs of the hamburger, a few potatoes, and onion and a couple of cans of Cream of Mushroom soup
Preheat oven to 400 F.
Brown 4 hamburger patties
Place patties in a a fairly deep (2 or 3 qt.) casserole dish.
Put a slice of onion on top of each patty.
Slice potatoes about 1/2" thick (I leave the skins on) and layer on top of the patties/onions.
Heat the soup in the microwave a couple of minutes just to get it melted a bit; stir in generous amounts of salt and pepper. Pour the soup over the patties/onions/potatoes until covered. (you might not use all of the soup).
Cover the casserole and place in the oven for an hour (maybe more; check the potatoes to see if they’re done).
Voila!
This is an awesome cheap-but-hearty meal, and the leftovers are even better!
