Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Stuffed Flank Steak

Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Stuffed Flank Steak


This recipe came to be by being a complete accident. But a great accident nonetheless. I had went out and bought flank steak and didn't know what to do with it. Seeing as how beef is a tough meat when cooked for less time than it should be, I had to figure out what to do with it so that it would be soft rather than chewy. So my idea of a quick stir-fry was out. I thought back to what my husbands favorite dishes are... beef stroganoff. And that's when I realized, I will be finishing cooking the beef in a stroganoff broth.
Growing up in Ukraine, my grandmother would take care of me quite often. And when she cooked, it felt as though the Angels were singing. One of my favorite things were what she called "fingers". Fingers consisted of some type of meat, which I'm guessing was cubed beef steak, rolled up, and cooked in a sour cream mixed with something broth. To this day, I have no idea what exactly was in it. But I am determined to one day perfect it. Getting back to the point here, the longer you cook beef in a broth, the more tender it becomes. This recipe is definitely executed with a big thank you to my grandmother. Who despite having been far away for many years, was always close to my heart and I felt as though she was always rooting me on with my culinary dream. So grandma, this is for you.

Ingredients

- 6 to 12 pieces of 2"x4" flank steak.
- 1 medium to large onion.
- 1 package of button mushrooms.
- 1 teaspoon of sugar.
- 1 stick of butter.
- 1 cup of water.
- 2 tablespoons of sour cream.
- Salt and pepper to taste.
- Corn oil.

Steps

1. Prep your flank steak by adding desired amount of salt and pepper to taste. If you would like the steaks to roll better, use a meat tenderizer to beat it thinner. Not too thin so that it rips.
2. Slice your onion and mushrooms to desired thickness.
3. Melt 1/2 stick of butter in one pan and the other half in another pan.
4. Once butter is melted, add your sliced onion into your desired pan and add the sliced mushrooms to the other pan. Cook until golden.
5. Once your onion is golden, add the sugar on top and mix. Continue cooking until crispy.
6. When your mushrooms and onion are done cooking, take it out of the pans and start putting a desired amount of each onto your flank steaks. Make sure you do not put too much on the steak or else you will not be able to roll it up.
7. Once done, roll up all your steaks so they look like little chubby fingers and secure them with a toothpick.
8. Heat up corn oil in a pan and apply your rolled up steaks onto the pan and cook until golden on every side. DO NOT discard the oil and juices that come from the meat.
9. Once your meat is cooked, put it inside of a stove-top safe pot or my personal favorite,a stove-top safe dutch oven. Put it on medium heat and add in the juices from the pan you cooked the meat in and also apply your sour cream and water. Let cook for 30-45 minutes on medium heat until meat is done and tender.
10. Once completed, you may take the toothpicks out of your rolled up stuffed steak.
11. Serve over rice or mashed potatoes.

Hotel Cooking Day 4

Grilled Cheese with Turkey



My lovely husband and I decided we wanted to be incredibly fancy this day. So of course two fancy individuals like ourselves had to have a fancy dinner.. Grilled cheese. HOWEVER, before you start to judge my level of class here, it was probably the most amazingly prepared grilled cheese of my life. Definitely by far, the best one I have ever had. Of course with my husband, he sticks to what he knows, so he was expecting some "popcorn soup" along with the sandwich. If you're anything like me, and no I don't just mean an immigrant, you're probably wondering what "popcorn soup" is... it's tomato soup... from a can... with popcorn in it. Yep. Just that. So if you're into pairing your delicious grilled cheese sandwich that is excruciatingly finger licking good with tomato paste in a can... be my guest, but you'll never see me doing that. And remember, I know what's best ;)


Ingredients :

- 2 slices of any bread of your choice.
- 2 to 4 thin sliced squares of butter.
- 2 to 4 slices of turkey or any other deli meat you choose.
- 2 slices of yellow American cheese.
- Salt to taste.


