Category: Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 c brown rice flour
• 1 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 pinch raw or brown sugar
• 1/3 c water
• 1 Tbs melted butter
• sesame seeds
• kosher salt

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F
• Mix dry ingredients
• Mix with oil and melted butter
• Slowly add water while mixing, until dough forms a ball
• Roll out on baking sheet until 1/8 inch thick (*)
• Brush with melted butter, add sesame seeds and kosher salt
• Score dough into rectangles, squares, whatever…
• Bake 15 – 17 minutes until golden brown

* I also pressed these in a tortilla press, then scored the dough like pie slices

 

Ingredients

• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 fresh jalepeno, or 8 sliced jalepenos with 1 Tbs juice from jar
• 1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro, including stems
• 14 oz top sirloin steak (or flank steak or skirt steak)
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 3 bell peppers: green, yellow, and red, sliced into strips
• 1 Tbs vegetable oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Mix lime, olive oil, garlic, cumin, and jalepenos to create marinade
• Coat the steak with marinade, cover and allow to sit 1 hour at room temperature
• Heat vegetable oil in iron skillet to smoke point over high heat.  Open window, turn on exhaust fan, or disable smoke alarms
• Remove most of the marinade from steak. Fry 3 minutes on each side. Place on carving board and tent.
• Add onions and peppers to skillet.  Allow to sear 90 minutes without stirring
• Stir and continue cooking veggies, 4-6 minutes according to preference.
• Slice steak across the grain into thin strips, add to skillet.
• Season with salt and pepper
• Re-enable smoke alarm before serving with home made flour tortillas

 

Preface

This recipe was an experiment, adapted from Cooks Illustrated 20th Anniversary Edition.  The objective was to create a tasty roast from a cheap cut of meat.  The result was successful, but I think it can be improved.

Theory

Cuts of meat such as eye or round or chuck contain a lot of connective tissue.  Enzymes break down this tissue as temperature increases, but stop working after temperature reaches 122 degrees F.  Therefore, slow cooking at low temperatures creates a tender roast. Most ovens do not have settings below 200 degrees; however, because my toaster oven can cook at 150 degrees, it can be used to slow cook this roast.

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 lb eye of round roast
• 2 Tbs kosher salt
• 5 tsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp pepper

Directions

• Season all sides of meat with salt.  Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 18 to 24 hours.
• Remove meat from refrigerator 1 hour before cooking.  Pat dry, rub with 2 tsp oil on all sides,  season with pepper.
• Heat 3 tsp oil in iron skillet or dutch oven to smoke point.  Open window, turn on exhaust fan, or disable smoke alarms.
• Sear meat on all sides, about 12 minutes.
• Place meat on rack over drip pan in toaster oven.  Bake at 225 degrees F until internal temp of meat reaches 115 deg. F (for medium rare roast.) Re-enable smoke alarms.
• Reduce heat to 150 deg F, continue baking until internal temp reaches 130 deg F.
• Place on carving board, tent and rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Result

Roast was very flavorful, but not as tender as I wanted.  I found the internal temp rose above 122 degrees sooner than expected. Next time, I will try roasting in oven at much lower temperature – perhaps 170 degrees F for a longer time. Subscribe to this blog to receive updates…

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb fresh organic green beans
• 1 medium shallot, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 6 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Tbs butter
• 14oz can cream of mushroom soup, opened
• 1/2 c heavy cream
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 c french fried onions

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Blanch green beans for 5 minutes, drain and cool
• French cut green beans
• In a medium dutch oven, saute shallot and garlic over medium heat about 4 minutes, until shallots are clear
• Add cream of mushroom soup, heavy cream, stir until smooth
• Stir in mushrooms, green beans, thyme, salt and pepper
• Bake uncovered for 25 minutes
• Sprinkle french fried onions over top, increase oven temp to 400 degrees
• Bake 5 more minutes and serve

