Southwestern Pulled Brisket

Pretty much what the slow cooker was invented for.  This is AMAZING on either soft tacos (with spicy slaw and avocados) or as barbecue-style sandwiches on soft buns.

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Beef Stroganoff

One of my (very many) favorite meals for Winter.  My only complaint:  I ALWAYS overcook the beef.  It really only needs to cook for 5 minutes, and I never get the timing quite right.  Still, a problem with my timing, not the recipe.

It only takes a half hour to make, including time to slice the onions, mushrooms, and steak. 

Beef Stew with Polenta

This beef stew is perfect for when there's a chill in the air.  Unlike many stews, this one is good on the first evening, although it's just as good leftover.
 

As with most soups, once the chopping is done, this requires a minimal amount of time actually spent at the stove.  The polenta takes 15-20 minutes total, concurrent with the last bit of stew simmering.

Kebabs

And... back at long last, delayed all week because I ran out of space on my hard drive and so my pictures were marooned on my camera.  Happily, I now have purchased an entire TERRABYTE of space (1,000 gigs!) which is, like, a zillion close-ups of bread crumb and such.

Anyway.

I made these kebabs because there was a grill available, and steak night was already taken.  They turned out really well; next time I will just make sure to cut the beef into more uniform chunks.  Mine were too large and took FOREVER to cook to medium.

When you want more than steak sauce...

Mmm... medium rare T-bone (cut in half) with gorgonzola and red wine sauce.

This was definitely not a weight watchers recipe... but keep the portions smallish, and it's not quite a heart attack on a plate.

Ingredients (for 2 people):

1 1-lb ribeye (probably better for cutting in half)
2-3 oz. gorgonzola cheese
4-6 oz. mushrooms, thinly sliced
a lot of butter (3 T?)
1/2 c. (1 glass) red wine (not too dry)
salt
pepper

30-60 minutes before cooking, remove the steak from the fridge. Pat dry with a paper towel; sprinkle coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper generously on each side.

When ready to cook, heat up heavy duty skillet over medium heat. Add 1/2 T of butter to the skillet; it should sizzle and melt immediately. Add the steak to the skillet; cook somewhere around 4 minutes on each side. Remove steak to a plate; spread 1/2 T butter on top, crumble the cheese over it, and tent with foil.

Add yet another tablespoon of butter to the skillet and sautee the mushrooms until they stop giving up liquid (3-4 minutes). Add the wine and scrape up any browned bits up with a spatula. Cook until the wine is reduced by about half and looks a little thicker. Add remaining butter; stir until melted.

Cut steak in half and plate; pour mushrooms and sauce over each portion.