Cuban Steak

This is one of our favorites on the grill - juicy sirloin steak marinated and sliced and served medium rare. This steak is perfect for topping a fresh green salad.

Cuban Steak
2 pounds beef sirloin steak
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup steak seasoning (Montreal or Mrs Dash)
2 cloves garlic, minced

Combine juices, seasonings, garlic and oil and let steak marinate in a sturdy plastic bag in the refrigerator for 3-6 hours. You can let it sit overnight too if you wish, but the longer the steak sits, the tangier it becomes. For a gentle flavor I always use six hours. Drain steak from marinade, pat dry and grill to your perfect doneness.

Spiedies

Like all home cooks, I fall into certain cooking patterns. Throughout the week I stick to the easy stuff - a good bison burger or something I can cook fast and serve with pasta or rice. There are also the "make your own" nights, a chance for everyone to eat the leftovers of their choice or something they want from the convenience food section of my pantry. Weekends are for experimenting on new dishes, and full meals at the table - steak or rotisserie chicken. This dish is a yummy weeknight quickie, and is also perfect for tailgating or picnics. And it is Steeler football season!!!

When I first tried this my tongue had one of those celestial choir moments. What is it with garlic and herbs and me? Holy heck it's good! I gobbled my sandwich, mopping the sauce with my bread and craved seconds. I called Mira to see what she thought, and before I got a clear answer she was holding her plate out asking for more. It looks like this one is a keeper. I think I could fit this on my rotating schedule - maybe for Thursdays.


Spiedies
2 pounds of chicken cubed into 2 inch squares
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried mint
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Combine seasonings, oil, vinegar and lemon juice into a plastic bag and add chicken. Marinate for at least 24 hours. When ready to cook, arrange cubes of meat on soaked bamboo skewers and grill until golden brown, but don't overcook as the marinade has already cooked the meat partially. I doubled the marinade and set half aside as a condiment or baste for the meat. Serve on Italian bread alone or with shredded lettuce, onions and tomatoes and a drizzle of sauce.You can also use the meat to top a salad.

Spiedies are native to New York state and were originally made with lamb. You can use veal, beef or pork too.

Greek Salad

Horiatiki
Last week I took a vacation to the beautiful state of Virginia to see all sorts of places. Our first two nights were spent in Charlottesville. One evening after a long day of sightseeing we went to the local shopping plaza in search of something yummy to snack on. We happened upon Mykonos Cafe and dined on a delicious Greek salad and cucumbers dipped in hummus. It was a yummy meze treat. And I am hooked. My mouth waters at the thought of crispy greens and cucumbers tossed with feta. Oh my! I couldn't help trying my own version.

Greek Salad
Fresh crisp Romaine lettuce or any variety of greens
English cucumbers diced
Kalamata olives
Red onions, sliced
Fresh grape tomatoes
Feta cheese packed in brine

Combine the greens, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes and onions with some of the Greek dressing (recipe below) and toss to coat all of the veggies. Serve with crumbled feta and a quick grind of pepper.

Greek Dressing
1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 tablespoon dried Turkish oregano

Combine ingredients in a jar and shake thoroughly. Allow the dressing to sit at least a day before using.

Fried Rice

But Not Too Fried!
This recipe is not the fried rice you find at a Chinese buffet. It isn't greasy or bland, and it isn't predictable. Fried rice is not supposed to be predictable - it's meant to reflects what veggies and meats you had on hand. So this recipe too should be treated with flexibility. If you don't have one thing, add another. Don't eat pork? Use chicken instead. Don't eat meat at all? Add more veggies, egg or tofu. Whatever you do, this recipe will still be packed with flavor and healthy too.

Pictured above is the recipe using steamed brown rice, grilled marinated pork, egg beaters and mixed veggies.

Fried Rice
8 cups of steamed rice
1 pound of marinated grilled meat, cubed
4 eggs, beaten
2 medium onions, chopped
1 package Dole broccoli slaw
2 large carrots, diced
4 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2-3 tablespoons Sriracha
1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Saute onions and carrots until onions are barely transluscent. Add broccoli slaw and stir for an additional two minutes or until barely tender. Add eggs, meat, rice and seasonings and heat through.  Add more or less soy sauce and Sriracha as desired.

Hoisin Marinade
4 tablespoons Hoisin sauce
4 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 minced garlic cloves

Marinate meat (pork, chicken or beef) for at least two hours or overnight.

Pineapple Teriyaki Steak Salad

Nothing beats a juicy steak. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I am truly a carnivore and the beef beastie is my favorite along with the pork beastie. I grill steaks outside all year long, but in the summer I love it best with a cool crisp salad and some fresh fruit. This dish has all three together for the perfect hot weather meal.

Pineapple Teriyaki Steak Salad

Marinade:
1/2 cup pineapple juice

1/2 cup soy sauce
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
4 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 cloves garlic finely chopped 

Dressing:

1/3 cup pineapple juice

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar (cider or white vinegar work too)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon sugar

Marinate two pounds of steak (flank or skirt steak) in the marinade overnight. Grill until perfect (for me perfect is medium rare) and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes. Slice thinly and serve on a bed of fresh romaine with fresh pineapple and a splash of dressing. Enjoy!

