Nate's Beef Cube Recipe

Here it is, as written:Fall Apart Beef Cubes with Spinach and Coconut

Serve with Rice, Roti or Naan (or both), recipe serves 6.

2 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 tablespoons Ginger Paste
1 tablespoons Garlic Paste
1 teaspoon coarse/sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 pound boneless beef (chuck or stew meat) cut into 1 inch cubes
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound fresh spinach leaves, well rinsed
1 cub shredded fresh coconut; or 1/2 cup shredded dried unsweetened coconut, reconstituted
1 teaspoon tamarind paste or concentrate
3 Cups of water

*** Personal note. Becky and I weren't able to find a store that had Tamarind paste so I substituted several tablespoons of mango/ginger chutney cuz it had tamarind as an ingredient. :)


1. Whisk the yogurt, ginger paste, garlic paste, salt, turmeric, and cayenne together in a medium-sized bowl. Add the beef cubes, tossing to coat them with the creamy, spicy marinade. Refrigerate, covered for at least 1 hour or as long as overnight, to allow the flavors to come together and the meat to tenderize.

*** personal note no. two. You could make this tomorrow or, if you're like me you could have skipped over 1 hour marination period in favor of a 10 minute period (might have been 20 minutes) where Becky grumps at you (or me, I can only take so much grumping before I cave in) about the food taking so long.

2. Heat the oil in a medium-size saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the beef, marinade and all. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the liquid gets absorbed and the oil starts to separate from the beef, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Pour in 1 cup of the water into the pan and scrape the bottom to deglaze it, releasing any browned bits of meat. Continue to simmer, uncovered, until the water is absorbed and the oil once again separates from the meat, 10 to 15 minutes.

4. Now pour in 2 more cups for water, stirring once or twice. After it comes to a boil, lower the heat to medium, cover the pan, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beef absorbs the liquid and is very tender, 30 to 40 minutes.

5. Grab a handful of spinach and add it to the pan. Cover, and allow the steam to wilt the spinach. Mix it in before you add the next batch. Repeat until all the greens are wilted, about 5 minutes.

6. Stir in the coconut and tamarind paste. Simmer, uncovered stirring occasionally to warm the coconut, about five minutes, then serve.

Butterfinger Brownies

Adapted from "A Baker's Field Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies," by Dede Wilson:

1 C AP flour
1 t salt
4 oz chopped bittersweet chocolate
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes
2 eggs
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 C semi-sweet morsels
7 Butterfinger fun-size bars

Preheat oven to 350 F, and grease a 9" square pan.

Over very low heat, melt together butter and chopped bittersweet chocolate. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a small bowl, stir together flour and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together sugar, eggs and vanilla until they are frothy and pale. Slowly pour chocolate/butter mixture into mixer while it's on, incorporating fully.

Fold flour mixture into liquid ingredients just until fully combined. Stir in morsels and 4 of the butterfinger bars (chopped into 8ths).

Pour the mixture into the greased pan, pressing it evenly into the corners and across the center. Cut the remaining butterfingers into thirds and place evenly in rows to make 9 bars with a piece of butterfinger in the center of each.

Bake approximately 30 minutes, or until the mixture just begins to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick comes out clean with moist crumbs stuck to it.

Cool completely, then remove from pan and slice into 9 bars. Enjoy with milk.