Steak Cobb

One of the happiest cooking moments is to create something out of leftovers that you like better than the original meal. (A theme lately for me.)  Maybe you make chicken so you can have chicken sandwiches.  Or meatloaf for meatloaf sandwiches.  (I clearly remember my first meatloaf sandwich at Danny Izzo's house while I was in college; my mom didn't make meatloaf sandwiches.)  Grilled salmon for scrambled eggs, omelet, or frittata.  Roast pork for tacos.  Roast beef and/or baked sweet potatoes for hash.  Easter eggs for deviled eggs or egg salad. Steak for salads like the one above/below and lots of other meals.

We usually don't eat steak at all through the winter, but wait (as we do for hamburgers) for grilling time.  And then I cook two steaks anyway.  Because we like steak and eggs, steak sandwiches, frittatas with leftover potato, steak, and vegetables, or steak hash.  Or a new favorite of mine, Steak Cobb.

Now I don't know if anyone else makes Steak Cobb. I had the ingredients and it sounded good to me.  It makes leftover restaurant steak into a lovely, beautiful salad or gives you a reason to make an extra steak on the grill any time at all.  Here's how if you need directions other than from the photos:

steak cobb for one

• two cups fresh greens (I like spinach for this)
• 2 ounces leftover cold steak, sliced thinly
• 2 scallions (green onions-green and white parts) sliced very thinly
• 1/4 cup chopped red pepper
• 1-2 strips bacon, cooked crisply and chopped
• 1 boiled egg, sliced
• 1/2 - 1 cup sauteed vegetables (or fresh) of your choice   
• 1/2 tomato, sliced
• 1-2 tablespoons blue cheese dressing
• kosher salt/fresh ground pepper
• fresh lemon juice

1. Arrange greens in a large shallow bowl and top with steak and scallions.
2. Place bacon at one corner, sliced egg at another, vegetables at the third and tomato at the fourth.
3. Spoon dressing into the leftover space.   Don't toss this salad.  Dip its elements into the dressing and only use what you need; the blue cheese will overwhelm everything else otherwise.
4. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and squeeze lemon juice over all.     

Things that make this fast and simple--mostly pantry info:
 I keep Nueske's bacon in 2- and 4-piece packages in the freezer so I can unthaw and cook it quickly in the microwave when needed.
  I "boil" eggs in the microwave for quick salads like this:  Spray a deep cereal bowl with PAM or grease lightly. Crack egg  in and, using a sharp knife, pierce yolk once and white several times.  Cover tightly with plastic wrap and microwave on full power for one minute.  (Tightly being the important word here.)  Carefully remove bowl from oven, let sit a minute, tip out onto cutting board and slice.



 I keep blue cheese in the frig and make dressing in the food processor while the bacon cooks:
2 ounces blue cheese, 1-2 cloves garlic (chopped), 1/4 cup mayonnaise, pinch salt and pepper, 2 shakes hot sauce, 2 tablespoons milk blended well and tasted for seasoning. (approximate amounts)
Of course you can make this without a food processor:  Mash up the blue cheese with a table fork.  Crush the garlic with the flat side of a chef's knife and chop it well. Beat well with remainder of ingredients and adjust seasonings.
I am only without lemons if I'm leaving tomorrow on a plane and usually not then. 
When I cook vegetables, I cook enough for a couple of days or more--such as sauteed onions, peppers, zucchini, asparagus, green beans,  garlic, mushrooms, etc. 
I have pasta bowls perfect for composed salads and believe this makes a difference.  This will work on a plate, but not as well.  The ingredients are lost in a jumble, though they'll taste good, if you toss this up in a chili bowl.

... ... ... ...

If you're interested in helping solve a current and immediate hunger need, please read this blogpost on LEAVE IT WHERE JESUS FLANG IT.  Margaret Watson is an Episcopal priest on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota where many--elderly, handicapped, grandparents raising kids-- are hungry due to sequester cuts;  her own cupboards and freezer are bare.    Please write your congressional reps to end the sequester where it is creating more and more hunger or pain and/or drop a note in the comments on Margaret's blog to see how you might personally help.  Here are her own words:

But more importantly, the clients themselves have been cut off --they have received no monies since the beginning of March. They are coming to my door asking for heating fuel, food, clothes, diapers. Children are at risk. There are no Tribal programs that can assist these folks, they are mostly disabled, elderly with grandchildren in the home, or are desperate for work. Last night, after a funeral, I delivered left over food to people's homes. Funeral food to a family of six of baloney sandwiches, biscuits, two apples, two oranges and some chocolate cake.
I cannot afford to feed all the people who come to my door asking for help. I have emptied my own freezer, my own cupboard in order to help these desperate folks.

...    In the last six months, I have done 40 funerals --six infants, two teen suicides, and many, many folks under the age 40.

And food, shelter and heat are not the only problems here --the Indian Health Services were also part of the Sequester cuts. And the cuts are affecting the Head Start programs.

---from Margaret's post Shocked and Depressed.

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Please help?
Alyce

Clean Out the Frig One-Crust Chicken Pot Pie

I stretched an 8" pie crust into one for a 9" pie--it works, but it shows, too.

We had friends to dinner Friday night for Zucchini Soup with Pistachios (testing soup for the book), Lemon Roast Chicken (a six-pound roaster), Rosemary Potatoes, Garlic Green Beans, and Cherry Pie.  Pretty American, huh?  And lest you think that was too much, we had potato chips and sparkling wine for starters.  Just because I had a sparkler left from the holidays and I'm not embarrassed to say one of my favorite things is champagne and potato chips.   Well... The pie crust was a vegan one to avoid use of dairy (allergies) and I didn't even realize I'd have enough left for an 8 or 9" pie or a pot pie top crust.  (I created my own vegan pie crust--not terribly difficult!  Afterward, I decided to google vegan pie crusts--only to find some people use vodka for the liquid in them.  Who knew?  I might start making vegan pie crusts more often.)

