Which was exactly my dilemma when facing a 2 pound flank steak late last week.  Flank steak is cut from the abdominal muscles of the cow and can be tough if not prepared properly.  However, properly marinated and prepared it makes just lovely fajitas, so that’s what we did with it.  Beloved’s gotten quite adept at grilling Chuck (grass-fed beef requires lower temperatures and slightly longer cooking times than conventionally raised beef), and this was quite delicious.

Serve this with refried beans, sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo (and tortillas, if you want).

Note: If you don’t like things very spicy, either cut the amount of chipotle chiles you use, or remove the seeds before adding to the marinade.

Flank Steak for Fajitas

Flank Steak for Fajitas

serves 4 to 6

The juice of 1 orange

The juice of 2 limes

1/4 cup olive oil

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

3 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

2 pound flank steak

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon olive oil

lime wedges, optional

With a small, sharp paring knife make small cuts, at a 45º angle, over the surface of the steak on both sides.

Combine the orange juice, lime juice, 1/4 cup of olive oil, garlic, chipotle peppers, cumin and salt in the bowl of a food processor or blender; puree until smooth.  Place the steak in a large, resealable plastic bag and pour the marinade over it.  Press out the air, seal the bag and marinate at room temperature for 2 hours.

Prepare the coals on the grill until they are glowing red with a white ash around them.  Drain the marinade from the steak, place 4 inches over the coals and sear quickly, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side.   Move the steak away from the direct heat, cover the grill and continue to cook until the internal temperature reaches 135º F, about 7 to 10 minutes longer.  Remove the steak from the grill and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

While the steak is resting, toss the peppers and onion with the tablespoon of olive oil and place in a grill basket.  Grill over the live coals, stirring frequently, just until they become limp and are beginning to brown slightly.

Thinly slice the steak against the grain on a diagonal, and serve with the vegetables, optional lime slices, refried beans, sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo.

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Giving up grains and starches hasn’t been too hard, but I happen to be very, very fond of rice – or, rather, I happen to be very, very fond of dishes with tasty sauces on top of a bed of rice to soak up the sauce.  Recently, though, Beloved asked that I make my creole-style steak for dinner, and I was left with a dilemma – no potatoes or rice for the sauce.  I also had no cauliflower, so no mashed cauliflower (which makes a great alternative to mashed potatoes) for a base, either.  What to do?

Then, inspiration struck: I shredded a yellow summer squash, a zucchini and a large carrot in my food processor, then briefly sauteed the mixture in a bit of butter – just long enough to soften it a little, maybe 4 or 5 minutes.  It was a dandy alternative to rice, and held up to the sauce from the main dish just fine.  In fact, it was quite delicious, and the flavor of the vegetables didn’t detract from the dish at all.  In fact, I’ve done this several times since with several dishes, including some short ribs braised in homemade beef broth and finished in the homemade barbecue sauce I made this past weekend (recipes coming soon).

However, I often find myself with leftover shredded vegetables, and while I’d be happy to eat them as is, neither Beloved nor The Young One are too crazy about the idea.  So when I got a request for meatloaf recently, I found myself with yet another dilemma:  no breadcrumbs.  Again, inspiration struck and I used the leftover shredded veggies instead.  It was moist and delicious – even The Young One ate it, and he is the type that views any vegetable with suspicion.  If you’ve got picky eaters, this might be a good way to sneak some vegetables into them.

Note: I don’t glaze my meatloafs because that is a sure-fire way to keep The Young One from eating them; you certainly can glaze this if you wish.

Veggie Meatloaf

Veggie Meatloaf

serves 6

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons butter

2 pounds ground chuck

2 eggs

1/4 cup cream

1 cup shredded carrots or yellow squash or zucchini, or a combination

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme, or 1 tablespoon fresh, finely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350º F.

Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat; add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until they are soft and translucent but not brown, about 7 – 8 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for another minute or two.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Place the remaining ingredients to a large mixing bowl; add the onion/garlic mixture.  Gently but thoroughly mix with your hands, then transfer to an 8″x8″ baking dish and form into a loaf shape.

Bake for 1 hour, then test to see if the center is done.  If it is still pink, cover with foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.  Allow the meatloaf to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

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One thing I did manage to take a picture of was the peach salsa I made last week.  Good heavens, but this stuff is good!  And not too hard; you will have to peel and pit the peaches and peel and seed the tomatoes, but after that, just toss everything into the food processor and give it a whirl.  If you like your salsa on the mild side, you should remove the seeds and veins from the jalapeños as well.

