Steak Wraps with Chimicurri

The Argentinians are the world's largest consumers of beef. Really? Really. The average Argentinian eats about 150 pounds of beef a year. So naturally they know a thing or two about how to cook it and what to serve with it. A good example of what to serve with beef is chimichurri, a sauce made from primarily with fresh parsley, garlic, lemon juice, shallots and olive oil. There are dozens of variations but we like the traditional version the best.

Jim made up a batch of chimichurri this weekend to go with 2 steaks we had in the freezer. Here is a visual list of the ingredients.And the best part of making a chimichurri is that nothing has to be precisely chopped, minced or diced. Just cut everything into big chunks and toss it into a food processor. Give it a good number of pulses until it looks like this.
It's just that easy. Make it early in the day so it has time to let all the flavors meld together.

And, of course, you need to have steak. We had two NY Strips. Cooked to a nice medium rare, we would usually we'd cook them and serve with the chimichurri spooned on top but this time we decided to cook them and slice them thinly and serve with tortillas.

Along with the steak and chimichurri (which is good all by themselves), we added a little sour cream and red leaf lettuce. Roll them up and eat 'em up. And if you're lucky, you'll have leftovers for lunch the next day.

Chimichurri Sauce
1/2 cup parsley leaves
3 tbsp. red vinegar
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
6 green onions, white part and most of the green
(you can also use one whole, peeled shallot)
Juice from one lime
1 jalapeno pepper (seeded if you prefer less heat)
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Place everything in a food processor and run it for about 30 seconds. Check it to see if everything is evenly blended. Place in a glass container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Braised Short Ribs

Happy Easter! Sorry again for the long absence. Both my brother and sister chastised me this weekend for not posting in so long. So, here I am.

Last weekend while shopping, we found a package of short ribs and added them to the cart. With food already in mind for the week, these were set aside until this weekend and they were worth the wait.

Jim looked through a few cookbooks and found a few recipes online to get an idea how he would make braised short ribs. His recipe turned out wonderful and although it too several hours to make it was a fairly easy recipe.

As the main course was bubbling away, he tossed some potatoes and Brussels Sprouts in the oven for side dishes. Add in a nice bottle of red wine and we had dinner.

Jim's Braised Short Ribs
4 lbs. beef short ribs
1 (750 ml) bottle of red wine, preferably a dry red
1 15 oz can of beef stock
1 medium onion, cut in half and sliced
2 stalks of celery cut into 4-inch pieces
2 carrots cut into 3-inch pieces
flour
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp thyme
1 bay leaf

Pour the wine into a medium sauce pan over medium high heat and reduce by half. Set aside.

Coat the meat in flour and brown on all sides in a dutch oven. Rest on a plate when done.Sautee the onions, celery, and carrots until the onions are soft. Add the wine, beef, beef stock, mustard seeds, thyme and bay leaf. Reduce to low, cover and let braise for 3 hours. Strain the liquid and return to the dutch oven, reduce by half. Serve with the beef.

Schezuan Beef Noodle Soup - part 2

(By Jim)

So, I've been making Szechuan Beef Soup monthly since we posted this. I've refined the recipe slightly, to make it taste like the soup we get at A&J Restaurant, a Chinese place with locations in Annandale, VA, and Rockville, MD. I started with the base recipe that we used back in May. I've since doubled the recipe so we could put up plenty of it. The refrigeration also makes it easy to skim the fat off the top. We typically make it on the weekend, and then either refrigerate or freeze all of it until we need a quick meal.

I've been buying broad Shanghai noodles at our Asian market for it. They're cheap, fresh, and taste nearly as good as homemade. Also, I've started using the Shaoxing cooking wine. To offset the extra salt from that, I use low-sodium Kikkoman soy sauce. I'm using star anise now, and only using the 5-6 pods, as it was much stronger than our 5-spice powder. Another change is using crosscut beef shank meat with the bone in. It has more chunks of just meat, more good connective tissue that makes it nice and gelatenous, and less fat to trim away before freezing.

Finally, we were eating at A&J after I made the first or second batch, and Barbara said "What is the citrus taste in this?" I immediately figured out "Orange Peel". We use the zest from one whole Florida juice orange. You might find tangerine peel, either dried or fresh, to taste good as well.

This weekend we were at A&J, and Barbara said that she may like my soup more now than she likes theirs. I think they're slightly different, but both are very good expressions of the same thing.

