GRILLED TUNA W. SAUTEED VEGETABLES & GRILLED EGGPLANT

Delicious impromptu & healthy meal!

We wanted to eat something healthy this night, so I opted for fish and veggies and got tuna that was on sale.  As for the veggies, we usually go broccoli or green beans, and I decided we should have something different, so I got a yellow bell pepper, zucchini, red onions and eggplant!  Delicious turnout!

Ingredients (serves 2):
2 - 6-8 ounce portions of tuna steak
Chimichurri sauce, recipe follows
1 small Italian eggplant, sliced in 1/4 inch thick rounds
1 yellow bell pepper, cored and seeded and sliced in strips
1 small zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch rounds and each round halved
1/2 red onion, sliced into 1/4 inch rings
1/2 shallot, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced like garlic chips
1 teaspoon Chipotle Chile powder
1/2 lemon, cut into 4 wedges
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

1. Marinate the tuna in 1/3 cup of  the chimichurri sauce for 30 minutes in a sealable plastic bag or in a bowl covered with plastic wrap, turning halfway through.  Place cut up zucchini and eggplant on a plate and sprinkle with salt to extract some water (so that they saute and don't get watery in the pan).
2. Heat a grill pan to medium-high.  Heat a medium saute pan to medium-high (closer to medium) with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  
3. Saute the garlic and shallot in the saute pan for one minute.  Toss in the bell pepper, zucchini, and red onion.  Add the Chipotle Chile powder, and season with salt and pepper.  Saute for about 6-8 minutes, stirring frequently.
4. Meanwhile, place the eggplant slices on the grill pan, flip after one minute, then place on the edges of the grill pan.  Add the tuna to the center of the grill pan and sear each side for 2 minutes to have a rare-medium center.
5. Serve with the reserved chimichurri sauce and lemon wedges.

Chimichurri sauce - There are tons of recipes online and lots of varieties.  It is basically made of several herbs, olive oil, and an acidic component such as red wine vinegar or lemon.  I looked up different recipes and made it with what I had on hand - the measurements are approximate - taste it first!

1/3 cup olive oil

1 small handful basil, finely chopped

1 small handful parsley, finely chopped

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion

Salt

Pepper

Whisk together olive oil and red wine vinegar, add herbs and onion, salt & pepper to taste.

Marinating the tuna

Salted zucchini to extract some water

Grilling the eggplant

Sauteeing the vegetables

Grilling the tuna w. the eggplant on the edges

OVEN-ROASTED TOMATO SAUCE!

Used over spaghetti with hot Italian sausage!

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against pasta sauce that comes in a jar, but once in a while we like to make this homemade pasta sauce that I got from a magazine sample that I received in the mail called "Cuisine at Home" (which I was VERY tempted to subscribe to, but didn't because I barely get through the cooking ones that I have!).  It was in there for use as the sauce for pizza, but it's great for a simple yet delicious pasta.  If you have the time to wait for it to roast, totally worth it!

Makes 5 cups; Total time: 50 minutes
(I make about half of this recipe for 3-4 servings of pasta, but you could always save some sauce for another day)

Ingredients:
4 lbs. Roma tomatoes, quartered (8 cups)
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic
2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup snipped fresh basil (if I don't have it, I use dried and it works out okay)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Combine tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt, pepper flakes, and sugar in a large baking dish.  Toss tomato mixture with olive oil.
3. Roast until tomatoes soften, 35-40 minutes.  Remove from oven and mash with a potato masher, keeping tomatoes a bit chunky.
4. Stir in basil.

This time we threw in some cooked hot Italian sausage to add a little spice and meat, but we've had pasta a couple of times with just the sauce.  We've also tried it on pizza and it's delicious!

JALAPENO POPPERS! BAKED!

Baked jalapeno poppers!  Yes, I would make them again!

Indulgence before food restrictions!  We had leftover jalapenos, and I had been wanting to try making jalapeno poppers, so why not??  Since we were having them with quesadillas, I figured I should bake them instead of frying them.  Still delicious!

Makes 6 jalapeno poppers
6 good-sized jalapenos
4 ounces low-fat cream cheese, softened
Dash cayenne pepper
1/2 chopped green onion
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wrap foil over a shallow baking pan and spray lightly with cooking spray.
3. Slit jalapenos down the center on one side, do not cut all the way through.  Remove seeds and membrane.
4. Mix together cream cheese, cayenne pepper, and green onion in a small bowl.
5. Stuff the jalapenos with the cream cheese mixture and press the slit closed.
6. Mix the egg and milk in a bowl, and place the bread crumbs in another bowl, and the flour in a third bowl.
7. Carefully dip each jalapeno in the flour, then the egg mixture, then the bread crumbs and place slit-side up in the baking pan.
8. Bake for 30 minutes until the outside is golden and crunchy.

