A Weeknight Stir Fry

This may not happen to you, but every now and then I will start craving red meat.  And when I realize it, I'll think back and think hmmm, I guess it has been a few weeks since I've had red meat.  I've never been vegetarian, I grew up in a meat eating family, what's this about?  Well, I think there are a couple reasons, but mostly I just love vegetables so much, that when I'm traveling or out, I steer straight at the vegetables on the menu and when I'm home I desire more fish and chicken, now that I have natural chicken in the freezer.  So, that's a long introduction to tonight's weeknight meal.

First this morning, I thought I wonder what red meat is in the freezer.  I went and looked and found some of my parents amazing stew meat from their farm-raised Fallow Deer.  Score!  Hmmm, what to do with the stew meat?  It didn't take me long to think stir fry?  Yes, stir fry!

I decided on a basic recipe out of a cookbook I got when living in Dayton, called Causing a Stir, fabulous food to get people talking: A Junior League of Dayton Cookbook (2000).  I must say this cookbook has never disappointed. 

The recipe is below as written, but of course I used the vegetables I had on hand and jazzed it up just a bit, my changes are in italics.

Thai Lemon Beef
1 (1 inch thick) boneless beef top round steak (Even better, steak or stew meat from local farm raised venison!)
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2-3 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes (I only used 1 teaspoon as dear hubby can't handle that much heat.)
4 cloves garlic (I used 2 cloves, again garlic bugs the hubby.)
1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
1/3 pound snow peas
4 green onions, cut into 2-inch pieces
4 carrots, julienned (As you can see below I used celery, carrot, and the stalks from swiss chard for my veggies tonight.)

2 teaspoons cornstarch
Hot cooked Oriental noodles or rice (I'm working on clearing out my well stocked pantry and used some whole wheat egg noodles I had.)

1. Cut steak across the grain into 1/8 inch thick strips and place in a medium bowl.
2. Combine soy sauce, lemon juice, water, pepper flakes, and garlic.  Pour half of mixture over steak; reserve remaining half.  Cover steak and marinate in refrigerator for 1 to 8 hours.
3. When ready to cook, drain steak, discarding marinade.
4. Stir-fry steak in oil in 2 batches.  Using a large skillet or wok over medium to medium high heat for 1 minute, or until outside of beef is no longer pink.  Remove from skillet. 

1. Add vegetables to skillet; stir-fry 3 minutes, or until crisp tender.

1. Whisk corn starch into reserved marinade.  Stir into vegetables until thickened, add steak and stir-fry until heated.

I jazzed this up by adding a spoon of Black Bean Paste to the sauce, so I could empty that jar in the refrigerator, but I think it would have been good as is.  Also, I added chopped peanuts on the top.  I mean really, when aren't chopped peanuts a good idea?

Ode to the Ski Season

We are at the end of another ski season.  If luck is with us, we'll have one more weekend this year.  While it hasn't been a stellar ski season in Utah or Colorado, there have been plenty of days to enjoy the good life of blue sky winter days and fresh air.

 In the above picture you can see me in the background, arms spread, loving life.

Some days are gray, some are snowy, some have clouds, and as you can see, some ski days are topped off with the most brilliant blue ever.



We'll ride up the hill on chairlifts that are slow and chairlifts that are fast; some have cushions and foot rests and some are just a hard seat, without even a safety bar; some hold 2, 3, 4, even 6 people.



But, if there is no chair lift and we need to get to the good runs, we'll even take alternative means of transport!



It doesn't matter how we get there or what color the sky is, skiing keeps us active all winter.  It helps make sure we get some vitamin D, at least a little bit on our nose, and it clears out the hours of sitting at a computer with much needed fresh air.

We are always hungry following a ski day and if we think ahead the crock pot provides us with amazing meals.  This past weekend we enjoyed a pork roast, with dilled baby red potatoes, salad, and sauteed green beans.   Don't forget the red wine. Yum Yum!



