sliders

After a long and undoubtedly reader-mourned hiatus, I return to you with a versatile, well loved dish in our house.

The base of these sliders is Sister Shubert's rolls. Discovering that my husband loved these was further affirmation of my theory that I'd married the male version of my best friend, but that's beside the point. All that matters is T. loves the rolls and thus has loved whatever I'm able to fit in them. I've made steak sliders with leftover sliced steak meat, I've made turkey burger sliders with leftover turkey meat {and a really cute 2 inch biscuit cutter} and I've made fajita sliders. You could use black bean veggie burger patties, chicken breast sliders {cue that cute biscuit cutter} or even thickly sliced roast beef or turkey deli meat. The possibilities are endless, but the steak is is the one I make the most often. The pictures are of the turkey burger sliders.

{Steak sliders}

INGREDIENTS

Sister Shubert's Parker House Rolls

sliced steak or other meat of choice

spicy mustard

pesto

provolone cheese

baby spinach leaves

sliced Roma tomatoes

oven or toaster oven with a broiler

pepper

DIRECTIONS

Yield note: {I think there are about 16 rolls in each package. When I make these just for T, I break the frozen biscuit 'disk' in half and only use half at a time. One package should feed two for a main course comfortably and be great for appetizers for 4}

Cook frozen rolls according to package directions. Then turn broiler on. 

Time spend under the broiler will only melt the cheese not warm the meat sufficiently, so if you're using leftover or chilled meat, warm meat separately @ this point.

Half each roll and generously spread pesto on one side and spicy mustard {to your level of spiciness preference} on the other. I put pesto on the top and mustard on the bottom because I like the idea of the meat touching the spicy mustard...

Cover each bottom half with as much meat as you please and top with cheese. Place open faced halves on a cookie sheet under the broiler until the cheese melts. Remove. Sprinkle pepper on melted cheese. Top cheese with a few baby spinach leaves and a slice of Roma tomato {and whatever else you've got going on in the fridge that you think sounds good}

Smash top {pesto covered} half on. I served my turkey "burgers" with roasted new potato "fries."

Happy sliding!

vegetable pasta toss

wondering what to do with all those great vegetables from the stuffed peppers?? here's a yummy, fresh, flexible pasta sauce and you don't even have to turn on the oven. next time i try this, i might put a little white wine in there with the tomatoes.

{vegetable pasta toss}
serves 4
a few drizzles of olive oil

2 small, diced

1 T minced garlic

1 slender zucchini, small dice
1 slender yellow summer squash, small dice

1 sweet bell pepper, small dice
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed {or 1 c cooked ground beef}

1 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved {or 1 15 oz can of chopped tomatoes}
1 T ground cumin

1 T ground coriander

1 t cinnamon

1/2 lb whole wheat penne pasta or pasta of choice
juice of one lemon, divided

salt and pepper to taste

chopped parsley
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
::directions::


Bring a large pot of water to boil.

 Cook pasta according to package directions. Heat up a large skillet with a lid on medium high heat. Depending on whether it is nonstick or stainless steel, drizzle a very little oil or a tablespoon or 2 into the pan, and heat it up. When it is shimmering, add the garlic and let it toast briefly, 15-30 seconds. Do not let it burn. Add the onions and cook until caramelized, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with salt.



Add veggies {and chickpeas if you're using them}. When the onion has totally caramelized and the zucchini is a little tender, add the spices and stir. Do not allow the spices to stick and burn. Add the juice of half of the lemon to the pan to deglaze it. Then add the tomatoes. Stir the mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Let it cook for 10 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper.

Uncover and stir to allow tomatoes to break up and liquids to evaporate. Add breadcrumbs if you want it thicker. Remove from heat and add meat if you're using it, 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley and cheese. Toss the cooked noodles with the juice from the remaining half of the lemon. Serve combined or separately.

{image belongs to themarmot}

stuffed red bell peppers

Turns out I was inspired after my sad farewell for a bit and decided to cook dinner. I'm on a bell pepper kick now that I've decided I like them after 23 years of marked repulsion to even the smell of them sharing space in a salad with similarly colored tomatoes.

This came from smitten kitchen who had it as a vegetarian dish. I added meat based upon some other recipes. You're just going to have to guestimate the vegetable quantities based upon the size of the veggies you end up with and what you like more. Don't skip on the spices though and save yourself some time by just throwing all your parsley leaves in a food processor. I've decided I hate washing, drying, pulling leaves off and cutting herbs like parsley and cilantro. So I just lightly washed them, barely dried them and threw them in the food processor. Now have a parsley pesto foundation for later and am not picking herb leaves out of my nails.