Szechuan Beef Noodle Soup Part 2

4-5 lbs beef shank bone-in, cut into steaks
5 quarts water
1 cup shaoxing (Chinese cooking wine)
1 cup low-sodium Kikkoman soy sauce
2 4-inch pieces of ginger, cut into several pieces and crushed with the back of a knife
6 green onions, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
12 cloves garlic, crushed with the back of a knife
20 cilantro stems, leaves separated from stem pieces
Zest of one orange
5-6 star anise pods
4 tsp szechuan peppercorns
2 tsp red pepper flakes


Soak beef in cold water for 20 minutes to remove blood, then dispose of water

Bring water to boil in stock pot.

Add beef, return to boil, skim foam and impurities from surface.

Reduce to simmer, add shaoxing, soy sauce, star anise, szechuan peppercorns, pepper flakes, ginger, green onions, garlic, and cilantro stems.

Simmer for 2 1/2 hours.

Remove beef, then strain solids from the broth. Discard solids.

At this point I usually separate the broth into 6 one-quart deli takeout containers. Then I remove the beef from the bone, strip off the fat and cartilage from the beef, then share it among the soup containers. You can now freeze or refrigerate the soup solidify the fat on top to remove it.

When you're ready to serve, take out one quart for each person for a main dish (or 1 for two or three people for a soup course). Bring to a boil, add noodles, and cook until noodles are done.

Also, if desired add steamed greens or use broth to cook baby bok choy or watercress. Serve in soup bowls with cilantro leaves and green onion tops for garnish.

Beef Rendang, London Broil Tacos and Shrimp

Yes, odd combination but it's a little sampling of what we've been cooking while I was away from blogging.

London Broil TacosHaving picked up some really beautiful London Broils from the market in addition to having soft tortillas, jalapeno's, and avocado, we made tacos. They were so delicious and simple to make! Lightly season the steak with some salt and pepper then pan sear until medium rare. While the meat is cooking, slice and seed out 1 -2 jalapeno's then slice into thin strips. Slice an avocado and cover with a squeeze of lime juice. Once the meat is done cooking and has had time to rest, slice it thinly, place on a warmed tortilla and add toppings. Wrap it up and enjoy.

Beef Rendang
After tweaking several recipes, I think I finally have a beef rendang recipe that's as close to what we had in Malaysia.
2-2½ lbs rump or stewing steak, cut into large chunks
27 oz. coconut milk
3 stalks lemongrass
6 lime leaves
4 slices galangal (blue ginger)
1 tsp salt

Spice paste
5 tbsp freshly grated coconut
8 dried chilies, seeds removed
2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp ground turmeric
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp minced ginger

To prepare the spice paste, fry coconut in a dry wok over medium-low
heat, stirring constantly, until light brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Grind with
remaining spice paste ingredients until fine.

In a large pot, add 2 tbsp. oil over med-high heat. Add all of the beef stirring to coat with oil. Turn occasionally until excess water is released. Remove beef from the pot and drain the liquid. Return beef to the pot and add the spice paste with all the other ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, partially cover and simmer for 2 to 2 1/2 hours or until beef is tender and gravy is very thick and fairly dry. It will also be shiny with oil. Serve hot.

Serves 4


A simple shrimp boil with baked cauliflower and oven browned potatoes.
What can I say, it was simple, easy, healthy and very good. We boiled the shrimp with some seasoning and beer. The cauliflower and potatoes were cut into chunks. Each was lightly seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, and cumin. Toss the potatoes in a bag with a little bit of oil then spread on a baking sheet. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. While they are cooking, toss the cauliflower in the same bag and add to the baking sheet. Continue to cook another 15 minutes.

Shredded Beef Salad

One of my favorite food magazines is Saveur. Not only does it have some fantastic recipes but the articles are just great. It's probably the only magazine I read from cover to cover.

In one of the very early issues I found a recipe for a shredded beef salad with a chipolte dressing. It intrigued me so I copied it down and tucked it away. A few weeks ago I rediscovered it and decided to make it.

It's a time consuming recipe but well worth the effort and, when made as written, will feed a small army. The only thing I would try differently would be to puree the dressing ingredients for a smoother consistency. Bit aside from that it was very tasty and as we ate it we both commented that this would work well with any meat be it chicken, pork or a fish like tuna.

Shredded Beef Salad with Chipotle Dressing (Salpicón)

serves 12

1 5-lb. top-cut beef brisket, trimmed

2 large yellow onions, peeled and sliced

4 cups Beef Stock

4 fresh poblano chiles (or 6 fresh anaheims)

1 7-oz. can chipotle chiles en adobo

2⁄3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1⁄2 cup fresh lime juice

1⁄3 cup white wine vinegar

Salt

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

1⁄2 lb. monterey jack, cubed

1 medium red onion, peeled and diced

3⁄4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

1 head romaine lettuce, separated into leaves

3 medium tomatoes, cut into wedges

2 avocados, peeled and cut into wedges

5 radishes, thinly sliced

1. Place brisket in a large pot and scatter with yellow onions. Add stock and enough cold water to cover by 3". Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until fork-tender, about 4 hours, turning midway through cooking time.

