Winter-Spiced Beef with Tomatoes in Rice

I have to say, I've been loving my allspice jar lately. The smell is just so lovely at this time of year, I kind of want to dump it on everything. So I dumped it on some beef. The flavor profile would probably be better in a nice beef stew, but it was still tasty and definitely interesting. I made the rice to go with it mostly because I had a sad looking tomato on the counter that obviously needed a home. This serves 1.

Pepper and Garlic Steak

Well, the steak part of this cooked up really juicy and tender. However, the seasoning tasted a little...strange. And therein lies the adventure of making up recipes when you don't really know what you're doing!

Spicy Beef and Bean Chili

If you're looking for a chili so spicy that it curls your hair, this isn't what you're looking for: this has a little heat, but not enough to really fix up your sinuses. It's delicious, simple and hearty. It was also my first time ever using a chili pepper, so I wanted to start small. I tend to make my chili a bit on the liquidy-er side, so if you want yours thicker, try draining the second can of tomatoes before adding it. You can keep the tomato liquid for making soup. Also, sorry for the poor-quality pictures: the chili was steaming up my camera lens, so it was hard to photograph. This recipe makes 6 servings; remember that chili freezes well.

Flank Steak and Cheesy Orzo with Pistachios

This meal was really born out of leftovers. Mmmm: leftovers! I had leftover cheese and leftover flank steak and leftover pistachio. Hence: this. The pistachios aren't really necessary for it, I admit that, but I liked them. They were a nice change. I have to say, you should really cook your steak longer than I did, since mine was practically still alive in the middle. So yeah: feel free to do that.

Knock-Off Mongolian Beef

This was pretty damn good! A little bit sweet, a little bit salty, crispy, yummy. Mmmm. It's a fattier cut of meat than I usually choose to cook, but once in a while I think it's okay. The only odd thing is that the beef seemed to absorb the cornstarch: next time I'll try patting it dry first, even though it didn't seem to affect the final product. I'll also try using a smidgen less soy sauce. I got the basics of this recipe from the blog Kitchen Trial and Error, but lightened it up a bit.

Orange-Sesame Beef Stir-Fry

This little experiment turned out quite well! The sauce was nice and really came out well on the meat, while the vegetables still tasted a bit of ginger. I've never eaten this in a restaurant (though I've heard of it, obviously) so I can't say how it compares, but as an at-home stir-fry it was great!