These were good and very flexible.

roasted vegetable stuffed peppers
inspired by smittenkitchen.com

5 bell peppers halved and seeded {see note}
2 bell peppers - small dice {see note}
1 zucchini - small dice
1 summer squash - small dice
1 onion - small dice
6 cloves garlic - minced
1 c frozen corn
1 c grape tomatoes halved or quartered
4 tbs chopped fresh parsley
3/4 c panko breadcrumbs
salt
pepper
1 tbs essence {i used a dash of paprika and cayenne pepper}
3 tbs olive oil
2 tbs butter
1/4 c parmesean plus more for sprinkling {or whatever cheese you have... but i strongly recommend using GOOD freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and this will change your life.}
1/2 lb ground beef or turkey

cumin

coriander

oven to 375. cook meat in a skillet with a few dashes of coriander and cumin and a bit of salt and pepper. set aside. saute onion in butter and olive oil over med high heat until translucent. add garlic and cook til fragrant. add vegetables and saute until just softened. add salt, pepper and essence. {don't be shy with your spices! taste it!} add parsley and breadcrumbs. you may need to add more breadcrumbs if the liquid is not absorbed. add parm and meat and take off heat. combine.

stuff the peppers with the vegetable stuffing mix. place in baking dish with a little olive oil in bottom. put in oven and bake until peppers are softened (about 20-25 minutes). just before they are done (5 minutes early) take out and sprinkle top with parm.
{note} I cut the top off of my peppers, then diced the de-stemmed, de-cored top as the “diced” pepper. I then stuffed into the topless peppers.
{post note} BUT I think this recipe was designed so that each pepper would equate two halves for stuffing if you cut each lengthwise. Since I made them stuffable by cut the tops off, one pepper only equaled one pepper, rather than one turning into two, if that makes any sense. I halved all the quantities shown here, didn't add corn and added only a few cherry tomatoes and it filled three peppers perfectly. We each ate one as a meal.


Taylor said these were good because the "bell pepper tasted fresh" I think the yummy, gooey innards were a good contrast with the cooked but still crisp bell pepper on the outside.

{image belongs to tdfl}

steak salad

Hey look! A man salad.
This was a great summer dinner that kept Taylor feeling he'd been heartily cooked for and involved a tasty little portion of red meat that I didn't mind eating. {read: not ground beef}

steak salad
serves 2
INGREDIENTS
3/4 lb strip steak
2 heaping cups arugula
2 heaping cups baby spinach
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/2 to 1/3 avocado, chopped
1/4 cup red bell peppers, diced
1 tablespoon seasoning salt
red wine vinaigrette dressing {recipe below}
cracked black pepper
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
DIRECTIONS
Heat skillet to high heat. Season steak generously with Worcestershire sauce and cracked pepper and rub in to both sides. Add steak to skillet and cook about 2 minutes on each side, until internal temperature reaches around 130 degrees. Transfer to cutting board and allow to sit for 1 to 2 minutes. While meat is resting, divide vegetables evenly among two rimmed plates and toss with desired amount of dressing and seasoning salt.

Cut meat into thin strips, trimming as desired, and then cut each strip in half. Top tossed salads with steak.

red wine vinaigrette
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Add all ingredients together and whisk in the oil.

I served this with some roasted "old" potatoes, kind of a twist on steak and potatoes, but it probably would have been better with some good, toasted crusty bread.

beef empanadas

Cooking for two, I inevitably have leftovers. Instead of incorporating all three chicken breasts in that package or the entire pound of ground beef into the same dish, I try to cook the meats separately so that I can set 2/3 of them aside to freeze for two additional dishes. Otherwise, if I use the entire defrosted package, Tay would be eating the same meal out of the same 4 quart Coringware for an entire month.

I know you were dying to know the background about why I was so excited to find another new entree to try that incorporated ground beef! Furthermore, this involved making a pastry, biscuitish dough, and since I'm trying to bake more breads then I knew I had to try this.
There they are, people. Be sure that you fold and pinch the edges really well. All but one of them popped open and commenced oozing.

And there's the ground beef, mixed with the canned tomatoes and a few bits of cilantro. I wasn't brave enough to add a significant amount of cilantro so I don't think we could taste it. Consequently, I didn't include it as an ingredient in the recipe, but feel free to throw it in. Also, to be honest, I don't remember how much I threw in there so I have no accurate measurement to provide you with. Just Rachel Ray it.More cheese wouldn't have hurt. My hubby doesn't like strong cheeses, but, if I'd had my way, I would have put goat cheese in this. Someone on Smitten Kitchen's site suggested blue cheese which also sounds great to me but not really authentic, not really true to the regional category in which this dish resides. But who cares, really. Try it and invite me over. Really.

