Beef Tips and Noodles

Quite unintentionally, we found ourselves in a rut the past few days with Italian food. Last Thursday and Friday we had homemade pizza (admittedly not the best I'd ever made, either). On Saturday, we enjoyed a delicious Italian buffet meal with our friends Nobody and Fantastagirl, and last night after being on the road for a couple of days, all I could muster was a couple of Jack's frozen pizzas.

I was in the mood for something different tonight, and Beef Tips and Noodles was just the ticket. In my opinion, it's nothing but comfort food that can be dressed up for company. I like it best with hot dinner rolls and a cool salad.

The following is a recipe I "stole" when I worked for a catering company, and reduced to a family-sized amount. You can use any cut of beef, even a tougher one. The meat simmers for such a long time, it will be tender. I've made it several times with venison, and I think I like it even better than beef, but we haven't had any venison for a long time, so beef it is. This time I'm using top round steak.

I like to use an oven-proof skillet and lid, but if you don't have one, you can use a large casserole dish and cover it with foil.


Beef Tips and Noodles

Roux (for thickening gravy):

1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour

Combine and cook over medium heat until mixture is bubbly and gives off a nutty aroma, about 3-5 minutes. Note that the darker the roux is allowed to cook, the "darker" your gravy will taste.

Set roux aside. (If all if it is not used in this recipe, you can refrigerate it for use at a later date.)


Beef Tips

1 lbs. beef, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
olive oil
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 onion, cut into chunks
mushrooms, cut into chunks (optional, as many or few as you like)
1-1/2 cups water
1 10-ounce cans beef consomme (can use beef broth, but consomme has richer flavor)
browning sauce, such as Kitchen Bouquet

Heat oven to 400° F.

Spray bottom and sides of oven-proof skillet or casserole dish with non-stick spray. Combine garlic powder, seasoned salt, dried thyme leaves and pepper. Sprinkle half of this mixture over bottom of pan. Place meat cubes in pan and sprinkle remaining spice mixture over the top. Bake in oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring once if desired.

Remove pan from oven. Reduce heat to 250°. Pour water and beef consomme carefully around beef cubes. Add onion and mushrooms. Cover pan, return it to oven, and let simmer gently for at least 2 hours or until meat is very tender.

Remove pan from oven and sit on top of stove. While liquids are still very hot, carefully whisk roux into liquids 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired thickness is achieved. Gravy will be light to medium brown. Stir in browning sauce, a little at a time, until desired color is achieved.

Taste gravy and adjust seasonings to taste.

Cover and set aside until ready to serve.


Noodles:

1 8-ounce package of dry egg noodles
olive oil
fresh or dried parsley

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain.

Drizzle lightly with olive oil (I prefer extra light olive oil for this), and toss to coat; this keeps noodles from sticking together.

Sprinkle with parsley flakes and toss.

Portion noodles onto serving plates or wide shallow bowls. Top with beef tips and gravy. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.


Dress-Ups:

Add 1/4 cup or so of dry red wine with the water and beef consomme for a richer flavor.

Stir 1/4 cup or so of sour cream just before serving for more of a stroganoff flavor.