Leftovers and Leeks

I didn't feel like going to the store for ingredients this evening, so I looked in my fridge for something I could piece together. I had leftover chicken from last week's Brunoise dish, and I also had a really pretty bunch of leeks from the farmers market that I needed to use before they went bad. My first thought was of a really delicious recipe for braised leeks with thyme and garlic, from Jamie's Kitchen, by Jamie Oliver. When I flipped to the page, however, I noticed a note at the bottom, directing the reader to add a little cream, a handful of parmesan cheese, and toss with pasta for a yummy main course.

Okay, so left over chicken, with a side of spinach fettuccine mixed with this leek recipe! Sounds like a plan to me! I cut the leeks, and sauteed them with some butter, garlic, and thyme, before adding some chicken broth and wine. The whole pot went into a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. If you have large leeks, go for more like half an hour, but the leeks that I had were on the smaller side, and I didn't want to overcook them. Meanwhile, I put a pot of water on to boil for the fettuccine. 

Once the leeks were done, and the pasta was cooked, I mixed the two, along with a touch of cream and a nice, healthy handful of grated parmesan. I seasoned to taste and voila! A really tasty pasta dish that paired really nicely with my already-prepared chicken breasts. If you can recall, there were even leeks in the chicken dish, so the flavors overlapped and tasted really nice together! And, I got to finish off the bottle of wine that I was using to cook with, too! That's a win-win for a Monday, if you ask me!

Marinated Grilled Flank Steak with BLT-Smashed Potatoes

Tonight, I opted for a recipe from the Food Network Favorites cookbook. I really like this book because it showcases a few wonderful recipes from each of the stars on the Food Network. This specific one is by Rachel Ray. For the most part, I'm not really thrilled with Rachel's recipes, but I have to say that the BLT-Smashed Potatoes in this recipe were just...awesome! The flank steak was, well...just a flank steak, but those potatoes made the dish! You can find the recipe here.

Here's what you'll need:

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon grill seasoning blend

1 teaspoon smoked paprika, ground chipotle chile power, or ground cumin

2 teaspoons hot sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for drizzling

2 pounds flank steak

2 1/2 pounds small, red skin new potatoes

1 leek, trimmed of tough top

4 slices thick-cut smoky bacon (I used thick-cut pancetta instead.)

1 3/4 cup chicken broth

1 vine-ripe tomato, seeded and chopped

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup sour cream

The first step was to marinade the flank steak. Mix the garlic, steak seasoning, smoked paprika, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar in a bowl with a whisk. Slowly whisk in the 1/3 cup of olive oil until everything is blended together nicely. Once the meat is placed in a shallow dish, pour the marinade over the top, distribute it evenly, and allow to sit for at least 15 minutes.

When you are ready to start cooking, this one goes pretty quickly so get all your burners going. Place the potatoes in a pot of water, boil and cook for about 12-15 minutes. At the same time, heat your grill pan and place the flank steak on the heat. It should cook for about 7 minutes on each side.

While the potatoes and flank steak are cooking, drizzle olive oil in your pan and cook your bacon (or pancetta) until cooked through, and crispy, and then add the leeks, allowing them to wilt in the heat.

Everything should finish up around the same time. Once the steak is done cooking, remove it from the heat and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes. I opted to tent mine with aluminum foil as well. Drain your potatoes and then return them to the pot. Start smashing them, using the chicken broth to help with the job. Add the bacon (or pancetta), leeks, and some chopped tomato to the potatoes and season with salt and pepper to your liking. Slice the steak against the grain to avoid chewiness. Although I did do that, mine was still a tad on the chewy side. I'd say maybe it needed to cook a minute less, but really, it was on the rarer side as it was, so I'm not sure how to fix it...possibly a thinner flank steak would not have been as problematic. 

Fix-It of the Day: I've stressed the importance of tenderizing meat to obtain a more succulent dish. While I don't normally tenderize flank steak, I think I should have done that with this one. It was thicker in some spots than others, and I think that contributed immensely to the chewiness of the meat. A little tenderizing could have turned this one around, for sure!

