Mongolian Beef

I can’t even remember how I found this recipe, but you can find it on the web here (elly says opa!), and here (Pink Bites). This is a really easy recipe, and I bet you already have most of the ingredients in your fridge and pantry. I went with the original Pink Bites recipe, reproduced here below.

makes 2 or more servings*

1 lb of flank steak, thinly sliced crosswise (or stir-fry-cut beef)
1/4 cup of cornstarch
3 teaspoons of canola oil
1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger (about 1/2 inch piece)
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic (about 2 -3 large cloves)
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes**
3 large green onions, sliced crosswise into thirds

* We got 4 dinner-sized servings from this recipe when paired with generous spoons of steamed white rice.
**I only used 1/4 teaspoon because we (read: I) don’t really like super-spicy foods.

 

Pat the steak pieces and make sure they’re dry; then, toss the steak and cornstarch together.  Be sure all pieces are fully coated, but shake off excess corn starch. Mix together the soy sayce, water, brown sugar and red pepper flakes.

Heat half the oil in a wok at medium-high heat and add the ginger and garlic.  Once fragrant (30 seconds or so), add the soy sauce mixture. Cook for about 2 minutes and transfer to a bowl.

Turn the heat up on the wok and add the remaining oil. Add the beef and cook, stirring until just browned. Pour the sauce back in and let it cook with the meat. Let the sauce thicken to your liking, and then add the green onions in just before plating.

 

This is EASY, this is DELICIOUS, this is everything good about weeknight meals you could ever want. Make it and just tell me it isn’t a fantastic meal — and cheaper than going out for Chinese!

Homemade Corn Dogs

I saw these homemade corn dogs on the recipe part of the Whole Foods website. I have to say, if there is one junk food my dear husband cannot get enough of, it is packaged, frozen, corn dogs. I understand their appeal, really I do, from my days back in the Midwest going to the annual county fair. But as a health-aware (I don’t want to say “health-conscious”) adult, I really can’t justify prepackaged, frozen corn dogs. So when I saw that Whole Foods had figured out a way to do them healthfully, I had to give it a try. If I could figure out corn dogs that I didn’t feel guilty eating, we’d be set for life.

Baked Corn Dogs
8 all-natural turkey or beef hot dogs*
1 1/4 cups cornbread/muffin mix
1/2 cup flour
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup milk or soymilk

*I’ll bet you might even be able to use tofu or other vegetarian dogs if you wanted to.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray; set aside. Thread each hot dog on to a wooden skewer, leaving about 2 inches extended from one end to act as the handle; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine muffin mix, flour, egg, milk and butter to make a very thick batter. Moisten your hands with water then press about 1/4 cup of the batter around one of the hot dogs to cover it entirely. Transfer to prepared baking sheet as done then repeat process with remaining batter and hot dogs.

Bake until golden brown and batter is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Transfer to plates and serve with ketchup and mustard on the side.

Jim assembled the dogs because I could just not wrap my smaller hands around them. You have to keep your hands pretty well moistened, or else the corn mix sticks to your hands like cement. We made the recommended amount of corn mix but could only encase 7 dogs; the 8th was sacrificed with some ketchup, mustard, and dill relish for my next day’s lunch. We baked for the recommended time, a little under 15 minutes, but the corn mix lost all of its moisture. It crumbled upon eating, which sort of defeated the idea of replicating a corn dog. I think the next time I might need to use a bain-marie, or tent with a piece of tin foil, in order to help the corn dogs retain moisture during baking. They fared a little bit better upon microwave reheating under an overturned cereal bowl, which I think helped steam them and keep moisture in.

If you give these a try, let me know if you use a different technique and if you have any better luck.

Goujons of Sole with Dill Mayo

Unfortunately, my local grocery store is unenlightened and does not sell sole, filets or otherwise. I had to ask the seafood person what type of fish could be substituted that had a similar taste and texture, and they suggested flounder. So I’m having to use flounder where Nigella recommends lemon sole. I need to find a better seafood counter.

