Pepper Steak and Mushroom Pilaf

A yummy and easy recipe from Rachael Ray. I've made this a couple times and it was success. My 20 month old daughter loves peppers (even though she calls them apples) and comes looking for a snack every time I'm chopping them. I'm not always in the mood for big pieces of mushrooms in my food but I LOVE the flavor of mushrooms so this rice really hits the spot.

Recipe (serves 4 plus leftovers)

Rice

(I make some changes to the rice as I don't often buy boxed rice and often have plenty of long grain rice in the house)

1 T olive oil

1 T butter

8 oz white or cremini mushrooms, chopped

broken spaghetti

1 1/2 c rice

3 c beef stock (you could also use chicken stock or water)

Pepper Steak

2 T oil

1 1/2 - 2 lb tenderloin, sirloin, flank steak - cut in to thin bite-sized pieces

2 T butter

2 bell peppers (green or red), cut into 2 inch dice

1/2 large onion or 1 small onion, sliced

2 T flour

1 T tomato paste (look for the tubes so that you don't have to open a whole can)

1/4 c sherry

1 1/2 c beef stock

salt

1 t black pepper

In a medium pot over medium heat add 1 T each of oil and butter. When melted, add broken spaghetti pieces and saute until the begin to brown. Add mushrooms and saute 3-5 minutes. Add rice and stir to coat. Add stock or water, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to low an cover. Simmer for 18 minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil to skillet, then meat and sear on all sides, about 5 minutes. Season with salt ans then remove meat to a plate and cover with foil. Reduce pan to medium and add butter, peppers, and onion. Saute about 5 minutes. Add flour and cook about 1 minute (just enough to get the raw flour taste out). Whisk in sherry and then the beef stock, tomato paste, and black pepper. Return meat to pan with sauce, stir and reduce heat to low. Simmer about 5 minutes. Serve over rice pilaf.

Fried Chicken

Back in 2005 I bought myself some cast-iron cookware. I got a griddle/grill pan (which I love), a 10 1/4 inch skillet (great for cornbread), and a 15 1/4 inch skillet. I've used the large skillet for a number of things (e.g. chicken fried steak). Recently when my mother was visiting she made fried chicken and I realized that I have never made fried chicken in my cast-iron skillet. So this was my first experiment in making fried chicken and I think I may need to tweak a few things.

I got a really good deal on chicken breasts at Costco this past weekend so I only made breasts this time and I split them because they were huge.

First I salted the chicken and let it sit in a bowl while I readied the other ingredients. To the bowl I added about 3 cups of buttermilk, 2 onions - sliced, and some hot sauce. I let this marinate overnight until dinnertime.

In a paper bag I combined about 2 cups of flour, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder and salt. I placed the chicken pieces in the bag one at a time and shook until well coated. I let the chicken pieces rest about 30 minutes before frying. In the cast-iron skillet over medium heat I heated up enough shortening to come up about an inch in the skillet. Then I began frying. This took a while! I think the first batch took almost 30 minutes or more to cook. I was concerned about getting the middle up to temperature while not burning the outside. Also some of the pieces were cooking faster than others and not evenly. I think maybe a lid might help, but unfortunately they don't make one for this size skillet. I also think I may need to play around using both burners to keep the skillet hot all around.

All in all I think it still came out pretty good. The chicken was moist on the inside and crispy on the outside for the most part although there was some unevenness. I served it with homemade macaroni and cheese and corn. I strayed a little from my usual mac and cheese recipe. I used some Dijon instead of dry mustard which was pretty good. I think I'll write a post some time about my search for the perfect, but easy, homemade mac and cheese.

Turkey Meatloaf

Growing up I was never a real fan of meatloaf. To me, it always tasted like a weird, mushy hamburger with a bunch of ketchup on it. A few years ago my mom bought me the Gourmet Cookbook. I saw this recipe for Turkey Meat Loaf with Roasted Red Pepper-Tomato Sauce. It is delicious, healthy, and a great way to "sneak in" veggies for pickier family members. This has become a family favorite and can please both kids and foodies. I like to serve it with mashed potatoes and a favorite veggie (for our family it's Brussels sprouts). Oh and definitely skip the ketchup. This sauce is a must!

Recipe (Serves 6 or 4 plus leftovers)

Meatloaf

1 t olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
1/2 - 3/4 lb cremini mushrooms, finely chopped in food processor.
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
1 1/2 t Worcestershire sauce
1/3 c flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
5 T ketchup
1 c fresh bread crumbs (about 2 slices, I use whole wheat)
1/3 c milk
1 whole egg plus 1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 1/4 lb ground turkey

Sauce

1 head garlic
1/2 lb plum (Roma) tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1 large red bell pepper
1 t olive oil
1 1/2 t lemon juice
1/2 t balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375. Cut off top of garlic head and wrap garlic in foil. Arrange tomatoes cut side up on baking sheet and season with salt. Add bell pepper and wrapped garlic to pan. Roast 1 hour.

(Note: I found the best results is to chop each of the vegetables in the food processor. This is necessary at least for the mushrooms, so if I have it out I might as well use it for everything. Just process each ingredient and add it as you go.)

Meanwhile, Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is softened. Add carrot and continue cooking until softened, about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t pepper, and cook until liquid from mushrooms evaporates, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in Worcestershire, parsley and 3 T ketchup. Set aside to cool.

Stir together bread crumbs and milk and let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in eggs and then add to vegetables, along with turkey and remaining 1/2 t salt, and 1/4 t pepper. Mix well (mixture will be VERY moist.)

Remove tomatoes, pepper, and garlic from oven. Place pepper in a small bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 20 minutes.

Turn oven up to 400. Lightly oil a baking sheet. (You do not want to use a loaf pan for this). Form mixture into a 9x5 inch oval loaf on the baking sheet. Brush meatloaf with 2 T ketchup (this gives it a sweet glaze). Bake 50-55 minutes.

Peel pepper and discard stem and seeds. Add to food processor along with roasted garlic, tomatoes, oil, lemon juice, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Puree until smooth. Serve over meatloaf.