Let's go Greek!

I am a carnivore beef lover!  I recently was selected to participate in a Beef. It's What's For Dinner. Campaign hosted by Allrecipes.com, and sponsored by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

Crank up the heat!

Summer is the perfect time for grilling, and nothing beats a crisp, refreshing salad on a hot day!

Dining In - Copykat recipe

Two years ago while visiting family in Oklahoma I went out to a restaurant in Norman, OK called "Saltgrass Steakhouse"  while there I ordered an entree that was simple, yet filling, and moderately priced.

Unfortunately there are only a few Salt grass restaurants nationwide, so the quest was on to re-create this entree: Beef Tenderloin tips sauteed in a cognac pepper sauce w/ mushrooms over garlic mashed potatoes.
What is "cognac pepper sauce"?  Well just imagine a savoury brown gravy that has black pepper and cognac in it...simple huh?!   You don't have to worry about the mashed potatoes, they're really not the super star. 
My version is as follows:  This will serve two people

8 ounces tri-tip sirloin cut into bite size pieces
2 Tbsp butter, divided
1 Tbsp flour
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Place flour, garlic salt, and black pepper in a ziploc bag.  Add the beef and shake to coat.
In a cast iron skillet over medium heat, melt 1 Tbsp of the butter.  Add the beef, and cook stirring frequently.
Add in the sliced mushrooms and remaining butter, stir until mushrooms are tender.

Cognac Pepper Sauce
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp kitchen bouquet browning and seasoning sauce
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
10 oz beef broth or beef stock
1 Tbsp Cognac
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat, melt the butter.  Whisk in the flour until a blonde roux has developed.  Slowly pour in half of the beef broth, whisking to combine.  Add in the browning sauce, the worcestershire sauce, and remaining beef broth whisking to combine.  Add in the black pepper.  Stir to combine.  Continue stirring until slightly thickened.  Add in the cognac during the last minute of cooking, stir to combine.

Serve the beef tips, mushrooms and cognac pepper sauce over your favourite mashed potatoes. 

Taste the flavour!

When I think of summer time food I automatically think of grilling, and kicking back with a refreshing glass of lemonade. 

 Mango spiced steak skewers  were a fabulous find, paired with Lemon Thyme rice, and steamed veggies were truly representative of a great summer time meal!  The best part - you can have dinner finished in under 30 minutes!!!

To complete the meal I served a lemonade made with Meyer lemons, and of course dinner wouldn't be complete without a slice of lemon pie!  

Bring on the grill!

May has got to be one of my favourite months - if for any other reason than it's usually the PERFECT weather for grilling out!

One of my activities for the month of May was to use a recipe from the Memorial day collection at Allrecipes.com.  I've always been one to push the edge w/ my cooking, so when I saw the recipe for the Crunchy coconut and lime burgers I knew I had to try it!

First thing I knew was that I would NOT add the salt as the soy sauce is MORE than salty enough.  Next I left out the egg.  I didn't see the purpose in adding the egg.  I was in shock with the amount of mayonnaise the recipe called for and I dropped it to a max of 2 Tbsp per burger.   Next up...taste test!

These were given great reviews by my friends at the gun range!  Perfectly seasoned, flavourful, and the carmelised coconut was a perfect touch!  Absolutely a burger made for the grill! 

Down South...Bourbon Street anyone?

Tonight I only used one Allrecipes recipe, and that was for the Southern comfort sweet potatoes the remainder of my meal was my own Brown sugar Bourbon Marinated Ribeye steaks, and then one of my "go to" side item freezer pleasers from Green Giant, and then a couple slices of 5 grain bread.

Okay let's talk about the sweet potatoes.  They were scrumptious!  These are what the marshmallow topped casseroles wanna be when they grow up!  These are very much adult oriented due to the Southern comfort in them, but it's quite safe to give to the kiddo's b/c the alcohol WILL evaporate out (sheesh lay down the paddle huh?).  The truth about this sweet potato casserole, it's more like a dessert so go ahead eat another serving b/c while it tastes like a dessert...it's not :)

Bourbon Brown Sugar marinade for steak:  This is MY creation - and feel free to snag for personal use but not personal gain...I don't want to read about someone winning a cook off unless they plan on splitting the winnings.  Okay good now that we've got an understanding off we go.

