smoky spinach cheese steak roll ups

A super quick, super delicious meal.

steak tips
smoked cheddar cheese
frozen whole leaf spinach

Heat a cast iron pan in a 500 degree oven.

Split the steak tips so they are laying flat. Slice the cheese. Defrost spinach in microwave for 2 minutes. Squeeze the water out of the spinach. Lay the slices of
cheese along the steak, spread with spinach, and roll. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and rub with olive oil.

Place the cast iron pan on the stove top on a high heat. Lower heat in oven to 400 degrees. Heat each roll up in the pan for 2 minutes on each side and then place in the oven for 4 minutes. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

crispy chicken and sauce

We've made this a few times already and the chicken comes out moist and the skin comes out perfectly crispy every time. We've tried a couple different flavor combinations and the only thing we need to watch is how much acid gets added, avoid adding too much. we also use chicken breasts instead of the original thighs and it's only way I've found that makes the breasts nearly as juicy as chicken thighs.

3-4 skin-on chicken beasts
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon oil
8 ounces bacon, cut into lardons
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 bag of baby carrots
3 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tablespoons sugar
2 bay leaves
6 sprigs thyme
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 350°F. Season chicken generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a straight-sided sauté pan over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add chicken, skin side down, and cook without moving it until well browned and crisp, about 8 minutes. Flip chicken and brown lightly on second side, about 3 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and set aside.

Add bacon to pan and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add onion and carrots and cook, stirring, until softened and starting to brown, about 4 minutes. Add chicken stock, lemon juice, sugar, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs and bring to a simmer.

Nestle chicken back into sauté pan, leaving the skin above the liquid but submerging most of the meat. Transfer pan to oven and cook, uncovered, about 45 minutes (do not cook longer even for larger pieces of chicken).

Remove from oven and transfer chicken and pieces of onion, carrot and bacon to a serving platter. Stir butter into sauté pan, reduce sauce and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Serious Eats

my best steak seasoning

My favorite steak seasoning has been McCormick's Steakhouse Seasoning for years, which I can no longer find. So it was time to make my own before I finished the last of the McCormick's. Here's my version, which comes pretty close.

4 tsp mixed peppercorns
2 tsp onion flakes
2 tsp garlic flakes
1 to 1 1/2 french grey sea salt
2 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp paprika

crustless pasty

2 turnips
3 red potatoes
1 red onion
3 carrots
1 bottom round or eye round steak, chopped into small pieces
springs of thyme
butter
oil
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F. Roughly chop turnips, potatoes, carrots and thyme.

Melt butter and oil in large cast iron pan, add finely chopped onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add turnip, potato, carrot, and thyme to the cast iron pan, and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook on medium high for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

Remove vegetables to a separate plate. Add another tablespoon of butter to the cast iron pan. Add the chopped steak and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until barely browned. Add vegetables to steak and stir to combine.

Place uncovered cast iron pan in 400°F oven. Cook for 10 minutes and then broil for 3 minutes to lightly brown top.

fancy gluten-free cranberry cake

We made a gluten-free version of this clafoutis recipe, and while our first version didn't turn out the way the pictures online look, it tasted great, was easy to make and we had all the ingredients on hand. It's an easy, and impressive, dessert to throw together for guests. For Thanksgiving, I would start to make it after dinner is over, so that by the time the 90 minutes to make it has passed you and your guests will be hungry again and it can be served warm.

3 large eggs plus 3 egg yolks
1 cup turbinado sugar
2 cups half-and-half
1/2 cup gluten-free flour (we used Cup for Cup)
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier/orange-flavored brandy (we used triple sec)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
Unsalted butter, for the baking dish
2 1/2 cups fresh cranberries, halved
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Combine the eggs, egg yolks, 1/2 cup turbinado sugar, the half-and-half, gluten free flour, orange brandy, vanilla and salt in a blender. Pulse until the sugar has dissolved and the batter is smooth, about 1 minute. Let sit at room temperature, 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Butter the bottom and side of an 11-inch ceramic tart pan or pie plate and set on a baking sheet. Toss the cranberries with 5 tablespoons turbinado sugar in a small bowl; spread in the bottom of the prepared tart pan. Bake until the mixture starts to caramelize, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F.

As soon as the batter is done resting and while the cranberries are still warm, carefully pour 1 cup of the prepared batter into the hot pan and let sit 5 minutes, then pour in the remaining batter. Sprinkle the remaining 3 tablespoons turbinado sugar on top. Bake until puffed and almost set, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool 20 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Serve immediately.

Adapted from Food Network

forget about it cranberry sauce

This was the new hit of Thanksgiving 2015. While it's based on a basic recipe, I made changes on the fly based on what we had in the house as well as the fact that I let boil way longer than originally intended because I forgot about it while I was cooking other things. We ended up with our own jellied cranberry sauce.

