Grilled Steak & Shrimp Fajitas

I'm still posting about our vacation meals, trying to pretend I'm still there, and not back in the office. Eventually I'll catch up to reality, but for now I'm going to hold off. We had a fajita night while at the lake, where I made some shrimp and steak fajitas.

My mom made a massive amount of guacamole that was devoured pretty quickly. Those aren't my man hands, those are my husbands.

And I used some fresh corn off the cob to make this corn and tomato scramble recipe that I love.

The recipe for the fajitas is below and the guacamole recipe is the one I made in this post but was multiplied  by three.

Click to read more ...

Mom's BBQ Brisket

I'm originally from the Kansas City area and if there is one thing I really miss (other than my family of course) it's the good barbecue. Growing up my mom always made a really good and tender BBQ brisket, it's great for feeding a group and seemed to be what we would always have when we had company over. It has to cook awhile but it's very hands off, freeing you up to cook the sides or do some last minute cleaning. Just like my mom, I love making and enjoying this meal with friends, or it works  if I just want to cook once and have food for the two of us for an entire week. You can eat the brisket on it's own or make a sandwich out of the meat.

My mom decided to prepare a brisket before driving down from New Jersey to Lake Norman on our vacation last week. It worked out perfect because the last thing any of us wanted to do after flying or driving down and getting settled into the house was cook. It freed us up to go out on the boat and still have a delicious dinner prepared. We had the brisket with these easy grilled polenta cakes and grilled asparagus. Keep reading for my mom's Kansas City BBQ Brisket recipe.

Click to read more ...

How To Make An Omelette

We have more leftover steak than we can dream of so I decided to throw some in an Omelette this morning.  I also added some scallions that I had on hand, and parmesan cheese.  I like to use parmesan because it's strong so you don't have to use a lot to get good flavor.  I really wanted to add tomatoes, but I was sad to see mine had gone bad.

How I Make An Omelette
1.  Chop up any vegetables or ingredients that you want to add to your omelette.
2.  Saute any meat or vegetables that you want cooked in the omelette.  In this case I sauteed the steak a little; other things I tend to saute for an omelette are onions, mushrooms, and spinach.
3.  Combine 2 eggs, a dollop of milk, a dash of salt, and a dash of pepper and beat
4.  Mist your pan with oil and preheat (I love my Oil Mister from Williams-Sonoma) on medium low heat.
5.  When the pan is hot enough (a drop of water would sizzle) pour your eggs into the pan and let them sit for a minute.
6.  With a spatula, gently push one edge of the egg into the center of the pan while tilting the pan; allowing the still liquid egg to flow underneath.  Do this again on the opposite side.
7.  When the egg looks pretty much cooked add your ingredients to one half.  Usually I throw in whatever my refrigerator has to offer; this time I added sauteed steak, uncooked scallions, and a little parmesan.
8.  Use a spatula to lift one half (the half without the ingredients) and fold it over the half with the ingredients.
9.  I usually let it cook for a little under a minute and then slide it onto a plate.

I'm also in love with our grind and brew coffee maker.  Today's beans were a Viennese Blend from Oren's Daily Roast in NYC; it's a blend of Columbia and French Roasted Columbia.

Salt-Crusted Standing Rib Roast & Gouda Mashed Potatoes

The last time we were in California, my sister-in-law made us an epic meal; Prime Rib with Horseradish Sauce, Gouda Mashed Potatoes, and a salad.  When rib roast was on sale at the store this weekend, I couldn't pass it up.  While I'm not sure if I ended up with the right cut of meat, it turned out pretty well.


The Salt-Crusted Rib Roast recipe she sent me looks like it was copied from a magazine in December 2009.  I'm not sure what magazine, but the recipe is below.


Ingredients
2 Cups of Kosher Salt
1/4 Cup Peppercorn Melange, Cracked
1 TB of Dried Rosemary
1/3 Cup of Water
1 Small End Rib Roast, with 4 Ribs, Back Strap, Chine Bone and Feather Bones removed (The recipe says 8-10 lbs, I bought 6 lbs)


Directions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees and coat a 9 x 13 baking dish with non stick cooking spray
- Combine salt, peppercorns, and rosemary in a mixing bowl.  Slowly whisk in water until it becomes slush
- Pat beef dry; place rib roast, skin side down in baking dish.
- Rub salt mixture all over roast, making a coating 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick
- Insert an oven proof thermometer into the thickest part of the roast
- Place roast in oven and immediately turn oven temperature to 325.  Roast meat until thermometer reads 135 degrees for medium rare, 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 hours (it took my smaller cut about 2 hours)
- Remove roast from oven and tent with foil for 15 minutes
- Remove the salt crust before serving


The Gouda Mashed Potatoes recipe is from food.com.  I didn't peel the potatoes, which is a shortcut I usually take when making mashed potatoes.


For the horseradish sauce mix together 1/2 cup of sour cream, 4 TB of horseradish, salt, pepper, and a juice from half a lemon.


Did I mention that I like red meat?

Beef Tenderloin with Fresh Herbs and Horseradish

Beef Tenderloin with Fresh Herbs and Horseradish

Stove Top Macaroni and Cheese

I came across this beef tenderloin recipe in an Everyday Food magazine a couple of years ago, and decided to give it a try.  With the help of a meat thermometer I cooked the beef perfectly and it was delicious.  It's an expensive cut of meet, but I definitely recommend the recipe, especially when beef tenderloin is on sale at your store.  It's good for company as it serves a lot of people.  The macaroni and cheese is pretty basic, it's not my favorite, but tasty and doesn't take up oven space or time.