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Teriyaki Steak

September 24, 2007 Author: Rachel
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Not the prettiest dish in the world but it was really good. Last month we bought a big package of grilling steak, and we portioned it up and froze it. We grilled one of them up, and either the meat was not that great to begin with or it didn’t hold up well to freezing, because it was kind of tough.

When I was trying to figure out what to cook this week it occurred to me that the frozen steaks would be great in the crock pot. So the inspiration for this recipe comes from Crockery Cookery. I changed it quite a bit, and the recipe below reflects the changes. Cooking time is going to vary with the type of meat you use. If you use a stew meat, cook it on low for 6-7 hours. If you have a more tender cut (the kind you would just grill), cook on high for 2-3 hours.

Not only did it taste really good, but our 3 year old devoured it…in fact, he had 3 servings. Quite an accomplishment getting that much meat into him. Definitely kid approved!

Ingredients:
- 1 pound steak, cut into 1 inch strips
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1/4 c. soy sauce
- 1 (20oz) can unsweetened pineapple chunks, drained, and reserve juice
- 1/4 c. finely grated or minced gingerroot
- 1 TBSP sugar
- 2 TBSP oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed or minced
- 2 TBSP cornstarch (you can use less if you like a thinner sauce)
- remaining juice from the pineapple
- Cooked rice
Directions:
1. Place onions on bottom of crock pot, and then place the sliced meat on top of the onions.
2. In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, 1/4 pineapple juice, gingerroot, sugar, oil and garlic.
3. Pour sauce over meat.
4. Cook on high for 2.5 hours.
5. After 2.5 hours, stir in pineapple.
6. Combine cornstarch and remaining pineapple juice in a small bowl; add to crock pot. Cook, stirring, until slightly thickened. Serve over rice.
Teriyaki Steak:
Spicy Thai Cold Noodles With Crushed Peanuts and Cilantro

September 21, 2007 Author: Rachel
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This recipe comes from Wolfgang Puck’s Pizza, Pasta, and More! cookbook. It makes for a great light dinner or side dish. You can easily make this the main event by adding chicken, beef, or tofu. One of my favorite Thai dishes is the fresh spring roll. Not the deep fried ones, but the ones in rice paper, that have rice noodles and veggies in them. This dish reminds me of an inside out fresh Thai spring roll. This dish was really good the first night we had it, then the next day for lunch we had it and it was excellent. It really benefited from overnight refrigeration. So definitely plan to make this one ahead of time. We tried it first without the fresh lime juice (honestly because I forgot to put the limes on the table) and it was good, but the fresh lime juice really brightens the flavor…so don’t forget the limes! We’ll definitely make this one again.

Dressing:
- 3 TBSP light brown sugar
- 2 TBSP plus 1 tsp. soy sauce
- 2 TBSP rice wine vinegar
- 1 TBSP plus 1 tsp chili and garlic oil. Instead of making Puck’s chili and garlic oil, I just used oil, and added crushed red pepper and minced 2 garlic cloves.
Salad:
- 12 oz angel-hair pasta, allowed to dry after cooking. Puck says lay it out on a flat pan so noodles retain shape and don’t stick. I couldn’t accomplish this, so I went ahead and mixed the salad together then refrigerated.
- 1.5 oz (1/4 c.) Japanese pickled ginger, chopped
- 3/4 green onions, cut into 1 inch slices
- 1/2 c. fresh parsley leaves
- 1 cucumber, julienned
- 1/4 c. julienned carrots
- 1/4 c. roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 c. minced cilantro leaves
- 8 wedges of lime
Directions:
1. Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, and oil. Set aside.
2. When pasta is dry, place it in a large bowl and pour the dressing over. Toss to combine and let rest 1 or 2 minutes so that the dressing is absorbed. Add the remaining ingredients, reserving a few peanuts, scallions, and cilantro for garnish, and gently toss to combine. My advice: Don’t bother waiting for the pasta to dry, just combine everything and refrigerate. I’d refrigerate for as long as possible before serving.
3. To serve, garnish with peanuts, scallions, cilantro and lime wedges.
Spicy Thai Cold Noodles with Crushed Peanuts and Cilantro:

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Meatballs

August 28, 2007 Author: Rachel
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I have to admit, I don’t think I’ve ever made beef meatballs before (I make some mean turkey meatballs that I’ll post next time I make them), as that is usually something my husband and son do together. Since I’ve been doing most of the cooking lately, here’s my first attempt at pinning down my husband’s recipe. He’s more of a cook by feel cook, where I’m much more comfortable with a recipe.

