Steak Dinner Soup with Gorgonzola Toasts

Today is definitely a soup kind of day. I was thinking about what makes a steak dinner so good and I thought of steak (obviously), potatoes, mushrooms, a side of spinach, and blue cheese dressing on my salad. Here’s that dinner, all put together in one steaming and hearty bowl. This isn’t just a great meal for a stormy night, but is also a great way to stretch a pound and a half of steak to feed four to six people.

Ingredients:

For the Soup:

Steak Seasoning (such as Chicago or Montreal style)-as much or as little as you like. I used about 2 teaspoons
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 ½ pounds flat iron or chuck steak, cut into 1 inch pieces (freezing the steak for 10 minutes before you cut it makes it so much easier to slice)
½ cup chopped onion
1/3 cup finely diced celery (1 stalk)
¼ cup finely diced carrot
1 ½ cups chopped mushrooms (cremini are nice)
1 (32 ounce) carton beef broth (about 5 cups)
2 teaspoons steak sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 medium russet potato, peeled and cut into ½ inch cubes
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of excess liquid

For the toasts:
8 slices sourdough, French, or Italian bread, about ½ inch thick
Cooking spray
2 Tablespoons mayonnaise
1/3 cup crumbled gorgonzola
Pinch of garlic salt
A few drops of Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons fresh chives, chopped

Directions:

Heat the oil in the bottom of a 5 quart or so Dutch oven on medium heat. Add the steak, seasoning it lightly with a few pinches of steak seasoning, and cook until nicely browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. You may want to cook the steak in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan and steam it. Remove the steak from the pot and cover with foil. Add the onion, celery, carrots and mushrooms to the pot. Sprinkle with a few more pinches of steak seasoning. Cook, stirring often, until the veggies are softened and fragrant. Add the steak pieces back into the pot. Add in the broth and steak sauce. Bring the soup up to a boil and reduce it to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 1 hour. Add in the potato cubes and simmer for another 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, but not breaking apart. Taste for seasoning and add more steak seasoning and/or salt and pepper. Add in the spinach and turn off the heat. The spinach will cook right in the hot soup.

While the soup is simmering, you can make the toasts. Preheat the oven to 350 and place the bread slices on a foil lined baking sheet. Spray both sides of the toast with cooking spray and pop in the oven for 6 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, flip the bread slices over and let them rest until you’ve made the gorgonzola sauce by combining the mayo, gorgonzola, garlic salt, Worcestershire  and chives. Spread each slices with some of the gorgonzola sauce and pop the baking sheet back in the oven for 20 or so minutes, or until the cheese mixture starts to bubble up.

Spoon the soup into bowls and serve the toasts alongside for dunking.

Bacon, Chile, Cheese and Egg Casserole

This is the kind of dish I love. It’s great for breakfast, lunch, dinner or even in the middle of the night. Try this paired with a simple salad and grapes.

Ingredients:

5 slices of bacon
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
1 jarred roasted red pepper (about 1/3 cup), finely chopped
1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
6 eggs
¼ cup milk or half and half
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 cup grated cheese (your choice—cheddar is great, so is a Mexican food blend, so is mozzarella)

Garnish (optional-whatever you like):

Sour cream
Avocado
Chopped tomato
Chives

Directions:

Cook bacon in a large frying pan until crisp. Remove the bacon, crumble and reserve. Drain off all but 2 teaspoons of bacon drippings. Toss the onion, red pepper and green chiles into the pan with the bacon drippings and cook for about 6 minutes on medium low until the veggies are soft, fragrant, and there is no more liquid left in the pan. Remove the pan from heat and cool to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 1.5 quart casserole with cooking
spray. In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, salt, and pepper together. Stir in the cooled onion mixture, the cheese, and the reserved bacon crumbles. Pour into the prepared casserole dish and bake for 40 minutes. Let the casserole rest for a few minutes and then cut into wedges.

Mom’s Garlic Biscuits

My mom was a genius in the kitchen. You could give her a 25 cent can of biscuits and watch it turn into a meal for six. This is one of my favorite variations on the biscuit theme. You get the crunchy crust of the biscuit on the bottom, then the garlic butter soaks into the soft inside and then there is an almost brulee type crunchy coating of parmesan. Makes 16 garlic biscuits and every single one of them will fly off the plate and into hungry mouths.

Ingredients:

One can (8 biscuits) refrigerated biscuits (any kind you like will do-I used a store brand “Jumbo Buttermilk”)
½ cup butter or margarine
1 Tablespoon garlic salt (hey, I’m making garlic biscuits here!)
½ cup grated parmesan

Directions: Prepare biscuits according to package directions. Once they are cool, split them in half horizontally. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together the butter and garlic salt and spread generously over each biscuit half. Place them on a foil lined baking sheet and top each biscuit half with parmesan cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking every few minutes after 20.

Polenta Casserole with Simple Tomato Sauce

Gnocchi Alla Romano sounded really good today, but I don't have any semolina. Also, I love red sauce. This is just such a good, filling casserole, I can't even begin to describe it. Try it for yourself, adjusting the ingredients to make you happy.

