Steak Fajitas

The first time I ate fajitas was a memorable experience.  My family was visiting Washington DC and we were staying with my aunt and uncle just outside the city.  I believe at the time I'd only met my uncle once or twice before and had never met my aunt before since they lived on the opposite side of the country.  One evening for dinner my aunt made us all fajitas and we were all very impressed.  I'm not sure why we had never tried, or even heard of, fajitas before since taco night was a regular event at home.  Maybe the growing popularity of fajitas just happened to coincide with our visit, or maybe we just led a very sheltered existence.

When LJ and I visited Colvin Ranch most recently, we mostly picked up ground beef but I also grabbed one flat iron steak.  I didn't have any plan for the steak but I wanted to try something new with it.  After some pondering and Googling I settled on this recipe for steak fajitas.

The fajitas were delicious and they gave me an excuse to buy one of my favorite beers, Negra Modelo.

Teriyaki Pork

This recipe is not a keeper.  The only reason I am blogging about it is to keep a record of what did not work in my on-going attempts to make meals better in the future.

Since we have had an abundance of pork (if you don't remember LJ's parents purchased a pig for us from 4-H kids at the county fair last fall) I have been working on new ways to use it.  Teriyaki pork seemed like an easy option and it is something both LJ and I enjoy.

I found this recipe for teriyaki sauce online.  I cut very thin slices from two pork chops and marinated the meat in the sauce for a couple of hours.  I then removed the meat from the sauce and cooked it in a skillet.  When the meat had finished cooking I added the marinade along with the cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce.  I served it over white rice.

I'm not sure if the problem was using pork, the way I cooked things together, or the specific sauce.  It wasn't a horrible meal, just not very flavorful or enjoyable.  I'm going to keep trying making teriyaki at home until I get something more delicious, possibly starting with this recipe.

Quality Source: Fresh Eggs

I recently found out that my mentor at work raises chickens, and is quite happy to dole out her extra eggs by the dozen to anyone willing to take them.  All she asks in return is a mere couple of dollars to help cover costs, or in our case, fresh or dried fruit or homemade baked goods to barter.  Now that she knows that HH and I are willing recipients, she automatically brings me a dozen anytime we have a meeting.

Fresh eggs from chickens that are raised outdoors with access to a more natural chicken diet are said to be healthier than eggs from industrialized operations.  Of course, they're also more expensive to buy if you don't have a sweet hookup like we do.  But the biggest difference, in my opinion, is how delicious they are.  HH often cooks up some eggs, bacon, and toast or hashbrowns for lunch on the weekends and it is obvious when the eggs are fresh because of how tasty the meal is.  (Although, that could also have something to do with the bacon.)

Chow Mein

In my continued attempt to cook my way through the Panda Express menu I made chow mein.

I found these soba noodles at Winco Foods and originally bought them to make yakisoba.  However after reviewing this recipe I realized I had stumbled upon the perfect noodle for chow mein.

I didn't have any cabbage and didn't want to buy a whole head just for chow mein so I omitted it.  Other than that I followed the recipe pretty closely, however I didn't measure the weight of the noodles, which was a mistake.

As you can see from the above picture I didn't have an appropriate ratio of vegetable to noodle.  The extra noodles also made the flavoring pretty bland.  I'd like to try this again but I may just use the standard refrigerated noodle because the package seems like the appropriate portion size.  Of course I could weigh it to make sure, but I probably won't.

Framboise

I love this stuff.  Apparently it is raspberry wine.  It is almost like a more delicious NyQuil.

Brownies

In high school I had a friend who took the cinnamon challenge before it was popular to try such a thing.  It wasn't even really a challenge when he did it.  We walked in to our home-ec class and he saw a bottle of cinnamon on the counter that we were going to be using in class that day.  He said, "Oh I love cinnamon," walked over to the bottle, and dumped some in his mouth.  He then paused for a moment and then ran over to the sink to spit it out.  He then turned on the faucet, stuck his tongue under the stream of water, and used his fingers to try to scrape the cinnamon off his tongue.

