Showing posts with label meat and potatoes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meat and potatoes. Show all posts
So today is my birthday and I wanted to enjoy one of my favourite foods. Steak.
I could quite happily be a vegetarian, except for the fact that every now and then I enjoy eating a good steak.
When I was a much younger woman, in another lifetime, I used to love being treated to a meal out at Ponderosa or Bonanza, both chain steak houses in North America.
You could get a decent steak cooked to your idea perfection . . .
Along with your favourite sides, be they fat steak cut chips, or baked potatoes, fried onions, grilled mushrooms, onion rings . . .
there was also a salad bar that came free with every meal.
The salad bars were crazy delicious. The trick was to NOT fill up on the salad bar before you got your meal!
At that time I would have shuddered at the thought of eating Stilton cheese, let alone enjoying it melted on top of a juicy steak.
Boy oh boy . . .
I was missing out on a delicious piece of steak heaven! This is fabulous and what I choose to enjoy on my 64th Birthday this year!
A tender sirloin steak . . . seasoned with a tasty steak seasoning rub (my friend Lura sends me it from America) and grilled to perfection . . .
then topped with some crumbled Stilton cheese, which melts and gilds the top . . . .
Pure taste perfection . . .
Next to that a fluffy pile of mashed sweet and white potatoes, flavoured with cream and butter and garlic . . . don't judge me . . . lol . . .
The sweet potato makes this mash slightly better for this diabetic than a mash that would have been just white potatoes . . . but
there is so much flavour in that that I will be happy with only a small amount.
Again, flavour perfection . . .
On the side Frenched runner beans, fresh from the garden . . . love them too . . .
Altogether this is a beautiful birthday meal. Nummity Nummity!
Stilton Steaks with Sweet Potato & Garlic Mash
Yield: 4
This dish is all about delicious. From tender perfectly cooked steaks with that melted Stilton on top to the lush sweet potato mash, it is a winner all round!
ingredients:
For the potatoes:
- 1 1/2 pounds floury potatoes, for mashing, peeled and cut into chunks
- 1/3 pound sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 to 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
- knob of butter
- 60ml cream (1/4 cup)
- salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste
For the Steaks:
- steak seasoning
- 4 sirloin steaks, each about 1/2 inch thick and weighing 225g/7 ounces
- 70g Stilton cheese (2 1/2 ounces)
- Chopped fresh parsley and thyme to garnish
instructions:
How to cook Stilton Steaks with Sweet Potato & Garlic Mash
- First make the mash. Place the white and sweet potatoes and garlic into a saucepan of lightly salted water to cover. Bring to the boil, then simmer until the potatoes are fork tender. Drain well and then return the pan and shake over the residual heat of the burner to dry them out a bit. Mash well with a potato masher, adding in the cream and knob of butter. Season to taste with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg. Cover and keep warm while you cook the steaks.
- To cook the steaks, season them well on both sides with your steak seasoning. Preheat the grill to high. Cook the steaks under the hot grill for 8 to 10 minutes, turning them over halfway through the cook time, according to your preference. (We like our steaks medium rare and so opt for the shorter time.) A minute or so before they are done, crumble the Stilton cheese over top and pop back under the grill at which time the steaks should be done perfectly and the cheese melted. Sprinkle with the chopped herbs and serve immediately along with the hot mash.
OH boy, but this is some good. A new favourite combination. I hope it will be for you as well!
Up tomorrow: Chicken Schnitzels
Yay!!
With there only being two of us, more often than not these days I only cook for two.
I had a piece of Pork Tenderloin in the freezer that I wanted to take out to make room for something else and so I roasted it up for us the other night.
We only ever very rarely eat red meat, so this was a nice treat.
I love sheet pan dinners. They are quick and easy to throw together.
Everything just gets seasoned and thrown onto a baking sheet.
In this case I used quartered new potatoes (they were medium sized) and half a bag of frozen yellow beans, the four serving sized bag.
