Seared Steak Salad

Seared steak salad - with some goat cheese, tomatoes, and delicious roasted onions. Then there’s some chipotle mayo drizzled on top of the steak.
I never think to make a steak salad. It always seems to me that if I’m going to grill a nice steak, I really want to eat it straight away, its own chunk of beefy goodness. With maybe a veggie, or if I’m feeling particularly weak willed, some potatoes on the side.

But I had this ONE steak in the freezer. Lonely steak. Small steak. What could I do with it, to extend it to feed two? I breezed through my recipes and came across this one that I hadn’t made in a couple of years. My recollection was that it was very good. And yes, it was. I didn't have any asparagus, but it was just dandy without it.

Don’t get overwhelmed by the list of ingredients. It’s really not difficult, even though it may look like it. There’s a rub/marinade for the steak. There are onions that get dressed and baked in a blisteringly hot oven. There’s a salad, with an easy oil and balsamic dressing, the specific salad greens and the different decorations to go along with everything, AND there’s a very easy chipotle mayo that gets drizzled on the top. See, not so awfully hard, is it?

It does take a bit of time to assemble everything, I admit, but it is worth the effort.

Cook’s Notes: First do the dry rub and get the steak going. Then do the onions – they take about 20-30 minutes altogether, after the oven gets up to 500. Make the chipotle mayo and let it rest in the refrigerator while you do other things. Then, when you’re ready to do the steak, make sure you have everything else you need ready at hand. Tossing the salad is a cinch, but you need to have the garnishes all ready to go on. The chipotle mayo was very thick, so I added just a little bit of milk to thin it down so it would drizzle better.

Seared Steak Salad
Recipe By: Tarla Fallgatter, 2002
Serving Size : 4
MEAT:
1 pound top sirloin steak
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pinch cayenne — optional
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
ONIONS:
2 medium red onions — cut in wedges
3 cloves garlic — minced
3 whole bay leaves — coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
CHIPOTLE MAYONNAISE:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon chipotle chile canned in adobo
SALAD:
3 cups arugula leaves
3 cups salad greens
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup goat cheese — crumbled
12 pieces asparagus spears — steamed
1 cup cherry tomatoes — halved
1. MAKE AHEAD: cook asparagus and cool, then chill. Prepare all the salad ingredients and keep in the refrigerator until ready to assemble.
2. ONIONS: Preheat oven to 500 (yes, 500). Place the onion wedges in a single layer in a shallow baking pan. Sprinkle with garlic and herbs, then season with salt and pepper. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the onions and toss with your hands so all sides of onions have been mixed up with the oil and vinegar. Roast for about 10 minutes, remove and stir the onions around some, then return to oven and continue cooking until onions are lightly browned and just tender. If pan is crowded, it may take up to 20-30 minutes. remove and allow pan to cool.
3. CHIPOTLE MAYO: In a small bowl mince up the chiles with a fork until they are completely mushed. (Alternately, place on a flat board and mince with a chef’s knife, then mash with side of knife.) Add the mayo and stir until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. STEAK: In a small bowl combine the herbs and mix well. Trim any noticeable fat from the steak, brush with olive oil, then rub with herb mixture on both sides of the steak. Set aside for 30-40 minutes before grilling. When ready to serve, add the barbecue sauce to the meat, then grill steak until medium rare, about 5-6 minutes per side. When steak is cooked to your liking, remove to a wood board and allow to sit (cover with a piece of foil, loosely) while you prepare the salad.
5. SALAD: On a large platter combine the salad greens and arugula. Pour on the olive oil and toss with your hands, then add the balsamic vinegar and do the same. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Slice the steak into thin slices and lay across the salad. Around the edges add the cooked asparagus, cherry tomatoes and the cooled, cooked onions. Drizzle the chipotle mayo down the center of the meat so ever slice has some of the sauce on it. Sprinkle the entire platter with the goat cheese crumbles. Serve immediately.
Per Serving: 641 Calories; 51g Fat (69.8% calories from fat); 31g Protein; 19g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 90mg Cholesterol; 1093mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 4 Lean Meat; 2 1/2 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 6 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
Printer friendly PDF recipe.

Bloomin' Sourdough

OMG. This bread. Oh, this bread. It is so out of this world, I can't believe it. While we were visiting with our friends Karen & Phil, where they now live in a town west of Allentown (Bethlehem) Pennsylvania, she showed me her 3-ring binder that has become her "favorite recipes" file. I always enjoy leafing through other people's recipe collections. So, I ran across this recipe for bread, mentioned something about it to Karen and she said, let's have that for dinner.