Steps :

1. Preheat your pan on low to medium heat.
2. Arrange your sandwich in this order : slice of bread, 2 squares of butter, salt, slice of cheese, your deli meat, slice of cheese, salt, 2 remaining squares of butter and your 2nd piece of bread.
3. Apply your sandwich to your preheated pan and push down on top of it with a spatula, hard. Hold your position for 10-20 seconds, check if the other piece of bread is golden brown, if so, flip your sandwich and repeat.
4. Once done, enjoy it.

So if you want to be as fancy and rolling around in class as my husband and I, you need to make this AMAZING grilled cheese sandwich. Now go, go, go.

Hotel Cooking Day 3

Chicken Alfredo



Quick and Easy dinners sometimes require store-bought sauces. Over the years, I've become a pro at choosing which ones are best and which are the best for their price range. However, there are also those types of sauces that run about $.75 for a large can and you can tweak them to make them amazing and to your liking. However, back to the original point, while only having a mini fridge and one pot and one pan, it would be hard to make my own at this moment so therefore I had to buy pre-made sauce. Which in all honesty, made dinner be that much easier and quicker. So, in my defense, I had an excuse. You however, do not. So find a recipe for homemade Alfredo sauce and get that thing going! Below you'll find the easiest damn recipe for Chicken Alfredo you've ever seen in your lives.


Ingredients :

- 2 to 3 skinless, boneless Chicken breasts, cut into cubes.
- 1/2 to 1 stick of butter.
- 1 jar Alfredo sauce.
- 1 box penne.


Steps :

1. Boil enough water to cover the penne in a pot that can fit the penne in it comfortably. When the water is boiling, add the contents of the box of penne inside and stir. Make sure you salt your water before it begins to boil. Not too much.
2. Let the penne cook in the boiling water for 7-12 minutes or until desired doneness. Once cooked, use a strainer to strain all the water out of the pot. Set aside.
3. While your penne is cooking, melt your butter in a pan and throw in your diced chicken breast. Cook on medium heat until golden. Make sure to stir the chicken in the pan so that it does not burn.
4. Once the chicken is done cooking, add as much Alfredo sauce as you'd like. Enough to coat all the chunks of chicken and the penne. Stir so that the Alfredo sauce is equally warm/hot. Then add to the penne and stir it all up so that everything is evenly coated.

And there you have it, another very easy and quick recipe that will leave your significant other or your family member or even your own damn self begging for more!

Hotel Cooking Day 2

Beef Flank Steak Cups with Sauteed Broccoli and Bacon



With our second night here, it's been quite a challenge trying to get things in order. Between going around town and trying to find the best produce and meat store, to going to our storage locker and picking up a few more items, it's been insane. However, now it's dinner time, and I must find something creative to do. Since my husband is probably the least picky eater in the world, it's great to have him be my guinea pig, especially after he's been gone for so long and I've had to resort to having picky friends try my food and tell me it sucks... wonderful, I know. Anyway, back to the point, my husband said he absolutely LOVED this dinner, and that he thought something like this would NOT be possible by using only ONE pan.. especially because I hate washing dishes.. oh how I miss having a dishwasher.. BUT I DID IT! Although I have to thank the bacon for saving my ass on this one. It could have turned ugly..fast.

Ingredients :
- 4-8 pieces of round flank steak
- 1-2 broccoli florets, cut into smaller crowns.
- 4-10 strips of bacon, cut into cubes (I prefer hickory smoked)
- 1/2 stick of butter

Steps :
1. Heat up your skillet on medium-high heat and throw in 1/2 a stick of butter. Once melted, put your flank steak in the pan and cook until the steak is browned and forms a cup shape. Cook both sides. Once cooked, put on a plate and wait until the 2nd step is completed. (Tip : the thinner the cut of meat, the more of a cup shape it will give you)
2. Heat up a second pan and throw in your cubed bacon. Cook until crispy. Once crispy, dispose of most of your bacon drippings. Or save them in a jar or container for future use. Then throw in your your broccoli crowns and sautee until desired doneness.
3. Once the above steps are completed, arrage your flank steak cups on your serving plate and spoon in the crispy bacon and broccoli into the cups.
4. Pair with Alfredo fettuccine, rice, mashed potatoes or side of your choice and enjoy.