This was my first time using both panko bread crumbs and grapeseed oil and frying anything, so this was a brand-new adventure. Grapeseed oil has a higher smoke point than either vegetable or olive oils, so I decided to invest in a bottle and do this the right way. We love fish & chips and if I can find a good, healthy way to make our own, we’re all better off! Also, Ina Garten has a recipe for authentic fried fish I’d love to build the confidence to try it. So grapeseed oil it is. It heated cleanly and had what I can only call an “efficient” bubble.

The combination of corn starch, egg, and panko bread crumbs was like cement on my fingers, so after dredging and breading each goujon I had to rinse my fingers under some running water.

From Nigella Express.

For the goujons:
2 filets of lemon sole (we used flounder)
corn starch
2 eggs
panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper

For the dill mayo:
1 cup mayonnaise
lime juice
chopped dill

 

In 3 separate bowls, place the corn starch, the 2 eggs, slightly beaten, and the panko. Cut each filet in half, then diagonally in to quarters; you should get 8 roughly-the-same-sized pieces of fish out of each filet. Dredge each goujon in corn starch, then the beaten eggs, then the panko. Place on a cooling rack to rest while you finish dredging the rest of the goujons.

Heat about 1 cup of grapeseed or peanut oil in a skillet (use more or less oil as necessary for the size of your pan). When the oil is hot (I tested the oil by tossing a few panko crumbs in and seeing whether they sizzled or sank), carefully place the breaded goujons in the pan. Be careful not to overcrowd, work in batches as necessary. Using my fairly large skillet I still had to due two batches. Cook each goujons about 2 minutes per side, and keep an eye on them to be sure you don’t overbrown them. They should be ready to flip when the underside is a nice golden brown with a crisp. When the goujons are done, transfer to a plate covered in paper towel to drain and cool a little.

Mix the mayo, lime juice, and dill together as a dip for the goujons. Enjoy while they’re still hot!

Ham Steaks with Parsley

Ham Steaks with Parsley
from Nigella Express

2 tsp garlic oil
2 ham steaks, about 7 ounces or so each
2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1/4 cup water
freshly ground pepper
2 tsp honey
1/4 cup roughly chopped parsley

 

In a skillet large enough for both steaks, heat the garlic oil. When the oil is hot, add the ham steaks and cook for about 3 minutes per side. Remove to two warmed plates. While the ham was cooking, I did the next step ahead.

Take the pan off the heat. Whisk the vinegar with the water, pepper, and honey. Throw into the still-hot pan with most of the chopped parsley and swirl and stir and scrape to mix. I let it bubble and thicken a little but don’t take your eyes off it! It might smell too strongly of the vinegar to you, as it did to me, but the flavor is not overpowering-vinegary, the honey goes a long way to balancing it out. Pour the sauce over the ham steaks.

Nigella recommends serving with peas, which we did, and Jim commented that the sauce makes an excellent sauce for the peas. I loved it with the ham, and thought it had a somewhat honey-ham or pineappley scent. Could be served with any vegetable or even ham’s perennial accompaniment in my family, mashed potatoes.

Insanely express recipe. When Nigella says “express,” she means it.

Chorizio & Mushroom Pizza

photo by Rachel

High-Speed Hamburgers

When Nigella Lawson says something is “express” or “high-speed,” believe her. Below, Nigella’s recipe for High-Speed Hamburgers from Nigella Express.

High-Speed Hamburgers
Serves 2

Start with

8 oz. lean ground beef

To which, add

1 Tbsp. caramelized onions from a jar (or in my case, Roasted Onion and Garlic Jam from Stonewall Kitchen)
1 1/2 tsp. buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp. soy sauce
some ground pepper (just a dash)

Mix with your hands (or your husband’s hands) and form in to two patties. Grill on a stovetop grill pan over medium heat until cooked through to your liking — not too long or else all the moisture will disappear, but if you don’t like pink in your hamburgers cook til just brown all the way through.