Risotto Another Way

The other night, I finally got around to taking a trip to H-Mart, my favorite place to buy seafood and fish. I got the ingredients for the sausage I made the other night, as well as the rest of the items on my current menu! Among those ingredients was some nice, fresh snow crab meat. When I got home from work tonight, I was greeted by a happy puppy and a hungry husband, so I got to work in the kitchen! My mise en place came together pretty quickly for this recipe: Crab, Asparagus and Lemon Risotto, from the Stonewall Kitchen Favorites cookbook.

I gathered 3 cups of seafood stock, a bunch of asparagus, olive oil, a leek, salt, freshly ground black pepper, a garlic clove, chopped fresh chives, a cup of Arborio rice, some dry white wine, fresh crabmeat, lemon zest, lemon juice and unsalted butter.

In a small saucepan, I brought my seafood stock to a simmer, and threw in the ends from my asparagus. I let that cook for about 10 minutes before fishing the stalks out of the stock and tossing them in my garbage bowl.

In a heavy pot, I heated 1 tablespoon of olive oil until hot, and then added my sliced leek to the pot. For 5 minutes, I allowed the leeks to cook, stirring frequently.

Once the 5 minutes was up, I seasoned the leeks with salt and pepper, and added the minced garlic clove, as well as the chopped chives and allowed it to cook for 30 more seconds. Then, I added the Arborio rice, and allowed the mixture to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.

Does this all look familiar? It should, because we've made risotto before. You guys should be pros by now! :) Once the 3 minutes were up, I added half of the wine, stirring until the liquid was fully absorbed. At that point, I added the other half of the wine and allowed it to do the same thing. Continue this way with the seafood stock until the risotto is almost done and you have about 1/2 a cup of stock in reserve.

Add the last 1/2 cup of stock along with the asparagus pieces, and allow it to cook for 4 to 5 minutes.

Stir in 3/4 of the crabmeat, the lemon zest and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper again. Allow everything to warm through.

Be sure not to leave this on the heat TOO long and over cook the already cooked crab, but definitely give it time to heat through. Meanwhile, take a small saute pan and add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of unsalted butter. Once that has melted and heated together, add the rest of the crab meat and allow to heat through, stirring to coat. Season this as well, with salt and pepper.

To plate, spoon a nice helping of the risotto onto each plate or bowl and then top with the extra buttered crabmeat. Sprinkle with the rest of the chopped chives and serve. This is a really fresh, spring dish that really showcases asparagus during their season. The addition of crab is a bonus...you could do this recipe without the crab as well, should you have trouble finding the ingredient, or want to cut back on the cost of this dish!

My Favorite Kind of Onion

from Flickr - by roboppy

We went grocery shopping today, and I was inspired by an item that I buy every time we go to the grocery store. The leek! It's a part of the onion and garlic family, but it's much more mild than either of those ingredients. Leeks are generally sold in stalks that have a gradient of white (at the bottom) to dark green at the tips of the stalk. Generally, we cut off the dark green portion because the leaves are very tough. Using the light green and white parts of the leek can add a lot of flavor to so many different dishes.

Because of the way a leek is formed, it's easier to clean it once you've cut it in half. Normally, I will slice the leek down the middle, the long way, and then run cold water over each half, pulling the layers of stem apart a little bit in order to get the dirt out. You can also soak the pieces in cold water once it is sliced completely.

from Flickr - by mingfoto34

Leeks make for a great side dish if you cut them a bit thicker, and saute them in a bit of butter and salt and pepper. They make a lovely bed for a piece of salmon, and a nice thick sauce for a chicken breast as well. You can use them in place of onions in a risotto, and they make a great addition to a spaghetti carbonara. One of my favorite things to add to an omelette are leeks, too! 

Next time you are at the grocery store, pick up a few leeks...and experiment with using them for all sorts of different meals. I love when I find an ingredient that I seriously can't live without! I guarantee you if you open my fridge, you will always find at least one leek in there...unless I've eaten them already!