Roasted Flat Iron Steak with Olive Oil-Herb Rub and Much More!

 

We had this last week but I had made it with a Flank Steak. It was good but the Flat Iron Steak was much better. 

The original recipe is from Cooking Light. All I did was omit the garlic, surprise,  and changed the type of steak.

Ingredients-
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon grated lemon rind
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (1 1/2-pound) flat iron steak, trimmed
Cooking spray
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium beef broth

Method-
Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine first 5 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.
Sprinkle salt and pepper over steak. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steak to pan; cook 1 minute on each side or until browned. Add wine and broth; cook 1 minute. Spread herb mixture over steak; place pan in oven. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting steak diagonally across the grain into thin slices. Serve with pan sauce.

The side dish was amazing! A Bon Appetit recipe, Potato and Autumn Vegetable Hash. I have a few Butternut Squash cluttering the counter from my sister's garden, so I had to find a recipe or two. This one will be my go-to side dish this fall. We both liked it and I have enough leftovers for a couple of lunches!

My version of Potato and Autumn Vegetable Hash.

Ingredients-
Herb oil-
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

Hash-
2 large golden beets
1 bunch Swiss Chard, trimmed and chopped
1 2-pound butternut squash, peeled, halved, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 4 cups)
1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
1 pound garnet yams or other yams (red-skinned sweet potatoes), peeled, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 2 cups)
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
herb oil

Method-
Herb oil-
Whisk all ingredients in small bowl. DO AHEAD Can be made 4 days ahead. Cover and chill. Bring to room temperature and re-whisk before using.

Hash-
Preheat oven to 400°F. Bring medium saucepan of salted water to boil. Add Swiss Chard and cook just until wilted, about 1 minute. Drain well. Set aside. Scrub beets; place in 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish. Pour half of herb oil over beets; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap each beet in foil and roast beets until tender when pierced with small sharp knife, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and let beets stand until cool enough to handle. Peel beets; cut into 1/2-inch pieces and reserve. DO AHEAD Swiss Chard and beets can be made 1 day ahead. Cover separately and chill.

Combine squash, potatoes, and yams in large bowl. Add remaining herb oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Spread vegetable mixture evenly on large rimmed baking sheet. Roast until vegetables are tender when pierced with knife and lightly browned around edges, stirring and turning vegetables occasionally, about 50 minutes. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand uncovered at room temperature. Rewarm in 350°F oven until heated through, about 15 minutes.

Stir beets and beet greens into roasted vegetables; dot with butter cubes and continue to roast just until beets are heated through, 5 to 10 minutes. Transfer vegetable mixture to large bowl and serve.

And wait there is more...

Roasted Apple and Pecan Bread. Tomorrow's breakfast. More about it in tomorrow's post.

Handmade Pasta with Pancetta, Cherry Tomatoes and Herbs

When I saw that this recipe, in Bon Appetit, was from a chef from Compania I had to tear it out of the magazine. That was back in September of 2006. The other day I was flipping through a cookbook and found the recipe tucked in between the pages.  

The pasta was so easy to make. No machine to clean and it was a light pasta. The sauce, well Fuhgettaboutit! Onions, Pancetta and Cherry Tomatoes. Oh this was delightful! 

I made a video of how to shape the pasta with by hand.

The recipe serves 6. I cut it in half and there was just enough for the 2 of us.

From Bon Appetit, Handmade Pasta With Pancetta, Cherry Tomatoes And Herbs

Ingredients-
2 cups (or more) 00 flour
1 cup hot water, divided
4 teaspoons plus 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil Pinch of salt
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1/2 cup chopped pancetta (Italian bacon)
1/4 teaspoon cracked black pepper
3 cups small cherry tomatoes, halved
16 fresh basil leaves plus fresh sprigs for garnish 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese plus additional Romano cheese, shaved

Method-
Place 2 cups flour in large bowl. Make well in center. Add 1/2 cup hot water, 4 teaspoons oil, and pinch of salt to well and stir to combine. Gradually mix flour into wet ingredients, adding remaining 1/2 cup water to form soft dough. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface. Knead until smooth, adding more flour if sticky, about 5 minutes. Gather dough into ball. Transfer dough to bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rest 1 hour at room temperature.

Lightly dust large baking sheet with flour. Place dough on work surface and cut off 1/2-inch-thick slice. Roll dough between palms of hands and lightly floured work surface to 1/3-inch-thick rope. Repeat with 5 more dough slices, rolling each into rope. Cut ropes into 1-inch lengths. Using 2 fingers, push fingertips into dough as you pull it toward you to form horizontal imprints. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough in batches. DO AHEAD Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover with dry kitchen towel, then plastic wrap, and let stand at room temperature.

Heat remaining 1/2 cup oil in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, pancetta, and pepper and sauté until onion is translucent, about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes with any juices and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Mix in 16 basil leaves and oregano. Season to taste with salt.