This picture shows you what it looked like, slathered each direction and ready to be sealed up in foil. You can visualize the concept from the title - like the bloomin' onions from Outback Steakhouse. But this bread, of course, isn't deep fried, but it blooms something like it. It's such a clever idea, why didn't I think of it? You make a batch of fresh pesto, mix it with cream cheese and goat cheese, spread it on the bloomin' style cut of the bread, bake and serve. The cutting of the bread is not difficult, but does require a good bread or serrated knife. You cut the bread almost through, turn the bread 90 degrees and cut again almost through, thus creating these little tall towers or cubes of bread about 3/4 inch or up to 1 inch square and about 2 inches high. Higher if you use a taller loaf, of course. Then you slather the pesto mixture on all 4 sides of the bread. Use a big plastic spatula and spread the cheese mixture down into the bread. Try to cover all sides of each little tower. It does this without working too hard at it if you just do it like you would sliced bread.

Once baked, you grab the very top of each tower and pull. Usually it breaks off right at the base and you have this warm, soft, garlicky mushy bite of unbelievable bread. What was left on the bottom (see picture at top) was cut up into pieces, baked in a hot oven very briefly and became croutons for the Caesar salad we had with dinner.

Get thyself to the grocery store and try this. My only suggestion: Karen decided to use ready-made pesto this time since we were tight on time. But the garlic flavor is much less pronounced, so I'd add more fresh garlic to the cheese mixture in the food processor, then add pesto to your liking.

Pesto-Cheese Bloomin' Sourdough Bread
Recipe: My friend, Karen B, via her friend Erin
1 medium whole sourdough bread
All-purpose pesto:
2 T pine nuts
2-3 cloves garlic,
1 t salt
1 1/2 cups fresh basil

approx. 1/4 cup olive oil
Cheese mixture:
8 ounces goat cheese
4 ounces cream cheese
1. Combine in food processor: nuts, garlic and salt, then add basil. Process until mixed. Slowly add olive oil. You can use less olive oil if you want to - it's just for a binder. If you choose to use ready-made pesto, add additional fresh garlic to the cheese mixture.
2. Cream together, then add pesto mixture and mix thoroughly.
3. Slice bread about one inch apart, not cutting all the way through the bottom crust. Turn loaf 90 degrees and slice bread again, also about 1 inch apart. You'll end up with a cubed effect, but the loaf is still intact.
4. Spread pesto cheese mixture on the bread - going one direction, then turn 90 degrees and spreading again so all the cubes are covered in the pesto cheese mixture. This part can get messy. Wrap bread in foil and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350. Or, on the barbecue, top rack, for about 15 minutes. Serve on a platter and let guests pull each cube.

To print a PDF recipe, click on title at top.

Goat Cheese with Warm Apricot, Cherry and Green Chile Chutney

(photo from hormel.com)

Sometimes when I entertain I don't have a whole day to devote to preparing dinner. But then, when I entertain I always serve an appetizer, a salad, a vegetable, usually a carb of some kind, and a protein, maybe even with a sauce or salsa or something alongside. And dessert. That's a whole lot of food prep.

I'd like to say that as I've gotten older I've gotten wiser about the work and stress of entertaining, but my DH would heartily disagree. I still do a too-ambitious menu. I choose things that require too much work. Once in awhile I either buy an appetizer, or sometimes buy a ready-made dessert. Or, I cut out the carb. But most often I think I can do it all and still be full of energy at 6 pm. But more often than not I'm still working furiously 5 minutes before the guests arrive. My DH loves to entertain (and he does deal with the wine, the wine glasses, and he even sets the table AND does all the dishes). I can't complain at ALL that he doesn't help. He just doesn't help with any of the FOOD unless it's a grilled meal we're having. So when I start working up a menu I forget to think about the hours of work. I often underestimate how much time it will take. And I must not work at the frenetic level I used to. So I'm normally at work in the kitchen all day. One of these days I'll learn. Maybe.

On occasion I start working on my entertaining menu several days ahead and do some of the work a day or so before. This is one of those recipes to do ahead - it's not all that difficult, but you do have to make the chutney. It's easy enough - just takes about 45 minutes total time, with a bit of chopping and mincing before you start. Then when the guests arrive, you can just whip this out and heat it up.

