Steak, Goat Cheese, Skinny Fries

I've done such a bad job of keeping up with this. It isn't that I haven't been eating or cooking, I just don't know that I've made anything too exciting or brand new.

But I got Omaha steaks for my birthday! And I had some goat cheese, so I looked up some recipes for what I could do with that.



For starters, I bought a julienne slicer. I figured I already had a mandonline, so clearly I needed this next.


I decided to use it to make shoestring potatoes, that was one of the suggestions on the back of the packaging afterall.

Unfortunately, the other suggestions are for making "slaws" and what not, and I am not a slaw fan, so perhaps this wasn't my best investment ever (luckily, it was not much of an investment).

And while I love skinny fries, these might be a bit TOO skinny. But I digress.


What goes with french fries? Well, everything actually. But I wanted you to think steak. And I remembered that I had goat cheese. And of course I have the internet, so thank you, Giada, for your steak, goat cheese, and balsamic reduction recipe.

Instead of filet, I used top sirloin, since that's what I had.


I cooked it in some cast iron, with butter, about 3 minutes each side.


Broiled it for a just a minute or so with goat cheese on top.


Resting


My presentation needs some work, but oh well. The taste was there. The balsamic reduction was really nice, I'll probably use it on a few other things. The potatoes ended up being a bit thin to eat as fries, but they were quite yummy just scooped up with a fork after I swirled them around in extra sauce.


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Meat, Potatoes, and Brussel Sprouts

Been awhile hasn't it?

Anyway, now that I'm unemployed I have no excuse not to waste hours cooking and posting pictures.

We'll start with this lovely dinner I had of pot roast, parsnip-potato mash, and bacon roasted brussel sprouts.




Since I'm free to watch television more often now, I settled into some Food Network the other day and watched 5 Ingredient Fix with Claire Robinson. Then I went to the grocery store for her Sunday Pot Roast and Parsnip-Potato Mash. Added a green element with some brussel sprouts.

Sunday Pot Roast with Mushroom Gravy
1 (4 to 5-pound) boneless beef bottom round roast
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound cremini mushrooms, cleaned and quartered
2 medium yellow onions, halved and sliced
4 cups low-sodium beef broth

Preheat your oven to 325. You'll want to heat the olive oil and sear all sides of the meat. Then set the meat aside, and cooked the mushrooms for about 5 minutes. Add the onions and beef broth, and then return the meat to the pot, nestling it down into the vegetables. Include any juices that may have collected while the meat sat. Then cover, and put in the oven for 2 1/2 hours, then flip the meat and do another 30 minutes uncovered to reduce the liquid. To thicken the gravy, run some of the mushrooms and onions through a food processor or mini chopper, and add them back in.

Searing my roast, Claire suggests 4 minutes each side


Mushrooms and onions in the beef broth...I dice my onions small because I have texture issues and don't want to bite into a huge chunk later


Parsnip-Potato Mash
2 1/2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 1/2 pounds parsnips (about 8 small), peeled and chopped
Kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
3/4 cup half-and-half
Freshly ground black pepper

Put the potatoes and parsnips in a pot with cold water and salt generously. Bring to a boil and then simmer 20 - 25 minutes, until fork tender. Heat the butter and half-and-half in a small saucepan until the butter is melted. Drain the potatoes and parsnips, and give them a quick mash. Add the hot butter mixture and mix them up, also adding salt and pepper to taste.

This was my first time working with parsnips


Cooking the potatoes and parsnips until they're "fork tender"


Potatoes and parsnips mixed with the butter and half and half


Bacon Roasted Brussel Sprouts
You'll need:
Brussel Sprouts
Bacon and its grease
Salt and pepper

Other options include lemon juice, olive oil (instead of bacon grease, or along with the bacon grease if you don't have enough), garlic powder, etc. You can even use little chunks of ham instead of bacon, I've had it both ways. You can mix the ingredients together on a pan, or in a big ziploc bag (and then of course pour them out on a pan). Then just roast in the oven at 400 for 30 to 45 minutes, shaking the pan or stirring it around every 5 to 10 minutes to get even cooking. You want them to end up somewhat blackened on the outside.

Brussel sprouts ready for the oven


Brussel sprouts out of the oven


Worth it, don't you think?


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Marshmallow Creme Brownies

My grandmother was an amazing woman. And she made amazing brownies. I'm amazed it's taken me this long to make them myself.

I was going to go to the gym. But then I went to the grocery store instead.


You too should go to the grocery store.

Bottom Layer:
6 tbsp cocoa
2 sticks melted margarine
2 c sugar
1½ c flour
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 c chopped pecans
Middle Layer:
1 jar marshmallow creme (7 oz)
Top Layer:
½ stick melted margarine
½ c evaporated milk
½ c cocoa
1 box confectioners sugar (approx 4 cups)
½ tsp vanilla

You'll also need a large cookie sheet, and you'll want to grease that cookie sheet.


For the bottom layer...

Melt the margarine, and beat in the cocoa and sugar


Beat in the eggs, then add the flour and vanilla


I chopped up the pecans in my little food chopper






Spread it out on your greased cookie sheet


Bake at 350 for 17 minutes


Then spread the jar of marshmallow creme all over the top


It'll melt a bit, which makes it easier to spread


For the last layer, bring ½ stick of margarine and ½ cup of evaporated milk to a boil


Then add ½ cup cocoa, the confectioners sugar, and ½ tsp vanilla




Pour that over the top, and spread it out


The chocolate might mix a little with the marshmallow creme, and this is fine. You can make a point of marbling it consistently by mixing deeper as you spread (I used the back of a spoon)


Then you'll want to chill the whole thing (perhaps let it cool off a bit before you stick it in the fridge). Then cut the brownies into squares!


