Cooking Challenge Week 35 - Marinating - Bulgogi and Thai Cucumber Salad

It's a Neglected Cookbook Project double feature!  Both recipes are (slightly) adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection: Asian, which my brother and his wife gave to me for Christmas years ago.  It's a well-written, beautifully-photographed book, and yet somehow I never found myself cooking from it.

So a few weekends ago I picked it out of the NCP pile and starting leafing through.  Knowing the marinating challenge was coming up, these two just jumped right out at me.

I know the ingredient list for the bulgogi looks long, but the marinade and the sauce use mostly the same ingredients in different quantities, so it's really not that bad.

Bulgogi (Korean BBQ)

Marinade

• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 4 green onions, minced
• 1 tsp ginger paste (or finely chopped ginger)
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp water

Sauce

•  1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp Sriracha chile sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 green onion, minced
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tbsp water

• 1 1/2 lbs beef tenderloin
• 1 tbsp canola oil

Make the marinade: Using a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic with the sugar to form a rough paste.  (Alternately, if you don't have one, use a cutting board and the flat of a heavy knife to mash them together.)  Transfer the paste to a small bowl and add the remaining marinade ingredients, whisking well to combine.  Set aside.

Make the sauce just as you made the marinade, combining everything in another small bowl.  Refrigerate until needed.

Cut the beef across the grain as thin as you can manage (1/8" or less is ideal).   Placing the beef in the freezer for 30-45 minutes before slicing can help firm it up and make it easier to get thin slices.  (Mine actually weren't so good, I need to get my knives sharpened.)

Add the beef slices to the marinade and toss to mix.  Cover and refrigerate 1-3 hours.

Prepare a hot fire on a charcoal grill, or preheat a grill pan on the stove on high.  Brush the grill rack/pan with the canola oil.

Remove the beef from the marinade and pat dry, discarding the marinade.  (I tried to get most of the sesame seeds off, afraid they'd burn, but really they didn't, so there's no need to be too fussy.)  Working in batches, arrange the beef in a single layer on the hot pan.  Sear, turning once, until crisp and browned on both sides, about 2 minutes per side.  Wipe down and re-oil the pan between batches if necessary.

Here, I served it over rice, drizzled with the sauce, with a side of...

Thai Cucumber Salad

• 2 lbs. cucumbers
• 2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 4 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 red jalapeno or other fresh red chile, seeded and julienned
• 2 tbsp fresh cilantro leaves

Peel the cucumbers, halve lengthwise, and scoop out the seeds.  Cut crosswise into 1/4" thick slices.  Place in a colander, sprinkle with 1 tsp of the salt, and toss to mix.  Set aside to drain for 1 hour, then pat the cucumbers dry.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, the remaining 1 tsp salt, and the rice vinegar.  Heat until the sugar and salt dissolve, about two minutes.   Set aside to cool.

To assemble the salad, in a large bowl combine the cucumbers, shallots, and chile.  Pour the cooled vinegar mixture over and toss well.  Garnish with the cilantro leaves, and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving.

Cooking Challenge Week 30 (Late!) - Burgers - Burger Trio

Yes, I'm aware there's four burgers, not three, but two of them are made the same way.

All the burgers have Spicy Montreal Steak Seasoning worked into the meat before cooking.  This, in my husband's family, has become a verb:  "Do you want me to Montreal your burgers?"  (Hint:  "No" is never the right answer.)  Also, all four got sharp cheddar cheese on top after flipping.

My burger, on the right, is topped with diced red onions and green peppers.  When I saw how they went all over the place, I put them on the bottom bun of one of my husband's burgers, instead of on top, which made for easier eating.

Hubby's burger #2 was sprinkled liberally with cherry hot sauce.

Burger #3 has stone-ground mustard on the bottom bun and got a sunny-side-up egg on top.

And yes, we ate them with top buns.  But how would you see all the lovely variety if I'd taken the picture that way?

Cooking Challenge Week 25 - Regional - Pasties

They're huge, and they're delicious.  I'd never had one before, but who could turn down a giant butter pie crust filled with meat, potato, and onion?

I browsed through quite a few traditional recipes, both "originals" from Cornwall and the UP versions (that's Upper Peninsula to you non-Michiganders), and--surprise, surprise--none of them agreed on what was the true pasty.

So having absorbed all this pasty knowledge, I winged it based on what I like.

Avrienne's Pasties from the Thumb

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• half of a large onion, chopped
• 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• salt and pepper
• 2 pie crusts (I recommend this recipe, it's my favorite)
• milk

Make your pie crusts.  Most recipes call for the dough to chill before rolling out--that would be the time to chop the veggies and make the filling.

Also, preheat your oven to 400 F.

Crumble the ground beef into a large bowl, then add the onion and potatoes.  Season well with salt and pepper, then mix thoroughly with your hands.  Pat the mixture down firmly in the bowl, and divide in half with a knife.  (This will make sense in a minute here, I promise.)

