Meatballs in Peanut Chile Sauce

Wow, I am really behind on my blogging, but I am going to try hard to catch up!  I made these delicious meatballs a couple of Sundays ago (well, at this point it was probably like four Sundays ago, yikes!) when I was hanging around the house.  I happened to have all the ingredients on hand due to a sale at Fry's plus a coupon where I got a one pound bag of meatballs for just $1.00!  This was really simple to throw together, and it only takes about 3 to 4 hours to cook, perfect if you get a late start like I did that day!  This had all the flavors of a yummy Thai dish, and it was even better served over some basmati rice!  I think these would also be a fun appetizer to bring to a party and eat with toothpicks, since they aren't your standard meatball swimming in barbecue sauce!

Meatballs in Peanut Chile Sauce

adapted from A Year of Crockpotting

1 (1 lb.) bag frozen meatballs

2 tablespoons peanut butter

1 cup canned coconunt milk (I used light)
1 tablespoon red curry paste
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons white granulated sugar

Put meatballs into slow cooker (frozen is fine). Add peanut butter and coconut milk. Drop in a gollop of red chile paste, then add fish sauce and sugar. Stir as well as you can to combine.

Cook on low for 4-6 hours, high for 2-4, or until peanut butter mixture is fully melted and the meatballs are heated throughout.

Serve as a hot appetizer, or over long grained basmati rice as a meal.

Lightend Up Chicken Fried Steak

I remember eating chicken fried steak a few times in the cafeteria in elementary school, it came in the form of weird oval with a side of mashed potatoes, I ate it, but I don't remember it being anything special.  Chicken fried steak is not a staple here in Arizona, so I wasn't really exposed to it other than in the cafeteria, that is until I found a local restaurant called Ranch House Grille.  I had never really thought of ordering chicken fried steak before, but it is what this restaurant is known for, so I figured I had to give it a try!  Well, let me just say, I should't have tried it...why you may ask?  Because I LOVED it!  Oh my goodness, I really didn't need to know about this delicious, calorie ladden piece of meaty goodness smothered in creamy gravy....but now that I knew about it....I craved it....I just had to have it!  I don't get to Ranch House very often, but when I do, I always get the chicken fried steak; so when I came across a lightened version in my Healthy Cooking magazine I just knew that I had to give it a try, so that I could enjoy it without the guilt!

I have to say, this was actually really easy to put together, and the breading was seasoned just perfectly!  The only minor problem that I had was that the breading didn't stick too well, so I think next time I would do a double coat in hopes of getting it to stick a bit better.  The gravy was a cinch to make as well, and in about 20 minutes I had a healthy and hearty dinner!  This version says that 1 serving is just 318 calories and 13 grams of fat....so I can enjoy my guilty pleasure with a little less guilt!

Makeover Country-Fried Steak

adapted from Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking Feb/Mar 2010

1 beef top round steak (1 lb.)  (I bought one that was already tenderized)

1/2 tsp. salt  (I used seasoned salt)

1/2 tsp. garlic powder, divided

1/2 tsp. pepper, divided

1/4 tsp. onion powder (I omitted)

1/2 c. buttermilk

3/4 c. plus 4 1/2 tsp. all-purpose flour, divided

1 Tbsp. canola oil

4 1/2 tsp. butter

1 c. 2% milk

Cut steak into four serving-size pieces; pound to 1/4 in. thickness with a meat mallet.  Combine the salt, 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. pepper and onion powder; sprinkle over both sides of the steaks.

Place buttermilk and 3/4 cup of flour in separate shallow bowls.  Dip steaks in buttermilk, then flour. (Next time I will repeat this a second time.)  In a large skillet, cook steaks in oil over medium heat for 3 - 4 minutes on each side or until meat is no longer pink.  Remove and keep warm.

In a small saucepan, melt butter.  Stir in remaining flour until smooth; gradually add milk.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened.  Stir in remaining garlic powder and pepper.  Serve over steak.

Bulgogi

First of all I would like to apologize for my lack of posting the past two weeks, it is not because I haven't been cooking or trying out new restaurants, because I actually have quite the back log of things that I need to post; I was just in a blogging funk! I am not sure what it was, but every time I thought about going to my computer to post something, I would always find something else to do, then I went out of town for a few days and time just got away from me. But I am back, and ready to post!

For those of you who have never eaten or heard of Bulgogi, it is actually just the fancy name for Korean BBQ. My first experience with Korean BBQ was last summer at a sushi restaurant in Coronado, I spent a whole year trying to find a place here in Arizona that served it, but alas, they are all pretty far from where I live and I never was able to get to one of them. When I went back to Coronado this summer, I went to the sushi place again, but wasn't very hungry, so I didn't order the Bulgogi. So now it had been over a year and I still hadn't gotten my Bulgogi fix, and I just knew that I had to remedy the situation.

