A Steak Dinner

Sirloin Steak, Roasted Dijion Red Bliss Potatoes, Iceburg Salad Wedge


A fancy steakhouse dinner, at home, for less than 1/4 the price! My local deli/meat market was running a special on Sirloin Steaks yesterday. I could not resist my urge for red meat.

The steaks were prepared very simply, salt and pepper both sides and grill to desired doneness. In this house, it is most certainly medium-rare.

The perfect accompaniment to a steak is, of course, potatoes. But not just any potatoes, roasted red bliss potatoes. Sometimes potatoes can be bland, lets face it. Well, here's what I did...

Roasted Dijion Red Bliss Potatoes

2 lbs red bliss or baby red bliss potatoes, cut into bite sized pieces.
1/3 cup Dijion Mustard
1/3 cup Olive Oil
1 Tbs Dried Parsley Flakes
dash salt, generous dash pepper

Mix potatoes, mustard, olive oil and spices together well. Pour into a 9 X 13 baking dish. Cook at 350 for approximately 1 hour. Stirring every 15 minutes.


And of course, in order to have a steak, you must have mushrooms! Heres how I did the mushrooms:

Merlot Mushrooms

1 10 oz package White Mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 half White Onion, cut in half, sliced thin
1/2 cup Merlot
1/2 cup Beef Broth (I used the indoor grill drippings from cooking the steaks)
freshly ground black pepper

Saute mushrooms and onions until soft. Add red wine and bring to a boil, allow wine to reduce. Add beef drippings or broth. Again, bring to boil and allow the sauce to reduce by at least half. Spoon over steaks before serving.

And last, but certainly not least, an Iceburg Wedge Salad is the perfect steakhouse salad to go along with the rest of the players. A simple wedge of Iceburg Lettuce, drizzled with Kraft Blue Cheese dressing (confirmed again with company yesterday that it is indeed gluten free).

So, who needs a steakhouse to have a steakhouse dinner. All told, this meal took me 30 minutes to prepare. What's even more amazing is that it was less than $5 a plate to prepare, as well. Even Rachel Ray would be proud of that! :D

Amazing Spinach Salad (aka Sader Salad)

Easter always take me back to St. Georges Church in Ardmore. A very large stone, stately church on the corner of Darby Road and Ardmore Avenue in Havertown, PA. I started attending there when I moved to the area as a young teen. Father Jim McKendrick was a great man, at least in the eyes of a 13 year old. Even well heated the church building was always cold. To stand in it now, I'm sure the hymn "How Great Thou Art" would still echo thru it, as sung by an old family friend in a deep bass voice. It echoes in my brain as I type, just as if I were standing in the stone church's large sanctuary.

Our pastor knew the value of the Passover lesson and what it meant to us as a church. The beauty of it's ceremony and the celebration of it's meal. The food, oh the food. I remember this amazing salad that was brought each year. I added one variation, which I don't know if it was kosher or not. It is an AMAZING salad. I made it this year. For the first time in 21 years it passed my lips. I made it to take to Easter dinner with close friends and their family. And it was devoured on Easter Sunday, just as it always was those Saturday Eve's before Easter. I am showing you the recipe halved because it is a HUGE salad to feed like 15 people or something.

This salad could very easily be made into a meal by adding grilled chicken, steak, pork or fish.

Again, I did not photograph it. My friend did, so I hope to post the picture as soon as she sends it to me. (She IS 8 1/2 mos pregnant right now, so it may be a while! )


Spinach Salad (a.k.a. Sader Salad)

1 9 oz package Baby Spinach Leaves
5 oz sliced white mushrooms
8 oz bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped (I used a slicer and then cut in half)
2 Tbs freshly chopped chives

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup FRESH lemon juice
1 tsp dijion mustard (more if you like it's tang)
1 tsp honey (more if you like it sweeter)
1 clove garlic, minced very fine
dash salt & pepper

Put fresh lemon juice, mustard, honey, garlic and salt & pepper in a small non-reactive bowl (glass, ceramic). Slowly whisk in the olive oil so that it emulsifies. Whisk well so that ingredients are the texture of heavy cream.

Layer spinach, mushrooms, eggs and bacon in a large salad bowl. Pour dressing over top and toss well, so that each piece is covered in dressing.

Sprinkle chives over top.

Serve imediately.

This salad will not preserve well since it is dressed before serving. I do not think you will have to worry though. There is not ususally leftovers.

Thank you for walking down memory lane with me.

Ambrosia

The word ambrosia means "food of the gods". Something that makes your mouth water at the mere thought of it's existence. Foolish me, when I was a child, I was afraid of Ambrosia because it had coconut in it. Also, most Ambrosias I'd seen were a soupy mess. The marshmallows got mushy and turned into liquid and it was not really a pleasant appearance. As I aged, and my palate matured, along came with it a love for coconut, and the ability to overlook the appearance of a food in order to try. (I mean, seriously, whoever thought of salivating over a bowl of green mush we've come to love as guacamole?). And 5 years ago, as I sat an an Easter table with friends, there was this stuff there. It looked like a white mound of mush with sparkles of orange and flecks of coconut. To be polite, I put a mouthful or two on my plate. It was the last thing on my plate that I ate, dreading it. Well, to my surprise it was just so delicious that I asked the host for the recipe. Thank you, Lois, for this scrumptious salad, which I don't make often b/c it is NOT figure friendly! :D




Ambrosia

1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
2 11 oz cans of mandarin oranges, drained and patted dry with paper towels
1 20 oz can of chunk pineapple, drained and patted dry with paper towels
2 cups mini marshmallows (I used Kraft, as per the company they are gluten free)
2 cups sweetened, flaked coconut (check for one in your area, I know they can add wheat starch to keep it from clumping)

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and chill for 2 hours. If you must prepare ahead, do not add marshmallows until 2 hours before serving or they will get too mushy.

