Beef Sirloin Tips with Smokey Pepper Sauce over Herbed Polenta

This was a delicious, quick, and easy weeknight dinner that I will definitely be making again. With only a few steps, you get a hearty and comforting dinner. The polenta recipe is a favorite of mine from Giada that I have adapted for 2 people. You can change the herbs around depending on what you're serving alongside it. The recipe I use is from Giada's Family Dinners but I found one on the Food Network site that's pretty similar so you can view it online.

I didn't change anything from the original beef recipe besides buying already-cut stir-fry meat, but I wrote it out for you below because you have to be a registered user to view it on the Better Homes and Gardens site. Also, the flavor from the barbecue sauce is very strong because it reduces so make sure you use one you really enjoy.

Beef Sirloin Tips with Smokey Pepper Sauce
from Better Homes and Gardens
Makes 4 servings

1 1/2 pounds beef sirloin tip steak
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika or paprika
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 (12- to 16-ounce) jar roasted red and/or yellow sweet peppers
1/2 cup hickory or mesquite flavor barbecue sauce
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley, if desired

Trim meat and cut into 1 inch chunks; sprinkle with paprika. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add meat, brown 5 minutes. Remove from skillet and drain fat, keep warm.

Meanwhile, drain roasted red peppers, reserving 1/2 cup liquid from jar. (If you don't get 1/2 cup, just add water to the liquid to equal 1/2 cup.) Add peppers and liquid to skillet after draining fat from meat. Add barbecue sauce. Cook, uncovered, 5-10 minutes, stirring frequently until sauce is thickened.

Return meat to skillet, heat through. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately over herbed polenta.

Herbed Polenta
amounts adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis
Makes 4 servings

2 (14.5-ounce) cans chicken broth
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup yellow cornmeal or polenta
2/3 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
coarse ground black pepper, to taste

Bring chicken broth to boil in a large, heavy pot. Add the salt. Gradually whisk in the cornmeal. Reduce heat to low and cook about 15 minutes, until mixture thickens and cornmeal is tender; stirring often.

Remove from heat and add cheese, butter, herbs, and pepper. Stir until butter and cheese melt, serve immediately.

Corn Muffins

I am always searching for a good, simple corn muffin recipe, so I decided to give this one a try from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. I changed out the milk for some buttermilk since, as always, I had some leftover in my freezer (seriously, when are they going to start selling that stuff in smaller quanities?).

These muffins were good for the purpose I intended: to serve with chili; but I don't think they were moist enough to eat on their own. I would have preferred a little bit looser crumb. Still, they are easy enough to make, and the original recipe gives several variations so go check it out!

I made just six muffins for us, so all the ingredients are easily halved. Just remember though, if you are baking them in a 12-cup muffin tin, to add a little bit of water to the empty tins before baking!

Corn Muffins
from Better Homes and Gardens
Makes 12 muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 to 3 tablespoons sugar
2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk (or buttermilk)
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400F. In a medium bowl stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine eggs, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened.

Spoon the batter into 12 greased 2-1/2-inch muffin cups, filling cups two-thirds full. Bake in the preheated oven about 15 minutes or until light brown and a wooden toothpick inserted near centers comes out clean.

Baked Polenta with Sausage and Tomato-Pepper Sauce

Not the prettiest photograph, but I have discovered that is the norm with comfort food!

I have to admit that I was a little nervous about this dish, all the way up until I sat down at the dinner table and had my first bite. And then, WOW, it was delicious! The spicy tomato sauce with the sausage and peppers combined with the melted cheese and slices of polenta really came together to make a great, comforting meal.

Polenta is a bit of a discussion point in our house, so I was also trying to sneak this into the dish without Chuck knowing. In efforts to vary the starches with dinner in the past I have made the more traditional creamy polenta, with regular cornmeal that you cook slowly and mix with cheese, butter, and milk, among other things. Chuck didn't like the texture, so now that is relegated to when I make dinner for myself or for a dinner party when he won't complain anyway. ;)

But he ended up really liking the way this polenta was prepared. For those of you who don't know, the type this recipe calls for looks like this:

and can be found in or near the refrigerated gourmet cheese case near the deli section of your supermarket. It is a little on the expensive side which may lead to me figuring out how to prepare this on my own in the future.

Since I wasn't sure whether we would like this enough to freeze the leftovers, I halved the entire recipe and was able to make it in an 8x8 (or 9x9) square Pyrex baking dish. WARNING: Pyrex and Corningware are NOT safe for under the broiler - the heat is too high and you risk cracking the dish. But I had nothing else this size; so I moved it further away from the broiler and baked it with a cookie sheet under it in case it broke and held my breath pretty much the whole time it was in there! It didn't break (this time) but I would highly recommend using stoneware or a ceramic dish instead if you have it. Enjoy!

Baked Polenta with Sausage and Tomato-Pepper Sauce
from MyRecipes.com
Makes 6 servings

5 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 medium yellow onion, halved lengthwise, then cut into thin wedges
1 medium yellow, red, or orange bell pepper, cut lengthwise into thin slices
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon each salt, freshly ground black pepper, and red pepper flakes
1 pound bulk Italian sausage, sweet or spicy, casings removed (I would suggest omitting the red pepper flakes if you use the spicy sausage)
2 tubes (16 ounces each) prepared polenta, sliced into 1/2-in.-thick rounds
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, drained and sliced into 1/4-in.-thick rounds

Preheat broiler to high. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in a 2- to 3-quart saucepan set over medium heat, then add tomatoes and oregano and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, salt, pepper, and pepper flakes, and stir to combine. Cover pan, lower heat to medium, and cook until vegetables soften, about 5 minutes. Add sausage, stirring and breaking it into small pieces with a wooden spoon as it firms up, about 5 minutes.

Cover pan and cook until vegetables are tender and sausage is cooked through, 5 to 8 minutes more. Add tomato sauce and simmer 10 minutes.

While sauce is cooking, pour remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil into a 9- by 13-in. baking pan and tilt to coat bottom. Add polenta slices to pan and turn to coat with oil, then arrange slices lengthwise in 3 slightly overlapping rows.

I could only find polenta with sundried tomatoes in it; hence those unidentified red pieces.

Broil polenta about 4 inches from heating element until golden brown and crispy, 10 to 15 minutes. Pour sauce over broiled polenta, then arrange mozzarella slices over the top.

Broil until cheese is melted and beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

Corn Bread with Green Onions and Parmesan Cheese

You can serve all sorts of things with chili. I used to serve mine over rice, but with my 6-Hour Chili I have really found that corn bread is the perfect side dish. This particular corn bread adds the flavors of green onions and a hint of Parmesan cheese in addition to the creaminess of buttermilk.

Since I make this with my half-recipe of chili, I halve this as well, with PLENTY of leftovers. All the ingredients are easily halved and you can make it in a 1 1/2 quart (8x8) baking dish, with the same baking time.

Corn Bread with Green Onions and Parmesan Cheese

from Epicurious

Makes 10 servings

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 3/4 cups chopped green onions
2 cups yellow cornmeal

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)

1/3 cup sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with nonstick spray.

Melt butter with oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add green onions; sauté 3 minutes. Cool.

Whisk cornmeal, flour, cheese, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pepper in large bowl to blend.

Whisk buttermilk and eggs in medium bowl to blend. Add buttermilk mixture and green onion mixture to dry ingredients; stir until just blended (do not overmix). Transfer batter to pan.

Bake bread until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool. Cover with foil and store at room temperature. Rewarm uncovered in 350°F oven 10 minutes.) Serve warm.