Camera Cleanup #6

I don't know about you guys, but I often wind up taking pictures here and there or taking half a set of ones for something I'm cooking, forgetting to finish and then just leaving them on the memory card in my camera. Taking up space. Driving me nuts with waiting when I want to get anything else off of it.

That's what it's like now, so, that means it's camera cleanup time. I may not have any recipes or even know exactly what it is I made, but here are some pictures of stuff that was taking up precious, precious space.

Ok, I actually know exactly what this is. It's a failed pizza dough pita. It didn't poof, probably because I rolled it too thin and it crinkled up on the stone. But it was still wicked good and I wrapped some chicken and corn in it. I remember that the filling was spicy... but that's really it. Hm.

Anyway, this was chili I made with some ribs that I screwed up. Oh man was I pissed when I pulled those out of the oven and half were perfect and the other half were ... not. The problem was one side was much thinner than the other so it cooked a lot faster. But we ate the ones that were done and I made chili with the rest. I just cut between each bone and cooked them in broth and seasoning for a couple hours, then added beans, corn, I think there's some potato in there too. It was wicked good, the bbq sauce on the ribs added a nice sweetness and the bones really enriched the broth.

So, yeah. Camera cleanup. This is going to be an ongoing series since I have a whole mess of pics that I either don't know exactly what they are or don't have a full post worth of. Plus I haven't been doing much cooking lately for one reason or another. Heh, so I suppose it's a good thing that I have all these pictures on my memory card.

Spicy Corn and Beef Ramen, Plus a Giveaway

First, the ramen. You may have noticed a theme here, when I have a cold I eat spicy ramen. It's just how I get down. This one is pretty similar to the last one I made, although more pantry friendly since it doesn't use homemade stock. Well, it could and it would be awesome, but I didn't have any beef stock, so I just used broth. Real broth too, not the packet of "beef" seasoning that comes with the noodles. I just toss those, unless I'm feeling really lazy. Heh.

I didn't take any measurements so I'm not even going to try to list the ingredients. But I know it had a decent chunk of crystallized ginger and red pepper flakes. Lots of red pepper flakes. There's also some garlic in there, frozen corn, black pepper... I think that might be it other than the steak.

That was actually a chunk of leftovers from one of the rare dinners out me and my girlfriend had recently. It was teriyaki so it seemed appropriate. I just sliced it thin and semi-artfully arranged a few of the slices on top. Then I took pictures, dumped the rest in, mixed it up and ate it. Heh. One little tip, if you're doing something like this with cold, leftover meats, slice them thin and dump them into the ramen after you've taken it off the heat but it's still too hot to eat. This heats up the meat without cooking it much more and cools down the broth a bit, too. Good times.

Now, I had mentioned a giveaway. The good folks over at Deans Dips have offered to send one of my readers a couple of vouchers for free dip and another reader a couple vouchers and a dip tray. Maybe even in time for the Super Bowl, how do you like that? They sent me some, but I haven't had a chance to redeem them yet since my crappy local grocery store doesn't seem to carry it. They sound good though and I'll be writing a review when I manage to get some. So, want to try it? Hmm? Maybe get a dip tray? Well, just tell me what your favorite dip is and you're entered. Never had dip or just don't care for it but you just want a dip tray? Leave a comment and you're entered anyway, I'm easy going. I'm only going to run it until Sunday to increase the chances of everything arriving by the Super Bowl.

Steak Tips, Bow Ties with White Sauce and Peas

1 1/2 cups warm 2% milk
2 tbls butter
2 tbls flour
1 lb steak tips
2 tsps chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tbls minced onion
2 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 lb mostly cooked bow tie pasta
salt and pepper


Cut steak tips into 1" chunks and season them with salt and pepper. Brown them well in a skillet, then set them aside on a ceramic plate tented with foil. Deglaze the skillet with the chicken stock and once all the brown bits are up and it's reduced by at least 1/2, pour it off and set it aside. Turn the heat in the skillet down to medium-low and melt the butter in it. Add the onion and garlic and saute for a minute or so, until the garlic is fragrant. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes. Slowly add the milk while still stirring, keep stirring until the sauce is thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Let simmer, stirring frequently, until it's reduced to around a cup then add the deglazing liquid. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Let simmer for another minute or so, stirring frequently, then add juices from the rested steak tips, the peas and pasta (and tips, if you want it all combined). Toss it all together and let it simmer for another minute or two, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has absorbed some of the sauce. Add the basil, stir to combine and serve.

