Simple Steak Marinade for Grilling

This is just a simple, basic marinade for steaks.

2 8 - 12 oz. steaks (whatever kind you prefer)

Marinade:

1/4 cup olive oil

3 - 4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon red onion, chopped

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed

1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram, crushed

1 teaspoon fresh Italian parsley, chopped

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Place steaks in glass baking pan. Mix marinade ingredients

and pour over steaks, making sure to allow marinade to flow

underneath steaks. Cover with plastic wrap and place in

refrigerator for about 4 hours, turning steaks once after two

hours or so. Grill to desired doneness. Salt to taste and eat.

NOTES:

1. You can adjust ingredients as needed; larger steaks may

require a bit more olive oil, and the amount of garlic desired

varies from person to person, of course. Peanut oil can be

used just as well as olive oil.

2. Steaks can be panfried instead of grilled; the recipe works

equally well for both.

Sesame-Glazed Baby Bok Choy

(Recipe adapted from Perfect Vegetables by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated, 2003)

This recipe is for two people.

4 4-oz. baby bok choy heads, each halved lengthwise

6 - 8 scallions, julienned,

3 - 4 medium garlic cloves, finely minced

1 - 11/2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely minced

1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

2 tablespoons peanut oil for browning bok choy

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil for browning bok choy

Soy Sauce Mixture:

1 tablespoon peanut oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 - 1 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

1. Heat 2 tablespoons peanut oil and 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil in non-stick frying

pan over medium high heat; place halved bok choy cut side down, cooking until lightly

browned (2 - 3 minutes), then turn and repeat on uncut side until again lightly browned,

then remove onto plate.

2. Place scallions, garlic, and ginger in pan, stirring for about 30 seconds; stir

in soy sauce mixture and cook for about 30 - 40 seconds, until slightly thickened;

return bok choy to pan and cook for another 1 to 11\2 minutes, stirring lightly and

turning until bok choy is glazed.

3. Remove from pan, pouring sauce over bok choy, then sprinkling with the

toasted sesame seeds. Serve immediately.

NOTES:

1. The original recipe for the sauce mixture also calls for 2 tablespoons of low-sodium

chicken stock and 1 teaspoon of sugar, but I've found that neither is necessary

and that the sauce is better without them.

2. I've found this dish meshes perfectly with both grilled pork and chicken.

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

Ingredients (serves 2):

6 - 8 red potatoes

1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons crushed dried rosemary

1 teaspoon hot paprika

1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil

Salt to taste

1. Rinse potatoes; slice each into 8 - 10 pieces

and place in bowl.

2. Add olive oil and stir until pieces are coated.

3. Add in the rosemary, paprika, and pepper; stir

until potatoes are coated with the mixture.

4. Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F); place potato

pieces on lightly greased flat baking pan, and

set on bottom rack in the oven.

5. Cooking times vary with ovens, of course, but

check after 6 - 7 minutes and turn pieces. Cook

another 6 - 10 minutes, depending on how crispy

you want the potatoes to be (and the exact cooking

conditions of your oven).

6. Remove from oven when as crispy as desired,

salt, and serve immediately.

NOTE:

You will have to experiment with your oven to

determine the best cooking time for the degree

of crispiness you wish.

Bourbon - Molasses Strip Steak

I don't usually like to mess with good quality steaks by doing anything

to them other than warming them slightly on the grill and adding a touch

of salt. However, occasionally, I like to indulge in something a bit

different, and this marinade does nice things to good steaks.

Ingredients:

2 12 - 14 oz New York strip steaks, cut 1 to 1 1/4 " thick

1 large sweet yellow onion

Marinade:

1/8 cup of Jack Daniels Tennessee Sour Mash Whiskey

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon molasses

1. Mix marinade ingredients, stirring until the brown sugar is dissolved.

2. Place steaks in flat baking dish and pour marinade over them, making

certain liquid is completely underneath the steaks. Marinate in refrigerator

for 4 hours, covering baking dish with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, and

turning steaks after two hours so both sides are well saturated.

3. Slice onion into 1/4 to 1/3" disks and brush very lightly with olive or

peanut oil.

4. Cook steaks and onion disks on charcoal (or gas) grill until done to

taste.

5. Serve steaks with grilled onions on top; salt to taste.

NOTES:

1. With thinner steaks, you would want to reduce the marinading time

somewhat.

2. I sometimes add a teaspoon or so of cracked black pepper to the

marinade.

3. Vidalias are the best sweet yellow onion for this kind of grilling

when they're in season, but other varieties will work in a pinch.

4. You can use any kind of steak, actually; filet mignon works especially

well.

Marinated Olive, Red Pepper, and Artichoke Heart Salad

I can't remember exactly where I first came across this recipe,

or I'd credit it properly; I have modified it a bit to suit my tastes.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Olive Oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

6 - 8 ozs. drained, quartered artichoke hearts

1 large red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and julienned

4 - 6 ozs. button mushrooms, quartered

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

3/4 cup quartered pitted Kalamata olives

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Blend first 6 ingredients in large bowl, mixing well.

2. Add remaining ingredients, tossing or stirring lightly to coat thoroughly.

3. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Refrigerate for at least two hours.

5. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

NOTES:

1. I sometimes also add 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh dill to

the basil and parsley.

2. I frequently use baby portabella mushrooms rather than the

button mushrooms because I like the richer, meatier taste.

3. I prefer the Kalamata olives, but any sort of pitted olives will

work fine.

4. As with most salads of this sort, I find they gain in taste once

they've had 24 hours for the flavors to mingle thoroughly.

Cheese and Onion Pie

I just tried this recipe for the first time tonight and it's delicious,

especially in cold weather such as we're having right now. This

is definitely something I'll be making again, and plan to experiment

with variants in the near future.

Ingredients:

1 frozen deep-dish pie crust

3 medium yellow sweet onions

1 - 1 1/2 tblsp. butter

1 tblsp. Worchestershire sauce

6 - 8 oz. shredded Cheddar cheese

3 eggs

2/3 c. Half & Half

1/2 - 1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper

1 - 2 tblsp. fresh minced dill

1. Chop onions into medium-sized pieces; saute over medium heat

in butter and Worchestershire sauce until soft and goldenly transparent.

Set aside.

2. Mix eggs, Half & Half, salt, pepper, and dill, beating well.

3. Layer onions and Cheddar into pie shell, starting with onion layer

and ending with cheese layer.

4. Pour egg mixture over over onion-cheese layers.

5. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 45 - 60 minutes or until a knife

inserted into center emerges cleanly.

6. Serve hot.

NOTES:

1. I've seen versions of this recipe which use Swiss and/or Gruyere

cheese instead of Cheddar; I suspect all are equally good.

2. I actually used, instead of Half & Half, 1/3 c. of whole milk and

1/3 c. of heavy cream; I suspect that made this particular pie a bit

richer than the Half & Half would. I would think that a variety of

versions of milk and/or cream would work.

3. I think that next time I try this recipe, I'm going to use just 2 onions,

substituting 8 - 10 oz. of butter-sauteed Baby Portabella mushrooms

to fill out the mixture.

4. I'm also going to experiment next time with adding something like

some hot paprika, red pepper flakes, or some form of hot sauce just

to give the pie a bit of a kick, as I tend to like things that are a bit spicy.

New Entries Soon

I've made no new posts here in a while due to serious connection problems with my Internet Service Provider. However, I have now dumped AT&T's dsl as it provides extremely poor service and replaced it with the (so far) vastly superior Cox Cable modem. I should begin making some new posts in the next few days.