Spice Rubbed Steak Tacos with Chipotle Cream Sauce

It was another beautifully warm day in Syracuse and I decided I wanted brave the grill. I did an inspiration stroll around the super market. This is where I walk down every aisle of the store with absolutely no clue what to make. I wanted something fresh and light where I could still cook outdoors.

A friend had mentioned steak tacos to me earlier so I picked up 1 1/4 lb of sirloin tip steak, a can of chipotle peppers and a package of soft tacos.

Here's what happened:

Rub for Steak:
2 Tbsp. Kosher salt
1 Tbsp. Coarse black pepper
1 Tsp. Onion powder
1 Tsp. Garlic powder
1-2 Dashes Cayenne pepper

Chipotle Cream Sauce:
1 7oz Can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
2 Cloves of garlic
1 8oz Package of sour cream
1/2 Cup of mayo
1 Tsp. Black pepper
2 Tsp. Kosher salt
1 Tbsp. Honey

Toppings:
1/2 of 1 Red onion diced.
1 Green pepper diced
1 Small tomato diced
1 cup Monterey Jack grated


1. Rub the steak with the seasoning and let sit for 30 minutes.
2. In a food processor pulse the chipotle peppers and garlic until smooth and then add the remainder of the ingredients for the sauce.
3. Heat the grill to medium/ medium high heat. - I grilled the 1/2 inch thick piece of meat I had for 7 minutes per side and got a medium piece of steak.
4. Let the steak rest and prepare/slice/dice/grate the other taco ingredients. - I put each of the ingredients in little bowls and let the taco eaters help themselves.
4. Slice the steak thin against the grain.

This was enough for 9 tacos.
 

Lemon Bars

All of my roommates have been away doing various things in different parts of the country for a couple of weeks. I wanted to make a little something to welcome them all back. 'Who doesn't love coming home to baked goods,' I thought. I quickly realized, the very health conscious, medical professionals to be probably don't really care about having baked goods around the house.

But hey, more for me!

At the market the other day I picked up some very attractive lemons and thought I could make some lemon bars. I tried using Ina Garten's recipe but yet again I didn't have all the ingredients.

Here's what happened:

Crust:
2 sticks of salted butter.
1/2 cup of sugar
2 cups of flour
1 Tsp of lemon zest. *
1 squeeze of a lemon

Filling:
6 large eggs
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice.**
1/2 cup store bought lemon juice.
2 tsp of lemon zest
1 cup flour

Confectioner's sugar to dust on top.

1. Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment.
2. Sift the flour and add slowly to the butter until combined.
3. Take the dough and press it into a buttered and floured 9x13x2" baking sheet. Make sure to pressed it in as evenly as possible.
4. Set oven to 350 degrees (I stuck the pan with the crust into the freezer for just as long as it took my oven to pre-heat,10 minutes)

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes and then let cool.
6. While the crust is cooling put the whisk attachment on electric mixer and combine eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour.
7. Pour mixture on top of cooled crust and bake for 30-35 minutes.
8. Let cool before cutting and dusting with sugar.

* Why should the filling have all the lemon fun?
** 2 Large lemons gave left me with 1/2 a cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice. Thankfully I had some store bought lemon juice on hand which worked really well. These same lemons only left me with about 3 teaspoons of lemon zest. I still came out with a delightfully intense lemon flavor.

These were fairly simple and came out great with huge lemon flavor.

I would suggest for next time:

-Adding some ground ginger or fresh grated ginger to the crust for a more complex flavor. (this is what I will try next)
-Adding a thin layer of raspberry jam before adding the filling for lemon raspberry bars.(9I made my mouth water just thinking about that.)

Honey Bourbon Ginger Pork Tenderloin

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I was watching my new favorite show, Worst Cooks, and the contestants were trying to recreate one of Bobby Flay's dishes. He had made a really scrumptious looking pork tenderloin that involved a bourbon sauce. I stopped paying attention to the show as soon as I heard the word 'bourbon'. I walked into the room where the liquor is kept and picked up the bottle of Makers Mark.

I looked at the bottle with sheer determination and thought, 'I will make something with you today.'

I had chosen my ingredient and I went straight into the kitchen. I started fussing over the stove trying to make a bourbon reduction of some sort. I thought if I could figure out how to make a sweet bourbon sauce to pour over poached pears, it would be absolutely delicious. This idea quickly turned into an indestructible tar that is still in a pan soaking two days later. I stared at the black mess for a while and picked up the bottle of makers mark again and poured out 2 tablespoons into a bowl.