2. Remove pot from heat and let stand uncovered until brisket is cool enough to handle, about 25 minutes. Transfer brisket to cutting surface and shred with two forks or your fingers. Set aside.

3. Char poblanos over an open flame or under a broiler, turning to blacken all over. Place in a paper bag, close, and steam 15 minutes. Rub off skin and remove stems. Slice open, scrape out veins and seeds, and cut into strips.

4. Drain chipotles, reserving adobo sauce. Seed and chop chipotles, then whisk with oil, lime juice, vinegar, salt, and garlic in a large mixing bowl. If sauce is not spicy enough, add reserved adobo sauce. Stir in beef, poblanos, cheese, red onions, and cilantro.

5. To serve, arrange salpicón (beef mixture) on a bed of romaine leaves, and garnish with tomatoes, avocados, and radishes.

This recipe was first published in Saveur in Issue #10

Schezuan Beef Noodle Soup

Lots of cooking in the kitchen this weekend. As much for the need to eat and prep my Daring Baker's May challenge as it was to relieve stress. While I can't say what I prepped for the Daring Baker's challenge, I can report that we have several containers of strawberry jam that I made yesterday.

Today was the DB prep as well as noodle for some Schezuan Beef Noodle Soup that Jim cooked up. We've only had this dish at restaurants and wanted to make it at home but never found the right recipe. Today while surfing the net, Jim came across a recipe that looked good. Using it and several others he put together a soup that was slap your momma good. I know.....terrible term to use on Mother's Day but it's true, this soup was great! And there is enough leftover for dinner tomorrow night.

To go with it, I also made scallion pancakes, another elusive recipe that I've tried to make several times before with limited success. But after looking at several, I made one that came as close to the real thing as ever.

Scallion Pancakes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp salt
1 bunch scallions, finely chopped
vegetable oil

Mix the flour, water and salt in a bowl until a ball is formed. Turn out onto a flat surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until smooth. Add flour or water as needed. Cover the dough and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Unwrap the dough and divide into 6 sections and roll into balls. Keep covered until ready to roll out. One piece at a time, roll out the dough into a circle about 1/8" thick and brush with oil.
Scatter about 1-2 tbsp of the scallions on top of the dough.
Roll up the dough like a cigar.
Then coil it up .Cover and repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. When all are done, take out one piece and roll it out to about 1/8" thickness. (don't worry if it squishes out green onions)Heat a skillet over medium heat with 1 tsp oil. When hot add one pancake and cook until the bottom is golden brown, flip over and brown the other side. Repeat with remaining pancakes. Slice into 4-6 pieces and serve.


Egg Free Chinese Noodles
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp coarse salt
2 tsp corn or peanut oil
1 cup water

Mix all the ingredients and knead by hand for about 5 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.

Unwrap the dough, cut into 4 equal pieces. Cover set aside. Take one piece at a time and flatten with your hands into a disc. Roll out to a 14 inch square (and less than 1/8" thick), dusting with flour as needed. Move the dough to a cloth or paper towel to dry while you work on the other three pieces.

Taking the first piece you rolled out, liberally dust both sides with cornstarch, smoothing it out with your hands. taking opposite edges, fold the dough into thirds. Using a pizza cutter, slice the dough into even strips about 1/8" in width (or slightly wider if you like). Unroll the noodles by tossing them with your fingers. Spread them out on a cookie sheet to dry for 15-20 minutes. You can cook them at this point or put them in a plastic bag and refrigerate or freeze them.

To cook them: Place in boiling soup or water for about 3 - 4 minutes or until desired tenderness.

Schezuan Beef Noodle Soup
3 1/2 lbs beef short ribs bone-in
2 1/2 quarts water
1/2 cup aji-mirin (or shaoxing and additional brown sugar if needed)
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tsp five spice powder (or 5-6 whole star anise pods)
2 tsp whole szechuan peppercorns
1 tsp red pepper flakes
4 inch piece of ginger, cut into several pieces and crushed with the back of a knife
6 green onions, green parts chopped, white parts crushed with the back of a knife
6 cloves garlic, crushed with the back of a knife
10 cilantro stems, leaves separated from stem pieces

Soak beef in cold water for 20 minutes to remove blood, then dispose of water
Bring 2 1/2 quarts of water to boil in stock pot.
Add beef, return to boil, skim foam and impurities from surface.
Reduce to simmer, add aji-mirin, soy sauce, five spice powder, szechuan peppercorns, pepper flakes, ginger, white part of green onions, garlic, and cilantro stems.
Simmer for 2 1/2 hours. Remove beef, then strain solids from soup and add soup back into pot. Debone the beef, then remove fat and cartilage and add back into pot.

