mmm... beef

last night, nick and i came up with our weekly menu. what we pretty much do is go online and research recipes on food network based on our favorites: ina garten, paula dean, and bobby flay. then we figure out what we have at the house and build a grocery list around what we don't have. pretty simple. it saves us money and we both really enjoy cooking.

lately, i've been making things that haven't been so great. nick's liked them, but not me. so last night i decided i wasn't going to make something crappy and i pulled out paula dean's beef stroganoff recipe. damn. it was really really good.

here it is:


Ingredients

* 1 1/2 pounds cubed round steak, cut into thin strips
* House Seasoning, recipe follows
* All-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 1 medium onion, sliced
* 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
* 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can beef broth
* 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
* Salt and black pepper
* 1 cup sour cream
* Cooked egg noodles

Directions

Season the steak strips with House Seasoning, then dust with flour. In a large skillet, quickly brown them on both sides in the olive oil and butter. Remove the steak from the pan. Add the onion slices and mushrooms to the pan drippings. Saute for a few minutes, until the onion is tender. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon flour. Put the steak back into the pan with the onion and mushrooms. Add the mushroom soup and beef broth. Cook over low heat for about 30 minutes, covered. Adjust seasoning to taste, adding salt and pepper, as needed. Stir in the sour cream the last few minutes, right before you serve. Serve over cooked noodles.
House Seasoning:

* 1 cup salt
* 1/4 cup black pepper
* 1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix the ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Yields: 1 1/2 cups

i might hate mondays, but i love monday nights. nick and i don't have activities planned for monday nights and we generally use it to cook and hang out. so tonight i'm going to make rice pilaf and he's going to grill some seafood. i'm hoping for shrimp, but we're going to see what's good at whole foods today. so, since i've never made a rice pilaf, i did some internetting and found one that fits nick and i's taste buds. basically, anything with cumin and garlic will keep us happy.

Almond Rice Pilaf, Nick and Lauren style

2/3 c. Blue Diamond sliced almonds
3 tbsp. butter, divided
1 c. chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
1 sm. green bell pepper, diced
1 c. long grain rice
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 c. chicken broth

Saute almonds in 1 tablespoon butter until golden; reserve. Saute onion and garlic in remaining 2 tablespoons butter until translucent. Add green pepper, rice, raisins, cumin and salt; saute 2 minutes. Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, cook 20 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand covered, 5 minutes. Stir in almonds. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

weekend recap:





friday night - the baton rouge alley cat bricklayer race went off without a hitch. dennis and i hung out at north gate because that was our post. when the racers showed up, i made them come up with a haiku before giving them their brick and telling them the next spot. nick won dead fucking last and got the placecard which he was happy about because it was our most favorite out of all the ones i made. we went to chelsea's for some food and beers.



saturday - went canoeing with the third row tailgaters, angie, scott, and bobbi. angie and i were fortunate enough to ride with scott and bobbi because they were sober at 9am. we drove out past franklinton, la and just inside mississippi to canoe along the tangipahoa river, i think. angie and i paired up and it was pretty rocky from the start, but we got the hang of it my the time the 6hour journey was over. we capsized twice on our own and once when travis jumped into our boat and flipped us over. the first time was bad because we hit a tree sideways and it threw us out and i went under the boat. i was under for what felt like a lifetime, but i kept telling myself to remain calm and that i'd find the surface. scott and boo saw us flip and paddled then swam to our aid. we lost some stuff, but my rugby shirt was found and angie's vikings coozie were saved. we got home around 9 and i was pooped out.

sunday - we got to sleep in before heading to nick's parent's house for a mother's day crawfish boil and swim. we finally got molly to jump in the pool and swim, she seemed to really enjoy herself. i think a few more tries and she'll figure out she can jump from the side of the pool and not from the steps. we had coffee and lemon raspberry cheesecake and then headed home. we went out to kickball pick-up/practice and ended up playing an hour of 4on4 soccer for an hour. then we played 4on4 kickball for another hour before heading to sammy's for "family dinner".

it was a nice, fun-filled weekend that has left me sore and sunburnt. i didn't get to work on any art projects though. :(

churros

i made a trial batch of churros last night and they didn't turn out all to wonderful.
i mean, nick and mike at them all, but i thought that they were heavy. i'm thinking
that this is a result of using too much butter, so i'm updating the recipe and will
try again this afternoon after work. here it is:

1 cup water
2 Tbs brown sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup butter
1 cup white flour
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 to 1 tsp. ground cinnamon, depending on taste

preheat 1 1/2 to 2 inches of vegetable oil in a 10 to 12 inch frying pan to 375 degrees F. in a separate dish mix the 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon and set aside.

in a 3 qt. sauce pan add the water, brown sugar, salt, and butter and heat to a good boil. remove from the heat and add the flour. stirring in the flour will take some muscle. mix it in until well blended.

in a separate bowl, mix the eggs and vanilla together and then add this mixture to the flour mixture. stir until well blended and all the egg is completely mixed in.

fill your decorating tool (piping bag with large star tip) with the dough.

test your oil by placing a small amount of dough in it. the dough should bubble up right away or that means the oil is not hot enough and a soggy churro is on the way.

once the oil is hot enough, squeeze some dough (with decorator) into the oil about 4 inches long.

you should be able to cook 4 or 5 churros at a time. cook them about 1 minute and turn them over with a slotted spoon. cook an additional minute or two.

emove the churros with the slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel-covered plate to absorb excess grease.

while still warm, roll each churro into the dish with the sugar and cinnamon until coated.

note: i made a chocolate sauce to go with mine. i took a 4oz bar of chocolate and melted it down with 2 cups of milk and a tablespoon of cornstarch to help thicken it up. i also added a teaspoon of vanilla extract and a pinch of cayenne pepper.