Steak Milanese with Garlic Linguine

One of my favorite cooking magazines is Cuisine at Home. Most of their recipes are always great and very inventive, but once in a while they have old time favorites like this steak milanese. This is a great recipe for you penny-pinching chefs because you can use inexpensive cuts of beef. Oh, my camera ran out of batteries when I made this and so I had to take pictures with my mobile phone.

INGREDIENTS (Serves 4)

• 8 beef cube steaks, about 4 ounces each, OR 1 lb. top loin steak, trimmed and pounded to 8 1/4" thick steaks
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups breadcrumbs (I used panko)
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 3 Tablespoons kalamata or black olives, halved
• 1 Tablespoon fresh basil, chiffonade
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

GARLIC LINGUINE

• 1/2 lb. dry linguine
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 2 Tablespoons garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 Tablespoons Parmesan, shredded
• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 250 degrees.

Drizzle a little bit of olive oil on steaks and season both sides of the cutlets with salt and pepper.

Place the flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs into three separate shallow dishes. Dredge the cutlets in flour, followed by the eggs, then the crumbs. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet; chill for 30 minutes.

Next combine the halved cherry tomatoes, red onion, olives, basil, 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside to the relish to marinate for at least 15 minutes.

In a large saute pan heat 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Fry the cutlets in batches until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Loosely cover the cutlets with foil and place them in the oven while you make the linguine.

To make the garlic linguine: cook the linguine according to package directions in a large pot of boiling salted water. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil, garlic, and pepper flakes in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook until garlic begins to sizzle, about 1 minute, then toss linguine with the garlic oil, Parmesan and salt and pepper to taste.

To serve: place two cutlets per plate and top with the tomato relish. Serve with garlic linguine on the side.

Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

When I think of comfort food, pasta immediately comes to mind. And for some reason, I tend to crave it when I travel. Since I’m freezing my ass off in Minnesota this weekend, this savory comfy food is a welcomed treat. Don’t forget to accompany the meal with good wine and slices of crusty, garlic bread. And if you can’t find Foster Farms in your grocery store, Perdue Farms also makes a similar product.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4 hungry giants)

• 1 package of Foster Farms Savory Servings Lemon Herb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Fillets (4 breasts)
• 1 package (18 oz) of fresh fettuccine pasta
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• freshly cracked black pepper
• Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Place marinated chicken breast fillets in a large pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and sauté for 4 minutes on one side without moving. Turns breasts over and cook another 4 to 5 minutes, or until cooked when internal temperatures reach 170 degrees F. Remove cooked chicken and wrap them tightly in foil. Place them in the oven while you make the Alfredo sauce.

To prepare Alfredo sauce: Heat heavy cream over low-medium heat in a deep sauté pan. Add butter and whisk gently to melt. Sprinkle in Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and stir to incorporate. Season with freshly cracked black pepper. In a large stockpot, cook pasta in plenty of boiling salted water for 4 minutes. Quickly drain the pasta and add it to the sauce pan, gently toss the noodles to coat in the Alfredo sauce.

Remove cooked chicken breast fillets from oven and slice into 1-inch strips.

To serve: Divide cooked fettuccine Alfredo onto plates. Top with cooked chicken, more sauce and sprinkle chopped fresh parsley. Serve immediately.

Crispy Tofu with Noodles

Every time I fly I like to buy a cooking magazine to get new ideas for my culinary experiments. I saw this recipe in the new issue from Food and Wine magazine. It comes courtesy of Chef Pino Maffeo from restaurant L in Boston. Of course, I halved the recipe and it still came out pretty good. The only thing I changed is that I added more hoisin sauce than oyster sauce, and I added a few dashes of soy sauce at the very end of cooking. I really like the fried tofu, too.

INGREDIENTS (serves 4)

• 7 ounces dried udon noodles
• 1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 6 ounces firm tofu, cut into 1-inch squares
• 1 egg yolk
• 3/4 pound mixed mushrooms, such as oyster, hen-of-the-woods and stemmed shiitake, thickly sliced (I only used oyster mushrooms)
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 pound baby bok choy, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce (I only used 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• A few dashes of soy sauce (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Bring a saucepan of water to a boil. Add the udon and cook until tender, 5 minutes; drain. Toss with 1 teaspoon of the canola oil. Meanwhile, put the panko in a large, resealable plastic bag and crush into fine crumbs. In a shallow bowl, gently toss the tofu with the egg yolk. Transfer the tofu to the bag and coat with the panko.

