Eating Dinner With My Family

This is one of those easy, yummy meals we all need to have. It used to be the after soccer meal and we had it once a week.  The only thing that requires any time is the time you have let the meat come to room temp.  (and that is a must!)  If you aren't a fan of blue cheese, use some fresh mozzarella.  Steak Salad 1 One inch thick steak (NY strip is my choice) 1/2 to 1 pound (aged a few days if you can*) 6-8 cups of mixed salad greens (arugula is a must and should be well represented) 1/2 cucumber:  peeled and seeded. Diced in to 1/4" cubes 1/2 green pepper: seeded and diced in to 1/4" cubes 1 extra large scallion: thinly sliced 2 small tomatoes: sliced and cut in quarters 1/4 cup bleu cheese: crumbled Radishes thinly sliced (optional) Extra virgin olive oil Balsamic reduction* Directions Put steak out to come to room temperature (if it's not at room temp the inside will be underdone) Preheat you oven to 5...

Well I have good news and bad news. Let's start with the bad. I have had my first soufflé disaster. (This is the 4th one I have made). The picture I'm displaying is pre removal from the pan. We turned it out and it was not nearly done. So it went back in the pan and cooked for about 20 more minutes at 350. In the end it was the consistency of fluffy scrambled eggs. The good news?  It was still fantastic. My husband still rated it a five with the consistency issues. I also didn't spring for the fancier versions if the cheese. Plain ole Publix blue cheese and deli cheddar, so it wasn't that pricey, and not hard to procure any ingredients. It was fine with thses "lesser" ingredients.  Perhaps next time  try it, I will not try to follow the adding the "dollop" of cream.  I fear that may have fooled with the consistency and perhaps it was done just wet??  It will be made again, and we will love it, even if I mess it up again:). Double Baked Stilton And...

My son requested steak tonight, so I obliged him. To make it a "new" recipe, I looked for a compound butter to top it with. I found this blue cheese butter from Bobby Flay. It was nice. I loved that it gave you the flavor of blue cheese but it wasn't overwhelmingly blue. Since the recipe this week is so quick, I thought I would share my steak cooking technique. I achieve consistent results and as my husband once said, his manhood felt a little threatened that I was better at steak cooking than him. (lol)  It is surprisingly simple to do.  It isn't anything secret, it is just a collection of things I have read concerning steak cookery.  We like our steak medium rare, and that takes 4 minutes a side for this size steak.  I would lose a minute a side for rare and add a minute for medium.  Ideally, a thicker steak would get more caramelizing on the out side, but I haven't found any already cut that thick at Publix, but that would require me to trial and error find o...

I have a problem, I adore sriracha!  I want to put it on everything.  I know I am not alone in this, but it is still something I feel a bit guilty over:).  So, when I saw there was a Sriracha cookbook, I wanted it!  I haven't gotten it yet, but his recipe was available as a preview on amazon.  When I saw this burger, I knew I would have to make it and soon.  Problem.  My husband does not share this love.  He is more of a Crystal man.  Not being a fan of Sriracha, he was less than excited to try this burger.  (oh he doesn't like blue cheese either!)  I, however, kind of forced the issue and chose to make this tonight.  I halved the recipe, but at 5 tbsp, I was worried that it would be a little too spicy for even me.  Was it?  No!  My husband, who wasn't expecting to like this much, ate more than 2 burgers!  He felt ill afterward, but said it was worth it.  I really enjoyed it too.  Not as enthusiast...

Since I cooked something special for the boy last night, I asked my daughter what she would like for dinner tonight.  She said hamburgers.  Actually she calls them hang-ger- bergs which we think is really cute and the only "baby talk: we don't try super hard to correct.  Of course she ended not eating any hamburger even though we kept one plain for her.  It was alright.  We have had so many good burgers that we are kind of tough on them.  The boy ate two, so I know he loved them. (he said a 4 out of 5)  Both my husband and I were more like 3.5. Stilton Sirloin Burgers With Onion Jam   2 Tbl extra-virgin olive oil 1/2 large red onion thinly sliced Kosher salt 1 Cup dry red wine 2 Tbl red wine vinegar 2 Tsp honey 1 thyme sprig Freshly ground pepper 2 Lb ground sirloin 4 ounces Stilton cheese cut into 8 slices 8 mini brioche or kaiser rolls split 8 Boston lettuce leaves for serving 1. In a skillet, heat the oil. Add the onion and a p...

