Cooking adventures
Sep. 1st, 2010 11:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
badseed1980Last night, I made two recipes from the Pioneer Woman's website. They both sound awfully evil, but they weren't as evil as they might have been.
First, let's talk about these potatoes. Can I tell you about how awesome these potatoes are? I will anyway. The recipe calls for you to boil them first before crushing and roasting them, and it calls for lots of oil. I am lazy. I microwaved my taters until they were tender. Then I put some foil in the broiler pan of my toaster oven and SPRAYED it with olive oil. Then I crushed the potatoes onto it (I used four small red potatoes, about 3.5-4oz. each, to give you an idea of size), sprayed with a bit more oil (uses less than drizzling), and seasoned with salt, pepper, and finely chopped fresh rosemary and thyme. They were AMAZING. Creamy-crispy. Flavorful. I have a new favorite potato recipe. With the microwaving, it's actually very easy and quite fast. I was able to make enough for two average sized servings in the toaster oven, so I didn't heat up the house as much as if I'd used the oven.
Now for the true evil: cube steaks dredged in seasoned flour and fried. I used less oil and butter than the recipe called for. I should have used more even though I'd halved the recipe, because it was really needed to cover the skillet bottom better. This meant there was some sticking, alas. I think that next time, I will use more oil, and JUST oil, no butter. I'll cook it at a higher temperature, because it seemed like the flour absorbed too much oil before browning, and the juices that seeped out of the steaks soaked in too. A higher temperature would result in a better sear on the meat, and leaving out the butter would mean less risk of smoking. Using no butter also means the saturated fat would still be low, because round steak, which this cube steak is made of, doesn't have as much saturated fat as a lot of other cuts of beef. FWIW, since I didn't have seasoned salt, I used Penzey's Northwoods seasoning with a little extra salt. So good.
I had this stuff with a salad. I'm having the same thing for dinner tonight. Yum! I need to make this for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
pierceheart when he comes home.
First, let's talk about these potatoes. Can I tell you about how awesome these potatoes are? I will anyway. The recipe calls for you to boil them first before crushing and roasting them, and it calls for lots of oil. I am lazy. I microwaved my taters until they were tender. Then I put some foil in the broiler pan of my toaster oven and SPRAYED it with olive oil. Then I crushed the potatoes onto it (I used four small red potatoes, about 3.5-4oz. each, to give you an idea of size), sprayed with a bit more oil (uses less than drizzling), and seasoned with salt, pepper, and finely chopped fresh rosemary and thyme. They were AMAZING. Creamy-crispy. Flavorful. I have a new favorite potato recipe. With the microwaving, it's actually very easy and quite fast. I was able to make enough for two average sized servings in the toaster oven, so I didn't heat up the house as much as if I'd used the oven.
Now for the true evil: cube steaks dredged in seasoned flour and fried. I used less oil and butter than the recipe called for. I should have used more even though I'd halved the recipe, because it was really needed to cover the skillet bottom better. This meant there was some sticking, alas. I think that next time, I will use more oil, and JUST oil, no butter. I'll cook it at a higher temperature, because it seemed like the flour absorbed too much oil before browning, and the juices that seeped out of the steaks soaked in too. A higher temperature would result in a better sear on the meat, and leaving out the butter would mean less risk of smoking. Using no butter also means the saturated fat would still be low, because round steak, which this cube steak is made of, doesn't have as much saturated fat as a lot of other cuts of beef. FWIW, since I didn't have seasoned salt, I used Penzey's Northwoods seasoning with a little extra salt. So good.
I had this stuff with a salad. I'm having the same thing for dinner tonight. Yum! I need to make this for
pierceheart when he comes home.
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no subject
Date: 2010-09-01 03:44 pm (UTC)If you liked that, try...
Date: 2010-09-01 07:16 pm (UTC)It's only tricky to not overcook the bites - almost like popcorn steak. :)
In general, her recipes are a hoot - I've been making Pasta a la Marlboro Man for about a year now and the boys couldn't be happier with it.
Re: If you liked that, try...
Date: 2010-09-01 07:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-02 01:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-02 01:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-09-02 01:24 am (UTC)Oh. My. Word.
Date: 2010-09-02 05:49 pm (UTC)Re: Oh. My. Word.
Date: 2010-09-02 05:53 pm (UTC)And do the potatoes too. Really, they are so good. I'm making more of them to go with tonight's turkey burger! :D
I've got one more steak left, the smallest (4.5oz) in the package. I'm thinking that one, I'll save, freeze, and thaw one day to eat on a sandwich. I reheated last night's leftover steak in a nonstick skillet, and it crisped up the outside nicely.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-04 02:17 pm (UTC)potatoes are my very favorite food. :) love 'em so much i even have an icon.