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The other day my girlfriend came up to me and said, "I want steak tips. And bowties with peas."

I said, "Ok". And made this. She sat across the blue plastic tv tray we've been using as a table, eating it with a little smile on her face.

"Is it good?" I asked.

"Oh yes" she said, "it's exactly what I wanted."

That, kids, is my personal favorite response. Sure "I love it! ", "it's even better than I thought it would be" or an enthusiastic thumbs up because their mouth is too busy to talk are all great. But really, there's nothing better than craving something and getting just what it was you wanted. Well, when it comes to food anyway. Heh.

The icing on the whole deal here is that this is a surprisingly low fat dish considering how rich it is. I used homemade stock which makes a big impact with texture and richness, but was almost completely fat free. The sauce didn't taste chickeny at all, but you got the smooth, rich mouth-feel from all the collagen in the stock so I could use 2% milk and still have it be really creamy. Other than that it was just the two tablespoons of butter, perfectly reasonable for something that serves 4-6 people, and the tips. The tips weren't too fatty, although I did cook them in bacon grease. Because I could. I didn't get many pictures, but fortunately it's nice and simple. I don't see why you couldn't do this with something other than steak. You would just want something that leaves good fond since that's where most of the flavor for the sauce comes from. Next time I'm going to add a tablespoon or two of sour cream to it to brighten up the flavor a bit.

Speaking of the sauce, does anyone know if it's still a white sauce? Does adding the broth, fond and meat juices change it? I think it might, technically, be gravy. Not that I'd mind, of course. In fact if that were so I'd probably change the title of the post to reflect it. Heh.

Western Stuffed French Toast

Omelets are hard for me to make. I've complained about it before. So when I had a craving for a western omelet I decided to make stuffed french toast instead, since it's quite a bit easier. Now I've also covered stuffed french toast before, but this time I have a trick to share that makes the savory ones a little easier. Let's just dive right in here.

First off, western omelet fixings. That would be ham, peppers and onion, often cheese. Now you want to prep your bread a bit by topping two slices with some cheese. You want it on both sides, it's going to be what keeps this from being a huge mess. What kind of cheese is up to you, but I think cheddar is the best for eggs. Now, brown up some diced ham. You want it fairly small, big chunks will be more prone to falling out. Once the ham is starting to brown toss in some diced onion, again diced small. You also want some finely diced peppers, but when you add them depends on how soft you like them. The earlier you add them the softer they'll be. Mine were frozen, so they were going to be squishy no matter what. Now here's the trick, while the filling is still hot put it on one piece of the bread then top it with the other. Press it gently and let it sit for a minute or so. This will melt the cheese just enough so when you dip it in the egg it doesn't go all flopping around, spilling the filling everywhere. Which is what you do, on both sides. Now you just cook it in a medium hot skillet, I used the same one I made the filling it since it had enough grease left from that, until brown on both sides. And that's that. Western stuffed french toast. This was wicked good kids, I highly recommend it.

Scrambled Eggs with Salami and Peppers

Just a quick scrambled dish today, kids. I seem to remember, back in the day, going to a diner that had an "Italian omelet". It had tomatoes, basil, salami and a couple other Italian/Italian-American things in it. Now, I don't honestly know if this is a real memory or just something I thought of. I've been in a lot of diners and have often thought up things they should make and it could easily have been turned around into something I thought one of them did make.

But none of that is really important.

I had eggs and salami and decided to mix them together. It seemed like a good idea at the time. And so it was. Easy, too. I just browned up some diced salami and peppers. Then poured in some eggs and scrambled it up. I put some fresh/frozen herbs in there, too, the Italian blend. And that's that. Good times. Would have been great in a wrap, too. How about you folks, how do you like your scrambled eggs? Plain or full of stuff? If stuff, what stuff?

What's Your Go-To Dish?

This is mine. Pasta with whatever vegetables I have on hand (frozen corn and peppers here), some kind of sausage (since it makes a great, flavorful fond. This is kielbasa.) some herbs (Daregals Original Blend) and a wine/broth sauce that gets almost completely absorbed into the noodles. I've posted about it here, here... uhm, here... Ok, I've gone over this method before, clearly. So I'm not going to do another post about it. Even though it had a different pasta so that makes it a different dish. Heh. But what I'm curious about is what your go-to dish is. What do you do when there's a half hour and you don't have any ingredients that you don't always have?

And the Winner Is...

#2, Tangled Noodle!