I tossed both the potatoes with some seasonings and a bit of olive oil.
That helps the potatoes to crisp up when they are roasting and the beans do benefit from it as well.
You can season your meat with just about anything. Back when my children were growing up I used to make a fabulous pork tenderloin casserole that involved fried bacon and onions, cubed squares of pork, breaded with cracker crumbs and browned in the bacon fat,
This was all thrown together and baked in a slow oven in some fruit juice. I used apple or orange, just whatever I had. It was so tender and delicious. My family loved it.
Today I used Oriental flavours. I created a rub using Chinese five spice powder, brown sugar and some other bits.
I love Oriental flavors, don't you??
I cut the piece of pork in half and rubbed it all over with the rub and placed it on top of the beans on the baking sheet, leaving some space in between each piece of meat for the air to circulate.
I brushed them generously with hoisin sauce and then popped the baking tray into the oven.
The oven is at a high temperature, so it cooks really fast. It almost sears in the heat and retains a lot of the moisture. I basted it every so often with more hoisin sauce.
The moisture evaporating from the frozen beans helps to keep it tender and moist also, which kind of works both ways because the pork also helps to flavour the beans!
The potatoes get nice and crisp because they are open to the air at both ends of the pan. Golden, crisp . . . yummy!
You will have just enough time to throw together a nice salad to serve along side of this fabulously tasty meal while it cooks.
The internal temperature of the pork will be between 63*C - 70*C (145*F - 160*F). I prefer it on the lower end of the scale. Just stick a thermometer into the thickest part of the meat. If it needs a bit longer, then just bang it back in for a few more minutes.
I suppose if you wanted to feed more people, you could just double everything and cook it on two baking sheets. I guarantee your partner and your family are going to love this deliciously simple meal!
Yield: Serves 2 Generously
Sheet Pan Hoisin Pork Tenderloin for Two
Deliciously tender, perfectly cooked pork tenderloin, beautifully flavoured with oriental flavours and baked on a bed of string beans and roasted new potatoes. No fuss no muss, and if you line your baking sheet with foil, no washing up either!
ingredients:
For the pork:
- 1 (1 pound) pork tenderloin fillet, trimmed of any fat and sinew
- 1 TBS soft light brown sugar
- 1 tsp Chinese five spice
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
- 60g hoisin sauce (1/4 cup)
For the beans:
- 1/2 four serving size bag of frozen whole string beans (I used yellow beans)
- 1 tsp olive oil
- salt and black pepper to taste
For the potatoes:
- 3/4 pound of new potatoes, halved, quarter if larger
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 1/2 tsp seasoning salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
instructions:
How to cook Sheet Pan Hoisin Pork Tenderloin for Two
- Preheat the oven to 230*C/450*F/ gas mark7. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and spritz lightly with low fat cooking spray.
- Wash and quarter your potatoes. Pat dry and toss together in a bowl with the oil and all of the seasonings, turning to coat well. Divide between both sides of the baking sheet, placing half on each side.
- Toss your frozen beans together with the oil and seasonings in the same bowl and place into the centre of the baking sheet.
- Mix together the brown sugar, five spice powder, sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder and onion powder. Take the trimmed tenderloin and cut it in half through the centre crosswise. Rub the pieces all over with the dry sugar mixture and place them on top of the beans.
- Roast in the oven, brushing generously with the hoisin sauce every 10 minutes, for about 25 to 30 minutes, until the pork tests done and the potatoes are crisp and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven. Let the meat rest for several minutes before cutting into slices to serve. Serve the sliced meat with a portion each of beans and potatoes. A salad on the side goes very nicely!
I've been trying to eat healthier and doing a lower carb style of eating lately. This was actually cooked prior to beginning that. I've been trying to think of what I could do instead of the brown sugar and the hoisin sauce . . .