I have had a lot of fun blogging the past 18 months or so but  I enjoyed trying all these new recipe (and revisiting some oldies), but also I love that I have found a lot of cool people with cool food blogs. (although I am annoyed with my phone for making it impossible to comment on the blogs, and I rarely use the computer) I tried a recipe tonight from a blog I love, and suggest you check out: Happy Valley Chow .  I knew this recipe seemed made for my husband.  With the exception of blue cheese, every ingredient is one he loves, its PIZZA, he went to Penn State and he loves the Rolling Stones.  I am not a fan of sweet and savory (nor apples in particular) but I thought this might be something I would like too.  It was quite good.  My husband and son loved it; I liked it despite the fact it had apples on it.  I personally would have liked a tad more cheese, but I did go light on...

Another recipe from my free Bobby Flay iBook, Bobby Flay's Bold Flavors.  As a cobb salad fan, I loved this burger.  My boys, not lovers of blue cheese or avocado, liked it (which is a win unto it's self) but didn't love it.  The dressing for the lettuce is worth keeping alone, much less the magical blue, avocado and bacon blend:).   My daughter, who never eats much, or eats many carbs, ate almost an entire burger.  We did change hers up a bit.  She is three and we figured the pungency of blue cheese wouldn't work for her, and she won't eat anything green, so she had a plain turkey burger with some plain ole American Cheese.  However, let me reiterate, she ate almost an ENTIRE burger! Something to be said for the inherent yumminess of a turkey burger that I find many turn their nose up at.  Now I love a beef burger, but turkey is no slough in the burger department, as long as you use ground turkey , not ground turkey breast .  I know th...

I am being overwhelmed, again, with a bulging pantry and refrigerator.  I have decided to have my own personal version of Chopped and just dive in with a hodgepodge of ingredients and pray for the best.  I figured I would make this salad (as I am really into grilled romaine right now) and throw together something from stuff lying around for an entree.  The salad was amazing.  I think the best grilled romaine salad so far.  My husband and son agree.  What made this one better?  Well the dressing was awesome.  A great dressing to have around period.  I also liked that the salad included a 'garnish' of cool uncooked romaine chopped finely over the top.  Really the whole thing was perfection.  Just a note on the side, my chopped dish, Cornbread Dressing with Sausage and Collard Greens was a super smash too!  I am so happy and proud, but since I know tomorrow's dish may be a dismal failure, I am separating the posts into two....

 Now, I do like a good grilled romaine, and I don't hate bacon, so this was going to be good.  Both my son and I LOVED it.  After both our first bites we looked at each other and were like that was good!  The dressing with the blue cheese was the star, but grilled romaine held its own.  My husband came home about an hour after we ate, and I fired up the grill again to provide him with a freshly grilled salad.  After his first bite, he said "what is this stuff on the lettuce, it's awesome!'.  So I consider that a clean sweep as the two year old doesn't eat anything but fruit at this point:).  I have to say that this recipe being a triumph is sorely needed. I realize how dependent I have become on my Accuchef recipe program.  I sent off an email to their support.  I know it's Sunday, but my accuchef being down, and haven't heard from support,  is really annoying me and I am using pepperplate in the mean time, and I thin...

It's Monday and we are trying to do Meatless Mondays.  While we have had at least one day a week in the past that has meatless dinners, we are making an effort to have the entire day be meatless. (for the kids when possible)  I decided I wanted to do something I have always wanted to try, grilling pizza.  My husband scoffed at the idea of grilling pizza. (He scoffed at the idea of grilled romaine too, but he loved it)  My husband was not as enamored with this pizza as he was with the grilled romaine.  I can attribute this to two reasons.  1) He has an aversion to the texture of raw tomatoes, and these were lightly cooked.  2) He did the actual grilling.  Its Florida and it's summer; it is hot sweaty work, which is why I happily took him up on his offer to do the grilling.  I prepped everything he needed and gave it to him as needed:)  There were some logistical issues with the grilling that really needed some familiarity with the process...

