Monday, February 25, 2013

Steak with Corn Relish and Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

Finding time to write here is more difficult than I imagined! I have, however, been trying out some new recipes so I have plenty to share. I just have to make myself create posts!

Today my girls went to the Dr for their 4 month check up. They are growing big - Claire is 14 lbs 1 oz and Eden is 14 lbs 7 oz. And they are quite long too - in the 70th and 80th percentiles! These two were little peanuts at birth but are getting big very fast!

Anyway, the girls got their vaccines so this afternoon they have been sleeping a lot. I thought I better get to typing!

Since I'm not ready to go to the grocery store alone with the girls yet, a lot of times I have to look for recipes for the ingredients I already have in the house. Before, when I could go to the store whenever I pleased, I would find a recipe and then buy the ingredients. Now I do the opposite, which can be more challenging but definitely money-saving!

For some reason I always go to my 2 Rachael Ray cookbooks for inspiration. Sure enough I found a recipe for steak and potatoes that sounded super good. And turns out, was super good!

So this is RR's recipe with my adaptations. She calls it Steaks with Tangy Corn Relish and Super Cheese and Scallion Spuds.


2 lbs potatoes, peeled and quartered
4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 Tablespoon sugar
salt and pepper
4 Delmonico steaks (or NY strip would work, or any you like to eat)
McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning (or salt and pepper)
1 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 can corn, drained
2 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
milk (or cream or half n half)
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 lime
handful of fresh cilantro, chopped

Place potatoes in a medium-size sauce pot, add enough water to cover them by an inch and place over high heat. Bring to a boil and cook for 12 minutes or until fork tender.

To start the corn relish, preheat a medium-size skillet over medium heat with 2 Tablespoons olive oil. Add the onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin sugar, salt and pepper. Cook for 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions start to take on a golden color and are soft.

While the onions are cooking, preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat with the remaining 2 Tablespoons of oil. Pat the steaks dry with a paper towel and season liberally with the grill seasoning. Add the steaks to the hot skillet and cook on each side for 4-5 minutes for rare; 5-6 minutes for medium. Remove them from the skillet and let the steaks rest, loosely covered with foil, for about 5-10 minutes.

Back to the relish, add the chicken stock and bring liquid to a bubble. Add the corn and continue to cook for 2-3 minutes or until the liquids have reduced by half.

When potatoes are done, drain and return to the hot pot. Smash potatoes with a masher and combine them with the cream cheese, cheddar  cheese, a splash of milk and scallions. Season with salt and pepper. Remash, taste, and adjust seasoning.

To the corn relish add the zest and juice of the lime and the cilantro. Stir to combine and taste. Add salt and pepper of necessary.

Serve relish over steak beside the mashed potatoes!




Below is a picture of my plate. Adam is on a very low sugar diet so he wasn't eating the corn, which was fine by me because it was soooo good! And don't be nervous about the onions. I am not a huge onion fan but once they are cooked for awhile, they get sweet.




Recipe from Rachael Ray Express Lane Meals: A 30-Minute Meal Cookbook







Friday, February 1, 2013

Mushroom Meatloaf with Mushroom Sauce

Of course we must start off with some photos of the girls!

Eden started to wear a bib because she has begun to drool.


Both babies are starting to really hold on to things so Claire is holding on to her giraffe fleece blankie while she eats.


A few weeks ago Adam was at the PA Farm Show for work and brought home some mushrooms and a mushroom cookbook. We both really like mushrooms and I had some free time to make a dinner so I made mushroom meatloaf. It was quite yummy.

This recipe makes 1 loaf but it can be easily doubled.

1 lb ground beef
8 oz fresh white mushrooms - half coarsely chopped, half sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 package dry vegetable soup mix (I used onion-mushroom)
1/2 cup seasoned dried bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
3/4 cup milk, divided
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 can (14 oz) beef broth

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Meatloaf:

In a large bowl, combine the beef, the chopped mushrooms, soup mix, bread crumbs, 1/4 cup milk and egg until well combined. Form into a loaf and place onto a shallow baking pan with a rack - or a meatloaf pan. Bake for 40 minutes.

Mushroom sauce:

In a small bowl, combine milk and cornstarch; set aside. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add sliced mushrooms and onion; cook and stir over moderate heat until mushrooms are golden, about 10 minutes. Stir in beef broth and 1/2 cup water; bring to a boil. Stir in cornstarch mixture. Cook over high heat, stirring constantly until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Serve over meatloaf.

We ate ours with mashed potatoes but this sauce would be good on rice too.



It's kind of hard to take a good photo of this meal, but it was delicious!

Recipe from a booklet from the Mushroom Farmers of Pennsylvania, the American Mushroom Institute and PA Preferred. Specific recipe from the Mushroom Council.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

I'm back with some twin pix!



I'm back! Finally! I know, I feel so bad to have previously blogged that I'd keep up with posts of the babies but it kind of got away from me. But since Adam got me a new computer and the girls are on *somewhat* of a schedule, I think I can find time to post a few times a week.

The twins, Claire and Eden, are already 14 weeks old! Below are some photos from their 2nd month of life. Eden is the bigger one, currently 13 pounds (6.9 at birth), and Claire is more petite - yet the older one by a few minutes - weighing in at 11 1/2 pounds (5.12 at birth).

Eden (left) & Claire (right)






I have a mushroom meatloaf recipe to post so stay tuned. I hope to post it very soon! :)