Grandma's Rouladen Remix

A few years ago I spent some time going through my grandmother's recipe cards. I tested out the recipes that I remember from my childhood of vacations spent at my grandparent's house in Westmoreland, New York.  Grandma's recipe was simple and quite good but I knew I had to try my hand at my own version, while keeping hers in mind.

To start, I headed to my local butcher, Close to the Bone since they carry some of the best locally raised Canadian beef in the area and I knew that the key was starting with great beef.  Even though this dish doesn't require a special or expensive cut, it truly is all about the beef and that great beefy flavor and smell.  It's all about the smell of it cooking for me.  Whenever I smell rouladen cooking I'm sent back to my childhood, walking into Grandma and Grandpa's kitchen and having that rich smell permeate the whole house.  Whether you were hungry or not, the smell would get you and if by some small chance it didn't Grandma would force food on you anyway.  They always talk about Italian grandmothers and their need to feed, well it apparently also applies to German grandma's too!  The big pot that it braised in would be brought over to the table and we'd all sit down, of course fighting over who got the good spinning chairs, and Grandma would serve. We'd oblige by inhaling the beefy oniony goodness.

A Day with Trius Wines Part 2: All About the Food

The plates just before serving (left); Smoke filled bell jars ready to be served (center) ;
My final plate just waiting to be gobbled up (right)

Our day down at the Hillebrand estate with Trius Wines was alot about the wine, alot.  But there was so much fabulous food that I thought it deserved a post all it's own.  We started the day in the sparkling wine cellar with copious amounts of Trius Brut.  As we all gathered and enjoyed our glasses of sparkling wine we watched as Chef Frank Dodd plated our starters.  I was drawn into the gorgeous oyster and then noticed the salmon that sat under a little bell jar, that I soon learned was used to lightly smoke each piece of salmon.

Before I go too deeply into the food though, this day was as much about learning about Trius wines, but for me it was as much about learning how to cook with wine. Though we weren't specifically given a cooking class, each dish we had inspired me in some way to think of ways I could incorporate wine more into my cooking, as is evidenced by the fact that I came up with a recipe  go along with this post. Chef Dodd uses wine in such a thoughtful way in each dish.  It's inspiring.  I do cook with wine, it's in every tomato sauce I make and I use it often when roasting chicken too, but beyond that I don't think about it  other than as something to drink while I'm cooking.  This day and this event changed that for me.

Love 4 Lasagna: Short Rib Lasagna

Well here we are, my inaugural Love 4 Lasagna post.  This is, in fact, the lasagna that gave me the idea to start this little project.  It's different from the traditional lasagna that I grew up on and is what inspired me to get creative with lasagna. I first saw the recipe in the September 2010 issue of Bon Appetit and knew I had to try it.  First because the boy loves lasagna but also because I make a short rib ragu that I think is pretty awesome and wanted to use it the recipe.  It also seemed the perfect time because the bite of fall was upon us, a time when stew and lasagnas and other hearty stick-to-your-bones food starts to be in the forefront of my mind. 

I came up with the idea to do a lasagna challenge for November because it seems there are so many different combinations and ways you can play around with cheese, sauce and pasta, especially because if you get creative you don't even need to use actual pasta as long as you have something that serves the purpose of pasta in a traditional lasagna.  I've got a few other bloggers who have signed on to join in and we'll all be posting our recipes on each Sunday in Novemebr and I'll do a round-up of all of the posts every Monday, so stay tuned.

I tweaked the original recipe by using my own short rib ragu, which doesn't call for mushrooms and I used Fontina instead of just Parmigiano Reggiano.  I do plan on trying the recipe as written since it sounds delicious and I was beyond happy with how my version of it turned out.  I'm going to ahead and say you should just go out now and buy the ingredients for this one, don't bother adding it to a list to try, just make it.  I swear you won't regret it.  It's rich and a total indulgence but you can eat some and freeze the rest for another day or feed a crowd.   It's so an indulgence worth taking. 

Beef Bourguignon Burgers

I'm going to start this by saying I have never had Beef Bourguignon before. I truly know very little about it, just that it's a delicious sounds red wine and beef dish that I always see on French menus but have yet to try. About a week ago when we were driving home from the cottage the boy and I decided to do burgers for our Sunday night dinner, because it was a nice night for grilling and burgers are easy. Traditionally in our house, the boy makes burgers, not because I can't but because it's his thing. Well it's my turn now.

As I was walking around the grocery store I remembered that I had some mushrooms from our most recent Mama Earth delivery, abottle of red wine and a whole wack of fresh herbs from my new herb garden. The boy and I bought some and then his mom bought me some, I have alot of duplicates but I love fresh herbs and have very little faith in my gardening abilities so it's good for me to have extra! I remembered a few years ago seeing Rachel Ray make a burger version of Beef Bourguignon of it on her show 30-Minute Meals and from what I could tell I had all the necessary ingredients at my finger tips.

