Garlicy Herb Steak & Pasta & Chicken (Recipe)

I was inspired by a PBS cooking show the other week to make an olive oil-based marinade. And as luck would have it, this marinade ended up working for a variety of foods. I started out using it for steak. I whisked together 1 1/2 cups of olive oil, 1 tbsp. minced garlic, 1 tbsp. dried basil, 1 tbsp. dried chives, 1 tbsp. dried parsley, 1 large fresh tomato (seeded and diced), plenty of pepper and about 1 tsp. salt. I put the marinade in a plastic baggie, added 2 steaks and let it sit for about 1 hour on the counter.

Then the grill was fired up, the steaks cooked on each side for 3 minutes and dinner was served. I made sure to wipe off most of the marinade from the steaks before grilling though; so as to not burn little chunks of tomatoes. Didn't get a picture of the steaks; gobbled them up too quickly. It was delish! After this meal I was thinking some chopped up sun-dried tomatoes would have worked in the marinade as well. Next time.

The next night I needed a quick dinner. I had put the baggie of leftover marinade in the fridge the night before and thought, hm, pasta might work with it as well. So I boiled some linguine until al dente, then set this aside, poured 1/4 cup of the marinade into a large saute pan over medium heat (making sure I got all the chunks of tomatoes) and let the oil heat up and cook the garlic and tomatoes for a minute or two. I then sliced up the leftover steaks, threw that into the pan, added the pasta, tossed to coat and heat through and dished it up with some Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. Another yummy dinner was served!

Then finally, with the last bit of marinade left in the bag, the following night I coated some chicken drumsticks, grilled them up and served that for dinner. Three successful dinners with one marinade. I was quite proud of myself for not letting any of it go to waste and all three dishes were tasty, quick and easy.



Sheperd's Pie (Recipe)

What can one do with some ground beef and a few extra potatoes? Sheperd's pie seems like the obvious conclusion, although I've never made one before. I did eat one during my visit to Australia back in 2004 and I wasn't too thrilled. Perhaps the frozen variety wasn't the best choice. But I must say, Australia has some of the BEST dairy products (cheese, butter) and meat I've ever tasted. It must be all that sunshine and clean water. Hm, go figure.

Back to my pie. So I think what I did was pretty conventional, but I thought I'd share anyway since I added a few extra things to the conventional recipe. I started out peeling, roughly chopping and boiling 4 large red potatoes until fork tender. I then mashed them with 1/2 stick of butter, 1/4 cup of low-fat milk and salt/pepper to taste. I then set this aside.

In a medium sized pot over medium heat I added 2 tbsp. olive oil, 1/2 tsp. minced garlic, 1/2 white onion; diced, and 2 carrots; also diced. I sauteed this until the onions were translucent. Then I added 1 lb. of ground beef and cooked this until most of the pink was gone, smashing with a wooden spoon the whole while. I then added 1 tsp. celery salt, 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp. dark molasses, 2 tbsp. dark brown sugar, 2 tbsp. bourbon whiskey, plenty of fresh pepper and salt to taste.

After another minute of cooking, I then added 1/2 cup of frozen peas and mixed them in as well as 1 tbsp of flour to thicken up the juices. Then I transferred the meat mixture to a 9 x 9-in. casserole dish and topped the meat with the mashed potatoes; spreading it with the back of a wooden spoon. Then I put the pie in the oven for 25 minutes on 375 degrees. After the 25 minutes I turned the broiler on for 2 minutes just to get more crust on the potatoes. Pretty simple and much better than a frozen pie.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies (Recipe)

I know it may sound strange, but I'm not that big of a fan of chocolate. Don't get me wrong, the dark chocolate I had in Spain was amazing and I will absolutely bring many kilos of it home with me the next time I visit. But for the most part, it rarely crosses my mind. The only problem is, many people I know love chocolate and love anything that's made with chocolate. So, being the ever-appropriate guest wherever I go, I created these cookies to please my hosts of whatever events I'm invited to.

I started out whipping 3 sticks of unsalted butter (softened) with 2 cups of packed dark brown sugar in my standing mixer. While that is going, in a separate bowl I mixed 3 1/4 c. all-purpose flour, 1 c. cake flour, 1/2 tsp. baking powder, and 1/2 tsp. baking soda.

Back to the standing mixer. Once the butter/brown sugar is whipped, I then added 1 tbsp. vanilla extract and 2 eggs and beat this again on medium speed until incorporated. I then added my flour mixture to the bowl and mixed it on low until all incorporated (this is a very thick cookie dough). While this is going, I took 3 c. dark chocolate chips (60% cacao) and melted it in a ceramic bowl in the microwave, heating it for 1 minute and then stirring with a wooden spoon until all is melted (you have to be careful melting chocolate in the microwave; it can burn easily). I then added this to the mixer and beat on low until all incorporated.

