Stovetop Steak

Captain's Log

Growing up, we had steak pretty much every Friday night. Every week! Can you believe it? It sounds so luxurious, in a way, and so sinful, in another. My parents are die-hard fans of Dale's Steak Seasoning and always used that as their marinade before grilling on a gas grill in the backyard. Mom would marinate and prepare the veggies, Dad would grill, and it all would come together in a glorious dinner to be enjoyed as a family while watching a movie.

(Ok, in all honesty, the Family Unit aspect of this dinner was somewhat lessened once my sister and I were teenagers with cars and friends and boyfriends… but the cherished memory lives on! And many of those boyfriends and now-husbands have enjoyed Steak Night themselves.)

Dale's comes from Birmingham, Alabama, and thus has only regional availability. What's a gal to do when wanting that awesome family steak, but not having a) the obligatory marinade, and b) the essential gas grill?

Enter The Salt Trick. I did not invent this. I think I read about it somewhere once, and I know my brother-in-law has done this before (which makes me think it is an Alton Brown technique, or perhaps America's Test Kitchen? Or Cook's Illustrated magazine? Help me out, Sister.). But anyway here is what you do:

Potica, or Very Important Holiday Pastry

Hello Old Friends!

I have been cooking, I swear.

…birthday presents for Mom:

Tomato Soup

Captain's Log

Behold: Last culinary venture in our old apartment

Hi Everyone! It's been a couple of weeks, and I apologize for that. We just moved, as I may have mentioned, and we have pesky jobs, and, well... here's another recipe that I love! I made it in the old apartment. A couple of weeks ago. We're full-time in the new place now. Next post should have awesome lighting, yay!

I first made this tomato soup for a group of our friends while vacationing in the Poconos. We had it with grilled cheese, as one generally must do when eating tomato soup. I started with this recipe from Emeril Lagasse and I've since tinkered and changed it so it better suits my needs. (I do NOT make the grilled cheese from Emeril's recipe. Not for any particular reason. I'm a GC traditionalist myself... all I need is bread, butter, cheddar, and maybe a clove of garlic to rub over the toasty bread edges at the end.)

Here's Emeril's recipe unedited, from the Food Network:

• 2 T unsalted butter
• 3 oz prosciutto, chopped
• 3/4 c onion, chopped
• 1/2 c celery, chopped
• 1/2 c carrot, chopped
• 3/4 tsp garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 c tomato paste
• 2 T flour
• 2 c peeled, seeded, chopped tomatoes
• 3 c vegetable or chicken broth
• 1/3 c heavy cream
• salt/pepper

The recipe also involves apple cider vinegar and sugar, cooked together until it's a light caramel and then stirred into the soup at the end as a sweet/tart balancer. I don't do this. It confuses me.

Blackberry Peach Shrub

Captain's Log

The Girlcat

aka the "hers" cocktail from our wedding

Here it is! Here's how the sausage was made! See my earlier post on shrubs for a full explanation of what we're working with.

We bought three (or four?) boxes of blackberries from Pike Place Market. One box is about six pints. But we only got one such box at a time since the process was a mess and labor-intensive. We wanted to work with the freshest fruit possible. So we would buy one palate of berries, process it, wait a week or two, then buy another.

Ice Cream Sandwiches

Captain's Log

Just Trying Something

also we got married seven days ago

So, I haven't been cooking much lately. Or rather, I haven't been cooking in the same sort of careful, photo-documenting way that drove so much of this blog earlier in the year. But! Good news! I made ice cream sandwiches a month or two ago (...) and I took pictures of it. So here we go!

This recipe is one of several that gets me thinking about Dutch-processed cocoa versus regular cocoa. You know how the Dutch stuff pops up every now and then? How Oreos are a darker brown than other chocolate cookies? Dutch-process cocoa has a reputation for being "better" and having a truer chocolate flavor, or something. I think technically it's just cocoa that has been treated with alkali and that the pH has been affected by the process... something something baking powder not baking soda, or vice versa, for effective leavening. (Better internet explanation here.) I don't ever see it in grocery stores, though, so maybe it's just not a "common people" sort of ingredient? Anyway. I spotted a carton of a Dutch/regular cocoa blend at the store and thought I'd give it a try. Photo here:

Dutch process is on the left. Surprising difference, no?

