My husband rarely braves the grocery store with me.  I say brave because he would likely rather have his toe nails pulled than go to the store.    Yesterday was an expectation and his company proved quite useful.  While browsing the meat department he asked that I make a beef teriyaki with quinoa.  The combination was fantastic especially with a few added ingredients to spice up the quinoa.  While I was the cook, the culinary credit here goes to Justin.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Meat

- 1.5 LB beef tenderloin, cut into ½” cubes

- 1 tablespoons olive oil

- 1/3 cup brown sugar

- 1 cup soy sauce

- 3 cloves minced garlic

- 1 teaspoon ground ginger

- 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce

- 2 tablespoons honey

Quinoa

- 2 cups cooked quinoa

- 1-2 tablespoons olive oil

- 2 cups shredded Brussels sprouts

- 3 cups diced shitake mushrooms

- ½ cup salted soy nuts

- ½ cup coconut milk

- 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

Stir together the brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, chili sauce and honey  in a medium sized bowl.  Add the meat cubes and thoroughly coat with the marinade.  Cover, refrigerate and let marinate for 1 hour. 

Meanwhile, make the quinoa.   Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium- high heat.  Add the Brussels sprouts and mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add the nuts and continue to cook for 1 minute.  Fold in the quinoa, salt and coconut milk.  Remove from the heat.

Remove the meat from the refrigerator. Heat the olive oil in a wok over high heat.  Add the meat using a slotted spoon to remove excess marinade.  Brown the meat on both sides then add one cup of the marinade.  Cook until the marinade thickens and the meat is caramelized on the outside- about 10 minutes.  Serve the beef atop the quinoa and enjoy.

I love roulades because they are so versatile and allow for a great deal of creativity and mixing and matching of favorite ingredients.  This dish is delightfully tasty, simple and elegant enough for a dinner party. 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

- 1  2 LB skirt steak

- 2.5 tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano

- 2 plums, thinly sliced

- 4 ounces goat cheese, cut into ½ inch disks

- ½ cup soy nuts

- 1 teaspoon kosher salt

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 425°.

Unfold the skirt steak on a clean, flat surface.   Equally distribute the plum slices, cheese and 2 tablespoons oregano in one layer on top of the skirt steak.   Starting at one end of the length of the skirt steak roll the meat over the layer of plum and cheese into a tight roulade.  Fasten tightly with kitchen twine. 

In a food processor, combine the soy nuts, salt and remaining 2 teaspoons of oregano.  Pulse until the nuts are fully broken down.   Pour the nut mixture into a large shallow bowl.  Roll the meat roulade in the nut mixture being certain to press the nuts firmly against the meat to ensure an even coat of the nuts.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Add the meat roulade and brown on both sides, about 4 minutes per side.  Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.   Feel free to cut into the middle of the roulade towards the end of cooking to ensure it is cooked to your liking. 

Once done, transfer the roulade to a cutting board and slice into 1 inch disks.  You will see a nice cross section of the meat, the plums and the cheese.  Serve and enjoy!

This meal was a fantastic treat.  Rather than tossing the pineapple skin in the trash, I decided to wrap it around the meat to make for a super juicy and flavorful meal.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Steak

- 1 LB skirt steak

- 1 pineapple

- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger

- ½ teaspoon salt

- ½ cup roughly chopped thick cut pancetta

Salad

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

- 2 cups roughly chopped red cabbage

- 4 ounces water chestnuts

- 4 ounces baby corn

- 2 ounces bamboo shoots

- 1 cup chopped pineapple

- ¼ cup roughly chopped thick cut pancetta

- ½ teaspoon salt

- ¼ cup beef stock

- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven to 400°.

Cut the top and the base off the pineapple.  Make one ½” slight along the length of one side of the pineapple.  Start at the slit and cut the pineapple skin off in one large piece from the inner fruit.  You will have a piece of skin in the shape of a rectangle.  Reserve the interior fruit for the salad.  Lay the pineapple skin on a large baking dish with the prickly side facing down.   Place the meat lengthwise on top of and in the center of the skin.  Fold up any of the meat that is hanging over the end of the pineapple skin.  Season the meat with the salt and ginger and sprinkle the pancetta on top.  Pull the long edges of the pineapple skin around the meat and use cooking string to tightly secure the pineapple.  You will have something that resembles the shape and size of pork tenderloin.  Transfer the dish to the oven and cook for 15 minutes.  Use tongs to flip and continue to cook for an additional 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cut into 1” slices along the width of the pineapple and meat.  Drizzle each slice with the juices from the baking dish.

While the meat is cooking make the salad.  Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large sauté pan.  Add the cabbage and cook for 5 minutes or until the bulk of the cabbage reduces by half.  Fold in the water chestnuts, baby corn, bamboo shoots, pineapple, pancetta and the remaining salt.  Continue to cook for 4 minutes.  Finally, add the stock and the hoisin sauce.  Stir thoroughly and let cook for 2 more minutes.

Serve the salad alongside the pineapple-meat slices and enjoy!   One note, I don’t suggest eating the pineapple skin, just the meat inside.

