Steak Salad

The wife wanted lighter fare, a steak salad, the other night so I accepted the challenge.
(serves 2)

In a bowl:
2 large handfuls of washed lettuce. With the availability of fancy mixed greens at every supermarket there is no excuse for plain iceberg or romaine.
1/2 red onion, sliced really thin
1/4 C. sliced pepperoncini peppers
1/4 C. sliced green olives
1/2 seedless cucumber, sliced thin on bias
2 really ripe tomatoes, whatever kind is in season at the moment, cut into wedges.
2 carrots, sliced really thin on bias
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Vinaigrette:
All mixed together:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbl. honey
1 tsp. cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 Tbl. oregano
1 Tbl. liquid from pepperoncini peppers
2 Tbl. red wine vinegar
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil (buy the good stuff: from Greece or Italy)

Steak:
1 ribeye steak seasoned heavily with salt and an over-the-counter "steak rub".
Preheat a heavy pan, cast iron preferred, and sear the steak on both sides. Do not put oil in the pan. You want the steaks to be almost blackened. Take out of the pan when cooked to your preferred doneness. If you like steak cooked medium or more (ruined, in my opinion), finish it in the oven. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes.

Toss the greens with the vinaigrette and plate. Slice the steak and pile on top of the salad.

Barley Risotto

photo compliments of www.freephoto.com

This is an alternative to the everyday basic grain sides and an easy way to get some protein and whole grains into your kid’s diet.

½ onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
4 ribs celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 ½ C pearly barley, NOT quick cooking
1/2 C. white wine, optional
3 Tbl fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbl fresh oregano, chopped
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper
¼ C fresh grated Parmesan cheese
2 Qt chicken stock, maybe a little more

In a heavy pot, sweat the onions, carrots, and celery. Add the garlic and barley and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the garlic has softened.

If using wine, add it now, and stir constantly until it has been absorbed.

Start adding chicken stock, just enough to cover, and stir constantly, or very, very frequently. When the stock has been absorbed, add more, just to cover, and repeat the stirring process. Check for doneness of the barley after each absorption.

It is ready when the barley is tender and there isn’t much liquid remaining. The finished product should be nice and creamy. Add the herbs, cheese, and seasonings. If the cheese thickens it too much just add a little more stock.

Options:

• Add blackened, and then diced, andouille sausage with the garlic and barley
• Add crawfish tails at the same time as the herbs. Frozen crawfish tails are fully cooked and only need to be heated
• Top with braise beef (oxtails or cheeks)
• Serve alongside braised lamb shanks or rack of lamb.

Biscotti

The translation of “Biscotti” is twice baked, which is exactly what these cookies are. This is a great recipe to make with the kids because it’s easy, has few ingredients, and the options are endless. Ask your kids what they want in them, or how to “finish” them, and have fun. They go great with morning coffee or a glass of milk.

1 stick butter
¼ C sugar
(Cream the sugar and butter with a mixer until it is light and fluffy)

2 eggs
1 tsp. pure almond extract
(Add to the butter and sugar mixture and beat until smooth)

2 ¼ C all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
(Mix the above three together in a bowl then add to the rest half at a time)

1 Tbl. Anise seeds, toasted and cooled to room temperature
¾ C. sliced almonds, toasted and cooled to room temperature
¼ C. dried cranberries
(Add to everything else and slowly mix just until combined)

On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, using your hands, press the dough into a rectangular shape about 4” wide and 1” thick. It will be about 12” long.

Sprinkle the top with course sugar or “sugar in the raw” and gently press into the top of the dough.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, rotating the pan once.
Remove pan from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes.
Using a serrated knife, slice the “bar” into ½” long pieces.
Arrange the slices in the same parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes.
Flip each slice over and bake for an additional 5 minutes.
Let them cool on the cookie sheet, they will harden as they cool.

Options: Mix and match; you can’t go wrong

• Use vanilla extract instead of almond extract and substitute toasted and chopped filberts or macadamias. Whole pistachios or whole toasted pine nuts.
• Add 1 Tbl. finely chopped zest of an orange or lemon.
• Substitute dried cherries or chopped bittersweet chocolate for the cranberries.
• Omit the coarse sugar and dust the finished, and cool, biscotti with confectioner’s sugar.
• Dip half of the finished cookie into tempered chocolate.
  