I chose not to even glance at Ms. Ray's recipe as I wanted to build this one on my own. I just looked at some Beef Bourguignon recipes and formulated my burger from there. While I know there is no cheese in Beef Bourguignon, I can't have a burger without cheese. Keeping with the French theme I decided to stuff the burgers with brie. The boy and I are on a stuffed burger kick, ever since he made the most amazing blue cheese stuffed burgers ever. I promise to post them some day, they are that good.

Beef Bourguignon Burgers
makes 3 large burgers or 5 smaller

BURGERS
1 1/4 lb lean ground beef
2 cloves garlic - minced
1/2 small onion - chopped
1 Tbsp fresh thyme - chopped
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary - chopped
1 Tbsp Montreal Steak Spice or other grill spice
2 Tbsp red wine
1/2 wedge or more brie - rind removed and cut into 1/2" cubes
3 whole wheat buns
baby spinach

TOPPING
1 lb crimini mushroom or baby bellas - sliced
2 Tbsp unsalted butter - separated
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup red wine
salt & pepper

1. In a large bowl mix together meat, garlic, onions, herbs and steak spice. Once incorporated work in the red wine.
2. Form meat into 6 pancake thin patties. Place 4-5 cubes of brie in the center of three of the patties. Cover with the remaining 3 patties and seal the edges. Place finished burgers in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
3. Heat olive oil and 1 Tbsp butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Once heated and butter is melted add in mushroom. Let cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat then remove from heat and add in red wine. Return to heat and cook down until wine reduces by half. Salt & pepper to taste. At this point you can remove from heat until burgers come off the grill.
4. Preheat grill to medium low. Grill burgers 8-10 minutes per side for medium. Using the corner of the spatula, poke hole in top just before pulling from grill to let any steam that has accumulate with the cheese melting to escape. While grilling the burgers, lightly toast the buns.
5. To dress place a small handful of baby spinach leaves on the bottom bun, place the burger on the spinach. Then top burger with the mushroom and wine sauce and place the other half of the bun on top. Enjoy!


These burgers were bursting with flavor, from the fresh herbs and red wine and mushrooms. They were really quite easy to put together and so worth it with the richness of the flavors. The boy loved them! And being the burger connoisseur in our house, that means alot. Even though the burgers are stuffed you still get some of the delicious brie oozing out. You could melt the cheese on top but then there goes the surprise of having it stuffed. Either way you should make these burgers soon. Enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

Here's another of Grandma's recipes. More accurately it's my adaptation of Grandma's recipe. Her's used onion soup mix and canned mushrooms, I replaced the canned mushrooms with fresh, but kept the onion soup mix. Next time I attempt bee Stroganoff I'll cut out the soup mix, as I think it has a bit too much sodium. That being, said this dish had some great flavor and is one I'll definitely be making again.

Beef Stroganoff

2 Tbsp olive oil
2 lbs sirloin - sliced into strips
2 lbs sliced button mushrooms
3 Tbsp whole wheat flour
1 envelope onion soup mix
2 1/4 cups water
1 cup low-sodium beef broth
1/2 cup sour cream
1 lb whole wheat egg noodles
1 handful of flat leaf parsley chopped

1. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large skillet. Add in sliced mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes until begin to brown. Add in beef broth and let simmer until mushrooms are cooked through and broth begins to reduce (approx 5-10 mins). Remove mushrooms with a slotted spoon to a bowl and reserve the beef broth.
2. Heat another Tbsp of olive oil in skillet and brown beef. Once browned remove to bowl with mushrooms.
3. Into drippings add flour, onion soup mix, cold water and reserved beef broth. Stir to combine and let simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
4. In a large pot boil water and cook noodles according to package.
5. In the skillet, add in sour cream, stirring to combine. Add back in beef & mushrooms. Let simmer to heat up the sauce and reheat the beef & mushrooms.
6. Serve over egg noodles and garnish with chopped parsley.

This is a hearty dinner on those nights that are still cool. The boy is a fan of anything with beef and this one was even better because of the gravy-like sauce. It came together so quickly and easily, especially if you buy already sliced mushrooms and a package of meat that's already cut into strips. Enjoy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy Green Beer Day!! For as long as I can remember my family would always have corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day. As I was planning my own corned beef dinner I realized didn't know any of the history of this seemingly traditional meal. So over to Wikipedia I went and found this:

"The consumption of corned beef is associated with Saint Patrick's Day, when many Irish Americans eat a traditional meal of corned beef and cabbage. According to the History Channel, while cabbage is a traditional food item for Irish-Americans, corned beef is not consumed in Ireland - it was originally used as a substitute for bacon by Irish American immigrants in the late 1800s. Irish immigrants living in New York City's Lower East Side sought an equivalent in taste and texture to their traditional Irish bacon, and learned about this cheaper alternative to bacon from their Jewish neighbors. A similar dish is the New England boiled dinner, consisting of corned beef, cabbage, and root vegetables such as carrots, turnips, and potatoes, which is popular in New England and parts of Atlantic Canada."

