Garlic Crusted Rib-Eyes

  Down here, amid record highs for May, it's easy to see grill covers being flung aside and grills being fired up.  Rightly so, we followed suit this Memorial Day.  This recipe comes from Jamie Purviance, author of a popular series of grilling books for Weber.  The steaks came out juicy, succulent, and needed no sauce.  The trick to these steaks is not the ingredients, as there are relatively few needed, but the method of how to prepare the garlic.  The stinkin' rose will be used to create a paste that won't burn like traditional minced garlic.  And if you've ever had the misfortune of tasting burnt garlic, you know how bitter it is.  So, let's get to it, shall we?

Garlic Crusted Rib-Eyes

Serves 4

Ingredients

4 large garlic cloves
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 Rib-eyes, about 1 inch thick, and excess fat trimmed away

  Start off by creating the garlic paste.  You will need a cutting board and chef's knife, or a knife with a similar sized blade (a santoku knife comes to mind, and one of my favorite blades).  Peel the garlic cloves and finely chop the garlic.  Sprinkle about a teaspoon of the salt over the chopped garlic.  Carefully, using the side of the knife, keeping pressure near the tip, drag the knife over the garlic until a paste forms.  This will take a few times of smashing and smearing the garlic back and forth on the cutting board.  It'll take on an almost transparent consistency, since it will have been smashed so thin.  Scrap up the garlic and add it to a small bowl.  Mix in the remaining salt, olive oil, parsley, vinegar and pepper.

  Take your garlic mixture and rub it on both sides of the steaks.  Allow the steaks to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before grilling.

  Fire up the grill and get it ready to grill on high, direct heat.  Grill the steaks until desired done-ness.  Move the steaks to a plate, loosely cover with aluminum foil and allow them to rest about 5 minutes under the foil tent before serving.

Creamy Lemon Rice

  Out of all the things to make in a slow cooker, rice is just one of those things that does NOT cross my mind.  I was flipping through one of my notebooks and I saw I had jotted down Creamy Lemon Rice in one of my random moments and tagged which of my cookbooks in was in.  Good thing, or I'd never figured out which book it was in, because the last place I'd look would be my slow cooker books.    But there on page 144 of Carlean Johnson's Six Ingredients of Less: Slow Cooker, it was.  And I'm glad I tried it - easy, frees up the stove, and really tasty.  I have found just like any other recipe, the newer slow cookers cook (surprise!) much faster.  I've noted my time in the recipe (the time for newer cookers), along with her original times (for older cookers).  I made this in 4 quart pot, but you could easily make this in one smaller than that.

Creamy Lemon Rice

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup melted butter
2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest

Spray your slow cooker with no-stick cooking spray.  Add all the ingredients - yes, even the cream - at once and stir.  Cover and cook the rice on LOW 2 1/2 - 3 hours in newer slow cookers, 4-5 hours in an older cooker.  The rice is ready when the liquid is absorbed and the rice is nice and tender. Mine was ready at the 2 1/2 hour mark.

Note - Ms. Johnson says you can skip the cream for a lighter rice dish.  I'll just take her word on it, and stick with the cream.

Herb Butter

  Yesterday, it was a nice dinner treat.  We grilled out steaks, and I tried my hand at herb butter.  It was the first time I put something other than steak sauce on a hunk of beef like that, and I have to say it was delish.  I found a recipe on the net, and it's a keeper.  I'm looking forward to tossing some of the leftovers on hot noodles or chicken.

Herb Butter

Yields 1 cup

2 sticks (8 oz. total) butter, softened
5 teaspoons fresh chives, chopped fine (or 1 1/2 tsp of dried chives, crushed between your fingers - which was what I used)
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped fine
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of cayenne pepper

  In a medium mixing bowl, add in all the ingredients.  With an electric mixer on low, mix until everything is smooth and well combined.  Take a sheet of plastic wrap and lay it out.  Spoon the butter into a log shape on the plastic wrap.  Roll up the butter and continue to roll the butter a bit to make the log uniform.  Twist up the ends and stash in the freezer.  It will only take about 20 minutes to firm back up.  Slice off what you need and enjoy!

Lemon Glazed Carrots

  I love carrots.  I have since I was a little tyke; so much so, Mom had to take me to the hospital as a baby.  She panicked when she woke up to an orange kid.  Turns out, when you eat a lot of your favorite carrot and squash baby food, you end up with carotenosis.

  I've branched out since then, but I still love carrots.  Recently, I found a recipe for glazed carrots that has one of my other favorite flavors - lemon.  Just in time for lighter spring meals!

Lemon Glazed Carrots

Serves 6

9 medium carrots
4 tablespoons butter, cubed
1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar

  Start by peeling the carrots, and slicing them in half lengthwise.  Boil the carrot slices in salted water, just until tender, and drain well.

  In a heavy skillet, melt the butter.  Add the lemon juice and brown sugar.  Stir the mixture until it thickens.  Add in the carrots and cook until they are well glazed and heated through.

Captain Russell's Jambalaya

  Laissez les bons temps rouler, mes amis!  Down in N'awlins, the parades are rolling down the streets, and folks are living it up before Lent.  Tonight, we dug into this recipe - Captain Russell's Jambalaya, in the March 2011 issue of Taste of Home magazine.  Definitely a keeper.

Captain Russell's Jambalaya

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 can (10.5 oz) condensed French onion soup, undiluted
1 1/4 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cubed
1 small green bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/2 pound andouille sausage, fully cooked, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
2 cups uncooked long grain rice

  Preheat your oven to 375°F.  Spray a 13 by 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

  In a large saucepan, add in the French onion soup, beef broth, tomato sauce, butter, bell pepper, onion, Creole seasoning, and hot sauce.  Stir and bring it to a boil.  Take it off the heat and add in the shrimp, sausage, and rice.  Stir it up and pour it into the baking dish and cover with foil.  Bake it in the oven for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake it for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until the rice is cooked all the way through.  