Serve on a soft bun or roll, toasted if you like (I do). Jim eats his plain but I just have to squirt just a little bit of ketchup on mine. The garlic and onion jam adds a certain unexpected but delicious sweetness to the meat that just a spot of ketchup can balance, in addition to smoothing the interaction between burger and bun.

Extremely fast meal for two. We can mix, cook, eat, and clean up these hamburgers in less than half an hour.

Grotto Bar

Grotto Bar
Grotto Pizza, Rehoboth Beach DE


photo by Rachel

The Fractured Prune

The Fractured Prune
127th & Coastal Highway
Ocean City MD

You’d never think that someplace called “The Fractured Prune” is practically a gourmet doughnut shop, but it is. Discovered via FoodNetwork and Meghan, The Fractured Prune is an Ocean City-based chain doughnut shop in Maryland, Delaware, Florida, Mississippi, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia (a list of their exact locations can be found on the website). Their specialty is hot, hand-dipped, made-to-order, made-your-way doughnuts.

Doughnuts at The Fractured Prune can be customized with glazes, toppings, and sugars.

Glazes come in 15 flavors: honey, banana, chocolate, maple, cherry, strawberry, lemon, raspberry, orange, peanut butter, blueberry, mocha, mixed berry, mint, and caramel.

There are 7 toppings: rainbow sprinkles, chocolate jimmies, coconut, peanuts, Oreo cookie, mini chocolate chips, and graham cracker crumbs.

And there are 3 sugars: powdered sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon sugar.

Are you overwhelmed yet? Don’t be. The Fractured Prune also has a menu of pre-selected combinations, like “Banana Nut Bread” (banana glaze, cinnamon sugar, and peanuts), “Strawberry Shortcake” (strawberry glaze, graham cracker crumbs, and powdered sugar), and “Black Forest” (raspberry glaze, coconut, and mini chocolate chips). Ordering off this specialty menu is a good way to get familiar with Fractured Prune doughnuts, and you can customize or expand from there. I, for instance, ordered Banana Nut Bread without the peanuts, which was just a doughnut with banana glaze and cinnamon sugar. I could have added coconut or mini chocolate chips instead. Because they’re made and dipped to order, you can ask for any combination of glaze, topping, and sugar that tickles your fancy. During our vacation we sampled the Morning Buzz, Reese’s Cup, Plain Jane, Peppermint Patty, French Toast, Banana Nut Bread (minus the nuts), and Myrna Medley.

Because the doughnuts are hot, the glazes and toppings melt right in to the doughnut and the doughnut itself melts in your month. The base flavor of the doughnut is not overly sweet, as I discovered when I sampled the Plain Jane. This is a good thing, or else the fully-loaded doughnut would be too sweet to eat. The only downside to the hot doughnut is that when all the flavors do melt together, it is difficult to savor each of the flavors individually: the French Toast is not maple glaze and cinnamon sugar as two separate tastes and textures, it is one melty mapley cinnamony sweet concoction. And unfortunately, when the doughnut starts to cool, as it inevitably will, the melted sugar-and-glaze combination starts to harden in to a candy shell.

If you’re near a Fractured Prune and the doughnut mood strikes, stop in and give them a try. I’m already making a list in my head of which ones I want to try the next time I’m in Ocean City. But I’m not going to drive 8-10 hours to OC just for a hot, hand-dipped, homemade doughnut. It’ll be the whole OC package that brings me back, of which the Fractured Prune is only part of the treat.

Two Morning Buzzes, a Reese’s Cup, and a Plain Jane.

Early Saturday morning.


photos by Rachel

Nigella’s Mother-in-Law’s Madeira Cake

I made this a while ago but had to wait to post it, in case it seemed to my readers, few though they are, that I had been doing nothing but baking. Which was, in fact, true. I had been doing nothing but baking for about a week.

