Beef & Onions Bowl

Start with mostly frozen (difficult to slice if too frozen or completely thawed) beef flank and slice thinly. Marinate for half hour. Slice one small/medium onion and stir fry with a little vegetable oil until onions are softened, then add the beef. I used a teriyaki style marinade from TJ's ,and should've diluted it, so it turned out on the strong side. Here's one from my mom:

• 1-2 tbsp sugar (brown or white), to taste
  
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup (or less) rice wine vinegar
  
• 1 tsp sesame oil
  

Ken thinks this tastes pretty close to Yoshinoya's beef bowl. We like our dishes with spinach and over plenty of rice.

Very Delicious Chili

Part of this recipe came from a Zone cookbook and the rest I just made up.

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 16 oz ground beef
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 chopped onion
• 3 tsp chili powder, or to taste
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 7-oz can Herdez Salsa Cacera
• 1 15-oz can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 15-oz can crushed tomatoes

Heat oil and garlic. Brown meat. Add chopped onions and cook until opaque. Add white wine and cook on high until the wine reduces. Stir in chili, cumin, pepper and salt. Add the remainder of the ingredients and simmer for about 30 minutes. Or you can do what I did and throw all the ingredients into the crock pot after the wine and spices were cooked into the meat mixture, then eat your chili after running your errands. Great with tortilla chips, over tator tots, over (red) baked potatoes, and your favorite toppings (we had creme fraiche, broccoli, bacon, grated Parmesan). This was enough to make several meals.

Sugar Snap Peas

I discovered a very simple but very tasty way to stir-fry veggies. First, heat a tablespoon of vegetable oil. Add the veggie and close the lid. Toss every few minutes or so. When the veggie is browned on all sides, add about 2 teaspoons (or to taste) of soy sauce and about the same amount of water, toss, and cover until desired tenderness. Uncover and let the liquid reduce down, and it's ready to serve! Here we have sugar snap peas alongside pork loin chops in marsala sauce and TJ's asparagus risotto.

Global Knives & the Chain Mail Glove

Ken's friend, Justin, gifted us these ultra-precise Global knives (the middle 3) as a wedding present. I put off using them because they were so sharp and was afraid I'd injure myself, so Ken suggested we get a chain mail glove for protection. We went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get some of the other items on the gift registry, including this nifty magnetic knife holder. The glove was only available online and before the order came in, I decided to give the knives a try. And of course, I managed to give myself a little knick--on the cutting hand! The glove finally came in today and this was my storage solution for it.

Teriyaki Flap Meat & Tri-Color Bell Peppers

We discovered flap meat at the market a couple of weeks ago. It's a cut akin to skirt, flank and hanger steaks (think carne asada and stir-fry) that is full of flavor, a bit on the chewier side, and priced just right. So far, we've been just grilling it, but the grills were out of propane today so I just cooked them on the stove top. The steaks were marinated in Yoshida's teriyaki sauce overnight. Add a little bit of vegetable oil and pan fry. I sliced up the meat after frying then returned the slices back into the pan to coat with teriyaki sauce. I had also gotten some beautiful bell peppers at the farmers market last Thursday and stir-fried those. In addition, we had corn and brown rice on the side. One trick to flavor the rice is to add some olive oil and whole cumin seeds. This was a very easy and tasty meal.

Shrimp & Shallots Over Spaghetti

This recipe I got from the packaging of Trader Joe's shallots. The result was very yummy. I bought some Chinese long beans from the South Pasadena Farmer's Market last Thursday and sautéed that on the side. We were gifted a mini deep fryer so I took it for a test drive with ready-made pork and shrimp mini spring rolls. The rolls actually came out less oily than they would've if I had fried them up in a pan. I can't wait to try more stuff in the fryer!

• 1 lb shrimp (peeled & cleaned)
• 4 shallots, chopped fine
• 1/4 lb melted butter
• 1/8 cup oliver oil
• 3 cloves chopped garlic
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped (substituted w/ cilantro)
• 1 lb linguini (substituted w/ spaghettini)

Mix melted butter, olive oil, shallots, garlic, pepper, parsley and lemon juice in a bowl. Toss shrimp into mixture. (I also added a 1/3 bag of Trader Joe's langostino lobsters.) Heat skillet on medium. Pour shrimp mixture into skillet and sauté until shrimp turns pink in color. Serve over noodles.

The Crock Pot

I'm glad we have one of these things, even if it's a hand-me-down from my mom. Wednesday night, we got home later than usual because we met a real estate agent for our first home tour. Exhausted from the work day, we decided to take a nap before having dinner. Now, knowing Ken and the way he takes naps, it could be awhile before he's ready to get up. So I smartened up and prepped all the ingredients for a hearty spaghetti sauce (ready-made meatballs, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, marinara sauce) and threw them all into the crock pot. The sauce was ready for us by the time we woke up and the only thing that needed to be done was to boil the noddles. Talk about cooking while you sleep!

Orange Roughy Update

Just a small adjustment to the last recipe...add langostino (from TJ's) and shallots to the white wine reduction (with creme fraiche). To quote Ken, "This dinner was really awesome!" Trader Joe's asparagus risotto and spinach perfectly complemented the fish.

Lamb Center Chops & Asparagus Risotto

These were the rest of the chops from Costco and this time, I just marinated in olive oil and garlic, seared on both sides and put it into the oven for about 15 minutes. I made a red wine reduction sauce. As for the sides, I stir-fried the rest of the TJ's frozen asparagus risotto and spinach cooked in the lamb drippings with garlic. And of course, I only remembered about taking the picture after we ate our meal. This time, I even had the camera sitting on the table!

Orange Roughy

Costco has these packaged frozen orange roughy that make eating fish much more convenient than running out for fresh ones whenever you want any. My mom had gotten some and really enjoyed their taste. Orange roughy is a mild white fish and easy to prepare. I marinated it in olive oil, lemon juice, and chopped cilantro and onions (leftovers from taco night) for about 30 minutes, then baked them for about 30 minutes. I topped it with a white wine reduction and the remainder of the marinade, and served garlic green beans on the side. I should have also served this asparagus risotto from TJ's but forgot about. Ken really enjoyed the fish so it's a keeper, especially since we still have lots of it left. Note for future reference: Cook up an extra fillet because one wasn't enough for Ken.