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup good quality bourbon
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp EACH chipotle chile powder, dalmation sage
1 Tbsp worchestershire sauce
2 Tbsp A-1 Thick & hearty steak sauce
1 tsp granulated garlic

Place marinade in a gallon size ziploc bag, and add your Ribeye steaks, allow to marinate for 8 hours or overnight...and one more thing..when you go to grill it, don't step away - c'mon fire hazard huh Alcohol, fire - yeah you wanna keep an eye on your steak so it doesn't burn!

The remainder of dinner was pretty simple - side of veggies, and sliced 5 grain bread.  Doesn't get any tastier!

In line at the buffet

This will be a buffet style blog post, mainly for the fact that the last week has been crazy busy!  So that being said...I'm gonna break tradition and skip right to DESSERT!!!!  It's always a good thing, right?!

Note: I do NOT need anyone lecturing me on the fact that I cook w/ beer, wine, liquor, or liqueurs.  I know some prefer to abstain from doing so, and that's your right...however I'm not you, and you're not me - that being said if you're going to be THAT stringent, I highly recommend that you never eat out EVER again as most restaurants DO use wine in their recipes. 

Dessert:  Diana's Guinness chocolate cake w/ guinness chocolate icing

Oh come to momma!  Chocolate: Check, Beer: Check, Frosting: Check, Beer: Double Check!   Hello love and oh mama mia if you try this recipe, you are going to LOVE it!!! I cheated a bit and I made cupcakes :)  Cupcakes are a good thing, b/c you actually get to control the portion size - and share, and sharing is always a nice thing to do!

Thoughts:  The recipe originally was converted from a UK recipe, not that it should matter, but the frosting    -I'm convinced- hated me from the start it was way to thin to hold up to piping, even after I added MORE confectioner sugar, and another brick of cream cheese, but that's okay b/c I morphed the frosting into a filling!  I then made a new frosting to top off the freshly filled cupcakes.  I ended up w/ a total of 24 cupcakes, and shared 8 of them - one of my friends said that 4 days later they were still moist.

Onto dinner:  Pecan Crusted Orange Roughy,  Creamy corn couscous and brittany blend of mixed veggies

The beauty of fried fish is simply that you really do NOT have to use measurements for the breading - you just sorta eye ball it. 

Ingredients:
Orange roughy
Flour
Egg
Milk
Breadcrumbs (plain)
Panko
Pecans - finely chopped (I pulsed mine in my blender)
Granulated Garlic
Seasoning Salt
Thyme

Assembly line
Shallow bowl 1 contains: flour
Shallow bowl 2 contains:  1 egg, beaten w/ 1 Tbsp milk (eyeball it)
Shallow bowl 3 contains: Mixture of regular breadcrumbs and panko, pecans, garlic powder, seasoning salt and thyme. 

I dipped the fillets in flour, then in a mixture of egg & milk, followed by the panko pecan breading, I did a quick fry, and followed w/ broiling it.  Perfect QUICK dinner!

Couscous:

That recipe really lived up to the name! The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the instruction for cooking the couscous. I knew that it would also need some more flavour - so I added 1/2 tsp dried thyme, and 1/4 tsp granulated garlic. I will definately use this recipe again, but plan on adding some roasted red bell pepper for a pop of colour. I used a ring mold for the presentation. This is restaurant worthy w/ the right seasonings!

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Onto a quick dessert:  Chocolate chip ice cream cookie-wiches yum yum! 

These are SO simple to make too!  Feel free to cheat like I did.  A package of store bought chocolate chip cookies (from the bakery of your fav grocer) and a container of vanilla ice cream, plus mini chocolate chips.

Simply take a scoop of ice cream, sandwich it between the two cookies, and roll in the mini choclate chips...simple right?!  Oh and tasty too!!!

Dinner 2:

Hazelnut chicken, wild rice, and mixed veggies

 

OMG can I say gourmet!!!  A more appropriate name would be Hazelnut crusted chicken w/ a Frangelico Brandy Sauce!  As per my Allrecipes review of this recipe, there was no way that I would be able to fry the chicken breasts in so little butter, so I did a mix of 1/2 butter and 1/2 grapeseed oil. I used panko breadcrumbs instead of regular breadcrumbs and also ran the filberts (hazelnuts) throught the blender. I added 1/4 tsp EACH thyme, oregano, and garlic powder to the panko breading. I butterflied the chicken breast and lightly pounded them thinner. This is a great recipe for special dinners or for company.