Oxtail Barley Soup

Nothing is as satisfying as a bowl of rich and hearty oxtail and barley soup. For maximum flavor and texture development it takes a little patience, but is well worth it.

Step 1: The Braise

• About 10-15 pieces of oxtails seasoned with salt and pepper


• 1 can whole plum tomatoes, crushed with your hands


• 3 carrots, diced


• 3 ribs celery, diced


• 1 large Vidalia onion, diced


• 4 cloves garlic, crushed


• 1 bay leaf


• 1 cup red wine


• Beef broth to cover

Preheat a heavy pot (enameled cast iron with a lid preferred). Add a little olive oil. Sear the oxtails on all sides to a dark mahogany brown. Set aside. Add the tomatoes, carrot, onion, and celery and cook until they start to caramelize. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Deglaze the pan with the red wine being sure to work loose the brown bits (fond) stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the bay leaf and the seared oxtails. Add enough beef stock to cover and bring to a boil. Reduce to a very low simmer for about an hour. Using a ladle, skim and discard the fat on the surface. The oxtails are done when the meat is falling off the bone.

Remove the oxtails with tongs or a slotted spoon. Set them aside to cool.

Step 2: The Soup

• 2 large Portobello mushrooms, diced


• 4 cloves garlic, crushed


• 1 Tbl oregano


• 2 Tbl parsley


• 1 C barley

Add the soup ingredients to the pot. Return to a boil, Cover and simmer until the barley is tender, about 35 to 45 minutes.

Step 3: Finish

When the oxtails are cool, use your fingers to pull the meat off the bone. Try to avoid leaving large amounts of fat on the meat. I prefer leaving the meat in large chunks. Add to the soup. Check the seasoning for salt and pepper and skim any remaining fat from the surface.

Adjust the consistency with more beef stock to your liking.

Finish with ¼ cup of sherry and enjoy with a lot of crusty bread.

Quick Breakfast for the Week

With the typical morning rush I is often difficult to make the kids a good breakfast. To get around this I stock my freezer with pancakes, waffles, and French toast. All of these can be store bought in any grocer’s freezer section, but none of them taste particularly good and are full of preservatives and empty calories.

If you do not have a counter-top electric griddle buy one, they are cheap. With this you can crank out several pancakes or French toast at a time with uniform cooking. Plus, some manufactures include changeable plates for grilling. Mine is Cuisinart brand. It can open flat so you can cook on both side in the griddle setup, or you can use the grill plates and push the top onto the food for grilling or making paninis.

Little kids need fat and cholesterol for brain development, so buttermilk and melted butter in the batter are good options. If you are not cooking for kids you can use 2% milk, or fat free milk mixed with a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and vegetable oil instead of the butter.

The key to success is to let the pancakes (or waffles or French toast) cool to room temperature on a cookie sheet, and then to place a small square of parchment paper in-between each pancake before sealing in a plastic freezer bag. 40 seconds in the microwave and you have a homemade, filling, and nutritious breakfast.

Mix in one bowl:

• 1 diced granny smith apple (or blueberries, or peaches, or nectarines)
• 1 ½ C. all purpose flour
• ¼ C. whole wheat flour
• 1 ½ C. rolled oats (not quick cook)
• ¼ C. dark brown sugar
• 1 Tbl. Baking powder
• ¼ tsp. kosher salt

Mix in another bowl:

• 2 eggs
• 2 C. buttermilk
• 3 Tbl. Melted butter

Pour the wet ingredients onto the dry ingredients and stir just until they are combined. Some lumps are ok.

If using a griddle, set the temperature to 350. Lightly grease the surface with butter. Ladle in the batter to the size pancake you want. Once the edges start to firm and there are bubbles on the surface flip them over until the other side is golden brown. Serve now, or cool and freezer for later in the week.

French Onion Soup

• 5 large onions, white or yellow


• 5 cloves garlic, chopper


• 1 cardamon pod


• ½ tsp toasted caraway seeds


• 8 juniper berries


• ¼ C balsamic vinegar


• 2 quarts beef stock


• 2 Tbl Kosher Salt


• Fresh ground black pepper


• Crusty bread slices that have been toasted (stale bread is ideal)


• "Good” stinky gruyere or fontina cheese

Caramelization is the key to flavor! The trick to making a good French onion soup is to slowly caramelize the onions until they are a deep mahogany brown.