That's all there is to it. It's a quick and delicious dinner and you won't spend a ton of money on it. Who doesn't love extra cash in their pockets?!

Hotel Cooking Day 1

Pork Chops, Pan-roasted Potatoes with Onions and a Fresh Salad.


Let me start off by saying, it's definitely going to be a challenge with cooking a different type of dish daily without an oven and with the minimal items I have to my use, but I am damn well gonna try. I'm hoping that with me accepting this challenge and taking it head on will inspire at least one of you to go into your kitchen and try out your skills. Everything I cook is quick, simple and most importantly cheap. We could have opted for going out every day and having someone cook our meals but the wise thing is to do it yourself. You get those brownie points from your significant other, your family and friends, or even just yourself for being able to put forth a beautiful and delicious and healthy meal. That should be worth enough to make it worth it. And you can use those extra $20 to buy yourself something you've been wanting for a while. So go ahead, be brave. Now back to the recipe.

Ingredients

Pork Chops
- 4-10 thin cut or regular pork chops
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 1/2 stick butter or enough corn oil to coat the bottom of your pan (do not use either if you're using a George Foreman grill)

Pan-roasted Potatoes
- 4-10 small to medium size red potatoes, sliced
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1/2 stick of butter
- salt to taste

Fresh Salad
- 1 medium sized broccoli crown, cut into smaller crowns
- 1 medium tomato, chopped
- 1/2 cucumber, chopped or sliced
- salt to taste
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil OR Italian Dressing


Steps

1. Season your pork chops with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Heat up your George Foreman grill or your pan on medium heat. Add your butter OR your corn oil to your pan and wait until the oil heats up before you add your meat.
3. Add your pork chops to your pan and cook about 2-4 minutes on each side or until golden then take them off and add the rest. Continue until finished.
4. In a separate pan, melt your butter on high heat and add your chopped onions to the pan. Cook until golden. Once onions are cooked and golden, add your potatoes and salt to the pan and cook until the potatoes are cooked through. You can tell if they're cooked through by taking a spatula and trying to split one in half, if it splits with ease and is a little mushy, they're done.
5. Combine all the ingredients for your salad together in one bowl and mix.
6. Once everything is completed, put it all on a plate and enjoy.


As you can see, it very quick, very easy, and VERY delicious.

Hotel Cooking Made Simple

My new kitchen.. amazing isn't it?


Moving isn't always easy.. My husband and I learned that rather quickly. I wanted to document our life for the next few months while we stay at a hotel and try to live our life as normal as possible, with two big dogs and a room the size of half a studio apartment in New York City. Although I had a specific box packed with the kitchen utensils, ingredients, and other things labeled "TAKE TO HOTEL", neither my husband, my brother or my father made it a point to put that in the back of the UHAUL, so now it's lost.. in our shed.. that is filled up completely. So here I am, in this little room, equipped with 2 burners, a tiny George Foreman grill, 1 small pot, 1 pan, and a plastic spatula.. but that is NOT going to stop me from putting forth delicious dinners to make my husband and I happy. The point of this new section, that will have detailed recipes for Hotel Cooking, is to show YOU, my readers, that if I can do it, with the minimal items I have to my use, you have no excuse not to do the same at home.

Rabbit a la Stroganoff

Rabbit a la Stroganoff



I am by no means a rabbit cooking expert. In all reality, this was actually my first time ever cooking rabbit. For the half of you who are wondering what rabbit tastes like, the closest meat I can compare it to would be a mix between chicken and duck. So not at all bad. For the other half of you that are quietly screaming "OH MY GOD SHE ATE PETER COTTONTAIL" ,  calm yourselves. Remember that you probably just ate THAT chicken that was trying to cross the road but didn't succeed and thus ended up on your kitchen table this evening.

This recipe does require white wine, but it's not an absolute necessity. However, for those of you that will be adding in the white wine as stated, do not add the whole bottle. Eating your wine will not make you seem like you have less of a drinking problem. Trust me on that.