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

  It's Super Bowl Sunday!  And you better believe I'm flingin' a Terrible Towel today.  (I'd rather be pulling for the Saints, but alas, it wasn't meant to be this year.  Next year, boys, next year.)  But this Sunday is all about the pigskin, commercials, and the munchies.  So I'm sharing a great pizza I found awhile back on recipezaar.com (now food.com) by Mini R. - and it is simple and scratches that itch when you can't decide between wings and pizza.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Ingredients

1 portion of pizza dough *
1/2 pound (8 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenders, grilled
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup hot sauce
1/3 cup ranch salad dressing
2 cups shredded mozzarella (8 oz by weight)


  Start off by preheating your oven to 400°F. Cut up the grilled chicken into bite-sized chunks.  In a bowl, stir together the melted butter and hot sauce.  Toss in the chicken chunks and make sure all the pieces are coated.

  Press your pizza dough into the pizza pan.  Spread the ranch dressing onto the pizza dough.  Layer the chicken over the dressing, and sprinkle evenly with the mozzarella.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the crust is done, and the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Notes - Let's discuss the pizza dough for a minute.  The original recipe called for dough to cover a 12 inch pizza pan.  You can, of course, make your own dough - or - buy it at the store.  Some stores sell dough balls in the refrigerated section.  If you're like me and not lucky enough for that, check over with the canned biscuits.  There are some pretty decent canned pizza doughs out there that you just unroll and press into your pan.  If you find the middle of your dough isn't getting baked all the way through, but the crust is done, you may want to try doing a partial bake.  (If we were making a pie, we'd call this a blind bake.)  Put your dough in your pan and bake for about 5-8 minutes before adding any toppings- depending on the size of your pizza.  Pull it out and add toppings, and pop it back in until the pizza is done.

Garlic Cheese Rolls (ABM)

  I hope everyone has enjoyed their holidays.  I've been lucky to get some lovely gifts in the culinary vein, so you know, I've been busy in the kitchen.  Right now, in my neck of the south, life's in slow motion, due to snow, ice, and more ice.  So it's time to update my dear blog - as we all know, I'm overdue. 

  I received a bread machine as an early Christmas gift.  I swear enabling a carboholic should be illegal.  Oh wait, my sweet hubby gave it to me, and he's a carboholic, too.  Never mind.  I have this love-hate relationship with bread - I love to eat bread, bread hates for me to make it.  Whenever I've tried to make kneaded breads in the past, my kitchen, my clothes, my cat all seem to be covered in flour.  Yeast pizza crust in the stand mixer...yeah, uh, I won't be doing that again.  My kitchen smelled like fermenting yeast for two days.  Quick breads have been my one saving grace, until now.  Ladies and gentlemen, I have made homemade rolls, with minimal flour clean up.

 See!  Look!  Soft, tasty, edible rolls that I made.

 

   You may have noticed the acronym in the post title - if you aren't familiar with it, ABM stands for Automatic Bread Machine.  Today's bread machines have many options and cycles on board.  My machine has a dough cycle which is perfect for people like me, people who can't knead a loaf of bread correctly to save their hides, or busy people, take your pick.  This particular recipe takes advantage of the dough cycle.  It comes from Bread Machine Magic, Revised Edition by Linda Rehberg and Lois Conway.  I have an old copy of the first edition of this book I picked up for 50 cents at McKay.  For 50 cents, I figured it was good research to see if I really wanted a bread machine.  The great thing about this book is it gives you options to make 1 lb, 1.5 lb, or 2 lb sized loaves.  (The first edition featured only 1 and 1.5 lb sizes and focused on several brands of bread machines that aren't prevalent on the market any longer.)  I chose to make the 1.5 lb size, which yields 24 rolls.  You will also need 2 pie plates or baking dishes for this recipe.  As you can see, I only own 1 pie plate and a baking dish works pretty well for these rolls.

Garlic Cheese Rolls

Yields 24 rolls

Ingredients

Dough

1 cup water (about 80°F)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Topping

1/4 cup melted butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

  Every machine has its own order for adding ingredients to the bread pan.  The order for my model goes liquids, dry, flour, and yeast.  Pick the dough setting and start.

  Grease your pie plates or baking dishes and set aside.

  Once the dough cycle is complete, turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured work surface - a  clean counter works well. Roll out the dough into a 24 inch rope.  With a sharp knife or dough scraper, cut the dough into 24 pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball in your hands and place into the greased pans.  Leave a little room between each ball because they will go through a rise session before baking.

  In a small bowl, combine the melted butter and crushed garlic.  Pour or spoon the butter over the rolls, and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Cover the rolls and prepare for the dough to rise.

  Rising: This is a neat trick I've picked up and also given in the book - if you don't have a warm spot, use a slightly warm oven to rise.  Flip the oven to Warm (or low temperature if your oven doesn't have a Warm setting) for 1 minute.  Cut it off, and put the dough in to rise 30 to 45 minutes, or until doubled in size. 

  Remove the dough from the oven and then preheat the oven to 375°F.  Uncover the rolls and return them to the oven for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Notes - Here are some tips for using a bread machine.  The water temperature is important - too hot and it will kill the yeast before it gets a chance to work.  75-85°F is a common temperature range in ABM recipes.  It will feel cool to your skin, since our body temperatures are much warmer than this temp range.  Bread machine yeast is sold in jars near the envelopes of yeast.  Once opened, store the jar in the refrigerator.