Super Mashers with Steak and Pepper Hash

I really liked the sound of this recipe. I mean it has peppers in it and I LOVE peppers! Any heat in a recipe is just a huge plus for me, actually for most in this house not just me. If you add mashed potatoes to the mix you will please the whole family. My Dad has been know to, on numerous occasions, make a meal out of just mashed potatoes! 


I know it seems that I am obsessed with peppers, but for some reason later in my life I have developed a love for them. Maybe part of it is that I read the spicier the food, the more calories your body burns. So bring on the heat as far as I am concerned! This week was a hot one since I made this recipe along with one of my own for my personal recipe blog, Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen. You can check that one out if you like spicy chicken tacos. A great Cinco De Mayo meal!


I was a little nervous because, as I have mentioned before, Kevin is VERY picky when it comes to red meat. If it isn't rib eye he doesn't want it...PERIOD! But I have been breaking him in slowly with the main reason being that who can afford to cook rib eye for every steak meal you make? This one calls for thinly sliced sirloin. When I was at the grocery store I saw a package of thinly sliced beef and it said "great for stir fry" on it. I asked the butcher if it was comparable to the sliced sirloin my recipe called for and she told me yes. So I grabbed three packages (the recipe calls for 1 1/3 pounds but I just grabbed a little over 1 1/2 pounds). I grabbed all my yummy peppers and away I went.


Now I get ready to cook and as I am reading down the recipe I realize that, once again, my ADD obviously kicked in and I somehow overlooked 2 items on the ingredient list! ARG!! I am going to have to and read the ingredient lists three times each just to make sure I don't do this anymore. So I am sorry that the recipe isn't just as it was supposed to be.


To be honest I was worried about the meat being tough. While you are cooking the recipe instructs you to slide the beef off to one side of the pan and cook the veggies on the other side. I stole a bit of the meat to take a taste and it was really chewy. I was so bummed. I knew that would get a less than favorable review. But I went back to the business of cooking the whole meal  before I passed judgement.


After the veggies cook a bit it calls for you to mix the meat and veggies and cook for a few more minutes "like a stir fry". Evidently the amount of cooking that took place between sliding the meat to the side and stir frying was the perfect amount. The meat was just right! I was so happy, and relieved.


I missed the scallions and the lime on the recipe so I used a little bit of lemon juice to add some citrus flavor and just had to do without the scallions. I will say the potatoes were good and I think the scallions would have made them even better. I couldn't taste the lemon juice, but again I agree it would have been better with the lime. All that aside, this really was a good meal. The mix of peppers gave it a sweet/spicy thing going on, and eating it with potatoes in the same bite really just set everything off. I of course reserved my opinion until I heard from the other diners. Kevin immediately said he really liked it. Color me shocked!! My response to that was "Really?". I was just completely prepared for him to hate it he really caught me off guard. Ok, not I am waiting for Miss Picky to weigh in. She of course didn't eat the peppers, but the steak still had the pepper flavor, and there is a bit of Franks Red Hot in it to boot. She said SHE loved it. WOW what I pleasant surprise. It went from a recipe, in my mind, that no one would want a repeat of, to one that can get marked down as a keeper. Nice!!


Oh, a small side note, I went ahead and mixed the cheese in with the mashed potatoes rather than sprinkling it on top. Just a personal preference for me. Also, the recipe calls for 10 ounces of shredded cheddar. Well, it come in 8 ounce bags so I only used the 8 ounces and it tasted just fine.

Super Masher with Steak and Pepper Hash

Ingredients

4 large starchy potatoes, such as Idaho

coarse salt

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tables spoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

4 garlic cloves, chopped

4 scallions, chopped

1 1/3 pound 1 inch thick beef sirloin, trimmed and thinly sliced

coarse black pepper

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced

2 Anaheim or poblano chilies (Anaheim are a bit hotter), seeded and thinly sliced

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

2 to 3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped

several drops of hot sauce, such as Franks Red Hot, to taste (I add a couple of tablespoons!)

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 to 1/2 cup milk depending on how soft you like your mashers.

10 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Peel the taters and cut them into small chunks. Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with cold water. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. Uncover, add salt to season, and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.

