Thai Lettuce (Cabbage) Wraps (aka Nam Sod)

A GREAT little dish full of flavor for those going no-carb or paleo-esque. (I know there's paleo-friendly fish sauce out there, but I haven't looked THAT hard for it.)

INGREDIENTS

- 1 lb ground meat (it's traditionally made with pork, but I made this with ground chicken since I'm TRYING to cut back)

- 2 tbsp chopped cilantro

- 2 tbsp chopped mint

- 3 tbsp fish sauce

- 2 tbsp fresh lime juice

- dash of sugar

- chopped fresh chili pepper (I use Thai peppers bc they're particularly hot and flavorful, but a jalapeño will work just as well)

- fried shallots (I get these ready-made from the Asian grocery store)

- 1 head of cabbage (or lettuce if you prefer, but I like the crunchiness and slight sweetness of cabbage)

1) Brown the meat in a pan, cooking it the way you would taco meat.

2) Before it's completely done, add in chopped cilantro and mint, fish sauce and lime juice. (Leave some fresh cilantro and mint to the side for garnishing later!)

3) Allow the meat to cook in the fish sauce and lime juice so that it marries the ingredients. 

4) Add a dash of sugar to your liking. Sometimes the fish sauce and lime juice can come out quite tart, so I usually add just a tad bit of sugar to balance it out.

5) Add in chopped chili pepper and cook another minute.

6) Separate the cabbage leaves.

7) Spoon meat into cabbage leaf and garnish with some of hat leftover fresh cilantro and mint, and fried shallots. 

8) Eat!

Skillet Seared Ribeye

Everyone who knows me knows I loves me some steak! And although it causes a bit of smoke in the kitchen (it's fine - just disconnect the smoke detector!) it produces a perfectly cooked steak each time. So grab your iron skillet, and let's get started!

Why an iron skillet, you ask? Grill marks are pretty and all, but I'm more about taste. For all you food science geeks, you know what I'm talking about: the Maillaird  Reaction. The more your meat touches a hot surface (in this case a flat iron skillet) the more browning/caramelization you get on the meat and the tastier it becomes. Oh, I should also add that I currently don't own a grill...so grilling a steak isn't really possible. STILL - I'd choose to pan sear one any day of the week! 

INGREDIENTS FOR STEAK

- a steak (preferably ribeye) that's at least an inch and a half thick

- Lawry's Seasoning Salt or Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning (whatever you have on hand)

- Worcestershire Sauce 

- Dales Steak Seasoning

Seasoning: 

Very simple. Season the thick cut steak with some Lawry's Seasoning Salt or Tony Chachere's, whatever you have in hand. Douse it with some Worcestershire Sauce and Dale's Seasoning. Let sit for at least 20 minutes.

Cooking:

I got these instructions from Alton Brown. Works like a charm.

Place a 10-to-12-inch cast-iron skillet in the oven and heat the oven to 500 degrees F. Bring the steak to room temperature. 

When the oven reaches temperature, remove the skillet (remember it's hot!) and place on the range over high heat for 5 minutes. Remove steak from marinade and coat the steak lightly with oil.

Immediately place the steak in the middle of the hot, dry skillet. Cook 30 seconds without moving. Turn with tongs and cook another 30 seconds, then put the pan straight into the oven for 2 minutes. Flip the steak and cook for another 2 minutes. (This time is for medium-rare steak. If you prefer medium, add a minute to both of the oven turns.)

Remove the steak from the skillet, let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

MUSHROOMS

- Sauté the mushrooms in a pan with the same seasonings as the steak marinade.

INGREDIENTS FOR MASHED SWEET POTATO

- 1 large sweet potato

- 3-4 tbsp butter

- 1 tbsp REAL maple syrup (just splurge and get the real stuff. It's better for you, you don't use it too often, and it makes a world of difference.) or raw honey

- dash of cayenne pepper

Cut the sweet potato up in big chunks and boil until soft enough to mash. (I find if you soak the sweet potato chunks in water for at least an hour beforehand it gets rid of that weird stringy consistency that sweet potatoes sometimes have.) Mash the sweet potato with the other ingredients and serve. (One sweet potato will serve two people.)

INGREDIENTS FOR ASPARAGUS

- bundle of asparagus

- 3 tbsp butter

- 1 shallot, minced

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- dash of olive oil

Although my mother would hate for me to "waste" any part of the asparagus, we're not actually supposed to eat the entire stalk. Asparagus will break on its own when you bend the stalk (right at the point you're supposed to cut it) so I break them by hand instead of cutting them (This is only if I'm eating them as long stalks, which, admittedly, look prettier.)

