I made only minor changes to the original recipe based on what ingredients I had on hand.  Never be afraid to make little changes!  If you wait to have everything on hand, you can never be spontaneous.  Though, I just realized my math was off when I was adjusting quantities so I halved all the seasonings.  Anyhow, this is how I prepared it, and we thought it was great.  If you’re cooking for children or my mother, you should probably half the amount of crushed red pepper shown below.  Otherwise when eaten with rice, I would call it only mildly spicy.  L.E. loved it, but Q was wary (spicy), so use your best judgement.

Spiced Flank Steak and Stir Fry with Celery Recipe

serves 2

2/3 lb flank steak

2 and 1/2 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp cornstarch

kosher salt

2 tbsp sake (extra dry Ginjo Hananomai – you could also use dry sherry, dry vermouth, or Chinese rice wine)

2 tbsp grapeseed oil

ground ginger

3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced

1/8 tsp cumin seeds

1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

3 stalks celery, sliced diagonally 1/2 inch thick

Slice the flank steak in half following the grain.  Slice flank steak against the grain into slices about 1/8th of an inch thick.  Place beef slices in a bowl and stir with 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce, 1/4 tsp cornstarch, and a pinch (really just a pinch – this will be plenty salty!) of kosher salt.  In a separate bowl combine remaining 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, 1/4 teaspoon cornstarch, and sake.

Heat a heavy bottomed skillet over high heat until it is very hot.  Add 1 tbsp of grapeseed oil, then swirl to coat skillet evenly.  Cook half of the beef slices – making sure to lay slices flat in only one layer.  Test one slice after about 30 seconds and flip if browned.  Transfer to a plate when browned – flank steak slices will cook for a total of just about 1 minute.  Add remaining teaspoon of grapeseed oil and repeat with second batch. Set cooked flank steak aside.

Turn off the heat on the skillet.  Add 3-4 heavy shakes of the ground ginger.  This will smell very pungent – to the point where you’ll wonder if you’ve over done it, but fear not.  Add garlic, cumin, and red pepper flakes, then return heat to almost high and stir fry for about 15 seconds.  Add the celery and stir fry for 1 minute.  Add back reserved beef and and accumulated juices; stir.  Stir reserved soy/sake mixture, then add to skillet and stir.  Stir-fry all together about a minute longer, then serve.

As a part of the Easy and Elegant Party Package, Calphalon sent me a Unison Slide Nonstick Griddle and Sear Nonstick Grill Pan.  The pork was made using the Sear Grill Pan.  If you don’t have a grill pan in your repertoire, you need one.  I have a variety of shapes and sizes.  The bonus of the Calphalon Unison line is that unlike most nonsticks – these *are* dishwasher safe.  I love grill pans for meat, vegetables, breads, grilled sandwiches, anything really.  I think the Unison Grill Pan is perfect for a family.  I most often cook en masse as with the 9 pounds of pork tenderloin in the recipe below.  When cooking large quantities like this, I love my All-Clad Gourmet Double Burner Grill.  As for the 9lbs, if I’m serving 2 meats, I go with about a 3 oz serving of each meat per guest.  For this recipe, that yielded about 50 servings of pork tenderloin.

I have to admit, this is my first use of coriander seeds.  I’ve been avoiding recipes with them for years as the seeds are the dried fruit of the plant from which cilantro leaves are harvested.  Cilantro is another love it or hate it ingredient.  Some believe a person is genetically predisposed to love or hate the herb.  I think I was merely shattered by an article in the Austin Chronicle proclaiming that cilantro tastes like body odor smells.  After that description, I had a hard time ever wanting to ingest the stuff again.  Whatever the situation, the coriander seeds have a totally different flavor than cilantro.  Both are a fresh “herby” taste, but I’d call the leaves musky and the seeds light and citrus tinged.  In any case, I’m so glad to discover I love the seeds!   A whole new world of recipes to explore has just opened up to me.

Seared Pork with Lime, Coriander, and Cumin Marinade Recipe

adapted from Chef Michael Symon’s recipe – about 50 buffet servings

2 whole, trimmed pork tenderloins (approx 9 lbs)

4 tsps coriander seed

1 tsp cumin seed

zest of 9 limes

juice from 6 limes

2/3 c. olive oil

4 tsp kosher salt

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 a white onion, minced

With a very sharp knife, cut tenderloins into 1 and 1/2 inch medallions.  In a small dry fry pan, toast the coriander and cumin seeds about 5 minutes on medium heat, swirling occasionally.  In a bowl, combine toasted seeds with zest, lime juice, olive oil, salt, garlic and onion.  Whisk until blended then pour over the pork medallions.  Use tongs to toss pork in marinade every 30 minutes, up to a total of two hours.