If we are lucky, we can even start out our days right with something like this Green Bean, Potato, and Feta Cheese Frittata.



Whether the ski season is filled with tons of new snow or just great blue day groomers, we are always a little sad to see it end.  Our skis will wait patiently for next season, perhaps more patiently than ourselves.  Next September I'll already be thinking about the pre-ski season workout to strengthen my knees and the upcoming great ski days with friends, followed by well deserved meals and laughter. 

Thanks to all our skiing friends for sharing in yet another ski season!

Braised Short Ribs

Recently dear hubby was gone for a week and I wanted to make a nice dinner for his first night back.  But, I had to plan ahead since I was going to be out of the house the whole day before he returned.  So down to the freezer I go and the Short ribs from the happy pig we purchased last year jumped out at me.

What to do next?  Head to the Internet to look for the perfect recipe!  What should I find but a Braised Short Rib recipe from Tom Colicchio on the Food and Wine website.  Now I've seen Tom comment on short ribs multiple times on the Top Chef show, so I think, surely this is an excellent recipe!  It has many steps, but that's ok, I had the time throughout the week, just not the day of dinner.

You can find the Braised Short Rib recipe from Tom Colicchio by clicking on the link in this line.

You must start this recipe at least one day in advance.  First, brown the short ribs - they already look and smell yummy!

Next, saute the vegetables and mix with wine and thyme.  Pour over the ribs and refrigerate overnight.

Next day, add the chicken stock and cook in the oven.  I followed it through this step (step 3 in the recipe) and then refrigerated it again.  Also, before refrigerating it again, I took the sauce without the thyme sprigs and pureed all the vegetables into it.  Yum!

Finally, I baked it again until the meat was falling off the bones and the sauce had reduced (maybe a little too much), but it was amazing.  I set this out with a bottle of red wine, a salad with homemade blue cheese dressing, and egg noodles with buttered breadcrumbs.  A great way to catch up after a week apart.

What's your favorite relaxing "catch up" meal?

Peanut Butter Cookies

Don't ever underestimate how a simple batch of homemade cookies can show someone you love and support them - along with making them the hero of the day.

It can be as simple as the recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll house Chocolate Chip package, but homemade cookies make people smile.

As my husband headed off on a week of teaching students in the Southern Utah desert recently, I wanted to send him off with something sweet both for him and the whole group.  I decided on Peanut Butter Cookies.  I knew at least one member of the group was gluten free, so I made two different batch of cookies.

If you google Best Peanut Butter Cookies, the following recipe will come up on Cooks.com.  And, I heard many times, those were just the best Peanut Butter cookies!  So I guess they aren't lying.  The recipe made enough for me to send cookies for the whole class and take some to share with my fellow ski patrollers that Saturday, about 3-4 dozen.
World's Best Peanut Butter Cookie

2 sticks butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups peanut butter (I used chunky unsweetened)
2 1/2 cups flour (I used 1/2 whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix butter, sugar, vanilla and peanut butter.  Add eggs and beat.  Add flour and baking soda.  Cook at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. 

I rolled these in chopped peanuts before putting them on the baking sheet and scoring them with my fork.

 If you know someone that is gluten free, the following recipe is the best ever to give them a treat, you don't have to buy any special flours!

I found the below recipe at Whole Foods Market. 

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies
1 large egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup creamy unsweetened peanut butter (I used unsweetened chunky pb)
1/2 teaspoon gluten-free vanilla
1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Beat together egg, sugar, baking soda and vanilla in a standing mixer with the paddle attachment or with a hand held mixer.  Beat in the peanut butter.  Stir in chocolate chips if using.

Drop dough by teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet, pressing lightly with the back of a fork. (I rolled my cookies in chopped peanuts before putting them on the baking sheet.) Bake for 10 minutes, until lightly set.  Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

My cookies are a bit darker because I used unrefined sugar, but they were still yummy!

