Sunday Lupper Adventures - Take 2

Ok, I have power now, so Sunday Lupper Adventures continued...

So, the Sunday after Salmon en Croute, I tried another fish recipe.  I just made it up based on what I had on hand.  I call it, um...how about White Fish Dish?  No, no that's terrible, I'm not calling it that.  Ok, I got it - Panko Herb Crusted Flounder.  Yeah, we'll call it that, because that's what it was.  For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you already got a glimpse of the "recipe", but for those who didn't, here's what I did:

Panko Herb Crusted Flounder
Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of flounder (thawed, if frozen)
• 1.5 TBLS. of butter
• About 1 TBLS. of fresh basil (chopped)
• About 1 TBSL. of fresh dill (chopped)
• 1 tsp. of fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup of Panko crumbs
• 1 TBLS of shredded Parmesan cheese 
• 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Lemon for garnish

In a small bowl, melt the butter and then add in the basil, dill, and thyme.  Then add the Panko crumbs and Parmesan cheese and stir until thoroughly blended.  Spray a baking dish generously with cooking spray (I used Olive Oil Pam) and add the fish fillets to the dish.  Spread the Panko mixture on top of the fish, then add salt and pepper and sprinkle with parsley.

Bake, uncovered, for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees.  Cut up a lemon for garnish, or to squeeze on the fish after it is cooked.

Remember the herb new potatoes and sauteed garlic broccoli that I made to go with the Salmon en Croute?  Well, turns out, it's good with this as well.  So if you need some quick and healthy sides, these will do the trick.  Or you can steam some broccoli florets and season with sea salt and a little cheese, which is also tasty.

***Even with the sides, this meal only takes about 20-25 minutes from start to finish.  AND it is totally good for you too!  You can't beat that.***

And of course, I have completely forgotten to take a picture of any of these dishes, so I will have to do that next time I cook them and upload them onto here in place of this awesome string of words!  YAY!  (I will most likely forget to do this, so don't be shocked)

Alright, by the time the next Sunday had rolled around, I was tired of making fish and decided I needed to make my own quesadillas. Love them in Mexican restaurants, but I never tried making them at home, so this was my chance!

I'm sure I could perfect measurements and all that jazz, but honestly, some things are just better when you throw them in together and use measurement descriptions like "pinch of," and "fist full," and "tittle," (which is a word I always just thought my mom made up, but it turns out that it is actually in the dictionary, so...I know, who knew?).  Also, there is my personal favorite cooking phrase that my grandma uses, "until it looks right."  Ok, so here's what I did:


Quesadillas
Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts (cut into chunks)
• Olive oil
• 1 sm can of Rotel tomatoes and green chilies
• 1/2 each of Green and Red bell peppers (seeded and chopped)
• Colby-Jack and/or Cheddar-Jack cheese
• Pepper-Jack cheese
• Fresh cilantro (finely chopped - or as small as you want to do)
• 1 sm lime - for juice
• Taco seasoning
• Paprika
• Black pepper to taste
• 4 flour tortillas (or more if smaller than 8")
• Cooking spray

Heat about a TBSL of olive oil in a medium skillet, on medium heat.  Add the chicken, a bit of lime juice, cilantro some black pepper, paprika, and a light sprinkle of taco seasoning.  Turn as needed, and add more olive oil if needed.  Cook until chicken is tender and no longer pink in the center (or you know, 'til it looks right).  Remove the chicken and set to the side.  In the same skillet add a bit more olive oil and saute the green and red peppers until tender. Add in the can of Rotel (do NOT drain), a bit more cilantro and about a cupped palm-full of taco seasoning.  Add the Stir until all ingredients are well blended and add the chicken back into the pan.  Remove pan from burner and set aside.

Using the same (already hot) burner, get a large skillet and let it warm up a bit.  Get out 2 tortillas and spray one side of each with the cooking spray, and go ahead and spray just a bit in the skillet, but don't overdo it.  Ok, once the skillet is hot lay one of the tortillas spray side down.  Quickly layer on the pepper-jack, then a little Colby/cheddar-jack, then half of the chicken mixture, then more Colby/cheddar-jack. Place the other prepared tortilla on top, spray side up.  When the cheeses on the bottom get melting pretty good, use a wide spatula and slip it under the bottom of the quesadilla.  

