More meaty munching for me and mine?

August 30, 2009 9:36 AM

I'm looking to expand my repertoire of strong meaty tasting recipes. Can you help?

I feel like I'm getting stuck in a culinary rut. Looking for some new strong tasting, meaty flavoured recipes I may not have tried before!

Things I like:

Steak
Marmite
Bloody Marys
Blue cheese
Chili
Anchovies
Roast dinner
BBQ ribs.
Recipes I can make out of the store cupboard/freezer in half an hour.

You get the idea! What could I make to eat/drink along similar lines that's a bit more unusual? What do people from other cultures make when they want a meaty fix?

posted by emilyw to food & drink (23 comments total)

Beef hearts are about the meatiest thing I've ever eaten.
posted by dunkadunc at 9:48 AM on August 30

Fajitas! Marinated skirt steak cut into thin strips, usually cooked in a pan with onions and peppers, put in a tortilla with condiments like pico de gallo or salsa, monterrey jack or (mild) cheddar cheese, sour cream, guacamole, etc.
You don't really have to marinate the meat, but it tastes better. If you don't, you could conceivably have it made in 30 minutes. Slice the meat and veggies, throw them in pan until done how you like them, wrap 'em up and eat.
Seeing that you're in the UK, I have no idea how readily available some of the condiment ingredients are, but most of them are pretty typical stuff.

Chicken fried steak is a southern US classic that I personally find super gross, but a lot of people really like. It's pretty "unusual," I guess. It probably takes longer to make than you would like.
Stir fry is another that is quick and easy.
posted by ishotjr at 9:49 AM on August 30

Korean beef dishes like kalbi and bulgogi are awesome and cook really fast. Serve with rice and kim chee, if you like. You could try an asian grocery store to find the meat, it might be pre-marinated or not. If not, you can find marinade recipes all over the web, and the asian market also will sell pre-bottled marinades. If you don't have an asian market nearby, you should be able to get the meat from a local butcher.
posted by cabingirl at 9:58 AM on August 30

Spinach stuffed steak.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:02 AM on August 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

I like this Beef and Guinness stew from Jamie Oliver. It takes a little longer than you'd like but it's one of those you can throw in the oven and leave alone. It would probably freeze beautifully.

I love chicken fried steak so much my mom makes it for me every year on my birthday, but I don't know if I would call it super meaty. I think it's kind of more about the breading.
posted by sugarfish at 10:17 AM on August 30

Pork roast stuffed with sausage
posted by runningwithscissors at 10:17 AM on August 30

Bigos - a Polish stew with meat and sour cabbage. Lovely vinegary, meaty and sensuous autumnal dish when done right.
posted by athenian at 10:33 AM on August 30

Pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon is delicious. About an hour to cook but not much in the way of prep, just rub w/spices and layer bacon on top (I've done it w/those pre-marinated pork tenderloins as well).

Enjoy some beef carpaccio while you're waiting for it to cook.

Hunt down a local butcher or beef farm w/a store and ask them for suggestions.
posted by Marie Mon Dieu at 10:34 AM on August 30

sugarfish, as good as that recipe may be, steak and ale (or steak and guinness) stew is complete without mushroom ketchup. The degree to which it intensifies the flavour of beef is incredible.
posted by Brother Dysk at 10:40 AM on August 30

While you didn't spell it out explicitly, your list is basically a definition of umami. You'll find those same glutamate-based flavors in mushrooms and miso. And anything that includes a hefty dose of fish sauce.
posted by neroli at 10:49 AM on August 30

Ropa Vieja soothes my occasional need for a meat overdose.

It's also great for three or four days of taco leftovers.
posted by rokusan at 11:01 AM on August 30

Alton Brown's pot roast recipe is insanely good.

Chicken thighs are great, use them instead of breasts in chicken recipes. Bone in breasts or whole chickens are also great.

Paneer.
posted by shownomercy at 11:03 AM on August 30

Asado a la olla (meat in a pot) is easy and flavorful:

Cut 2 lbs of steak into 1" cubes. Lightly brown the meat in a little olive oil in a soup pot, adding some salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper. Cover with water, add a few crushed garlic cloves and a few bay leaves. Simmer 30-60 minutes. Serve in flour torillas with your favorite salsa.
posted by neuron at 11:20 AM on August 30

A Boeuf Bourguignon in (Gasp!) Five Steps (NYT).
posted by neuron at 11:23 AM on August 30

Adobo marinade tacos: Marinate beef in blended Chilies in Adobo sauce. Saute onions until translucent and crunchy (not soft). Put in tortillas.

Lime marinade tacos: Roast beef strips. Add some lime juice (about half a quart cup) in the pan toward the end and braise until the juice becomes thick. Cover your meat in it. Put in tortillas with the onions from above.

