I rcently went to one of my favorite restaurants and they had a new menu item – a cheesesteak sandwich – that caught my attention.  I ordered it and was pleased with what I got but not blown away by it.  When I got home, I noticed a piece of a boneless ribeye in my fridge that was left from our Valentine’s Dinners we served in the Market.  I knew I could make a better cheesesteak sandwich and boy did I.  I wanted to share my creation with all of you.

Cheesesteak Sandwich

Start by thinly slicing your bell peppers, mushrooms and onion.

Next, heat about 1 tbls. of vegetable oil in a large skillet or, as I used, a wok, over medium high heat.

Add the sliced vegetables to the skillet or wok and saute.

After the vegetables have wilted a bit, add about 1 tbls. of minced garlic and continue to cook until vegetables are cooked.

Season the vegetables with freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt.

While the vegetables are cooking, thinly slice your ribeye steak.

Heat 1 tbls. of vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat.

Working in batches, add the thinly sliced prime rib to the skillet, being sure not to over-crowd the meat.

Generously season the meat with freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt.

While the meat is cooking, break it apart using your spatula.

When the meat is done (look at that delicious brown color that’s full of flavor), remove it to a bowl and start on your next batch of meat.  You may need to add another tablespoon of oil to your pan for subsequent batches.

While the meat is cooking, slice your french bread in half lenghtwise and butter both halves.  Toast the bread in a preheated 325 deg. oven.

When the meat is cooked and the bread is toasted, pile the meat on top of half of the bread.

Top it with some of your sauteed vegetables.

And finally top it with sliced provolone cheese.

Pop it back into the oven just long enough to melt the cheese and when it comes out you get this – serious YUM!

Man, it’s cold outside!  When it gets this cold, I really like to turn to simple comfort foods to warm the body and soul.  Baked Ziti is one of those foods and it’s so simple to make.

Baked Ziti

To prepare the cheese, combine the ricotta, shredded parmesan, 1/2 cup mozzarella, parsley and egg in a bowl and set aside.

To prepare the sauce, brown the ground beef and the Italian sausage in a medium pan.  Stir in the Italian seasonings, Burgandy wine, and spaghetti sauce.  Season with salt and ground black pepper to taste.  Reduce the head and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.  Liberally salt the water and add the ziti pasta.  Cook until just underdone (the pasta will continue to cook after it is mixed with the sauce and cheese, if you cook it to done now, it will get mushy).  Strain the pasta and return it to the pot.  Stir in the cheese mixture until well mixed.  Add the sauce mixture and stir to combine.

Pour the pasta into a prepared baking dish and top with remaining cup of mozzarella cheese.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 deg. for 30-35 minutes, until heated through.  Remove the foil from the top and return to the oven for about 5 minutes to brown the cheese a little bit.

I love Tex-Mex food.  You could say that it is my go-to food when I can’t think of anything else to fix.  Chicken Enchiladas Verde, or Chicken Enchiladas with Green Sauce (I think verde sounds so much better than green sauce) is a really quick fix meal that I’m sure will satisfy your Tex-Mex urge.

Chicken Enchiladas Verde

1. Prepare salsa verde: Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onion until soft. Stir in the flour. Combine water and chicken base and add to flour mixture. Add the chiles, garlic, salt, cumin and chili powder. Simmer about 15 minutes to blend flavors, then set aside. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. Combine the cooked and shredded chicken with half of each of the cheeses, keeping the remaining cheese set aside for topping. Dip each tortilla in salsa verde (both sides.) Place 1/10 of the chicken & cheese mixture down the center of each; roll and place seam side down in a shallow dish.

3. After all the rolled tortillas are in the dish, spoon additional salsa verde over them and then cover evenly with heavy cream. Sprinkle with remaining cheese mixture, and with the green onions.

4. Bake, covered, in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

This is my favorite time of year, when it gets cool enough to enjoy sitting out on our back porch again, relaxing with a nice glass of wine while watching the cardinals that have returned to our back yard.  We are grabbing every opportunity we can to grill outside before winter makes it uncomfortable.

A couple of nights ago, we made some delicious grilled burgers, better than anything from a fast food place and almost as easy to make.

Grilled Jalapeno Burgers

Start by combining the ground beef, dry soup mix and worchestershire sauce in a large bowl.  Form the meat into six 6 oz. patties.

Place the burgers on a prepared grill and cook until cooked through, about 3-5 minutes per side.

Meanwhile, get your toppings ready to go.  We use lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pepperjack and American cheeses, and sliced jalapenos.

