Did They Eat It? Sweet and Sour Beef

Oh hey! I cooked a meal for my family!

It was 5:30 and the ground beef I pulled out of my freezer yesterday was still frozen solid. This made my last minute plan to make a lot of meatballs pretty much out of the question. So I pulled out my favorite last minute dinner cookbook, Seat of The Pants Suppers, and quickly found a recipe that would take me 20 minutes or less to make with things I had in the house.

(*This book is awesome, I've made a lot of the recipes before but the actual book is impossible to find.)**(For some recipes see below.)

I pulled out Sweet and Sour Beef just to see who would eat it.

You need
1 - 1.5 pounds of ground beef (not shown, see below)
1 T. vegetable oil
1/2 an onion
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup ketchup
3 cups cooked rice.

I spent about 40 minutes trying to slowly defrost the ground beef in the sink and that was aggravating. 

When that was finally done I put a tablespoon of oil into a saute pan.

Then threw the diced half an onion and let them cook briefly.

Next I took that big hunk of almost entirely defrosted ground beef and threw it in the pan as well.

It's all very complicated so far I realize.

While the meat is browning make your sauce.

Take 1/4 cup molasses.

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup ketchup.
Those of you with really good eyes will notice I have a little more than 1/4 cup of each ingredient in my measuring cup and that's because I had 2.3 lbs of beef and was trying to be sure there was enough sauce.

Then mix it all up in a bowl.

When your beef is browned, pour the sauce on top. I could probably make this recipe sound a lot more difficult by adding better words but let's just call this what it is. Easy and quick to the table.

And simmer...(on my Maytag stovetop that has not malfunctioned ever.)

You can add a tablespoon of water at a time if your sauce seems too dry.

Serve over rice and marvel at your 20 minute meal.

Check us out at the table for the first time since June.

Did They Eat It?

Logan "Hey really good considering when I walked in the door you didn't have dinner even started." Max "I'll eat this but don't put it in my lunch. Can I play video games now?" Melissa "Good, reasonably satisfying and I'm happy to get back into our family dinner routine." Maddie I can't even really talk about why Maddie didn't like this without wanting to punch a unicorn in the mouth.

**Seat Of The Pants Recipes
Crusty Lemon Chicken
Mexican Corn and Potatoes
Broccoli Garlic Pasta
Chicken Rice Casserole

Comments

[RebeccaLand]

I have a mini-Maddie, 5 y/o senorita picky-pants, and I know she wouldn't eat this but I know I will. Thanks for sharing.
Best to you and loves.

[susan]

I would make it but throw in some vegetables. Did you know you can make meatballs in the microwave? I make them the regular way, but I micro them on 75% power, then put them in the sauce that I serve them with.
My picky eaters are becoming less picky- I served thai food last night and they both ate it. I couldn't believe neither complained that it was spicy, because it was. My husband is an omnivore, and my daughter, Max's age,proclaimed herself a "pickyvore" Sorry you have one too.

[alexis]

i liked that you mentioned your maytag stovetop has never malfunctioned ;)

[Dacia]

Just punch the unicorn. It sounds worse than it is, and after that you will feel better. :D

[Tracy]

Just for future reference, I've cooked ground meat (beef, turkey) that was frozen into a solid brick and it works fine. You just have to use medium heat and occasionally turn it and scrape the cooked bits off the bottom. Also, I bet this would be good with a couple of tablespoons of teriyaki sauce added to the sauce.

[Amy B.]

What Tracy said, above. I NEVER defrost hamburger when I'm using it all crumbled up. I use the flip and scrape method almost exclusively. You can even do it on med hi if you need to do it faster. Then I'd keep an eye on it though, because it tends to spatter.

[The Bug]

Wow - that flip & scrape method of cooking frozen ground beef brings back memories. We were a hamburger helper kind of family when I was growing up. Oh, and spaghetti. I was the designated ground beef browner...

Dana

[Pamela]

Is there something wrong with microwaving frozen ground beef, or do you not have a microwave? Or do you not believe in microwaves? I defrost beef and chicken in the microwave all the time -- mine has a defrost setting -- and it seems to work great. But lately I've seen people talking online about the challenges of frozen meat, and I don't exactly get it. BTW, this recipe looks good. Will have to give it a try.

[Tracy]

Pamela, if you're able to successfully thaw meat in the microwave, you're a better person than I am. Mine always ends up cooked around the edges, even on the defrost setting. Okay for ground meat, not for chicken breasts.

[Melissa Summers]

I always end up with cooked spots

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 23, 2009, at 11:12 AM, typepad@sixapart.com wrote:

[Kristyn Eagleton]

Melissa, I made this for my picky kids last night. Super fast and they were so into it. Well except for the spicy cucumber/jalapeno mix. I think I would pour this over rice as you did above the next time I make it. http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/gingery-pork-and-cucumber-pitas-recipe-00000000020845/index.html

[Teri Lynn]

Sometimes unicorns are just asking for it.