It turns out corned beef and cabbage is much more a traditional New England dinner, than an Irish one. Regardless it will always be something I associate with St. Patrick's Day and this year is my first time making it. I decided to test out a slow cooker version of the corned beef using some spices and Guinness and a side of sauteed green cabbage.

Slow Cooker Corned Beef
serves 4

1 2 lb corned beef
1 cup or more of Guinness
3 Tbsp whole grain mustard
10 whole black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 whole cloves
2 Tbsp brown sugar

1. If your beef came with a spice packet, discard it, if it came with spices in the package (like mine did) rinse the meat well with cold water. Pat dry with paper towels and then rub mustard all over.
2. Pour Guinness into slow cooker, you want enough to come about halfway up the piece of meat. Mix in spices and sugar. Place meat in Guinness mixture and cover.
3. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. Serve with cabbage and potatoes.


Sauteed Cabbage
serves 4

1 medium head of green cabbage
1 large onion - diced
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp butter
salt & pepper

1. Cut into quarters, take out the hard stalk, and remove the tough outer leaves. Slice each quarter into 1/2 inch ribbons.
2. Heat a large saute pan over medium heat. Add oil and butter and heat until butter is melted. Saute onions, salt & pepper in oil and butter until translucent. Add in cabbage, stir to coat with oil and butter, add salt and pepper. Lower heat to medium low and cook covered until tender, approximately 15 minutes.

This was a complete hit with the boy and oh so easy. The cabbage took no more than 25 minutes from prep to plate and the corned beef cooked all day while I was at work. A 30 minute meal if there ever was one. And we have leftovers for sandwiches later in the week, corned beef is the best on soft rye bread with some mustard and Swiss cheese. Perfect paired with an ice cold beer after a long day.

Hope you all have a fabulous St. Patty's Day. Enjoy!

Sauerbraten

Now I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess than many of my readers aren't familiar with Saurbraten. This was something my grandmother made when I was quite young and that my mother also made when i was younger. It's another of Grandma H's recipes that I wanted to try for since it's a traditional German dish but also because it's my grandmother's recipe and according to the recipe card a recipe that came right from our German ancestors.

But I'm digressing, many of you have probably never heard of Saurbraten so from our good friends at Wikipedia here's a quick definition: "German, from sauer sour + Braten roast meat, is a roast from Rhineland, Saarland, Silesia, and Swabia. While Rhineland Sauerbraten is sweetish and contains raisins and lebuchken, Swabian Sauerbraten contains neither sweetening nor raisins. Sauerbraten was originally made from horse meat or venison, but today beef is more commonly used, except by traditionalists."

OK so traditionally made from horse meat sounds a bit shady, I'll give you that, but growing up we always had it made with beef and that's what my grandmother's recipe calls for and how I made it. What's great about this is that you can take a cheaper cut of meat since it will be tenderized by the vinegar and spices and then braised til it practically falls apart. Making it a very budget friendly main course.

Sauerbraten

3 lb rump roast
1 Tbsp whole spices (I used pickling spices since it's a whole spice blend that has many of the spices found in traditional sauerbraten recipes)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 onion - sliced
1½ tsp salt
⅛ tsp butter
1 cup (or more) vinegar (I used Cider Vinegar)
1 cup water
salt & pepper

1. Mix spices, sugar, salt, pepper & onions with water and vinegar in a non-reactive container with a lid.
2.Place roast in liquid. It should be covered completely, if not pour enough vinegar into the container to cover the roast. Let sit covered in the refrigerator for 1 week
3. After 1 week take roast out, brown it and braise in 1/2 water, 1/2 marinade until tender.
4. Thicken juices for gravy (i made a quick roux with flour and butter and streamed in the warm cooking juices whisking all along to make a nice gravy.

What came out of this was a deliciously tender just sour enough roast that even the boy, who doesn't like vinegar all that much, really enjoyed. Sauerbraten is traditionally served with spaetzle which would be very tasty, although I made pierogi as well braised red cabbage with apples, the sweetness of which really balanced out the sourness of the meat. It was a really hearty meal with some great well-balanced flavors, perfect for a Sunday night comfort meal. Enjoy!

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

This is a dish I've been wanting to try for quite some time and Valentine's Day seemed like the perfect day since we had no set plans and the boy loves just about anything with beef and finally I got a fabulous Le Creuset Dutch Oven for Christmas that I had used a bunch on the stove top but had yet to use in the oven. I knew it would be the perfect for browning the ribs and then an oven braise. Check it out:

Grandma's Rolladen

To go along with Grandma's pierogi, I made her Rolladen, a tasty German meat dish that both my brothers love. For those of us unfamiliar with Rolladen (or Rouladen as it's traditionally spelled) here's what wikipedia has to say:

"Rouladen (or Rinderroulade) is a German meat roulade consisting of bacon, onions, mustard and pickles wrapped in thinly sliced beef and then cooked. The dish has sometimes minced meat or only bacon and onion filling. Rouladen is traditionally served for dinner. Red wine is served with this dish."

