Food Lush

Great Steaks Without a Grill

By Erica

I love steak. Aged, marbled and perfectly cooked are my requirements. I prefer a filet, but when I don't have $200 to spend on a piece of meat a ribeye will do quite nicely, thank you. 

Historically, my husband has always been in charge of grilling our steaks. With it being winter and not exactly grill-friendly, I had the choice of giving up steak until more seasonable weather, or learning to it cook it indoors. I'm not about to go three months without my steak, yo.

After much experimentation, I've learned (what I think is) the perfect way to cook steak using your broiler. You will need: steak, a broiler pan, seasonings and real butter. 

A broiler pan, in case you have no idea what I'm talking about:

I've found that working with a room temperature steak is best. Try to set it out at least an hour before you're going to cook it. Once you're ready, liberally season both sides of the steak with your choice of seasoning. I prefer Cavender's and some wonderful smoked sea salt that fellow Food Lush writer Julie sent me. Once the steak is ready to go under the broiler, add a pat or two of real butter to the top.

Position your oven rack on the second-to-the-top position and broil away. The time it takes will depend on the thickness of your steaks and how you like them cooked. For an inch thick ribeye cooked to medium well, I go six minutes on the first side. Then flip it over, add another pat or two of butter and continue cooking for four to five more minutes. To test your steak for doneness, DO NOT CUT INTO IT, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. Meat really does need to rest before you cut it so that the juices redistribute throughout the steak and not out onto the pan. The trick is to poke the steak with your finger. Quickly, of course, so you don't burn yourself. You want to see how firm it feels and then compare that to your hand by using these guidelines:

The Finger Test to Check the Doneness of Meat

METHOD

Open the palm of your hand. Relax the hand. Take the index finger of your other hand and push on the fleshy area between the thumb and the base of the palm. Make sure your hand is relaxed. This is what raw meat feels like. (Check this out the next time you have a raw steak to cook.)

Now gently press the tip of your pinky and your thumb together. Again feel the fleshy area below the thumb. It should feel quite firm. This is what well done meat feels like when you press on it. (Check this out the next time you overcook a piece of meat.)

Press the tip of your ring finger and your thumb together. The flesh beneath the thumb should give a little more. This is what meat cooked to a medium doneness feels like.

Gently press the tip of your middle finger to the tip of your thumb. This is medium rare.

Press the tip of your index finger to the tip of your thumb. The fleshy area below the thumb should give quite a bit. This is what meat cooked to rare feels like. Open up your palm again and compare raw to rare.

{Credit: simplyrecipes.com}

Let your steak rest for at least five minutes and then serve. Steak cooked under the broiler tastes just as good as steak cooked on a grill. The only drawback is that it does make your kitchen a little smokey, since butter has a pretty low smoke point. I just crack a kitchen window and turn on the ceiling fan before I start cooking it. 

Tell me, Food Lush readers, what's your favorite cut of steak and what do you like along side it?

Grandmas and Cakes

By Erica

My mom always had a recipe box. It's this giant, cream, plastic monstrosity that might be almost as old as I am. When she died, one of the only things I asked for was that box. I have such fond memories of seeing her looking through it for the recipe for Potato Chip Cookies to make for one of my school bake sales. (They were an annual favorite and often requested.) 

While going through this box, I realized that it held even more history than I had originally expected; I found quite a few recipes from my grandmothers and great grandmothers. There's something so gratifying about nourishing my family with the same foods the women in my family used to make for theirs.

Great Grandma Bills's Raisin Cake

2 c sugar
2 c water
2 c raisins
1/3 c shortening
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp each ginger, allspice, clove and cinnamon
2 c flour
Nuts, if desired

Add sugar, water, raisins and shortening to a sauce pan and boil for five minutes. Let cool.

In a mixing bowl, add baking soda, salt, baking powder, ginger, allspice, clove and cinnamon. Add flour and mix. Add nuts, if desired.

Mix with a spoon while adding raisin liquid. Bake in a 9 x13 pan at 350 for 35-40 mins.

{Image credit: http://www.bellaonline.com} 

Grandma Hemsath's Pineapple Nut Cake

2 c sugar
2 c flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 c chopped nuts
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 20 oz can crushed pineapple with juice 

Mix all ingredients together by hand. Bake in a well-greased 9 x 13 pan at 350 for 40-45 mins. 

Frosting:
1 8 oz block of cream cheese, softened
1/4 lb butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 c powdered sugar

Mix well and spread on as soon as the cake comes out of the oven.

{Image credit: http://www.tasteofhome.com}

Exotic Chips: You say potato, I say beet.