Oh and the Frangelico Brandy Sauce was amazing!!! It gave the crusting a hint of buttery sweetness it was SO delicious!!!  Simply serve w/ a side of wild rice, and mixed veggies (I'm a sucker for the Green Giant Steamer mixed veggies)

 

Dinner 3: Seared Lemon-Pepper Tilapia with Creamy Pumpkin Seed Vinaigrette Salad topped with Pomegranate Seeds w/ pearled barley, snow peas and carrots, served w/ a couple slices of 5 grain bread

 

This was a unique twist combining some amazing flavours!!!   I didn't make any changes to this dish. I was able to find the pumpkin seeds already toasted which cut down on my prep time. Word of warning give yourself some wiggle room on the price of pumpkin seed oil, especially if you're on a budget! It's something you will want to use - but it's NOT cheap! The pearled barley "cake" is actually another freezer pleaser from Green Giant, it's one of their steamer things, and I smooshed it to where it became a fancy little cake :)  A side of toasted bread, and dinner was complete in under 20 minutes!

 

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Dinner 4:

 

Oh yay!!  Dessert is back on the menu!!!  Now don't wrinkle up your nose when you hear Southern possum pie

 

I'm gonna show it step by step - handy tip, make it personal by making the pie miniature :)  I used a disposable pastry bag and piped the cream cheese mixture into the graham cracker pie crusts.

 

 

 

Getting a little nutty...

 

time for CHOCOLATE!!! ....

 

 

 

All dolled up...and hey it said possum pie, so I added a special touch ;)

Looks like a bloody mess huh?! Well not quite...oh and let me say that from start to finish I finished mine in about 3 minutes.  It was good but I'm thinking the vanilla pudding gets drowned out by the chocolate, so unless you're going for a layered look (which isn't instructed) it's pointless to use two different puddings. I cheated and used Reddi whip, instead of making my own whipped cream.  I think next time I drizzle some chocolate and caramel sauce on it and will make it messier :D

Oooh and I nearly forgot Dinner...Pepper steak packet  w/ Jasmine rice

So I cheated and used a 90 second package of Jasmine rice by Uncle Ben...but hey on hump day, I need all the free time I can get!  For something SO simple this has amazing flavour! I love that you can easily change up the veggies. I added in some broccoli, and baby carrots. I chose to cook this in the oven at 450° for 40 minutes. before doing so I seared the sirloin steak strips in a mixture of grapeseed oil seasoned w/ granulated garlic, and black pepper. I served this w/ jasmine rice b/c it made me think of being a stir fry.

 

Tex Mex cuisine

Tonight I made Tex-Mex Beef and Cheese Enchiladas and Better Spanish Rice along w/ my own Five layer dip.

Enchiladas:  I'm normally hesitant about cooking enchiladas.  I couldn't say why other than they don't taste authentic to me - but that's a Gringo messing around in the kitchen for you haha, or maybe I've been eating at Taco Bell too much!  I was pleasantly surprised w/ how easy it was to fry the corn tortillas, I use to think it would be difficult but found that it was really quite simple.  The meat sauce was easy to fix, but seemed like it was missing that hearty, robust flavour that most Tex-Mex cuisine has.  I'm not sure what else can be added to pump up the flavour, but will add this to play around w/ another time.

Better Spanish Rice:  Okay so this really wasn't my idea of Spanish rice.  I'm not sure what prompted me to make it other than it fit the "theme".  I think it needed something else to give it some kick too, perhaps chili powder.  I'm not too crazy about this recipe.

Five layer dip.

1 can refried beans
3/4 cup salsa
8 oz prepared guacamole
6 oz sour cream
1/2 cup shredded mexican blend cheese

Tortilla Chips

Heat the refried beans in a microwave safe dish, stirring at 2 minute intervals until smooth & spreadable.
Spread beans in a clear glass dish (pie plate or small glass casserole dish will work).  Layer the salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and cheese.  Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Serve w/ tortilla chips