Now here's the tricky part - you can use your free hand and place it on top to help with the flip, but be careful not to burn yourself...as I have never done many times.  I however, find it a little easier to flip the quesadilla by lifting it with the spatula, then tipping the skillet sideways, then in one swift ninja-like motion I flip the quesadilla while bringing the pan down level.  Either way, if you have my luck, you will lose some of the filling (just shove it back in there), the tortillas will be cockeyed (adjust it quickly after the flip the best you can), and you are about to set off the smoke alarm because you lost some cheese-covered pepper to the burner, (it's ok, just wave a dish towel around under the smoke detector and it will shut off).  Ta-da!

When that side is done, remove the quesadilla from the pan and cut into four's with a pizza cutter.  Then make the second one the same way.  Only, maybe a little better now since you've had practice with the flip?

***Leave out the chicken to make fantastic veggie quesadillas!***

Serve these with some refried beans and tortilla chips on the side and with salsa for dipping.  If you want to make a quick and easy fresh salsa from scratch, see page 44 for the recipe to Sooner Nation Salsa in the University of Oklahoma Cookbook!

More to come about what I attempted to do did for St. Patrick's Day Sunday Lupper!

As always, thanks for reading!

What The Croute Do I Do With Salmon?

I know that in my last post, I talked about how I thought that I may or may not have some sort of gluten allergy.   Well, it turns out that I don't, but I do have other dietary issues such as anemia and a severe slight Girl Scout cookie addiction.  That being said, I know I said I would create and post some new gluten-free recipes, but the fact of the matter is...I've moved on to a different focus.  Now, that doesn't mean that I won't do that sometime in the future, because I am interested in the gluten-free phenomenon.  It just means not this time around.

Instead today I would like to talk about all the new recipes that I've tried over the last several weeks!  In my household, we try to assign dinner happenings with each day of the week.  For instance, Monday used to be Taco Bell Monday, until Taco Bell started making us sick every time we ate it.  So, we just decided to make homemade tacos on Mondays and skip fighting over the bathroom for the rest of the night.  Tuesdays are leftovers or "Get what you want nights" which basically means fend for yourself.  Wednesday is our eat out night of burgers or BBQ, Thursday is calzone night at a local pizza joint (because that's the restaurant's special for that day).  Friday used to be Pizza Night before we found calzone Thursdays so now Friday is a little up in the air, but I usually cook some sort of easy meal like spaghetti or something.  Saturday is the same as Friday, but lunch is always leftovers from the week.  But Sunday - Sunday is my day to create!

Sunday the kitchen is mine to experiment with something new or try out a recipe that I found and think will be a challenge to cook.  Or at least that is what Sundays have become.  They used to be just big meal days, such as roast, chicken schnitzle, etc.  But Sunday lunch (or lupper as I call the meal between lunch time and supper time), has evolved into something much more rewarding.

The first thing I tried in the evolution revolution, was one of Gordon Ramsey's dishes called Salmon en Croute.

I left the grain mustard off, because if you've been reading this blog from the beginning, you'll know that I just don't like mustard.  This dish was exciting for me to try because:

1) I've never cooked with fresh dill or fresh basil, or even salmon fillets for that matter!
2) I have never used pie crust for anything other than pies, I know weird right? (Not really)

So, I went to the market in town that carries the best fresh and frozen fish and looked for either one whole side of salmon, or a couple of fillets.  The best option was a fresh frozen (I know, what an oxymoron) side of salmon and it looked delicious!  But there was a problem.  The recipe specifically calls for the salmon to be skinned.  All the awesome cooking show chefs say you can just ask your local butcher to remove the skin for you.  Well, I didn't see how my local butcher could remove it from a frozen fish, but maybe he had some fillets or a thawed side that he could remove it from while I waited.  Just as I was thinking that, my friendly local butcher asked if he could help me.  I explained what I needed and why and he asked what the recipe was that I was cooking.  "Salmon en Croute," I said.  And then his eyes glazed over, but he replied with an "uh, huh."  He told me he did not have any salmon without the skin, but that it will peel right off when I cook it.  I re-explained that the fish would be encased in a pastry so that wouldn't work...to which he repeated, "Well, it'll just fall right off if you cook it."  Yes, thanks genius.