Ingredients :

• 1 full rabbit or 3 rabbit leg pieces cut into sections. 
• 1 pkg fresh mushrooms. Chopped.
• 1 medium onion. Chopped.
• 4 - 6 pieces of garlic. Chopped. 
• 3 table spoons sour cream. 
• 1 - 2 cups water. 
• 1 - 2 tablespoons white wine. 
• 1 stick butter. Separated in half. 
• Salt and pepper to taste. 

Steps :


1. Put 1/2 stick of butter in a medium - large frying pan and melt on high heat. While butter is melting, apply salt and pepper to taste onto the rabbit section.
2. Once butter is melted, apply your chopped or pressed garlic to the pan and fry it till golden. Once garlic is golden, put rabbit sections on top of it and cook on medium heat until golden brown. Turn over and brown the other side as well. After rabbit sections are browned, put them inside of a medium sized pot or into a medium sized oven-safe dutch oven.
3. Using the same pan you used to fry your rabbit and garlic, or a new one, put in the other half of your stick of butter and melt on high heat. Once butter is melted, throw in your chopped onion and brown it. Once browned, throw in your chopped mushrooms and brown as well. Make sure you continue to stir or else it will burn. Once everything is nicely golden brown, throw it into your pot or your dutch oven on top of the rabbit sections.
4. After your rabbit, garlic, onion, and mushrooms are all inside of a pot or dutch oven, add your sour cream and water and your wine and mix well. You can add a little bit more water if there is not enough to coat the rabbit sections.
5. THIS IS KEY : If you are cooking this in a pot, you will have to continue cooking your rabbit on the burner on medium heat for 45 minutes to an hour. If you are cooking it in an oven-safe dutch oven, you will continue cooking it inside of your oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.
6. Once cooking is done, you may garnish with parsley and enjoy.

















That is all there is to it. And it is amazing. Same basic concept as cooking beef stroganoff, with the substitution of rabbit instead of beef. I of course ran into technicalities yet again and found out the hard way that my ridiculously adorable red dutch oven is oven-safe however NOT electric spiral burner safe. Let's just say, it took me a while to get the smell of burning goodness out of my house. So please check your dutch ovens to see if they are oven-safe and burner safe before you begin cooking with them. Otherwise, your house will catch fire. Enjoy!

Beginners Tip # 2

Beginners Tip # 2

How to cook for yourself. 

I was asked today to write another post about how to properly cook for yourself. My dear friend Candice goes to college and lives by herself in a rather spacious apartment of her own. However she does not have most of the cooking utensils needed to really cook a dinner, so go buy some Candice. 

This post will further talk about necessities in any kitchen, whether you're cooking for yourself or a whole army of people. Also it will talk about how to cut portions out of any of my recipes and make it so that you don't end up having 14 different food containers in your fridge with last weeks chicken and dumplings. I will also list down a few very basic recipes in order to get you started.

The few kitchen necessities I swear by are : 

• 1 small, 1 medium, and 1 large frying pan. 
• 1 small, 1 medium, and 1 large cooking pot. 
• 1 sturdy spatula. 
• 1 sturdy pair of tongs. 
• 1 small, 1 medium, and 1 large kitchen knife. 
• 1 medium - large sized cutting board.
• And of course a dinnerware set and a knife, fork, table spoon and teaspoon. 

With those basic few items, you can pretty much do anything you please. Except fly.. you definitely can't fly. 

With any recipe that you may find online or in a cook book, or even on this blog, you can easily cut it in half and make the recipe be perfect for a single individual. So with that being said, take any recipe you find, anywhere, and just slash all the ingredients in half. A typical recipe that you may be looking at, is normally made to feed 2-4 people. However some are meant to feed more. So if the ingredients do seem a bit excessive, try to cut it down enough for it to feed yourself and also have some left over to bring to work for lunch. 

The following recipes are all very basic and should be just the right amount for you to eat a decent dinner tonight and possibly have some left over for tomorrow when you're absolutely starving and want to eat something other than that leftover pizza you have hiding in the back of your fridge from 3 nights ago. Or even when hunger strikes at 3 a.m. as you're just getting home from the bar... I'm sure you can all relate. 