What are your favorite cookies to make for your loved ones?

Salmon Croquettes

We had a lovely meal this week, especially for a Wednesday.  I love working at home as I can prep bigger meals through the day.  In this case Salmon Croquettes are a fancy way of saying Salmon Patties, but they really were the best Salmon Patties I've ever had.  I had a recipe for the Salmon that I printed off from Saveur.   The rest of the meal, I decided on after I already had the Salmon Croquettes together.

Salmon Croquettes

Now, this Salmon Croquette recipe has quite a few steps, just a warning.  You can find the whole recipe here on the Saveur website.  Below are some of my thoughts.

First, it called for Old Bay Seasoning.  I do not have Old Bay Seasoning, which those that have seen my spice cabinet may not believe.  But, I do have every individual spice, so I just looked up a recipe for that seasoning online and made it myself.  I used this Old Bay recipe I found on about.com.  Aren't I handy?

Next, you actually simmer the fish in a mix of water, Seasoning, and white Wine.    This is a new step to me, but it imparted some great flavor in the Salmon.
You'll notice in the recipe there is a lot of let sit for 1/2 hour, let sit for 1 hour.  I think the purpose is just to meld the flavors and sett the croquettes so they don't fall apart.  You can plan ahead to do this, but note, I only let my patties sit for 20 minutes at the end and they didn't fall apart.

Now, it tells you to measure them out in 1/3 cup size and pack them in.  Check out how perfect my Pampered chef, wet and dry measuring cup worked for this!  I just packed it in and pushed the cup to get them out.  This is the best measuring cup ever for things like peanut butter, sour cream, yogurt, etc.

The patties came out in perfect shapes and sizes.

As you can see, I had red onion in the fridge, but isn't that colorful?

Butter glazed Carrots

This is called, what do I have in the vegetable drawer?  Carrots ... slice, slice and I have a vegetable.

Quinoa with Kale, Green Onion, and Toasted Almonds

Never underestimate the joy of quick cooking grains like Quinoa and Couscous.  While they cook, just slice up some green onions and greens, toast some nuts, and mix in appropriate spices.  Tada! You have a side.

Did anyone grow up with Salmon Patties?  These are just a fancy version.

A Fine Meal

I recently enjoyed a dinner I want to share.  It was at a restaurant called Toulouse Petit.  The menu, which is typed daily, says Toulouse Petit: Kitchen Lounge and Universe.

I didn't take pictures as it was dark in the restaurant so you'll have to imagine.

Cocktails
Old Fashioned no. 46
     Maker's 46, sugar, angostura bitters, orange oil, cherry
Sezerac
    rye whisky, pernod rinse, bitters, sugar

Salad
Dungeness Crab and Red Grapefruit Salad
     with Avocado and Pistachios,
    shaved fennel, wild arugula fleur de sel

Charcuterie
Duck and Chicken Liver Terrine
    super smooth with madeira, cognac, shallots, thyme

Meat Entrees
Oven Roasted Duck Confit
    over Brussel Sprouts with Housemade Tasso
    shallots, thyme, grain mustard, sherry

Amazing!

Vacation

Aloha,
I guess even people who love cooking, enjoy breaks now and then.

We recently enjoyed a long vacation in Hawaii.  I thought I would love shopping at the many fruit and vegetables stands and farmers markets and cooking in our condo.  But despite good intentions, there are no pictures of food. 

I did enjoy going to the stands, and buying local papayas, bananas, pineapples to go with my yogurt for breakfast...

But mostly I just enjoyed,

Sun ...

Lush green mountains ...

Turtles ...

The sound of the ocean, as I read my book ...

Trying new things, like stand up paddle boarding ...

Rainbows ...

Waterfalls ...

And eating lots of fresh fish, often in a dish including macadamia nuts, and drinking lots of Hawaiian coffee and beer, but not taking pictures of the stands or food, just enjoying.

Mahalo for your patience during my break.