Then I removed my mixing bowl from the mixer and added 1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips to the cookie dough and folded it in. I used an ice cream scooper to get perfectly-round and perfectly-sized cookies. One trick I use is I put some chocolate chips in a small bowl on the side and after forming each cookie, place a chip or three on the top of each cookie before placing it on the cookie sheet so it looks like it has even chip distribution. I then baked the cookies in the oven for 12 minutes at 375 degrees. The cookies come out dense, chewy, and chocolaty. My chocolate-loving hosts are always pleased.

Whiskey Shimp Linguine (Recipe)

This week I'm running low on groceries, but at least I have the basics: pasta, frozen shrimp, butter, olive oil, onions, milk and, of course, whiskey. I wasn't sure what I was going to make for dinner tonight, but I was hungry and I needed something that was quick. So here's what I did.

I diced about 1/2 cup of onions, peeled and deveined about 1.5 cups of shrimp and set them aside. I put some water on one burner to boil for the linguine and at the same time placed a saute pan on another burner on medium heat. When the pot of water boiled, I threw in the linguine, reduced the heat and set the timer for 11 minutes.

While the pasta was simmering, in the saute pan I put 3 tbsp. of butter in the pan along with 3 tbsp. of olive oil. Once the butter melted I threw in the onions and sauteed them until translucent. I then added 1 tsp. of minced garlic and 1 tbsp. of dijon mustard and mixed it all in. Then I put 1 tsp. of corn starch in a cup and mixed it with 1/2 cup of low-fat milk and poured it into the onion mixture.

Once the milk was brought up to temperature and slightly thick, I added about 1/4 cup of whiskey, 1 tsp. of dry tarragon, salt and pepper to taste, and the shrimp, stirring gently every few seconds. By the time my shrimp was cooked through, my pasta was done. I drained the pasta, put it in bowls and poured the whiskey shrimp sauce all over it and sprinkled that with some grated Parmesan cheese. Fast and delicious!

Yard House--San Jose

My boyfriend has spent time in Los Angeles. He has lived there and he has friends there. Every time he would go to L.A. to visit, he would go to the Yard House in that area and for months and months I've had to listen to him talk about how phenomenal the place is. San Jose finally has a location at 300 Santana Row, and I have finally been able to experience it for myself. I was not disappointed.

They don't brew their own beer, but they have over 100 beers on tap and you can get them in half-yard sized glasses. They also have beer blends and floats (yes, they actually put ice cream in the beer). I did not have this, but their selection of beers is quite something to choose from. I ended up with the Kilt Lifter, which was a delicious American Strong Ale (good thing I wasn't wearing a kilt).

For food I selected a weakness of mine: Mac and Cheese. This one was made with campanelle pasta, chicken breast, bacon (!!), wild mushrooms and truffle oil. This was one of the heartiest, well-balanced mac and cheese dishes I've had. The bacon was crispy, the mushrooms were not mushy and the chicken wasn't overcooked. The cheeses stretched with each pull of my fork and I didn't feel heavy or weighed down after I ate it. It was heaven on a plate.

My boyfriend selected the Spicy Jambalaya and had it with linguine pasta (you can also get this with brown or jasmine rice). An excellent choice as it was super flavorful and had two giant shrimps on top of it all. Everything in it was cooked perfectly. My only complaint is that it wasn't spicy enough.

Yard House is a great place for lunch, dinner, or just to go have a beer after work and hang out with a few friends. The only down side is, everyone else feels this way too and the place gets ridiculously packed before 5pm. If you get there after 5pm, you may be waiting up to 2 hours for a table. I'd say take your chances at the bar, hover over people who look like they're almost done and snatch up that seat as soon as they leave. This only works well for parties of 2 or less, so otherwise, get there early.

Ramen Noodles (Recipe)

When most people hear someone say "ramen noodles", they think of the square brick of dry noodles that come in a plastic package with a small packet of artificial powder flavoring. The noodles are boiled for 3 minutes, the powder mixed in and every person who went to college in America has probably lived on that at one time or another, including myself.

This is not the recipe that I'm about to share. This was a scrumptious and oh-so-comforting dish that I experienced during a week-long trip to the beautiful island of Oahu a few years ago, and is my attempt to recreate it. A friend and I were strolling down the boulevard, got hungry and popped into a random Japanese noodle house along our path. The name of the place, sadly, will forever be lost in my memory. But the taste of that big bowl of noodles will be permanently implanted into my mental catalog of great eats.

