Steak Sandwiches with Spicy Mustard

It’s fall! Time to harvest the only summer squash that grew (but it’s massive). I didn’t know you had to actually fertilize the separate male and female flowers… I will have better luck next year with more “urban farming” experience. yay!

It’s pretty much autumn and I’m still out grilling. Why? Because I live in California and we’ve surprisingly had a very, very mild summer so summer is pretty much rolling in now with some ridiculously hot weather (although, we are cooling off again).  Doesn’t matter because I’m trying to take advantage of the boyfriend’s grill because I generally don’t have access to it. (And grilling is so easy and convenient!)

Steak sandwiches are MAN SANDWICHES. Seriously. Totally felt like a man that day driving around in a fuel-inefficient, made-in-the-USA truck and grilling freaking red-meat. Not really me but I’m making this because I totally dropped Jesse’s entire loaf of sliced bread onto the ground and while doing so asking, “IS THIS OPEN?”…and stood there like an idiot for a few seconds. This is sandwich compensation. So anyways, this sandwich pretty much has everything a man should like: Spicy horseradish, dijon mustard… medium-rare, juicy, sliced steak all topped with peppery arugula and meaty sauteed mushrooms. Love it.

Steak Sandwiches with Spicy Mustard
2 8-ounce tenderloin (filet mignon) or top sirloin steaks
2 tbsp coarsely ground peppercorns
3 tbsp mayonnaise (light or olive oil)!
1 tbsp spicy dijon mustard
1 tbsp horseradish
(2 strips crispy bacon)

~10 crimini mushrooms
2 – 3 tbsp lemon juice
olive oil
s/p

Coat steaks with coarsely ground peppercorns and a little salt. Mix together mayonnaise, dijon mustard, and horseradish for sauce. Set aside (can be made ahead of time). Toss mushrooms with salt, pepper, and lemon juice and saute over medium-high heat until soft. Turn grill to medium high heat or in the same pan, sear steaks for 5 minutes per side for medium-rare or to desired doneness. On the grill, close cover between flipping.

Remove from heat and let steaks REST for 5 minutes to allow juices to redistribute properly. If you cut it right away, all the juices will run out and you’ll be left with dry steaks. Lame!

Slice into thin strips and serve with bacon, mushrooms and spicy mustard. We also added grilled onions, sliced tomatoes, and typical lemon-olive oil-s/p arugula salad. So good! Other great sides are grilled local summer squash and zucchini and some sweet potato fries that would have been amazing had we not burned the living crap out of them. Happy grilling!

Braised Short-Ribs with Lardons and Vegetables

I’ve been craving something stew-y for a while and finally got the chance to make it while at a friends house. Sure, I couldn’t start til 5PM and it took nearly 4.5 hours to finish and is an extremely time-consuming, complicated dish but it was so worth it. So, so, so worth it– Fall off the bone short-ribs, salty, sticky stew, and sweet veggies. So great.

Lardons are such a great addition to this– technically, lardons are a cube or strip of pork fat but they can be attained by using cured belly meat such as bacon. Although lardon meat is not typically smoked (it’s cured), I think crunchy bacon adds a salty tang and crunchy bite to the stew. And it’s bacon. Come on. Bacon.

Braised Short-Ribs with Lardons and Vegetables
adapted from chef Barbara Lynch
4 – 5lbs bone-in beef short-ribs
1 pint (~1/2 quart) (low-sodium) good-quality beef stock (try using stock, if possible, or reconstituted beef-veal demiglace)
3 c. water
1 small onion, chopped roughly
7 carrots, chopped (or 4 carrots and 4-5 carrots-worth of baby carrots)
4 celery stalks, chopped
(2 parsnips, chopped)
(1 turnip, chopped)
1/2 summer squash, chopped into bite-sized cubes
2 c. dry red wine (such as a Merlot, Pinot, or Cabernet)
1/2 c. tomato paste (~ 5- 6 oz)
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1 turkish or 1/2 california bay leaf
a whole pack of (slab) bacon
4 thyme sprigs
EQUIPMENT: 5 – 6 quart dutch oven (or some deep pot that can go in the oven at like, 350F) (mines like 4 quarts)

5 hours before dinner…

Preheat oven to 325F.

Season short-ribs with salt and pepper and brown all sides in a large dutch oven for about 6 minutes over moderate-high heat. Do not over crowd, do one batch and set the meat aside, then do the rest, remove, and let rest.

In the same pot, reduce the heat and cook the chopped onion, celery, and 4 of the carrots for about 7 minutes until softened and onions are slightly golden to make a mirepoix– a fancy name for a combo of uh, onion, celery, and carrots. Deglaze with red wine vinegar, wine, and tomato paste and boil until the alcohol has been removed and it is reduced by half. Add your stock, bay leaf, thyme, and water and bring to a boil. Add ribs and any liquid and blood that have accumulated.