Return to boil, use soup to cook chinese wheat noodles (store-bought or use recipe here). Also, if desired add steamed greens or use broth to cook baby bok choy or watercress. Serve in soup bowls with cilantro and green onion tops for garnish.

Vietnamese Stuffed Grape Leaves

We first tried these at Huong Que, also known as The Four Sisters Restaurant. It's located in Eden Center, a shopping center in Falls Church that is chock full of Vietnamese businesses. I discovered a recipe for them online and decided to give it a try. Who knew these would be so easy to make! And they freeze well, so you can make up a bunch of them, freeze 'em and have several quick meals ready to cook up. The recipe is located in Recipe*Zaar, a great collection of online recipes that have been added by regular folk like us. They also have a section where you can create your own online recipe box for recipes you find. This recipe for the grape leaves is here. To begin you need to get your grape leaves. They usually come in a jar with some brine so you'll want to rinse them. The recipe calls for the ingredients (garlic, ginger, scallion, and cilantro) to be minced or chopped. I found this to be a bit time consuming so I tried cutting these up into little chunks and tossing them into a food processor along with the rest of the ingredients (sans the ground beef). A quick pulse or two (or three) later, everything is minced. I add this to the ground beef in a large bowl and mix it together by hand. That's the only way to really be sure everything gets mixed well.
Then you take your rinsed grape leaves and begin to roll. Place a grape leaf, vein side up with the stem closest to you, on your cutting board. Take a thumb sized bit of the mixture and place it on the grape leaf just in front of the little piece of stem.



















Next, fold over the part of the leaf closest to you over the beef. Don't be afraid to press the leaf tight against the beef. It will help it make a nice tight roll. Next, fold over the sides of the leaf. Try to fold over enough to create a straight edge up the rest of the leaf, it'll make it easier to roll.


















Then roll the leaf up going away from you. You can tuck in the sides along the way if you need to. It will help create a prettier looking roll. And don't forget to put a little pressure on it so things stay nice and tight.
















The end result will be nice little packets of beefy goodness. At this point you can grill them or freeze them. We usually grill some that night. After all, they're so good, who could resist.
















The recipe includes a fish sauce based dipping sauce that adds a bit of zing. So be sure to mix up a batch of it as well.

Love me Tender

Mom's in town and we promised her an asparagus dinner. Our original intent was to go out to one of the restaurants in town with Spargelgest menus. But that all changed when Biscuit Boy took mom to the Asian market. As they were surveying the delectable variety of fresh veggies, they spied it...... fresh plump asparagus. It was just sitting there....whispering to them "Take me home". So they did. And they took a second bundle just for good measure.

Biscuit Boy also found a gem in the meat case.....Hanging Tenders. This cut of meat is also called the Onglet, Butcher's Tender or Butler's Tender. Cook's Thesaurus had this to say about this cut of beef:
hanger steak = hanging tender = butcher's steak = butcher's tenderloin = onglet Notes: This is the part of the diaphragm that hangs between the last rib and the loin. It's often ground in hamburger (or butchers just take it home), but some people claim that its grainy texture and intense flavor make it a first-rate steak (if marinated first). It's better known in France than in the United States, so you'll probably have to ask your butcher to set one aside for you.

And at $1.99/lb it was a steal. He picked out three of them. Tonight we will eat at home........

When he got home Biscuit Boy trimmed up all three tenders and put two in the freezer. We saved two small pieces that were too marbled for us but perfect for Biscuit Pup. She's one lucky little dog.......

We were pretty lucky too. Our dinner was wonderful. Biscuit Boy tossed the trimmed asparagus with some olive oil then spread them out on a cookie sheet. Then he sprinkled them with some kosher salt and black and white sesame seeds and broiled them until just tender. We cut some small new red potatoes in half, tossed them with olive oil, salt, pepper and rosemary. They were roasted in the oven. And the meat was was lightly salted, placed in our trusty Lodge cast iron grill pan, seared on all sides and popped in the oven until the internal temperature reached 140. After we let it rest for about 10 minutes, it was sliced and piled on our plates with the asparagus and potatoes. A nice red wine completed the meal. Mom and I couldn't finish even though it was sooooo good.

For dessert we had a cup of coffee and some Tiramisu gelato from Trader Joe's. Tomorrow we will repent for our indulgence but tonight we just want to sit here and rub our bellies.