Steak & Potatoes Peruvian Style

I haven't been to Peru (yet) but I'm sure we'd get along fine.

I've had this dish at a Peruvian restaurant, and of course enjoyed it, so when the recipe showed up in Food & Wine I figured I should try it. I omitted a few things since I didn't feel like going to the store, and substituted other things for the same reason. It was still edible.


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Ginger Chicken

Well it's been a million years since I posted here hasn't it? I wish I could give a good excuse, but I can't really, so let's move on.

Speaking of moving, I've moved across town--new apartment, new roommate, aiming for a new outlook on life. Same appetite as before, so really need to be cooking more. And the new (to me) kitchen finally gives me the opportunity to use my "kitchen stuff" (a lot of it was in boxes in storage before).

So let's cook! But before we cook, we (read: me) have to find recipes, because I'm unfortunately not one of those people who can just throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and have it come out great. I need ingredients and measurements because I don't really know what to do otherwise. Oh well. Can't win them all.

I recently subscribed to Food & Wine magazine on my Kindle, and read the September issue on a recent plane ride. Several things jumped out at me, one being this ginger chicken recipe by pop up restaurant Rice Paper Scissors in San Francisco. I wanted to christen my new purple Le Creuset and I happened to have leftover white rice from a Chinese take-out order, so it sounded like the perfect thing to make.


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Microwaved Bacon

Okay, so this is actually something I posted about elsewhere, almost two years ago. But I realized it's really necessary to re-share. And so I shall.

I received this as a gift one Christmas.


Naturally, I had to immediately use it. And by "immediately" I actually mean two months later, but oh well. Let's get er done.

First step, put it together


Next step, put some bacon on it (you can do 3-5 slices on each "tent", but I didn't need that many so I just spread mine out)


Then I put it into my apparently dirty microwave, with a paper towel to prevent it from getting dirtier


Three minutes later (they say 40-90 seconds per slice)


I must say, I was pretty impressed


My bacon was shaped like V's, but it was cooked and there's no mess


The instructions say something ridiculous like disposing of the grease, but in actuality I poured it in a skillet and used it to cook some chicken


If anyone's interested, I was making bbq chicken pita bread pizzas


The chicken is under all the bacon and cheese


Anyway, point being, microwaved bacon is a reality, and in reality, it's pretty good
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Venison & Mushroom Bourgogne

Ahhh, so I am now in Chicago, and looking forward to eating well. But when I moved, I still made a point of bringing a ton of food with me from the South, including some venison roast (thanks Uncle Paul!). And thanks to my awesome friend, Frank, and this recipe of his, I have something delicious to do with it.



You need a few things first, such as the following (but don't feel the need to be too exact, I never have been and it always works out fine):

About 1-2 lbs of Venison Roast, cubed into 1 inch pieces
1-3 lbs of various Mushrooms-white, cremini and shitakes (I bought mine prewashed and prechopped because I'm lazy)
2 medium onions (or one big onion!), chopped
2T minced Garlic
¼c Sherry
1T Apple Cider Vinegar
1 bottle Red Burgundy Wine (I usually use whatever red is on hand, I've used pinot noir, as well as merlot)
2t Dried Thyme
1t Dried Marjoram
1T Paprika
2t Salt
2t Ground Black Pepper
½t Cayenne Pepper
2T Bacon Fat or Duck Fat or, if you must, Olive Oil
BACON (if you're going the bacon fat route)

Preheat your oven to 350F, and let's get started.


Cook some bacon. Eat it. Save the drippings.

Toss the cubed Version with the Vinegar and a little drizzle of some sort of low-flavor oil then Salt and Pepper it.


Heat some of the bacon fat in a large, heavy pot with a tight fitting lid (Dutch Oven). Brown the Venison in batches being sure not to crowd the pot.


Remove the Venison to a bowl and add the onions (and more bacon fat) to the pot. Sauté the onions for about 10 minutes, adding the Sherry and allowing some of it to cook off, about 7 minutes over medium high heat, stirring. Add the Garlic, Thyme, Marjoram, Paprika, Black Pepper and Cayenne. Sauté for a few more minutes.


Return the Venison to the pot making sure that any liquid that has accumulated is not added to the cooking mixture. Stir to incorporate.


Top the cooking mixture with the mushrooms and then add the wine and maybe some water (depending if you were on the heavy end with your ingredient amounts).


Put the top on the pot and place in the oven for 3 or 4 hours or until the meat is fork-tender. It all just cooks down and blends together.


And it's great if you serve it over some roasted potatoes, in this case Yukon golds. I prep those with some oil and some herbs and stick them in for the last hour.


By this point everything should smell amazing and you will be pretty eager to stuff it all in your mouth. I suggest letting it cool off a little first.

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Sun dried tomato, Red pepper, and Feta dip

A few months ago I attended my friend Christen's engagement party. There was an orange dip. I fell in love with it. I then spent the next month or so attempting to get ahold of the recipe from her, and after various emails amongst her aunts, I finally received a copy.



To save you the trouble of having to email her aunts, I'm going to share it with you.

3-5 cloves garlic
1 8oz. jar roasted red peppers, drained
1 8oz. jar sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained
¼ cup pepperocini, drained and stem removed
½ lb. feta cheese, block not crumbled
8oz. cream cheese, softened
¼ tsp. Worchestershire sauce
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1 cup loosely packed fresh parsley



In a large food processor blend garlic, roasted peppers, tomatoes, and pepperoncini until finely chopped.




Add feta, cream cheese, Worchestershire sauce, salt and pepper; blend until smooth, about 1 minute


With motor running, gradually add olive oil and blend until incorporated.

Add basil and parsley and pulse until smooth


Makes 4 cups; serve with pita bread, chips or crackers, celery or cucumber slices.

To make pita chips, brush pita bread or flat bread with olive oil. Using pizza cutter, make small triangles. Bake in 350 degree oven for 7-8 minutes.


Then eat it with your friends, and share the recipe.


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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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