In the Kitchen With Mattie

Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

We had a very nice and quiet Fourth this year. Our son Matt came over and we had a nice BBQ for the three of us. I made enough food for us all to have for the next few days. When the weather is as hot as it has been this past few weeks even I don’t feel like spending all day in the kitchen or out back over a hot grill, so if I am going to cook I will make more than enough to last us a few days.

I went very simple this time with seasonings and all. We had some potato salad, pasta salad, a tossed salad and for meats I made some burgers, hot dogs, a nice rib roast (it came out perfect, and we really gorged ourselves on that), and bone in chicken breasts. I also put some of the shrimp we have in the freezer in a grill pan on the grill.  Matt took enough home to last him a few days so nothing was going to go to waste.

The day was extremely hot and humid and in the early afternoon it started to thunder and lightening and we really thought we would be getting some much needed rain, however it never came until very late that night.

I am late in getting this post up on here because as I was getting ready to put it up the night of the fourth we had a lightening strike that managed to kill my wireless set up. We went to the store and replaced it the next morning but as I am pretty lame when it comes to hooking up these computer things I had no luck in installing it. So it is sitting here in the box and will probably be outdated before I could ever get it to work.

I had asked the guy at Best Buy if it would be over my head to install everything and after asking me a bunch of questions about my ability and the set up I already had here he told me it would be NO problem for me to just follow what was already set up here and it would pretty much install itself. I did as he and the instructions said and after hours and several tries I still couldn’t get it to work. It took me until late last night to finally get my old cable modem going……….it means that I am chained to my desk to be online but the truth is that in the two years since our oldest son visited and set up the wireless network I have never once used my computer anywhere but at my desk, so in fact a wireless set up isn’t something I need.

So long story shorter, we wasted about $75 bucks buying the new equiptment………lesson there, if you don’t need it don’t get it, I am happy with my old way of using my computer even if I am chained to my desk!

Hope everyone had a nice fourth!

I can’t believe that hubby had never had a country fried steak before!  We have lived in the deep south for 30 years in a another 3 days. That may sound strange that I wouldn’t know that he had never tried one before but for many years I was a long distance commuter between the house here and my job back east, so there were many meals that he had to fix or go out for on his own. Now that I have been home permanently for a few years there are some things that are new to him. Tonight was one such meal when I made some country fried steak. He liked it but said it wasn’t something he would enjoy too often, he would rather have a plain steak he said.

Originally I was also going to serve potato salad with it but he wanted just buttered plain potatoes so that’s what he got, the left over potatoes will get made into salad later tonight or in the morning.

Later this week he’ll also be trying green peas for the first time in many years. He loves pea soup but has always refused to eat regular peas. When asked he has always said his mother made them and he hated the texture of them, I couldn’t figure out why that would be and then it hit me that in all the years I knew my mother in law I never once remember seeing a fresh or frozen vegetable in her home, she only served canned veggies so I can’t say I blame his dislike of most of the veggies she served. I on the other hand feed him fresh (preferably) or frozen veggies every night and he eats them all, with the exception of green peas which he has always refused to even try. Last night we went to Wal Mart late and I picked up a package of frozen baby peas and when he saw them he sort of winced and remarked that he couldn’t see how I could possibly like them when they tasted so nasty and pasty, he used all kinds of descriptive names for the peas and none of them were flattering at all. I told him that while I agree with him that canned peas are one of the food worlds worst things, frozen or fresh peas are a totally different thing and he agreed to give them another try!

And now onto tonights dinner:

1 package of cubed steak

3 cups of regular flour

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon seasoned salt

2 eggs beaten together and added to

2 cups buttermilk

Cut the steaks into serving size pieces, add them to a zip lock bag that has the eggs and buttermilk in it, seal the bag and put in the refridgerator for a minimum of 3 hours. Add all the seasonings to the flour and mix together well. About an hour before you are going to eat take the meat from the fridge and pour the bag contents into a large wide bowl, place the flour onto a large plate and the dip each piece of meat into the flour mixture and coat it well. As the meat is floured place it on a wire rack to dry the coating, when all the meat is coated take the meat and again dip it in the liquid mixture and the flour and place it on the rack to dry, make sure the coating is thick on the steak, you may need more flour to coat all the pieces depending on how many you have.