To peel peaches and tomatoes, drop them in boiling water for a 30 to 60 seconds (you should make a small, X-shaped incision in the bottom of the peach, but this is unnecessary for the tomatoes), then remove them to a bowl of ice water until they have completely cooled.  The skin will slip off easily if the fruit is ripe.

While we love to top our food with this salsa – eggs, chicken, pork – I’m sure it would be just fine with some good quality tortilla chips.

We’ve jarred about half the recipe and frozen it for later; when, in the depths of winter, we remember it is there and thaw it out to eat, I’ll let you know how well it freezes. 

Ham and scrambled eggs, topped with Peach Salsa

Peach Salsa

makes about 4 cups

4 large peaches, peeled, pitted and quartered

2 large tomatoes, peeled, quartered and seeded

One large sweet onion, peeled and quartered

2 jalapeño peppers, stems removed and cut in half

1/2 cup cilantro, loosely packed

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 – 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon honey (optional)

Place the onion and jalapeños in the bowl of a food processor; pulse 2 or three times.  Add the peaches and tomatoes, and pulse several times until it is almost the consistency you like.  Throw in the cilantro and pulse another 2 or 3 times, or until everything is chopped, but still chunky, or the consistency you like best.

Pour the mixture into a large glass or stainless steel bowl; add the salt, cider vinegar and honey, if desired.  Stir well, then cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, to allow the flavors to develop.

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Salmon and Scallops with Green Chile Sauce

Salmon and Scallops with Green Chile Sauce

serves 6

Six 6-ounce salmon steaks. skin removed

1 pound sea scallops, dried with a paper towel

olive oil

salt and pepper

4 large, mild green chilies, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped or two 4.5-ounce cans chopped green chilies

2 green onions, finely chopped (white part only)

3/4 cup white wine

1-1/2 cups heavy cream

juice of half a lime

salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, bring the wine and chopped onion to a boil and reduce by half.  Stir in the cream and chilies and continue boiling, watching carefully and stirring often, until the entire mixture is reduced by half.  Add the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste; set aside and keep warm.

Heat a large, heavy skillet – preferably cast iron – until almost smoking.  Brush with the olive oil and pan-sear the salmon and scallops until done, about 4 minutes per side for the salmon and 2 minutes per side for the scallops, being careful not to overcook, and basting with additional olive oil if needed.  Serve immediately with the green chile sauce.

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“Hooray!” we said.  “A burger that is cooked in butter!”

Imagine our disappointment when we discovered no, it’s not cooked in butter – they butter the bun.  Which we don’t eat.  But despite this let-down, it’s still a darn good burger, and the employees generally don’t blink an eye when you order it bunless (unlike the waiter at Don Pablo’s, who looked at us as if we’d lost our minds when we turned down the complimentary chips and ordered our fajitas without rice or tortillas.)  (Hey, don’t knock it – I’m down another 2 pounds this morning.)

Anyhoo, the point of all of this is that even though these tasty creations aren’t cooked in butter, I decided to make some that were.  Then, after pondering it for a bit, decided that might not be such a good idea – because butter burns so easily, I’d have to poach the meat (which, now that I think about it, doesn’t sound like all that bad of an idea).  So I added the butter to the hamburger.

Now, realizing that grass-fed beef is a good deal leaner than conventional, grain-fed beef we ordered the 60 or so pounds of ground meat that came from Chuck to be 20% fat; after all, the fat from grass-fed beef is some of the best kind of fat you can eat, and making it an 80/20 ratio would ensure that our burgers and meatloafs and meatballs, et al, would be nice and juicy.  In fact, it seems like adding butter to it would just be gilding the lily, but I gotta tell ya – these were, without a doubt, the moistest, juiciest, tastiest burgers I’d ever eaten.

I guess the fact that I fried them in bacon fat and topped them with bacon and cheese didn’t hurt either.  (Oh, come on – it was nitrate/nitrite free bacon from Arnold and cheese from grass-fed cows; more good fat!)

(By the way, if you’re concerned about all the fat we’re eating – because, trust me, we’re eating a LOT of it these days – this very thing is going to be the subject of my Fight Back Friday post this week.)