Either of the taco recipes above would work with chicken and / or veggies like zucchini too. Great on steak though :-).

Other taco tips:
1. Buy some masa harina to make tortillas. You mix 3/4 cup of water with a cup of masa harina, roll it into some balls, flatten, and cook. Takes a minute and really brings your tacos to another level.

2. Make guacamole. Leave the pit in the guac and it will keep in the fridge.

Horseradish sauce: Buy the horseradish root. Grate into some sour cream with a little lemon. Fresh horseradish is stronger than wasabi and provides a kick and a half to beef, especially when rare.

Chipotle lime mayo: Take an egg yolk, blend or mash with garlic, a drop of water, and a little oil until emulsified. I do this in a coffee mug with a hand blender, but hear a mortar and pestle works well too. Add more oil slowly and keep emulsifying. Add an adobo chili and some lime juice. Great on steak in any way, but this is the start of a great steak salad. Be sure to mix in some cilantro.
posted by xammerboy at 12:05 PM on August 30

that should read half a quarter cup for the lime marinade.
posted by xammerboy at 12:05 PM on August 30

Goulash.
posted by kldickson at 12:06 PM on August 30

Here are a couple of mine:

French onion soup:

5 medium yellow onions
3 cloves garlic
Concentrate to make 5 cups beef stock
Wine
Butter
Spices

Dice onions, mince/press/chop garlic, and saute both in butter over medium heat until the onions start to brown. (This will take a long time.) Reconstitute stock with 1/2 water and 1/2 wine (or all wine, if you're hardcore--sherry works particularly well), heat to boiling. Add onions to stock, season to taste.

That's it! I generally wing it on this recipe as far as, well, just about everything. Some pointers, though:

• I use soy sauce instead of salt, for a more robust flavor. A bit of Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, or similar savory additives can also add to the effect.
• Patience is a virtue--if you saute your onions longer, they'll get browner, and sweeter and richer in flavor, thanks to our old friend the Maillard reaction.
• That is, up until they start burning. The onions should be tender and slightly sweet when you transfer them to the broth.
• For the spices, I use some pre-mixed herbes de Provence that I got at Safeway (containing rosemary, marjoram, thyme, and savory--parsley and sage were unavailable as the BART line to Scarborough Fair was closed for repairs), as well as a bit of black pepper. Seems to work fine, but there's always room for experimentation.

Beef stew

Beef (chuck or other cut suitable for stew)
Onions
Celery
Carrots
Potatoes
Garlic
Pepperoncini, 1 jar or slightly less, with brine
Beer (lager) or sake
Dehydrated beef stock

This is the most heuristic recipe in my library (as you may be able to tell by the fact that I do not specify real quantities for anything but the pepperoncini). It is simple: reconstitute the beef stock with the beer or sake (I use cheap sake and Better than Bouillon beef stock concentrate) and add all the ingredients, appropriately chopped or diced. The heuristic I generally use is that one should have slightly more than one part by volume of beef, roughly one part each of all the principal vegetable ingredients (save for garlic and pepperoncini, of course), and enough stock to cover the lot.

In any event, put it in the Crock-Pot for about six hours on high or ten on low, then check that the potatoes are soft and the beef is thoroughly cooked.
posted by tellumo at 1:08 PM on August 30 [1 favorite has favorites]

If you dig blue cheese and anchovies, you really need to get into olives. If all you've had are the cheap, pickle-flavored jarred ones, you're in for a revelation.
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:25 PM on August 30

(If you're looking for meat recipes rather than just meaty-flavored foods, well, there are lots of meat-stewed-with-olives recipes out there. Basically all the Mediterranean cuisines have some variant on the idea, with my personal favorites cropping up in Morocco and France.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:27 PM on August 30

Oh, also on the blue cheese: blue cheese is awesome on cheeseburgers, especially with a nicely seared crust (key to this on all foods (including potatoes): don't flip it until about two or three minutes after you think there's no point in flipping it). If you enjoy blue cheese and meat, you will be about as happy as dis kitteh afterwards.
posted by tellumo at 4:14 PM on August 30

Kangaroo and other game.

Kangaroo steak tastes like I think beef steak should taste, so long as you don't over cook it! Kangaroo chili and Kangaroo Massaman curry are also great for the carnivore within.
posted by kjs4 at 6:41 PM on August 30

Austrian Goulash prepared with beef!
The linked recipe is basically how I do it, too, except I'd definitely not just cook it for just 2 hours, but for at least 3-4, and let cool overnight and re-warm to make it even meatier. Apart from the long cooking time, it's really easy to prepare. Can be served with noodles, spaetzle, gnocchi - bread dumplings are not required. Vegetables not necessary either. That's the meatiest recipe I know.
posted by The Toad at 6:53 AM on September 2