Steak Spaghetti

Every now and then I need a dish I can fix with very little effort. I like this dish because it uses staple items I generally have on hand – spaghetti, onions, tomatoes, and garlic.

It’s a great use for leftover steak Dear Daughter and I might bring home from a restaurant visit. For example, we had dinner at Ted’s Sunday night for my mother-in-law’s dinner out. I only had 1/3 of my steak and Dear Daughter brought home a substantial piece as well.

We both had ordered Delmonico Steaks……I trimmed them a bit and then sliced up the meat. Of course, if you don’t have steak leftovers you can prepare one quickly and slice it. You only need one Strip or one Delmonico steak.



I added a little olive oil to a non-stick skillet along with approximately two tablespoons minced garlic and one chopped medium onion…..I use Vidalia onions. I sauté the onions and garlic for a little bit and add some black pepper and a pinch of salt.



In the meantime I get a pot of water on the stove so that I can prepare a package of spaghetti noodles according to the package directions.

I open two cans of chopped tomatoes…..the Italian kind are best. I drain a little liquid off one can and the other can I drained entirely. Mix the tomatoes in the skillet with the onion and garlic mixture. Saute another five minutes. Of course you can use fresh tomatoes……4-5.



Add the sliced steak and stir until the meat is heated through.



Serve the steak mixture over spaghetti along with some Parmesan Cheese and a slice of your favorite bread.

Jim and Nick's Cheddar Muffins

It’s been cold and wet here for the last few days here in Georgia, so I figured Vegetable Beef Soup was in order for tonight’s dinner.

Dear Daughter suggested I prepared some cheese muffins to go along with the soup like they serve at Jim and Nick’s BBQ restaurant, so I agreed.

This recipe is as close as you can get to those little sweet cheesy gems they serve while you are looking over the menu.

While the recipe calls for using mini-muffin tins I used a 12 muffin regular sized pan. They are now all gone but 2……:)

4 T. butter, melted

1½ cups all purpose flour

2 ½ t. baking powder

1 cup sugar

¾ cup milk

1 egg

¼ t. vanilla

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients and pour into greased mini-muffin tins.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Simple, huh?

Fried Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

½ cup butter, softened
¾ cup crunchy peanut butter
3 T. Honey
1 ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
2-3 ripe bananas
8 slices white bread
Topping:
¼ cup sugar
1 T. ground cinnamon

In a frying pan, melt 3 T. of the butter. Make sure butter does not burn.

In a small bowl mix together the peanut butter, honey and cinnamon.

Slice the bananas into 1/4-inch thick slices.

Spread the peanut butter mixture on 4 slices of the bread and cover with banana slices. Top with the remaining 4 slices of bread.

Spread the remaining butter on both sides of the sandwiches. Grill the sandwiches in the frying pan until each side is golden brown.

For topping, combine the sugar and cinnamon in shallow plate. Coat the grilled sandwiches with the mixture. Cut diagonally and serve hot.

Giving the Pepperwood Label a Swirl

Dinner for last Friday night was a simple affair. Grilled steak and leftover pasta drizzled with butter and garlic sauce with a little parmesan cheese on top. We rounded it off with a torn piece from a 5-grain baguette.

We also tried out a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon carrying the Pepperwood Grove label from Don Sebastiani & Sons.

Their website states we should get a whiff of raspberries, cedar, and subtle savory herbs. I’ll concur with the raspberries…..

Once you take a sip you should experience flavors such as rich blackberry cobbler, fresh raspberry jam, and caramel oak tones with integrated hints of basil and fresh figs. Oak tones yes…..the other items…..no. Perhaps my palette isn’t sophisticated enough.

I’ll keep trying though…….

Have a Frittata!

A frittata is egg-based and can be very versatile as many different ingredients can be mixed and matched for a different outcome every time. It’s like a quiche without a crust. Make sure you use a skillet that can be used on top of the stove as well as under the broiler.

6 eggs, beaten

1 oz. Parmesan

Pinch Salt

1 tsp. butter

½ cup roasted asparagus

½ cup ham, chopped

1 T. Parsley, chopped

I roasted the asparagus and onion with a little olive oil for about 30 minutes.


Preheat oven to broil.

In a medium bowl blend eggs, cheese, pepper and salt.


Heat a 12 inch, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add butter and allow it to melt.

Add asparagus and ham to skillet. Saute 2-3 minutes.


Pour egg mixture into skillet and cook 4-5 minutes or till set on the bottom.

Sprinkle with Parsley.

Place under the broiler 3-4 minutes until the top is done and slightly brown.

Cut the frittata into wedges and serve. Pair it with a nice salad and your favorite white wine.

Fried Veggies

1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
1 ½ cups cornmeal
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ t. pepper
Fresh vegetables such as okra, green tomatoes, onion, zucchini, or yellow squash
Vegetable Oil
Salt

Whisk buttermilk and egg. Combine cornmeal, salt and pepper.

Dip vegetables in buttermilk then coat in cornmeal mixture.

Pour oil to a depth of 3 inches in dutch oven; heat to 375 degrees.

Fry vegetables in batches for 4 minutes on each side – turning too soon will cause breading to fall off.

Drain on paper towels

Add salt.

Chicken Dijon.....Version Two

This recipe is different from my other recipe in that it uses chicken broth as the base for the sauce and includes the pepper and one. I think I like it better. :)

6 skinned and boned chicken breast (about 2 lbs.)
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. pepper
3 T. butter
1 medium-size red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
1 medium-size sweet onion, diced
1 (14 ½ oz) can chicken broth
3 T. all-purpose flour
3 T. Dijon mustard

Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add chicken, and cook 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove chicken from skillet; add bell pepper and onion, and cook, stirring often, 4-5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Return chicken to skillet.

Whisk together broth and next 2 ingredients and pour over chicken

Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 20 minutes until chicken is done.