Cooling the pie in the dining room where I won't knock it down like I did last time.

So-

Black Bean and Ham Salad with Lemon-Lime Vinaigrette

I notice the loved ones in my life who live alone eat a lot of chicken.  As do folks on the South Beach Diet or any diet.  (I've been there.)  Maybe everyone who's not a vegetarian eats a lot of chicken.  Granted it's one of the most inexpensive and versatile proteins and is low in fat.   I'm on the bandwagon, too; I eat chicken often.  I roast a whole chicken probably twice a  month or more.   I occasionally buy a deli chicken on Tuesdays from Whole Foods.   I  like to make breasts on the bone for salads, casseroles (we call them hot dish in Minnesota and hot dish is singular or plural), sandwiches (though I don't eat a sandwich in two months unless it's a veggie burger on half a bun), or in omelets.

(Above:   Make my Greek Chicken Salad sometime.)

Meatball Frittata

Except for soup, pasta, or salad, there's nearly nothing you can cook that is as versatile as the not-so-humble frittata, which is nothing more than an open-faced omelet.   Just about whatever you've got leftover in your frig, including spaghetti you brought home from the Italian restaurant (and definitely the toppings from that box of cold pizza), can be worked into a frittata and turned into a meal that might feed you a couple times or more.  Will you be happy?  I think so.

Help! I've Got Leftover Take-Out Rice and Don't Know What to Do with It

Leftover Take-Out Rice Salad

Do you leave all that extra rice at the Chinese place?  (What do they do with all that rice?  Make fried rice!)  When you pick up take-out and there's two of those "little" boxes stuffed to the gills with white rice, do you eat it all?  Do you soy sauce it up with a scrambled egg for breakfast? That's one idea.  Throw it in chicken broth with chopped green onions, a drop of soy sauce, and shredded deli chicken?  That's another.

Pasta out of the Frig and Pantry

Boil the pasta, chop and cook whatever veg.  Dinner for one is served.

 As a young cook, I would marvel at my mother's ability to walk into a kitchen and come out with something good to eat.   While this doesn't sound like such a feat (there are many accomplished cooks in the world), she managed it when there didn't appear to be any food (that I could see) in there.  Well, of course there were milk, eggs and cheese in the frig.   In fact, there were often fresh eggs from her hens. There were root vegetables on the counter.  The deep freeze held fish she and my dad had caught and cartons of last summer's vegetables.  In the closet were shelves brimming with quart jars of canned tomatoes,  4oz jars of crab apple jelly, various sized containers of figs, as well as odds and ends -- batches of canning she'd done when someone had brought her half a bushel of something or other about to go bad.

Mom and nephew Michael

Last year, I read and reviewed a book called Lunch in Paris; A Love Story with Recipes  by Elizabeth Bard (the paperback version has come out recently), which is a memoir about an American  woman who falls in love with (eventually marries) a Frenchman named Gwendal.  Full of sweet, not-too-long-ago stories, each vignette ends with a recipe. One I  particularly liked:  Gwendal (who cooked for just himself often) was notorious for rummaging in the frig and coming up with a tasty pasta dish. All this when it looked like there was simply nothing to eat and a run for take-out must be attempted no matter the weather or time.

I tried my hand at Gwendal's pasta (blogged it once) and continue to do so because it quickly morphs into my pasta and will soon be yours.  See what you think. You, too, can learn to look around, grab a few things, and cook your dinner out of what you have.  Just like my mom or Gwendal.  Julia Child would say, "Have the courage of your convictions..."  and go for it.

Chopped Salads and How to Use a Big Knife

  As solos cooks, your first line of defense could be a great salad.  There's never a problem with making a salad for one and, if you make a chopped salad, make enough (store without dressing or tomatoes) to last a few days.  That way, you'll get the most out of your shopping and get all the veggies you need. 

If you master a basic salad and understand fresh vegetables, you'll also be able to change that salad up:

• Add cheese or boiled eggs
• Add grilled chicken
• Add leftover shrimp from your take-out from last night
• Add chopped pepperoni from that two-day-old pizza in the frig
• Add homemade croutons (using up that old bread)

Most people never learn how to make a good salad, but you're going to.

I have a great recipe (below) for you, but first....  Watch Jamie Oliver's short video on chopped salad:

Watch Jamie Now!  Make a note of how he uses the knife, too.
 

Making Jamie's salad in my kitchen

 In fact, here's a basic, really quick video on holding and using a chef's knife:

How to use a knife!

Alyce's Salad Notes

• Buy greens you like, but buy good-looking greens and skip iceberg lettuce unless you crave a blue-cheese wedge.  Wash them well (Put them in cold water in the sink or a bowl for 5 minutes, swishing several times.)  Drain them well and lay them out on cotton or linen or paper towels. Wrap well and put in a plastic bag or a covered refrigerator container.  Alternately, you can spin them in a salad spinner.
• Add any vegetable or fruit you like or have.  Google salad recipes or go to epicurious.com (great site) and see lots of recipes.  Be brave and mix things up; the recipe police aren't coming.
• If you have fresh herbs, including parsley, just throw them in; you'll be blown away.  (In fact, you can make a great parsley salad and it's easy to grow.)
• Be loving to yourself and be creative:  Make salads you adore so that you'll eat them.
• Make your own salad dressings...  Ok, you might keep a jar of low-fat Ranch (bought in the produce section cold) for veggie dip or to mix with salsa for a great taco salad dressing or fish taco sauce ...also great for a grilled asparagus dip.)
• Most green salads benefit from a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a sprinkle of salt and pepper before (or instead of) being dressed.