Ingredients

• 1 medium Walla Walla sweet onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 – 2 Anaheim Chile pepper, chopped
• 2 cans (14 oz) organic black beans, opened
• 1 qt organic chicken stock, opened
• 1 container (13.5 oz) frozen Hatch chiles, thawed
• 6-12 oz left over grilled pork tenderloin, cubed
• 1-2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Saute onions, garlic, celery, Anaheim chile over medium high heat, about 4 minutes until, onion is soft and translucent
• Add Hatch chiles, black beans, chicken stock, bring to a boil
• Add pork tenderloin, tomatoes, spices, simmer for 1/2 hour
• Use potato masher to mash beans and other ingredients. Soup will thicken
• Continue simmering for 1/2 hour or more
• Serve with home made tortillas, or over organic brown rice. Add a dollop of sour cream to the soup if your cholesterol is under 240 mg/dL

This one is a mod of something I found on the internet.

Ingredients

• 1 pound Fresh Large Mexican Prawns, cleaned and de-veined
• 3 medium zucchinis, cubed
• 1 medium Walla Walla sweet onion, chopped
• 1 small head broccoli
• 1/3 c chicken broth
• 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp chile paste
• 8 drops hot chili oil
• 1 Tbs dry sherry or white wine
• 1 1/2 Tbs vegetable oil
• 9 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger
• 1 Tbs cornstarch
• 3 Tbs mountain spring water

Directions

• In a bowl, mix chicken broth, vinegar, soy sauce, chile paste, chili oil, wine, sesame oil.
• In a second bowl, mix cornstarch and water.
• Heat oil in wok until it smokes; turn on oven fan or disable smoke alarms.
• Add veggies, stir fry for 3 minutes
• Add shrimp, stir fry until pink, about 2 minutes
• Add first bowl of sauce; then add water with cornstarch.  Continue cooking until thickened.
• Serve over brown rice.

 

Adapted from myRecipes.com

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound fresh halibut,  2 pieces
• 2 medium zucchini,  1 inch cubes
• 20 cherry tomatoes, sliced in halves
• 18 mushrooms, sliced in halves
• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Preheat grill to 400 degrees
• Place 2 sheets of aluminum foil on work surface
• Divide zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms, arrange on foil
• Place halibut on top of veggies
• Brush halibut with olive oil
• Add garlic to each piece of halibut
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Place sprig of rosemary on top of halibut
• Gather sides of foil over fish and veggies, seal in a packet
• Wrap packets in second piece of foil to ensure good seal
• Place packets on grill, cook for 12 minutes
• Serve over couscous

Adapted from BBC Good Food

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound fresh northwest Coho salmon, skin removed, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 medium Walla Walla sweet onion, sliced
• 30 fresh green beans
• 1 Tbs butter
• 1 Tbs red curry paste
• 7 oz (1/2 can) coconut milk
• 1 tsp fresh Thai basil

Directions

• Saute onions and curry paste in butter until the onions soften, about 5 minutes.
• Add coconut milk, bring to a boil.
• Add salmon and green beans. Reduce heat, simmer until the salmon flakes and the green beans soften, about 6 minutes
• Garnish with basil and server over brown rice

Our gas grill on Bainbridge Island does not get hot enough to cook a good steak, so we decided to do it on the stove top and we quite pleased with the results.

Ingredients

• 2 Steaks – N.Y. Strip, or similar
• cast iron skillet
• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder

Directions

• Remove steak from fridge 1 hour before cooking. Season both sides with salt, pepper, garlic powder.  Cover and let stand at room temperature.
• Add oil to skillet, heat until it starts to smoke.
• Add steak to skillet, cook on one side until seared, about 2 minutes on our stove
• Flip steak, sear other side. Then flip 90 degrees, sear first one edge, then the other edge of the steak.
• Pour off excess fat.
• Finish cooking steak on low heat, according to preference.  Our steaks were about an inch thick, so we removed the cast iron skillet from the heat completely; the iron skillet was hot enough to finish cooking the steak.
• Place steak on a platter, cover with aluminum foil, allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.