I took the salmon home and let it thaw overnight in the fridge.  The next day I unwrapped it and tried tugging on the skin to see what I was really dealing with.  Hm, it was not going to come off without a fight, (or according to the genius butcher, fire).  However, I had a knife.  Mind you, it was not a filleting knife, or a fancy knife, or even a sharp knife for that matter - I know, a dull knife is the most dangerous thing in a kitchen.  Maybe I'll get a round to sharpening them all, but for now, I'm going to keep telling my story.  So anyway, it wasn't all that bad, it just took some patience .  I held the corner of the skin, prying it up just enough to make an incision (yes, I'm now an official animal skin surgeon).  I sliced slowly as close to the skin as I could, cutting off the least amount of meat with the tough skin as I gently pulled it back and away from the fillet.  I took off a few chunks when I accidentally sliced a little deeper into the meat than I meant to, but all in all, it came off pretty well.  I don't need no stinkin' heat to teach that skin who's boss!

Ok so, I watched the above video for technique, followed the recipe (minus the mustard), converted said recipe from metric to standard measurements, wrapped it up and popped it into the oven.  While it was cooking I boiled some new potatoes, (which by the way is a fancy way of saying little potatoes) consisting of red, golden, and purple varieties of small potatoes. I know!!  I had no idea there was any such thing as naturally purple potatoes!  And unlike the red kind, they are purple all the way through!  I was very excited.  Anyway, I boiled those up, then drained them and drizzled them with a little olive oil before sprinkling them with rock salt, cracked pepper, fresh basil, and fresh dill.  Toss, and serve hot.  I pulled the salmon out of the oven when the crust was cooked and let it rest while I blanched some broccoli for about 3 minutes.  In a small skillet, I used a touch of olive oil to sauté two cloves of garlic, then tossed in the broccoli for a couple of minutes.  I then slice the salmon into 4 parts, as instructed, and served it all up together.  I also made up a couple of simple salads on the side.

www.kbbc.co.uk

*Oh, and just FYI - bake the salmon on a baking sheet with edges, because I did not and about half way through cooking, the butter leaked out of the parcell, dripped off the pan and all over the bottom of my oven.  There was a lot of smoke inside of it and I was about 3 minutes from setting my entire kitchen on fire.  This has been a The More You Know: Cooking Addition announcement.  You are welcome.*

I have to be honest, fish is not one of my favorite meats unless it is batter-dipped, deep fried, and covered in catsup, mostly because the flavor isn't really all that appealing to me.  Therefore, I never cook fish, I don't really know what to do with it.  However, this one dish was so amazing, that it made me wonder what else I could do with other varieties of fish?

Ack!  I have more recipes and Sunday Lupper experiences to share, but my laptop battery is dying!  Ok, stay tuned for more to come...

Does Gluten-Free Have To Be Flavor-Free?

Generally speaking...ok, all-the-time-speaking, I don't do sugar-free, caffeine-free, fat-free, or "free" anything!  Why?  Well, lots of reasons, most of them having to do with taste.  However, it also has to do with the seriously unnatural chemicals and/or processes that go into making "free" foods. That being said, there are naturally "free" things that I do enjoy without trying to go "free":  such as caffeine-free teas, gluten-free fruits & veggies, fat-free Red Vine licorice (you know, natural things), etc.

What I would like to focus on today, is the topic of gluten-free, (even though I could talk about red licorice all day).  I have been anemic my entire life (which, as far as I know, has nothing to do with gluten, just hear me out).  I have good days and bad based on what I decide to eat/drink, as well as my mental and physical stress levels.  Lately, I've been feeling super fatigued on a regular basis.  But I'm taking my iron supplements every day, and I'm not drinking coffee (an iron succubus).  So what's the deal?  And then, JT asked me to look for some Chips Ahoy kind of cookies that might be gluten-free while on one of my hunting and gathering trips.  So, I went to the awesome Natural Grocers in town, and they had some cookies in the Chips Ahoy style, made by Kinnikinnick.