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and boil until tender but still slightly firm to bite, about 10 minutes. Drain well; return to pot. Add half of sauce and 1/2 cup grated cheese and toss over medium heat until warm, about 2 minutes. Divide pasta among bowls. Spoon remaining sauce over. Garnish with basil sprigs. Serve, passing shaved cheese separately. 

When Chris came upstairs he said it smelled like a pizzaria. That was because I had a Focaccia di Recco in the oven. I had some of the dough in the freezer. Yes it does freeze very nicely! I put Fontina, Mozzarella and a little Provolone in for the cheese.

Focaccio di Recco, by Emiko on Food 52. Makes 3-4 focacce

Ingredients-
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for greasing and drizzling
2 teaspoons salt, plus more for sprinkling
3 cups bread flour
1 pound stracchino or Crescenza cheese or marscapone cheese

Method-
Using a wooden spoon, mix the water, olive oil, salt, and 1 cup of flour in a medium bowl until smooth. Add the remaining 2 cups of flour little by little, mixing with the spoon until thoroughly combined. Knead by hand in the bowl for 5 minutes or until smooth and elastic (poke it; it should bounce back easily). Let rest, wrapped in plastic, in the fridge for 2 to 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 480º F, and grease a baking sheet or a round pizza tray with olive oil.

Divide the dough into 4 even pieces and keep them under a tea towel or wrapped in plastic wrap when not in use. Roll out the dough ball initially with a rolling pin on a floured work surface, then begin stretching it carefully with your hands, using the weight of the dough to help stretch it. Get the dough as thin as you can, then transfer it to the prepared baking tray. Lay spoonfuls of the cheese over the dough. Take another piece of dough and roll and stretch again as before. Lay this layer over the cheese. With a knife, a rolling pin, or your hands, tap the edges of the dough together all along the border of the tray to trim the dough to exactly the size of the tray (see pictures for reference). Go over the edges of the focaccia again with your thumb, pressing down to seal the edges of the two layers of dough (again, see the pictures on this link). Gather the excess dough, and roll into a ball to use for the next focaccia.

Pinch the top of the dough in 5 or 6 places to create holes for steam to escape. Drizzle the top of the focaccia with a bit of oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. Bake for 7 minutes, until lightly golden brown and the cheese has melted.

While the first focaccia is in the oven, prepare the second with the remaining dough (adding the scraps from the first to the balls of dough) and bake when the first is out of the oven; it is recommended to only baking one at a time as the distribution of heat will be compromised with more than one in the oven.

The dough can also be frozen (wrap it tightly in two layers of plastic wrap and then freeze.) Before using the dough, defrost overnight in the fridge or for a few hours on the counter. The dough will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Italian Stuffed Artichokes and The Patty Melt

Something for me and something for Chris on tonight's menu.

The Artichokes recipe is from Food Blogga.  Sorry about the quality of this photo. I can not believe I only took one photo! The stuffing is very similar to my mom's. I did not have pine nuts in the house so they were omitted. And I thing next time I will use regular canned chopped olives. I know that is what my mom used. Click here to try this amazing recipe.

About that Patty Melt. I can not think of a better recipe for a cold, very cold Sunday evening. The meat and onions and cheese add up to a most delicious type of dinner. I am trying to cook healthier this year but I think this is one of those "exception" recipes. Delicious but probably not something you should make too often! The recipe is from Bon Appetit. Click Here for the recipe.

And what the heck is this? Well tomorrow a co-worker is returning to work after a couple of weeks off for medical reasons. I wanted to welcome her back with one of her favorite things, Nutella. So I found a recipe for a Nutella Swirl Bread. OMG! So darn easy and so amazingly delicious!* Here is the recipe. It is from the Laura in the Kitchen blog and it is amazing!

* - Yes this post was written on Monday, January 12. I brought the bread to work today and it disappeared very quickly!

Baked Flounder with Tomatoes and Basil

I got this recipe from the September issue of Bon Appetit. Baked Flounder with Tomatoes and Basil was fantastic. It was so easy and only 272 calories! I made sauteed spinach and minute rice as side dishes. The whole meal took 30 minutes to prepare!

And did you thank a Veteran today...

 This is my husband's dad, Sgt. Jack Borzillo US Army 822nd EAB Korea 1951

 

And this is my dad during WWII at Camp Shanks, NY.

Proscuiotto and Bleu Cheese Focaccia and Snow

I walked into Costco today with my Dad and it was a cold October morning. A Nor'easter was predicted for later today. We were in the store for about an hour,  maybe longer and when we walked out it was blizzard like conditions.