I think this is the first of the F&W staff favorites that disappointed us a bit.  It was alright but not particularly memorable.  We did alter it a bit.  I only used a pound and a half of meat.  The burgers were plenty big with less meat.  The only blue cheese at the market was  danish style and probably stronger than what was recommended, but the burgers weren't overwhelmingly blue cheesy.  I don't care for brioche and we had some buns already.  And lastly, there weren't the right peppers at the market and a quick search on my phone suggested cubanelles as a substitute.  It was tasty but I can't see us making it again.  Maybe we have become a bit too picky, but we have plenty of recipes we love so... It was different and that is something:) Green-Chile Burgers With Fried Eggs 2 1/4 lb ground chuck,preferably organic Salt and freshly ground pepper 1/2 lb mild American blue cheese such as Maytag Blue Cheese, cut into 4 slices...

With a moniker with all the doubles, this burger was not as amazing as one would think.  Not bad mind you, but it didn't make want to, as they say in the colorful vernacular of the south, "slap your mama!"  I have to say, while I am trying to make every recipe exactly following instructions, (for learning the process and giving me a starting place to work on the recipe for my family's tastes) I am really getting tired of a recipe for four burgers calling for a pound and a half of meat!  These burgers were monsters! I would never make larger than 1/4 pound burger for myself.  Often when I make burgers of my own creation, I make the pound in to different size burgers based on the person. (think like papa bear, mama bear and baby bear) The absolute best thing about these burgers was the Camembert!  I love Camembert, but it is just amazing on a burger.  It melts in to almost a sauce.  It was also perfect in that it mellowed the Gorgonzola.  Double-P...

Still on my mission to clean out what we have rather than shop, I have decided to cook the steaks we cut off the tenderloin we were using for the Beef Wellington.  They were vacuum sealed so no freezer burn. (yay)  I guess this is a bit of a rift on my steak salad in that the salad is pretty much the steak salad without the steak on top of it and with a starch.  I opted for bulgar.  Bulgar is such a neglected side dish.  It works like rice but it has this wonderful nutty and chewy texture that makes rice just seem sad.  (sorry to rice but you know it's true;)  It cooks quickly (about 15 min) and just like rice, you sub out the water for broth and some butter and MAGIC.  I added some raw finely chopped onion.  Yes I was lazy; I should have sauteed it first but I'm tired and wanted tonight's dinner to be quick and easy.  No recipe here, just a recommendation for eating bulgar:) I am also happy to report that those yellow tomatoes came out ...

This was a quick and easy dish to make.  It was pretty tasty too.  I may have been a little light on the Gorgonzola, (I had a scant 1/2 cup in fridge)  but it was nice that the cheese didn't overwhelm the dish. It is a personal thing, but I would chop the spinach next time.  I knew we would prefer it chopped but didn't for fear that it might go through my colander.  The one with the big holes was clean, the other was dirty and I do like to make the recipe exactly as written the first time through.  This is one we will keep and make again.  I think I would like more spinach just for more veggies and remove the need for a salad.  I forgot to reserve pasta water (Arrrrghhh!) so I used a couple of teaspoons of beef broth that was in the fridge to help loosen the sauce up.  Bottom line: FAST!, EASY and tasty. Penne With Spinach, Gorgonzola, And Walnuts Kosher salt 8 oz fresh baby spinach leaves (10 lightly packed cups) 1/4 c  coa...

I was looking for a recipe to use up the leftover Gorgonzola from yesterday.  I thought this looked interesting and it is from a chef I like. I enjoyed it, but I tend to pick apart new recipes and this one could have used work imo.  I thought the bites that had a bit of everything were great, but the way the squash was in chunks on top, made that intermittent.  I think it would be great with a small adjustment. Next time, I would mash the squash and make that paste the "sauce" on the pizza.   I also didn't cook it the way she said to in the recipe.  I did my usual pizza cooking by heating the stone in the oven at 500.  Then putting the rolled out dough on the hot stone and then putting the toppings on it and baking at the bottom of oven at 500 for 5-10 minutes.  (tonight it was for 8) It is still an interesting dish worth making. Roasted Acorn Squash And Gorgonzola Pizza 1    (1- pound) acorn squash 2 T...