I thought about to my visit back home for Thanksgiving, and how my cousin told me that she was allergic to wheat gluten and how she was on a completely gluten-free eating regiment.  Now that I think about it, my family has always had bad digestive systems, but it's generally because we listen to our mouths instead of our bodies most of the time.  Anyway, my cousin talked about how eating gluten-free was sometimes really hard because some things that were made gluten-free tasted really awful.   Case in point, she had me try some gluten-free graham crackers, and they were truly off-putting.  However, I smothered them in melted Andes Mints, then they were not so bad at all!  But then again, that's not really fair because I could smother anything in Andes Mints and it would be epically awesome!  So I decided then and there that all things gluten-free tasted horrible and I would be going nowhere near such things!  Now I'm not talking about the naturally gluten-free foods that I don't even pay attention to what kind of "free" they are, mind you, just the kinds of foods that we enjoy with gluten, manufactured to be without.

That being said, remember the gluten-free NOT Chips Ahoy cookies I was telling you about?  FANTASTIC!!  Seriously, I could hardly tell the difference, and the difference I could tell, I thought was better in the Kinnikinnick gluten-free cookies!  But are things that are manufactured to be gluten-free actually good for you?  Or do they have the same kinds of chemicals and unhealthy processing practices as sugar-free foods?  After some light research, what I found so far was that gluten-free manufactured products are made with wheat flour substitutions like potato starch and corn starch, which can raise your blood sugar levels, which can lead to a whole other set of problems, but not any chemical crap.  So, look for gluten-free substitutions that either do not have these starches, or at least eat them with cautious moderation.  And remember, according to Cookie Monster, "cookies are a sometimes food," so guide your paunch. *Note to self*

Ok, back to what I was saying at the beginning about feeling bad on a regular basis.  Well, I always immediately think when I'm really fatigued that it has to be my low iron or stress, but this week, I kept thinking that I did't know if I felt like I'm lacking necessary nutrients, or if I'm slowly poisoning myself with something.  So I did some research, and I am pretty sure that I also have either a gluten allergy, or I am gluten intolerant.  But the more I am learning the more I want to seriously put this theory to the test.

See, I kept ignoring any symptoms or self-diagnosis that would lead me to have to stay far far away from gluten, because, when I think "gluten-free" I think "yuck!"  So, it was easy for me to just ignore it and keep poisoning my body slowly.  But now that I've had those awesome Kinnikinnick cookies, it has opened my mind to the possibility that eating a gluten-free diet may not only be doable, but that it might actually have the potential to be a tasty lifestyle!

So, I'm going to test the gluten-free waters to see if  A) I do in fact have a gluten allergy/intolerance, and  2) to challenge myself to make some tasty recipes using all gluten-free ingredients.  I will keep a journal of sorts of my progress and findings, and report back.  Hopefully, I will eventually have a whole new section up here for gluten-free dishes for you to try!

Boomer Sooner!!

Today is the day for all Sooner fans - The Cotton Bowl 2013!!  I was just sitting here wondering the percentage of Normanites who took off work early, or mysteriously caught some sort of sickness today, just to get out and gear up for the game tonight?  It's okay to have football fever, my friends.  Especially when your team makes it to a bowl game!

Ok, so the pre-game actually starts tonight at 6:30 (Central time) and kickoff is at 7pm.  So, if you haven't already been to the grocery store - good luck!  Go!  Take off work now and get thee to a food supplier!  And for goodness sake, DO NOT FORGET THE BEER!  You still have time to put together some awesome gameday recipes, especially if you bought the University of Oklahoma Cookbook, so don't panic.

Oklahoma vs. Texas A&M.  Both teams stand 10-2 so it should be an exciting game, to say the least!  So start coughing loudly if you are still in the office, and get some supplies.  Don't have the book with you to make your super-fast grocery list?  Here, start off with these, and remember, you can never buy too much cheese...or corn chips.