Here's the deal. When it snows I need to bake bread. Not sure why but it just happens. I had started the No Knead Bread this morning but that would not be baked until tomorrow. I had seen a recipe in the Bon Appetit for Bacon and Bleu Cheese Focaccia. And I thought I had all the ingredients in the house. I put the yeast and honey in the water and let that sit for 10 minutes. I mixed the 4 1/2 cups of flour with the salt and pepper. I checked the recipe again and realized I did not have mashed potatoes. I do not even have boxed mashed potatoes! Great. After some thought, and rearranging the pantry, I decided to add polenta. Yes that's right I made polenta. It was about the same consistency of mashed potatoes so I figured it might work. The texture of the dough was very nice to work will. I let the dough rise and moved on to the next step in the recipe. Cook the bacon. I look in the fridge. I look in the freezer. I look in the freezer downstairs. No Bacon! Oh heck I have Prosciutto. So I proceed with the recipe and the result was very good. The dough was crisp and the prosciutto, well of course it was good.

 

For dinner, well lets just say it was like beat the clock. Before I started dinner the lights were flickering. Chris and I looked at each other and had visions of Hurricane Irene. I made the fastest dinner ever. Chicken Piccata, sauteed carrots and zucchini and mashed, yes mashed sweet potatoes. A nice bottle of Chianti and dinner was perfect. And the lights stayed on!

Lavash Pizzas

 

Tonight we turn to the new Bon Appetit. Lavash Pizza with Arugula and Eggplant.  I had the Lavash and I had the eggplant.  I roasted the eggplant but then I stopped following the recipe. We had some leftover sausage and peppers from last night so I topped one Lavash with that. On the second Lavash I put the roasted Eggplant and some leftover fresh mozzarella, some olives and some Parmesan cheese.  We both enjoyed the dinner. But the best part was... the wine.
We had this bottle of wine on our rack and we decided to open it. Fattoria Le Pupille 2007 Morellino De Scansano. I think I have a new favorite wine! 
Click here to read about it.

Burgers and Tricolor Pepper Relish

Burgers and corn were grilled by Chris. I was taking care of the condiments. So I made relish! This relish recipe can be found in the August issue of Bon Appetit. Tricolor Pepper Relish. It is much better than store bought and really easy to make.

Polpette Di Pane (Bread Balls in Tomato Sauce)

Yesterday I had was flipping through La Cucina and came upon the recipe for Polpette Di Pane (Bread Balls in Tomato Sauce). I had a half loaf of Italian bread just sitting on the counter. I had some tomatoes that I wanted to use up so I made the recipe. The recipe is from the Puglia region of Italy.

The bottle of wine behind the jar of tomatoes is my dad's wine!

Later in the afternoon I was going through some Bon Appetit magazines and came upon the article, Less is More, Italian Style, in the May 2010 issue (the story is not available online). It was about Puglia region and the creativity of Italian peasant food. The style of cooking is, according to the article, cucina prover, "cuisine of the poor." And the most important commandment is: Waste nothing and stretch everything. Gee it reminds me of the stories both my parents told of growing up in the Depression. My dad grew up on a farm and I am sure that was the commandment in his mother's kitchen.

This is a meatless meal but I added some Sausage with made with Provolone and spinach the the dish. It was such a wonderful dinner.

Polpette Di Pane
(Bread Balls in Tomato Sauce)

1 1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
3 1/4 San Marzano Plum tomatoes, seeded and crushed
1 tbsp. chopped basil
1 1/4 cups extra virgin olive oil
5 large eggs, beaten
1 tbsp. grated pecorino
About 6 oz. stale bread (not too soft, not too hard: about 2 days old, grated
Salt

Prepare a sauce by cooking the onions and tomatoes in a pan over low heat without seasoning; when they have released their liquid but not colored pass them through a food mill. Return them to the pan and cook again for about 10 minutes with 1 teaspoon basil (or parsley), 1/4 cup olive oil, and salt. (I do not own a food mill so I used an immersion blender to puree the sauce.)
Mix the eggs in a bowl with salt, cheese and the rest of the basil. Add the bread and work together to form a soft dough. Make the dough into balls, then flatten them. Heat the remaining olive in a pan and saute the bread balls until golden. Drain on paper towels then add them to the tomato sauce. Cook for 10 minutes at low heat.

Shaved Zucchini Salad with Parmesan and Pine Nuts

Today was an interesting day to say the least... But dinner was wonderful. A wonderful cut of meat from Whole Foods which was grilled to perfection. The corn was from a local roadside stand. And I have a new favorite salad.

The salad was from the new Bon Appetit Magazine, Shaved Zucchini Salad with Parmesan and Pine Nuts. Wow. The Zucchini and the dressing are such a wonderful combination. My favorite salad dressing is olive oil and lemon juice. And the sliced zucchini was so tender. I think I may have some now... no wait I think I earned a Klondike Bar today!

Look at those grill makes! We also enjoyed a very nice bottle of Saladini Pilastri Rosso Piceno 2007.