(Wash your beefy hands!)

Roll out one of the pie crusts in a circle.  You're shooting for about 1/4" thick and hopefully at least 10" in diameter.  Take half of the beef mixture (which should mostly come out in one piece if you packed it well!) and place it on one side of the pie crust.  Fold the other side over to cover and seal well around the edge.  Transfer to a lightly-greased baking sheet.

Repeat with the other crust and the rest of the beef mixture.  Slash a few vents in the top of each, then brush the tops with a little milk.  Bake for 45 minutes, until the crusts are golden brown and the filling cooked through.  Cut in half to serve, unless you're actually a coal miner and need a whole one to yourself!

Cooking Challenge Week 17 - Childhood - Round Steak Special

My parents do know how to cook, but they don't do it much.  My dad has worked retail my entire life, and his hours have always been unusual and long, meaning he wasn't home for dinner often.  When I was old enough, my mom went back to work too, and often worked nights.  We were not a family that sat down to a lovingly home-cooked meal every weeknight--once or twice a week, if we were lucky.

So there aren't a lot of meals that mean childhood, or home, or even family to me.  Of the few there are, this is the best.

All through college, I missed this, and jumped at every chance I had to make it--mostly when I was visiting a friend's family on vacation and offered to take a turn in the kitchen.  It was always well-received.  Two different mothers told me I should bottle this sauce and make a fortune selling it.  (I don't think they realized how easy it is to make!)

The original 70's-era Campbell's recipe this is based on is lost to the mists of time.  I vaguely remember seeing a battered page torn from a magazine when I was very small, but I think it got lost one of the times we moved.  By then, my mother had decided how she liked it, what to leave out and what to add--she told me the original had kidney beans, which, even though I like beans, I simply cannot grasp!  I bet it would be good with cannellini beans instead of the beef, though...maybe I'll try that sometime when I can't find a good price on the beef.

So this is our family's version.  Whatever it was once called, it is now known only as Round Steak Special.

Round Steak Special
(makes 4 servings)

• 8 oz. wide egg noodles
• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 large white (or sweet) onion, chopped
• 1 lb. bottom round steak
• 1 15-oz. can stewed tomatoes, undrained, cut up (I open the can and use kitchen shears to cut them without having to drain first--no mess!)
• 1 can condensed Campbell's Golden Mushroom soup

Set water on to boil for the noodles, and cook the noodles according to the package directions.

Slice the round steak as thin as possible across the grain.  (Freezing the meat for 30 minutes before slicing can help.)  Cut the slices into 1 1/2 to 2-inch strips.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan or skillet over medium heat, heat the oil and cook the onion until soft and translucent.  Add the steak strips and cook until just browned.  Add the canned tomatoes and undiluted soup, and stir well to combine.  Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook gently for 10-12 minutes, until the beef is fully cooked.  (I usually cook until the noodles are done, then drain them and check the beef--almost always done at the same time!)

Check for seasoning at the end--because both the tomatoes and soup are relatively high in sodium, I usually don't feel the need to add any extra salt.

Ladle the meat and sauce over the noodles, and go to town!

Baking Challenge Week 7 - Valentine's Day - Kheema Pot Pie

This week feels backwards, with my V-Day dessert being my cooking challenge entry, and my main dish being the baking entry--most of my baking entries, by their very nature, have been desserts!  But I just had to have those jello shots, and there's no possible way that could be construed as "baking", so I invented this new pot pie to fall in love with.

It's based on a favorite curry of mine, kheema (also spelled keema or qeema), a heavily-spiced Pakistani dish of ground meat, tomatoes, onions, and whatever other veggies you like, normally served with some sort of flatbread and plain yogurt.  It manages to be both exotic and comfort food at the same time, which I just love.

How did I come up with this idea?  I've seen a few curry pot pie recipes floating around, but they're all basically a normal chicken pot pie with curry powder added...which just doesn't do it for me.  Once I knew that I wanted a pie for my main dish, and that I didn't want chicken (we ate a lot of chicken last week), kheema was one of the first things that came to mind, because I make it with beef.  (It's more often made with lamb, but lamb is prohibitively expensive around here.  If you like lamb better and it's available, by all means, use it instead!)

I made the curry proper the day before, both because it's a rather long process from start to finish if you were to do it all the same day, and because I have yet to meet a curry that doesn't taste better reheated the next day.  It could certainly be done all in one go, but allow some time for the curry to cool before adding the egg and filling the crust.

The full recipe of kheema makes enough to fill two pies; if you don't want two pies, make half the recipe, or make the full recipe and freeze the unused half for later.  If you just want the curry and not the pie, skip the egg and pie crusts and scoop that stuff up with some naan or roti!