In the meantime, make the burgers, preferably with grass-fed beef and butter, and bacon from an ethically raised animal if you can’t find pastured.  They’re the best burgers you’ll ever eat – I promise.

Note: You can, of course, cook these on a charcoal or gas grill if you like.  But it won’t be the same.

Bacon Butter Cheese Burger

Bacon Butter Cheese Burgers

makes 6 to 8 patties

2 pounds 80/20 ground chuck

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup of your favorite steak sauce

1/2 pound bacon, fried and fat reserved

sliced cheese

condiments of choice:  lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, etc (and buns if you insist)

In a large bowl, gently mix the beef, butter, salt, pepper and steak sauce until well blended, but don’t over-handle the meat. Form 6 to 8 patties, place them on a platter, cover with plastic wrap and allow them to rest for about 10 minutes.

Heat the bacon fat in a large skillet or griddle until sizzling, and fry the hamburger patties to desired doneness, flipping once.  (Never press down on a hamburger with a spatula to speed the cooking process – you’ll be squeezing all the good-tasting stuff right out of it!)

As they finish cooking, allow the burgers to rest, placed on paper towels, for a few minutes before serving.

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I made an interesting meatloaf (the recipe for that on Thursday) and mashed potatoes – white potatoes for The Young One, who doesn’t care for sweet potatoes, and this recipe for Beloved and myself, because we’re not eating white potatoes.  (For the record, Beloved’s lost a couple more pounds and I’m maintaining a loss of about 15 pounds – not bad considering some of the excesses of Las Vegas and our “camping” trip with the kids.)

These mashed sweet potatoes were really, really good; while I’ve pretty much banished refined sugar from the house, raw honey, molasses and real maple syrup are fine in very small quantities – and my goodness, does a touch of maple syrup bring out the best in a sweet potato.  I also used one of my new loves in this dish:  European-style goat milk butter.  It’s a tad on the expensive side ($6.25 for 8 ounces), so I tend to use it sparingly, but it has a delicious, rich flavor with just a hint of the sharpness you get in a soft goat cheese, and an extraordinarily light, creamy texture.

Nom nom nom nom nom, as Oldest Son would say.

You can, of course, use regular butter, but don’t skimp on the quality of that or the maple syrup – use the real deal in both cases.

Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes

serves 2 – 3

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into large chunks

2 tablespoons cream or half-and-half

2 tablespoons butter, preferably goat milk butter

2 tablespoons real maple syrup

Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a quart of water to a boil in a heavy saucepan over high heat; add the sweet potato pieces and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until fork tender.

Drain and return to the pot; add the cream, butter and maple syrup and whip lightly with a hand mixer on the “low” setting, or mash with a potato masher.  Taste; season with salt and pepper.

Serve immediately.

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I was big on canned chicken broths for years, until I realized that MSG gives me headaches and makes my ears ring.  So, I started looking for canned/boxed broths that have no MSG – and that’s damn hard to find, because even if a label claims it is MSG free (Swanson’s, for example), it still has MSG in it.  If a list of ingredients says “autolyzed yeast extract” or “yeast extract” or “natural flavors” it contains MSG, and the USDA labeling standards allows the manufacturer to claim their product is “MSG free.”

Don’t you love it.

In fact, pick up a can of chicken broth and read the label – you’ll very likely see an ingredient list that looks like this:

Chicken broth, salt, monosodium glutamate, dextrose, flavoring, hydrolyzed soy protein, carrots, hydrolyzed corn protein, celery, onion, chicken fat, sugar, disodium guanylate, autolyzed yeast extract.

Mmm, mmm – what a tasty way to get your daily allowance of chemicals and genetically modified food organisms.

Making your own chicken broth is not hard at all, although it is a tad time-consuming.  But what you’ll have when you’re done is a pot of wonderful, healthy chicken stock that is so tasty you’ll wonder why you ever bought the stuff in a can or box (I know I do).  It is every bit as convenient, too. because you can freeze it in different amounts so you’ll have exactly as much as you need.  Just need a little?  Freeze some in ice cube trays and bag the cubes – the average ice cube is about 2 tablespoons, so two chicken stock cubes would be fine for a recipe calling for 1/4 cup of chicken broth.

Along with a good-sized stock pot you’ll need cheesecloth, but that’s inexpensive easy to find – it’s one of the few things I still buy at the grocery store.