Ok, you got this!  Now get out there and start your watch party!  We got a bowl game to win!

Boomer Sooner!!

Save The Eggs From Bad Poachers!

Whew!  Sorry I have been M.I.A. for a while, it's been crazy!  My sister and I have signed a contract to do another cookbook, which we have working tirelessly on for the past several weeks.  So, even though I have been creating and cooking like a mad ninja, I surprisingly have little to report about food right now :/

freeimagesarchive.com

However, that being said, I do have something to gripe about, and it's not a restaurant.  I need to vent about "egg poachers."  I know, it seems silly, but I had high hopes and the egg poachers gave me a monster let down, so I'm sharing this valuable information with you, just in case you were thinking about getting excited about egg poachers...or at least, this particular egg poacher.

Williams-Sonoma

Let me start from the beginning. I know this sounds silly, but before about a month ago, I had never had a poached egg, even though I LOVE eggs.  So I was watching an episode of Master Chef, and one of the elimination challenges was to cooks like 4 eggs in specific ways.  I though, "Pft, that's what you are giving these amazing cooks to do as a challenge?  Really?  Eggs?"  But I was soon amazed by how difficult it was for the 3 contestants to get them perfect.  They were supposed to make a soft-boiled, a sunny-side up, an omelet, and a poached egg.  Only one of the chefs got the poached egg right, but the point is, I never really knew what exactly a poached egg was supposed to look like.

My favorite egg style has always been the over-easy egg, however, it seems like over the past several years, restaurants seem to be unable to give me a fried egg where the center is "goopy" (and yes, that is a technical term), and the white doesn't look like snot.  I don't want to eat that!  So I started asking for over-medium, and even then sometimes I'm still eating under-cooked egg whites, which I cannot bring myself to do.  My ideal egg style is to have a warm, but goopy (or dippy, I call it that too) center, with egg whites that are solid and completely done.  So why hadn't I ever tried a poached egg???  WHHHHYYYYYYY?  I don't know, accept for the fact that I had never actually seen one in real life before, as weird as that is.  No one I had ever eaten with had ever ordered one, and no one in my family ever cooked one for Saturday morning breakfast, so how would I know? **Thank TV for teaching me valuable life information**

So, after watching that Master Chef episode, I thought, "I can totally poach an egg!  I'll just do it like Monte did on the show, she even told me how long to leave it in - 3 minutes, I can do that."  And I did.  First time out, I got a sauce pan, filled it with water, set it to boil, then cracked the egg into a ramikin, gently tilted the ramikin into the water and let the egg slide out.  I boiled it for exactly 3 minutes, pulled it out, added salt and cracked pepper and cut into it to see how I did (just like the pro chefs did with the poached eggs on the show).  And you know what it did?  Exactly what Monte's did in the show to let her advance to the next stage.  It was perfect!  Thank you Master Chef!  However, that was the only time I have cooked a poached egg perfectly since, lol!  Seriously, I get them close, but for some reason I haven't made them perfectly since that day.

Oh well, here's the thing, it really doesn't matter to me with poached eggs, you know why?  Because even if I over cook or under cook it a bit, the inside is still goopy, and I know for a fact that the egg white is cooked!  Plus, the upside is that it isn't fried!  No butter, no grease, just healthy goodness.  I know, I know you're thinking, "No butter?  Jen, are you okay?  We know how much you LOVE butter!  What is happening?"  Don't worry, I still use plenty of butter when I fry up the hash browns that go with the eggs ;)

So what was I going to complain about?  Egg poacher #1.  See, even though poached eggs are awesome in so many ways, they get a little messy in the pan, and the shape can be quite funky if not properly formed while cooking.  So, I though it would be nice to have some sort of egg holder that could sit in the water and boil it up in a proper sort of form.  I wasn't sure what I was needing exactly, or if something like that was even manufactured, but after a trip to Williams-Sonoma, a very kind and patient costumer service rep helped me find the glorious tool that would solve all of my egg poaching problems!

The Egg Poacher Cup!!