Now I know the post is titled Rolladen, and that's because it's my grandmother's recipe and how she spelled it on the recipe card. I know, I know it's not the "correct" spelling, but it's hers so I'm going with it. Also, the wikipedia definition includes a few more ingredients in the beef roll that my recipe does, but I wanted to try Grandma's recipe as written before I started messing around with it.

I apologize to not starting the post with a photo but while it's a tasty dish, it's not the most photogenic. But since I took a photo and there may be some of you who haven't heard of rolladen here you go anyway, a beef roll that I cut into to show the tasty onions in the middle.


Grandma's Rolladen
serves 4-6

3-4 lbs round steak
4-5 large onions
salt & pepper
butter

1. Cut meat into slices, approximately ½ inch thick. Place onion slices, salt, pepper and a small tab of butter on each piece. Roll up and tie with heavy string.
2. Brown beef rolls in olive oil (or hot shortening). When all sides are brown, pour water over to cover and Simmer 2½ to 3 hours or until tender. Adding more water if necessary.
3. Remove meat rolls and unwind thread. Thicken the cooking juices for gravy and serve.
I'm quite happy with how this turned out, although the "thicken the cooking juices for gravy" directions didn't work out so well for me. We went without gravy, but I think next time I'll make a roux with some butter and flour and whisk in the cooking juices for gravy. The onions really help keep the beef really moist and add tons of flavor. It smells delicious while cooking and went really well with the pierogi or would also be great with spaetzle.

For my next go I think I will play around with some of the other filling ingredients, especially some nice grainy mustard and maybe try pickles too. I've really been enjoying making these recipes of my grandmother's it makes me feel as though I'm carrying on some of our family traditions that I will be able to pass along to my own kids and grandkids someday. Enjoy!

Carne Asada Tacos

I just realized that my last 5 out of 6 posts were desserts. Too funny considering that up until the last 6 months I never considered myself a baker! Today is the start of my diet, and the end of the sweet posts for a bit. I'm going with the South Beach Diet since I saw results from it in the past. I'm also doing a fitness boot camp 3 mornings a week to help kick start a healthier 2009. Don't worry, the desserts will be back shortly I just need to get myself on a healthy track before I can go back to indulging every once in awhile.

With that in mind I wanted to have one final day of bad stuff yesterday. That included my Chocolate Raspberry Tart for breakfast, some Doritos for an afternoon snack and carne asada tacos and beers for dinner. I decided on the tacos for 2 reason (1) when we stopped at the grocery store in Vermont on our drive home they had soft corn tortillas which are not easy to come by in Toronto; (2) I love carne asada and it is made using flank steak (a South Beach approved cut of beef) which we can use the leftovers to top a caesar salad for dinner this week.

As I do with any Mexican dishes I checked out Simply Recipes since Elise's Mexican and Tex-Mex recipes are always spot on. This one was no exception, full of flavor and so tasty! Here you go:

Carne Asada
from Simply Recipes

2 pounds flank or skirt steak
Olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Marinade:
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño chile pepper, seeded and minced
1 teaspoon freshly ground cumin seed (best to lightly toast the seeds first, then grind them)
1 large handful fresh cilantro, leaves and stems, finely chopped (great flavor in the stems)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup olive oil

1. Lay the flank steak in a large non-reactive bowl or baking dish. Combine marinade ingredients and pour the marinade over the steak. Make sure each piece is well coated. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1-4 hours.
2. Preheat your grill over medium-high flame (you can also use a cast iron grill pan on high heat for stove-top cooking) (Since it's a bit too cold here to grill I broiled my steak, approx 7 minutes per side for medium rare). Brush the grates with a little oil to prevent the meat from sticking. Remove the steak from the marinade. If you are cooking indoors, you may want to brush off excess marinade as the bits may burn and smoke on the hot pan. Season both sides of the steak pieces with salt and pepper. Grill the pieces for a few minutes only, on each side, depending on how thin they are, until medium rare to well done, to your preference. You may need to work in batches. Remove the steak pieces to a cutting board and let rest for 5 minutes. Thinly slice the steak across the grain on a diagonal.

(Optional) Serve with warm tortillas (flour or corn). Warm the tortillas for 30 seconds on each side in a dry skillet or on the grill, until toasty and pliable. Alternatively, you can warm tortillas in a microwave: heating just one or two at a time, place tortillas on a paper towel and microwave them for 15 to 20 seconds each on high.

(Optional) Serve with pico dde gallo and chopped avocados.

