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Friday, April 23, 2010

Marinated Flank Steak & Noodle Bowl

I found the starting point of this recipe in EveryDay with Rachel Ray.  The marinated flank steak was one of the reader submitted 5 ingredient recipes.  We had some flank steak in the freezer, waiting to get used and a giant bottle of teriyaki sauce that Zach had leftover from making beef jerky.  I wanted to turn it into a quick and easy meal though.  We marinated the meat that morning and let it sit in the fridge all day soaking up yummy flavors.  Then, I cooked a package of ramen noodles, minus the seasonings, and drained them.  I LOVE ramen noodles.  If I was still single I'd eat them at least once a week.  I love them not as a soup, but boiled up and then tossed with butter and hot sauce.  I even love them dry, just crack into pieces and eat like crackers, except messier.  I think they are great.  So, they were my first choice in the base for my teriyaki steak noodle bowl.  We also just cooked up a frozen bag of broccoli and carrots and mixed that in too.  It turned out pretty delicious!





Marinated Flank Steak & Noodle Bowl
adapted from EveryDay with Rachel Ray
Serves 4



Ingredients:
½ cup bottled teriyaki sauce 
1/4 cup soy sauce 
4 cloves garlic, chopped 
1 pound flank steak 
1/4 cup spicy brown mustard 
2 packages Ramen Noodles, seasoning discarded
1 package frozen broccoli and carrot mix (or any other veggies you desire)
2 scallions, sliced
Soy sauce

Directions:
  • In a bowl, combine the teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and garlic. 
  • Make 1/4-inch-deep cuts about 1/2 inch apart on both sides of the steak, cutting diagonally across the grain. Rub both sides with the mustard and place the steak in a large plastic bag, then pour in the marinade. Refrigerate for up to 3 hours, turning occasionally. 
  • Preheat the broiler and line a shallow pan with foil. Also set a pot of water on to boil for the ramen noodles and prepare veggies as directed on package.
  • Broil steak for 6 minutes on each side for medium-rare, basting once on each side with remaining marinade. Let rest before slicing across the grain.
  • Cook the ramen noodles for 3 minutes, draining away water.  Toss noodles with a splash or tow of soy sauce, then top with sliced steak and veggies.



Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Triple Play Cinnamon Rolls


I found these in The Best of Cooking Light.  I love cinnamon.  It's one of my favorite spices/flavors.  I was in the mood for some cinnamon rolls and these looked delicious.  The name, Triple Play, refers to the recipe using three different kinds of sugar -- granulated in the dough, brown in the filling and powdered in the glaze.  I think they turned out pretty yummy and gave us breakfasts for some time!  We froze about half of them to use later.  After defrosting over night, warming up in the microwave for about 15 seconds and then adding fresh glaze on the warm rolls you'd never know they weren't freshly baked. 

 


Triple Play Cinnamon Rolls

Adapted from The Best of Cooking Light

Makes 20 rolls

Ingredients

Dough:
1  package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4  cup  warm water (100° to 110°)
1/2  cup  warm 1% low-fat milk (100° to 110°)
1/3  cup  granulated sugar
1/4  cup  butter, softened
1  teaspoon  vanilla extract
3/4  teaspoon  salt
1  large egg, lightly beaten
3 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour, divided
Cooking spray
    Filling:
    3/4  cup  raisins
    2/3  cup  packed brown sugar
    1  tablespoon  ground cinnamon
    2  tablespoons  butter, melted
      Glaze:
      1  cup  powdered sugar
      2  tablespoons  1% low-fat milk
      1/2  teaspoon  vanilla extract

        Preparation

        • To prepare dough, dissolve yeast in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup warm milk, granulated sugar, 1/4 cup butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, salt, and egg; stir with a wooden spoon until combined (batter will not be completely smooth).
        • Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 3 cups flour to yeast mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel slightly tacky).
        • Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray; turn to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)
        • To prepare filling, combine raisins, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Roll dough into a 15 x 10-inch rectangle; brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Sprinkle filling over dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Beginning with a long side, roll up dough jelly-roll fashion; pinch seam to seal (do not seal ends of roll). Wrap roll in plastic wrap; chill for 20 minutes.
        • Unwrap roll, and cut into 20 (1/2-inch) slices. Arrange slices, cut sides up, 1 inch apart on a jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°) free from drafts, 1 hour and 15 minutes or until doubled in size.
        • Preheat oven to 350°.  Uncover dough. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until rolls are golden brown.
        • To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar, 2 tablespoons milk, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, stirring well with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over warm rolls.