We ate them with sauteed onion and cheddar quesadillas, served with cilantro sour cream!  Indulgence on cheese to the max.  Perhaps these will make an appearance during football season!... if we have one.  

Slit and seeded

Coated and going in the oven!

Served with quesadillas, salsa, and cilantro sour cream

DEVILED BEEF SHORT RIB STEW

Tender and flavorful!  When I get the chance, will DEFINITELY make it again!

I had the day off a few weeks ago and going along with playing housewife for the day, I realized I had time to actually prepare a slow-cooked meal for dinner!  Although it's made in the slow cooker, the prep beforehand and the sauce afterwards makes it a little more involved than other slow cooker recipes.  This recipe comes from the Cooking with Beer recipe book that David got from his parents.  Great stuff from that book so far!

Modified to make 3-4 servings
2 pounds beef short ribs, trimmed
1 pound small red potatoes, scrubbed and scored
4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
6 ounces beer
4 tablespoons French's Spicy Brown mustard, divided
1.5 tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce, divided
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions:

1. Broil ribs 6 inches from heat on rack in broiler pan 10 minutes or until well browned, turning once.  Place vegetables in bottom of slow cooker.  Place ribs on top of vegetables.
2. Combine beer, 3 tablespoons mustard and 1 tablespoon Worcestershire in medium bowl.  Pour into slow cooker.  Cover and cook on HIGH setting for 5 hours or on LOW for 10 hours or until meat is tender.
3. Transfer meat and vegetables to platter; keep warm.  Strain fat from broth; pour broth into saucepan.  Combine cornstarch with 1 tablespoon cold water in small bowl.  Stir into broth with remaining 1 tablespoon mustard and 0.5 tablespoon Worcestershire.  Heat to boiling, reduce heat to medium-low.  Cook 1 to 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring often.  Pass gravy with meat and vegetables.  Serve meat with additional mustard.

There was enough sauce that we didn't need additional mustard to serve it, and we had a little piece of toasted french bread to go with it.  Slow cooker dishes and short ribs are fantastic!  The meat was so tender and the flavors in this dish were great.

After the short ribs were broiled and first placed in the slow cooker.

Done in the slow cooker!

Cut into pieces and kept warm on the side while the sauce was being made

PEPPER AND PARM-CRUSTED SNAPPER WITH TOMATO-BASIL SAUCE

I'd have it again!

This recipe comes from my Rachael Ray magazine.  I saw it the night before, tried to find it online the next day and couldn't remember what it was called, so I ended up finding another recipe and buying the snapper that the other recipe required, and thankfully it was similar enough and I had the remaining ingredients to still make this dish but with snapper (instead of halibut).  Modifications are in RED (and made for two):

For the sauce:

• About 1 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 large shallot, chopped
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• A few leaves of basil, torn
• Salt and pepper

For the fish:

• About 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1/8 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• Lots of coarse black pepper
• 12 ounces red snapper with skin on
• Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), for frying
• Store-bought balsamic drizzle (or reduce 1/4 cup vinegar with 1 tablespoons brown sugar until syrupy), for topping (I did the reduction and let it simmer on medium low until it reduced in amount and thickened)

Preparation

Heat 1 tablespoon EVOO, two turns of the pan, in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and shallot and stir for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and basil, season with salt and pepper and cook to break down the tomatoes, 10-15 minutes.

Mix the cornmeal with the cheese and black pepper. Add the fish and turn to coat. Heat a thin layer of EVOO in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cut slits with a sharp knife on the skin side so that the fish doesn't curl up in the pan.  Add the fish (skin-side down first) and cook, turning once (after about 5 minutes), until crisp and brown all over, 8-10 minutes.

Top the fish with the tomato sauce and a little Balsamic Drizzle.

The tomatoes breaking down

Sauteeing the fish

It was pretty good.  I liked it more the more bites I took.  It's definitely something different in our book of recipes.  The parmesan-cornmeal crust gave it a nice crunch that held up to the tomato-basil sauce and balsamic reduction.  With it I served sauteed broccoli - sauteed in butter and red onions!  I ended up using a number of pans that night, but it was quick and easy!