Yes, the egg poacher cup is a genius, easy to use, easy to remove tool for perfectly poached eggs!  NO, it really ISN'T!  It creates a huge mess and the egg is not easy to remove, I don't care what the description says.  It took way too much time and effort to get the egg out, and it didn't come out unscathed, I can tell you that.  The picture of the "perfectly shaped poached egg" on their website looks like this:

Williams-Sonoma

This photo is a misrepresentation of the actual state of the egg, or cup after it is cooked.  The holes get clogged all up with whites, and egg white bits are still floating all around in the pan and sticking to the sides.  Even if you coat the stainless steal cup in oil first, the eggs still sticks to it, and does not under any circumstances come out easily, at all!  

So, I have decided that I will not be using these egg poacher cups to make eggs, but instead, I will use them to coat things in chocolate or something.  But I am not giving up on my perfect egg poacher device.  

Maybe I will just buy the expensive, special pan with built in cups in the future, or try one like the one above for 20 bucks at Sears,  but for now, the ramekin transfer method will have to do.

An Egg On A Burger and Other Tales of FUN!

Wow!  Well, after 1-and-a-half bouts of the plague, and gearing up for NaNoWriMo, October got away from me :/  So, without further delay, I bring you...the new blog post - ta da!

As promised, I will be sharing my thoughts about a local burger & beer joint - The Garage.

Located in Historic Downtown Norman, Oklahoma, The Garage offers customers the unique option of choosing which protein goes into the creation of your burger.  Your choices are fresh Angus beef, garden, turkey, and yes, even bison!  Hooray for choices!  The menu is "garage-themed" with Appetizers being dubbed "First Gear," burgers, "Second Gear," and so on.  

(You probably can't read this, so click on the link above to get a better view)

Even the staff looks the part when they wear their mechanic-style shirts.  And I'm telling you right now, I am a theme freak!  I LOVE anything themed, so that's another reason I love coming here. The burger list has many pre-thought-out burger styles, or you can choose to sort of build your own.  Add jalapenos, or even another patty if you want to.

My very fav thing on the menu is the Egg-O-Nater!  It comes with mayo, lettuce, tomato, bacon, and yes, a fried egg, all snuggled in between a couple of warm buns (I get it without mayo or tomato, cuz I'm picky like that).  At first I was all, "What?  Are you serious?  Who eats an egg on top of a burger?"  Then I tried it and you know what?  I am the "who" that eats egg on top of a burger.  You know why?  Because it is the most awesome thing I've ever had on a burger!  The bacon & egg combo compliment the burger.  Now, I've only had this with the Angus beef, so I'm not sure how well it all goes together with other proteins, but if you are feeling bold,  GIVE IT A GO!  I didn't get a picture of it, but here is one from Hal Smith.

The Egg-O-Nater - Photo by Hal Smith

I have to admit, sometimes, I'm just not in the mood for a burger.  There's no need to fear!  (No, I haven't seen Underdog for a while, but here, try something else)  The Garage offers more than just burgers, there's a little bit for everyone here.  They have tacos (where you can also choose your protein), fish, salads, nachos, grilled cheese, and even a kids menu.  

The Garage also has an amazing assortment of fresh-cut fries!  Regular fries, sweet potato fries, Tijuana fries (fries with grilled jalapenos and onions on top - served w/salsa), garlic/parm fries, and if you want something a little thinner, they also offer house potato chips.  

Okay, so here's how it works:

1) Pick an entrance, there's parking on the street in the front, or a small lot in the back. The front takes you through the bar, the back has you walking through the video games

Front = Bar

Back = Video Games

2) Walk to the center of the restaurant and place your order.  There is a huge chalk board behind the counter that is easy to read, or menus on the counter and at the little waiting sign in line.

3) Take the metal numbered stop sign with you and choose a booth or table (they have regular as well as high-seated tables).  When you get there, you will find a glass Coke bottle.  Put your metal numbered stop sign into the bottle (don't worry, it will actually stand up...I know, physics is crazy stuff!)