        Nutritional Information
        Calories: 200
        Fat: 4g
        Fiber: 1.1g
        WW Points (per roll): 4

        Monday, April 19, 2010

        Taco Pasta Toss

        As soon as I saw this in my latest issue of EveryDay with Rachael Ray, I knew we'd be making it soon!  We really love tacos, and we really love pasta, so combining tacos and pasta sounded like a win-win situation.  I do like Rachael Ray's recipes, but I always find that they make a TON of food.  I cut down the pasta in this dish to half a box, 8 ounces instead of a full pound and still had enough to make 6 servings.  We enjoyed it for dinner and for lunches for a few days.  I also added sour cream to mine, since I had used a ground chipotle chili powder, which was rather spicy.  I used ground turkey instead of beef, and also only one teaspoon of oil in a non-stick pan to cut down on calories.



        Taco Pasta Toss
        slightly adapted from EveryDay with Rachael Ray, March 2010

        Ingredients
        • Salt and pepper
        • 1/2 pound whole grain penne 
        • 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil 
        • 1 pound ground turkey
        • 1 large onion, chopped
        • 1 large jalapeño chile—halved, seeded if desired and thinly sliced crosswise
        • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
        • 2 tablespoons chili powder 
        • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
        • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
        • 1/4 cup tomato paste
        • One 12-ounce bottle beer or 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
        • 2 cups shredded cheddar, monterey jack or any Mexican semisoft cheese
        • 2 small plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
        • 1/4 head iceberg letuce or 1/2 small heart romaine lettuce, chopped 


        Directions:
        1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and return to the pot.
        2. While the pasta is working, in a large skillet, heat the EVOO, 1 turn of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Add three-quarters of the onion, the jalapeño, garlic, chili powder, coriander and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook until the onion is softened, 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute, then stir in the beer.
        3. Add the sauce to the pasta and toss. Spoon into a serving dish, top with the cheese and tent with foil to melt the cheese, about 1 minute. Top with the remaining onion, the tomatoes and lettuce— just like tacos!

        Sunday, April 18, 2010

        Individual Meatloaves: Barefoot Bloggers


        These were great!  We made these on a weeknight and they made a great meal with leftovers for yummy lunches.  I cut the recipe in half, but still made 6 individual loaves.  They were still a pretty good size I felt.  We served them with mashed potatoes and roasted baby carrots.  I don't have a lot to say about the recipe, since except for cutting it in half I didn't make any changes and thought it turned out rather well.  It is not our favorite meatloaf recipe however, that is still Alton Brown's meatloaf, but these were good and easy for a weeknight. 



        chosen by Tonya of What’s on My Plate?

        Caesar Club Sandwich: Barefoot Bloggers

        This is the second recipe in March for the Barefoot Bloggers.  I made these for a Sunday lunch.  They were super, and since the recipe made four sandwiches we had some leftover for a few lunches during the week.  They only got better as the week went on.  The only change I really made was to use sun-dried tomatoes not packed on oil, just the regular ones in the bag.  I also used boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I sauteed on the stove top in olive oil.  I loved the caesar dressing in the recipe.  We had some leftover and used it to make a wrap later in the week.  It was salty, garlicy and just delicious.  I did make one other change, which was to use my local grocery store's whole wheat ciabatta rolls instead of a loaf of bread.  They were very good sandwiches and I'd definitely make them again.  Every few months we like to visit a few local wineries and take a picnic lunch along to eat at one of our stops, these sandwiches would be great to take along!




        chosen by Karen of Shortbread

        Cookbook of the Month: April 2010

        For April I'm choosing a cookbook I've been very excited about since we got it in December.  Even before we moved down to the Washington DC area and got to live near his fabulous restaurants we've been fans of Jose Andres.  We started watching his show Made in Spain on PBS, and love his enthusiasm for his Spanish culture, traditions and cooking.  We wanted to learn more about him as a chef so we googled him and we were surprised to discover we had actually already been to one of his restaurants!  On a trip to DC the year before we had dined at Jaleo, Crystal City.

        We ended up there by chance, since it was a short walk from the hotel I was staying in and the menu looked good.  After reading more about him, and knowing we'd be moving to the DC area soon, we set ourselves a goal of eating at each of his restaurants.  So far we've been to Oyamel and Jaleo Bethesda.  We went to Jaleo Bethesda for a chance to meet the chef himself.  He had a cookbook signing there in December of 2009.  We went, had dinner, then waited in line to get our own signed copy of Made in Spain.  I've been waiting patiently to make it our Cookbook of the Month!  I can't wait to make some of the dishes and blog about them.