Steaks with Simple Mushroom Pan Sauce

While I am a steak enthusiast, I rarely eat a big slab of beef, opting instead for a smaller size that actually corresponds to the recommended "pack of cards" visual usually touted by the FDA. Since I only buy smaller cuts, the natural beef brand carried at the Co-Op is actually affordable. I'm specifying eye of round for this recipe, but really, you could use just about any cut of beef.






I served this with some simply roasted carrots and baby potatoes tossed with olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and chopped Italian parsley.


Steaks with Simple Mushroom Pan Sauce

2 eye of round steaks (about 4 oz. each)
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. minced onion
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup white wine (you can also use red)
1 cup beef broth
2 1/2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat; swirl to coat. Add steaks and cook four minutes per side, or until meat is cooked to desired. Remove steaks from pan and keep warm.
2. Add butter to pan. Add minced onion and saute for 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms have darkened and start to give off moisture. Pour white wine into pan and let simmer for 3 minutes.
3. Combine beef broth and flour in a bowl until combined, and then add to pan. Let mixture simmer until reduced and thickened. Pour over steaks.

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

Alright, so "sweet potato" means yam here. There is a difference, but the common parlance equates sweet potato with yam, so I commonly refer to yams as sweet potatoes. Feel free to grow indignant. The snow has been melting like crazy around here and the temperature has been steady around 40 degrees, so making this soup meant pairing it with a rather light salad, but I'm hoping for more snow. Hush. Don't tell anyone.

Yams are seriously healthful, and when combined with celery, leeks, onion, and garlic, they also happen to be damn tasty. I serve this soup with a spinach salad full of veggies and a bit of grilled chicken, but I imagine you could easily add rice to this soup for a more hearty soup. Also, for vegetarians, veggie stock works very well in this recipe, given the natural sweetness of the yams.

L'chaim!



Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

3 tbsp. butter
1.5 lbs. yams, peeled and cubed
1 large leek, sliced
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup celery, chopped
4 cups chicken stock
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup skim milk
Italian parsley, to garnish


Directions
1. Melt butter over medium heat in a medium soup pot. Add onion, leek, garlic, and celery; saute for 8-10 minutes. Add chicken stock and yams to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes.
2. Once veggies are tender, salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and either puree in batches in a blender, or use a hand blender (I heart my hand blender). Return to pan with heat off, and stir in cayenne, salt and pepper to taste, and skim milk. Stir to combine. Spoon into bowls with chopped parsley as a garnish.

Shrimp and Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo

All my life, I've had obsessions with certain foods: potatoes, cream cheese, blue cheese, and alfredo sauce. Notice how none of the foods I just listed is a fruit or vegetable? Sigh. One day I discovered that, in fact, I could combine two of my loves together when I dumped cream cheese into an impromptu Alfredo sauce, and it's been a match made in heaven ever since. It isn't exactly an authentic taste of Italy, but when I have a craving for something, I don't really care. I mean, after all, once I really did want to drizzle warm chocolate all over a plate of asparagus, so.....

Shrimp and Broccoli Fettuccine Alfredo
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 head broccoli, cut into florets
1 16 oz. package fettuccine
2 tbsp. butter
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup skim milk
1 package Neufchatel cheese (1/3 less fat cream cheese)
4 tbsp. Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Heat butter in a pan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for one minute, then add shrimp to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, or until pink. Remove shrimp to a plate and keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, steam broccoli and cook pasta according to package directions.
3. Add skim milk and Neufchatel cheese, stirring until Neufchatel melts and combines with skim milk. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese into the pan and stir to combine. Turn off heat. Add shrimp and broccoli to pan and toss to coat. Combine with pasta in the pan and serve with more grated Parmesan, if desired.

When life dumps snow on you, make applesauce and latkes

It just won't stop snowing and melting, snowing and melting. Now, I love snow for a number of reasons, one of the most important being that I don't have to wipe the dogs' paws when they come inside, but since the town I live in barely plows the roads, I'm somewhat chained to my house. So what to do when you are a temporary shut in? Why, make applesauce and fry up some latkes, of course!

If you've never made your own applesauce, you're missing out. It's so easy to make that I sometimes wonder why applesauce is even sold in grocery stores. Your slow cooker comes in handy for this recipe, but you can simmer it slowly on the stove if you prefer. Notice that no sugar is added--this is not the case with store bought, which usually has a load of sugar. Apples are sweet enough as is.

Applesauce

1 lb. apples
2 tsp. lemon juice
1-2 tbsp. water
Cinnamon (optional)

Directions
1. Peel and core the apples, then dice into small pieces. Add to slow cooker and toss with lemon juice. If the apples are particularly dry, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water. Add a dash of cinnamon if you like. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours, or on low for 5-6 hours.




Classic, Basic Latkes

2 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and grated
1/4 cup grated onion
1 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
Few sprigs of fresh thyme
Kosher salt and pepper
5 tbsp. all-p flour
4 tbsp. olive oil

Directions
1. Squeeze as much moisture of the potatoes as possible, and be sure to blot the onions as well. Mix together potato, onion, baking soda, egg, thyme, a dash of salt and pepper, and flour.
2. Heat oil over medium high heat in a large, heavy skillet. Do not add patties until the oil is very hot. Drop some of the potato mixture into the pan and smash down with spatula. Cook on each side for 4 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with applesauce and/or sour cream.