I got the ice cream sandwich cookie recipe from Smitten Kitchen, as I do so many others. Here it is, for your convenience:

Beef Bourguignon

Captain's Log

More Slow-Cooker Adventures

Continuing my interest in using my new cookbook, this past week I decided to make Beef Bourgignon. AKA Beef Burgundy, AKA "beef stuff with wine." It sounds very fancy, but don't let the French fool you: this is a peasant-style meal, intended to use the cheapest and toughest cuts of meat in the most delicious way possible. Basically wine-y pot roast. I checked my new book for a recipe, and I found four.

The fourth is on the previous page, for you fact-checkers out there.

I cobbled these recipes together to create my own. This, for the record, is essentially what I always do when I cook... I just more typically use the internet rather than a physical book.

Here's what I used:

• Five slices reduced-sodium bacon
• One package stew beef (1-1.5lbs)
• 2-3 T tomato paste
• 1 yellow onion
• two heaping spoonfuls of flour
• 1 T beef Better Than Bouillon + 1 cup water (more on this later)
• 1 cup Côtes du Rhône red wine (more on this later)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 spring rosemary
• few dashes of dried oregano
• 2-3 peeled and crushed cloves of garlic
• salt/pepper to taste
• 2-5 carrots
• 2/3c frozen pearl onions
• 1-2 potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces (or those adorable tiny red potatoes..)
• crusty bread

This made three hearty servings. I think it could be comfortably feed 4, but you might want to serve a salad or something too to be sure. Alternatively, you could do what I intend to do next time, which is: get a second pack of beef, add more veggies and a whole bottle of wine, and enjoy leftovers for a few days.

Slow-Cooker Chicken Cacciatore

Captain's Log

Long time no see!

Memories of a Bridal Shower edition

My bridal shower was about (/exactly) ten days ago and I have to say: I was so honored to have so many amazing women present. Showers are such a strange thing, in a lot of ways... I can't help but wonder "What did I do to deserve all this praise and attention beyond saying yes to an incredible man?". Alas, as I sort my way through the wedding process, I am learning and appreciating the role that weddings and wedding-related events have in uniting families, in solidifying old (and new) relationships, and in expressing support for what we certainly feel is a strong and happy match just bursting with potential. 

It's awesome (awe-some) to look around a room and imagine a similar lineup at Christmases and Thanksgivings and Birthdays and Reunions to come in five, ten, twenty years from now. So much love!

Which brings me back around to the blog: It turns out most of the shower attendees are readers of OBC (Okra's Book Club) and I can't wait to continually express my gratitude to them by using the gifts I was given for new posts. I am pretty sure I am not supposed to be using any wedding-related gifts before the wedding, so today's post will circle around a gift and only partially use a different one. The recipe? Slow-cooker Chicken Cacciatore, as adapted from Fix-It and Forget-It Big Cookbook: 1400 Best Slow Cooker Recipes, by Phyllis Pellman Good. This mammajamma was a gift. I was also given a new slow-cooker, but that one will have to wait until after the wedding.

Here's the recipe, as printed in the book:

Low-Fat Chicken Cacciatore

• 2lbs uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
• 1/2lb fresh mushrooms
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 12oz can low-sodium chopped tomatoes
• 6-oz can low-sodium tomato paste
• 12-oz can low-sodium tomato sauce
• 1/2tsp dried oregano
• 1/2tsp dried basil
• 1/2tsp garlic powder
• 1/2tsp salt
• 1/2tsp black pepper

And here are the directions, as printed in the book:

1. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker.

2. Cover. Cook on low 8 hours.

3. Serve over rice or whole wheat pasta.