Once they're cut up, I store them in the freezer, just like my grandmother, and they're a great frozen treat!


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Toffee Brownies and Blondies

Do you often find yourself with an excess of chocolate toffee bars? No? You should try it sometime.



I purchased some Hershey's Almond and Toffee Symphony bars because of these amazing brownies a lady at my work makes with them. They're ridiculously easy, and ridiculously awesome. All you need is a family size brownie mix and several of the chocolate toffee bars (enough to cover whatever size pan you're using).

They come in different sizes. Bigger and better.


The family size brownie mix will fill a 13 x 9 pan, but you can also use a square pan, your brownies will just come out thicker. Ah, the wonders of science!

Start by following the directions on the back of the box. Then pour half the mix into your (greased) pan of choice, and cover with a layer of toffee bars (depending on your pan size and your bar size, they'll either fit across the pan perfectly, or you'll need to puzzle piece them together a little bit).


Then pour the other half of the mix over the top, and cook the brownies as directed (just check them with a fork or toothpick, they may or may not need a few extra minutes).




Then earlier today I came across a recipe for Heath Bar Brownies. I happened to have a large portion of one of my toffee and almond bars left, so I ran it through my food chopper and determined that I had enough to make this recipe (you could always supplement with chocolate chips...in fact you should probably add some of those anyway).

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped Heath Bars (or in this case, almond and toffee Symphony bars)

Preheat your oven to 350, and start by creaming together the brown sugar and melted butter. Then beat in the egg and vanilla. Next, add the dry ingredients to the batter and mix until blended.

Finally, stir in the Heath/Toffee/Whatever bars (or whatever addition you prefer) and pour into a greased 8x8 pan.


Bake for 30-35 minutes.


Let them cool completely, and then cut them up, separating out the best pieces for yourself and eating them before anyone else can.


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Green Bean Casserole

So I ordered some onion strings while I was at Kona Grill for Happy Hour. They gave me a huge pile and I'm not even sure I ate half of them. My dinner companion had the brilliant idea that I take them home and make greenbean casserole.


So that's what I did.

I imagine most green bean casserole recipes are similar, green beans and cream of mushroom soup. This one also uses cheese (Velveeta!), and that makes it better than all the other recipes. And of course french fried onions (the kind in the can will work if you don't have restaurant leftovers like I did).

You'll need 2 cans of green beans for each can of cream of mushroom soup. For a large casserole dish you would likely use 4 cans of green beans. I am cooking for one in a 9 x 9 pan, so I only used 2 cans of green beans, and 1 can of soup.

Mix your green beans and cream of mushroom soup together, along with some of the french fried onions (make sure to leave enough to spread on top). Go ahead and add a dash (or 8) of Worcestershire sauce if you're so inclined. After you've mixed this all up, and somewhat flattened the top, you'll want to cut up some cubes of Velveeta cheese (not the whole block, calm down). Place the cubes on the top, spread out a bit, and stick the whole thing in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes (just until the cheese is melted).

You end up with this.


Now, mix the whole thing up again, so that creamy, yummy, cheesy goodness is evenly spread throughout the dish. Then cover the top with more french fried onions. And back in the oven it goes, maybe for another 20 or 30 minutes (it's all cooked, you're just getting things hot and crisping up your onions).

Once it's out of the oven, you can just inhale the lovely aromas.


Then you pretty much have to eat it. Probably two helpings.


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Mt. St. Helens - layer dip

My family has always called this Mt. St. Helens...because that's what it was called in the cookbook where my aunt found the recipe. It's very similar to what a lot of people call "Mexican Layer Dip", maybe exactly the same in some cases. But either way, it's easy to make, and everyone will love it.



Oh the excitement you can have with less than 10 ingredients...

You will need:
guacamole dip
sour cream (16 oz container)
a packet of taco seasoning
shredded cheese (the recipe calls for Cheddar and Monterrey Jack, but I tend to buy the pre-shredded blends that are a mix of several cheeses)
a tomato
a small bunch of green onions
a small can of minced olives

This will fit in a 13 x 9 casserole dish, or the equivalent. I've used disposable cake pans, round trays, etc., depending how fancy I want the end product to look. I also like to make it the day or so before the "event" because it just tastes better after it's sat awhile.

There is a big football game this weekend, and I am expected to join some people in tailgating. I figured this dip would be the perfect thing to contribute, so I'm making a double recipe.


We start with guacamole. Before you go thinking this is "real" guacamole, I assure you, it's not. It's actually guacamole flavored dip (you can typically find it next to the sour cream and french onion dips).


Next, mix the sour cream and taco seasoning. I usually do this within the sour cream container, but since I was mixing up two containers, I poured it in a bowl first.




Cheese comes next. I used to grate this myself, but now I buy the pre-shredded "fiesta" blend because I am lazy.


The last three ingredients are to add some color as well as flavor. But if I ever don't have one of these items, I'll make the dip without it, and there usually isn't a huge degradation of quality.

First chop up your tomato...


And spread it all over your cheese.


Keep up the good work, and add some chopped green onions.


Last but not least is our minced black olives. I buy these in a little can, and I never use the entire can...but that's the size container they come in, so that's what I buy. And I squeeze out the extra juice first.


I didn't even use the whole can on this huge double-batch dip. But regardless, I know my efforts will be appreciated.


It now goes into the fridge, until it's time to tailgate. Then we'll devour it with a collection of corn chips and tortilla chips.

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