Eat to the Beat -Be My Guest for Beef Ragout

This was my first blog event...Eat to the Beat from Elly's Blog. I went with my favorite Disney movie, Beauty and the Beast. There is a song titled "Be Our Guest" and it mentions many dishes. Here are part of the lyrics:

Be our guest! Be our guest!
Put our service to the test
Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie
And we'll provide the rest
Soup du jourHot hors d'oeuvres
Why, we only live to serve
Try the grey stuff
It's delicious
Don't believe me? Ask the dishes
They can sing, they can dance
After all, Miss, this is France
And a dinner here is never second best
Go on, unfold your menu
Take a glance and then you'll
Be our guest! Be our guest!
Beef ragout
Cheese souffle
Pie and pudding "en flambe"
We'll prepare and serve with flair
A culinary cabaret!
You're alone
And you're scared
But the banquet's all prepared
No one's gloomy or complaining
While the flatware's entertaining
We tell jokes!
I do tricks
With my fellow candlesticks

I know nothing about Beef Ragout so I did some searching on the Internet and found this Beef Ragout - Country Style recipe. I really enjoyed the recipe and next time I plan to add some tomato paste and something with more salt.

INGREDIENTS

2 pounds beef chuck roast, cut in 1 1/4 inch cubes
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large onions,each cut in 8 pieces
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
28 ounces tomatoes, canned, drained, quartered
5 tablespoons parsley leaves fresh chopped, divided
1 teaspoon thyme leaves dried
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup red wine burgundy
1 cup beef broth
1/2 pound mushrooms quartered
6 ounces olives pitted, ripe, drained

DIRECTIONS

Trim excess fat from beef cubes.

Brown cubes in hot oil in Dutch oven over high heat (in 2 batches, if necessary).

Add onions; brown lightly; add garlic.

Stir in tomatoes,3 tbsp. parsley, thyme, salt and pepper.

Add wine and beef broth to just cover; bring to boil.
Reduce heat; cover and simmer 1 hour.
Add mushrooms;cover and simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender.
If desired,simmer, uncovered, last 10 minutes to reduce liquid.
Add olives; heat through; stir in remaining parsley.
Serve ragout with hot cooked noodles, rice or mashed potatoes
Garnish with parsley.
Makes 4 to 6 servings

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

This recipe has a long story....but let me just say that my oven stopped producing heat while I was making this dinner, and because of that I learned you can cook pasta in the microwave! I am not sure where I found this recipe....but I am pretty sure it was adapted from a Rachael Ray recipe. It was SO good. This was also the first time I had ever made meatballs.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb hamburger
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
2 tsp parsley
1/2 cup shredded parmesan
salt
Mozzarella, cut into 1/2 in cubes
garlic
Italian blend seasoning

DIRECTIONS

Mix milk with bread crumbs set aside to soak up milk. Add hamburger, egg, parsley, parmesan, salt. Mix all together until well blended. Scoop 2 tsp of meat mixture into your hand, add a cube of cheese in the middle, roll a ball around cheese cube. Bake on cookie sheet at 350 for 25-30 min.

Peanut Butter Bars

I believe I saw these on Amber's blog and they were fantastic! It was like eating a big 'ol Reese's!

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs (very finely crushed)
2 cups powdered sugar
8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 ½ cups chocolate chips (I used half milk chocolate and half semi-sweet)

DIRECTIONS

Mix the crumbs and sugar until completely combined.
Add the melted butter and peanut butter to the mixture above.
Mix well and press into a 9x13 inch pan.
Melt the chocolate chips in microwave
Spread chocolate over the bars.
Refrigerate until hard.
Let sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes before cutting.

My Notes: Next time I want to try them out in an 8X8 or 9X9 dish so they are nice and thick!

Sausage Gravy

INGREDIENTS

1 lb bulk pork sausage

1/4 cup flour

2 cups half and half

salt

pepper

sage

DIRECTIONS

Crumble and cook sausage, sprinkle in some sage, cook until browned. Stir in flour until dissolved. Gradually stir in half and half. Cook gravy until thick and bubbly. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve hot over biscuits, I used store bought.