I was reminded of this experience while making brownies from scratch for the first time ever.  I usually use a brownie mix box but after reviewing the recipe I realized we had everything on hand already and I was craving some dessert.

The picture above is after I mixed the cocoa powder, baking soda, boiling water, and vegetable oil together.  Looks delicious doesn't it?  That is what I thought so I dipped my finger in and had a taste.  I quickly realized there was no sugar, butter, or anything remotely good tasting mixed in yet.  Lesson learned.

The brownies turned out pretty well but weren't as gooey as I had hoped.  If I try them again I may melt in some dark chocolate or throw some chocolate chips in before they go in to the oven.

I packed up a container so LJ could take them to work with her and share them with her co-workers.  That helped me avoid eating the whole tray.

Quality source: Colvin Ranch

When I posted about my wonderful results making hamburger buns I briefly mentioned Colvin Ranch as the source of my beef.  I had been interested in trying grass finished beef since reading Michael Pollan's books, in which he makes the point that "We are what we eat, but also we are what we eat eats."

Nearly all cows in the U.S. are fed corn to fatten them up more quickly and use up the surplus of corn that is being grown.  Since cows don't naturally eat corn they have a difficult time digesting it and often become sick.  The cows are then given medications so they can survive until they are large enough for slaughter.  This all seemed quite silly to me, but since it is done on a large scale it allows for beef to be produced at a lower price.  Since raising cows on grass alone takes longer the cows need a larger grazing area and not as many cows can be managed at the same time.

Price is the main reason you can't find all grass fed beef in most grocery stores.  On average the price will be two to three times higher for the grass beef.  However, after making a hamburger out of grass fed beef, the extra cash is worth the extra deliciousness in my opinion.

If you are interested in finding a source of all grass fed beef in your area or learning about how much more nutritious grass fed beef is, Eat Wild is an excellent resource.  You can use their mapping tool to find ranches and farms in your local area.  Some ranches only allow you to buy beef in large quantities (like quarter or half beefs) but many have stocked freezers where you can purchase the cuts of meat you prefer.

Visiting the farm directly can be a bit intimidating but realize that these farms list their contact information because they want you to try their product.  I've visited Colvin Ranch twice and both times it couldn't have been a better experience.  I set up a meeting time with Fred Colvin via e-mail, drove to the ranch, and rang the door bell on the office door.  On the first visit I was greeted by Fred and on the second by his wife because Fred was out with the herd.  Each time they showed me what they had in stock in their freezer, walked me through a chart to explain the different cuts, and showed me a few of the packages to make sure I was happy with what I was getting.

Like I mentioned before, the meat is a little more pricey than what you might be use to in the grocery store (I paid $6 per pound for the ground beef) but at least I knew I wasn't getting any pink slime.

Pineapple French Toast

The problem with making challah bread is the only thing I know what to do with it is make french toast.  I guess there could be worse problems.  After recently making another attempt at challah to improve my braiding technique (still needs work, I may just hire it out to a twelve year old girl who has plenty of braiding experience already) I decided to make LJ's favorite type of french toast.

Really all you do differently than any other type of french toast is mix in a can of pineapple, either chunks or crushed.  The resulting french toast has pieces of pineapple seared in to the crust.  Reserve the pineapple liquid to pour over the finished french toast or turn it in to a simple syrup and that is all you need to know.

A few friendly reminders when making french toast with challah.

1. The bread needs to soak in the batter longer than normal.
2. After cooking the bread on both sides let it sit on a cookie sheet in a barely warm over for five minutes to help it set.

Apple Tart

While LJ was on spring break we made a trip to visit her parents and, as usual, scored a ton of fruit.  Part of what we took home was a half box of Granny Smith apples that had seen better days.  LJ's dad warned us that if we didn't take them the apples would be tossed in the orchard the next day for the local deer to enjoy.

When we got back I dried most of the apples but saved a few to bake with.  After some Googling LJ suggested that I make an apple tart and use Ina Garten's recipe.  Considering that she is one of the TV food personalities I trust and the recipe has over 250 reviews with nearly all of the reviews giving the full five stars, I felt confident in the recipe.