In my opinion, the most important part of this dish, is the broth. I've never had a more savory or flavorful broth before then or since then, but my attempt is close enough to satisfy my monthly cravings.

First, I start off with 2 cups of homemade chicken or beef stock. To make stock, I take some chicken or beef bones (ok if there's meat on it) and simmer them for 2 to 3 hours with some water, 1 chopped onion, 3 stalks of celery, 1 large carrot, 2 bay leaves and a heavy pinch of pepper corns. Then I strain out and discard all the chunky stuff with a metal strainer and cheese cloth, and all that's left is yummy stock.

Then I make some mushroom and bonito stock. To do this I take 2 cups of water, bring it to a boil and add a handful of bonito shavings and 6 or 7 dried shitake mushrooms (available at your local asian market). After bringing this to a boil, I turn off the heat and let it sit for 20 minutes, strain and add the liquid to my stock. To finish the broth, I add about 1/4 cup of oyster sauce, 1/8 cup of hoisin sauce, 1/8 cup of soy sauce (or more to taste), 2 tbsp. of honey, 1/2 tsp. white pepper and a handful of fresh diced green onion. All these can be found at your local asian market. Now I have a rich and savory broth for my noodles.

For my noodles I tend to choose a fresh egg noodle (this is ramen, typically in the fridge section of the asian market). I boil the noodles as directed in water, remove from the water, place it in a bowl and sprinkle some sesame oil over it. Then I boil whatever else I want in my noodles, such as sliced carrots, firm tofu, soy beans and mushrooms in 2 cups of broth for about 2 minutes (I usually freeze any left over broth for the next use). I've also used half of a hard-boiled egg, zucchini, bok choy, beef, chicken, bean sprouts, etc., etc., etc. Everything goes into a big bowl and the broth poured over it all. Great for a cold June day!

Sol Food--San Rafael (Puerto Rican cuisine)

For Memorial Day, which also just happened to be my 2nd year anniversary with my boyfriend, we went to Sol Food for some Puerto Rican food. They actually have 3 locations within a block from each other, which is a testament to how good they actually are. They have a "small place", a "big place" and a "pick up place". The main "big place" is located at 901 Lincoln Avenue in San Rafael, with the pick-up place right next door. I tend to go to their "big place" location, although I have visited their "small place", located at 811 4th Street, and the food there is exactly the same but without as much hustle and bustle.

If you live in the area, orders can be placed online and they also deliver. Parking might be an issue as they are in downtown San Rafael, but if you don't mind walking a bit, there is a residential area a few blocks away with free street parking. Otherwise it's metered parking with a 2-hour max.

What I love about this place, besides the food, is how efficiently they run their business. There's usually a line out the door, but they have someone handing you a menu and also taking your order while you are still in line and give you a slip of paper with your order to give to the cashier. They also have another person helping you find a place to sit after you've paid for your order and received your number. Sometimes, if you don't mind, you sit with other people and get a chance to mingle and share your Sol Food experience with others. The food also comes out fairly quick.

For my beverage, I got their Limonada Fresca (homemade limeade). Most of the time I'm strictly a water drinker, but when I come to Sol Food, I have to have their limeade or their Ponche (a.k.a. Arnoldo Palmero: 1/2 mango ice tea & 1/2 limeade). These are some of the most refreshing non-alcoholic drinks I've had. Below is a picture of my limeade.

Next came our Cubano and Bistec sandwich appetizers (not really an appetizer but I love their sandwiches). All their sandwiches are made with fresh french bread that is toasted in a press so they are warm and crispy. For a gluten-free sandwich, you can substitute the bread with tostones (fried plantains).This the best Cubano sandwich I've tried anywhere. It has roasted pork, ham that isn't too salty and the usual mustard, mayo, pickles and swiss cheese that is normally in a Cubano sandwich. So scrumptious!

The Bistec sandwich, which is made with tender steak, sauteed onions, avocado, swiss cheese and mayo. Also delicious. 



For the entree, we shared their Chuletas Fritas (pork chops) with a super fresh side salad that's lightly coated with their mild and not too garlicky lemon-garlic dressing, rice and black beans, pickled pink onions and a piece of sweet plantain (tostones). You can choose black or pinto beans and sweet or savory plantain. This might be my favorite dish at Sol Food. I'm a pork lover, and they know their pork. The chops are thinly sliced and pan fried to perfection. Not too crispy and not dry or overcooked.

This place is the only reason I visit the city of San Rafael and drive the 45 minutes it takes to get there. It is definitely a destination!