Semi-Homemade Steak

Sure, Sandra Lee has her flaws. She creates ridiculously complicated and silly "tablescapes" and feels the need to decorate her kitchen to match her meal. And some of her recipes barely qualify as "cooking" and are certainly not gourmet. Yet I own two of her cookbooks and make several of her recipes on a regular basis. Sometimes you just need a quick recipe that doesn't require too much work. And besides, I am a fan of quick and easy. This steak is one of our favorite simple recipes. Since I am not a big fan of red meat, poor Joe rarely gets to enjoy beef or steak as I don't usually make it. However, these pinwheels are an exception because the steak is nice and thin, making it more acceptable to me. The original recipe can be found here, along with the suggested side dish of Rosemary Mashed Potatoes. I've simplified the recipe even more based on our tastes, and my version is below. I served my pinwheels last night with roasted red potatoes and corn.

Steak Pinwheels

2 pieces round steak, center cut

1 package stuffing mix, prepared according to package directions

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Lay steak flat on clean work surface and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover steak evenly with stuffing. Roll up steak lengthwise to create a pinwheel effect, enclosing stuffing completely. Skewer seam with toothpicks. Place the steak roll, seam side down, on a foil-covered cookie sheet (I use a glass baking dish - my cookie sheets do not have edges, and when I used them previously the steak juices leaked off the tray and into my oven, making a big, smokey mess). Sprinkle roll with salt and pepper. Roast until steak is golden brown and cooked through, about 40 minutes.

Caramel-Cashew Brownies

Freakin' yum. These brownies are amazing. They are also super rich, so I recommend cutting them into small squares before serving. A little of these goes a long way, but they are incredibly delicious. I found the recipe on the Food Network website. This was my first attempt at brownies from scratch, and I definitely picked a winner!

Caramel-Cashew Brownies

Brownies:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces plus extra for greasing

3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup cake flour, sifted

3/4 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks

Carmel-Cashew Topping:

1/4 cup cream

Approximately 40 store bought caramels

Pinch salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 to 3/4 cup raw cashews

Make the brownies:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line an 8-inch square baking dish with a sheet of aluminum foil, making sure to cover the corners and sides. Lightly butter the aluminum foil, including corners and sides.
In the bowl of a double boiler set over simmering water, combine the butter and chopped unsweetened chocolate. Stirring often, heat until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and salt. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until well blended. Fold in the sifted flour and stir just until the flour disappears. Stir in the semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chunks.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly. Bake approximately 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Baking time will be longer if you are using a metal pan. Do not overbake. Transfer the dish to a wire rack and cool completely.

Make the Carmel-Cashew Topping:

Pour the cream into the bowl of a double boiler set over simmering water. Unwrap caramels and put them into the bowl. Stirring frequently to prevent sticking, combine the cream and caramels until the mixture becomes homogeneous and smooth. Take the mixture off the heat and keep stirring until the caramel becomes a little thicker and the mixture begins to cool down. Add a pinch of salt and the vanilla and stir. Coarsely chop the cashews and fold them into the caramel mixture until nuts are completely coated with caramel. Pour mixture over the top of the cooled brownies and spread evenly.

Refrigerate the brownies until the caramel is set, about 30 to 45 minutes. Remove brownies from the pan by grabbing the sides of the aluminum foil and lifting them from the pan. With a serrated knife, cut the brownies into 2-inch squares. These can be stored in an airtight container for 2 days or in a covered container in the refrigerator for 4 days.*

*I suggest storing these in the fridge, since the caramel is very sticky.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

You win some, you lose some. Tonight's dessert was a big winner, but this dinner - not so much. There was nothing wrong with it, mind you, I actually thought it was quite good. But it was during this meal we discovered that Joe does not like blue cheese, and unfortunately this pizza had lots of blue cheese on it. So Joe had leftovers while I ate the pizza. I may try it again and leave out the blue cheese, but I personally thought the blue cheese was what made it unique. If you like your food spicy and like blue cheese, give this a try! The recipe is from Rachel Ray.

Wingless Buffalo Chicken Pizza

3/4 pound chicken breast cutlets*

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

2 teaspoons grill seasoning, (recommended: McCormick Montreal Seasoning) eyeball it*

1 pizza dough, store bought or from your favorite pizzeria Cornmeal or flour, to handle dough

2 tablespoons butter (I omitted this)

1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it

2 to 3 tablespoons hot sauce, medium to spicy heat

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese, a few generous handfuls

1/2 cup blue cheese crumbles

3 scallions, thinly sliced (I omitted this)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Preheat grill pan to high.
Place chicken on a plate and drizzle extra-virgin olive oil over the chicken then season with grill seasoning. When grill is hot, add chicken and cook about 3 minutes on each side. Stretch dough to form pizza using cornmeal or flour to help you handle it. If you let it rest and warm up a few minutes it will handle even easier. Set pizza on pizza pan to the side and clean board.
In a medium skillet over medium heat, melt butter and stir in Worcestershire, hot sauce, and tomato sauce.
Remove the chicken from grill and thinly slice it. Add chicken to sauce and coat. Cover the pizza dough with the saucy Buffalo chicken, cheeses, and scallions. Bake 18 minutes or until crisp.

