Steak Spinach Salad

Toss the following:

• steak, cooked how you like and sliced (leave off for vegetarian option)
• spinach
• tomato
• red bell pepper
• cheddar cheese, cubed
• croutons
• jicama shards (those are the white pieces)
• italian dressing

A view of a half-eaten salad that I decided was tasty and wanted to share it with you.  Too bad your screen isn’t scratch’n’nibble!

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New Year’s Nosh

Do you know how many times we’ve stayed home on New Year’s Eve, watching Times Square on television as each time zone rings in the new year?

Plenty.

This year we were invited to a friend’s in south Austin, quite a hike for us on the opposite side of the city.  I got all girly and put on a dress (not noticing I haven’t shaved in about 3 months but it’s blonde so no one should see it).  Little Sister was just gorgeous in her holiday dress, I took a stab at trimming her fine baby hair that was growing haphazardly at the back of her head.  You can’t really tell any hair is missing, it’s still fuzzy.

Our friend made a simple cracker spread out of smoked oysters and soft cream cheese.  She just mashed it up and sort of made a mold with the mixing bowl and inverted it on a platter for crackers.  Along with the oyster spread was cream cheese doused in what tasted like mango chutney.  Very simple and very easy to eat.

Hubby enjoyed the oyster cheese dip so much that he wanted it again for dinner today.  The inaugural trip to the grocery store was full of bleary eyed shoppers, who probably just woke up to make it to the store before dark. Night had fallen while we spent the better part of an hour gathering essentials for the house, and the smoked oysters of course.  Little Sister partied as hard as we did, she passed out in the bumper car themed cart for kids (Not the best idea when you know there are loads of groceries to pick up, the actual cart volume is smaller than the regular carts!).

Dinner was a thick steak seasoned with Worcestershire sauce and Montreal Steak Spice, left to marinade and adjust to room temperature on the counter for 20 -25 minutes (the time I took to make rice).  I also sautéed mushrooms and yellow onion for the steak.  The cream cheese (2 – 3 oz) and smoked oyster (3 oz can) was a strong compliment to the beef.  You’d think we were in fancy rotating restaurant in downtown Calgary!

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Steak Melts

While I was pregnant with Big Brother I craved Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches (and meat in general) from a little deli near my office.  Thursdays’ special is the Philly, most of the time I couldn’t wait for Thursday to roll around!  It’s easy to make a comparable sandwich at home and save yourself some dough.

At the deli, you choose your toppings for the steak.  There’s sweet peppers, hot peppers, mushrooms, and sauce.  My version includes mushrooms, roasted red bell pepper, sweet yellow onion, and roasted Poblano pepper.  Instead of the hoagie bun, I use a focaccia.

Once the steak, onion, and mushrooms are browned, I pile on the roasted pepper slices and cover with cheese.  The bread gets a smear of butter and it goes in the pan to toast as the cheese melts into the layers of sweet, spice and earthy goodness.

Assemble your steak melt and enjoy!

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Steak Fajita Salad with iced coffee

Taco Cabana (literally translated to taco shack) has become of my weaknesses in the realm of drive-thru restaurants.    I thought of Taco Bell and  the gross almost-beef crap that they use and feared I would be caught in a reoccurring nightmare.  Not so.  I also had a flashback to my first year as a university student who worked on campus at the Taco Time.  This was before I realized how much homework I would have to do in engineering, versus the art students who were my co-workers.  I was very sorry that I had to quit in my first month of part-time employment, but my manager understood.

If you visit me, you must try Taco Cabana.   They use real meat and have awesome soft tacos and fajitas. 

What’s also great is using leftovers for a quick lunch.  Take some shredded lettuce and pile on the steak fajita strips, guacamole, and shredded cheese – voilà, a steak salad!  I made an iced coffee to drink along with my salad.  It was glorious until the kids found me and stole my steak strips, guess they are trying to tell me to slim down.

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Two minds dine alike

After being married for a while I’ve noticed Hubby and I stunningly have the exact same thoughts at times.  There was something we were talking about the other day when he literally read my mind, word for word.  I suppose after 30-some-odd years we won’t even need to speak, just nod and smile to each other.

Today was a mind-meld day for us.

I took some steaks out of the freezer to be ready for dinner when I got home.  Hubby found them in the fridge and made one for lunch, leaving one steak.

I came home.  Saw one steak where I had left two.  Hmm.  I’ll fry up a couple of eggs and split the steak, the kids would rather have eggs than steak anyways.

This spawned fried rosemary potatoes and sautéed red onion and red bell pepper.  Steak and eggs turned into a full-fledged brunch style dinner!  I did contemplate making chicken fried steak, but that’s for another day.  These Angus steaks were found as a quick sale at Sam’s Club, a family pack of about 12 steaks for 9 and change.  Good deal for us.

As we sat enjoying dinner together, Hubby pipes up.  He made the steak with an egg for lunch.  At that moment I felt like we were Vulcans on Star Trek, minds melded.  Weird, I know.

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Hiked-Up Skirt Steak

For some reason, husbands are great steak chefs.  It must be those ancient chromosomes relating back to the first discoverers of fire and the application of fire to the hunted thing du jour.  I don’t think my steaks are bad, his are just better and I’m willing to share the kitchen to get my paws on a crusty caramelized piece of meat.  But a girl can’t eat meat on its own.

I wish I had the picture to show you: Little Sister helped create this dish, and she is 19 months old.   Don’t say you can’t cook this dish.  I sliced the eggplant and Little Sister grabbed the squeeze bottle of olive oil and dripped oil on each eggplant slice, proceeded to flip them over and repeat the process.  I followed with a light showering of sea salt.  Next was the pesto.  She helped me pick out the chunks of garlic stuck in the press and put them in the blender.  She tore basil leaves and added them to the blender.  Finally I showed her the bottle of oil and she dripped the oil as I pulsed the blender.  I dipped my finger into the bright green sauce for her to taste her work, she hummed and nodded with toddler approval.

The eggplant planks, prepared by Little Sister, were browned in a moderately hot pan.  You want to get some good caramel color, this provides a sweet counterpoint to the salt in the pesto and spicy seasoning of the skirt steak.  Definitely use the white/lilac coloured eggplants (Japanese variety or Rosa Bianca heirloom variety) this will let  you avoid the sometimes bitter taste of the dark purple eggplants.  I source mine from a local farm and they are delicious.

Basil Pesto

• about 6 stalks of basil (good handful)
• 2 cloves of garlic, pressed
• pinch of salt to taste
• crank of black pepper mill
• bit of lemon juice (scant teaspoon)
• olive oil

Put everything except the oil in a blender or mini-food processor and pulse to chop the basil.  Drizzle the oil while pulsing at first, then let it whiz.  Add just enough oil to end up with a smooth cohesive mix.

If you like it hot, kick it up with some spice like cayenne pepper or chopped jalapeño.

BTW: Happy Canada Day!

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Steak & Potatoes

Angus steak with black pepper, minced garlic, sea salt.
Pommes frites were left over BBQ potato wedges with rosemary and coriander, onion and garlic. Cut the wedges into thick slices and fry in a little olive oil.

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