Melt the butter with the olive oil, add the shallot and garlic. Toss in the asparagus and cover until tender.

Braised Short Ribs (Graham's recipe!)

I've never made short ribs before, but when I saw these beautifully cut ones at Fresh Market, I couldn't resist trying! (Also, Graham sent me his most recent recipe and said they were the best he ever made.)

Ingredients

- 3-4 lbs short ribs

- 1 lb crimini mushrooms, quartered

- 1 medium sweet onion, chopped

- 3 cloves garlic, chopped

- 1 bottle cheap drinkable red wine

- 1 qt. beef broth

- a few sprigs of fresh thyme

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2) Turn the stovetop on to medium high and put a Dutch oven on it. Pour in olive oil.

3) Salt the short ribs on each side. Brown the short ribs, 2 minutes each side. When they're done, take them out of the Dutch oven and set aside.

4) While the ribs are browning, chop the onions and mushrooms.

5) Once the ribs are removed from the Dutch oven, turn the heat down to medium and throw in the onions and garlic. Add salt and fresh cracked pepper. Sauté until translucent.

6) Add mushrooms. Add more salt and pepper. Cook for five minutes.

7) Pour in the bottle of wine and beef stock.

8) Add short ribs back into the Dutch oven. Make sure they are covered in the wine/broth mixture.

9) Place the entire pot in the oven, with the too slightly ajar. You want the juice to reduce over the next few hours.

Throughout the braising, I tasted and added some Maggi seasoning, Dale's and honey.

We ate this with an artisan baguette. I really liked it. It's definitely not a light meal. I might throw the mushrooms in later on in the process. They were very wine heavy-tasting. The meat was perfect though. 

Super Pasta (subbing Zucchini as pasta!)

Special thanks to Julie Scott for giving this recipe to Jordan while we were in college. It's a recipe I memorized back then and make at least once a month. It originally calls for linguine as the pasta. I usually use farfalle (bow tie), but the past few times I've been using pasta alternatives. I've decided that zucchini is my favorite - the texture and taste are fantastic. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

dash of olive oil

- 3 large cloves of garlic, minced

- 3 shallots, chopped (or you can use one medium onion)

- 1 pound sweet (or mild) italian sausage (opt for the sweet - goes well with the spicy of the red pepper)

- 1 cup heavy cream (or whipping cream)

- 2 14oz. (or one big 28oz) cans of Del Monte Diced Tomatoes FLAVORED WITH BASIL, OREGANO and GARLIC (sometimes called Italian Seasoned) (be SURE to get Del Monte...all other brands don't taste as good in this recipe) 

- 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper (like stuff you put on pizza)

- 1 tbsp fresh sage, sliced

- 5 large zucchini, julienned

- shredded or grated parmesan cheese

1) Remove sausage from casing and set aside.

2) Saute chopped garlic and shallots/onions in olive oil until tender.

3) Add in sausage and cook until no longer pink.  I usually drop in the meat in small portions and when it starts to cook, break it apart with the spatula, leaving big chunks.

4) Add cream, and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.

5) Add canned diced tomatoes, sage and red pepper and simmer.

6) While sauce is simmering, julienne the zucchini. I've got a special julienne tool that I use.

7) Sprinkle some salt on the julienned zucchini and let it sit for about 10 minutes. You'll notice that all the water will start draining out of the zucchini. This is called "sweating" the zucchini. This is very important to do, because if you don't do it, you'll notice a lot of excess water coming off it once you mix it with the sauce, which then waters down your sauce. You don't want that!)
8) After you've sweat the zucchini, rinse it under some cold running water (to get rid of the salt), and then pick up the "zoodles" by the handful and squeeze out any excess water. (You'll notice the zoodles are a lot thinner than they were when you first julienned them. It's ok, this is good.)
9) Toss a tablespoon of olive oil in a pan and saute the zoodles for a two minutes in the oil. (These won't need to cook long at all - just cook them until they're the desired texture for you.)

10) Once the sauce has simmered for about 20 minutes, it's ready for the pasta.

11) When the zucchini is done, add it directly to the sauce.

12) Serve with some grated parmesan!

(PS - if you want to make this recipe with regular pasta, just skip steps 6-9 and cook up regular pasta instead. Penne pasta (the tube-like pasta is the best to use!)

And since it was so cold, we decided to pretend it was warm and had a picnic inside! (Thanks Cynthia Ton for the inspiration!)