Pepper Steak from..the crockpot?!

Hello all!!!! So let me start by saying that I am beyond sorry for not posting in almost a year! To my 5's - 10's of followers, I apologize for the wait. School took over my life and it's been hard to work in a post, but, i'm going to try to get better about posting again. Since I am now going to be in nursing school, I could fall by the way side again, but I'm gonna do my best! The first recipe back is a winner. It's Rachael's "Slow Cooker Meal: Asian Pepper Steak"!


So first up, is searing the meat. The cut here is sirloin. Rachael Tip: Bring the meat up to room temp. Putting really cold meat into a pan can cause it to seize up. Letting it come to room temp will combat that. Sear the meat on both sides and get a nice caramelization. Then you take ti out of the skillet and slice it. Let the meat rest for a few minutes to redistribute the juices. Otherwise, if you cut into it right away, all the juices will run out and you'll lose all those natural flavors! Once the meat is sliced up place it in the crockpot and then dust it with cornstarch and toss it to combine. The cornstarch acts as a thickening agent for the sauce as it develops  in the crockpot. Chop your veggies and add to the crockpot along with the sauce ingredients. I combined the sauce ingredients in a bowl first and then added them. This way the brown sugar has a chance to dissolve before adding it to the dish. Once all the ingredients are added you put the lid on the crockpot and cook it for 4 - 6 hours, depending on whether you cook on high or low. Now I made the mistake of adding in chicken stock to my pepper steak. The recipe didn't call for it but it looked dry to me while it was cooking so I added it. By the time it finished, it released all the juices out of the meat and the veggies and the added chicken stock made it a little too soupy for my taste. A couple more teaspoons of cornstarch fixed this a little but was still just a little bit too soupy for me. If you like soupy, you may want to add a little chicken stock but next time I won't. In the last bit of cook-time cook your rice. I had brown rice in the pantry so that is what I used. I actually prefer brown rice with pepper steak so it worked out great, but by all means if you want white rice go with that. The recipe isn't specific about which type to use. When the rice and pepper steak are done, toss together the topper ingredients  and then plate the dish!

Anyone who knows me knows that asian cuisine is my FAVORITE ethnic cuisine. This dish didn't actually have an overtly asian flavor to me until adding the topper ingredients. The topper to me gave it that little bit of asian edge. If you enjoy pepper steak and the ease of using a crockpot, give this one a try. You'll be glad you did. As always, the recipe link follows at the bottom. Until next time...






Slow Cooker Meal: Asian Pepper Steak:
http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=3226

Meatballs....doesn't get much better!

As promised, here is the second one in one night! This one was made this past Monday night for weekly dinner night and it's actually one of the first Rachael Ray meals I ever made!! So, on the menu was "Gorgonzola Filled Meatballs with Bay & Onion Creamy Tomato Gravy" and "Smashed Potatoes with Garlic and Spinach".

First up the potatoes. So these actually call for 4 large Idaho potatoes, 1 per person. I actually used the baby yellow potatoes instead. Mostly because I forgot to read the recipe but i also love that I don't have to peel the baby yellow ones. The recipe calls for you to defrost 2 boxes of frozen spinach. I left the spinach out of this meal because some of my friends aren't really fond of it, but I have made these with the spinach and it rocks!! But for his meal, I cut the potatoes and put them in a pot with just enough water to cover, brought them to a boil and then let them go for about 15 minutes till they were done. At this point, drain the potatoes and add the butter. When it melts, add in your garlic and let it cook for a couple minutes. If you are following the recipe and using the spinach, you would want to get the excess water out of the spinach. Rachael Tip: To get the water out, put the spinach in a kitchen towel and wring out over your garbage bowl. Be careful, there can be hot spots in the spinach and you don't want to burn yourself. Add the cream and spinach and separate the greens as you add them. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and then mash in the potatoes to your desired consistency. For me, i didn't do the spinach, I just mashed the potatoes with the cream, butter and garlic and seasoned it with the salt, pepper and nutmeg. 