Preheat oven to 375.  Heat grill pan over medium high heat, use tongs to sear pork on each side for 3 minutes each, then place grill pan in the oven for 5 minutes to cook through.  Move to a platter and serve with herb sauce.

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This lemon butter sauce added an extra little zest to the fish, and the lemon pepper was a great choice, too.  My lemon pepper came from a local spice company (Good Spice) I found at the Milestone farmers market.  Coincidentally, the summer season for the Milestone Farmers Market kicks off Sunday the 18th at 4531 McKinney Avenue in Dallas from 11-3.  Last time I went I was the only one there, which was kind of eerie, but they did have local eggs and local butter and other cool stuff.

Roasted Salmon

(serves 3)

3/4  lb. Wild Coho Salmon

grapeseed oil

Lemon Pepper

Kosher Salt

Preheat oven to 375.  Place rinsed and dried coho in a glass pan.  Drizzle with a small amount of grapeseed oil, then sprinkle liberally with lemon pepper and kosher salt.  Roast for about 15 minutes.  To test for doneness, gently poke center of fish with a metal fork, fish should flake and fork will feel just slightly warm when removed.

Lemon Caper Butter Sauce

(Serves 3-4)

4 tbsp butter

2 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

2 tbsp white wine

1 and 1/2 tbsp capers

fresh ground pepper

In a skillet over medium heat, melt butter.  Add lemon juice, wine, capers and stir with a wooden spatula.  Dust surface with fresh ground pepper.  Stir and let continue cooking for 2 minutes then serve.

The inspiration for this recipe came from my mamas group back in Austin.  I’d sent a request to the group looking for new ideas in the form of, “If you could order anything from any restaurant tonight, what would you pick?”  The answers were inspiring and unbelievably international.  Stuffed Fried Avocados were recommended by a couple friends, it seems they are the newest food fad in South Texas. They are found stuffed with a variety of fillings from shellfish to chicken to beef.  Mine are stuffed with a spiced chicken and Monterey Jack cheese.  The chicken is very easily spiced with a Cutters Cross Tex Mex Dry Rub Seasoning.  I received my first batch of these spices as a gift five years ago, and highly recommend you get a set of your own.  I was so pleased with the way this chicken turned out I sent a set to my sister, Amelia, because I just had to share.

If you’re feeling slightly less adventurous, but want to try out the flavor combo, try serving the chicken topping on a bed of avocado wedges.  A foodie friend Shizuoka Gourmet had posted an article on fried avocado back in January.  You could skip the relleno batter and just fry the straight avocado then serve the shredded chicken and cheese on top.

Chicken and Monterey Jack Stuffed Fried Avocados (serves 3)

3 ripe avocados – they work best if they are just slightly on the firm side – ripe but not squishy

flour for dusting

3/4 c. flour

2 egg yolks

3/4 c. beer

2 tbsp canola oil

1 and 1/2 tbsp kosher salt

2 egg whites

3 large chicken split breasts

2 tsp Cutters Cross Tex Mex Dry Rub

1 tsp kosher salt

Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded

Two hours before you want to eat, halve the avocados and remove seeds.  Use a spoon to scoop out a little of the flesh making a larger hollow for stuffing.  Peel skin from outside, then dust in flour.  Wrap each half in Saran wrap and place in freezer.  In a large bowl, add flour followed by egg yolks, beer, canola oil, and salt.  Whisk together to combine.  Let batter rest for about an hour and a half.

In a large saucepan, cover chicken breasts with water and add 1 teaspoon kosher salt.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for an hour and fifteen minutes.  Remove chicken from broth using tongs.  Remove skin and bones and discard.  Shred chicken using two forks into a clean bowl.  Return shredded chicken to broth and simmer another 30 minutes.  At this point, turn high heat on sauce pan containing frying oil.  After the 30 minutes has elapsed, strain chicken from broth, then season with Tex Mex Dry Rub and salt.  Set aside.

About 15 minutes before you want to eat, whisk egg whites to stiff peaks.  Delicately fold egg whites into batter.  Remove avocados from freezer, unwrap and use a slotted spoon to gently dip in batter then place in heated oil.  Fry until lightly browned, then stuff with spiced chicken and top with shredded Monterey Jack cheese.  Serve immediately.