Kheema Pot Pie
(adapted from Curry Cuisine)

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, quartered and thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and very finely diced
• 1 tsp hot red chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lb. ground beef (or lamb)
• 3 tbsp chopped cilantro leaves
• 1 egg, beaten, per pie
• Enough pastry for a double pie crust for each pie being made, either purchased or homemade (I like this recipe)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and cook the onions over low heat, stirring often, until soft and golden brown.  Add the garlic, ginger paste, tomatoes, and potatoes and stir well.  Add the chili powder, turmeric, cumin seeds, coriander, and salt.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the oil separates out.

Add the ground beef and stir to mix with the spice mixture.  Cover the pan and simmer over low heat 35 minutes.  Remove the lid and cook a further 8-10 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Here, either refrigerate the curry overnight and continue the next day, or allow to cool somewhat before proceeding.  This would be a good time to make the pie crusts, if you're going homemade.

For each pie, mix one beaten egg with half the prepared curry.  Fill the bottom crust, smoothing the curry in an even layer.  Lay the top crust over, seal all around with a fork, and slash a few vents on top to allow steam to escape.  (The hearts are cute, but wholly unnecessary.  I did it to make the pie more lovey-dovey for the theme.)  Bake in a 375 F oven for 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.  Rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Anniversary Dinner - Deep-Fried, Feta-Filled Meatballs with Two Sauces

For our first anniversary, we went out to eat, to the same restaurant we went for our rehearsal dinner.  Good times were had.

But around our second anniversary, we were suffering a budget crisis that forbade such things as eating out.  We decided instead to cook something fancy, something that would normally be outside our grocery budget, but still far cheaper than restaurant dinner for two.  (It was paella, and it was delicious.)  We had such fun that we decided it would be the new tradition, budget crisis or no.

This year's dish needs a little explaining.  First, a few years back we were big fans of Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.  (Not so much anymore, it's gone downhill a bit.)  But we got the cookbook, and we're big fans of the 'Greek' meatballs from the Monte Carlo Steakhouse.  We made them often, both for spaghetti and meatball subs.

Also because of Triple-D, we stopped in at Joe's Gizzard City on one of our cross-MI trips.  Everything they fry is fantastic--best onion rings I've ever had!--but we were really impressed the time I got deep-fried meatballs.  I had them with sweet and sour sauce, but my husband tried one and immediately said, "Why don't we do this with the Greek meatballs and have them with tzatziki?"

So we did.  And then a while later, we told his dad about it, who immediately said, "Those would be great with some feta in the middle!"

So here they are: deep-fried, feta-filled meatballs.

Served with a Hasselback potato, tzatziki sauce, and red bell pepper coulis.

Deep-Fried 'Greek' Meatballs
(adapted from the Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives cookbook)

• 1 small onion, minced
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried mint
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/3 cup dried bread crumbs (plain or Italian-seasoned are both fine)
• 1 egg
• 2 oz feta cheese, cut into 1/4" dice
• olive oil for sauteing

Heat a little olive oil in a skillet and cook the onion, garlic, oregano, mint, and salt until the onion is soft.  Transfer to a large bowl and add the ground beef, bread crumbs, and egg.  Mix gently until well blended.

Break off 1 1/4" balls of meat mixture and form into flat, round patties between your hands.  Take a piece of feta and place it in the middle, then fold the edges of the patty around it and reshape the mixture into a ball.  Place on a baking sheet while you form the rest.  (If you have any feta left over after you're done, I'd recommend discarding it, unless you're really sure you never touched it with your contaminated hands.  I only had two pieces left, so I didn't mind tossing it.)

Heat more olive oil in the skillet over medium heat and add the meatballs in batches, handling them gently with tongs to turn them to brown all over.  As the meat cooks, it shrinks, so some of them may crack and expose the feta...but they're still delicious.  If any fall apart entirely, eat them now and don't bother to deep-fry them!

You can make them ahead of time and fridge them until you're ready to fry; or you can fry them soon after the initial cooking, just wait until they've cooled enough to handle before dipping them in the batter.  Your cooking time will be a little faster if you fry them while they're still warm.

For the fry batter:
(found somewhere out there on the internet...I wrote the recipe down on a scrap of paper, but not the source)

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• vegetable oil for deep-frying

In a bowl, mix together all of the dry ingredients, then add the milk and water and blend well.

Heat the oil for frying in a large, heavy pot (I use my enameled dutch oven) to 350 F.  Dip each meatball in the batter, allow the excess to drip off for a few seconds, then place gently in the oil.  Fry in batches--how many you can manage at once depends upon your pot size.  Fry until deep golden, about 4-5 minutes (cold start) or 3-4 minutes (warm start).  I'd recommend cutting open a meatball from your first batch to check your time before starting the rest.

Remove them with a wire spider or a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels while cooking the rest.  Serve with some manner of delicious sauce, and tell your arteries to stop complaining!