Cube steaks can make a good burger!

I picked up some cube steaks at the market last week as my hubby likes them as an alternative to a standard burger. I've never been fond as they always seemed too tough. I finally got smart and looked up a few recipes online and thought about the process a bit. All the recipes I found stated they needed to be poached to keep them tender. So I thought hmmm, I bet they'd be great poached in Beer! Beer is tenderizing right? And I had a bottle of Rio Blanco Pale Ale on hand to do the job and a few red onions lingering from the CSA. Red onions make most things better.

Here's my take on it. They turned out excellent!

Cube Steak Burgers poached in onions & beer

4 cube steaks
1 large or two small red onions
1 bottle beer
4 slices provolone cheese
salt and pepper
Worcestershire sauce

Add a little olive oil to a large skillet and get it heated on med-high.
Season the cube steaks with salt and pepper, add to the pan and brown on both sides, about 2 minutes. Remove to a plate for a bit.
Use 1/2 the beer to deglaze the pan, scraping up all the good little brown bits
Add the onions, thinly sliced to the pan and saute a few minutes until they start to soften.
Add some more beer so that the pan has a good 1/2 inch or so in it. If you have some left, drink it!
Add a few shakes of Worcestershire and put the cube steaks back in the pan, covering them with onions.
Cover and lower heat to med-low and allow to poach/steam for 12-15 minutes.
Uncover and add a slice of provolone to each steak so that there are some onions smothered under the cheese. Recover and allow to cook a few more minutes until the cheese is nice and melty.

Serve on buns with your favorite fixings. I used mayo and dijon and some extra onions from the pan. Add beans and chips and you've got an easy meal.

Creative Curry

 This week I had one of those throw it together and hope it works nights. I had some butternut squash to use up from my csa and was looking for a way to make it a main dish. The freezer was low on meat and the bank account low on funds to replenish. I went to my trusty Mark Bittman and found a recipe for Winter Squash Curry. This is based on his but with some extras thrown in to a. use them up and b. make it a full meal without everyone missing the meat.

Squash curry with okra and paneer

2 butternut squash, peeled seeded and cut into bite size chunks
4-5 ounces paneer (indian cheese) cubed
2 red onions sliced
1-2 cups okra tops removed and quartered lengthwise
1 recipe make your own coconut milk (from Mark Bittman) or a can if thats what you have
3-4 tbsp olive oil
2-3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tbsp fresh ginger grated

In a large skillet melt a tablespoon of butter along with a few glugs of olive oil. Fry the okra in this mixture until crispy on the edges and well cooked, about 5-7 minutes, stirring regularly. Remove from pan and keep aside for later.

Wipe out the pan, removing all the excess okra seeds. Add more oil and another tablespoon of butter and allow it to melt again. Add the onions and watch the heat, you want the onions to soften but not to get too brown.

While the onions are cooking, melt another tablespoon or two in a separate skillet and pan fry the paneer cubes until toasty on all sides. Set aside.

Once the onions are nice and soft add the curry, ginger and garam masala and stir, cooking a few more minutes. Add the squash and coconut milk. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or so until the squash is almost done. You want it soft but not falling apart. Add the paneer and okra. Cook a few more minutes to get everything coated in sauce and then serve over rice. I kept the hot out for the kids sake but served some hot mango chutney on the side for the adults.

If you don't have okra, leave it out- you won't miss it. Add something else green, green beans perhaps?

Yellow jasmine rice

To make some leftover rice better I sauteed a finely minced onion in some butter, added turmeric and fresh ginger and a little chicken broth. Added some cold leftover jasmine rice and stirred well until all was evenly colored and heated through.


Enjoy

Soul soothing squash pasta

I love a good bowl of pasta. It just soothes my soul like no other food group can. Once you know the basics you can create so many awesome flavors using what is on hand. Sometimes a substitution ends up making the dish better than the last time!

I was craving some pasta tonight and needing to use an acorn squash I had on hand. My usual go to when I  need a pasta fix and don't want to fuss much is carbonara. I use a version based on the one from Rachael Ray and it is delicious. Usually I don't mess with it. Tonight I decided to get creative.

It starts with a bit of olive oil and some bacon cut into small pieces. I use kitchen scissors to cut the bacon as I find it's quicker and less messy than trying to chop it. To the cooking bacon I throw in chopped onion and a dash of red pepper flakes.  Usually once that cooks down I add white wine as the base for the sause, using it to wisk up all the browned bits in the skillet from the bacon. I looked in my fridge tonight - No wine to be found! So instead of subbing in chicken broth which is the norm- I thought, bacon, squash, hmmm apple juice!!

