Rosemary Beef Skewers

The Recipe:

Rosemary Beef Skewers

8 (6 inch) bamboo skewers
1/2 cup light sour cream
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish, drained
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 ground black pepper
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 (1 inch thick) boneless beef loin sirloin steak (about 1 1/2 pounds)


1. Preheat broiler or prepare outdoor grill for direct grilling over medium heat. Line broiler pan with aluminum foil. Meanwhile, soak skewers in water. In small serving bowl, combine sour cream and horseradish; set aside.
2. On cutting board, coarsely chop garlic and rosemary, then sprinkle with salt and pepper. With your chef's knife at an angle, run blade across garlic mixture several times to form a paste. Transfer garlic mixture to medium bowl; stir in oil.
3. Cut steak into twenty-four 1-inch chunks; add to garlic mixture and stir to coat. Remove skewers from water. Thread 3 beef chunks on each skewer and transfer to prepared broiler pan. Broil or grill skewers 5 to 7 minutes, turning once, or until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F for medium-rare. Serve beef with horseradish sauce for dipping.

Prep: 15 minutes             Broil/Grill: 10 minutes        Serves: 4

The Cook's Comments:

Simplicity

Again, I found this meal to be pretty simple. I only had one or two issues, and they were easy enough to fix. I'd give this a 3 out of ten for simplicity.

Complications and Suggestions     
 The main issue I had was getting the garlic mixture to become a paste. In fact, I wasn't able to, but found the meat still tasted smashing. Maybe try using a mortar and pestle. If you don't have one (like me), just smash up the garlic as much as possible. Another issue I had was I ran out of my rosemary oil mixture. I still ended up having plenty of rosemary but had to add more oil and garlic in between. My chunks also did not turn out to be 48 pieces (I doubled the recipe). If this happens, don't worry about it. Just try to have an even amount of meat on each skewer. 

Taste

It seemed a lot of people enjoyed the meat (made it for Thanksgiving), but it generally seemed that it was better with the horseradish sauce. I'd have to agree. The other thing I found that the beef was still good cold so if you have leftovers, you don't have to worry about reheating.

Other Comments

For the horseradish sauce, I ended up just picking up some bottled stuff. I don't think this was exactly what the recipe wanted, but I found it was the perfect spiciness with the sour cream blend. I also ended up cooking this meal on an indoor grill so pick your preference. 

 

Beef taken off the skewers in the picture with the dipping sauce in front.

   

Potato Chip Dipped Chicken with Pasta Salad

The Recipe:

Potato Chip Dipped Chicken

1 1/4 cups finely crushed potato chips (about 5 ounces)
1 large egg
1 tablespoon Gourmet Garden refrigerated Mediterranean herb and spice blend
1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast fillet
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 light mayonnaise
1/4 Southern style BBQ sauce
2 tablespoons sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place crushed chips on large plate. In pie plate or shallow dish, with fork, beat egg and spice blend. Dip one chicken fillet in egg mixture, then place in crumbs on plate, turning to coat both sides and pressing lightly so they adhere. Place chicken on ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle both sides with pepper. Bake 11 to 13 minutes or just until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees
2. Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir mayo, BBQ sauce, and sour cream until blended. Serve chicken with sauce for dipping
Active Time: 10 minutes        Total time: 20 minutes        Serves: 4

Where do I find this? Now, I will not be able to speak for other grocery stores except Schnucks, but I found the blend in the deli section near where they cook these recipes. It's a bit difficult to find, but for me, it was near those veggie dishes/dip. However, I didn't find exactly what it called for either. See below for what I used.

I can't find it. What do I do? Now, I ended up using Schnucks Gourmet Creations Mediterranean spice dip. I found it worked wonderfully so I'd try finding a dip or blend of similar nature. If you are unable to do that, try using Italian spices instead. Just make sure to use less. Perhaps 1 1/2 teaspoons instead of a whole tablespoon.

The Cook's Comments:

Simplicity

This meal couldn't have been easier. Honestly, the hardest part was finding the spice blend. Plus, it was a quick meal to make as well. On a scale of 1-10 with one being the easiest, I'd have to give this a two. Even your child could have fun making this. :)

Complications and Suggestions

I didn't really come across any complications. However, I did mess up my dipping sauce and forgot to add the mayo. However, it was still delicious so you may want to try that some time. My biggest suggestion is adding BBQ potato chips as well as regular potato chips. It gives the chicken an extra flavour and gives it more colour when cooked, making it much more appeasing to the eye. I also found I probably could have used half of the chips suggested. I had so many left over and just had to pitch them.

Taste

Delicious! I can say this was easily a favourite dish in the household, and we even made it again the very next day. That's how tasty and easy it is. 