*I cheated and used the pre-cooked Perdue chicken pieces. I didn't grill, season or even heat up the chicken on the stove, I simply stirred it right into the sauce. The chicken heated through in the oven and I thought it worked great.

Maple-Glazed Grilled Salmon

This was some delicious salmon! My friend Dorothy passed this recipe on to me with a glowing recommendation, so I was eager to try it. It definitely didn't disappoint! The flavor was sweet and tangy but not overpowering - a nice light glaze. Dorothy came across this recipe in a stack of magazine cut-outs from her mom, so I'm not sure exactly where it came from, but it's great!

Maple-Glazed Grilled Salmon

3/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (I didn't have any vinegar so I omitted this)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried mustard (I used regular Dijon mustard)

1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 salmon fillet (2 pounds)

In a bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients (everything but the salmon) and mix well. Pour 1/2 cup into a large resealable bag, add the salmon. Seal bag and turn to coat, refrigerate for up to 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate remaining marinade.

Before starting the grill, coat grill rack with nonstick cooking spray. Drain and discard marinade from salmon. Grill salmon skin side up over medium-hot heat for 2-4 minutes. Transfer to a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 17 in. x 21 in.). Spoon some of the reserved marinade over salmon. Fold foil around fillet and seal tightly. Grill 5-6 minutes longer or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Brush with remaining marinade.

Yield: 8 servings

Nutritional Analysis: One serving (4 ounces cooked salmon) equals 254 calories, 12 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 67 mg cholesterol, 179 mg sodium, 12 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 23 g protein. Diabetic exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1 starch.

Pasta with Spinach, Beans and Asiago Cheese

Mmmmmmmm. That's all I can say about this recipe. I saw this in my September 2007 Cooking Light and had to try it. It was so easy and had a unique flavor that Joe and I both really liked. I added some garlic chicken sausage for extra protein but otherwise followed the recipe pretty closely. I will definitely be making this again!

Cavatappi with Spinach, Beans, and Asiago Cheese

Ingredients:
8 cups coarsely chopped spinach leaves

4 cups hot cooked cavatappi (about 6 ounces uncooked spiral-shaped pasta)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 (19-ounce) can cannellini beans or other white beans, drained

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Asiago cheese

Fresh ground black pepper (optional)

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and toss well. Sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper, if desired.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 401(27% from fat); FAT 12g (sat 3.4g,mono 6.2g,poly 1.2g); PROTEIN 18.8g; CHOLESTEROL 10mg; CALCIUM 306mg; SODIUM 464mg; FIBER 6.7g; IRON 6.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 54.7g

Drop Biscuits

I love bread. Who doesn't, really? And I feel that any sort of pasta dish requires some nice warm bread or rolls to go along with it. I originally planned to just buy some frozen rolls to go along with tonight's dinner but started feeling ambitious and thought it would be better to try to make some from scratch. I wanted an easy and quick recipe, preferably one that didn't require yeast. I came across this recipe for Drop Biscuits on the Cooking Light website and it was perfect. These were extremely easy to make (baking them in muffin tins rather than on a sheet is great!) and the biscuits came out soft and dense. I added garlic powder to my dough before baking to give these a little kick, but I think I might leave that out next time, as they seem like they'd be delicious without. I made mine larger than recommended and wound up with 8 biscuits.

Drop Biscuits

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup chilled butter or stick margerine, cut into small pieces

1 cup fat-free milk

Cooking spray

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 450º.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl; cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk; stir just until moist.
Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 450° for 12 minutes or until golden. Remove biscuits from pan immediately, and place on a wire rack.

Yield
1 dozen (serving size: 1 biscuit)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 119(31% from fat); FAT 4.1g (sat 2.5g,mono 1.1g,poly 0.2g); PROTEIN 2.9g; CHOLESTEROL 11mg; CALCIUM 97mg; SODIUM 270mg; FIBER 0.6g; IRON 1.1mg; CARBOHYDRATE 17.6g

Crockpot BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

Oh how I love my crockpot. If I could live with only one kitchen appliance for the rest of my life, I would choose my crockpot. I use it at least once a week, typically on Mondays. It's great to come home to a finished dinner and a delicious smelling house at the start the week. I have tons of crockpot recipes in my rotation, and this is a super easy one that I throw together regularly. I hesitate to really call it a recipe, because it includes only three ingredients, but its yummy nonetheless.

Crockpot Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches

3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup diced onion

1 bottle barbecue sauce

Place chicken in crockpot and cover with onion and barbecue sauce. Cook 8 hours on low setting. Using two forks, shred the chicken. I serve this on toasted whole wheat rolls topped with shredded sharp cheddar cheese.

Have plenty of napkins on hand - this gets messy!