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One of the many perks of living so close to family, aside from the numerous hours of uber-granni care, is that we get to reap the spoils of their bounty.  When my MIL has a fabulous bottle of Cabernet, she always shares with me.  This newest bounty, her freezer full of 50 lbs of fresh caught Coho Salmon is enough to send us over the moon!  This wild caught Alaskan Salmon is amongst our best choices for sustainable fishing.  And to have it caught and brought home by a friend, priceless.  So during our happy dance in honor of this harvest, I’ve been expanding thoughts on my current salmon cooking repertoire.  I love salmon croquettes, broiled salmon, salmon cakes or patties, and even salmon on the Lean Mean Grilling Machine coated in nothing but Brianna’s French Vinaigrette.  But I needed a sauce option.

The result was gratifying, though if you’re a cream fan, you’ll probably find this lacking and want to add 1/2 a cup of cream and cook a little longer for optimal flavor melding.  I’m a citrus girl myself, and here’s the thing in experimental cooking and recipes.  It takes a lot of tasting, a lot of adjusting, and then you arrive at the ah hah moment, the moment of pure realization and clarity and just plain satisfaction in your results.  So in the basis of a good sauce for a light main course, I find citrus, capers, and fresh parsley to be hard to beat.  White wine is tricky, sometimes it adds a ton – like in Bob’s Chicken, but in brothy sauces can turn acidic on you very quickly with a hard recovery.  My general rule is to stay away from wines unless I’m adding fat – be that from cream, butter, or a higher fat content main course.  I’m not saying it can’t be done well without the fat, just that I have a hard time producing it.

Here’s the part where you should look away, Mom.  Just keep ordering fish at restaurants and stay far away from the seafood world in home cooking.  Should you fear fish parts – these things might disgust you.  But then you couldn’t arrive at your own homemade lobster bisque.  I choose to set aside my ick factor and go for flavor.  Besides, my FIL loves salmon skin.  Better than the salmon itself.  How’s that for weird?  So en route to this sauce, I based it with a chicken broth, but used a typical deglazing/reduction technique in my skillet used to cook the salmon.  If I’d used more oil, and was a bit more patient, I would have wound up with much less salmon skin attached to my skillet.  So I chunked the large pieces and let the rest flavor the broth.  After the addition of the lemon, I was left with a still pretty fishy broth.  Lots of people like fish, few like foods described as “fishy” tasting.  In a burst of inspiration, the lime juice saved the day!  Broth became balanced, yin met with yang… and the result was quite attractive by my personal standards.  I do think sauteing the fish with the capers added a depth to the salmon which would have been lacking  if I’d simply added the capers to the broth.

Coho Salmon with Citrus Caper Broth

1.5 Coho Salmon – recently caught from Sitka, AK if you have the means or are lucky enough to profit from those who do

olive oil

Krazy Jane’s Mixed Up Salt

fresh ground pepper

3 tbsp capers

1 large shallot, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 and 1/2 c. chicken broth

juice from 2 small lemons

juice from 1 lime

2 and 1/2 tbsps butter

3 tbsp fresh parsley

In a skillet just slightly over medium heat, warm enough olive oil to barely glaze the surface.  I mean barely.  Drizzle gently dethawed or fresh fish with a small amount of olive oil.  Season surface of both sides with Krazy Jane’s and pepper.  Sauté salmon in oil for 6 minutes on skin side, then flip.  Actual time depends on thickness of your fillets.  Watch for the color change to reach opaque 25-30% of the way through the fish, then flip and look for total opacity on the second side.  Remove fish to plate.

Scrape up any large bits of skin left, but allow the small pieces to remain.  If your skillet looks dry, sprinkle with no more than a teaspoon of additional olive oil.  Saute shallots 1 minute, add garlic, saute another minute.  Pour in chicken broth, then bring to a boil, gently scraping the bottom and cooking for 3 minutes past boil.  Add lemon juice, then lime juice, then butter one tablespoon at a time, continuously stirring.  Add parsley just before serving, cooking no more than 30 seconds.  Plate fish, spoon broth over fish allowing fish to rest on a bed of broth.  Enjoy!

I’m likely going to incite riots with this post but it’s truly just a matter of opinion.  And largely I think that opinion is formed by where/how you grew up.  I grew up in the midwest, by way of Alabama,  and I’ve now lived in Texas nearly half my life.  I’ve really loved everywhere I’ve lived, and I don’t feel strongly about the south, the midwest, or the great state of Texas being better or worse than the rest.  That’s likely a part of my personality, I get very attached to people and places and for the most part, I’m a pretty jolly person.