Sloshed it in and wisked it up and then added the squash and some egg yolks, lots of parm and pepper and DONE!

Wow. I love it. The apple lends just a touch of sweetness and melds with the squash just perfectly. I could eat the whole pan but I guess I should feed the rest of the family.


Soul Soothing Squash Pasta


1/2 lb your favorite pasta. I use Barilla Plus multi-grain Penne
1-2 TBSP Olive Oil (2 turns of the pan)
1/2 package center cut bacon chopped
1/2 red onion chopped
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes ( I don't measure- this is a guesstimate, two shakes is what it was for me)
1/2  c apple juice (again- just a glug or two, enough to be able to scrape the pan and create a light sauce)
1 acorn squash
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Start the pasta in boiling water according to package directions. You're going to need a ladle full of pasta water so remember to pull that out before you drain it.

Poke a few holes in the squash with a sharp knife and microwave whole for 5 minutes on high

In a large skillet, add the olive oil and the chopped bacon. Stir to break up the bacon into pieces. Allow the bacon to cook for a few minutes and then add the onion and red pepper flakes. Allow this to cook on medium until the bacon is just starting to crisp in spots. You don't want it all totally crispy

Add the apple juice and wisk up all the nice browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Lower the heat just a tad and allow this to cook and reduce a bit more.

Remove the squash from the microwave, allow it to cool a tad and then cut it in half and remove the seeds. Use a knife to score the flesh like you would a mango, 3 to four cuts lengthwise and then also widthwise. Scoop the flesh out with a big spoon and it'll come out nicely in small chunks. Add it to the bacon/onion in the pan and stir. If needed add another splash of juice or some pasta cooking water if the sauce needs more volume.

By now your pasta should be done. Separate out the three egg yolks into a bowl and add a ladle full of hot pasta water to the eggs.  Drain the pasta and add to the pan followed by the egg mixture. Turn off the heat and toss it all together. Add the cheese, lots of fresh ground black pepper and a bit of salt to your taste.

Serve topped with more cheese. Enjoy!

Eggplant Lasagna

Tonight we had three eggplants to use and so we decided to make a lasagna with eggplant slices in place of the noodles. It's chock full of veggies with a nice meaty sauce and the traditional ricotta cheese layer, yumm!

2 large or 3 small eggplants, cut into thin slices lengthwise
1 onion chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
2-3 cloves fresh garlic
8-10 mushrooms sliced thin
EVOO
1 lb ground beef

1 jar your favorite marinara sauce

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

dried oregano, basil and pizza seasoning blend to taste

8 oz ricotta cheese

8 oz cottage cheese

handful of shredded parmesan

1 egg

additional dried spices

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 350

Slice the eggplants thin (1/4 inch or less) and lay them out on a cookie sheet. Brush lightly with olive oil and season with salt/pepper. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.

To a large skillet add olive oil about three turns around the pan and heat on medium. Add chopped garlic, onions, green pepper and mushrooms. Stir to coat in the oil and cook until starting to soften, about 5-7 minutes. Push all the veggies to one side of the pan and to the other side add ground beef, cook until no longer pink using a wooden spoon to break it up as much as possible.  When the beef is close to done stir the veggies into it to finish cooking. Drain if you need too at this point. Add the jarred sauce and fire roasted diced tomatoes and allow to simmer. Season with dried spices tasting as you go. Turn off the heat and finish prepping your assembly line. 

Mix the ricotta, cottage cheese, parmesan and the egg in a bowl. Add some oregano and basil and black pepper to the cheese mixture. 

Assemble the lasagna: in a rectangular baking dish layer sauce, eggplant slices, cheese, more sauce, eggplant, cheese and then the remaining sauce. Top with mozzarella to cover and a sprinkling of more parmesan if you like. 

Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes until bubbly and the cheese has formed a nice browned crust. Allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting for easier slicing. It's a one dish meal for us, we just had some garlic toasts on the side as we were too tired to chop salad! 

Cocktail Friday

Today was the hubby's last day at work. He's on to a new adventure! To celebrate we decided to pick up the fixings for Mexican Martini's. The recipe I googled is supposed to mimic the famed drink from Trudy's in Austin. It called for contrieu but we opted to stay in the Patron family and instead picked up some Citonage. We're happy with the results.

Patron Mexican Martini
2 oz Patron Tequila
1 oz Patron Citronage
2 oz orange juice
2-3 oz sprite
Juice of 1/2 of lime

Mix and enjoy! Garnish with olives, jalepeno stuffed if you dare!

