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Savory Beef, Potatoes, And Bacon Skillet

Although this dish may be considered more of a “comfort” type food, this hearty meal could probably be enjoyed any time of the year. Even now, as the sun’s light is warming our previously frigid city more and more each day and expanding the length of the days, this dish was appreciated by everyone in my household when I made it the other night – quite by accident – as many of my dinners end up being. This meal has an unbelievably smoky yet tangy, intoxicating flavor that is indescribable! I used a stainless steel pan for this preparation but you could also use a cast iron pot or bake it in the oven. Let’s get started!

Ingredients:

1 – 2 pounds of all-natural, grass-fed sirloin steak (or whatever cut you prefer) cut into strips or cubes, or ground beef

1 medium-sized potato (your choice of potato type – I use Milva or Yukon) for one pound meat, 2 for 2 – diced or cubed

1 small onion, diced (if you really like onions you can add more)

1 or 2 bell peppers, any color, diced (optional)

1 package of no nitrate, naturally-raised bacon. Cut into 1 to 2-inch slices (I use Organic Prairie, it has roughly 6 – 8 slices. If you use a different brand, you may have more slices in the package, so you may want to use only half a package).

4 – 5  medium-sized diced organic tomatoes or 1 can of organic canned tomatoes (14 ounces)

1 1/2 teaspoons of paprika

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1 bay leaf

1 cup of soured cream or homemade yogurt (optional)

1 clove of garlic (or more, if preferred)

1/2 teaspoon of pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

Go to work:

  1. Pour the oil the pan and warm, then add steak or ground beef and cook until rare.
  2. Add onions, garlic, bell pepper, and potatoes to sautee.
  3. Add seasonings (except bay leaf) and garlic to the mix, and then tomatoes.
  4. Add bacon and stir the mixture.
  5. Bring contents to a boil, and then turn your stove setting down to simmer (low). Add bay leaf just after boiling occurs, and then add the cup (or more) of sour cream or yogurt and mix well before allowing to simmer. You should allow your meal to slow cook for 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how many potatoes used and the size of the pieces.  Be sure to remove the bay leaf before serving.

Update (01/29/10) – we made this dish again recently, and added sour cream at the end just after taking it off the heat of the stove. We mixed it in thoroughly and then served it. It was out-of-this world! If you put the yogurt or sour cream in while cooking, you will not get as creamy a result. I like it better this way, but it depends on your preference.We often eat this without, but you can also serve it with brown rice or rice pasta (sometimes we do it eat it with one of those two). We usually also have a green salad. You could also serve it with some warm, homemade bread with plenty of butter.  Enjoy!

Depending on how much you make, you can expect some leftovers, and this dish is really good eaten later as the seasonings really set in even more as it is allowed to sit in the refrigerator.

This post is linked to in Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays Carnival. Please check out all the other informative posts on this site.

This post is also linked to in Cheeseslave’s Real Food Wednesday’s Carnival. Please go and visit her site and read the other real food posts.

This post is linked to in Kitchen Stewardship’s Meals that Hamburger Helper was Trying to Imitate carnival. Please visit Katie’s site and see all the other real food recipes there.

5 replies on “Savory Beef, Potatoes, And Bacon Skillet”

Raine,
Oh, anything w/ bacon is my friend! 😉 Do you add the yogurt before cooking or right at the end? I was confused – I love my yogurt, though, so this might be a good one to try!

Thanks so much for joining up with the fake-o shamburger helper carnival!
🙂 Katie

Hi Katie – It is your choice to add the yogurt or sour cream during the cooking process or after you are finished cooking. Adding it afterward will produce a more creamy result – which is entirely too delicious! I updated this information on the recipe, because we actually made this less than a week ago and decided to try adding sour cream just before serving instead of the way I originally posted it. I definitely like it better that way. Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoy this recipe. It is definitely a favorite in our house. 🙂

Found this recipe from the link-up at Kitchen Stewardship. I had most of the ingredients (except bell peppers), and made it last night.
It was a big hit! And I have a fairly picky 5-year old too. I just added some raw sour cream right before serving and served it on top of noodles. My husband has already requested that we put it into the rotation.
Thanks for the recipe!

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