1 bag of fresh cranberries
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1 tangerine

Empty a 12-ounce bag of fresh cranberries into a saucepan and leave aside 1/2 cup of the cranberries.

Add 1 cup sugar, 1 cup of water, and zest from half the tangerine. Squeeze the juice from the tangerine into the saucepan.

Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves and the cranberries burst, about 20 minutes. Continue cooking until the liquid is completely reduced, another 10 minutes.

Reduce the heat to low and stir in the reserved cranberries. Serve warm or cold.

Adapted from Food Network

beeft stew

Lots of beets and lots of stew meat means getting as close to borscht as we can. This can take a long time to make so it's a perfect weekend afternoon stew.

3 lbs of chuck eye steak
2 large vidalia onions
1 tsp sugar
6 beets
3 cups beef stock

1 sprig of thyme

salt and pepper
butter
oil

Slice onions, cut beets into small pieces and cut meat into 1 inch pieces.

In a dutch oven, heat the oil until hot. Working in batches, brown the meat on all sides. Transfer the browned meat to a plate and repeat until all the meat is browned.

Add the butter and onions to the dutch oven and stir occasionally until the onions start to soften, 5-10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and sprinkle in the sugar. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the beets and cook until they begin to release their juices, 10 minutes. Stir in the broth and bring to a boil.

Add the meat and the accumulated juices on the plate, and the thyme, to the dutch oven and bring back up to a boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

the best pork roast ever

This is similar to a pork chop and sauce recipe we love that transfers extremely well to a pork roast. The fat cap on top creates a crust that tastes just like pork belly and the thickness of the pork roast means this is the juiciest pork you've ever had.

2 lb pork loin roast with a fat cap
3 3/4 teaspoons french sea salt
3 teaspoons coriander
2 1/4 teaspoons mustard seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil

Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees with roasting pan inside. Crush coriander, mustard seeds, salt and pepper in a mortar and pestle. Rub all of the spice mixture all over the pork loin including the ends and coat with olive oil.

Add the pork loin to the roasting pan fat side up and cook, undisturbed, for 15 minutes at 500 degrees and then turn the oven down to 350 degrees and cook for 45 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. Slice to serve.

umami chard

We saw this recipe on Man Fire Food but couldn't find it anywhere online so we made up the proportions. It is so good - a combination of flavors we would never think to put together. I imagine these flavors would be good with collard greens, spinach, or anything green and leafy.

2-3 slices of bacon
1 onion
1 shallot
1 garlic clove
honey
red wine vinegar
red pepper flakes
chard

Chop the slices of bacon into small pieces. Roughly chop the onion, shallot and garlic. In a cast iron pan, fry the bacon until the fat has rendered. Add the onion, shallot and garlic and fry until softened and fragrant. Pour in the honey and red wine vinegar and add the red pepper flakes. Stir to combine. Add the chard and stir until chard is covered with sauce. Cover the pan and cook for 8 minutes.

it's nota frittata – no egg veggie casserole

With all the farm share veggies we get frittatas are a good way of stuffing a lot of different vegetables into a single, easy-to-make dish. But wow do I get sick of eggs fast. This dish helps clear out the veggies without the need for eggs and the flavors come together in a surprisingly delicious way.

I have updated the amounts of each of the ingredients used from the original recipe to reflect the sizes and amount of veggies we get in our CSA.

2 tablespoons butter
2 small to medium onions, chopped
Olive oil cooking spray
4-5 small farm potatoes (color/type doesn't matter), sliced
2 cups of zucchini, sliced
3-4 medium to large tomatoes, sliced and halved
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2-3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°. Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in a medium skillet over medium heat; add onions, and sauté 10 to 12 minutes or until tender and onions begin to caramelize.

Spoon onions into a 10-inch dish coated with cooking spray. Toss together potatoes, zucchini, salt and pepper. Salt and pepper tomato slices separately so they don't break up. Layer potatoes, zucchini, and tomatoes over onions, alternating and overlapping slightly. Drizzle with 2-4 Tbsp. melted butter. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake at 400° for 30 minutes. Remove foil, and sprinkle with cheese. Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

fig & honey heaven

It's fig season and I couldn't be happier! Usually we just roast them in the oven with some honey but the below recipe is an even better version of that.

Fresh figs
1-2 tablespoons of butter
2-3 tablespoons of honey
fresh whipped cream

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Wash and trim both ends of the figs. Put the figs, cut side up, in a baking dish. Melt the butter in a bowl in the microwave, add the honey and heat another 30 seconds. Whisk to combine. Drizzle the hot honey butter over the figs and roast in oven until very soft, 15 minutes.

Add the cooked figs to a bowl, top with whipped cream and drizzle with the honey butter sauce from the bottom of the baking dish.

Adapted from Food Network