Here's what happened:

Shrimp with zucchini and spinach over linguine

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With warm weather sweeping the northeast it's hard to remember it's only March. Not too long ago, I was regressing to October, this weekend, I set the clocks an hour forward and my dinner a few months forward.

Here's what happened:

1 Lb extra large uncooked shrimp (remember to devein, no one likes shrimp poo)
3 Tbsp Butter
2 Cloves of garlic minced
1 Tsp. fresh minced parsley
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Zucchini sliced in 1/2 inch circles
1 Cup spinach
1/2 Lb linguine
Extra virgin olive oil
Red pepper flakes in a pepper mill
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Set oven to 350. Set water to boil for pasta to cook while you're making the shrimp.
2. Drizzle zucchini with olive oil. Season with ground red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste
3. Place zucchini on a baking sheet and set to cook for 10-15 minutes. Should be done as the shrimp and pasta are done cooking.
4. In a heavy 10 inch frying pan put 2 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil on medium heat.
5. Place peeled(I take the tails off), deveined shrimp around pan until pink starts to creep around the edges of the shrimp about 2 minutes and turn over(use tongs) to finish cooking, another 2 minutes.
6. Remove shrimp from pan and add to the pan 1tbsp of butter and minced garlic. Cook garlic for 2 minutes and return the shrimp to the pan. Add minced parsley and lemon juice.
7. Add pasta, zucchini and spinach to the shrimp and toss together.

Timing and organization are important with this meal but if executed well, it should not take more than 30 minutes to put dinner together. Fresh, light, quick and most importantly, delicious.
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Stracciatella Soup

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I'm working with a very small budget these days; I made a promise to myself that I would not eat out for lunch. Yesterday I walked into the kitchen hungry for lunch. I took a mental note of the ingredients I had on hand and there didn't seem to be anything easy to make. This is when I look at a full refrigerator and pantry and think, 'man, there's nothing to eat'. I was afraid I would have to break another promise to myself when I had an 'a ha!' moment.

I realized that I had the chicken broth made from my Sunday roast chicken(I will post this recipe soon), eggs, Pecorino Romano, and baby spinach.

Eureka! I'll make stracciatella soup! - Don't worry I had trouble pronouncing this at first too.

My former boss and mentor is the one who got me hooked on this simple and extremely comforting, delicious soup. I would get it often from the local pizzeria and this is my take on it.

5 cups of chicken broth - homemade broth brings this soup the extra mile.
2 eggs
1/2 cup of Pecorino Romano(I love to grate my own but most often use pre-grated Locatelli)
2-3 handfuls of baby spinach
Salt and pepper to taste
optional: fresh Italian Parsley

1. Bring the chicken broth to a soft boil in a medium sauce pan.
2. Whisk eggs and grated cheese together. Add finely chopped parsley to egg mixture.
3. Drop egg mixture in hot broth with baby spinach.
4. Stir and let cook. The eggs and spinach cook almost instantly and you're left with a great soup.

I love to serve this soup with a little cheese and fresh grated pepper on top. The whole process took ten minutes. Lunch doesn't get much easier than this and I didn't have to break my promise.

I would suggest for next time:

Having this soup with some good Italian bread.


                                                                               





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Pumpkin scones

O.K.! I know everyone must be thinking, 'aren't you a little late?'.
I'm well aware that the wonderful time of year when the pumpkin spice latte returns to Starbucks is over. I just can't let go of the great favor of pumpkins, so today, I made pumpkin scones.


Here's what happened:


I followed the recipe from the link above. The dough ended up being way too dry so I added more puree, about 1/4 a cup.  She recommended using parchment paper to line the baking sheets. I didn't have any on hand; I thought I might be on my way to another baking disaster but they came right off after 15 minutes in the oven. Unfortunately I left my cooling racks in New Jersey. My solution was to use one of the racks from the oven to cool the scones. I decided to not use her glaze and improvised.


1 cup of confectioners sugar.
1/2 tsp. of allspice.
2 Tbsp. half and half. 

These scones brought me right back to October!

I would suggest for next time:


Making your own pumpkin puree. 
Omit glaze altogether and eat with a little pumpkin butter instead. 
Serving these scones with ginger or cinnamon tea.