Anyhow, steaks taste COMPLETELY different in differnt parts of the country.  It’s due to what they’re fed.  In the midwest, we grow a ton of corn and soybeans and our weather is cruddier a much larger portion of the year making exclusively grass fed beef difficult and very expensive.  All my friends from ranching families in Texas are going to HATE me now, but I totally prefer corn fed beef.  I know that grass fed is healthier and more environmentally sustainable, but it just doesn’t taste as good.  To me.  I know a huge number of women who don’t eat red meat.  Mostly it’s for health reasons, but I have a sneaking suspicion it also could be that they’ve just never had a REALLY GOOD steak.  It seems like 9 out of 10 steaks I buy I’m disappointed in, unless I buy really expensive meat from a specialty butcher.  For whatever reason, I just don’t ever think, well that was a mediocre chicken breast or gee, that pork tenderloin was truly inferior, but with beef it happens to me all the time, except at home.  And maybe that’s just because my dad is better at buying steaks than I am.

When my husband brought home corn on the cob – so NOT his favorite vegetable, I was touched.  And decided to hell with it.  And we ate nothing green for dinner on Tuesday, unless you count those few chives on the potato, which I know don’t count.  We’ve been lucky so far, and I’m not feeding anyone on a daily basis who has a cholesterol or high blood pressure or a weight problem.  I know, I know, I keep this up and we will.  But really 1 meal isn’t going to be the death of us.  And we all love leafy green vegetables so we eat plenty of them.  If you read all of this week’s posts, you’re probably going to think I’ve lost my dang mind that I’ve eaten, steak, gravy, stuffing and ramen – then there was the day the kids ate nothing but popsicles.   So sue me.  I just don’t have the energy to become a true, only healthy whole foods eating person.  We eat pretty well, we don’t eat McDonald’s everyday, and to me food is about enjoyment.  Someone said to me once, “I don’t live to eat, I eat to live.”  I think I may live to eat. and cook.  My life is all about enjoying things, and I firmly believe – the purpose of life is to be happy.

The steak seasoning we use is from Cutters Cross, I talked about their Cajun spice here.   If you run out and buy it, I do want to note to use it sparingly the first time, it can be extremely salty if you get carried away, but the flavor is great.  I feel silly writing a recipe for grilling steaks since it’s not really a recipe or for a baked potato.  And on the off chance you’ve never made corn on the cob, Boil a large pot of water, throw in your corn (after removing the leaves and silks) and boil for 8 minutes.

Be Merry!

My family has been heavy users of Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt my whole life. It’s a wonderful quick way to spice up food.

Salmon Croquettes

18 oz. wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon
olive oil
1/2 a white onion, chopped finely
1/2 a green bell pepper, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, minced
2 eggs
2 heaping tbsps panko
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
Jane’s Crazy Mixed Up Salt
cornmeal
Canola Oil
lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rub salmon with olive oil and sprinkle with Jane’s Salt, kosher salt, and pepper. Cook on a grill pan for 15 minutes, then let cool on grill pan.

Remove skin from salmon and add to a large bowl. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic, eggs, panko, 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper. Mix together and form croquette shape. Roll in cornmeal.

Add 1/2 inch of canola oil to a saute pan and heat to 375 degrees. Place croquettes in hot oil two at a time and turn to gently brown all edges.

Tonigt’s Recipe: Roasted Chicken Breasts and Asparagus

Everything’s better roasted. Really, meat, vegetables, you name it. And the process is pretty universal, high heat, drizzle of olive oil, few seasonings, and roast.

So the Cutters Cross spice in this recipe was given to me as a gift back in my working days. I used to belong to a professional group, TEC (they call themselves Vistage now). Our chair gave these as a Christmas gift one year. Anyway, these are great! spices. The steak seasoning is killer, and though I’ve been out for awhile the California Style Garlic Salt is a favorite of mine, too. I’ve always wanted to start a spice business, but life just keeps getting in the way. If you’re looking for a gift for a foodie friend, I highly recommend a box of these spices.

Roasted Chicken and Asparagus

3 chicken split breasts

paprika

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

Cutters Cross Cajun Spice

olive oil

asparagus

Heat oven to 425. Drizzle chicken breasts with olive oil. Season chicken breasts, with paprika, salt, pepper, and a generous sprinkling of cajun spice. Place chicken in a saute pan and roast in oven about 45 minutes or until chicken reaches 165 internal temp. Occasionally baste chicken with pan juices.

When chicken reaches 165 remove from oven to rest. Reduce oven temp to 400. In another saute pan shake asparagus with 2 tbsps olive oil, kosher salt, and pepper. Roast in oven 8 minutes or 9 if they are thick asparagus.

I also made the Barefoot Contessa’s Brown Rice, Tomatoes and Basil except, I was low on both tomatoes and basil, so I only used four roma tomatoes, and 4 basil leaves. And I didn’t have Texamati rice, so I used regular long grain brown rice. It was delicious. Ina Garten is my hero.