I served ours with warmed corn tortillas (soft for me hard for the boy), chopped tomatoes, shredded romaine, shredded cheese, and black beans on the side. Personally a great taco and a beer is up there on my list of favorite easy meals. Once this South Beach Diet who-hah is over I may institute a weekly taco night at home. Something tells me the boy won't object. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

So I'm not sure if anyone knows this, but it's winter and winter is COLD in Toronto. Very cold. It makes me crave comfort food all the time. This past Saturday the boy and I took the day to do very little but sleep in, hang out, and watch movies. We haven't done that since I moved here and were long overdue. I wanted to make us a great dinner that wouldn't require much effort. My brother had mentioned an amazing Pot Roast that my mom made last week, so I called Mom to find out what she did. I took the basic ingredients she used and turning it into my own dish using my slow cooker. Check it out:

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

1 3 lb top sirloin roast
1 cup red wine

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

1 Tbsp tomato paste

5 springs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves smashed

1 small onion quartered
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp flour
Salt & Pepper

1. Heat a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Sprinkle salt and pepper all over roast. Brown each side of the roast, this should take approx 10 mins to get every side caramelized and browned. Put the roast in the slow cooker liner.
2. Deglaze the pot with the cup of red wine, cooking off the alcohol and getting all the brown bits off the bottom of the pot. Add the can of tomatoes and tomato paste to the red wine. Do not cook, just stir to combine. Pour over roast.
3. Add Thyme, bay leaves, onions and garlic to slow cooker and set on low for 5 hours.
4. When cook time is finished, remove roast to a cutting board, strain garlic, onion, thyme and bay leaves from the sauce left in liner. In a sauce pan melt tbsp of butter with tbsp of flour over medium heat until golden brown. Slowly stream in sauce left in the slow cooker, to thicken and make a gravy. Ad salt & pepper to taste.
5. Slice meat against the grain and serve with gravy.

This was the perfect thing for dinner on a cold winter night. It was flavorful and belly warming and oh-so-easy. I had gone to the store looking for a chuck roast but all they had was sirloin, I think this dish would be great with a chuck roast or just about any roast that benefits from a long slow braise. Next time I may chop up some carrots to add to the sauce for a touch more sweetness and richness.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the tasty side dish we had with this. Enjoy!

Gaucho Style Steak with Chimichurri Sauce & Watermelon Feta Salad

Last night we did a family dinner with my siblings, boyfriend and I AND one of my good friends from cooking club, her husband and sister-in-law. It was a great night of Olympics viewing with Michael Phelps continuing to break records and win golds and the US women's gymnasts also won the top two medals in the individual all-around. Anyway, onto the food...

Both recipes were new and things I had never tried before. I made a Chimichurri sauce for the first time and also tried out a Watermelon & Feta salad, which by now everyone should know that salty with sweet is one of my favorite flavor combinations. The dishes came from different sites and weren't recommended together but I am really happy with how it all worked together. As always my comments/additions are in red.

Steak Gaucho-Style with Argentinian Chimichurri Sauce
from the Food Network
serves 4 (I doubled the recipe)
Argentinian Chimichurri Sauce:
1 cup lightly packed chopped parsley (ideally, flat leaf "Italian" parsley)
3 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves (optional) (I used a 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro)
2 tablespoons shallot or onion, minced
3/4 cup vegetable or olive oil 3
tablespoons sherry wine vinegar, or red wine vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
3 tablespoons lemon juice

Steak:
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons salt (I seasoned the steak with Montreal Steak Spice)
2 1/2 pounds rib-eye, New York strip, or sirloin steak (We used NY Strip)
1 1/2 inches thick 2 baguettes, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick slices

1. Preheat a grill.
2. Place all chimichurri sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until well chopped, but not pureed. Reserve.
3. Dissolve cayenne pepper and salt in 1 cup hot water. Transfer to a squeeze container. (As I didn't have a squeeze bottle and had some guests who weren't fans of spicy I skipped this step but want to try if next time)
4. Place the steak directly over a hot grill, baste with the chimichurri grilling sauce, and grill until the outer portion of the meat reaches the desired degree of doneness. (We cooked it to medium rare)
5. Remove the steak from the grill and slice long strips from the outer edges of the steak.
6. Instruct guests to pick up a steak slice from the cutting board with their fingers, place it on a slice of baguette, and enjoy.
7. Return the remaining steak to the grill, baste, and grill until more of the steak is cooked. 8. Remove and repeat the slicing and serving procedure until steak is consumed. For extra spicy steak, baste 2 or 3 additional times with the cayenne pepper mixture during grilling process.
8. Spoon chimichurri sauce over steak. (Also brilliant on any grilled fish or chicken)

Watermelon Salad with Feta
from SimplyRecipes.com
Serves 6-8 (This is one of those recipes that I used the measurements as a guideline and just threw it together as I felt it worked)

1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup lime juice (4-6 limes, depending on how big and juicy the limes are)
A quarter of a medium sized watermelon, rind removed, black seeds removed (if there are any), chopped into 1-inch cube-ish pieces, about 8 cups (I bought the already cubed watermelon and just cut it into smaller pieces)
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped (I used all my parsley for the Chimichurri so I skipped this)

1. Soak the chopped red onion in the lime juice while you are prepping the other ingredients, about 15 minutes.
2. Gently combine all ingredients into a large serving bowl.
3. Serve immediately. Salad will get soggy overnight.