Heat the remaining 1/2 cup of oil in a wok until just smoking (I don't have a wok, so I used my large saute pan). Add the tofu and stir-fry over high heat until crisp, 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

Pour off all but 1/4 cup of the oil and return the wok to high heat. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic and bok choy and stir-fry for 5 minutes. Add the udon and oyster and hoisin sauces and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the tofu, a few dashed of soy sauce and toss. Transfer to a bowl and serve.

Lemon Pasta

My Sunday consisted of recovering from a party I went to last night, taking Princess & Lilu for a long walk, and watching 60 Minutes and Antiques Road Show at the same time (by flipping back and forth, of course). When I'm in recovery mode, I don't get hugry until the hair of the dog is gone. So, since I didn't have much time to plan my evening meal, I made this super quick and great tasting pasta dish. The measurements are approximate because I tend to just "eye-ball it" and you can use olive oil instead of butter, if you prefer.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup butter
• Zest from 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt and fresh ground pepper
• Grated Parmesan
• About a pound of whatever kind of pasta you feel like (I used spaghetti)
• About 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh basil

DIRECTIONS

Cook the pasta according to package directions. In the meantime, melt butter in small pot on low heat and add lemon juice. Once pasta is cooked, drain and put the pasta back in pot and add lemon sauce. Add the lemon zest, salt and pepper to taste and chopped basil. Put on serving plate and sprinkle with fresh parmesan and a little more zest. Reserve a little of the pasta water to loosen the sauce, if desired.

Ropa Vieja

I just came back from my dentist appointment and guess what? My dental assistant and the dental hygienist are both foodies like me! We started talking about slow-cooked foods and this scrumptious recipe came up: Ropa Vieja. The recipe below is my version of the one I found in the Oprah Magazine and DON'T LET THIS RECIPE SCARE YOU. I know it seems like a lot of work and ingredients, but here are a few tips that helped me:

1. First, cut all the veggies ahead of time and set them the fridge. I only used red and yellow peppers.
2. Secondly, I only used one thinly sliced onion.
3. Third, I didn't used the can of whole tomatoes. Instead, I used a one (7 oz) can of El Pato tomato sauce. I ommited the olives and;
4. The big secret: I used a 1-1/2 pound brisket instead of flank steak that I cooked the day before and shredded and set in the fridge. On the day of the party, I just finished the rest of the recipe. You can find the original Ropa Vieja recipe I used on Oprah.com, however my tweaked recipe below came out just as good.

INGREDIENTS

• 1-1/2 to 2 pound Brisket
• kosher salt
• 3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp. of flour
• 5 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 4 cups homemade chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Tbsp. whole black peppercorns
• 1 large Spanish onions, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1-1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1 (7-1/4 ounce) can of El Pato Tomato Sauce

Season brisket with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Lightly dust it with the flour.

In a heavy-bottomed 5- to 6-quart pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add the brisket to pot and cook until well browned, about 2 minutes per side. Add chicken broth, bay leaves, peppercorns, 1 tsp. of the cumin, and 1/2 teaspoon salt (you can also add any leftover veggies like onions, peppers or carrots). The brisket should be just covered with broth; pour in additional broth or water, if necessary. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until steak is fork-tender, 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 hours. Remove pot from heat and let brisket cool in broth for 30 minutes.

Transfer brisket to a plate. Strain cooking liquid through a sieve set over a bowl; Let liquid stand 5 minutes, then skim off and discard any fat. Set cooking liquid aside. Cut the brisket in half then shred the brisket by pulling off string-like meat. Tip: You can do these steps the day before, set it in the fridge and continue with the rest of the recipe the next day.

In the same pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add thinly sliced onions, red and yellow peppers, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon cumin, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions and peppers soften, 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste until vegetables are coated. Stir in the shredded brisket meat and the tomato sauce, until all is coated. Add in 2 1/2 cups of the reserved cooking liquid, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes.

Taste and adjust seasoning with additional salt and pepper if necessary. If not serving immediately, cool, cover, and refrigerate for up to 2 days; flavor will only improve upon standing. Serve with Moros y Cristianos or platanos maduros.