I served the burgers with some oven-baked french fries.  Yes, they really are good and you save all that fat and calories and mess you get when you fry french fries.  I use Ore Ida Fast Food Style French Fries.  Simply spread them out in a single layer on a sheet pan and spray them generously with some non-stick spray.  Cook them in a 350 deg. oven for 25-30 minutes, until crisp.  Sprinkle with salt and serve.

Try your own Grilled Jalapeno Burger and Oven-Baked Fries and you may have to keep your grill ready to go all winter.

Chicken Parmesan is one of my favorite foods.  Traditionally, it is coated in bread crumbs and pan fried then topped with lots of mozzarella cheese.  Not very figure friendly, if you know what I mean.

Several years ago, The Husband began making a much lower fat version of chicken parm that delivers all of the flavor without all of the calories.  Now, I’m not calling this diet food but I am saying that when you’re craving chicken parmesan, this version will deliver the flavor you are seeking in a lighter, healthier way.

Healthier Chicken Parmesan

Melt 1 Tbls. butter in a large skillet and saute the diced onion until soft.  Stir in minced garlic and saute for 1 minute.  Remove the onion mixture from the pan and set aside.

Salt and pepper the chicken breasts to taste.

Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter in the same skillet and add the chicken.  Saute the chicken for 5 minutes.

Turn the chicken over (notice then nice brown color on the chicken) and continue to cook another 5 minutes until chicken is almost completely cooked through.  Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

 We like to serve this dish over white rice cooked with just a little bit of chicken stock.

Before you start yelling at me about the way I cooked this steak let me plead my case.  Yes, I do realize that I am from the South and yes, I know that grilling produces excellent steaks.  In fact, up until a few months ago, I would have said that grilling was the only way to produce a great steak.  But I was wrong.

If you have read my previous posts, you will know that I am addicted to reality tv shows.  It was due to one of those shows, Top Chef Masters, that the idea of cooking a steak in a way other than grilling first presented itself.  Intrigued, I asked The Husband if he had ever heard of such and together we set out to search the internet for a recipe.  It was Chef Gordon Ramsey (Kitchen Nightmares, Hell’s Kitchen) that gave us the basis for this recipe.  The key is to use a cast iron skillet that can get screaming hot and lots of fresh rosemary and garlic.  But most important is using a really good cut of meat.  Fortunately, we have some really good friends who own a meat market (email me and I’ll give you their name and phone number so you can go get your own).  The Husband and I drove to Hot Springs this afternoon and picked up a whole, boneless angus prime cut ribeye.  From the center of this, we cut two perfect ribeye steaks.  I’ll let you know what we did with the rest of the ribeye in a later post.

The Husband is also a big fan of seafood, something I’ve never acquired a taste for, but as an indulgence to him, we also bought some king crab legs.  And a simple baked potato finished out the meal.  Please, I beg you, try this steak.  You might just have to find another use for your grill.

Pan Seared Ribeye with Rosemary

For each steak, melt 2 tbls. butter in a cast iron skillet.  Add 2 tbls. olive oil to the pan and increase the heat to high.  Season the ribeye on both sides with salt and pepper.  When the pan is screaming hot, carefully place the steak in the pan.  Add a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary and a couple of cloves of fresh garlic.  If the garlic or the rosemary starts to burn, place it on top of the steak and continue to cook. 

 You want to cook the steak until you get a beautiful, brown crust on the outside.

After you turn the steak over, add another 2 tbls. butter to the pan and begin to spoon the butter, garlic and rosemary over the top of the steak over and over again until the steak reaches the desired doneness – I suggest medium rare to medium.

Remove the steak from the pan and set aside to rest for about 5 minutes before serving.  I like to serve it with the cooking butter with the rosemary and garlic spooned over the top.

BBQ Chicken and Grilled Corn

With summer winding to an end, we took the opportunity last night to prepare one of our favorite grilled meals, bbq chicken and grilled corn on the cob.  Although you can grill corn during the winter that you have stored in your freezer, there’s just nothing quite like the sweetness of freshly picked corn during the summer.  If you’ve never had grilled corn you are missing one of life’s great pleasures.  It’s so easy to prepare and adds so much to a meal.  I encourage you to give this recipe a try while there’s still really fresh corn on the cob available.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Carefully pull the husks away from the cob, leaving them intact at the base of the cob.  Remove the silks.  Rub butter all over the cob and then sprinkle with garlic powder, rosemary & thyme.  Wrap the husks back around the cob.  Wrap the corn in foil and then poke several holes in the foil to let the smoke from the grill penetrate the corn.  Place the cobs on a hot grill for 15 minutes and then turn over and continue to cook for an additional 5 minutes.  Set the corn over to the side of the grill away from the direct heat and continue to grill the rest of your dinner.

We served the corn with Grilled BBQ Chicken, Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes, and Macaroni & Cheese, all of which are available from our Market & Deli.