You could use some Sukrin Gold brown sugar replacement, and I am not sure how much sugar there is in Hoisin sauce I found a recipe for a low carb Hoisin Sauce here. I haven't tried it, so I can't say if it is any good or not.
I like Hoisin Sauce, so I am sure I will give it a go at some point. In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy this fabulous supper for two!
As I mentioned yesterday I cooked Todd a Roast Beef Dinner at the weekend for Father's Day. We don't have any children of our own, but he's a pretty good dad to our Mitzi so why not celebrate that! I didn't do a pot roast this time, but a proper regular roast beef. It was so nice for a change!
Now, you all know I am the Leftover Queen! I love leftovers . . . I love taking them and seeing what I can put with them to make something new. Today we are having Roast Beef Hash with some baked beans, but yesterday I cooked us Beef Miroton.
Say what??? I can hear you asking. Beef Miroton is a classic French dish which is made using leftover roast beef, cooked potatoes, onions, stock, vinegar and seasonings. Simple ingredients put together in a most delicious way!
And when I say simple I mean simple. You just layer thinly sliced cooked potato in a casserole dish. I cut them about 1/4 inch thick and overlap them. Over that you layer on thinly sliced cooked beef. Unremarkable right?
Here is where the magic begins to happen . . . caramelised onions. Who does not LOVE caramelised onions! Put your hand up! I didn't think so.
Aside from the smell of them cooking, the taste of caramelised onions is phenomenal!
You caramelise a pound of onions until golden without burning them and then you create a beef sauce with them, using some good stock and seasonings. Pour that over the sliced beef and potatoes in the dish.
Then you drizzle some red wine vinegar over top. I used some balsamic . . . because I had it and we love the taste.
Finally you sprinkle a layer of buttered crumbs evenly over top. The recipe I have says 2 TBS, but I'll be honest here I probably use more like 4 TBS. We like our breadcrumb toppings.
You don't need a thick layer, but you do want the whole thing covered, like a thin crust . . .
Then into the oven it goes. A fairly hot oven . . . for about 20 minutes . . .
The end result is a fabulously tasty dish that the whole family will fall in love with!
Beef Miroton
Yield: 4
A delicious dinner using leftovers that tastes like new! Your family is sure to love this!
ingredients:
- 3/4 pound leftover cooked, peeled salad type of potatoes
- 1 pound red onions, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 TBS butter
- 1 TBS flour
- 240ml beef broth (1 cup)
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/2 pound roast beef, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1/2 TBS red wine vinegar
- 2 TBS Bread crumbs
- Chopped parsley to garnish
instructions:
How to cook Beef Miroton
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F gas mark 6. Butter a square baking dish. Slice the potatoes 1/4 inch thick and lay out into the baking dish, overlapping them. Lay the sliced beef over top of the sliced potatoes to cover. Set aside.
- Add 1 TBS butter to a skillet. Add the onions. Cook, stirring occasionally for 15 to 20 minutes over medium heat until nicely browned (not burnt.) Whisk in 1 TBS of flour. Cook for a few minutes longer and then add the beef stock, Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, scraping up the bottom to dislodge any browned bits of onion. Cook for a few minutes, then remove from the heat. Pour this mixture over the beef in the baking dish, spreading it out to cover. Drizzle with the wine vinegar.
- Melt the remaining TBS of butter. Stir in the bread crumbs and then sprinkle them over top of the whole casserole. (You may need more. In my opinion you could use up to twice this amount.)
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Sprinkle with parsley prior to serving.
I served it with the leftover vegetables from our Sunday lunch. Cauliflower, carrots, swede (turnips) and some leftover creamed cabbage. Todd and I both thoroughly enjoyed! I used to make Devilled Beef Slices years ago, but I couldn't find the recipe to make it this time. I'll have to keep looking. They were really, really good!
My husband is a real Meat & Potatoes lover. He could quite happily consume meat and potatoes for every meal. He especially loves pork chops.