The salad turned out perfectly, I don't think there are any major changes I'd make. Next time I make the steak, I want to make sure to have a sqeeze bottle to baste with the cayenne pepper sauce just to amp up the spiciness. I also want to try to mix it up with the herbs a bit and do 1/2 parsley and 1/2 cilantro based on research I did on Chimichurri sauces, cilantro is a common ingredient which is why I subbed it in for the oregano, but I want to play around with the proportions next time. Overall it was a success and a great summer meal for guests, it takes just about as long to make for 2 people as for 8. Enjoy!

The Perfect Summer Sunday Supper

This past weekend was beautiful here in LA and while I spent some time on Sunday reading on my roof deck, I decided it was the perfect day for a traditional summer meal of burgers and potato salad, cole slaw or some kind of cold salad. The July issue of Bon Appetit magazine is their BBQ Issue and is chock full of awesome grill recipes (I'm sure I'll be trying more of them in the coming weeks). They did a whole article on burgers and I decided that I must try one of them out. There were lamb burgers, pork burgers, fish burgers, but I decided I was really craving a traditional beef burger. Plus Sundays at the grocery store tend to be insane and I was not in the mood to try and track down ground lamb or pork. I was going to make a Honey Dijon Potato salad that I saw Rachel Ray do on 30 Minutes Meals (I know she is so over exposed but I still love this show), but I am trying to be conscious of carbs and decided that a nice, fresh green bean salad would be great. So I hopped on the Food Network's website and low and behold there was a Rachel Ray recipe for a green bean salad, that looked simple and tasty.

Recipes are below and as always my edits/comments are in red.

CHEDDAR BURGER WITH BALSAMIC ONIONS AND CHIPOTLE KETCHUP
from Bon Appetit Magazine July 2008
serves 6

ONIONS
1 lb red onions cut crosswise into 1/3 to 1/2 inch thick rounds
3/4 tsp course Kosher salt
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1. Heat the grill to Medium-High heat
2. Arrange the onion rounds on a baking sheet. (I advise using a tooth pick to hold the onion rounds together as they cook, I lost a few rings in my grill and will definitely do this next time) Brush with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Transfer onion rounds to grill rack and close the cover.
4. Cook until grill marks appear, approx 204 minutes per side
5. Reduce heat or move onions to a cooler part of the grill (I moved mine up to the top rack) Close cover and cook until onions are tender, approx 10 mins.
6. Transfer to bowl and bowl with vinegar (remove toothpick at this point) Can be made up to 3 days ahead
7. Cover and chill.

CHIPOTLE KETCHUP
1 cup ketchup
1 1/2 tsp chopped chipotle chiles from canned chipotles in adobo
2 tbsp adobo from canned chiles
2 tsp or more balsamic vinegar

1. Mix ketchup, chiles, adobo sauce and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl.
2. Season with salt and more vinegar, if desired. Can be made 3 days ahead.
3. Cover and chill.

BURGERS
2 1/4 lbs ground beef
6 thick slices sharp cheddar cheese (I chose to use a chipotle cheddar)
6 large English muffins
6 tomato slices (optional)
2 cups fresh spinach leaves
Approx 2 tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning or any other grill spice blend

1. Heat grill to Medium-High heat
2. Mix meat with grill spice and shape into 6 1/2 inch thick patties.
3. Cook burgers to desired doneness, approx 3 mins per side for medium rare.
4. Grill English muffins cut side down. Top burgers with cheese and close cover to melt.
5. Assemble burgers with muffins, ketchup, onions, spinach leaves and tomatoes if desired (we didn't have tomatoes and I didn't miss them at all)

This was a very easy recipe and the little bit of extra time it took to make the onions and ketchup were well worth it. They added alot of good flavors to a traditional burger. My brother would prefer I not use the chipotle cheddar next time, but I liked it, so I guess it just depends on your preference. I also really enjoyed the spinach leaves in place of lettuce.


GREEN BEAN SALAD
from Rachel Ray and the Food Network

1 pound fresh green beans, washed and trimmed
1/4 red onion, sliced thin
1/4 European cucumber, cut into thin sticks resembling shape and size of green beans
1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1/2 lemon, juiced
Coarse salt and pepper

1. Steam green beans in 1/2 inch boiling water covered for 3 or 4 minutes. Cold shock beans by running under cold water and drain well.
2. Place beans in a bowl and combine with onions, cucumber and tomato.
3. Dress salad with a generous drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and the juice of 1/2 lemon.
4. Season salad with coarse salt and pepper, to taste.

This salad couldn't have been any easier or any tastier. I followed the recipe almost exactly (considering I never measure anything) and it was the perfect complement to the hearty & spicy burger.

Overall this meal was a total success, especially when paired with a nice cold beer, I will definitely be making both dishes again.