 

The Recipe:

Simple Pasta Salad

1 box of rainbow rotini

1 package of feta cheese

1 can black olives

1/2 package grape tomatoes

1 bottle of Italian dressing

1. In a large pot, boil water. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain pasta in large colander and run cold water over noodles to cool. Place pasta in large bowl and add tomatoes, olives, and feta cheese. Stir until well mixed. Add half a bottle of dressing. Stir. Taste. Add more dressing as desired.

The Cook's Comments:

Simplicity

If you can cook noodles, you can make this. 1/10.

Complications and Suggestions

If you like tomatoes a lot, try adding the rest of the package in. You may also want to try green olives.

Taste

Simplicity at its best. This dish makes a great side or lunch, and I have found everyone has liked this dish so far, even those who dislike pasta salad.

Other Comments

Another great factor is all the colours make it very pleasing to the eye, and you don't even have to worry about arrangement. 

             

      

Zucchini Linguine with Cheesy Garlic Bread

The Recipe:

Zucchini Linguine

1 1/2 pounds fresh tomatoes, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed or minced
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
12 ounces dry linguine
1 1/2 pounds fresh zucchini, thinly sliced
3/4 cups freshly grated Parmiginao-Reggiano cheese, plus additional for serving


1. In large serving bowl, toss tomatoes with garlic, basil, oil, parsley, salt and red pepper flakes; set aside to marinate while pasta cooks.
2. Heat large covered saucepot of salted water to boiling over high heat. Add pasta and cook as label directs. Add zucchini to pasta and water at last minute of cooking. In large colander, drain zucchini and pasta.
3. Transfer zucchini and pasta to tomato mixture; toss until well combined. Add cheese; toss to combine. Serve pasta with additional cheese to sprinkle on top. Makes about nine cups.

Active time: 20 minutes       Total time: 30 minutes      Serves: 4

 

Where do I find this? Most of this ought to be extremely easy to find in your local market/grocery store. However, not everyone may know where Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese would be kept. Of course, you can always check the deli, but I found some in the refrigerated section worked perfectly well for me. If you are looking for the latter, check near the milk and cheese. It will be in a plastic cylinder, much like powdered Parmesan cheese is sold in.

I can't find it. What do I do? If you can't find Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese exactly, don't fret. Regular Parmesan cheese will work just as well. Just make sure you get the shredded stuff, not the powdered.

The Cook's Comments:

Simplicity

An especially easy meal to make. No, it's not as simple as PB&J, but the hardest part of this dish was chopping, slicing, and making sure the noodles didn't stick to the pan. On a scale of 1-10, with one being the mac and cheese easy, I'd have to put this at a two, three at the highest.

Complications and Suggestions 

Honestly, I did not have any complications while making this dish. However, be aware that if you are not using fresh basil, you definitely need to use less or the spice will be much too strong. 

Taste

For the first time, I was not overly impressed. However, I did overspice on this go and decided to use an extra two ounces of noodles. I don't think it will be a favourite dish of mine, but considering the simplicity and ease of making it (and the fact it still tasted pretty good), I can definitely see me making this several more times. On a 1-10 scale, I'd give the taste a six for the first run, but if it wasn't overspiced, it'd be at least a seven.

Other Comments 

Not only was the dish easy to make, it was easy to present. With all the red, greens, and yellows, it is eye popping on it's own and requires no skill to make it look smashing and mouthwatering.

Recipe:

Cheesy Garlic Bread

1 tube (13.8 oz) refrigerated pizza crust dough

2 teaspoons drained roasted garlic

1 package (8oz) shredded Italian cheese blend

nonctick cooking spray

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Remove pizza dough from tube; unrolls dough unto centre of cookie sheet. With fingertips, press dough into 1/4 inch thick rectangle. Spread roasted garlic lengthwise over right half of dough. Sprinkle cheese over garlic.

2. Fold left half of dough over filling; pinch edges together to seal. Spray top of dough with nonstick cooking spray; sprinkle with garlic salt.

3. Bake bread 11 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Slice bread crosswise into six slices to serve.

Active time: 10 minutes         Total time: 21 minutes         Serves: 6

 Where do I find this? The pizza dough took me a while to find, and I noticed none of the employees really knew where it was kept either. Check with the biscuits and cookie dough.

The Cook's Comments: 

Simplicity

Again, this is an extremely easy recipe. The hardest part was rolling out the pizza dough. I'd give it a two on the scale.

Complications and Suggestions

Well, I was unable to find a tube that held 13.8 ounces of the pizza crust so I was stuck using ten. No big deal, but I'd suggest using less garlic if this happens. Actually, you may want to cut back by at least half a teaspoon anyway unless you have a strong liking for garlic. I also only had garlic powder and not garlic salt. However, it was about the same for the dish so if that's all you have, don't worry.

Taste 

The bread was excellent. Although, I didn't mind the garlic so much, I could tell it was a bit strong. It was good on its own as well, but I think a dipping sauce may have made it better.