Toast the caraway seeds in a dry sauté pan just until they release their oils and become fragrant. Cool to room temperature. Grind the caraway seeds with the cardamom pod and juniper berries. Use an electric grinder or mortar and pestle (as I do). Set aside.

Peel each onion, cut off the tops and bottoms, and cut in half. Slice each half onion into 1/8 inch slices. In a pre-heated heavy bottom pot, preferably cast iron enameled, on high heat add the sliced onions with a little olive oil. Keep stirring the onions with a wooden spoon. They will not start to brown until all of their liquid has been released and evaporated. Once they start to brown keep stirring more frequently and work loose the brown bits that thick to the bottom (the French call the brown bits “fond”). After some color has started on all of the onions deglaze the pot with the vinegar and about ½ cup of the stock. Really scrape the bottom of the pot to dissolve the “fond”. After the stock has evaporated add a touch more oil and repeat the caramelize/deglaze process until the onions are a rich deep brown. This process could take up to an hour but the results are worth the wait.

Add the garlic and spice mixture and stir for another minute. Add the remaining beef stock, and few twists of pepper and salt to taste. Simmer for about 45 minutes.

To finish and serve, ladle the soup into an oven proof bowl. Add a slice of the toasted bread and top with the cheese. Stick in the broiler until the cheese is bubbly and slightly browned. Enjoy.

The Best Italian Beef

Everyone in Chicago loves an Italian Beef sandwich, but hardly anyone has ever had a good one, let alone a great one. Even the most highly recommended places are hit or miss and sometimes the meat can be grainy because it was cooked too quickly. The best Italian Beef is quick, easy, and made at home.

Ingredients

• 3 lb beef roast, top round preferred


• Kosher salt


• Black pepper, freshly ground fine


• Dried oregano


• Garlic powder or about 6 cloves fresh *


• Red pepper flakes (optional)


• 2-3 cups beef broth


• 2 Tbl. sliced Pepperoncini peppers with additional 2 oz of liquid from the jar


• 4 bell peppers (all red, all green, colored mix – it doesn’t matter), seeded and sliced into 8 strips each.


• Freshly baked French bread

* A note on the garlic: If you are going to use fresh garlic take each clove, slice it in half lengthwise, and then slice each half into 4 long slices. You will have to cut a narrow slit into the beef about each inch and slip a piece of garlic in. It’s a pain and time consuming, but well worth the effort.

Prep The Meat:
If using fresh garlic, prepare as above now. Sprinkle all sides of the meat liberally with Kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, garlic powder (if not using fresh), and dried oregano.

Cook It:
On the stove top, preheat a large roasting pan (make sure it can be used on a stovetop). When hot, all a little olive oil and sear the meat on all side. Really get good caramelization on all sides; this is the key to flavor! When all side are well browned remove the meat to a tray.

Turn the heat to low and deglaze the roasting pan with 2 cups of beef broth. Using a spoon scrape up all of the brown bits that stuck to the bottom. Add the red pepper flakes, if desired, the pepperoncini peppers, and the pepperoncini liquid (top secret ingredient!).

Add the meat back into the pan and cover the roasting pan with a lid or foil.

Roast at 300 degrees for about 1 hour or so. Check with a meat thermometer and pull out of the over and pan at 140 degrees (medium rare). Once the meat is out, let it cool down to room temperature. Most recipes will tell you to cook at a higher temperature, but that is because they do not sear the meat first. The slow cooking after searing will develop a much deeper flavor. Keeping the foil tightly sealed around the pan will keep the meat tender and moist.

Slicing:
Not many homes have a meat slicer; if you do slice it thin. If you are going to slice in by hand, as I do, use a very thin and very sharp slicing knife. Mine is about a 1” thick blade, about 12” long, with “scallops” cut into the slides of the blade. You do not want a short blade that is going to require a lot of sawing, and do not want to use a serrated edge that will shred the meat.

Usually the roast will be made of several different muscles. Try to remove each muscle and slice individually. This will make it easier to handle and will give you an easier time figuring out “the grain” pattern. Always slice against the grain. If you don’t, even the thinnest slices will be tough to chew.

Finishing:
Throw the sliced beef into the roasting pan with the liquid and peppers. Throw in any juices that came out of the beef as it was resting. Turn the heat back on and bring to a simmer. Make each sandwich with a couple spoonfuls of the liquid on the bread, then pile on the beef, peppers, and pepperoncini.