Note: You can use the carcass of a chicken you’ve roasted or use a whole chicken, which is what this recipe calls for.  Reserve the meat for recipes that call for cooked chicken.

Chicken Stock

Chicken Stock

1 two to three pound chicken, or bone-in chicken parts with skin

3 carrots

3 stalks celery

2 onions

2 tablespoons peppercorns, cracked

4 bay leaves

2 teaspoons sea salt

Water to cover

Thoroughly wash carrots, celery and onions – you don’t need to peel them, but you may want to trim the ends.  Cut them in half (quarter the onions); they’ll be easier fit into the stock pot.

Rinse the chicken well with cold water and remove any giblets, if necessary.

Combine chicken, carrots, celery, onions, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt in a large, heavy-bottomed stock pot.  Add enough water to cover; bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.

Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for two hours.

Remove the chicken from the pot; carefully pull the meat off of the bones and return the carcass and skin to the stock.  Continue simmering for another hour; taste.  If the stock is not rich enough, continue to simmer, tasting every 15 minutes.

When stock has reached desired richness and flavor, turn off the heat and allow to cool for one hour.  Strain the stock through the cheesecloth into storage containers, label with the date and freeze.

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Posted in participation of Food Renegade’s Fight Back Friday

I’m open to suggestions.

In the meantime, I give you this recipe for Beef and Green Bean Stir Fry.  Normally, my stir fries are of the “grab a bunch of stuff, hurl it in a pan and pray” variety; not so this one.  This one, in fact, is a huge pain in the tookus to prepare, but it is oh, so very good that it’s worth it (even if I only make it two or three times a year).  Based on a recipe by Barbara Fisher at her now-abandoned blog Tigers & Strawberries, it employs a method called “dry frying” which confuses me, because there’s nothing “dry” about it.  Dry frying involves frying thin strips of beef in “a moderate amount of oil” (or in my case, rendered beef tallow) for an extended period, cooking most of the moisture out of it – perhaps that’s why it’s referred to as dry?

Beats me – all I know is that the method of cooking gives a marvelous chewy texture and absolutely wonderful, well, beefy flavor.  Add to that some fresh green beans that are cooked in the beef-flavored fat for an extended period, leaving them with a wonderfully soft texture in contrast to the chewy beef, the addition of fresh ginger and other vegetables cut into matchstick-size pieces thrown in at the last minute and a spicy, savory “sauce” and you have what I consider to be the best darn stir-fry I’ve ever tasted.

The original recipe (Barbara is a professional chef, btw) calls for Sichuan chili bean paste, which I don’t normally keep on hand so I used red curry paste, which I always have on hand; she also uses Sichuan peppercorns and fresh chili peppers, something else I didn’t have when I made this last night, so I used dried pepper flakes and regular black peppercorns.  I throw in different vegetables, depending on what I have in the kitchen, although carrots and fresh ginger are a must as far as I’m concerned; last night I seeded and cut a lone yellow summer squash into little matchstick-sized pieces and slivered a good-size shallot because that’s what I had on hand.

You can, of course, serve this over steamed rice – I’ve tossed in cooked rice noodles before – but it is just fine on it’s own.

Note:  Shao Hsing wine is a Chinese cooking wine; you can find it in most Asian markets.  Barbara also warns to be cautious of flare-ups from drops of oil igniting or that the wine may catch fire while adding it to the wok but I’ve never had that happen.  Which is kind of disappointing.  It could be that I’m just not doing it right.

Beef and Green Been Stir Fry

Serves 4 to 6

1 lb. top round or flank steak cut into slices, then into thin strips

1/3 cup melted tallow, lard or vegetable oil

2/3 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 2″ pieces

1/4 cup Shao Hsing wine or dry sherry

2 tablespoons red curry paste

pinch of salt

1 large shallot, peeled and slivered

1 two-inch piece of ginger, peeled and slivered

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon dried pepper flakes (optional)

2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchstick-size pieces

1 yellow summer squash, seeded and cut into matchstick-size pieces

1 tablespoon black peppercorns, crushed

1 tablespoon soy sauce

Heat your wok or large, heavy skillet over high heat until it until it begins to smoke. Add your fat or oil and heat for about a minute; add the beef.  Cook, stirring continuously, for about ten minutes; the fat/oil will become cloudy with the moisture from the beef.  Keep cooking until the moisture evaporates and the fat/oil becomes clear again and the meat sizzles and browns.