"I would love to try the Original Blend plus the basil, oregano, cilantro and dill. I love soupy-type of dishes over rice so I would use the basil and oregano with cannellini, zukes and tomatoes (among other things) to create a simple cassoulet-type dish. Now I'm hungry . . .

May 8, 2009 10:39 AM"

Congratulations! Shoot me an email at bobcooksstuff@gmail.com with your info and we'll get your herbs right out to you. I can't wait to see what you do with them.

Sorry about missing all my posting this weekend, but I've been wicked busy and haven't had much time to be on the computer. But, I did make this: It's braised chicken chunks, broccoli, cauliflower, cheese, garlic, olive oil and basil wrapped in pizza dough. Instead of doing it like a calzone I baked it in an oiled loaf pan. It was pretty good, it got all kinds of crispy edges. Anyway, I'll make up for the lack of posting on Wednesday. I'll post about the cupcakes I made this weekend. Mmmm, lemony.

Pan Seared Chuck Steak with an Easy Corn Side Dish and Product Review: Country Bobs All Purpose Sauce

All right, first the steak. No real recipe for this I'm afraid (apparently that's going to be a theme for Saturdays, along with reviews), it's really just a method. But here's what you need:

Steak (let's say 1 lb)
2 cups or so frozen corn
1/2 cup or so diced frozen peppers
1 tbl fresh herbs of your choice (or however much you want/need to season your steak)
salt and pepper

All we're going to do is sear the steak then plop the frozen veggies into the hot, fondy pan. Then you stir the veggies around till they are cooked how you like and that's that. So I guess there's the recipe... but here're the details.

First, steak. I used a chuck steak. Normally not the best for pan searing, but I'm not a steak snob and I don't really mind if it's not perfect. Plus it has a great, strong beefy flavor. And it's what I had. So I rubbed it with herbs. I used some salt and pepper and the grilling spices from Daregal. The spices in that blend are thyme, rosemary, savory and parsley, they went really well with the steak and the corn. Once the steak was ready I pulled it off to rest and tossed the peppers into the pan, then the corn. The water that the frozen veggies put out deglazed the pan (although a splash of red wine wouldn't have hurt, heh heh) and then they got coated with the meaty, herby, salty and peppery flavors. Stir them around, let the liquid simmer off and that's that. Well, unless you don't think it's rich enough and want to put a pat of butter on there. That never hurts. So there it is: pan seared chuck steak with corn and peppers. One pan, two dishes, dinner is done.

Now the review. I recently got a couple bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce to try out and I figured that this was a great time to do it. So I dipped my steak in and gave it a shot. The verdict? It's ok. It's like a cross between A-1 and a bottled barbecue sauce. Sweet, but it still has that steak sauce flavor. I enjoyed it well enough, I'll use what I have, but I won't seek it out when these bottles are gone.

Sausage and Vegetable Rice

I'm afraid I don't have an accurate recipe for this one. Not because it's something I just threw together, although it was, but because I thought I had written it down when I hadn't. Well, I wouldn't have written it down. Props where they're due, my girlfriend is kind enough to take down all my frantic "oh crap it's going to burn! Quick while I'm stirring/removing from the heat/deglazing/burning myself/panicking write down these ingredients before I forget what I did" recipes. But she wasn't in the kitchen when I made this, so while I still probably recited off everything I was putting in (they say it's only a problem if you start responding to yourself too), she obviously couldn't type it up. So I tried to recreate what I did by what was going on in the pictures. Considering I almost always miss a step or two I'm not going to pretend to assume it's complete. Here's what I think this was:

1 cup brown rice
2 1/4 cups chicken broth (or however much liquid the rice you are using needs)
1 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 a package of kielbasa
1 cup frozen baby carrots
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen mixed sliced peppers
1 light tsp dried basil
1 light tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper

Cut the kielbasa into half moons and brown it in a medium sauce pot. Once it's browned remove it and add the onion. Brown the onion. When that's browned add the garlic. Saute for 30-60 seconds. Pour in the broth, then the rice and add the basil, oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Add the sausage back in, cover and cook til almost done. Add the frozen vegetables. Stir it around, cover it and let it simmer till the rice has absorbed all the liquid.