I consulted Lidia Bastianich’s cookbook to help determine how much breadcrumbs and salt etc., and after preparing my version, I learned a few things. The more fat the meat has the more fluffy the meatballs are, and the leaner the meat, the denser the meat is. I happen to like dense meatballs, so I used the 93% lean meat. I also think the more breadcrumbs you use the denser the meatball is too.

Ingredients:
- 2 pounds ground meat (I used 93% lean, but use less if you like fluffy meatballs)
- 2 eggs
- 1 c. Italian seasoned bread crumbs (more bread crumbs you use, the denser the meatball. If you use less bread crumbs, be sure to add more salt, because the seasoned bread crumbs do have salt in them already)
- 1/2 tsp. salt (use more if you use less than 1 cup of bread crumbs)
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1/2 c. parmesan cheese (we prefer pecorino romano)
- 2 TBSP. Italian seasoning
- 1.25 tsp. garlic powder
- Flour
- Olive oil for browning the meatballs
- Sauce (we used 2-3 jars)
- 1 lb. Pasta
Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients through garlic powder, until just combined, being careful not to over work the meat
2. Put 1/2 cup or so of flour in a bowl
3. Roll the meatballs to your desired size and then dredge them in the flour
4. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat and brown the meatballs…they will not be fully cooked
5. Once all the meatballs are browned, pour your favorite sauce into the pan. We use Ragu Traditional, and since we like sauce we used 2-3 jars of the sauce.
6. Simmer the meatballs in the sauce for a long time…until done. I actually simmered them for about 2 hours, and they were delicious.
7. Serve over pasta or make meatball subs by putting the meatballs in a roll and melting some cheese over it.
Meatballs:
Balsamic BBQ Sauce

August 16, 2007 Author: Rachel
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This recipe is courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis and is located at foodnetwork.com. It’s very good, and the sauce can be used for either chicken or beef. We grilled chicken tonight, but in the next few nights we’ll use the remaining sauce and grill some beef. The sauce is sweet, tangy, and rich which I really like. Even though there’s ketchup in the sauce it’s not a ketchup-y sauce. It’s incredibly easy to make, and we’ll definitely make this one again.

I liked the spicy cucumber salad from last night so much that I made another batch of the salad to serve with the chicken along with some grilled zucchini.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
- 1 TBSP Dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
Directions:
1. Combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until all the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is smooth.
2. Simmer over medium heat until reduced by 1/3, about 12-20 minutes.
3. Reserve some sauce for table side sauce.
4. Grill meat, basting with the sauce.
Balsamic BBQ Sauce:
East-West Flank Steak

August 9, 2007 Author: Rachel
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This recipe comes from Southern Living, but I’m not positive about the year published…I think it was April 2004. The flavors of the steak are excellent. The steak should marinate at least 8 hours in the fridge, but we usually do an over night marinade. It’s really easy to prepare and cook, and it’s perfect for those hot summer nights. Serve the steak with some grilled zucchini or veggies of your choice. The important thing to keep in mind when slicing flank steak is to slice against the grain, because if you slice with the grain, you will have stringy shoe leather meat.

