Steak Sandwich

A pretty quick sandwich to make, we are all about the quick meals right now. The kitchen is all packed so we will be eating sandwiches and other non-cooking meals. Packing is a little over whelming at times having piles of things you think you need to ship and think you might need over there. All it really comes down to is how much stuff do you really need, in the last ten days we have gone to Goodwill with a car load of stuff eight times. There is another box already filling up right now to donate, it feels good getting rid of this stuff we once thought was important but never really needed. Anyways I will stop rambling and end with a simple statement, this sandwich rocks.
Ingredients-
1 Red Onion cut into strips.
1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 Cup Spreadable Cheese, I used Boursin you can use what ever you like.
2 Lb Beef Strip steak(or tenderloin) cut into strips 1/2 inch wide 2 inches long
4 Buns I used Ciabatta Bread
1 Tbl Oil

Lemon Garlic Aioli-
1/2 Cup Mayo
2 Lemons squeezed
1 Tbl Diced Garlic

Directions-
1. In a medium mixing bowl add mayo and garlic, juice one lemon and mix. Taste it you may need to add the other lemon or half of it. It should have a good lemon and garlic taste adjust it so you like it.
2. In a large saute over medium heat add oil, once hot add onion and saute for 5-6 minutes then add the balsamic mix it up well and cook for 4-6 more minutes.
3. In a medium saute pan over medium heat add 1 TBL oil once hot add beef and saute for5-7 minutes.
4. Spread cheese on the bun add beef, onions and drizzle aioli over the beef and onion...enjoy!

Flank Steak

There is nothing better then firing up the grill letting it get hot, cleaning it. Then bringing out your meat and seeing that you are out of gas for the grill. Nothing makes my day like running out of propane, it's kind of like going to the store to get stuff for dinner and forgetting the one item that makes that meal great.

Ingredients-
Flank Steak whatever size you want
Sides I did rice, baked potatoes and a veggie mixture that had onions, peppers and broccoli.

Marinade-
1 Cup Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Cup Red Wine
1 Lemon Juiced
1 Tbl Salt and Pepper
1 Tbl Thyme
1 Tbl Marjoram Leaves

Directions-
1. Put all marinade ingredients into a large mixing bowl add flank steak and let it sit in the fridge for 3-4 hours.
2. Fire up the grill(if it has gas) cook on both sides until internal temp. is 135 degrees for a rare steak.
3. If out of gas turn on oven to 325 degrees cook until internal temp. is 135.
4. Boil and strain the marinade for a sauce... enjoy

Street Tacos

I have not been posting much lately! We have one month until we move to South Korea. Things are starting to get crazy, last minute things to buy and ship. Putting your stuff in categories like stuff to take, stuff to ship, stuff to store and stuff for Goodwill. This just feels crazy weird to me... at least we are purging a lot of things(and keeping Goodwill well stocked) it's crazy the amount of stuff you can accumulate, that at one point you thought you needed. This process really makes us think about what we want and what we need. Ok, off the soap box, this is an easy 20 minute meal that tastes awesome we make this at work 2-3 times a week. During this insane time here at home we are all about simple meals (especially if it is all in one tortilla!).

Ingredients-
Flour or Corn Tortillas
1 Medium Onion diced
1 1/2 Cup White Rice
1 Jalapeno sliced
1/4 Cup Cilantro
1-2 Tbl Cumin
1 Lb Beef(I used tenderloin use what you have or what is on sale)
2 Tbl Oil
1 Lb Cheddar Cheese

Directions-
1. Cook rice as directed but add the cumin to the water (This flavors the rice throughly).
2. Cut beef into strips 1/2 inch wide 2 inches long.
3. In a large saute pan over medium heat add oil. Once the oil is hot add onion, jalapeno, beef and cilantro. Cook for 5-7 minutes add salt and pepper to taste.
4. In a medium saute pan over medium low heat warm up you tortillas if using corn add a little bit of oil to the pan.
5. Once rice is done, add rice to tortilla add beef and onion mixture and cheese...enjoy

Beef Sliders

I love sliders just about any kind of them, so at work I had to come up with a special so I made sliders.

Ingredients-
2 Lb Ground Beef 80-20
Slider buns(I used Hawaiian sweet rolls)
1 Tbl Oil
What ever you want to top them with, the ones in the picture have bacon and cheddar the other is blue cheese.

Directions-
1. Make 16 equal sized balls around 2oz. Press the balls flat so that they are about a half inch thick.
2. In a large saute pan over medium high heat add oil let it heat up so that it swirls around the pan like water would. Place 5-8 patty's in the pan cook 2-3 minutes a side, cook all the patty's.
3. Plate the with what ever you like add some sides... enjoy!

Blue Cheese and Garlic Stuffed Burger

Ok I don't like to brag but this was frickin' awesome. I'm not a fan of blue cheese but with the garlic and the fat from the meat it was sooooooo good! This is a burger where you want a good bun to go with it. I also made a truffle aioli (hmmmm fancy mayo) as a sauce to go with it, very  rich and so many layers of taste. This is a great burger for one of those non- counting calorie days. I will make this as many times as my arteries can take.

Ingredients-

1lb Ground Beef (80-20)
1lb Ground Pork
1/2lb Blue Cheese( Blue cheeses are typically aged in a temperature-controlled environment such as a cave)
2 Tbl Garlic minced
1Tbl Olive Oil

Directions-

1. Saute garlic in oil for 2-3 minutes, let cool and mix with cheese.
2. Mix meat together in a bowl. Make eight equal sized meat balls(if you have a scale 4oz), put meat in between two pieces of parchment paper and press down (with a mixing bowl or cutting board) until 1/2 inch thick.
3. Spoon equal amounts of cheese onto four of the patties, place one of the other four patties over the meat with cheese and pinch edges together to seal.
4. In a large saute pan over medium-high heat place two patties into pan add 1/4 cup of water and cover. Cook for six minutes and flip burgers over add 1/4 cup water and cover for six more minutes.
5. Take burgers out of pan put on buns( truffle aioli 1 cup mayo 1 and 1/2 Tbl truffle oil or to taste and whisk) top with what ever you like… enjoy!

Korean BBQ Beef

Ingredients-
3LB Beef Short Ribs cut off bone and butterflied

Marinade-
1/2 Cup Water
1 Cup Low Sodium Soy  Sauce
1/4 Cup White or Red Wine( my wife only had white)
2 TBL Sesame Oil
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Minced Green Onion (Scallions)
6 Cloves Garlic Sliced Thin
2 tsp Ginger 1/4in. or smaller Dice
1 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 Cup Grated Pineapple (you can also use 1 small apple grated with skin, 1/2 pear grated with skin or 1/2 kiwi skined and grated, pineapples were on sale!)

Directions-
1. Add all ingedients for the marinade into a medium pot.
2. Over med.-high heat bring to a boil and let reduce 7-10 min.
3. Cut the meat off the bones and butterfly the beef *Link to how to butterfly a short rib*. For more surface area for the marinade.
4. Let marinade cool. Then add beef, marinate for 4-6 hours or overnight.
5. Fire up the grill baby! On low-med. heat grill beef 5-6 min. per side.
6. While beef is on the grill put marinde into med. sauce pan and bring to a boil, reduce for 5 min.
7. Strain marinde for extra sauce.
8. Once beef is cooked to your liking (I go medium rare) plate and add as little or as much sauce as you like(I added a ton) and enjoy.