GRILLED PORK CHOPS & MIXED HERB CHIMICHURRI w. GREEN BEANS

 

 It was a warm(er) day for grilling, and we had some fresh herbs on hand, so I looked for a recipe and voila!  Delicious grilled pork chops.  However, while I usually blanch and then sautee green beans as a side, I decided I wanted to spend prep time outside with David while he grilled and had this not-so-fantastic idea of roasting my green beans instead, and like a dummy, I just assumed that 30 minutes or so of roasting would do the trick and didn't even look it up.  Yes, they were edible, but no, we did not enjoy them.  Green beans FAIL!

The original recipe for the flavor-filled pork chops, however, is here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/marinated-and-grilled-pork-chops-with-mixed-herb-chimichurri-recipe/index.html

My modifications to the recipe are in RED:

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 1/4 tablespoon dried oregano leaves
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
• 1/2 serrano pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 (12-ounce) double-cut pork chops

Directions

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, basil, garlic, shallots, cilantro, oregano, parsley, jalapeno and crushed red pepper. Pulse until well blended but do not puree. Add 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of the black pepper. Remove 1 cup of the chimichurri sauce from the processor and transfer to a non-reactive bowl, cover with plastic wrap and reserve at room temperature for up to 2 hours. If cooking pork another day, refrigerate sauce and return to room temperature before serving.

Season the pork chops on both sides with the remaining 1 teaspoon of the kosher salt and the remaining teaspoon of the black pepper and place in a glass bowl. Add the remaining chimichurri sauce from the processor. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate the pork chops for at least 2 and up to 4 hours.

The marinade

Marinating the meat!

Brushed off and ready for the grill

 Preheat a grill to medium.


Once the pork chops have finished marinating, remove them from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature for 45 minutes. Brush the excess chimichurri sauce off the chops and set the chops over the hot grill. Cook for 7 to 8 minutes on the first side. Turn the chops over and continue to cook until they are done, another 7 to 8 minutes.

Once cooked through, serve the chops with the crusty bread and pour 1/4 cup of the reserved chimichurri sauce over each chop before serving.

Notes: I used red wine vinegar because we already have about 5 different types of vinegar in our cabinet, and I didn't want to buy another one, but it turned out fine.  I made the marinate the day before and refrigerated it overnight.  Our pork chops marinated for two hours, and taken out for 30 minutes before we put it on the grill.  Instead of serving it with bread like the recipe calls for, we had green beans, which again, I FAILED to make.  Thus, here's my lesson learned on how NOT to make green beans:

They looked so good before I messed them up :(

No longer roasted...

 
Next time, I will either roast them longer than 30 minutes at 375 degrees, blanch them first, or just find a recipe!  They weren't soft enough when the 30 minutes was up, so in an attempt to save them, I added a little water to the pan, covered it up with foil and put them back in the oven to steam a little, and yes, they got softer, but they also got soggy and not roasted like I had wanted them.  They were edible, but definitely not what I was looking for and thus, upset me, and probably prolonged this blog entry!  Lesson learned.  


Besides the green beans fail, the pork chop was delicious, plus any leftover pork chop with the leftover sauce topped a salad wonderfully the next day for lunch!

I love delicious leftovers!

 

 

PERFECT CRISPY POTATOES!

Of course I forgot to picture the done potatoes by themselves - here they are on the side!

I use whatever potatoes I have on hand usually, and honestly, it turns out different every time, but this time it turned out really good!  I don't know if it was the russet potato, or the rinsing of the cubes before I fried them, or maybe they just fried a little longer in the pan, but whether or not they get perfectly crispy, they taste good!  Sometimes their time in the oven also just depends on how long the rest of the meal takes to cook.

The original recipe:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/perfect-crispy-potatoes-recipe/index.html

Modifications in RED (to serve 2):

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 
• 1 russet potato, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/2 tablespoon Country Crock spread
  
• Red (Cayenne) Pepper powder
• Garlic Powder
• 1/8 cup parsley, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Rinse potato cubes in water, and pat dry with paper towels.  Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the potato cubes and season with salt and pepper, red pepper powder, and garlic powder to taste. Saute stirring frequently, for 7 minutes. Turn the heat up to high, add the water, stir, and cover the pan with a lid. Steam the potatoes until the water evaporates, about 3 or 4 more minutes. (Every 1 to 2 minutes, open the lid long enough to stir the potatoes so they don't stick.) Lower the heat to medium, and saute another 3-4 minutes until all traces of water are gone. Toss in the butter and stir to coat the potatoes. Spread the potatoes out on a glass baking dish. Bake in the oven until the potatoes are crisp and browned to your liking, about 20 minutes depending on how dark you want them. Transfer the potatoes to a serving bowl, toss the potatoes with parsley, and serve.

It's a great go-to potato recipe if you're looking for a side dish or you have leftover potatoes!

Cubed raw potatoes

After being sauteed in the pan, before the baking