Chinese Beef and Peppers

My mom used to make a fantastic beef and green pepper dinner, and I remember it being smothered in a fantastic tomato sauce, but when I saw Jessica's recipe over at Foodmayhem, I knew I didn't have time to call mom for her recipe (which I will. very soon.). Nonetheless, this is a fantastic dish, and very simple to make. I may never need takeout again.

If you want Jessica's awesome step-by-step photo instructions, be sure to hit up the direct link to the recipe below. I adore Foodmayhem, so I know you won't be disappointed by their many awesome recipes (I also recommend the Garlic Knots and Ma Po Tofu recipes).

Chinese Beef and Peppers
From Foodmayhem.com

1 pound flank steak
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon rice wine
1/2 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 1/2 medium green bell pepper, sliced
any spicy chili, small thin slices (optional)
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce

Directions
1. Slice flank steak against the grain in 1/4″ slices. For thicker parts of the flank steak, you may need to slice the strip in half so it’s not too wide.
2. In a medium bowl, mix beef with soy sauce, rice wine, and sugar. Set aside for 15 minutes.
3. While beef is marinating, heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or similar on high. Add peppers with a sprinkle of salt. Stir and fry for a minute, and remove from heat and set aside. The peppers should still be crisp. After the peppers rest for a few minutes, they will excrete some liquid (amount varies with different peppers). Drain and discard the liquid.
4. When beef has rested 15 minutes and peppers are ready, mix cornstarch into marinated beef.
5. Heat 2 tablespoons oil on high in a wok or similar. Add beef and stir quickly, separating the slices. When beef has started turning color with some pink spots remaining, add vegetarian oyster sauce. Stir quickly to distribute. Add peppers back in. Give a few good tosses and serve with rice immediately.

Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker

I use my slow cooker year round, even if it may seem a little odd to most folks. Despite its usefulness for producing tender meat out of tough cuts in the winter months, it's also great for the summer, when you don't want to heat up your kitchen. But during the fall and winter, it still gets more use since I'm a comfort food lover. There is simply nothing greater than walking into your home after a long day and smelling pot roast. It's incredibly satisfying to every sense, even touch. Tender, falling apart meat is soft on the tongue and usually puts me into a state of ecstasy. Each time I eat pot roast, I remind myself why I could never give up meat. I.just.can't.do.it.

I know a lot of people don't like to make pot roast in a slow cooker because of past experiences with grayish meat, but if you brown the roast first before adding to the slow cooker, the meat is a nice golden color and never produces the gray tones everyone decries. Here's what it should look like after only 3-4 minutes of browning:
















And here is what the slow cooker pot will look like before the slow cooker works its 8-10 hour magic:



Slow Cooker Pot Roast
(from All Recipes)

4 pounds chuck roast
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of paprika
1 packet dry onion soup mix
1 cup water
3 carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 cup frozen peas

Directions
1. Take the chuck roast and season with salt, pepper, and paprika to taste. Brown on all sides in a large skillet over high heat.
2. Place in the slow cooker and add the soup mix, water, carrots, onion, potatoes and celery.
3. Cover and cook on low setting for 8 to 10 hours. Add peas during the last 20 minutes of cooking.

Note: The original recipe calls for 3 potatoes, peeled and cubed, but I omit them because I prefer to serve pot roast over mashed red potatoes.

Meatloaf and blizzards

Snow! Glorious, glistening snow! The Palouse region of eastern Washington is currently under a blizzard warning, so what better time to blog about comfort food than a day spent snuggling with furry children? Some serious inches have dropped since it began snowing last night, with no sign of slowing down anytime soon, and every time it snows, I break out the slow cooker or start craving meatloaf and pot roast (which will be the subject of my next post).

Despite its resurgence in the foodie world, meatloaf remains one of those meals that people tend to view as unappealing, perhaps because of its "blue plate special" connotation. My mom made the most fantastic meatloaf--simply put together with no fancy ingredients, and delightfully moist. I'm recreating her excellent meatloaf here, along with cauliflower puree, which is a healthier option than mashed potatoes (although I do include a potato so the consistency isn't too soupy).


Snooty Snark's Meatloaf

8 oz. ground pork
6 oz. ground beef
4 oz. tomato sauce
1/4 cup minced onion
1 egg
Salt and pepper
3/4-1 cup instant oatmeal
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tbsp. Worcestershire

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together pork, beef, tomato sauce, onion, egg, salt and pepper by hand. Add oatmeal to mixture a bit at a time, adding more if the mixture is too wet or less if the mixture is just dry enough to hold shape.

2. Coat a 5"x9" baking dish with cooking spray and place meatloaf into loaf pan, shaping to conform to dish. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Mix ketchup and Worcestershire in a small bowl and set aside. Remove from oven and drain out fat, then brush with ketchup and Worcestershire. Bake another 25-35 minutes, or until meat is cooked through.

Cauliflower and Potato Puree

1 head cauliflower, white florets cut into pieces
1 Yukon Gold potato (you can use any potato, but Yukon yields the best consistency)
3 tbsp. butter
Splash of half and half
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1. Steam cauliflower for 10-15 minutes, or until florets are tender but not mushy. Boil Yukon potato (cut into pieces for faster cooking time) until a knife cuts through potato easily.

2. Remove potato and cauliflower from heat and pour into food processor along with butter, half and half, and s&p. Pulse until desired consistency. Taste for seasoning, adjust if needed, and serve.