I’ve posted a few beef grilling recipes the last couple days courtesy of Stockman and Dakota. Check out these beef recipes for your Father’s Day grill out next weekend, Grilled Teriyaki Beef Kabobs and Grilled Beef Fajitas.

Today I have some fun beef facts and trivia tidbits. Save these bits of beef trivia to dazzle dad at the grill, and have fun quizzing the family to see what they know about beef.

Fun Facts about Beef~ “Beef Trivia,” from Beef From Pasture to Plate

• How beef came to America: Christopher Columbus brought cattle with him to the Western Hemisphere on his second voyage to the New World in 1493, but Hernando Cortez was the first to bring cattle to North America in 1519.

• First hamburger: The hamburger made its international debut at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. Café owner Fletcher “Old Dave” Davis of Athens, Texas, described his early burger as a classic, greasy burger served on just-out-of-the-oven slices of bread and garnished with mayonnaise, sliced onion and cucumber pickles. The people of Athens were reportedly so pleased with Fletcher’s sandwich that they raised a pile of money and sent him to the World’s Fair.

• Beefiest day of the year: More beef is consumed on Memorial Day than any other day of the year. The Fourth of July and Labor Day typically tie for the second most popular beef-eating days.

• Most popular beef cut: Ground beef. Between 40 and 45 percent of all beef sold today is in ground form. This includes fast food hamburgers, ground beef from the grocery store and processed meats such as sausage, hot dogs and lunch meat.

• Beefy nutrients: Beef is the number one source of protein, vitamin B12 and Zinc. Beef is also the number three source of iron behind fortified cereal and grains.

From “Beef Flavor Preferences Study,” Beef Retail

• Favorite flavors with beef: The top five most-liked flavors consumers enjoy with beef are onion (58 percent), followed by garlic (52 percent), herbs (33 percent), Worcestershire sauce (26 percent) and lemon/citrus juice (19 percent).

One last piece of beef trivia from the Guinness Book of World Records

• Largest hamburger on record: The largest commercially available hamburger is 164.8 lbs. and is available for $399 on the menu at Mallie’s Sports Grill & Bar in Southgate, Michigan, as of August 29, 2008.

Wow! That’s one big burger!

Images via Stockman and Dakota

Though I’m a Paula Deen fan I don’t make many of her recipes very often because I think we’d be having some health issues if we ate like that more than once a month or so!

One of her meals that my family and I really enjoy, though, is her Wayne’s Beef Macaroni & Cheese.

I felt like making something easy last night and even though I didn’t have a bell pepper on hand it still turned out great. I like to add four cups of the crushed tomato, otherwise it gets a bit dry in the oven, and I scale back the chopped onion to about one cup. It’s also really good with ground turkey.

Beef Macaroni & Cheese
from Paula Deen

1-pound box [large] elbow macaroni
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups chopped green bell pepper
2 cups chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 pounds lean ground beef
3 cups canned crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon each dried basil, ground cumin, and dried oregano
2 to 3 cups grated Cheddar

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cook the macaroni according to package directions; drain and set aside. Heat the oil in a skillet; add the peppers, onion, and garlic, and saute until soft. Add the ground beef and saute until browned. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper, to taste, and the basil, cumin, and oregano. In a large bowl, combine the macaroni and the beef mixture. Spread this mixture into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Top with the cheese and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cheese is lightly browned and bubbly.

Cook’s Note: Ground turkey or chicken can be used in place of beef, if desired.

[image: sxc]

Yes, I am aware that it’s a Spanish dish. But believe it or not, Paella has long been part of the Philippine menu. If I’m not mistaken, only Filipino cooking has the Spanish influence among all Asian cuisine. Surprised? You’re not alone. My Kiwi officemates were actually amazed to find out I was of Spanish descent when they asked about my lengthy maiden name.

I’m featuring the Paella today because my sister’s friend was kind enough to cook this for my mom’s birthday lunch.

Flickr Image: avlxyz

(I have the photo, Tom, the previous editor of Noodles and Rice, had the recipe.)

I miss Paella! It’s a shame that Spanish is just as unpopular as Filipino cooking is, here in Christchurch.

I realized recently that I start a lot of my recipes here with “this is one of my favorite meals to make,” but it’s true! I love cooking and baking in general, but I love it even more when it’s something I enjoy putting together.

This is another one of those favorite meals: Korean-style short ribs. One of the reasons I like it so much is because the majority of it’s done in the crockpot, so a lot of the hard work is done for me and the house smells wonderful all day — how can you beat that? I like to serve it over white rice and garnish wish toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onion.

Korean-Style Short Ribs

1/2 c soy sauce
1/2 c packed light brown sugar (you can scale it down to 1/3 c)
2 Tb sesame oil
2 Tb rice vinegar
2 Tb minced fresh ginger
4 cloves of crushed garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
5 lbs beef short ribs

3 Tb cornstarch
3 Tb cold water

Mix soy sauce, sugar, oil, vinegar, ginger, garlic and red pepper in a small bowl. Place ribs in a 5-quarter slow cooker and pour sauce over. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or on low for 9 hours.

Transfer ribs to a platter, and skim and discard excess fat from liquid. Place liquid in a saucepan, combine cornstarch and water and add to liquid. Bring to a boil and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove meat from ribs, place over rice and top with sauce, green onions and sesame seeds.

Stuffed shells are one of my most favorite meals to make. They’re simple, you can use pretty much anything on hand, and everyone loves them!

I’ve been making this particular recipe for about eight years now. You can use all beef or all turkey, but having tried both I prefer the combination. You can also use homemade pasta sauce, which works really well, but if you don’t have it on hand the jarred kind can be tasty too.

The recipe below makes about 30 shells - or two casserole dishes worth. My family of five gets through about a pan and a half, and the rest go in the fridge for yummy leftovers. If you don’t have that many people to feed it halves very easily.

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