Pan Fried Ranch Chicken Breast. 

Ingredients : 

• 1 skinless chicken breast. 
• 1/4 cup of bread crumbs.
• 1-2 tablespoons ranch. 
• 1-2 tablespoons butter or corn oil. 

Steps : 

 

1. Cover chicken breast with ranch. On both sides. 

2. Coat the chicken breast with bread crumbs by dipping it into them. On both sides. Evenly. 

3. Heat your butter or oil on a small or medium sized frying pan on medium heat. 

4. When the butter is either melted, or the oil is hot enough (you can throw a drop of water onto the oil and if it fizzes and evaporates, it's hot enough) , put the chicken on the pan and cook on medium heat until golden. 

5. Flip chicken breast over and cook the other side until it is golden in color as well. 

6. Cut into thickest part of breast and check to see if you see any raw pink meat. If you do not, it is ready and can be served. However if you do, keep cooking the breast over medium heat until fully cooked. 

If you notice your chicken breast getting a bit burnt on either side, your problem is probably not enough butter or oil. So it is okay if you add more and then proceed cooking. 

Pan-fried potatoes. 

Ingredients : 

• 2-4 medium sized red potatoes. 
• 2 tablespoons butter. 
• Salt and pepper to taste. 

Steps : 

1. Cut 2 - 4 medium size red potatoes into 8 pieces each. First in half, then cut that half in half as well, and so on, until you have 8 pieces from each potato. 

2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a medium sized frying pan over medium heat. 

3. Once butter is melted, throw in potatoes and sprinkle with desired amount of salt and pepper. 

4. Cook until all potatoes are golden in color. Make sure to regularly flip potatoes so they cook evenly. 

5. Check to see if the potatoes are cooked through all the way by taking a spoon and trying to break into a piece of the potato  If it goes through and breaks with ease, they are cooked, if you have trouble or it seems a little bit tough, keep cooking and add a little more butter. 

Oven Baked Asparagus. 

Ingredients : 

• 4 - 6 spears of fresh raw asparagus. 
• A little bit of olive oil. 
• 2 - 4 medium sized peeled pieces of garlic. 
• Salt to taste. 
• Optional : dry Italian Seasoning. 

Steps : 

1. Preheat your oven to 300 degrees. 

2. Break off the bad parts of the asparagus spears. You can do this by taking each end of the spear in each hand and bending it away from you. Discard the bottom part. 

3. Lay the spears out on a cookie sheet. 

4. Season to taste with salt. Use a garlic press or mince your garlic into small pieces and put on top of asparagus. Drizzle with olive oil. 

5. Optional : sprinkle asparagus with Italian Seasoning. 

6. Put into oven and cook for 10 - 12 minutes. 

7. Enjoy. 

And there you have it, 3 simple recipes that are sure to get you into the cooking spirit. Just watch your eyebrows with that oven. And please don't ever attempt to retrieve something from the oven without wearing an oven mitt or having a thick towel over your hand. You are not Iron Man...

If you do decide to cook for someone else as well, and would like to use one of these recipes, just double the amounts I gave you and you should have enough for more than 1 serving. 

If anyone has any other requests, please feel free to comment and let me know. Bon appetite!

Teriyaki Beef

Teriyaki Beef




I was stunned when I found out that teriyaki beef does not in fact have the least bit of teriyaki sauce in it, on it, or anywhere around it. So sadly, now I have no clue what I'm going to use that gigantic jug of teriyaki sauce on... I'll find something, I always do.