In a small pot over medium low heat, add about 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil. Add the butter. When the butter melts into the oil, add the garlic. Saute the garlic for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the scallions and remove the pan from the heat. Reserve.

Heat a large non stick skillet over high heat. Season the sliced steak with salt and pepper, then heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil. The oil will smoke--don't freak out, just add the meat and start searing it up. Brown the strip on all sides, hit with some Worcestershire sauce, then push it off to one side of the pan and add the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the peppers, chilies, and onions, season with salt and pepper, then toss them around, searing all the edges, for another minute or two before combining all the meat and veggies together. Add the thyme and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes, keeping everything moving around like a stir-fry. Turn off the heat and drizzle some hot sauce and the lime juice over the steak and veggies. Adjust the seasoning.

Drain the potatoes, then return them to the hot pot to evaporate some of the water content. Add the reserved garlic and scallion mixture to the potatoes along with the sour cream and start smashing away with a masher. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup milk if needed. Season the super mashers with salt and pepper.

Pile up one fourth of the potatoes on each plate. Top with a generous handful of cheddar cheese. Pile up meat and veggies on top of the super mashers and serve. The heat of the meat and veggies will melt the cheese.

Serves 4

Mashed Potatoes



Pepper Sirloin Steak

Switching Things Up In A Curry

Hello my fellow foodies! Hope this afternoon is treating you well. If you can tell I am in a wonderful mood! The sun is shining here in my little corner of Washington, and there isn't a rain cloud in sight. Oh happy day!!


OK, back on track, last night's recipe. Well last night was supposed to be recipe #57 Turkey Cutlet Parmigiano with Warm, Fresh Grape Tomato Topping, Pesto, and Mozzarella. Sounds yummy no? Well, we still don't know since Miss Forgetful over here forgot one of the ingredients for the recipe. Well actually I drank it. It called for white wine and I, not realizing I needed it for last nights recipe, drank the last glass of it a few nights ago. I guess that will teach me to pay attention right?


So here I am, in a bit of a panic, it is time to start cooking and I have no idea what I am going to make. My son Seth was here and his answer of course was to order pizza, ummm no. It was hard to explain to him that I am cooking every night so I can share the experience and information here on my blog. He just thinks I am crazy.


Now I grab my calendar and see what the next recipe is. OK, recipe #147 Italian Style Garlic Shrimp with Cherry Tomatoes and Thin Spaghetti. Sounds awesome......dang it....the shrimp are frozen....UGH....NEXT? Saturdays recipe, #40 Mostly Green Curry Chicken over Coconut Jasmine Rice. Do I have everything I need for it? BINGO gang we have a winner!! 


This was a wonderful finish to a crazy chaotic start. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this one. I have only cooked with coconut milk once before, a parchment wrapped chicken with veggies in coconut milk, and it just didn't do anything for me. But I jumped in feet first to get this one done, determined it was going to be good. WOW was I right! Not only was it good, it was fantastic! Kevin ate all of his bowl and finished mine, and Seth had quite a bit as well. I sent some home with him for Melissa because we both said it was one she would love.


I stayed close to the recipe on this one. I switched a yellow bell pepper for the green one, but hey the recipe said "mostly" green right? I used a large jalapeño pepper and finely chopped it. I am not sure if it was a typo or the step was just omitted for some reason, but it only says to cut it in half and seed it. Possibly I was supposed to use it in the cooking and then remove it before serving, but it didn't say that either so I made a judgement call. You know most of us here like things spicy so I was more than happy to have that jalapeño in there. 


I also added 1/2 cup cilantro instead of the 1/4 cup it called for. That was just because, well, I love, love, love cilantro so I couldn't help myself. With the scallions, I sliced about 5 or 6 because I used the green tops in place of the chives for the Aussie Meat Pie recipe. I like onions, so it worked well.


Last but certainly not least, the hot sauce. To me curry needs to have a bit of a bite. I don't mean it needs to bite your head of, but a little nibble at least is needed. The recipe says to use Tabasco to taste but, like I said in Aussie Meat Pie posting, I use Franks Red Hot or Sriracha. I used the Franks this time and a good amount. Probably about 10 to 12 shakes of the bottle. I made sure and salted well too. 