When you are ready to eat, place a large frying pan on the stove and heat it well, add lard or oil to a depth of 1/2 inch and let the oil heat up until it is very hot. When the oil is hot add the steaks one at a time to the pan, don’t crowd them, if needed do them in batchs. Cook about 5 minutes on the first side until they are crispy and browned, turn them over and cook the other side until it is browned, remove to a rack to drain. These are usually served with a cream gravy but hubby doesn’t like cream based sauces or gravies so I didn’t make any tonight.

Hubby is working tonight so it is one of those nights I get to eat alone, hence I get to eat something he doesn’t like!  Our local new market has a nice offering of fresh mushrooms and I’ve been buying them all and using them in dishes that only I eat, hubby swears I will die of botulism one day and he stays far away from my beloved fungi……..fine with me, that just means I get to eat more of them!

This is such a quick and comforting meal and yet one that I really enjoy having. It’s true that sometimes the simplest things are the most pleasureable, I certainly enjoyed my dinner tonight!

                                                        Pasta With Mushrooms

For each serving you will need:

1/2 pound mixed mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thickly

4 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons olive oil, I use a light one so the taste doesn’t overpower the flavor of the mushrooms

1  or more cloves of garlic thinnly sliced, depending on your love of garlic

fresh ground pepper

salt to taste, I added some porcini salt for even more mushroom flavor

1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley

freshly grated parmesan

3-4 ounces of pasta per person, depending on your appetite

Place a pot of water on to boil and add salt to it, about 1 tablespoon. In a 10-12 inch saute pan add the butter and oil and heat, when it is hot add the mushrooms and garlic and saute them until they give up all their liquid. When they start to brown lower the heat and add the parsley.

When the water comes to a boil add the pasta and cook until it is al dente. Do not drain the pasta in a colander, rather remove it from the water with tongs or a spaghetti fork and place it right into the pan with the mushrooms, add the ground pepper and toss it all together so the butter and oil coats the pasta well. Place it into a bowl and add as much fresh grated parmesan as you like or leave it off if you don’t like it. Sit back, relax and enjoy all that mushroom goodness.

Growing up in NYC both hubby and I were exposed to all different kinds of foods at a young age. In the city on just about every few blocks back then there were small neighborhood pizza places, none of them were chains and all had their loyal followers. What they all had in common tho was sausage and peppers and hubby loves the dish whether on a sub roll or just plain or over a plate of pasta……….heck he loves Italian sausages anyway he can get them!  Yesterday we stopped at Rouse’s on our way home from his work and I did a bit of shopping and picked up a package of sausages when I spotted some perfect red peppers that he loves the dish made with. I also bought some cube steaks and was really planning on doing some chicken fried steak for dinner when I spotted those perfect peppers and so dinner went in a totally different direction at that point. He wasn’t paying attention to what I was putting in the cart at the store so when I placed this platter on the table in front of him he was surprised and got a really happy look on his face…..I love that look. I on the other hand don’t care for any kind of sausages so he never asks me to make them, but knowing how happy he is when I do make them, I enjoy doing that for him. He ate his fill of the dish and then packed the rest up for his lunch tomorrow.