Cover and stick the pot in the oven until ribs are extra-tender. This will be 2.5 to 3+ hours of sitting and waiting but it’s so worth it. The bones add so much flavor and the low temperature really make the meat tender. While the short-ribs are cooking, chop turnips, half a butternut squash, and the rest of the carrots and parsnips into bite-sized pieces and set aside in the refrigerator.

Remove the short ribs from the oven. Remove the short-ribs from the sauce and separate the meat from the bones, being careful not to tear the meat too much and discard the bones. Trim as much fat and connective tissue off as possible. Let the pot sit for 30 minutes to allow the beef oil and fat to rise. Skim AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE– it will be an orangish oil that rises to the top.

At this point, fry up your bacon until crispy and slightly burnt (or however you like haha). Dry on paper towels and chop into small pieces. Return short-ribs and bacon to dutch oven.

Boil the soup until the broth has reduced and become more sticky (10 – 15 minutes). This is also a good opportunity to skim fat as it accumulates to the center while it boils. Again, try and remove as much as possible. It’s pretty gross and fatty haha.

Meanwhile, take the rest of the chopped veggies and boil in salted water for 6 – 7 minutes, until very tender and dump them in iced water to stop cooking. Butternut squash and turnips should be in separate pots as they don’t take as long to cook. When finished, portion beef chunks into individual serving bowls and top with soft vegetables. Ladle some sauce and serve over mashed potatoes or celeriac puree.

Beef Stir-Fry with Broccoli and Eggplant

I dog-sat for my boyfriend’s parents this weekend. Awesome, in the sense that three ginormous weimaraners are allowed all over the furniture (Aki, my blue girl, came by and helped and even got to sleep on his queen-sized bed with me for a night) but meh because one of the weims gets separation anxiety and before I leave, I have to put them away and everything and calbear sits on me at 6AM to make me feed him (even though he gets fed at 7!)

With limited supplies and time (finals to study for), I needed to make something quick, fresh, and healthy. I did a quick stir-fry. Pretty easy, no? Well, it really is. Broccoli is so good and I had some leftovers from the frittata and I love eggplant. When I was little, my parents would eat sea cucumber (we’re asian) and I never liked the texture– it’s slimey, crunchy, and just weird. In my brain, I somehow thought eggplant was sea cucumber and I never ate it. However, the first time I really started cooking, I cooked Italian and Lidia Bastianich (host of Lidia’s Italy) made such wonderful dishes with eggplant (which compelled me to finally try eggplant parm).

Anyways, so yes…eggplant.

we have a love-hate relationship-- hate here, as he sits on the top of the stairs looking down at me as usual like he be alpha.

Beef Stir-Fry with Broccoli and Eggplant
3/4 oz. Stir-Fry beef, Sirloin beef tips, cut against the grain or firm Tofu (you vegetarians, you!)
2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp corn starch
s/p
1 head broccoli, cleaned, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed, minced
1 small eggplant or 1/2 a large globe eggplant, chopped
1/3 c. water
1 green onion chopped,  some reserved for garnish
(1/2 tsp garlic-chili sauce)

In a small bowl, mix up the beef and cornstarch. Season with salt and pepper. Stir to coat.

In a wok (or a well-oiled, deep frying pan), heat up the vegetable oil over medium-high to high heat. The idea behind stir-frying is pretty much heat it over very, very high heat, very quickly. You can’t reach the same temperatures as in an actual restaurant but we want to duplicate it as much as possible. Stir-fry beef until just cooked– about a minute. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon and tent with foil to keep warm.

Add another tablespoon of vegetable oil if needed and stir-fry garlic, broccoli and eggplant for about 2 to 3 minutes until garlic is just starting to become colored. Add soy sauce, sesame oil, (and garlic-chili if you decided to use it) and water and stir. Bring to a boil and return meat into the wok. Cook until the sauce is thickened and eggplant is soft. Add green onion and toss for a minute. Serve over fresh brown rice and garnish with more green onion, cilantro, and/or sesame seeds.

Hoisin-Marinated Pork Lettuce Wraps

I often wonder why I don’t cook Asian Food. It’s probably because I can never imitate the flavors of Chinese cuisine at home so I end up throwing together something that’s very “white-washed” in the end. So here’s a quick lettuce wrap that is inevitably not very Asian. It’s a sweet barbecued meat with a bitter, crunchy slaw over a crispy lettuce leaf.  I also added some extra fiber-y warmth with a scoop of brown rice. Typically, I would use Hoisin Sauce in the marinade but I didn’t have any. Whaat? No Hoisin at an Asian House? (I found it later in the back of the refrigerator…)

Anyways, I used something called “Char-Siu” (cha shao in mandarin) which is essentially a sauce made with a hoisin base but with other added ingredients such as 5-spice, soy sauce, and honey so if you find this, you can definitely use it in place of some ingredients I’m going to list. By the way, you can totally use a lean beef for this recipe. In fact, I bought pork on accident! I was going to make shredded pork but got lazy and just cut them in strips.