When I was perusing some of my favorite food blogs, I linked over to one whose author was actually born and raised in Korea. She had posted a simple recipe for Bulgogi that used a bottled sauce and said that it tasted just as good as if you were to make it from scratch....so I figured I would give it a try! My regular grocery store didn't carry the sauce, so I took a field trip to a nearby Asian grocery store. This was my first trip to such a store, and it was quite the experience! I decided to make the Bulgogi for my family for lunch on a Saturday afternoon; my sister and I were going to my parents house to work on a sewing project with our mom, so I thought it would be nice to bring over some lunch.

I marinated the meat overnight, and it cooked up really quick on the grill because I had had the butcher slice the meat really thin. The authentic way to eat it is to then wrap it in lettuce with some cooked rice, and a bit more of the sauce. Everyone seemed to really enjoy this, the flavors were very fresh and it was a nice, light lunch. While I enjoyed it, it wasn't quite the same as the delicious Bulgogi that I had experienced last summer, but overall I found it to be a nice refreshing meal. My sister took the leftovers to work a few days later, and said that they were even delicious reheated too!

My picture below is only of the meat, my camera battery died before I could get a picture of it all assembled.

Bulgogi

adapted from My Fabulous Recipes

2 lbs tri-tip or flank steak, thinly sliced (I asked my butcher to do the slicing)
1 jar CJ's Korean BBQ Marinade (found at an Ethnic grocery store)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup Asian pear, freshly ground
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Cooked rice, optional
Lettuce leaves, optional

In large bowl, place thinly sliced tri-tip or flank steak. In separate bowl, mix the BBQ sauce, garlic, pear, and sesame seeds well. Pour the sauce over the beef. Stir the beef until it is soaked in the sauce. Cover and let marinate overnight in the fridge. Grill the meat over a medium heat grill according to your liking. Serve with rice and lettuce for wraps if desired.

Green Chile Beef and Homemade Refried Beans

As you may know from my previous post, I was successful at completing my Mexican Food Challenge! In honor of yesterday being the last day, rather than go out for dinner, I thought I would try out a new recipe for green chile beef and take another stab at getting the beans to my liking. It worked out really well because both of these recipes were made in the crockpot, so they were simple to throw together. I think the best part was when my friends Karen & Kyle called to see if they could come cool off in my pool after a long day of moving, I was also able to offer them a nice home-cooked meal!

This was my third attempt at making homemade beans....and I think I finally got it right!! The first two batches just had something missing....and that something was bacon grease! Now I know I am sounding a bit like Paula Deen here, but it really just does add a layer of flavor that you can't achieve any other way. Saturday morning I decided to cook up some bacon for breakfast so that I would have the grease available to make beans the next day. Well, I usually cook it in the microwave, but this time I needed the grease saved, so I cooked it on the stove top. Let's just say it got a little bit out of hand and ended up setting of my smoke detector!! I couldn't figure out how to turn the damn thing off, I called my dad who told me to go flip the breakers and turn the power off to the whole house....that didn't work....thanks a lot dad! Eventually, I figured out that it was connected to my alarm system and I just had to "unset" my alarm. With that crisis averted, I was able to cook the rest of the bacon, but this time I turned on the vent! The beans were so creamy and delicious that I didn't end up with any leftovers, but I guess it just means that I need to cook up some more bacon!

I was really excited to try out this recipe for Green Chile Beef that I found on the Internet, especially since it is one of my favorite things to get at Mexican restaurants. Last week I had been craving the Boracho Burrito from Someburros, but since I don't really have one in the area I never made it there, so I was on a mission to recreate it at home. The preparation was simple, and the house smelled delicious when I came home from running some errands. But ultimately, it just fell a bit short of my expectations....there just wasn't enough heat! I am going to tinker with this recipe a bit more and try to had some more heat, but if you are not into fiery food, you might just like this version. If I come up with a spicier version I will update you all!

Green Chile Beef

1 (3 lb.) boneless top sirloin

4 (4 oz. each) cans diced green chilies

1 medium onion, chopped

3 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced

3 garlic cloves, sliced

3 tsp. chili powder

1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. seasoned salt

1 c. beef broth

Cut beef into large chunks and place in crockpot. Top with chilies, onion, jalapenos, garlic and spices. Pour the beef broth on top. Cover and cook on low for 7 - 8 hours or until meat is tender. Serve with tortillas and toppings of choice.

Homemade Refried Beans
adapted from The Sister's Dish

1 (1 lb.) bag dried pinto beans
3 Tbsp. bacon grease

Water

5 - 10 pickled jalapeno rings (depending on your heat preference)

1/2 Tbsp. seasoned salt

1 Tbsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. chili powder

Rinse beans, picking through and discarding any black or broken beans. Cover with water and soak for at least 1 hour. After the 1 hour, rinse again and place in the crockpot. Add the bacon grease; then cover the beans with water so that it reaches about 3 inches above the beans.

Cover and cook on high for 5 - 6 hours, or until beans are able to mash easily. With about 1/2 hour left in cooking time, add remaining ingredients.

Remove beans with a slotted spoon and add to food processor, add as much bean liquid to get desired consistency. (I also added in some Monterrey Jack cheese at this point for even more creaminess!)

Now go and have yourself a Fiesta!