The leftovers work great as a topper for salads, tacos, and even a steak and egg dinner. We’ve prepared this recipe numerous times, and it’s always a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 2 TBSP brown sugar
- 2 TBSP lime juice
- 1 TBSP grated fresh ginger
- 1 tsp. dried crushed red pepepr
- 1 tsp. ground black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 4 green onion, finely chopped
- 1 (2 pound) flank steak, trimmed
Directions:
1. Combine first 9 ingredients in a shallow dish or large zip-top freezer bag; add steak. Cover or seal, and chill 8 hours, turning occasionally.
2. Remove steak from marinade, discarding marinade.
3. Grill, covered with grill lid, over medium-high heat, about 10 minutes on each side or to desired degree of doneness. Let stand 5 minutes; cut into thein slices diagonally across the grain.
East-West Flank Steak:
Thai Red Curry

August 5, 2007 Author: Rachel
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We went to the local Farmer’s Market this weekend and picked up some wonderful produce: Thai basil, eggplant, zucchini, green peppers, red peppers, onion, garlic and broccoli. What to do with such wonderfully fresh ingredients…curry. As we have recently moved, we haven’t unpacked our cookbooks, so I had to just throw this together, and it turned out fantastic. This dish is easily adapted for vegetarians, and you can use any produce you like…just use your imagination. This was wonderfully fresh tasting, and we’ll definitely make this one again.

Ingredients:
- 1 TBSP sesame oil, or oil of your choosing
- 1 TBSP Thai red curry paste
- 3 TBSP soy sauce
- 1 TBSP brown sugar
- 1 can of light coconut milk
- 1 lb of chicken, beef or tofu
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 green pepper, sliced
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 1 cup zucchini, sliced
- 2 cups of broccoli florets
- 1 cup of eggplant, sliced
- 1/4 cup of Thai basil, chopped
- Rice
Directions:
1. Prepare all fresh ingredients
2. Bring pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the broccoli and eggplant, then set aside
3. In a wok, heat sesame oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic and onions and saute. You can either grill your meat or saute the meat with the garlic and onions. If you use tofu, you may want to add closer to the end so the tofu retains the shape and texture.
4. Add peppers and zucchini and continue to saute, until veggies are tender.
5. Add curry paste, brown sugar, and soy sauce, and saute until the ingredients are incorporated.
6. Add the coconut milk.
7. Add the blanched broccoli and eggplant.
8. Bring coconut milk up to a simmer and then stir in 1/2 of the basil.
9. Serve over rice and top with basil.
Thai Red Curry:
Polynesian Flank Steak

May 28, 2007 Author: Rachel
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This flank steak recipe is excellent, and comes from Cooking Light’s June 2007 issue. We marinated the steak for about 8 hours, and in that time the ginger really infused the steak and gave it great flavor. We served it with potato salad and grilled up some pineapple and green onions as well. Our only complaint was that it probably needed more salt; however, since we didn’t have the entire amount of soy sauce the recipe calls for, that may be the reason. This is definitely a keeper for our house, especially since the kiddos ate it!!!

Ingredients:
- 1/3 c. pineapple juice (we used canned pineapple, drained it, and then grilled the pineapple, which was superb)
- 1/3 c. low sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 c. thinly sliced green onions
- 1 TBSP minced peeled fresh ginger
- 1 TBSP honey
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1.5 pounds flank steak
Directions:
1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; add steak to bag. Seal and marinate in fridge for at least 3 hours, turning once
2. Prepare grill
3. Remove steak from bag, reserving marinade. Grill steak, about 20 minutes, or until desired degree of doneness, turning and basting frequently with the reserved marinade.
4. Grill pineapple (my addition)
5. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting diagonally across the grain into thin slices.
Polynesian Flank Steak:
Indonesian Beef Curry with Coconut Rice

April 22, 2007 Author: Rachel
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This recipe is from Cooking Light’s May 2007 issue. It’s very tasty, and a keeper. I changed the recipe a bit, and I note the changes. You can really use your imagination with this dish and substitute chicken, tofu, or veggies for the beef. You can also easily adjust the heat level by adding or decreasing the number of chiles. You can also try removing the seeds and ribs of the chiles, which leaves great flavor without too much heat.