4) Relax, take some time to look around at all the hard work they put into the decor, but you won't have to wait long, because the kitchen is pretty fast!  You can also choose to spend your waiting time poppin' quarters into some machines.  The back of the restaurant houses a couple of old-school arcade games (and newer video games as well), pinball machines, and even two skeeball lanes!  I know!  Super fun, right?  

Need to make a call?  No problem!  The Garage has taken a regular old phone booth and "converted" it into a Cellphone Booth so that you can carry on a conversation with some privacy.

You can watch several different sports games as well as older movies all at the same time via the 15+ televisions propped up around the restaurant (minus the cacophony of the sound volume - thank goodness!) The atmosphere is made up of a hodgepodge of collections, such as vintage photos, signage, and even license plates from all over...

This place fulfills all 3 of my requirements for a fantastic dining experience -what I will now refer to as the "BIG 3":  1) great food quality, 2) awesome atmosphere, and most importantly - 3) amazing customer service!  The staff are always helpful and friendly, and they even make sure to triple check your order before it ever gets to your table, to make sure it's done right.  (Yay for a restaurant that implements quality control!)  Love, love, love!!

So, if you haven't been to The Garage in Norman, and you live around here (or are just visiting) you really need to check it out!  It's one of the very very few restaurants I eat at on a weekly basis, because it is consistent in my BIG 3, delicious, and FUN!  So come on in and give it a go!

Irish Butter & Scottish Cheffing

Okay, today I wanted to share with you a meal that I cooked last week that turned out deliciously fantastic!  Pan-fried steak with a port wine mushroom sauce, sesame stir-fried asparagus with peas, soft rolls and honey butter.

Now, first off I have to confess that I have never cooked steak in my life!  Well, I make cubed steak all the time, but that's totally different than say, a New York strip.  Honestly, I never really cared for steak but maybe once or twice a year, so I never thought about making it myself.  But then I found this video from Gordon Ramsay's new Ultimate Cookery Course on how to cook steak:

OMG!  Did you see that?  What, with the butter, and garlic, and thyme, and butter?  Did I say butter twice?  That's because first and foremost, I heart butter in/on anything, but to mix it with such aromatic flavors and baste a steak in it?  Forget about it.  So, for the first time ever, I decided to give it a go and cook a steak at home.  For the occasion I decided to give that block of Irish butter I'd been eyeing a try.  In case you are wondering, as I was, Irish butter has a higher butterfat content, giving it a richer, creamier flavor/texture than normal American butters.

Well, then I just had to think of a veggie to do this steak justice as a companion.  So I thought and thought about recipes I knew, I tossed a few ideas around in my head, and wound up surfing the web for something new.  That's when I stumbled across this little gem:

Sesame Stir-Fried Asparagus and Peas from a Best Health Magazine website in Canada.  Here is a link to the recipe. The recipe measurements are in milliliters, but don't panic, here is a milliliter to ounce conversion calculator to help you.  

Next, I decided I was in the mood for mushrooms with my steak.  So I tossed some of the Irish butter in a saucepan, added the other half of the red onion and let the onion cook down a bit.  Then I sliced up some Portobello mushrooms and stirred them in, mixing it all around for about 10 minutes, then I added some port wine and a little water with a bit of corn starch.  I let that all bubble together for a few more minutes until it started to thicken up a bit, then poured it into a small ramekin to serve on the side.  Mmmmm!  (No, I didn't get a picture of it- curses!)  

I got some soft bread rolls from the bakery and thought it would be cool to make some simple honey-infused butter.  But I over-softened the butter, which means that I completely melted it and it was ruined, so I settled for the plain ol' Irish butter and OMG!  Seriously, you've got to get a hold of some of that butter...oh, unless you're on a diet or something, but you should give it a taste at least once in your life, regardless.  The difference can really be tasted as a spread, not as much in cooking, just FYI.

So, considering I made everything in this meal new for the first time with only the honey butter being a failure, I sat that's a win!  Next time I'll be reviewing the local restaurant "The Garage."

**Don't forget, I will be selling and signing University of Oklahoma Cookbooks this Saturday, October 13th at the Duncan Public Library in Duncan, Oklahoma from 10am-1pm with other local artists.  So come on down!