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This is an easy “throw it in the oven and forget about it dish.” The recipe comes from a cookbook of my mother’s. I think it’s called Main Dishes and it was compiled by the US Parent-Teacher Association, but the cover is missing so I can’t be sure of the title. It seems like we had one cookbook for main dishes and a different one for something else, desserts? Anyway, it was probably published in the late 1960s or early 1970s. It’s 382 pages, so there’s every kind of hot dish imaginable, whole sections on Beef Stews and Ground Beef Dishes, many of them just slightly different from each other. This cookbook came in very handy when we ate ground moose regularly. I would just comb through until I found a recipe that I happened to have all the ingredients.
- Ingredients
- 4-5 potatoes, sliced
- Salt and pepper
- Small onion, sliced
- 1 lb. ground beef (or caribou, moose, elk, or bison–I’ve used them all)
- 15 oz. can Pork and Beans
- 1 cup tomato juice (or tomato sauce or vegetable juice or 12-oz can V-8–I’ve used them all)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 2-quart casserole dish (I use my Dutch Oven) with non-stick spray or grease. Place a layer of sliced potatoes, salt and pepper, then a sprinkle of sliced onions. Add ground beef (just sprinkle it around on top), then the Pork and Beans. Add another layer of potatoes, salt and pepper, and sliced onions. Pour tomato juice over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for two hours. Yield: 4 servings
This recipe calls for a small can of “Pork and Beans” and I’ve always bought Van Camps, but Van Camps’ ingredient list warns there’s a potential for soy. This may be a problem for some. I looked up how to make Pork and Beans myself and it’s essentially a soupy version of my “Ranch Beans” recipe, using small white beans and no chili powder. I haven’t tried that yet in this recipe because I’m all about easy with this dish. I love to eat Potato-Bean Casserole liberally enhanced with pickled sliced jalapeno peppers.
I’ve got one of those fancy ovens that you can set it to come on and then turn off at specific times. I can’t tell you how many times I put this in the oven with partially frozen meat, set the oven to come on and then cook for two hours, and arrived home from soccer practice to have a wonderful meal all ready for hungry people to eat. Press the easy button!
This food adventure started when I saw a FB post from my pastor saying his son like “bap” better than turkey dinner. I wondered, “what is bap?” Google and Pinterest settled that question rather quickly. Not being a huge fan of turkey dinner myself, I just had to try it. I’ve “tried” this now about five times. Please bear with me. We rarely eat meals that I don’t prepare myself, so I’ve never tried this delicious Korean dish other than what you’re reading here. Who knows if it’s authentic. It’s probably not, but do I care? It’s easy to make and tastes great. The marinade is super sweet, so if you aren’t a fan of sweet meat, best to move along. For me, the sweet meat makes the dish.
Essentially, this is a rice bowl. The ingredients are prepared separately and then placed into the bowl. It’s okay for it to be served room temperature. I use a medium skillet to stir-fry each vegetable, one after the other, then stir-fry the meat in the same skillet. I fry the egg in a smaller saute pan at the very last, trying to keep it intact as the runny egg should be considered part of the sauce.
- Meat Marinade for Four
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 3 Tbsp. chopped garlic
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup chopped green onion
Either pork or beef strips will do. I’ve been buying these boneless pork chops from Costco and slicing two of them (2 servings) into thin strips and then dropping into this marinade. The marinade makes enough for four servings. Let the marinade work for about an hour.
- 1. Prepare enough rice for the number of people you are feeding, white rice or brown rice.
- 2. Stir-fry any of the following sliced ingredients in a little bit of oil, separately, and set aside into separate bowls: mushrooms, bok choy, carrots, cabbage, spinach, kale, chard, snow peas, zucchini, broccoli, cauliflower, orange squash, peppers, sweet potato, any kind of vegetable should be okay. I usually stir-fry four different kinds.
- 3. Pull the meat strips out of the marinade. Discard marinade and stir-fry meat in oil on high heat until cooked. Set aside.
- 4. Divide the rice, and then the stir-fried ingredients, equally between serving bowls, one bowl for each person.
- 5. Last thing: fry one egg per person, sunny side up. Place egg gently onto top of each serving bowl.
- 6. Make sure you have Gochujang Sauce (mine comes from the grocery store) available for each person to sauce their own bowl.
In my opinion the best way to eat Bibimbap, after it is served, is to crack the yolk and stir the whole thing up. Enjoy!
Foods Passion 