Brisket leftovers

So, on the Fourth, we had Grilled Brisket Fajitas. There was a lot of brisket leftover. So I have to be creative with ways to use it up. Last night's dinner...Brisket Quesadillas. Tasty and simple. Start by chopping the brisket.

Lay some cheese on a tortilla, then the chopped brisket. If you have beans or veggies, add those at this point.

Layer more cheese on top of the meat or veg. Cover with another tortilla and place in a medium high heat pan.

I love quesadillas. I order them at a variety of restaurants. What I can't stand it when the chef sees fit to add oil to the pan to make the tortillas crisp up. There is enough lard in the tortillas, that extra fat isn't needed...the quesadillas just end up tasting oily. I always cook mine in a dry pan and end up with beautifully browned and crisp tortillas.

Slice and serve with salsa, sour cream and guacomole. This salsa is a variation on this recipe. I cut tomatoes into quarters and seeded them. Placed them on a baking sheet and placed under the broiler. After about 30 minutes, the tomatoes had shriveled and lost a good portion of their moisture. I also had garlic, jalapeno and onions on the baking sheet. The whole mess goes into a food processor and is whizzed together with some lime juice, salt, pepper and a handful of cilantro. This was one of our favorite salsas! ...When it's fresh. The salsa didn't seem to like sitting in the fridge for two days. The onions got a little to funky with the garlic and made something nasty. So lesson learned...make the salsa and devour it...then toss the leftovers...

Ultra Beefy Chili

On Wednesday night we had the second half of our most recent "Two from One" meal. Previously I had a large hunk of braised beef that was to serve as two unique meals. The first was the braised beef with vegetables. I thought I would take the leftovers and turn it into a pot of chili. It worked pretty well.

If you have chili powder, you can use it. I thought I did, but oops...I didn't, so I mixed up something that worked pretty well.


For one hour, I simmered the leftover beef in a can of diced tomatoes and the juice, plus half of a 8oz can of tomato sauce. I seasoned the whole pot with 5 teaspoons of my spice mixture. If the chili is too thick, you can thin it out with some broth (chicken or beef).


I served the chili over rice. It was really tasty, extra beefy and full of lots of fun flavors.

Here's my blend of chili seasoning. Like I mentioned above, use a chili powder you have, if not, this works really well. I recommend playing around to find a blend you like.

Scott's Chili Seasoning:
1 tsp each: cumin, paprika, oregano, parsley, salt
1/2 tsp each: chimayo chile powder, coriander
1/4 tsp each: ancho chile powder, onion powder, cinnamon, black pepper
1/8 tsp each: chipotle chile powder, garlic powder, cocoa

Braised Beef-Italian Style

Here's another "Two from One" meal. This was accidental, and I haven't made part two yet, so I'm hoping it will be delicious.

Monday night's dinner was a braised beef roast. I was looking for a brisket, but the store did not have it. So I went with a London Broil. I don't know the cuts of beef...that's one of those areas of cooking I'm just not that knowledgeable about. I braised the beef with "Italian" flavors. It was tasty. The second part of the meal will be tonight, so stay tuned.

Start by seasoning the beef with salt & pepper, then searing it. After browning, add some broth (beef and/or chicken), add a can of diced tomatoes,with their juices. Season all with oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary and parsley. Next time I think I'll add some red wine as well.

Cover and braise in the oven for 2-3 hours. Half way through your time, add frozen pearl onions and in this case I added some carrots for the veg.

Slice the beef and serve with the veg. Spoon some of the sauce over the beef.

I will admit, the beef was quite dry. I'm sure it was the temperature I cooked it at. As I was making this on a school night, I didn't want to eat dinner at 10 pm, so I cooked the roast at 350 degrees for just two hours. The meat was tender and had a nice flavor, but it was dry. If I had more time, say a Sunday afternoon, I would braise it at 300 for three hours or so. The heat causes the meat to tighten up and release it's moisture. With the lower heat, the meat won't tighten up as much and won't force out as much moisture.

Braised Beef-Italian Style
Beef Roast-Brisket or London Broil about 3lbs
1 TB olive oil
1 can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups frozen pearl onions
4 carrots, cut to 1/4-1/2 inch pieces
1 cup broth (beef or chicken or combo of both)
1 tsp, dried oregano, basil, parsley
1/2 tsp, thyme, rosemary
1 TB butter (optional)

Liberally season the beef with salt & pepper.

Add olive oil to a large oven proof pan over high heat. Sear the beef on both sides. About 5 minutes per side.

Add the broth and spices. Bring the liquid to a simmer. Add the onions and carrots. Cover and place in a 350 degree oven for two hours (or 300 for three hours). Half way through the cooking, check the veggies--if they are tender, spoon them out to a bowl and cover with foil. You don't want mushy carrots and onions. For the last 30 minutes of cooking, remove the cover to allow the sauce to start to reduce.

When cooking is complete, remove the roast to a cutting board and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes. Add the veggies back to the sauce, bring sauce to a very low simmer, to warm the veggies and continue the reduction of the sauce. Add the butter to enrich the sauce.

Slice the beef for serving. Drizzle sauce over the beef and serve the veg on the side. Enjoy.

Save 1/2 the roast for part two of our "Two from One" meal plan. Coming tonight!

Dinner

One of the dinners last week used some some more ingredients in the pantry and veggie drawer. Much like the Tomato and Roasted Pepper soup the night before, this was a chunky marinara sauce made with crushed tomatoes, finely diced onion and a green bell pepper. This was an unplanned Two From One dinner! Awesome!!!

I love that I can make a lovely, homemade tomato sauce in the time in takes to boil water and cook the pasta and for a fraction of the cost of store bought jar sauce!

Perfect Soup for Dinner

Yesterday I decided not to go to the store for my regular run. I was tired and wanted to rest. I even snuck out of the office at lunch to get gas for the car so I wouldn't have to on the way home.

So as you can imagine, dinner was going to be easy and simple. But I wanted something satisfying and comforting. I had all I needed to make a hearty pot of tomato soup. It's on! But wait! There was a surprise ingredient in the fridge I had forgotten about. Let's kick it up a notch. At the last minute I decided to quickly roast a red pepper and add it to the mix. This was still tomato soup as the pepper only accounted for about 15-20% of the body of the soup, but its participation at the party was exciting nonetheless!

Tomato & Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup

I started by sauting one diced onion and two garlic cloves in about 2-3 TB of olive oil. I seasoned the onions with salt, pepper, dried oregano, one bay leaf, a small pinch of cayenne pepper and 4 sprigs of fresh thyme. Let cook until the onions are tender and starting to caramelize. Add one roasted red bell pepper cut into large slices. Add tomatoes. In this recipe I added one 28 oz can of pured tomatoes and one 8 oz can of tomato sauce. Allow to simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes.

Carefully add soup to a food processor or blender. And working in batches, puree until smooth. Alternatively, you can use an immersion blender OR, just carefully dice all your ingredients and have a chunky, hearty, "country-style" soup.

Return the soup to the pot, again, over low heat. Add a small amount of chicken broth to thin the soup slightly. For a slight tang, add about 1/2 a teaspoon of red wine vinegar. The final touch is optional, but highly recommended. Prior to serving, stir in 1/2-3/4 cup of heavy cream for a rich, velvety texture and mellowing of the various bright, acidic flavors.

You may ask, if you're mellowing the acidic flavors, why add vinegar? I like to elevate those bright flavors, almost to a point where I wouldn't want to have the soup, so when I add the cream, you are left with this soup that plays with all your taste buds. You're not left with a hotly acidic soup or a flabby, creamy, dull soup. You get it all! You have sweetness from the tomatoes. There are acidic tones from the pepper, vinegar and again, the tomatoes. The floral, grassy notes from the herbs. A warmth from the cayenne pepper and the lush, rich component of the cream.

And this is very easy! You cook a few things for a few minutes. Open some cans and simmer some things for a few minutes. Blend, then stir. I got away with this in 30 minutes. I think you can do it 15 if you are in a hurry. Basically once the onions are done, you just want to make sure everything is warm.

Of course, any form of tomato soup is only enhanced with a grilled cheese sandwich!

Two from One, Part 2

Here is installment two of our latest Two from One adventure. With this installment, our previous adventure was Pineapple Fried Rice with Five Spice Pork.

This time, to start, we had our side; ginger and soy glazed carrots.

Carrots simmering until tender, in water, with grated ginger. Next time I'm going to just slice the ginger. You'll see in the next photo, the grated ginger soaks up the soy sauce and you end up with little clumps of black soy sauce soaked ginger clinging to the carrots. It's kind of unappetizing. With the sliced ginger, I can scoop it out after it gives it's flavor to the carrots.

When the carrots are tender and the water has evaporated, I added one teaspoon of soy sauce and one teaspoon of honey. Keep warm until you are ready to serve.