Poblano chiles are a favorite of mine. They have some kind of deep, complex flavor. They have character. That's it. I don't think I've ever had them and not liked them. This recipe came from a cooking class with Tarla Fallgatter. And the chutney is just wonderful. On my notes from the class I wrote "fabulous." That means it's a "must fix this" dish. And I have. You'll have some leftover chutney, but it's also delicious served with a pork chop or chicken breast popped on the grill.

The picture at the top - of the cheese - isn't actually the right kind of cheese - you want the plain chevre or montrachet. A fresh and plain goat cheese log. Then you make the chutney, have it warm. Heat the log of cheese for 5 minutes, then plate it and mound the chutney over and around it. Some crackers, and you're done. I think you'll get raves.

Goat Cheese with Warm Apricot, Cherry & Green Chile Chutney
Recipe: Tarla Fallgatter
Servings: 8
8 ounces goat cheese -- log
2 1/2 cups dried apricots -- coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups sugar -- or sugar substitute
1 cup poblano peppers -- roasted, peeled, chopped
1/2 cup dried cherries -- chopped
1/2 cup red onion -- chopped
1 whole cinnamon stick -- 3 inches
1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons Italian parsley -- chopped
8 ounces crackers

Italian parsley sprigs for garnish
1. In a 3-4 quart pan over high heat, combine apricots, vinegar, sugar, chiles, cherries, onion, cinnamon stick, mustard seed and salt.
2. Bring to a boil, turn heat to low, partially cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the apricots are soft when pierced, about 20-25 minutes. Uncover and simmer until most of the liquid evaporates, about 5 more minutes.
3. Let cool, discard cinnamon stick and stir in the chopped parsley. Preheat oven to 350. Place goat cheese in an ovenproof dish and heat about 5 minutes or until JUST warm. Transfer to a serving plate and spoon some of the chutney over the top. Garnish with the Italian parsley sprigs, surround with crackers and serve.
Per Serving: 549 Calories; 14g Fat (22.0% calories from fat); 14g Protein; 98g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 30mg Cholesterol; 609mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 2 Fruit; 2 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.

Scallion Goat Cheese Muffins

Sometimes it just seems that a dinner requires a different kind of bread. I love ciabatta loaves - they're so tasty and so easy. Buy them, serve them. But, once in awhile for a company meal or for breakfast I will serve some different kind of bread. I think the first time I served these it was for a breakfast for my group of girlfriends along with fresh fruit, juice, coffee and yogurt. They were a big hit.

The recipe came from Gourmet Magazine, back in 1999, according to my notes. I've made them several times and never been disappointed. The goat cheese adds a little zing to the texture and the flavor. Sometimes I have chives in my garden, which makes it particularly easy to throw together. Make these when you have a simple protein and sides, not with something like a hearty lasagna or beef Stroganoff which would overwhelm the subtle goat cheese and chive flavors of the muffins. Instead, serve it alongside a simple grilled pork chop, or chicken breast. Or quiche. Or chili. Or make them for Sunday breakfast, which is my favorite.

Scallion Goat Cheese Muffins
Recipe By: Gourmet Magazine, January 1999
Servings: 12
1 cup whole milk
4 ounces soft goat cheese
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg -- slightly beaten
1 bunch scallions
1. Preheat oven to 400°. Butter 12 small muffin cups. In a small bowl stir together the goat cheese and 2 T. of the whole milk until combined. It helps if the goat cheese is left out at room temp awhile before you try to do this.
2. In a medium-sized bowl sift together the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Melt the butter. Remove from heat and add the remaining milk and the egg to the butter. Finely chop the scallions to measure one cup. Add them to the flour bowl with the butter mixture and stir gently. Don't overmix.
3. Kind of estimate how much is half of the biscuit batter and scoop a large tablespoon of the biscuit mixture into each muffin cup and spread with the spoon to fill the bottom. Place a spoonful of the goat cheese mixture into the center (if possible) of the muffin, then cover that with the remaining biscuit mix.
4. Bake in the middle of the oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Serve while hot.
NOTES : These are really delicious - and easy to make. They would go well with a nice salad, or even with a traditional meat and potatoes dinner.
Per Serving: 155 Calories; 9g Fat (52.2% calories from fat); 5g Protein; 14g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 40mg Cholesterol; 263mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 1/2 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.
To view a printable recipe, click on title at top.