By Erica

Did you know that chips come in options besides potato? Oh sure, everyone's had a sweet potato chip or even a sweet potato fry nowadays, but did you know there are other options still?

I recently had beet chips and was blown away by how delicious they are. And I'm not even a beet fan. I tried parsnip, batata, yaro and yuca. They were all sublime. Crisp, flavorful and awesomely nutritious. I didn't feel like I was missing anything by skipping out on the fried potato chips that I'm used to. I even had bonus smug feeling because I was eating vegetables! Like some kind of healthy-eating person or something!

I gave the exotic veggie chips the ultimate test and fed them to my children; a five year old and a 19 month old. The five year old didn't like the sweet potato or beet, but loved the parsnip, batata, yaro and yuca. The 19 month old ate them all and demanded more. In fact, both of them have asked for them specifically over the last two days. 

The chips we tried were commerically produced, but I've gotten the bug to make my own. I didn't have any root vegetables other than potatoes on hand, so I made cinnamon apple chips instead. Equally delicious, yet without the bonus smug feeling, seeing as I liberally sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar. But still! It was fruit! That's a start, right?

{Image Credit: www.terrachips.com}

Chocolate Peppermint Marshmallows

By Erica

Based on your advice, we made chocolate peppermint marshmallows to give as small gifts for Christmas. We made enough to give 35 people three marshmallows a piece. For this amount, I needed three bags of marshmallows, three bags of crushed peppermints, three packages of almond bark and one package of 120 coffee stirrers. (Since I'm not a fan of white chocolate, I went with one package of that and two packages of milk chocolate.)

We gave everyone two milk and one white chocolate marshmallows and I packaged them in a cute little cellophane bag.  

For my kids' preschool teachers, I included some tasty hot chocolate.

Of course, my helper couldn't wait to have her own cup of cocoa with a marshmallow she made all by herself.

I'm definitely putting this project on the list for future Christmases. It was super easy, very fun and cheap(!) to make. And my daughter says it makes the best hot chocolate ever. 

Breakfast Pockets

By Erica

My kids eat toaster waffles for breakfast almost every morning. I give them other choices, but the little scamps want their blueberry multigrain waffles, no matter what. 

Determined to get more protein down their little gullets, I made these breakfast pockets. I made bread. From scratch. Like some kind of 1800s prairie person. I expected their little faces to light up in gratitude and for them to eat like starving wolves. I mean, look how good these look!

Instead, my daughter asked for cold cereal and my son screamed "WAFA!" and looked at me like I'd just put his blankie down the garbage disposal. So, I made myself a second cup of coffee and ate it myself. It was damn tasty, too. I highly recommend making a batch.

For yourself.

{Photo credit: http://www.budgetgourmetmom.com}

Holiday Treats as Gifts

By Erica

Last year, I told you of my husband's family's tradition of Christmas Eve Gifts (CEG). I've been scouring Pinterest and pinning idea after idea for this year's CEGs. After careful consideration, I've narrowed it down to two options. There is no one more qualified to chose between the two than the Food Lush readers, so I leave it in your very capable hands. 

Choice One:

Chocolate Peppermint Marshmallows and Hot Cocoa Mix

I thought a bag of chocolate peppermint dipped marshmallows, along with a jar of hot cocoa mix would be a great choice for the coming cold nights. And it also seems like a great project for my four year old to be involved with.

Choice Two: 

A selection of truffles. I like these Pumpkin Cream Cheese Truffles, Bailey's Mint Truffles, and tried-and-true chocolate truffles. 

So, dear readers, which would you rather receive as a gift this holiday season? 

{Image credit: http://honeybeesweeterie.blogspot.com and http://en.wikipedia.org}

Baking Failures

By Erica

Each Monday I do my best to pass on recipes that you will love. Recipes that feed your family and make you think "Hot damn, that Erica sure knows how to make a good meal!" But this week? This is the week that I will, instead, talk to you about my failures a baker.

I cannot make pecan pie.

I KNOW. It's one of the simplest pies in the known universe, and yet, I fail at baking it EVERY SINGLE TIME. Want to know something awesome? I'm in charge of making it for Thanksgiving. Do any of you have any tricks? Any no-fail-fantastic-pie-making guarantees you can give me? Other than "buy a pie from the store?" Because I've already thought of that one.

You know what else I can't make? Fudge. Any kind. Seriously. Mine has NEVER turned out correctly. Again, one of the easiest recipes out there and I'm completely stumped. It also happens to be one of my favorite holiday treats. I suppose this is nature's way of ensuring that a wall doesn't have to be removed from my house upon my demise. Which I appreciate, but damn, I'd like some fudge, you know?