Ingredients:

For the cheese mix:

1 to 1 ½ cups grated parmesan (I’m a cheeseaholic, I used 1 ½)
1 cup grated aged Gouda or aged gruyere

For the polenta rounds:
5 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt (or more to taste)
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
3 Tablespoons butter
1 ½ cups cornmeal

For the sauce:

1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
¼ cup onions, finely chopped
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
½ teaspoon sugar (optional)

For the topping:

2 Tablespoons butter, melted
The remaining cheese mix

Directions:

First, mix the cheese mix ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

Next, make the polenta for the rounds by putting the milk, salt, nutmeg and butter together in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil and slowly whisk in the cornmeal. Turn the heat down to low and whisk for about 4 minutes or until the polenta is good and thick. Turn off the heat and add in 1 ½ cups of the cheese mix. Let cool for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is almost room temperature. Take a long piece of plastic wrap (say 30 inches) and lay it on your work surface. Spray it with cooking spray and place dollops of polenta along the edge of the plastic wrap closest to you, lengthwise, leaving about 3 inches clear on each short end. Use your very clean and damp hands to shape the polenta into a roll about 2 inches thick. Roll the plastic wrap around the polenta roll and twist the ends together so you have a chubby polenta roll about 2 inches thick. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

While the polenta is chilling, make the tomato sauce by putting the oil in a large saucepan (I just used the same one I used for the polenta after I rinsed it out well). Heat the oil to medium and throw in the onion and chopped garlic. Stir until the onions and garlic are slightly soft, but not browned. Add in the tomatoes and salt/pepper and sugar. Cook over medium low heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Assembly time! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 3 quart casserole dish with cooking spray and place it on a baking sheet so you don’t have any spill over problems. Put as much tomato sauce in the bottom of the casserole as you wish. Take the polenta out of the fridge and cut it into ½ inch rounds using a sharp knife that has been run through hot water. Nestle the polenta rounds on top of the tomato sauce, overlapping slightly. Brush the rounds with the melted butter and put on as much of the remaining cheese mixture as you wish. Bake for 55-65 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking, until the polenta rounds are golden brown.

Here’s the beauty of this: You have plenty of cheese mixture, plenty of polenta and plenty of sauce. You can use one small casserole, like I did (1.3 quarts) and save the rest of the cheese, polenta and sauce for another meal. Even my smaller casserole will serve 3 as a vegetarian main dish. Make a salad and you are good to go!

If you have leftover cheese, try this: Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Place the cheese mix in little bundles (like you are making cookies) on the foil and bake at 300 for about 5-6 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven and let cool. It is a wonderful snack.

You can leave any extra polenta in the roll and just fry it up in olive oil for a quick meal, served with any leftover sauce.

Have fun and play with this food!

Peach-Mango Chiffon Pie

This is a light and airy dessert and I wanted a crust that wasn’t heavy like pastry or coarse like graham crackers or cookies would be. Crisp rice cereal did the trick! To me, this is like peaches and cream taken to a new, melt-in-your mouth level.

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 ½ cups crisp rice cereal, like Rice Krispies®
¼ cup butter, melted
2 Tablespoons sugar

Pie Filling:

1 (1/4 ounce) packet (1 Tablespoon) unflavored gelatin
½ cup peach-mango juice, like V8 Fusion®
1½ cups heavy cream, whipped
¼ cup sugar
1 (15 ounce) can sliced peaches, drained
½ teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

For the crust, preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly crush the cereal by pulsing a few times in a food processor or placing in a plastic zip bag and rolling over with a rolling pin. You don’t want them pulverized, just lightly crushed. Put the cereal in a mixing bowl and stir in the melted butter and 2 Tablespoons sugar. Spray a 9 inch spring form pan with baking spray and pat the crust mixture into the bottom and slightly up the sides of the pan. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

For the filling, dissolve gelatin in the juice for 10 minutes in a small saucepan. After the gelatin has dissolved for 10 minutes, bring the gelatin mixture up to low heat and cook for 5 minutes until the gelatin is fully dissolved. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the stove, allowing it to come to room temperature. Meanwhile, beat the whipping cream until it just starts to thicken and add in the ¼ cup of sugar a bit at a time. Turn the mixer up to high and beat until stiff peaks form. In a large bowl, lightly break the peaches up into bite size chunks. Add in the lemon juice and the gelatin mixture and then fold in the whipped cream. Pile into your cooled crust and refrigerate at least two hours before serving. Garnish with a little more whipped cream and a sprig of mint if you like.
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Honey and Lemon White BBQ Sauce

Baste some of this on your grilled chicken in the last few minutes of cooking and save some to slather on the cooked chicken or to dress up a grilled chicken sandwich. This light sauce lets the flavor of the chicken shine through.

Ingredients:

1 cup mayonnaise
Juice of ½ lemon (about 1 Tablespoon)
1 Tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and refrigerate until ready to use. If you are using this while cooking the chicken, please be careful to only use it during the last few minutes of cooking. Since it has honey in it, it will burn if cooked a too high a temp or cooked too long.

“Crab” Salad

It’s a hot day and I really felt in the mood for something cool, light and clean tasting. If you have real crab, go for it, but I had some imitation crab and that is just fine for a simple meal. Serve this my favorite way (on saltine crackers) or rolled in lettuce leaves, rolled in a flour tortilla, in a bowl next to celery and carrot sticks, or piled on a buttered and toasted bun. Wish I had a nice avocado—I’d spoon some of this into a half.

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons cream cheese, softened
3 Tablespoons mayonnaise
Juice of ½ lemon
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1teaspoon of seafood seasoning like Old Bay®
1teaspoon sugar
1 stalk of celery, finely chopped
¼ cup cucumber, finely chopped
3 green onions, fine chopped
2 teaspoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 (14 ounce) package imitation crab meat, cut into bite size pieces

Directions: In a mixing bowl, whisk the cream cheese, mayo, lemon juice, vinegar, seasoning and sugar. Add in the celery, cucumber, green onions, parsley and imitation crab. Mix to combine. Taste for seasoning and change as your whimsy takes you. Chill until ready to serve.