Hoisin-Marinated Pork Lettuce Wraps

For the Pork
1/4 c. Hoisin Sauce
(1 tsp honey)
1 tbsp mirin
1 – 1.5 tbsp(Lee Kum Kee) chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp grated fresh gingerroot
6 oz. pork center rib roast or beef top sirloin, trimmed, sliced into strips

For the Slaw
(1tbsp water, white miso, rice vinegar, and honey)
1.5 c cole slaw (store bought or homemade: however you roll)
1 finely chopped scallion/green onion

(Brown Rice)
(Crushed Sweet Sesame Pecans– you can find these at Asian Supermarkets, they are Walnuts topped with honey, sugar, and sesame and are crunchy and sweet. If you can’t find it, you can omit it.)
1 Head of Lettuce
2 whole-wheat tortillas (8-inch)
~2 servings, ~300 calories, 40g carbs, 25g protein 8g fat

Combine the hoisin, ginger, garlic, mirin, honey and chili garlic sauce in a bowl. You can exclude honey and hoisin if you have Char-Sui. I like the sweetness of the honey but most of the time, I think hoisin is sweet enough by itself so honey is optional. I’m also really partial to the chili-garlic sauce that Lee Kum Kee makes particularly because it’s very mild with a chili flavor and lots of garlic. It doesn’t have much heat but packs a lot of flavor so if you’re using this brand, go ahead and add more because it’s really not that spicy. (I’m a total baby about spicy things and this is like a godsend).

Add the meat and toss to coat. Let it marinate for at least 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine water, miso, vinegar and honey in a bowl. Toss with the cole slaw mix and scallions.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat and sear the beef strips until they’re seared on one side (2 minutes). Flip them, and grill until the beef is caramelized (2 – 3 minutes more).

Separate lettuce leaves. Top with a little brown Rice, slaw, crushed walnuts and a few strips of meat. Alternatively, you can go Mu Shu style and wrap it in warm tortillas. Traditionally, Mu-Shu is wrapped in paper-thin flour ‘tortillas’– they are not as heavy or thick as mexican-style tortillas. Usually its some sort of pork with different veggies and the hoisin is used as a sauce on the inside, separate from the filling.

basic stuffed bell peppers

Stuffed Peppers are a perfect cold night meal— especially if you use huge peppers that I found. They’re a bit crunchy, soft, semi-sweet, semi-bitter and a great source of Vitamin C and A which is great for your skin. Although beef has gotten a bad rap for being fatty, using lean beef or ground turkey can be perfect if you’re trying to stay healthy. Turkey is the perfect protein— low fat, high protein which is essential for building lean muscle and getting rid of a skinny-fat look (that I have).

My dad doesn’t eat bird for some reason so I bought a pack of grass-fed, 97% lean beef. And fyi, I’m not real good at measurements so feel free to add more or less of something.

Ingredients:

4 large peppers (or 6 small ones)
1 lb (16 oz) lean ground meat (you can even use a little sausage)
1/2 c. slivered onions
1 jar tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 c. fresh chopped parsely (or 2 tbsp dried parsley/ any herb combo)
1/4 c. freshly grated parmesan
1/4 c. low-sodium beef broth
3/4 – 1c. old white rice (I used a white rice, brown rice mix)
Salt and pepper
Serves 6 – 7 (they’re pretty huge!)
~400 cals, 27g protein, 40g carbs, 8g fat if using beef

Preheat oven to 375F. Cut the tops off the peppers and if you’d like, cut a ring through the top to make a cap. Scoop out the membranes and seeds. In the baking pan, mix together 1 cup of tomato sauce, the slivered onion, and the beef broth. You can add some dried herbs here if you like. Place peppers inside baking pan. In a large bowl, mix beef, garlic, parmesean, 3/4 c. sauce, parsley, and leftover rice. Season well with salt and pepper. Scoop mixture into pepper cups and top with a scoop of tomato sauce. Top with cap and cover peppers with foil. Bake for 45 – 1 hour. Remove foil and bake for 20 – 30 minutes, until peppers are cooked through.

QUICK:
Preheat oven to 400F. Place peppers on a dish, cover with plastic wrap. Microwave peppers for 1 – 2 minutes on high heat until crisp, hot, and a bit tenderized. Set aside.

Mix together beef, garlic, 3/4 c. – 1c. of sauce, rice, and S/P and brown the beef in a pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. (You can add some diced onion). After cooking for 5 minutes, add parsley and cook off the sharp taste for 2 minutes and fully brown beef (I’m just not a huge fan of really fresh parsley haha). Remove from heat and mix in grated parmesan. Feel free to add more tomato sauce if you like. Remove from heat Scoop mixture inside the peppers top with a dollop of tomato sauce and cap it.

Using the same pan, partially cook onion slivers until barely translucent.

Inside the baking dish, mix 1 cup of sauce, half-cooked onion slivers, beef broth, and some herbs.

Place peppers in dish over sauce. Bake, covered, for 25 minutes until peppers are tender. Uncover and brown for 5 minutes.

I have a healthy vegetarian (vegan, if without the cheese) stuffed pepper recipe coming up  later later.