Idaho Broil

I tried a new recipe last night for London Broil.

It was terrible.

I'm sure the recipe would have been fine if my oven wasn't completely stupid.  Most ovens I've seen have the normal temperature settings and then a broil setting.  If you were lucky it had a self cleaning or a "warm" setting.

My oven is an over achiever. 

It not only has ALL these things, it's broiler has TWO settings. HI broil and LO broil.

Recipes do not support my broiler operating system.

This is where I have to guess.  I tried HI broil first and after about 3 minutes I noticed smoke coming out of my oven.

awesome.

I opened the door to find my roasting pan warped, smoking, and utterly ruined.  We hurriedly ripped open all the doors and windows so our super sensitive smoke alarms wouldn't go off and cause my children to start screaming at the "beep beeps".

I should have stuck with my tried and true recipe for this sometimes difficult cut of meat.

Beef with Asparagus

1 lb London Broil
Dried Rosemary
4 Tbsp butter
6 cloves garlic (minced)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 bunch asparagus
1 Tbsp olive oil
Salt n Peppa
Garlic Powder

MEAT: Start by making cross cuts 1/8 inch deep and 1 inch apart on both sides of the meat, creating a diamond pattern.  Next, melt the butter in the microwave with the minced garlic and rosemary.  Season meat with Salt n Peppa and rub butter mixture on both sides, making sure to get into the cuts.  In a heavy skillet (I use cast iron), heat vegetable oil over medium high heat until hot.  Add meat and cook 5-7 minutes on each side.  If you don't like how pink it is, just cook a little longer.  Remove from pan, cover with foil and let it rest for 5 minutes.  Slice against the grain into thin slices.

ASPARAGUS: Wanna see something easy?  Trim ends off asparagus (super easy, just hold it in the middle and bend. It will break where it's supposed to! MAGIC!) and place on a foil lined baking sheet. drizzle with olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Place in an oven preheated to 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes (depending on thickness of asparagus).  That's it.

Serve 'em side by side with some fresh fruit salad or mashed potatoes or wild rice.

Bazinga.

♥ K8

What Did You Call Me?

Violet Baudelaire: Dinner is served. Puttanesca.

Count Olaf: What did you call me?
Klaus Baudelaire: It's pasta... Pasta Puttanesca.

I love "A Series of Unfortunate Events".

The books and the movie.

Not an actual series of unfortunate events...who enjoys unfortunate events?

I guess if you enjoyed them, they wouldn't be unfortunate, they'd be quite fortunate.
{but I digress}

Since Husband is now Chubsband, I'm being supportive of his diet and exercise.
And since reading the aforementioned books, I've wanted to try Pasta Puttanesca and lo and behold, I found a pretty easy recipe on Southbeachdiet.com

Chicken Puttanesca

Ingredients:

4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
4 large boneless, skinless, thin-sliced chicken breast cutlets {i found frozen chicken breast filets}
Salt and black pepper
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (28 ounces) plum tomatoes, chopped {i used diced tomatoes}
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes {i didn't add these for fear of children screaming}
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
8 ounces whole-wheat pasta {can also use regular}

Preheat oven to 250°F. Warm 2 teaspoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Season cutlets with salt and pepper; add to hot pan and cook 3 minutes, until browned. Flip; cook 1 minute. Transfer cutlets to a baking sheet; cover with foil and place in oven to keep warm.
Add remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the same skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook 10 seconds, stirring. Add tomatoes, olives, capers, and pepper flakes and bring to a simmer. Cook 5 minutes, until slightly thickened, stirring to break up tomatoes. Stir in lemon juice and basil.
Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Toss with tomato sauce; serve with cutlets.

♥ K8

Ooh La La

I have a new digital camera so I'll start posting pictures to go along with my recipes soon. However, I'm posting a Google Picture for this one because I won't be making it for awhile. See, today's recipe is French Onion Soup. Onions make you very gassy (tmi? perhaps.) and when you're nursing a baby, they eat what you eat. So for my own sanity and sleep schedule, I'm not eating that many onions while I'm still nursing Chancho.

This recipe skill level is medium and it takes quite awhile to make. It's very much worth the effort and makes for a fancy date night meal when served with a spinach salad tossed in balsamic vinaigrette.

1/2 cup butter (REAL butter, not margarine)
4 onions sliced in half circles
2 cloves garlic
2 bay leaves
2 thyme sprigs
1 cup white wine (i like the 4 packs of mini bottles for cooking, that way you don't have to open a huge bottle for one recipe)
3 Tbl flour
2 quarts chicken broth
1 baguette
1/2 pound gruyere cheese grated

Melt butter, add onions, garlic bay leaves, thyme. Cook until onions are very soft and DARK brown. Add wine and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until onions are dry. Dust with flour and stir. Turn heat to medium and cook 10 minutes. Add broth and simmer 10 minutes.

Slice bread and toast. Ladle soup into bowls on a cookie sheet and float a slice of bread in each bowl. Top with cheese and broil until golden and bubbly. I like to COVER the bread/soup with cheese, but you can add as much or as little as you want. I'm kind of a cheese fiend.

CAUTION: the bowls will be hot when you take them out of the oven.













Bon Appetit mes amis!

♥ K8