It's really sad to say that teriyaki beef has got to be the single most amazing item on the whole Chinese food take-out menu that I've ever tried. And it get's expensive too! I wasn't about to break the bank and spend $4.00 on 4 pieces of beef for my mere enjoyment whenever I wanted, so I decided to make my own. And goodness am I glad I did.
Not only did a small package of flank steak that cost me roughly $2.00 not have me living out in the streets inside of a box with my two huge dogs and my lovely husband, but it also made roughly about 12 pieces of this amazing creation.
Since my husband is currently away, I had my friend Caroline over for dinner and made her be my guinea pig this evening. And yes, I did make her try the beef first, so I knew if there would be any adverse reactions to it or if I should call the ambulance right away for both of us.
What I realized is that when Caroline really likes something, she will try to tell you so with her mouth full of that said item. So when she was telling me what she though about my take on the teriyaki beef, it sounded something like this : "oh mah gawd, tis es so gurd!" , needless to say, she enjoyed it. I'm sure you will too.

Ingredients :

• 1 - 2 lbs flank steak, or really any type of thinly sliced beef. Cut into 1" x 4" strips. 
• 1/2 cup soy sauce.
• 1/4 cup water.
• 1/4 cup olive oil.
• 2 teaspoons ground mustard. 
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder.
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder. 

Steps :


1. In a large resealable bag (ziploc), combine the soy sauce, olive oil, water, ground mustard, garlic powder, and onion powder. Seal and shake the bag to mix everything together. Add the steak strips to the bag and seal. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours to marinate.
2. Preheat ovens broiler. And place steaks on broiling rack.
3. Broil the steak for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Arrange on platter and serve.




Thanks to Murphy's Law for biting me in the ass yet again, I, of course, ran into some difficulty with my oven. It refused to heat up when I had it on the broiler setting. Therefore I just baked the steak strips in the oven on 525 degrees, on a cookie sheet, without flipping the pieces over, for 10 to 15 minutes. I also had my steak strips marinating in the sauce for 26 hours. Which made them incredibly juicy and flavorful inside.

However despite my technical difficulties, the end result turned out wonderful! It is by far the most amazing pieces of meat I've ever had in my mouth. Take a moment to giggle. When you are all done with your laugh fest, I suggest you go and buy the damn ingredients and try it for yourself!

P.S. Do not forget to turn your oven off after you're done... I may or may not have forgot to do so myself... You'll never know.

Beginners Tip #1

So for all you beginners out there that are just getting the courage to step foot in the kitchen, yes you as well Candice, these tips will hopefully help you out.
Me being that of Ukrainian/Russian descent, I've peeled, cooked and mashed more potatoes in my life than any person ever should. So if you find yourself asking "How in the world do I boil potatoes and know when they're done" , keep reading.

Beginners tip #1 : Boiling potatoes.

Depending on what kind of potatoes you're looking to boil, whether it be young red, young white, russet, or just regular Idaho potatoes, one thing to keep in mind is : if they're raw inside, they will in fact taste horrible.
Normal cooking time for a whole potato that is medium in size would be 20 minutes. If it's in quarters, possibly 15 minutes. Do not over cook. When you see your potato falling apart and it's little components of whatever make up a potato floating around in the water thus creating a very cloudy pot of water, you have officially killed your potatoes. Congratulations.
Keep a sharp knife, without edges, near your pot of boiling water with potatoes inside. When you think they are in fact cooked, poke the knife through the very middle of the potato and if it goes in with ease, you're safe. If not, keep boiling.
For certain recipes including potatoes, such as mashed potatoes or boiled potatoes in butter, you can cut them into smaller pieces and boil them then. Which will require less time for you to be standing over the pot and staring at the standstill of water looking back at you.
If you are boiling potatoes to make some mashed potato puree, cut the potatoes into quarters. Which basically means you cut one potato in half and then cut that half in half as well.
If you are boiling potatoes to make garlic butter potatoes, cut them into 8's. Which basically means you keep cutting the potato in half and the halves in half until you have 8 pieces total out of each potato.
It's not rocket-science and I assure you, you will get the hang of it. Just please watch where you put your pretty fingers. No one likes bloody potatoes.



Keep in mind : for certain things, you will be required to peel the potatoes before cooking them. We do not live in the old days, so do not attempt doing so with a regular knife, especially not a butter knife. You will not get far with that. If you do not yet own a potato peeler, I suggest you go out and purchase one, right now!


If at first you don't succeed, don't give up. Just toss those babies in the trash and try again.