Nigella Lawson calls this “My Mother-in-Law’s Madeira Cake,” but this isn’t my mother-in-law’s recipe, so I can’t call it “my mother-in-law’s madeira cake”; so I call it “Nigella’s Mother-in-Law’s Madeira Cake” and that name encapsulates, to some extent, the nostalgic, homey recipe-sharing-ness that is Nigella’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess.

Madeira cake doesn’t have any madeira in it, but could be served with a glass of madeira as a rich but light dessert. It is, as far as I can tell, a glorified pound cake, rich, with a heavy crumb, and very buttery. Nigella’s recipe is also very lemony, so if you are not a huge fan of lemon, feel free to tone down the amount of juice you use in your batch.

photo by Rachel

My problem with these breads, or cakes, is that the first time I try them, they always come out flat and, honestly, lacking. I’m not sure why that is, unless I’m somehow being timid with the ingredients. My grandmother has proved that at least with flowers, the more sure you are with them, the better they do. The first time I made Nigella’s banana bread, for example, it came out flat and tough; the second time, it was airy and moist. Go figure. So my madeira cake came out a bit flat on top and heavy; maybe next time it will be a light, airy, moist masterpiece?

At least give it a try, and if you perfect it, let me know?

Nigella’s Mother-in-Law’s Madeira Cake

1 cup softened unsalted butter
3/4 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 large eggs
1 1/3 cups self-rising cake flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
9×5 inch loaf pan, buttered and lined with parchment or wax paper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream the butter and 3/4 cup sugar, and add the lemon zest. Add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of flour for each. Then gently mix in the rest of the flour and, finally, the lemon juice. Pour batter into preprared pan. Sprinkle with sugar (about 2 tablespoons should do it) as it goes into the oven, and bake for 1 hour or until a cake tester come out clean. Remove to a wire rack, and let cool in the pan before turning out.

Makes 8-10 (generous!) slices.

Annie’s Homegrown

I must take a moment to tell you all about a wonderful company, Annie’s Homegrown, makers of Bernie O’s and Cheddar Bunnies. I discovered the company shortly after I moved to Massachusetts and discovered that organic and natural foods were available in run-of-the-mill grocery stores (I came from Nevada, where such is unheard of). I was a freshman in college and on my own for the first time in my life, and I was feeling really, really down. And that’s when I discovered Annie’s Bunny Pasta with Yummy Cheese, a bowlfull of macaroni bunnies in a white cheese sauce. That evening I was sitting on my futon couch with autumn sunshine streaming in the window, looking down at a bowfull of pasta bunnies. And suddenly, everything started looking up. Bunny pasta made the world a happier place.

Well, it went something like that.

Then I discovered Annie’s larger bunny-themed lines: cereals, savory crackers, graham crackers, and canned pastas. All the products are natural or organic, and tasty. You might be inclined to think of organic or natural foods as bland or cardboardy, but quite the opposite is true of Annie’s. The savory bunny crackers are positively bursting with flavor. I like to turn a bowl of bunny grahams in to cereal (chocolate works best), and then I discovered that Annie’s also has bunny cereal: Bunny Love, Honey Bunnies, Cinna Bunnies, Fruity Bunnies, and Choco-Vanilla Bunnies. They are lightly sweetened and slightly reminiscent of Honey Nut Cheerios in both texture and flavor. I have not had a chance to try the Fruity or Choco-Vanilla Bunnies, though they are next on my list.

The two Annie’s products I buy most often are two of their canned pasta meals, Bernie O’s and P’sghetti Loops. Bernie O’s are bunny-shaped pastas and pasta loops in cheesy tomato sauce, all-organic and vegetarian. They can be easily heated in a sauce pan on the stove or in the microwave. P’sghetti Loops are pasta loops and soy meatballs, also in cheesy tomato sauce. Now, don’t flinch at the thought of soy meatballs — I absolutely love them. As a lunch option they are easy and filling and, honestly, fun. When I am stressed I can go a whole day and eat nothing but bunnies. And that cheers me up.