Curry:
- 1.5 pounds lean top round, thinly sliced
- 1.5 TBSP canola oil (I used olive oil, and eyeballed it)
- 1/2 c. thinly sliced shallots
- 2 TBSP minced peeled fresh ginger
- 6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 serrano chiles, thinly sliced (depending on how hot you want it adjust accordingly. I used 1 chile and removed the seeds, and the dish still had great flavor without being too spicy)
- 2 tsp. ground coriander
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1.5 tsp. ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp. ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 3 cardamom pods, crushed
- 1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 TBSP. lime juice
- I added the remaining coconut milk from the can used in the rice recipe and about 1 cup of cooked green beans at the end.
Rice:
- 1.25 cups water
- 1 c. uncooked rice
- 1 c. light coconut milk
- 1/4 tsp. salt
Assembly:
1. To prepare curry, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Place half of the beef in the skillet; cook 1 minute on each side or until browned. Romove the beef from pan. Keep warm. Repeat process with the remaining beef.
2. Lower heat to medium; add oil to pan. Add shallots, ginger, garlic, and chiles; cook 4 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in coriander and next 6 ingredients (through cinnamon); cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Return beef to pan. Add broth; bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 35 minutes or until beef is tender. Uncover and cook 10 minutes or until sauce thickens. Discard cinnamon stick; stir in lime juice. I added the coconut milk and green beans here.
3. To prepare rice, bring all ingredients to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 18 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat. Fluff with a fork.
Indonesian Beef Curry with Coconut Rice:
Steak Salad with Queso Fresco

March 10, 2007 Author: Rachel
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We received a cheese cookbook to review: Cheese, Glorious Cheese! If you like cheese, you’ll love this cookbook. As in this recipe, cheese isn’t always the star ingredient, but the cookbook and the recipes are still very good.

This salad is excellent. Quite refreshing and will be really nice on a summer day. It’s not a heavy salad, but it’s still very filling. The recipe calls for steak, but you could easily substitute chicken if you prefer. The chipotles give this salad a kick, but it’s not too spicy, because the sweetness from the honey balances the smoky kick of the chipotles.

The salad is also really easy and quick to prepare, which is a big plus in my book!

Chile Glaze:
- 1/2 of a small 7 ounce can of chipotle chiles in adobe
- 1/4 cup honey
Assembly:
- Pour the chipotle chiles with adobo sauce and the honey into the food processor. Process until smooth. You can also use a blender.
Salad Dressing:
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 4 TBSP lime juice
- 1 TBSP Chile Glaze
- 1/2 tsp salt
Assembly:
- Combine the olive oil, lime juice, chile glaze, salt and pepper in a small bowl and whisk to emulsify.
Steak Salad:
- 1 pound flank steak
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 head of romaine lettuce
- 1 small red onion (we used 1/2 of the onion)
- 1/2 red pepper (we used the entire pepper)
- 1/2 green pepper (we used the entire pepper
- 1/2 small jicama
- 2/3 cup black olives (we omitted)
- 1 to 1.5 cups tortilla chips
- 3/4 crumbled Queso Fresco
- 1/2 cup corn, roasted (we added)
- 1 avacado, diced (we added)
For the Steak and Corn:
- Rub both sides of the meat with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Sear both sides, and turn the heat to medium. Brush the remaining chile glaze onto the meat while it’s cooking, and turn it often so the glaze caramelizes on the meat. Cook 8-10 minutes.
- For the corn, take a piece of foil and spray with nonstick spray, then place on the grill with the steak. Corn is done when it’s hot and has a roasted taste. If you’ve never grilled corn or corn on the cob before do it, because it’s delicious!
Assembly of Salad:
- Cut the lettuce
- Slice the onion, peppers, jicama, and olives thinly about 1/4 inch thick
- Dice the avacado
- Place chips in a plastic bad and press down on them with a rolling pin to crush them into small pieces (we just served the chips on the side)
- Slice the steak thinly
- Combine the lettuce, onion, peppers, jicama, olives, corn, avacado, and steak in a large salad bowl. Drizzle the dressing on top and toss well. Add the chips and the cheese.
ENJOY!

Cookbook:

Steak Salad: