Corn, Spinach & Peppers

Two weekends ago, we went to eat at a cafe that served French country food and I had this amazing SIDE DISH! Today, like I do just about every day on my drive home, I racked my brain for dinner ideas. I already had the protein planned out but not the side. I knew I had some peppers and spinach on hand, and my mind wandered back to this dish. I just had to make a quick stop at the market for corn on the cob.

• 1 corn on the cob, shucked
• 1 red pepper, seeded and cut so that slices are flat to be grilled
• 1/2 bunch of spinach, stems cut (cut in half the really large leaves)
  
• 3 tbsp unsalted utter
  

I don't know if this was how they did it, but it was tasty nevertheless. On the stovetop grill, cook the corn and red pepper until they have a slight char. I added some water to steam and speed up the cooking. At this point, the corn was not cooked all the way through and the pepper was not crunchy anymore. Remove from heat then dice the pepper slices and cut the corn kernels. Over medium heat, melt the butter, then add the spinach and cover until it wilts. Add the peppers and kernels, season, and stir until everything's sufficiently moist. The corn should still have some crunch to it.

I noticed that the original dish had some broth to it, and mine didn't, so I would add some water next time because broth definitely added to the overall tastiness. This was so good we didn't have any leftovers.

Bulk Flap Meat

Having a FoodSaver is SO awesome! I can buy meat in bulk to freeze so I'll have it handy when I can't get to the store. Last month, I got some flap meat from Costco and divided it up, stored some just plain and some marinated in Yoshida's marinade. It's a great cut that's relatively low in fat. We got a grill pan last week and now's the perfect time to try it out since it's too cold and rainy to cook on the outdoor grill. This was an easy meal and took no time and prep to make.

Start by steaming or boiling the corn first. This is a good time to grill the zucchini. I just coated the zucchini with seasoned cooking oil, and grilled the corn when I was ready to cook the meat so they're both done about the same time.

The meat was lopsided in thickness (from 1/2 inch to 1 inch), which worked out for us since Ken likes his meat more cooked than I do. Make sure the pan is nice and hot before cooking. I cooked each side for about 4-5 minutes. When you take it off the grill, be sure to let the meat rest for about 5 minutes before slicing, then cut against the grain into thin slices. Serve immediately!

One note on the bread...this is spinach cheese bread from the S. Pasadena farmer's market...so tasty with garlic butter.

Chicken & Dumplings

This is a dish I learned from Ken's stepmom. Being Chinese, my mom rarely made American-style meals and so this is the second time I'm enjoying this. This is SO easy and tasty--reminds me of chicken pot pie! It tastes better after some sitting time, so I cooked it yesterday and served it tonight. (Ken kept eyeballing it last night and commenting how good it looked.) All I had to do tonight was to heat it up, add more broth and follow the directions on the box of the biscuit mix to make the dumplings. There's so much of this left over that we can eat for days (or freeze for later).

• 1 chicken (I got halved breasts & thighs w/ bones in, minus wings & drumsticks which is more like 3/4 chicken)
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 3 Yukon gold potatoes, cubed
  
• 1 vegetable (or chicken) bullion cube
• biscuit mix (follow box directions for dumplings)
• 1 box chicken broth
  

In a large pot, brown the chicken first, then cover the chicken with water and let it boil (about 10 minutes). Once it's done, remove the skin, bones and any fat in between the meat. Pull apart the meat into desired size and set aside. I tossed the bones back into the liquid to get the most of the chicken. Skim away the fat from the liquid. Remove the bones from the broth, toss all the ingredients into the pot then add enough water to cover, bring to a boil, then cover and let it simmer for about 30 minutes. Season to taste if you don't find the broth salty enough, and don't forget the pepper.

Only cook the dumplings when you're ready to eat because they'll be too soggy to be enjoyable. The broth reduced by a great deal yesterday so I added about 3/4 box of chicken broth to make the dumplings. Cooking the dumplings basically consisted of dropping the mixed biscuit batter into the broth and letting it cook uncovered for 10 minutes, then covered for another 10 minutes.

I tried making gravy again today and learned my lesson after yesterday's pot roast gravy. This time, I started off with about 2 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of flour, and just added the chicken broth until reaching the desired consistency. We received some lovely soup bowls for Christmas, which I used to serve this meal. Make sure that the dumplings get a good soak from the broth when you plate, and top the whole thing off with gravy. Yum...

Pot Roast w/ Gravy

This was my first attempt at making pot roast. I wasn't quite sure how it'd turn out, but it was a hit. As for the gravy, Ken's stepmom had taught me how to make it while we were in New Jersey, but I couldn't quite remember how it all went so had to look up how to do the roux before getting started and improvised the rest of the way.

At first, the flour clumped up before it even had a chance to brown, and I thought I'd ruined it. I panicked then just started adding a little of the liquid at a time. The flour just kept soaking up the liquid, and the more I added, the thicker and more voluminous it got, but I just kept adding liquid until I eventually got the right consistency. I don't know how much liquid it ended up being, so it's safe to say to just keep adding until it looks right. I think I started off with too much flour because there was A LOT of gravy!

I didn't use the fat skimmed from the liquid for the gravy because it just sounded too rich, but that would've worked as well. This was easier than I remembered and it got high marks from Ken!

Pot Roast

• 1 roast
  
• 1 cup chopped celery
  
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 box beef stock

In a pan, sear all sides of the roast until brown. Set the crock pot on HIGH and add all the ingredients in. Let it cook for about 4 hours or more. Skim any fat from the liquid.

Gravy

• 4 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp flour
• about 1 1/2 cups of cooking liquid from roast
  

Melt the butter until it bubbles, then add all the flour, making sure to whisk until all the flour is mixed with the butter. Spoon in about a half cup of the liquid and continue to whisk. Keep spooning in liquid until the gravy gets to the consistency of your liking. Don't forget to season it with salt and pepper at the end. This makes a lot of gravy, so if you want less, start with a smaller amount (1 tbsp each of butter and flour).

*This picture of the roast was taken from night #2, served with mac & cheese w/ smoked gouda, and corn & carrots.