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I often make meals out of rice and whatever we happen to have around. Chunks of chicken, any frozen vegetables, sausage, leftover steak tips or pork chops, some kind of veggie side dish that needs to be finished before it gets foul, whatever is around. I sometimes just make boxed rice pilaf and stir in whatever I have for the last five minutes or so, but sometimes I whip out the brown rice and make stuff like this. It's never the same twice, which is really a double edged sword. On the one hand, that means it's always at least sort of new. On the other hand if it was really good the chances of me recreating it are slim to none. I use all kinds of seasonings, from Italian to teriyaki, but mostly whatever I happen to grab first. Anyway, here is what I think I did this time.

First, browned up the kielbasa. Then the onions, followed by the garlic. Saute the garlic for just a couple moments, you don't want to burn it.You know, a lot of my recipes start out just like this. I should just begin recipes with "Prepare preliminary three step browning procedure! Engage!". It wouldn't really be quite right without some kind of button or lever though. Ah well. Time to deglaze. This would be two and a quarter cups of chicken broth. I think. It might be vegetable broth. Now the herbs. I'm pretty sure one is basil and one is oregano. But again, I'm not really positive. I don't have a picture of me doing it, but it's safe to assume I added some salt and pepper. Then the kielbasa goes back in, followed by the rice, a lid goes on and it cooks till it's almost done. Then in go the veggies. Frozen ones, because that's what I have most of the time. That got stirred around then recovered and left at a simmer till the rice had absorbed all the liquid. And that's it. Rice and stuff. This doesn't make light, fluffy rice just so you know. More like risotto or jambalaya, very saturated and rich. This is really more a concept than a recipe, make it with whatever you want or need to use up. Any vegetable is good, really, as is any meat. You could mix in some cheese at the end or sprinkle some over the top after serving. Good stuff on a cold day and it reheats really well.

Steak Sandwich with Peppers, Onions and Provolone

1 lb steak tips cut into thin slices
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
1 tsp dried basil, crushed
2-3 tbls olive oil
1/2 tbl red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
2 slices of provolone

1/2 cup onion slices
1/2 cup pepper slices

NOTE: The measurements are guesses, I didn't really measure anything. Sorry about that.

Mix together the garlic, rosemary, basil, vinegar and oil. Season the steak with salt and pepper then put it in a zipper bag with the herb paste. Mix the meat around till evenly coated and let marinade for at least 30 minutes. Heat up a pan with some butter, hot. Cook the beef in batches, till browned and cooked through. Move to a plate and tent with foil. Reduce the heat to low and add the vegetables. Stir them around then spread them in an even layer. Let them cook till almost as done as you want them then pour in any juices the steak has put out. Stir around a bit then pull them out. Toast a roll under the broiler. Pull them out and put a couple slices of provolone on the top one , then return it to the broiler to melt the cheese. Put the steak on half the roll, top it with peppers, onions and the cheesy roll top.

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This is a serious sandwich folks. It's not pretending to be something it's not, it's just a big slab of beef, onions, peppers and cheese. I really liked it, my girlfriend wasn't as excited. It worked out to not be very heavily spiced, which I like. But she likes things more powerfully flavored. This recipe was kind of a hip shot, so I don't really have any good measurements. You could use other cuts for this, like a flank or skirt steak. I just happened to have tips, so that's what I used. Here's what I did.

I took a bunch of minced garlic (ok, I used a garlic press. I admit it.), some dried and crushed rosemary and basil and mixed it together with some oil and vinegar. I set it aside as I prepped the steak. I love steak tips, they are good for so many things. I cut them into thin slices and seasoned them with salt and pepper. Then tossed them into a zipper bag with the herb mixture and smooshed it around till the steak was all coated. The act of smooshing them enough to get them thoroughly coated ripped up some of the slices, but everything came out fine in the end. I let that sit for about a half an hour. Then I heated up a pan scorching hot and melted some butter in it. And cooked the steak in batches. Lots of good fond in this recipe. As the steak was done I put it on a plate that I tented with foil. You want to keep those juices, they are pure gold. When all the steak was done I tossed the peppers and onions in. The peppers were frozen, the onion was not. The veggies released enough liquid to deglaze the pan some and after a bit I poured in the juices the steaks put out. If I had had some red wine I would have used a bit of that, I bet it would have been wicked good. I just sauted the veggies till they were still slightly crisp and called them done. Next I piled a roll I had toasted with the steak, peppers and onions. Then I melted some cheese on the top of the roll under the broiler and topped it off with that. And that's it. One kick ass sandwich. If you like spicy, I think it would have been good with a little red pepper flakes or cayenne or something. Maybe even a sliced jalapeno in with the veggies. Yeah, that would have been good.