I halved this recipe and ended up having almost enough dough for five. Since it should have made six, I must have rolled the dough too thick. Giving measurements is hard, really how can you measure these type of things? 1/8th to 1/6th of an inch? Slightly thicker than a tortilla? Look at my picture above and make it thinner.

Beef Empanadas
adapted from SmittenKitchen
Makes a dozen 6-inch empanadas
INGREDIENTS
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
salt and pepper
3/4 pound ground beef chuck (though I used lean)
1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes in juice, drained, reserving 2 tablespoons juice
1/2 to 1 cup cheese such as monterrey jack or goat cheese
1 package frozen empanada pastry disks, thawed (or homemade, recipe follows)
1 egg beaten with 2 teaspoons water
DIRECTIONS
Cook onion in olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until softened. Add garlic and spices and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in beef and cook, breaking up lumps with a fork, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.

Add about 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and tomatoes with reserved juice, then cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced but mixture is still moist, about 5 minutes. Spread on a plate to cool.

Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Lay a large sheet of plastic wrap on a dampened work surface (to help keep plastic in place), then roll out an empanada disk on plastic wrap to measure about 6 inches. Place 3 tablespoons meat mixture on disk. Sprinkle with cheese. Moisten edges of disk with water and fold over to form a semicircle, then crimp edges together well. Make more empanadas in same manner.

Lightly brush empanadas with egg wash and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking, until golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer empanadas to a rack to cool at least 5 minutes.

Serve warm or at room temperature.

Empanada Dough
INGREDIENTS
4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (when I halved this recipe, I used 1 1/4 c white and 1 cup whole wheat)
3 teaspoons salt
2 sticks (1 cup or 8 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 large eggs
2/3 cup ice water
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
DIRECTIONS
Sift flour with salt into a large bowl and blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal with some (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Beat together egg, water, and vinegar in a small bowl with a fork. Add to flour mixture, stirring with fork until just incorporated. (Mixture will look shaggy.) Turn out mixture onto a lightly floured surface and gather together, then knead gently with heel of your hand once or twice, just enough to bring dough together. Form dough into two flat rectangles and chill them, each wrapped in plastic wrap, at least 1 hour. Dough can be chilled up to 6 hours total.

This dough was really good!

breakfast tacos made easy

The key to good breakfast tacos is a good tortilla. I'm sorry if you don't live in Texas (let me know if you want me to export these to you) but these HEB tortillas are my new favorite thing (thank you demographics). It's a package of uncooked tortilla dough. So I can take the bag out of the freezer, allow it to defrost for a few minutes then place the rounds on a skillet. Instant tortilla amazingness. I would not lead you astray. Please go find these right now. They can be found in the refrigerated section near the dairy and eggs.

The pictures are deceiving because what I most sincerely recommend is not documented here. I suggest using your favorite hot-as-hot, big and chunky hot sauce and whisking it in with the eggs before scrambling. For Taylor this morning, I mixed in some cheese and cooked ground taco meat with the egg. Or you could dice a potato, seasoning salt and pepper it and cook it in a skillet with butter or olive oil like you're making homefries. Then add that to the eggs before scrambling.
Look, three minutes to tortilla heaven. Hold me back. Add to skillet, flip when bubbly.
Breakfast Tacos
yield 2
3 eggs
1/4 c. grated Monterry Jack cheese
ground pepper
3 tablespoons milk (optional)
GOOD tortillas!
{suggested additions}
hot salsa
cooked ground beef or sausage meat
1 diced, cooked potato (with skin on recommended)
sauteed onions
sauteed green peppers
canned chopped jalapenos
(ok I'm getting carried away)
DIRECTIONS
Cook HEB tortillas according to package directions. Or heat 1 tablespoon butter on medium heat and warm and toast prepared tortillas in skillet, about 2 minutes per side. Store under foil.

Whisk all desired taco ingredients together. Pour egg mixture onto nonstick skillet, or well greased stainless skillet, on medium to medium low heat. Allow to cook untouched about 1 minute then begin scrambling by mixing and flipping with large spatula. Remove to prepared tortillas as soon as they look done, about 3 minutes.

I don't recommend using larger than a 10 inch skillet as egg mixture will spread out too quickly. But I'm probably just weird.

Behold, tortillas.Don't forget to add salsa if you're like my husband and opposed to scrambling it with the eggs. You're missing out. But this has been a very opinionated and regionally limited post so I'll withhold further judgments and recommedations. Contact me with questions or taco addition assistance.

Just find those tortillas!

Congressional Chili

So the State Legislature is in session and Taylor is sick. Perfect time to make Chili. According to my research, Former House Representative Jake Pickle, who represented Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives for almost 30 years started making venison chili and giving it away in the cafeteria while the Legislature was in session. It became very popular and so demanded that the cafeteria asked him to stop giving it away because no one was actually buying things on the menu. This became a favorite of President LBJ, beginning, according to Wikipedia, when he was Senate Majority Leader. Lady Bird had the recipe printed out on cards and mailed it out when it became so requested from the White House. Furthermore, the Texas Chili Parlor is a popular eatery for capitol workers AND chili con carne is Texas' national dish.