I cooked pork chops, seasoned with Chinese Five Spice seasoning. They were thin cut chops, so they cooked quickly. When done, I added 2 finely diced shallots to the pan. Deglaze with some sherry, when evaporated add some chicken broth and simmer to reduce to a sauce. Remove from the heat and stir in one teaspoon of butter to enrich the pan sauce. Serve over the pork chops.

Dinner. Chinese Five Spice Pork Chops with Ginger Soy Glazed Carrots and Jasmine Rice. Very tasty. If you haven't used the Chinese Five Spice before, give it a shot. You have warm cinnamon and clove, plus hints of spicy peppers. It's a lovely spice blend and works well with pork!

Two from One, Part 1

Last week I did a Two from One post involving steak, peppers and onions: Steak Tacos and Quesadillas. Here is our second installment of Two from One, Part 1. This time's adventure involved thin-cut pork chops seasoned with Asian 5 Spice.

Let's begin...

Our main veg for the evening; diced carrots.

Add some onions and the 5 Spice Pork.

Viola, Pineapple Fried Rice with Asian 5 Spice Pork.

In short order we'll have the part 2 of this Two from One adventure.

Same Ingredients, Part 2

The other day, I talked about buying ingredients with the plans to make two meals with the same ingredients. This is meal two. Sure, they are the exact same ingredients and virtually the same meal, but they are different enough to be two meals. Saturday we have Beef Tacos with sauteed peppers and onions. Last night we had Steak and Pepper Quesadillas.

The main reason I think this is a great deal is the shopping and cooking. I had to shop for these ingredients once and cook them once. Here we have the leftover steak. On Saturday, I had it sliced. For the quesadillas, I chopped it up into more manageable pieces. I don't like biting into my food, not grinding all the way through, then pulling away and having the filling flop out. The smaller pieces will prevent that.

The same goes for the peppers and onions. The previous meal, they were sliced. Here, chopped into bite size pieces.

Load your tortilla with some cheese and peppers. If you want, you can use a low-fat cheese of your choice. And since the peppers are sauted in a bit of olive oil, you could stop here and have a nice veggie friendly meal (if you didn't use the same pan as cooking the steak, like I did.) But still, just peppers, onions and cheese would make a lovely meal.

Add the chopped steak and follow that up with a little more cheese, which serves as the glue to bind this all together. I like to cook the quesadillas in a dry skillet. Some restaurants will use everything from butter, oil and cooking spray to speed the cooking and to facilitate more browning. Personally, I don't like to do that and I don't think it's necessary.

See, these have a little color. I will admit that I had bad tortillas, they weren't that good. They were very dry and fragile. Their flavor, what little there is in a store bought tortilla, as also very lacking! Regardless, cook the quesadillas over medium heat in a dry skillet until you have some color, crispness and the filling is warm and the cheese melted. Serve with sour cream, salsa and/or guacomole.

Stay Tuned, I'm going to have another Two from One at the end of this week when I use thin cut pork chops in two, uniquely different meals!

Same Ingredients, Part 1

I'm trying to be a bit more economical with my shopping and menu planning. Here is one example of the planning. Saturday's dinner was beef soft tacos with peppers and onions. The beef was flavored with the spice rub from this recipe. I was hoping for a skirt steak or flank steak, but my store's beef section was in a sorry state, so I wasn't able to get what I wanted. I ended up with a very thin piece of beef, less than a 1/4 inch thick. Let's get started.

One red pepper, one green pepper and one medium onion; all sliced to about the same size. After I cook the beef, I rinse the pan out with a little water. Add a tablespoon of oil, when hot, add the peppers and season with salt/pepper. Saute until tender.

Again, I used the dry spice blend from this recipe. Let the meat rest for a few minutes with the spices so the flavors make their way into the meat. As mentioned, the beef was very thin, so you're going to want searing hot meat to quickly cook, without turning the cut into shoe leather. These pieces cooked for a max of two minutes per side. When they are done, return them to a clean cutting board and let rest for a few more minutes, which allows the juice to redistribute in the meat. If you cut the meat immediately, the juice will pour out, leaving you with dry beef.

Here's dinner. Tasty beef soft tacos with peppers and onions. I have a little cheese in there. You can also dress it up with sour cream and salsa if you have it. Very tasty. The spice rub brings a lot of great flavor to this quick dish.

There. I cooked up all the peppers and beef. Half was for this dinner...the other half is for the next dinner. Stay tuned for part two of using the same ingredients for Monday's dinner.