I love my potatoes, but am not really fussed if I have meat or not, with the exception of a nice steak. I do love a good steak every now and then.
Once in a while I do crave a pork chop also. I like the rib ones, with the bone included . . . so you get one juicy, almost spare-rib like side . . . that has always been my favourite bit . . . the meat along the bone. Its more flavourful to my thinking.
These days I tend to brine my chops. Brining them means that you never have dry pork chops. Its very easy to do and doesn't take long.
Simply whisk together (for two chops) 1 litre of cold water and 1 1/2TBS each sea salt and sugar. Put the chops in this mixture and chill for about 1 hour. That's it. When you are ready to cook them, simply remove them from the brine, discarding the brine, and pat dry.
The scalloped potatoes have a helping hand by being pre-cooked in some stock and herbs in the microwave. This cuts down a lot on the oven cooking time. It really does. Instead of them having to bake for several hours, you can have them done in not much more than half an hour.
And because they are poached in stock and herbs in the microwave, they are really filled with flavour. There is no need to make a cream sauce. You simply pour some cream which has had some flour stirred into the potatoes and stock (once they have semi-cooked) and pour the whole lot into a baking dish.
Cover tightly and bake for half an hour . . .
While the potatoes are cooking you season the chops and brush them with a flavourful devilled mixture of Dijon, mayo and hot pepper sauce. They then get pressed into a bread crumb and Parmesan cheese mixture.
They then get placed on top of the almost cooked potatoes and a quick 15 minutes in the hot oven browns them up perfectly and cooks them through . . . you end up with tender chops, filled with flavour and really rich and creamy potatoes to serve along side of them. You can't lose!
Yield: 2
Devilled Pork Chops with Scalloped Potatoes
prep time: 10 minscook time: 45 minstotal time: 55 mins
Am all in one pan meal for two that can very easily be doubled to feed four. Tender and moist chops with a tasty crumb atop rich creamy scalloped potatoes.
ingredients:
For the Potatoes:
- 1 pound baking type of potatoes, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 120ml boiling chicken stock (1/2 cup)
- 1/4 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 120ml heavy cream (1/2 cup)
- 1 TBS flour
For the Chops:
- 2 pork chops, cut 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick, fatty edges slashed at 1/2 inch intervals
- 1/2 TBS Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp mayonnaise
- 3/4 tsp hot sauce
- 60g panko bread crumbs (1/2 cup)
- 60g Parmesan cheese divided (1/3 cup)
instructions:
- Put the potatoes into a bowl along with the chicken stock, rosemary, onion and garlic powders and some salt and pepper. Cover and cook on high in the microwave for 6 to 8 minutes or until the edges of the potatoes are supple and translucent.
- While the potatoes are cooking, preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Butter a 7 by 11 inch shallow baking dish. Set it aside.
- Whisk the flour into the cream slowly until it is amalgamated and smooth. Stir this mixture into the partially cooked potatoes, along with their juice. Pour the whole thing into the baking dish, smoothing it all out evenly. Cover tightly with foil and then bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, at which time they should be almost tender.
- Combine the panko bread crumbs along with 2 TBS of the Parmesan cheese in a shallow dish. Whisk the Dijon mustard, hot sauce and mayonnaise together. Pat the chops dry and season with salt and pepper, Brush one side generously with the mustard mixture and then press this side down into the bread crumb mixture to coat well.
- Remove the potatoes from the oven. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Place the chops on top, crumb side up. Sprinkle any remaining crumbs on top. Return to the oven and bake, uncovered for a further 15 minutes or so, until the chops are golden brown and crispy and the juices run clear. Let rest for 10 minutes and then serve.
Created using The Recipes Generator
You can of course double all of the ingredients to feed more people. I make small batches of things like this unless we are having company. Experience has taught me that we never enjoy pork chops that are reheated so its best to cook only two to begin with. I would very happily serve this to company. We had some mashed sweet potatoes, peas & carrots on the side. Yummy nummy!
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