                                        Sausage and Peppers

1 package of sweet Italian sausages or 5-6 links of your favorite type

2 cloves of fresh garlic sliced thin

1/4 teaspoon crushed red peppers

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large or 2 small red peppers cleaned and cut thinly

1 jumbo onion sliced pole to pole and then thinly sliced

1/4 cup of good quality extra virgin olive oil

Put 2 cups of water in a large cast iron or non stick saute pan and prick the sausages twice with a thin knife, place the sausages into the water and bring to a low boil and cook for 5 minutes, turn the sausages over and cook another 5 minutes. Drain the water off and add the olive oil and brown the sausages all over. When they are well browned remove them to a plate and cover with some foil to keep them warm. Add the onions to the pan, along with the garlic, salt and crushed pepper and saute them over a low flame for 5 minutes, then add the red peppers and continue cooking until the peppers and onions are softened to your liking, some people like their veggies soft and others like them crisp textured, it is up to you, hubby likes them softened and a little carmelized but not burned. Add the sausages back to the pan and mix everything together and let the sausages heat thru. Serve over pasta or in a sub (Po Boy, Hogie, hero roll) or just on a plate with some bread on the side to soak up the juices. You can also place the mixture into a casserole and sprinkle some mozzarella over it and bake until the cheese melts. I have never met a man who didn’t love this dish and I often send it to friends and have always brought it when we went somewhere where everyone was contributing a dish, it always gets rave reviews and yet it is so very simple to make.

We have been having short rib withdrawal around here for quite some time now. I just could not seem to make myself pay the prices the markets have been charging for them lately. My birthday was a few weeks ago and hubby wanted to take me out for a nice dinner, however I told him I would much rather take the money he would have spent on a nice meal out and used it for making us two great meals at home.  Unfortunately when I went to the market with short ribs in mind they only had one pack that was meaty, the rest in the case were more fat and bone, I did buy the one pack that was nice but I wouldn’t have enough for a meal for both of us so I put that pack in the freezer. This weekend when I went to the market they had another pack of nice meaty ones so I bought it and took the pack I already had from the freezer to defrost.  Tonight I made us the dinner to celebrate my birthday and we really enjoyed it.

To make this yourself you will need:

6 large meaty beef short ribs, trimmed of all outside fat

2 shallots finely diced

1 large onion finely diced

1 carrot grated

1 stalk celery grated

2 tablespoon tomato paste

2 teaspoons Maggi liquid seasoning

1/2 cup dry red wine (one you would like to drink, definitely NOT cooking wine)

1  1/2  cups of unsalted strong beef broth

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs fresh thyme

I was planning on making these in one of my electric pressure cookers but even tho they say they can be used to brown in I don’t find they do a really good job of it, they tend to overheat and shut themselves down before you get the browning required to release most of the fat from the ribs.  Therefore I usually brown these in a saute pan on the stovetop and then place them in the cooker with the rest of the ingredients.  I start off by rubbing the pepper all over the ribs and then add about a teaspoon of oil to a heated pan on the stovetop to get them started browning, this step often takes longer than the ribs cook under pressure but it adds so much flavor to the dish that it’s very important to not skip it. If your pan isn’t large enough then do this in batches, brown them very well on each side, as they are browned place them into the pressure cooker. When they are all browned well, add the onion, shallot, carrot and celery to the saute pan and saute them until they are softened and fragrant, add the tomato paste and cook for another 3-5 minutes, add this mixture to the pressure cooker over the short ribs. Next add the wine to the saute pan and scrape up the fond (brown bits) on the bottom of the pan, bring the wine to a boil and let it reduce to about half and then add the beef broth and the Maggi seasoning, add this to the pressure cooker along with the thyme and bay leaf and any other seasonings you might like and close the cover. Bring the cooker up to high pressure and allow it to cook for 35 minutes, when it finishes let the pressure reduce on its own naturally. Remove the ribs to a platter and pour the juices into a sauce pan and place it over high heat to reduce the liquid to about half, remove the bay leaf and the thyme sprigs and serve the broth with the ribs, you can thicken the sauce with a slurry made of a little flour and water, you can also strain the sauce for smoothness, or puree it in a blender or Ninja.

You will notice that I don’t add salt to the dish, you can if you wish too but the Maggi seasoning has a lot of sodium in it already.