Cambodian Curry

I've discovered a new treasure in Colorado and online. It's called Savory Spice Shop. They have a new locations around Colorado and have started some franchising- if I had cash I would totally want to open one here in Austin. But alas that's bot looking too promising so lucky for me they ship! On a recent trip to Denver I got a chance to visit their Boulder location. Loved it. Could have spent hours in there but I wasn't afforded the time:(
But I didn't come away empty handed. We've been on a curry kick lately and so I picked up several of their cuurry blends- a mild thai yellow, a green curry, tikka masala and cambodian lemongrass curry. Also got some curry leaves, cardamom, new mexico green chili powder, greek seasoning and some fennel pollen. Yeah, I know kid in a candy store!

Last week used the greek seasoning on chicken, yum.

Tonight was curry night! I let my 15 year old smell them all and she wanted to try the cambodian lemongrass curry- great choice!

Pan Fried Curry Tilapia

4 Tilapia loins
2 eggs
Splash of milk
3/4 cup flour
1 tbsp cambodian lemongrass curry powder
2-3 tbsp butter
Salt/ pepper
1 lemon

Mix the curry powder, zest of lemon and salt/pepper into flour on a shallow plate.
In another shallow plate mix egg/milk and season with salt/pepper. Melt butter in skillet. Dredge fish first in egg wash and then in flour to coat. Fry in butter 3-5 minutes on each side until cooked though. Squeeze lemon on each piece before serving.

Cambodian Lemongrass Curry Veggies (adapted from recipe provided by Savory Spice Shop)

1 large sweet onion halved and sliced
2 yellow potatos quartered lengthwise and then sliced
4-5 Carrots sliced
Other veggies of your choice- i used two kohlorabi and 2 fennel bulbs from our CSA
Olive oil
Water
1 c coconut milk
Curry paste - mix powder with equal parts water and olive oil. I did 3 tbsp each but adjust for the qty of veggies you're using.

Heat olive oil in large pan. Add onions, saute a few minutes and then add carrots and potatoes. Saute over medium heat 5-7 minutes until potatoes are almost tender, add in any other veggies and some water 1/2 to 3/4 cup tops, just to keep the potatoes from sticking and help to steam everything. Cover and cook a few more minutes on lower heat while you work on the fish or your protien of choice.

When veggies are tender, add in the curry paste and coconut milk. Stir well to coat everything. Serve over rice.

Enjoy! Get some of these spices, prices are reasonable and quality is so good.

Two great side dishes

Today was a day off work so I had some extra time to cook. We had some frozen chicken cordon bleu (not everything has to be scratch, right?) and so I focused on sides.

First a great dish from Mark Bittman's How to cook Everything, slow cooked green beans. Sounded interesting as I usually just steam or saute green beans with a little bacon/onion. It takes an hour so make sure you have some time. The results are worth it!

On to the potatoes! I did some googling for something with new potatoes and leeks. Found several interesting recipes and decided to combine a few and make something new. The result was a delish dish- dijon potatoes and leeks.

Enjoy!

Slow Cooked Green Beans
(get the book or the iphone app- or both like me, you won't regret it!!)

1-1.5 lb fresh green beans trimmed
1 sweet onion chopped
2-3 small tomatos seeded and chopped
1/4 c olive oil
3/4 c vegetable broth (or water)
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt & pepper

In a medium pot heat the olive oil and add the chopped onion. While the onion is softening chop the tomatoes and add to the pot. Trim the greenbeans and add them along with the broth or water. Squeeze in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil,cover, lower heat to medium low and simmer for an hour. Check and stir every 15 minutes. You want most of the liquid to be obsorbed but don't allow it to completely dry out. Add additional broth or water as needed. Mine were delish after one hour, Mr. Bittman says an extra hour won't hurt them:) Add a drizzle of olive oil and a bit of lemon juice to each serving. So incredible.

Dijon Leeks and New Potatoes

1 lb new potatoes scrubbed and quartered
2 large leeks chopped
3 tbsp butter
1 c vegetable broth
1/2 c white wine
2-3 tbsp dijon mustard

Melt 2 tbsp butter in a large skillet, saute leeks 5-7 minutes until soft. Remove from skillet and set aside.
Melt 1 tbsp butter in same skillet and add chopped new potatoes. Saute for a few minutes, stirring to coat with the butter. Add wine, broth and dijon mustard. Stir well and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer, cover and cook 15-20 minutes until most liquid is absorbed and potatoes are tender. Add reserved leeks, season with salt and pepper. Cook a few more minutes to allow the sauce to coat leeks. Wow- these were the hubbys fave.