While the potatoes cook you get the meatballs started. Combine your meat in a bowl with salt, pepper, bread crumbs, sage, parmigiana-reggiano and egg. Combine the meat well, but don't over mix it. The recipe here calls for ground beef and ground veal. I actually just used ground beef this time, but the first time i used the ground veal too and either way, they rock! So once the meat is combined you are ready to make your meatballs. Rachael Tip: Score the meat!!! This is a great way to get all the balls to be about the same size. Divide the meat into halves and then divide those into halves. You'll get two meatballs from each fourth and by scoring the meat, you get more equal sized balls rather than a few large ones and the last ones being skimpy. Once you have scored the meat, form 8 large meatballs, place them on a baking sheet. If you are following the recipe, this is where you make and indentation and fill it with your gorgonzola. When i made this the first time, i couldn't find gorgonzola in a brick, so if you can't you could always use gorgonzola crumbles. This time i actually used bocconcini. These are little bite sized balls of fresh mozzarella packed in water. You may have a hard time finding these as well. But, I have seen them in SAM's for about $5.99 for a large tub. I actually got mine at Whole Foods, my food mecca, because SAM's was out. What i did was formed the meatballs around the bocconcini. I used it, again, because of the taste preferences of my guests, but go with whichever you like. They are each delicious!! Once you get the cheese inside, drizzle the balls with EVOO and place in the oven for 15 - 18 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

While the meatballs are cooking, you can make your creamy tomato gravy.  Finely chop your onions and place them in a skillet with a tablespoon of EVOO and a bay leaf. Season them up and let them cook till the onions are soft. At this point, add in the chicken stock and crushed tomatoes and stir together and let them simmer for a couple minutes. At this point, blush the sauce with the cream, turn down the heat and let the sauce thicken up. When the meatballs come out of the oven, the sauce should be just about right!I had a good bit of sauce left over so what i did the next day was put the gravy in a food processor and processed it to puree the onions and turned it into a creamy tomato soup. It was actually pretty good. Little bit of an odd texture because of the pureed onions but the taste was great!

This one is a real crowd pleaser. James says this is one of his favorite Rachael recipes that i make. The flavors are so hearty and seriously, who doesn't love cheese stuffed meatballs. I hope you guys enjoy this one as much as we did. I actually deviated from the recipe quite a bit, which is odd for me, but that's what is so awesome with Rachael's meals. They are usually open to variation and enable you to customize them to the tastes and likes of you and your guests. After making it strictly by the recipe and this way, I can say both times they were fantastic. Again, i'm gonna post the links to the recipes rather than retyping the recipe so have a look and get cooking! Have fun with this one and until next time, Happy Cooking!!!

Smashed Potatoes with Garlic and Spinach:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/garlic-mashed-potatoes-with-spinach-recipe2/index.html

Gorgonzola Filled Meatballs with Bay and Onion Creamy Tomato Gravy: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/gorgonzola-filled-meatballs-bay-and-onion-creamy-tomato-gravy-recipe/index.html

Christmas Takeout

Hello Hello!! So first off, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! It's so hard for me to believe that it's already 2011!! But like it or not, it's here!!! Gonna be posting two blogs tonight, and unlike last time, I will actually get both posted. This first one is from our Christmas Lunch. On the menu was Rachael's "Teriyaki Pork Chops with Pineapples & Peppers" and "Satay Lettuce Wraps" for the appetizer. 

So as odd as it may seem, I am not a fan of the traditional Christmas dinner. In my family we always had the the turkey and dressing and southern vegetables etc. on Thanksgiving and then again on Christmas. I really don't like it at Thanksgiving so I seriously don't want it for Christmas again. I actually refused to come to my Mom's house for Christmas a couple years ago if she made all that. Instead, that year we did a big pot of Spaghetti and kind of started a tradition of making something different every year. Last year it was steak and shrimp, this year, it was some Yum-O! Rachael Ray food :)