Remove the beef with a slotted spoon and set aside on a plate.

Add the green beans and cook, stirring continuously, until they are wrinkled and browned and becoming soft.  Add the beef back to the wok or skillet, and stir to combine.  Drizzle wine carefully around outer edge of wok or skillet, and stir. (It’s at this point that Barbara warns that the wine may catch fire; she says this is fine, just be prepared for it and stay out of the way of the flames – they should die down fairly quickly as the alcohol burns off.)

Add the curry paste and stir it into the beef/green bean mixture until it becomes nice and fragrant.  Add the salt, shallot, ginger, garlic and pepper flakes; stir fry, tossing it all about vigorously inside the wok or skillet. Add the carrots and squash and stir fry about another minute longer. Add soy sauce and peppercorns and stir fry for another minute.  Turn out onto a platter and serve (with steamed rice, if desired) immediately.

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Actually, I was quite busy this weekend – on top of grilling some filets from Chuck and smoking a free-range chicken we picked up at the farmer’s market, we pitted and froze five pounds of sweet cherries I found on sale for $.199/lb, made homemade chicken stock from a “soup chicken”- an old laying hen past her prime – and (believe it or not) made dog food for Scooter, using the meat from the old hen and a kidney from Chuck.

Yes, I guess we’ve gone off the deep end.  I should have never read the ingredients on the bag of kibble we’ve been feeding him; it was simply appalling.  I wouldn’t eat that stuff; why feed it to my furry, four-legged child?

At any rate, since we’ve got the grill/smoker cranked up full throttle for the summer, salads are still the order of the day.  We’d picked up some lovely tomatoes and cucumbers at the farmer’s market this last weekend and have been trying to consume a seedless watermelon for several days (there’s only so much watermelon you can eat at any given meal, and I’ve been resisting the urge to pull the ice cream maker out and make a sorbet with it), so voilá!  A Tomato, Watermelon and Cucumber salad.

Quick, easy, tasty, refreshing and oh-so-good for you, too.  What more could you ask for?

Note:  A mandolin will make quick work of the cucumber and onion.

Tomato, Watermelon and Cucumber Salad

Tomato, Watermelon and Cucumber Salad

4 to 6 servings

4 cups cubed watermelon

1 large, ripe tomato, chopped

1 large cucumber, sliced very thinly

1/2 large, sweet onion, sliced very thinly

1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced

3 teaspoons sugar or Splenda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine the watermelon, tomato and cucumber in a large bowl; toss with the sugar or Splenda and salt.  Let it stand for 15 minutes.

Stir in the onion, thyme, vinegar and olive oil.  Cover and chill for 2 hours.  Taste; season with pepper.  Serve on lettuce leaves, if desired.

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But we’ll see.

We’ll be stopping in Chicago overnight, and I made reservations at Roy Yamaguchi’s restaurant for dinner.  Why Roy’s?  Well, we love the place, for one.  For another, it won’t require us to A) dress as if we’re attending Princess Diana’s wedding and 2) take a second mortgage out on the house.  Seriously – Google “fine dining in Chicago”; the prices you’ll see will make your eyes hemorrhage.   You know me – I love good food and am willing to pay for it, but $200?  Per person? At those kinds of prices, I’ll worship it from afar, thank you very much.

Anyhoo.  Another easy recipe today, especially if you like to grill/smoke/barbecue (or, in Beloved’s case, all three).  The instructions for this require simple, indirect heat on your grill, but we put them in the smoker with the brisket this weekend and they were just fine.  In fact, we’ve had to restrain ourselves from eating them all so we’d have some road trip snack food for today (Chicago is a six hour drive from our house).

Have a lovely day, y’all.

Smoked Almonds

Smoked Almonds

makes..a lot

1 pound natural (raw) almonds

1 1/2 tablespoons of your favorite hot sauce

2 teaspoons of your favorite barbecue rub

Set up the grill for indirect grilling.

Toss together all the ingredients until the nuts are well coated with the hot sauce and rub, then pour into a disposable aluminum pan (at least 9″ square) in an even layer.  Cover and smoke until the nuts are crisp, about 3 hours.

Cool completely.  Store in an airtight container if you have any leftover to store.

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