Blueberry Steak

When I studied in Florence, Italy in 1998 everyone ate at least once at a restaurant called Acqua al 2, 6 years later when my sister studied in Florence it was still a favorite. From the first course Assagio di Pasta to their amazing cuts of Florentine beef with various sauces, it is a must visit in Florence and now they even have a San Diego location, where the food is almost as good. Our main reason for returning each time is for the amazing Blueberry Steak or Fileno al Mirtillio. I loved this steak so much that one night last summer, while I was living in Toronto, I decided to try to replicate this dish. I had beautiful blueberries and filet from the St Lawrence Market, my favorite place in Toronto, and took a first pass at what has evolved into the recipe listed below.

This go round I used NY strip, just to try something different and it came out great, but I have used Filet every other time. I personally feel this sauce would be good on almost any cut of beef, but I leave it to those of you who make it to chose your favorite.

Blueberry Steak

serves: 2

2 1/2 lb NY strip steaks, approx 1 inch thick

8 oz fresh blueberries

1/4 - 1/2 cup red wine (preferably a Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon)

1 tbs blueberry jam

1/4 tsp -1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 sprig fresh rosemary

salt & pepper

1. Remove the steaks from the fridge to bring them to room temperature, salt and pepper each side of the steak and set aside on the counter. Heat oven to broil.

2. Put blueberries and red wine in a saute pan over medium heat. Let slowly he at up to a simmer then add the blueberry jam, about a teaspoon at a time. The jam is to add some sweetness, but it's best to add it slowly and continually taste to make sure the sweetness is to your own personal taste.

3. Lower the heat to low, add cinnamon and the rosemary sprig. Let the sauce cook so that it begins to reduce and thicken, approx 10 mins.

4. For 1 inch NY strip you can either grill or broil. I chose to broil. Place steak 3-4 inches from the heat, and broil for 12 mins turning every 4 or 5 mins for medium rare.

5. Remove the rosemary sprig from the sauce. Remove the steaks from the oven and place directly in saute pan. Cover with sauce and let sit in the sauce for approx 3-5 mins. Make sure to keep the heat on low as you do not want to cook the steaks anymore.

I usually make this with oven roasted potatoes and asparagus or a green salad and of course a glass of a beautiful full-bodied red wine. I'm not big on sauces on steaks, but there is something about this one. Maybe it's the nostalgia of it, but I love it.

I also wanted to note this is the first recipe I've posted that's my own, although my dad gets credit for some constructive criticism like adding herbs and what I believe is the key ingredient, the cinnamon. I think it would also be interesting to play around with nutmeg and/or thyme and will probably try that at some point too.

Hope you enjoy!

Greek Night

What first inspired me to start a blog, is the cooking club I started. I love to cook and have some friends who share my love of food and cooking. So I thought what better way to share this than to start a club were a few friends could get together and try new recipes out on each other. As we cooked and ate that night we talked about how a blog is a great way to share thoughts on the recipes we made at the very least with each other, but also with anyone else who is interested. We also had lofty goals of including pictures of what we made. This post unfortunately won't have any, as we decided this after most of the food was gone!

For our first meeting we decided to tackle Greek cuisine, something I have always loved and wanted to actually try to cook. Each person picked a recipe to make. On the menu was Saganaki, Baba Ghanoush, Spanakopita and Moussaka. All very traditional Greek dishes, but stuff none of us had tried to make before.

I chose to make Moussaka as I had found a wonderful Greek food blog with a moussaka recipe that claimed to be the best. Of course with such lofty claims I had to try it out. Following it the recipe and link to the blog where i pulled it from

http://greekgourmand.blogspot.com/2008/05/marvellous-moussaka.html

Note: this Moussaka recipe is intended to fill two 1400 ml (1.5 quarts) loaf pans, or one medium sized rectangular deep-walled baking pan. I used 2 Pyrex glass loaf pans which explain the double-edged downward narrowing appearance of my Moussaka slice in the photo above. 


Recipe: 
1 ½ lbs. regular ground veal 
2 lbs. potatoes (preferably yellow-fleshed) 
2 medium-large eggplants 
2 medium sized white onions, diced 
1 ½ cups of Greek extra-virgin olive oil 
1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste 
1 teaspoon of garlic powder 
½ cup white wine
Salt and pepper to taste 


For the White Sauce (béchamel):
4 cups of cold milk 
1 cup of flour 
¾ cup of butter 
2 eggs 
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg 
Salt, pepper 