End result......total YUMMINESS!!! Kevin said this is definitely a keeper and I 100% agree. The picture isn't the prettiest but trust me the taste is GREAT!

Oh oops I also doubled the rice part of the recipe, we like starch in this family! I think it was a good idea and you will still have enough coconut milk.

Mostly Green Curry Chicken over Coconut Jasmine Rice

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 13 1/2 ounce can coconut milk
• 1 cup jasmine rice
• 3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
• 4 6 to 8 ounce boneless skinless chicken breasts chopped into bite sized pieces.
• salt
• black pepper
• 1 green bell pepper, cored, seeded, thinly sliced
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced 
• 3 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 small jalapeño, cut in half and seeded
•  3 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• zest and juice of one lime
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves (a handful), chopped
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves (a couple of handfuls), chopped
• 1 cup frozen peas
• hot sauce, such as (I say Franks Red Hot) Tobasco, to taste

 Directions
In a sauce pot combine 1 cup of chicken stock, 1/4 cup of the coconut milk, and the jasmine rice. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 to 18 minutes. Turn the heat off and keep the rice covered until ready to serve.


While coconut jasmine rice is cooking, preheat a large non-stick skillet over high heat with about 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces, spreading them evenly across the the pan, and brown chicken on all sides, about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the browned chicken to a plate and reserve. Add the last tablespoon of the vegetable oil to the pan. Add the green bell peppers, onions, garlic, jalapeño, ginger, and broccoli florets. Cook, stirring frequently, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the veggies start to wilt. To the skillet add the remaining coconut milk and 1/2 cup chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat, and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes. Add the chicken back to the skillet, and return it to a simmer for about 2 more minutes. add the lime juice, lime zest, cilantro, scallions, parsley, and frozen peas. Stir to thoroughly combine. Simmer a minute more to heat the peas, taste, and adjust the seasoning. Add some hot sauce if you like heat. Serve over coconut jasmine rice.


Serves 4

Curry Chicken

Goooooood Morning!

Well I woke up this morning a bit tired and upset that last nights recipe didn't go very well. Like I said, I knew it was bound to happen, but I guess I would find the positive in everything. I know, get your head out of the clouds Bobbi.


This morning was recipe #1, Scramblewiches. I was nervous about this one as well. It is pretty simple, cook some deli ham in butter, add eggs with some S&P, hot sauce and a splash of milk, scramble and put them inside some scooped out bread boats with cheese topped with chives. Simple? Yes. Exciting? No. Tasty? Well, we all liked it so I guess it would be a yes. It was supposed to make 4 adult size servings, but it just seemed too big for me so I cut the bread down and made 8 normal size servings.


It was nothing fancy. Nothing I think I would crave. I don't see me waking up in the middle of the night telling Kevin "Oh My God I have GOT to have a scramblewich tomorrow or I will die!". But it was a good filling breakfast, so after last nights disappointment I will take this as a win. 


Out of 5 Stars I would give it ***

Scramblewiches

Ingredients

1 baguette (day old is fine)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 pound deli sliced ham, smoked turkey, pastrami, or corned beef

8 large eggs

a splash of milk

a teaspoon of hot sauce

salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 deli slices of Swiss cheese (halved lengthwise to fit bread), or 8 slices of cheddar (2 squares per bread), or 6 slices Provolone cheese ( 1 1/2 slices per bread, cut to fit)

chopped fresh chives or parsley

Directions

preheat oven to 200

crisp the bread in the oven, split it lengthwise, and hollow it out. Cut each piece in half again, across, making four boats. Switch the broiler on.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and melt it. When the bubbles stop, add the meat and cook, separating the pieces, for 3 minutes, or until brown at the edges. In a bowl beat the eggs with the milk, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Add to the meat and scramble, keeping the eggs a little soft. They will continue to cook in the oven.

Divide the eggs among the bread and cover with the cheese. Melt the cheese under the broiler. Take i tout as soon as the cheese softens and melts. Do not brown or allow the cheese to bubble; there are eggs under there! Garnish with the chopped chives or parsley.