[Nancy Heiser]

Hello Melissa Summers, I am the author of said, hard-to-find cookbook, Seat of the pants Suppers. Someone who read your blog emailed me for a copy. I have about 6 left on a shelf in my house, and I promised her one, so soon I will be down to 5. The book, by a small press now defunct, is out of print. Some copies can be found on eBay. But the burning question is: Shall I shop this puppy around and see if I can get a bigger publisher to take on an update and a reprint? I am gauging interest, here, with my question. In any event, I am delighted the book made it as far as Detroit, as it was primarily sold in New England. Thanks for the mention. Cheers, Nancy Heiser

[amy]

Looks like a keeper :) Thinking I would throw some red/green/ or yellow peppers in with the onions. We love our peppers!

[hippittee]

My fail safe way for defrosting anything frozen...put frozen item in a ziplock bag. Select a dish that will hold the ziplocked bag and allow for 1/2 - 1 inch of water to cover. put bag in dish, add cold water and then put the whole thing in the 'fridge.

If I do this in the morning, my item is always thawed in time for me to cook dinner. If you have the option, you may want to turn over the package half way through the process as the frozen brickette has a tendency to float - so this helps ensure the top 1/2 gets thawed too.

I'll be sure to give the recipe a try as well...always up for something fast!

[Heidi]

I would definitely buy that cookbook. There's interest here in Chicago!

[Anne May]

Am totally impressed that the cookbook author was found! I would definitely be interested! I use the thaw-in-water method that hippittee mentions. Ziploc freezer bags are our friends.

[Kate]

That cookbook sounds cool. I'm in Canada.

I will try making that for my kids. I think they might eat that.

Count me in for the scrape-and-flip as well. It is a religion in my house.

I am sometime able to defrost meat in the nuker but I NEVER do ground beef because if the outside parts get brown they taste positively vile.

[Lisa]

I have horrible luck with using the microwave to defrost chicken and ground beef AND I have a fancy-smancy microwave with a defrost function. The meat always comes out cooked around the edges. I do buy the bags of Gordon Foods flash frozen chicken breasts that you can cook straight from the freezer and they cook up very nicely. Some of the other brands, not so much.

The Sweet & Sour Beef looks yummy. I'm all about easy, quick, filling, and not a lot of pans, so bring on that cookbook! Print on Demand perhaps?

This has inspired me to post my favorite ground beef recipe on my blog now....

Ground Beef. It's what for dinner during our Hard Times.

[christy]

Made this a couple nights ago and it was a big hit. I added some garlic in with the onions just for the hell of it. The next day I made sweet and sour beef sloppy joes with the leftovers.

Thanks for sharing it!

[Julia]

I would also be interested in the cookbook, do a reprint! It costs $37 used on Amazon, yikes!

[amy]

" The next day I made sweet and sour beef sloppy joes with the leftovers.:

Great idea Christy, sounds yummy..

[Amanda of Shamelessly Sassy]

Someone may have commented with this already, but my microwave has a defrost option. I had never used it until I had some frozen hamburger I really wanted to cook. I put it in on defrost for 2 minutes intervals. Every two minutes I would flip it over. After about 8 minutes of microwave magic, it was completely thawed and looked rather fresh. I use the method all of the time now. It's great if you're in a hurry to fix dinner. The meal looks lovely, by the way.

[Jen]

Someone in MN would love the cookbook too!

[Kristin]

I also like the method of putting the frozen block of beef right in the pan...oh, and using a potato masher is the best way to break up the beef until it's nice and crumbly, much easier than a spoon or spatula!

[Mamasoo]

Yay Fiestaware!

Looks good, but I don't think my family would eat it.

Gotta get a unicorn...

[reen]

Looks good, I'd make it with chicken and veggies and I bet my kids would eat it.

YES from Austin, Nancy, on the book! I stand there slack-jawed every stinking evening at 6:00, can NEVER figure out how to plan dinner ahead - it's a sickness, I tell you! Your book would save my hide and my sanity.

[Jennifer]

Yummy! I love all things sweet and sour.

What I'm amazed at is that Logan ate something with a half an onion in it!?!?!?

[Anne May]

Oh well, I tried - my own picky pants (both the adult and the child!) completely rejected. Husband said "an unusual failure in your usually stellar choice of recipes". Maybe if the book is reprinted I could try some of the others! (hint, hint, authoress who checked in!)

[Tricia]

I made the sauce and used it over leftover flank steak and vegetables. Everyone loved it except my 6 year old who is recently afraid of choking on beef and in general doesn't like what I cook anymore. He used to eat whatever I made. I miss that.