Tonight I force my son to reevaluate his stance on Brussels sprouts.  I have already converted my husband when I sliced them thin, sauteed them in a little bit of bacon fat and olive oil, and added some sauteed garlic, chopped tomatoes and a splash of balsamic.  Tonight's dinner is something that I think could be great, but the dish we ate tonight tasted of one thing only: Gorgonzola.  If there were double the Brussels sprouts and half the cheese, I think it would be outstanding.  Also I wouldn't sprinkle any cheese over the top.  We thought some hot sauce would help. It didn't; it made it worse. My son, who entered the house when I was roasting the Brussels sprouts and asked "What STINKS?", did declare at dinner that while it stunk while cooking, it was much better than he thought.  I will count it as a success in my mission despite the fact he really couldn't taste much of the sprouts.  The mental battle is half the food battle so next time we have t...

Well tonight's dinner, while tasty, was a bit of a misstep in two ways.  First of all, the tomatoes are raw, (didn't notice that) and my husband doesn't like to eat tomatoes raw.  Secondly, it is really a summer dish and tonight was one of the coldest of the year. It wasn't a cold dish, but not really hot one either.  Still, it was thoroughly enjoyed by all but my husband, who ate leftover chicken and dumplings and was a very happy camper.  I will make this again, but I will, next time, throw in a pinch of red pepper flakes in with the oil and garlic.  No salt was needed, I left it out along with the pepper.  Oops, but  I think I would like the red pepper better:)  I also wanted to use up the Stilton from the other night, and viola, a quick search of the web and we have bread sticks with our pasta. Spaghetti With Tomatoes, Black Olives, Garlic, And Feta Cheese 4 Servings 1 1/2 lb tomatoes (about 3),seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces 1/2 c...

I have wanted to try this for so long, but it did disappoint a little. More cheese and port would have helped.  The rolls seemed to absorb a lot of the flavors. Some bites were very tasty, but most were just, in the words of Randy Jackson, pitchy. I made a couple of deviations from the recipe. I used woodears instead of the shiitake, I used ground chuck and the buns were egg bread knots from the bakery. The buns were very similar to brioche.  Dried shiitakes seem to be on strike, and the meat was 20% fat like the homemade combo of different cuts. I don't think that they were significant changes, at least not enough to ruin the dish.  Now I might make it again.  I have umami powder left over, but it didn't wow.  Now we are going out to the cul de sac and celebrate the coming new year:) Umami Burgers With Port And Stilton  4 Servings 1 c  ruby port 2 lb mixed ground beef brisket skirt steak and sirloin steak ...

Well I felt like pizza again, but as I am determined to do this blog every day (and have only missed a few on the days we have eaten out), and I don't want to repeat recipes, I had to search for new toppings.  I am actually enjoying the process of forcing myself and my family out of our comfortable rut of a couple dozen favorite recipes and trying stuff that we may not have, despite the fact that the recipes sound like ones we might like.  I did not plan quite as well as I should have.  In a brief scan of the Onion, Gorgonzola and Bacon pizza, I read 12 (yes 12!) cups of sliced onion as 1/2 so I didn't have but 2 when time came to cook the pizza.  (it was still good but 12 would be better:)  Also, the Salmon Pizza called for 2.5oz of smoked salmon, and I had 3oz, but it wasn't enough.  I guess I should have weighed my dough.  I think I made too large a pizza for the "sauce" and toppings.  Well I absolutely LOVED the caramelized onion one....

I happen to love Blue cheese, the boy likes it a little and my husband will tolerate it, so I was worried about the reception of this dish. I only used two chicken breasts, but they were on the large side and there was plenty of chicken.  I also went a tad light on the blue cheese. It was really good.  The only thing that kept this from being a fast dish was the long cooking time on the onions, but don't skimp on this step.  You want to make sure that you get that nice sweetness in them. I even liked the rosemary and I am not a fan. Orecchiette With Chicken, Caramelized Onions, And Blue Cheese Yield: 4 Servings 1 T  butter 3 T  olive oil 2    onions,quartered and cu into thin slices 1 t  salt 1 1/3 lb boneless,skinless chicken breasts (about 4) 1/4 t  fresh-ground black pepper 3/4 t  dried rosemary,crumbled, or 2 teaspoons chopped fresh 1 ea garlic,minced 1/2 lb orecchiette  2    ounces blue cheese...