I am not going to lie, braised shorts ribs take a good amount of time to cook and if you rush it you will be disappointed.  The first time I made this dish my growling stomach dictated the cooking window and I ended up with chunks of meat that were quite frankly nasty.   I found myself spitting my first bite into my napkin, much the way I did as a child when my dad made his signature liver and heart dish.  Be sure to plan ahead with this recipe and get the meat in the oven well before you plan to eat.   The meat falling off the bone goodness is well worth the time.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

Meat

- 5 LB’s bone in short ribs

- 2 teaspoons salt

- 2 tablespoons olive oil

- 2 shallots, finely chopped

- 4 carrots, skin removed and roughly chopped

- ½ large white onion, chopped

- 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

- 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

- ¼ cup scallions, chopped

- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

- 1 tablespoon Chinese Five Spice powder

- 3 tablespoons flour

- ¾ ruby port

- 6 cups beef stock

- 1 tablespoon butter at room temperature

Salad

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 bundle bok choy, cleaned and roughly chopped

- ½ teaspoon salt

- ¼ teaspoon sugar

- 2 tablespoons lemon juice.

Instructions:

To start, make sure your oven rack is situated to allow room for your Dutch oven.  Pre-heat oven to 325°.

Season the meat with 1 teaspoon of the salt.  Heat the olive oil over high heat in a large Dutch oven.  Brown the meat on each side for about 3-4 minutes.  Depending on the size of your pot you may need to do this is two batched.  Remove the meat and set aside.  Lower the heat to medium and add the onion, shallots, carrots, garlic, scallions and ginger.  Cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.  Whisk in the hoisin sauce and 2 tablespoons of flour and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes.  Pour in the port and 2 cups of the stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and continue cooking for 15 minutes, stirring throughout until the sauce thickens.  Return the short ribs to the pot along with the remaining 4 cups of stock, the remaining teaspoon of salt and the Chinese five spice.  Increase the heat to high and bring to a slight boil.  Cover, remove from the stove and transfer to the oven.

Cook the ribs for 2.5-3 hours, checking in every 20 minutes to monitor cooking progress.

Towards the end of cooking the meat make the salad.  Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan.  Add the bok choy sauté for 7 minutes.  Season with the salt, sugar and lemon juice.  Remove from the heat and cover until use.

The ribs are done once the meat is noticeably falling off the bone at which point remove the pot from the oven.  Using tongs remove the meat from the pot and set aside.  Return the pot to the stove over medium-high heat.  Mix together the remaining tablespoon of flour and the tablespoon of butter until a paste forms.  Whisk the paste into the sauce and continue to stir until the sauce thickens- about 10-15 minutes.  Return the meat to the pot and cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Plate a few pieces of the meat per person with a generous helping of the sauce with a side of the bok choy.

Homemade puff pastry takes a good amount of time to prepare.  Feel free to use store bought pastry if you are crunched for time.  This dish is somewhat of a combination of beef stew and beef pot pie.  Absolutely wonderful!

Ingredients:

Pastry

- 1 ¾ cups all purpose four

- 1/4 cup cornstarch

-  1 cup soft butter, 2 sticks

- 3 ounces water

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

Beef

- 1 LB beef chuck, fat removed and chopped into 1” cubes

- 1 tablespoon olive oil

- 1 tablespoon butter

- ½ cup cream

- 1 cup red wine

- ½ cup beef broth

- ½ teaspoon salt, extra for seasoning

- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper, extra for seasoning

- ¾ cup crumbled blue cheese

- 1 bundle chopped broccolini

- 1.5 cups frozen pearl onions

Instructions:

Start with the pastry 4 hours before starting the beef.

Mix the flour and cornstarch in a large bowl.  Pile this mixture on a clean and dry work surface.  Make a well in the middle of the flour and place ½ cup of the butter, the water and the salt.  Kneed the mixture until a stretchy and cohesive dough forms.  Cover with a kitchen towel and let sit at room temperature for one hour.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface to ½ inch thick.  Place the remaining butter in the middle of the dough and fold the edges of the dough over the butter forming an envelope.  Roll dough out again in a rectangle, about 10”X 5”, with the butter inside.  Fold the dough over itself three times along the width of the rectangle.  Roll out the dough into a rectangle again, fold over it three times, cover and refrigerate for one hour.   Repeat this rolling, folding and refrigeration process two more times.  After the last hour of refrigeration roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thick and cut into six 4” squares.

Pre-heat oven to 325.

For the beef, season with salt and pepper.  Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat.  Brown the meat for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.  The meat should still be pink on the inside.  Remove the meat and set aside.  Deglaze the pan with the wine and cook until reduced by half, about 4 minutes.  Whisk in broth, cream and butter and cook for 6 additional minutes, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium. Fold in the cheese, broccolini, onions, meat, salt and pepper.  Stir until the cheese is fully incorporated and melted into the mixture.

Spoon meat mixture into 6” tart pans.  Top each with a pastry square.  Cook for 20 minutes, or until the pasty is golden brown.  Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.