So first up are the satay lettuce wraps. This might have been one of the quickest recipes I've ever made and it was phenomenal!  Some of the ingredients may seem a little strange to you but give them a chance,  promise you won't  be disappointed. So first up grind up the peanuts in the food processor. Next you want to brown up your meat. The recipe calls for either sliced pork/chicken or ground pork/chicken. One of my favorite things are the lettuce wraps at P.F. Changs and they use ground meat. Since I was doing pork chops, I decided to go with ground chicken and have a little variation from the main course. So anyway, you want to brown the chicken for about 5-6 minutes. Rachael Tip: Once you add the chicken to the pan, break it up with a wooden spoon or paddle. Then, let the chicken go for a few minutes and don't mess with it. You get a great caramelization that way!! Once the chicken is browned up, add in your mushrooms, scallions and garlic, and grate in your ginger. Rachael Tip: When you bring your ginger home from the store, peel it up and cut into 1-inch pieces, then place it in the freezer. If you leave ginger on the counter, it pretty quickly shrivels up. If you keep it in the freezer it stays nice and fresh and grates into any dish you need it to like ginger snow :) Once you add the vegetables let them cook to soften up and then you're ready to build the sauce, right there in the pan. Scoot the meat mixture over to the side and add your peanut butter and let it melt. Not to sound like a giant kid, but it looks really cool watching the peanut butter melt. Then add in the apple juice, tamari and hot sauce and whisk it all together. Add your peanuts and mix it all together to combine everything. Take your lettuce, core it and quarter it. Scoop the mixture into a lettuce leaf, wrap and enjoy!! These were so good. My mom was a little skeptical when she saw some of the ingredients. But, she ended up eating like 5 of them, so needless to say, she enjoyed them. These would be great at a party or for just a great appetizer some time so give them a try!!

Next up is the main course, the teriyaki pork chops! So first up you can get the rice going. Put two cups of chicken stock into a pot and bring it to a boil. Once it comes up to a boil, add in 1 cup of rice along with the edamamae and bring it back up to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn it down to simmer, place the lid back on and let it simmer 15 - 18 minutes. Once it's done fluff it with a fork and stir in the scallions. I actually stirred the scallions in with the rice and edamame and let them cook with it. I'm not a huge fan of raw scallions and I knew my sister wouldn't touch it if they were raw. But by all means, do it whichever way you prefer. I think next time, I will stir them in at the end and broaden my horizons :) 

Next you want to start you pork chops. In a pan add a tablespoon of oil and heat it over high heat. Season your chops with salt and pepper and then cook them 7 - 8 minutes until they are just done, turning them once. Mine actually got a little burned  on a couple, so you should watch them and if need be, turn the heat down a bit. Once they are just done, reserve them to a plate. At this point you can add in the pineapple, bell pepper and chili. Rachael Tip: Sure-fire way to pick out a ripe pineapple. Pick one in which all the eyes are uniform in size from bottom to the top of the pineapple. Works everytime!! Let the pineapple and peppers cook for a few minutes until the veggies are a nice tender crisp and the pineapple starts to brown at the edges, then reserve them on the plate with the pork chops. At this point you can make the sauce in the skillet. Turn the heat down to medium-high and add in the chicken stock, lime juice, teriyaki sauce, honey and ginger. I actually used agave nectar in this instead of honey and it was great. If you have honey that's no problem but if you have never tried it, give the agave a try. It's a little pricier but a nice alternative. Anyway, add these and combine together and reduce by about half which should take about 5 minutes. Add back the chops and the veggies and let it simmer for about 5 minutes then serve with the scallion rice. 

This entire meal is a real winner. it was a lot of fun to make and tasted fantastic. I apologize for the ghetto picture in this one. Not a lot of places to take a picture in my sis' apartment :) I'm also trying something different with the recipes. Rather than type them out all over again, I've posted the links to each one! Thanks to Rachael for a nice out-of-the-box idea for a Christmas lunch. Give this one a try. You'll definitely enjoy it!! Until next time, Happy Cooking!!
 

Satay Lettuce Wraps: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/satay-lettuce-wraps/

Teriyaki Pork Chops w/ Pineapple & Peppers: http://www.rachaelrayshow.com/food/recipes/teriyaki-pork-chops-pineapples-and-peppers/