Barbeque Sauce for Beef

One year a long time ago, my father took one month off work and hauled my family across country in a station wagon. We made a loop around the United States, visiting national parks, kitsch tourist spots and the best of the cities. It was the trip of a lifetime. Our breakfast was instant oatmeal or cold cereal with milk from our cooler, and our lunch was always a sandwich at the side of the road somewhere. The only meal we ate out was dinner. It was the way people traveled back then, we were always in good company at the picnic stops. Now when you travel, the picnic tables are empty and the fast food joints at the rest stops are full. You eventually got tired of ham or peanut butter sandwiches, but in observing this little economy, we were able to see the country.

This recipe is my mother's. One of our dinners out was at Jackson Lake Lodge at Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. My mother ordered a beef dish with a barbeque sauce. I remember her asking for the recipe, but I don't know if she got the recipe from the chef or developed this sauce on her own. But when we returned home, this easy sauce was always served with her roast eye of the round.


Barbeque Sauce for Beef

1 cup ketchup
1 cup water
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
garlic salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and heat until thick. Serve over roasted eye of the round or any other roasted beef.

Chimichurri

I first encountered Chimichurri at my aunt Carol and uncle Juan's house. We visit yearly when we are returning from vacation, and each time we go there she serves up something fabulous for lunch. One year she and my Uncle were grilling chicken and sausages for sandwiches. Aunt Carol pulled this sauce from her refrigerator almost as an afterthought and my cousins began pouring it on their sandwiches. My sister Kathy and I shrugged and added it to ours. In my memory, I distinctly recall Kathy's eyes getting big and round. I swear I heard nothing but heaven's choir singing. My love! My Chimichurri! Where have you been all my life? We haven't parted since and my bottle of Chimichurri is always near in my refrigerator awaiting it's pairing with chicken or steak.

This is my own version of Aunt Carol's recipe. The sauce keeps for several months in the refrigerator. The olive oil will solidify with the cold, but a bit of time at room temperature will bring everything back to normal.


Chimichurri
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon kosher salt
 2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup water

Combine all seasonings, herbs, onions and garlic in a heat-proof bowl. Heat olive oil in microwave until hot, but not boiling and pour over seasonings in bowl. Set aside to give time for the seasonings to infuse flavor into the oil - about 30 minutes. Heat vinegar and water to a boil and pour into bowl and allow to steep for 2 or 3 hours. When cool, pour into a bottle and serve.

Chimichurri can be served as is over grilled or roasted meats. It can also be used as a marinade by combining 1/4 cup of Chimichurri with about 1/2 cup of vinegar.

House Salad Dressing

This is more memory than recipe. It's funny how memories change over time. When I was a kid, mom always made the homemade salad dressing below and I thought it ordinary and boring. It wasn't until I was a teenager that store-bought dressing made it's entrance into our kitchen. Like all tired old things, this dressing became a thing of the past as we sampled all of the new flavors that came from the bottles. Bottled dressing now tastes strangely - "bottled" to me. It's too salty and too vinegary, or just too artificial. I kind of miss the taste of the homemade stuff. And when my mother died in 2007, I began to recall all of those silly concoctions my mother made. Like her fruit salad - a canned pineapple ring with a gob of cream cheese in the middle. And this salad dressing, once banal and ordinary, it now sparkles with her memory.

It's a simple dressing, and pretty cheap to make. I don't recommend substituting the Heinz Tomato Ketchup for any other brand. Blame it on being from Pittsburgh if you must. This ketchup is a part of my history and my city's history. Heinz Tomato Ketchup and Clark Bars rule!

House Salad Dressing
1/2 cup Heinz Tomato Ketchup
1/2 cup Miracle Whip

Mix together well and drizzle over a fresh crispy pile of iceberg lettuce. You can thin it with some milk or water if you wish, but I like it just how it is!

Boiled Salad Dressing

My great-grandmother, Sophia Kraft was born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania in 1882 to German immigrants. At the age of 16, she was living away from home as a cook in Youngstown, Ohio. It was probably at this time she acquired the vast collection of recipes that I am fortunate to now have. This is her recipe for salad dressing. It is tangy and creamy, and perfect on a bed of greens.

This salad dressing is made without any vegetable oil. Back before 1900, commercial vegetable oil was not yet available. The Italians were newly immigrating to America, and with them came olive oil, but this was still not readily available to the average cook. One of my vintage cookbooks, Presbyterian Cook Book published in 1927 has a similar recipe. The author states that this dressing will keep "for a month or more."


Boiled Salad Dressing
1 large egg
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons butter

Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add water and mix thoroughly, removing any lumps. Beat eggs well and add vinegar and seasoned water. Heat gently in a double boiler, stirring constantly until it thickens. Take off the heat and stir in butter.

Sophia's recipe states that if desired, you can stir in a bit of sweet or sour cream. I added about one tablespoon of sour cream.