That highly extensive five minutes of research done to figure out why this would be called Congressional Chili by the Junior League of Houston's new cook book entitled Peace Meals, which was featured in my recent edition of House Beautiful. I halved this recipe and didn't have mole. The only thing I'd change is cutting the peppers a bit smaller. It was really good!







Congressional Chili
adapted from Peace Meals: JL of Houston
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
4 cloves garlic, pressed
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 1/2 pounds ground beef, preferably sirloin
16 ounces canned tomato sauce
3 tablespoons prepared red mole ( I did not use this but will try it next time)
3 tablespoons chili powder
3 cups water
32 ounces canned kidney beans
Shredded cheddar cheese

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium. Add the onions, peppers, and garlic. Sauté until the onions are translucent and the peppers begin to soften. Perhaps add garlic closer to the end or take care to stir frequently so that garlic does not burn to the bottom of the skillet. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Brown the beef in a soup pot; drain off any excess fat. Add half of the sautéed onion-pepper mixture to the meat. Stir in the tomato sauce, mole, chili powder, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Adjust the seasonings by adding additional salt, pepper, mole, or chili powder. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the beans and the remaining half of the onion-pepper mixture; cook for 15 minutes. Serve topped with cheese and onions.

I was skeptical because it was chunky but I thought it was really good! I'd recommend being sure the peppers are really soft when you're sauteeing them so that they only provide flavor not a surprising crunch. As you can see, Taylor endorses it.

beef soup

What's the difference between stew and soup? What's the difference between broth and stock? In that regard, I'm no Emeril.

But speaking of Emeril, I made Beef Stouwp in my awesome blue dutch oven that is Emeril's line. So not only am I guaranteed culinary awesomeness by cooking something endorsed by a celebrity but, best of all, it has an 'E' on the top. So in other words, I used my monogrammed dutch oven the to make this stouwp.

Beef Stouwp
INGREDIENTS
1.5-2lbs Beef tips ( I think that's what they were. The chopped up beef that said "Great for Stews" at HEB)
4 new potatoes, or 3-4 cups, peeled and bit-sized cubed
2 cups baby carrots
1/2 onion chopped
4-5 c. low sodium beef broth
1 c dry white wine
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of thyme
3 cloves minced garlic
flour
salt
pepper
olive oil
DIRECTIONS
Coat beef in combined flour, salt and pepper. Heat oil in dutch oven over medium high. Brown meat about 8 minutes. Remove to platter and brown vegetables, about 4 minutes. Add balsamic vinegar, reduce heat and cook, about 2 minutes. Add wine, thyme, garlic and bay leaves. Simmer liquid until wine is reduced, about 6 minutes. Add meat and juices from platter; add enough broth to cover ingredients. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low and simmer gently about one and a half hours.

Great for the cold! Adapted from Allrecipes.com and Epicurious. Next time I'll try using a big roast in my crock pot. Fun winter kitchen toys I haven't used yet!

zimply ziti

I first made this when our friends, David and Emily, came to Austin for New Year's. Taylor about died telling me how good it was. So it returned for our first married meal, before we even had real silverware. It's modified from Real Simple: Meals Made Easy. For appropriate portion sizing, I cook the whole pound of hamburger meat and then refrigerate half of it for spaghetti or something else involving ground beef, for later in the week.

Lasagna-Style Baked Ziti
INGREDIENTS
1/2 lb. (half a box) dry ziti
1 T. EVOO
1 small yellow onion, chopped
3/4 t. kosher salt
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/2 lb. ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c. fresh oregano or 1 T. dried oregano powder
1/2 to 3/4 a jar chunky pasta sauce
3/4 c. ricotta
1/2 c. grated Parmesan
1 c. shredded mozzarella
DIRECTIONS
Heat oven to 400. Cook ziti according to package directions. Heat oil in large pot over medium, add onion, salt, pepper and cook for 5 min. Add beef and cook, crumbling with a spoon, about 7 min. Add garlic and oregano and cook for 2 min. Add pasta sauce and cook for 3 min. Remove from heat. Add drained ziti to pot and toss. Add ricotta and 1/4 c. of Parmesan, 1/2 c. mozzarella and toss again. Spread mixture into a 2 quart baking dish and sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake about 12-15 minutes, until the cheese melts. Serves 4, with leftovers. :)

Tay likes this and diced tomatoes can be added as well as spinach. I want to try it with chicken soon. Stay tuned for pumpkin cookies!!