Tell me I'm not the only one who's consistently foiled by the same couple of recipes. What's your culinary Kryptonite? 

{Image credit: karosyrup.com}

Sugar Free Peanut Butter Pie

By Erica

It's the most wonderful time of the year: PIE TIME! The internet is flooded with recipes for sugar-loaded, decadent pies for the holidays, so I'm not going to post yet another one of those. Instead, I offer you a sugar-free alternative. There are several diabetics in my family and I make this for Thanksgiving and Christmas ever year. Always to rave reviews, of course. 

A word of warning, though, it's not low-fat. You can either cut sugar OR fat from a baked good, but cutting both makes for a bland treat. And what's the point in that? On the plus side, it's very rich so a small piece will satisfy even the most hardcore of dessert lovers out there.

Crust*:
1 1/2 cup sugar free cookie crumbs or graham cracker crumbs
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 350
In a microwave safe bowl, melt peanut butter and butter. Add to crumbs and mix until well combined. Pat into a 9-inch pie plate and bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely. 

Filling: 
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature (one block)
1 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup Splenda** or sugar substitute of your choice 
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 oz whipped topping (one container) 
Chopped peanuts

Mix together cream cheese, peanut butter, Splenda and vanilla. Fold in whipped topping. Pour into prepared pie crust and and carefully smooth to the edges. Sprinkle liberally with chopped peanuts. Cover tightly and freeze or chill for at least 4 hours; preferably overnight. 

Makes 16 servings
Per Serving: 219 Cal, 7g protein, 17g tot fat, 12g carb, 1g fiber, 4g sugar, 205 mg sodium

*I have never, ever made this crust. I am far too lazy for that. I use frozen pie crusts, instead. It does add to the sugar content, but it's negligible.

**I'm not normally a fan of baking with Splenda as I find it doesn't cook well. Since this dish isn't baked, Splenda works well in it. Of course, feel free to use whichever sugar substitute you like. Personally, I'm big fan of Ideal. 

Indian Food Adventure!

By Erica

I was lucky enough to get to attend The Blathering in Austin two weeks ago. I have to say that meeting some of my very favorite people was the best part of the weekend, but a close second was the delicious food I got to cram down my gullet.

One of my best friends, Donna, thought is was an absolute shame that we had never eaten Indian food, so she took us to Clay Pit for our premier Indian food experience. I'll admit that I was a touch nervous and prepared to hate it like poison, but boy howdy, was I ever wrong. 

First of all, we were incredibly lucky to have gotten Katherine as our server. She answered all of our questions and gave great recommendations. We ended up getting vegetable Tikka Masala, Khuroos-E-Tursh, Mirch Masala and Kashmiri Kofta Korma.

 
We all tried everything, and oh my dear goodness, was it ever good. I loved EVERYTHING, but I was forced to choose a favorite, it would be the Kashmiri Kofta Korma.

I ate so much I nearly killed myself. And it would have been a very happy death, indeed. 

What Indian dishes do you love that I ought to try next? 

All Things Caramel Apple

By Erica

Caramel apples. Is there anything better? No, there is not. Crisp, tart apple, soft, chewy caramel and the salty crunch of peanuts. SWOON. Personally, I don't go for those crazy s'mores-Snickers-white-chocolate-pecan monsters. But, hey, if that floats your boat, go for it. 

I make homemade caramel apples every year, but this year I've decided to branch out and try some scrumptious looking caramel apple recipes. Hey, I didn't say I was branching waaaay out. Here's what I've got on my list so far:

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

{photo credit: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com}

I'm pretty sure cheesecake is the only other flavor that would make caramel apples taste even better. 

Baked Caramel Apple Donuts

{photo credit: shutterbean.com}

Caramel apples inside a donut?! YES, PLEASE.

Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

{photo credit: lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com}

Now, don't be fooled by the fact that this recipe isn't called caramel apple cake. "Brown sugar glaze" is totally secret baker code for "caramel."

Caramel Apple Cider

 {photo credit: ourbestbites.com}

Are you having a Halloween party? Are you in charge of Thanksgiving dinner this year? Then this is the perfect recipe for you. This will make you a big ole honking batch of sweet, sweet caramel apple cider.

Mini Caramel Apples

{photo credit: christyrobbins.blogspot.com}

Are you kidding me with these? How can I eat them when I just want to carry them around in my pocket all day? What a great idea for the small fries in our lives. My kids love caramel apples, but let's face it, they're too big and too messy for them. These are the perfect solution. And not even a stick to throw away. This way, I get all the BIG apples to myself! It's a win-win. 

Are you a caramel apple lover, too? What other recipes are in your repertoire?