The recipe is straight forward and no trouble if you've made a tart dough before, like for a quiche.  As long as you have a food processor a tart dough is really easy.  Just try to forget how much butter goes in to it when you are eating it later.

The only real problem I had with making this tart was that we don't own a jelly roll pan.  I tried to bake the tart on a rimless cookie sheet but as the butter melted it pulled the sugar off the apples and burned on the bottom of the oven.  Shortly after making this tart we found a jelly roll pan at an estate sale so I won't have this problem in the future.  I could have also compensated by making a more rustic tart instead.

The final result was delicious and provided dessert for most of the following week.

No longer just a house husband

The astute blog reader will have noticed that the famous "Trophy Husband" photo disappeared from the blog last week.  That's right loyal readers (maybe just reader singular, dad) I have found full time employment with today been my first day on the job.  My hope is that this job doesn't negatively impact my blog posting but I may have to rely a little more heavily on LJ to pick up some of the posting slack.  Considering that she has the summers off from work it shouldn't be too much trouble considering that she will be spending most days locked away in her sewing room sweatshop while I'm out bringing home the bacon.  We also will be adding a new feature where we occasionally highlight the sources of some of our more interesting ingredients and materials.

In regards to the new job, the most exciting part for me is the commute.  From our front door to my new office it is a four minute walk!  Whenever LJ and I move to a new community we have a mental checklist we use when searching for a new residence.  Ideally it will be within walking distance of a grocery store, a bus line, work, a library, and a quality pub or tavern.  It is usually impossible to meet all these requirements, but by meeting as many as we can we have been greatly able to reduce the amount we rely on our car.

Yes, car, singular, as in we share one vehicle.  One of the many times I was completely impressed with and blown away by LJ's commitment to this unusually life choice was this summer when she had landed her first full time job and we had just moved to a new community.  While many of her former classmates went out and purchased brand new cars (by purchased I mean took out a loan based on their first pay stub) LJ said to me with excitement, "I can't wait to buy a bus pass!"  I'm seriously lucky, not to mention how supportive she has been during my extended job search.  I'm sure all the house chores I took care of and delicious dinners I made didn't hurt either.

Roasted garbanzo beans and asparagus

I actually wish I could remember what inspired this recipe so I could give credit where credit is due.  It isn't something I would have thought to do but it turned out to be excellent.  I served it as a main dish with salad but it is probably more fitting as a side.  I was in the middle of going a week without eating any meat so I was stretching a little bit to find main dish options.  However, the week went so well that when I mentioned to LJ that we hadn't eaten meat all week she claimed to have barely noticed.

I chopped up some onions, garlic, and asparagus.  I added the vegetables to some cooked garbanzo beans and then I tossed everything with a little olive oil and seasoning salt.  I baked the mixture on a cookie sheet for 30-45 minutes, stirring occasionally until everything was roasted.  I could have roasted everything a little bit longer and I think the beans would have become crunchier, but all in all I was satisfied with the results.

Squash Soup

I believe this recipe came from The Soup Bible but honestly it was so long ago when I made it that I've forgotten.  From the pictures below it looks like I sauted onions, added a teaspoon of chili powder (total guess but I don't think I have any other red spices), two cups each of potatoes and winter squash, and then covered everything with vegetable stock.  I'm assuming I simmered the soup until everything was soft and then pureed it with the immersion blender.  It looks like I added a dash of cream or half and half, sprinkled on some chives, and served the soup with some fresh bread.  Obviously it wasn't too memorable of a meal (I believe it was a little bland and could have used some additional spices and seasoning) but still a good use for the mountains of winter squash we had from our winter CSA.

Lamb Stew

My dad is still out of the country this week, and since I believe he is the only one that regularly checks this blog, I decided to keep the posts pretty short this week.  The posts this week will be mostly things I made some time back but didn't have anything clever to say about.  Hopefully more rambling and humorous posts will return next week.

I had some lamb chops in the freezer that I didn't have a lot of ideas for so I made lamb stew with carrots and barley.  I took all the meat off the chops and created stock with the bones and fat first.  I then seared the meat, added carrots and barley, and covered with the stock.  It turned out to be a hearty winter dinner.