VERY good. :D

Caprese Pasta Salad

My favorite salad, by far, is a classic Caprese salad. Layers of Tomato, Mozzarella Cheese and basil, dressed simply with olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt & pepper. It is truly divine. I wish I could visit Capri. If it's on the menu, I order it. Make it with Buffalo Mozzarella and I'm in heaven. Literally. Years ago, I adapted this for a pasta salad. It was delicious and was gone. Having leftover cooked pasta from last night, I was inspired to make it again to see how it would turn out with brown rice pasta.

The picture is a little blurry, but hope that it gets the idea accross...



Caprese Pasta Salad

8 oz cooked, cooled brown rice pasta
16 oz container grape tomatoes, halved
8 oz block of mozzarella cheese, cut into cubes
4 or 5 fresh leaves of basil, jullienned
3 tbs GOOD olive oil
2 tbs red wine vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix together and let sit in fridge for about 20 mins to half hour. Serve in lettuce cups, or on a nice bed of romaine.

My caution would be to not over dress OR let sit too long. Brown rice pasta continues to soak in dressings and will become mushy.

:)

Turkey Dijion Mushroom Pasta

This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe that my husband first made when we were dating. In fact, it was the meal he cooked when I decided he was a man I could marry. HECK, who wouldn't want to marry a man who was handy in the kitchen? Once a week, still, he cooks for me (and our three children). He's usually more adventurous than I, and it is always wonderful. I've had to adapt this slightly to make it Gluten free friendly. It is still a big favorite with me.

Turkey Dijion Mushroom Pasta

8 oz Tinkyada Pasta (I use the tube shaped one for this)
1 lb ground turkey (or beef or chicken would work for this too)
10 oz white button mushrooms, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, sliced thin
1/2 medium onion, sliced thin
1 can Progresso Creamy Mushroom Soup (yes, really, it's gluten free!!!)
2 to 3 tblspoons Dijion Mustard (French's is gluten free)
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

In a large saute pan, brown turkey. Once browned, push to one side of the pan. Add mushrooms, onions and garlic. Saute until mushrooms are soft. Add Creamy Mushroom soup and dijion mustard. Mix well. Allow to simmer for 5 to 10 minutes so that the flavors blend. Add salt or pepper if desired.

Meanwhile prepare pasta and drain well.

Mix with the sauce and mix well. Stir in grated parmesan. Serve with extra parmesan for sprinkling on top.

:)

Sweet & Sour Pork

Well, I've sort of abandoned my calendar this last week! I will post for next week. I ran into a mental block and have been winging it for a few days! :D Going with what I have in my freezer and what sounds good. Well, after almost 3 months of abstinence from Chinese food, I decided that I MUST have some. As we all know, being gluten free means that ordering chinese from our local take out place (safely, anyway) is a near impossibility due to the prevalence of soy sauce. Thank you San-J for creating a gluten free soy sauce that made this recipe possible. It hit that sweet spot in me last night, I was looking for the fortune cookies afterward.

Sweet & Sour Pork

1 lb boneless pork loin chops, cut into thin strips
1 medium green pepper, sliced in thin strips
1 medium red onion, sliced in thin strips
10 oz to 1 lb snow peas
1 large carrot, cut thinly on a diagonal
1 14.5 oz can pineapple in juice
2 cups chicken, beef or pork stock (make sure your source is Gluten Free - I used Pacific Foods)
1/4 cup San-J Gluten Free Soy Sauce
2 tbs cornstarch
2 tbs sesame oil


Drain pineapple juice into measuring cup, add water so juice measures 1 cup. Remove 5 or 6 slices and cut into bitesized pieces, set aside.

Mix pineapple juice, stock, soy sauce and cornstarch in a large bowl, set aside.

In a large skillet, heat the sesame oil on medium high heat. Add pork strips and saute until just tender. Add pepper, onion and carrot, saute for a few minutes until veggies are just tender-crisp. Add snow peas and pineapple. Pour stock mixture over top and continue to heat on medium high until just boiling. Reduce heat and allow sauce to thicken.

Serve over Brown Rice. And enjoy.


My husbands only comment is that he would add water chestnuts. I do agree, and will be an addition next time. :D

It is an honor just to be nominated...

Well, it truly is. I know stars that walk the red carpet say this often when they are up for Grammy's, Oscars and Emmys. I always thought they were joking. But it really is.

This humble little blog, with no pictures and just recipes and talking about my gluten free journey has been nominated for the Best of Blog Awards.

If you would like, please vote for me...it will be a vote for the whole of the gluten free community. :D

VOTE HERE

Thanks so much!!!!