Preparation: 
1. Peel potatoes and wash eggplants. 
2. Slice off stalk and bottom ends of eggplant, slice useable portions of ends into thin discs. 
3. Thinly slice the eggplants lengthwise. Make sure to cut the slices relatively thin as they will thus absorb less olive oil when fried and result in an overall less oily finished product. [My Moussaka is never oily and this is part of the reason.] 
4. Place eggplant slices in a large mixing bowl filled with salty water and leave to soak for 15 minutes, then remove eggplant from water and leave to dry well on outspread towel(s). The eggplant must be dried well before being fried to avoid hot oil pops and splatters. 
5. Slice potatoes into relatively thin lengthwise slices. 
6. Over a medium heat add a ¼ cup of the olive oil to a large frying pan and proceed to fry the sliced potato discs in batches, laying them out flat in the bottom of the pan, ensuring to turn each over to cook both sides. The potato slices should be fried until slightly soft. When the potato slices are cooked, remove from the hot oil and place them on spread paper towel(s) for them to drain 
7. Once the potatoes are done, using the same frying pan (though you may need to clean it), add a ¼ cup of olive oil and over a medium heat start frying the eggplant slices in batches. You will need to keep adding more olive oil to the pan as you go with each batch of eggplant slices as they do absorb it rapidly. This is where the virtue of thin slices makes itself known… The thinner slices need less time in the pan to soften and they absorb less oil before seeping it back into the pan, thus less oil is required to fry them overall. 
8. As with the potato slices, when the eggplant slices are soft and almost translucent from the oil absorption, remove each batch from the hot oil and place them on spread paper towel(s) for them to drain well. 
9. Once the eggplant slices are cooked, add the remaining olive oil (or about a ¼ cup) to the same frying pan - which likely will not require cleaning this time - and proceed to sauté the diced onion until soft. 
10. Add ground veal to the onions in the frying pan and mix well to break up the meat. Stir meat continuously over a medium-high heat for 10 minutes, making sure to brown all the meat well. 
11. Add wine, garlic powder, salt and pepper to the pan and stir well to mix. 
12. Dilute tomato paste in 1 cup of water and add to pan, and when the mixture boils reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The meat mix needs to simmer long enough to reduce the liquid in the pan and for the meat to drink up the sauce completely, without drying out. 
13. Grease the sides and bottoms of your pan(s) with olive oil and cover the bottom(s) completely with a layer of potato discs; overlap where necessary to ensure as complete a covering as possible though make sure not to use up all the potatoes for the bottom(s) alone; you will probably require a little more than half the potato slices to ensure a complete bottom cover. 
14. Using a spatula, spoon out a little more than half of the meat mixture and spread to cover the bottom potato layer(s) evenly. 
15. Cover meat layer(s) with remaining potato discs as best as possible, then cover this potato layer completely with a layer of eggplant slices, overlapping as necessary to ensure complete coverage, right to the sides of the pan. 
16. Spread remaining meat mixture out evenly to cover the eggplant layer and using the spatula press down on the layers (though not too hard) to compact them in order to ensure sufficient room for the thick layer of white sauce (béchamel) to come. 


How to prepare the white sauce (béchamel): 
1. Melt butter in a medium sized saucepan over a medium-low heat. 
2. When butter is melted, thoroughly incorporate the flour in stages using a whisk and continuously stirring for about 5 minutes. (Note: As this can be an arduous task due to the need for sustained rapid stirring and the thickening of the sauce, I recommend using a wand blender with a whisk attachment for making the white sauce). 
3. Once the flour is fully incorporated, slowly, in a thin but steady stream, add the 4 cups of milk while stirring continuously and turn up the heat slightly to bring the thick sauce to a boil and then remove the saucepan from the heat.
4. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper and mix sauce well. 
5. Beat the eggs and slowly add them to the sauce making sure to combine well. 
6. Pour a thick layer of white sauce into baking pan(s) completely covering the top meat sauce layer. If necessary, spread white sauce evenly with the bottom of a large spoon to ensure a uniform surface. 
7. Place filled baking pan(s) into an oven pre-heated to 350° F. (180° C.) and bake for 40 minutes or until the top is nicely browned. 
8. Let stand to cool for at least 1 hour before cutting into slices and serving. [Personally, I let it cool for several hours before consumption. In point of fact, Moussaka is always better on the following day, as all the flavours have had a chance to coalesce. So, once it has cooled completely, if you refrigerate your Moussaka and then warm it just before serving on the following day, you will get the full benefit of its flavours and textures.]


I followed this recipe almost exactly. The only changes I made were that I halved it to make it a little more manageable and less time consuming, but also substituted ground beef for veal, as people don't eat it and quite frankly the price of veal when I was shopping was through the roof. Other than that everything was written and while it was a time consuming recipe, it was well worth it. The flavors were so rich and savory and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Not the most ideal recipe for the hot summer days ahead but I would definitely recommend it as a nice comforting meal during the cooler months.

As I get the recipes for the other girls' dishes I will post them, but for those who don't know Saganaki is Fried Feta (soooooo tasty!), Baba Ghanoush is an eggplant hummus (our was quite spicy but tasty nonetheless) and Spanakopita is Spinach and Feta pie (even more delicious the next day!)

Overall from my Greek cooking experience I was pleasantly surprised and how few ingredients were needed in each dish, how easily they all came together and richness in the flavors. I am quite proud at the fact that none of us had ever cooked Greek before and pulled off a really delicious meal. I plan on trying more recipes on my own and will definitely pull more from the Greek Gourmand blog.

http://greekgourmand.blogspot.com/